goatherder

I'd use a red Morse (33c?) marine throttle/shifter cable that has been used on boats for many years. Positive actuation of whatever you're trying to actuate and they last a long long time. It might not be the lightest possible part but it works and if you install it right then its done.

Yes - it was Metal Supermarket. I had it wrong. I was after some 316 stainless a while back and talked to them. Also - Alaska Copper & Brass carries non-ferrous metals and probably has that stuff too. We buy alot of alum, stainless and some bronze thru them.

Twice the price, eh? Well I'm not surprised. I have a discount thru them but still they're expensive. The last half of their name is a verb. Metal Superstore in Lakewood (I think) should have Aluminum and 4130. Probably not cheap but available. If they don't have it they can send you in the right direction. I have contact info for the regional distributor for Daib foam (Divinycell) and he's somewhere in the 360 area code so I'm going to call him for where to buy info.

Good to know - I have a Fastenal store 5 min from home. Tacoma Screw also, another fastener supply house. So I can go there for all the critical stuff. I understand about threads in shear and I wouldn't do that. No I wouldn't be drilling the bolts myself - life is too short for things like that. However; looking thru the Long-EZ supply lists on Wicks site I don't recall seeing any drilled bolts shipped in their chapter kits. (Maybe I missed 'em.) So I figured I'd just be making do with nylocks and Locktite.

Yeah, I knew that would stir the pot. I wasn't planning to use bolts from Home Depot. Mcmaster-Carr sells Mil-spec 150,000psi bolts with an "Ultra corrosion resistant" coating that's supposedly many times more corrosion resistant than cadmium plating. They are 1/3 the price of the same size AN bolt at Wicks. Grade 8 bolts are used in high-load applications. They bolt flywheels onto crankshafts for example, bolt the reciprocating internal parts of an engine together, and are used extensively in automobile suspension systems, which routinely see shock loads way in excess what an aircraft will experience in flight. Any system is only as strong as its weakest link...and I'll submit that the 150,000 psi bolt that is holding together your PLASTIC airplane aint gonna be it. But...to each his own. Thats why you have to paint that word on your plane. (the X word)

Thanks for that - my cowlings would be roll-your-own anyway. Yup. I been schemin'...but I probably won't actually have much time at home until sometime next spring. I just want to get my sources together so I know where to go to buy stuff. Preferably sources close to home. These planes are built out of materials that are used in other industries, not just aviation. It stands to reason that there ought to be cheaper sources around. I hate being bent over. I mean - 75 cents for a 2.5" grade 8 bolt? Come on.

Foam Depot. Thats funny. FiberglassSupply.com carries some Divinycell - I don't think they carry 3lb but maybe 5lb. However, the 5lb is alot stronger and the weight penalty vs the 3lb is like 8lbs in a fuse. Maybe a little more with the strakes included. They carry one type of the Hexcell glass too...I think its the 7781. I read in Hexcell's product literature that they came up with a new process which improved the strength properties of their 6781 S-2 glass so much that they started using this same process on their 7781 E-glass and improved the 7781 substantially. I'm going to call these guys and see if they sell more than what they list on their site. Re: Berkut wing plans - where can I get the info needed to do the glasswork properly. Also - its my understanding that Berkut wings are the same dimensions as Long-EZ wings and are interchangeble, no?

Does anybody have a favorite alternative vendor for the following: (Preferably in the Puget Sound or Portland, OR region) Divinycell Foam Dow Pipe Insulation billets Hexcell 7715, 7725, 7781 and 6781 fiberglass West system 703 carbon fiber tape Any info would be appreciated.

Looks like things are coming together nicely. I'd like to come take a gander again in the not too distant future, if possible. I'm up in Victoria right now with a fishing boat in the drydock but I'll be out of here toward the end of next week. I'll give you a shout when I get back. Keep up the good work.

Interesting reading I think. You might not. Gotta read it all the way thru to the end where the test parts were post-cured. http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1135513

Ive already called Ivo. They will not sell you a prop if you're going to hang it on a 4 cylinder direct drive airplane engine. Too much vibration and the power pulses tear up the prop. So Ivo is out for all the conventional Long-EZ engines. We didn't talk about 6 cylinder engines.

I'm off to the Bering Sea for a while to drag up some rent money. Good luck, keep on building and don't be doing any crashing.

Yeah, its a cool powerplant. I especially like the compressed air start - where you can pump it up by hand if you're out in the boonies. If I remember right there are no electronics or really electrics to make the thing run. But for 65 grand it better be cool and innovative. Hell, for 65 grand it ought to take out the trash, change its own oil and give me a B&0#J*% at 20000ft. I think there are better alternatives. Mr Spencer has the right idea. 10 years, 500 hrs and "no appreciable wear". And of course there's that 260hp. Oh, and the 200mph cruise at a loafing 2700rpm. Not to mention the 250mph top speed. Oh, yeah...parts availability - I can get anything I need here in town at Cut Rate Auto Parts.

