H.Zwakenberg

Hi Group, since about half a year or so, PocketFMS is no longer available for free. Since the price isn't so terrible cheaper that the product I used before, and because that other product uses official aeronautical map data, I ceased using PocketFMS entirely and made a 'one-eighty' back to FlyMap. You can find out more about it at: http://www.flymap.co.uk/ bye Hans

Hi Group, for my IBIS project I've changed my thinking about what avionics I want and why I want it. You can read more about it on this page: http://ibis.experimentals.de/progress/panel/navigation/navigation.html So I've been scrounging around and ended up with most of what I'm going to need. Back to my question: I'm looking for documentation about the King KLN90 GPS unit. It's a KLN90, not a KLN90b. What I ended up with is a KLN90 and a user's manual for the KLN90b. What I'm currently looking for is a user's manual for the KLN90 as well as interfacing documentation to be able to integrate it into my project. If anyone can point me to sources for this information, I'd be very grateful indeed! bye Hans

Jon, protecting Burt is only a first line of defense. What happens if the sh*t hits the fan and you really screw up in a plane that you have been calling a Long-EZ, or whatever other name that alludes to RAF. You can count on RAF, Burt or both of them to go after the builder, if only to clear their names.... In this context, giving your project an entirely different name is also self protection... bye Hans

An MCR-01 is a side-by-side two-seater, very light and with a Rotax 912 very performant as well. See http://www.dynaero.com/img/presse/zip/mcr01.pdf It's the GRP/carbon fibre version of Michel Colomban's Bambi. bye Hans

Hi Martin, since you're not constructing an official Long-Eze, I recommend that you take that designation off your site... Since you jumped in all right, you might as well protect yourself and call it an Open-Eze, or whatever... cheers, Hans

Would that be a very light solar- and fuel cell powered plane - with the 50 safe days in Mojave you are alluding to being the turbulence such a light structure would need to endure on all other days...? Just guessing.... bye Hans

Hi Group, Mid-July I finally had the chance to attend the French RSA Fly-in and spend a weekend with IBIS-builders and -planes. Jean Claude offered training on the IBIS, which motivated me even more to get into my car and drive down to Roanne and Vichy for the weekend. You can read all about it on: My first four IBIS flights If I get around doing it, I'll also publish an article about each of the four flights and about IBIS flying qualities. take care, Hans

Jean Claude, the co-designer, is to the best of my knowlegde not a member of this board, but he is visiting this board occasionally. I met JC a couple of weeks ago during the French RSA Fly-in. He reaffirmed his position, that the basic design will not be taken into new directions. His focus is on incremental refinement of details - not on deriving entirely new concepts from it. cheers, Hans

Hi Group, I'm searching for a downloadable copy of the KING KMA24b. The KING/Bendix site doesn't provide downloadable installation manuals. Are there any other sources for such information? Another question is about navigation lights on canards: where do you gals/guys put the rear light? take care Hans

Hi Dave, thanks a lot for those great pointers and explanations. It's a 35 year old building - including the double garage - and we don't have information on exactly how it was built. My friend the architect explained a lot about best practices at the time, but that's not helping me a lot. I'm not going to dig out the outside and seal it there. It would be best - no doubt about that - but that's just too much effort. After all, it's a work shop, not a living quarters. Also, since the floor slab is cast directly on sand, only insulating the slab edges is not going to amount to much. If there were a cellar below the slab, it's the way to go; it's standard practice over here... My big concern is to create problems elsewhere by sealing the concrete floor from the inside. I could envision a scenario, whereby moisture/vapor that normally diffuses through the floor (if this is happening at all...), would then only have the walls on the sides to evaporate. I could see how this - long term - would attack the substance of the walls. Did I get it right, that you used a sealer below the epoxy floor paint? Wouldn't the epoxy be a enough of a sealer? fly safe Hans

Hi group, on my IBIS project website I've added a few pages about what I did to turn a cold double garage into a suitable workshop. So far the walls and ceiling were treated this way. I'm still unsure about how to treat the concrete floor. It's cast directly on the sand and consequently it gets very cold (and I assume it may also diffuse moisture from below). Any ideas what to do about it? take care Hans

Hi Jon, hopefully the number of progress reports will increase! Taking over another project is a great way to get a head start which I hope to be able to leverage now that I finally started renovating my double garage.... It's been too long that I postponed this job... As to your question about those Google ads: for me it's more a matter of learning about them than needing it. My IBIS site is only used to test new concepts before employing them on other sites. To make it not too intrusive, 95% of the pages have but a single block, almost always on the same location. For visitors with rather low resolution displays you might have a point, as the single ad block will show up more prominently above the fold there. I'm either on a 1600x1200 or 1280x1024 display, so it's not taking too much screen real estate. I think I'm going to keep my test-bed, because so far I learned a lot from it. bye Hans