65 thousand dollars - for a little engine to shove a little airplane. What are they, 200 hp? Thats dikking refukkulous. Where is their market at that price? Hell, I wouldn't buy one (even if I could afford it)...and I'm a pretty serious fan of diesel engines. I am so NOT a fan of overpriced crap...no matter how cool it is. They can keep it. I'd spend 10 or 15 grand for an engine and spend the other 50 on...oh, I don't know...maybe fuel? And also maybe the rent, food, tires, beer,socks, bread, spark plugs, hookers and other miscellaneous expenses people incur on the way thru life. 65 grand. A guy better bring along a box of Kotex if he does any business with those people.

Wings? Got any wings?

And...what'd he say?

Yeah, I saw that airframe on Ebay with the drybread retracts went for 6350. Man was I drooling. If it had been closer I'd have been trying to work some kind of deal...but it was in PA and that's out of range for me right now. Don't want a varieze. Long EZ only.

Here's the bike: http://picasaweb.google.com/oh.u8it2/August200902#5393429681873281682 2002 FLHR carbureted, true dual exhaust, DHD Boomcan mufflers, 150 rear tire w/ new narrow belt and pulley, H-D bucket seat, 1.25" handlebars w/ internal wiring, misc. other chrome crap (but not all tootied up). 20k miles, like new condition. I love the bike...but I wanna get started on this airplane thing...so I guess I'm testing the waters here. Ideal trade would be a long-nose Long EZ airframe in good condition with a few hundred hours in the air.

Is he on this site? I didn't think I'd seen him here.

Ok...what you say makes alot of sense. I can hardly sleep on a bed without that temper foam stuff on it anymore. I didn't really think about bash protection. I'm thinking a layer or two of Kevlar on the bottom of the fuselage might not be a bad plan. Might keep the tree roots out of your nuts if you're sliding....

If you can sculpt and build an ENTIRE PLANE out of foam...why in the world would you pay someone else to sculpt your seats out of foam. Spray on contact cement (3M Super 77 ??) to hook the foam together. and an electric bread knife to carve it up. If you do it yourself you can make it fit your own ass. If you're me you can get your mother-in-law to sew the covers. (I'm very fortunate) For the base layer you could use those kneeling mats they sell at Home Depot. The mattress topper foam could be the top layer, but its pretty soft. (I have 2 of these toppers) THe middle layer I don't know...but I have a foam and fabric store 5 minutes away and they will know. I do know one thing from alot of hours on a motorcycle seat - ASSuming the seat fits your ass...harder foam will give you more support than softer foam will and you'll stay comfortable longer. Seems counterintuitive but its true.

OR - you could mount some pulleys on that shaft, then have them belt drive another set of pulleys mounted on arbors down on the side of the fuselage. On the other end of the arbor shafts you could mount some train wheels...you know, with the pushrods on them? Then you could hinge the wings, hook the pushrods up to them and the wings would flap.

Look at the pictures in the article, you can see what he's done. No magic here. He has an aluminum prop extension bolted directly into the back of the crank, with the flex plate sandwiched in between the extension and crank flange. The thrust bearing inside the engine (on the crank) is taking the load. This has been done on airboats for a long, long time. I assume he's using a forged steel racing crank...some of which are rated for 1500+ hp. Ford Racing no longer sells the aluminum 302 block...all that are available today are 351w, which has a higher deck and I assume weighs a little more. Bare block is 92lbs...and costs $3300 if you shop. You can buy a 4" stroke balanced rotating assembly which will give you 408ci. The tall block allows a 6.2" rod, which gives you really good rod ratio. These things make a ton of torque - PHR did a writeup on one they built and it was making 331hp and 497 ft/lbs at 3500 rpm. This was NOT optimized for low-rpm torque, either - peak hp was 550 @ 6000rpm. If you're only turning 3500 rpm max then you would optimize for low rpm torque and end up with even more. (this is also cheaper)

Here: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=110444187178&viewitem=&sspagename=ADME%3AB%3AWNARL%3AUS%3A1123

I know the european bike community like this brand alot - a set for a KTM 950 is upwards of a grand. Ralley bikes use them in competition. Can't see the packing lasting very long if you blow flame thru it though. Can't see that Roadstar lasting very long either...with those red pipes right next to the engine case. Maybe something like a Borla stainless header muffler or a stainless Flowmaster (which is chambered and has no packing) would work. If you can make it fit.