Hi Group, it's time for a progress report: last week I took over a partially completed IBIS project. The French builder (Mr. F. Dulin) had had his project on halt for more than three years. The wood-working part on the fuselage is about three-quarters ready, the same goes for the canard wing. The winglets/directional control surfaces are probably less than 50% ready. The main gear Ash laminate is finished. The main wing is not started yet. Apart from the bottom inside of the fuselage, nothing was covered with plywood yet, so that I still had the chance to inspect everything thoroughly. Apart from the stuff mentioned above, the deal included all the wood need to complete the entire aircraft - main wing including. Still missing in the materials department are the instruments, avionics and engine. Other than that, I pretty much have all I need to complete the ship. I've put some pictures and descriptions on my RJ.03 IBIS homebuilt aircraft web pages, go to 'progress' and check out the sections about the fuselage and the landing gear. I'll add information about the canard wing sometime next week. Enjoy! Hans

Hi Group, out of curiosity, I started to assemble a list of known IBIS completions. If you point your browser to my IBIS homebuilt aircraft project page, you'll find the completions as a submenu under 'nice to know'. Please excuse me for not pointing you directly to the RJ.03 IBIS completions page; sometimes my ISP apparently has intermittent problems with deep linking... The current IBIS completions list is tiny by any measure. It reflects that many builders indeed need quite a few years to complete their project. The list should grow more rapidly now. A case in point is 2006. One maiden flight so far and two more completions that will probably make their maiden flight this year. If these come through, 2006 will have been the best IBIS year to date, showing that momentum is increasing. As I wrote, the list is tiny by any measure; please take into consideration that the European homebuilder scene cannot be compared with the US situation. Take care, fly safe! bye Hans

Hi all, my friend Koen (of Antwerp - Belgium) informed me that he sold his Mignet HM14/360 Flying Flea. The link to the sales page and picture that were used on my fist post - see above - are bound to become unavailable sometime the coming weeks.... bye Hans

Hi group, last week I got confirmation of the fact that an American had had no problem whatsoever to get an existing license transferred to him. JC apparently was very cooperative. So, as long as no new plans are sold into the US, hunting down a stopped project might be the way to go if you intend to build an Ibis. Just a thought. cheers, Hans

Hi Group, since a Flying Flea - like any canard airplane - has two lifting wing surfaces as well, I reckon that I should inform you about a friend of mine selling his Flying Flea. You can read about it on this HM14/360 Pou du Ciel for Sale page... thanks for stopping by Hans

I use PocketFMS with an HP iPaq 5450. It works flawlessly. bye Hans

the user interface is indeed something that I don't like either. Using it on a pocketpc is much easier though... cheers Hans

Hi Group, well, are you? From their website: "PocketFMS is a constantly developing software Flight Management System package for Windows PC's and Pocket PC's, which will assist you with flight planning and during flight execution. Once connected to a GPS receiver, PocketFMS's Moving Map feature will guide you safely through any flight, be it in Europe, Australia, Asia, the US, wherever. Your present position is clearly displayed on the Moving Map, as well as your track, heading, speed, altitude etc. The Moving Map also displays the location of beacons, airports, restricted areas, frequencies, elevations and, basically, anything you select to be displayed." Now get this: IT'S FREE FOR ANYONE TO DOWNLOAD This sounds like a plug for a project created by a fellow Dutchman (and it probably is... ) but hey, I like it... take care & fly safely Hans

Hi, it's taken a bit more that a week , but now the pictures and decription of some of the CNC cut parts are up on my IBIS website. On the main menu, just navigate to 'Building material', then 'Metal & alloy'. enjoy! Hans

Congratulations Adrian! Hans

Hi group, can someone please give me some information on what to look out for when inspecting a DragonFly? Are there common pitfalls to look out for; maintainance issues that often are not dealt with; etc. ? What are the usual telltales that should persuade one to pass on an offer. Any flight behavior that is common with badly built DF's? Any empty weight threshold that tells you this build is 'overdone'? All help appreciated. The reason for my enquiry: I'll be inspecting a DF shortly, one that has been built in the US, and -hardly- been operated in Europe. The ship has only a few hours on it, which makes me rather weary. Why would an experimental that's been around for a few years only be flown for a couple of hours? Also, it has been on the market for more than a year and obviously no one so far touched it. thanks, Hans P.S. no, I'm not quitting my IBIS project, I'm just looking for a temporary solution to a commuting problem I currently have to deal with...

It's extremely unlikely that you'll find someone willing to sell her/his Ibis for two reasons: - the number of completions is still very low, probably in the low teens at the most, with a few first flights about to happen in France. - it's a very economical aircraft to operate. If you'd sell your Ibis, a replacement will likely be less economical. bye Hans

It's done! I have had the sheet metal parts CNC water cut and have them in my 'workshop to be' since this weekend! I'll try to put up pictures of it on http://ibis.experimentals.de/ sometime the coming week. Now I really have to get serious about learning to properly bend sheet metal and weld parts together... Take care!