METALWORK
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Gary Steadman provides what looks to be a very good metal fittings kit for the Flitzer but I am
now in 'scratch-building' mode and will cut it all myself.
IT'S BEGUN!
29th April, started
making the plates for the ends of the carry-throughs from 4130 steel. Fortunately I have access to a
set of bench shears and a linishing machine which made it MUCH easier. I also have access to a plasma
cutter but I didn't really need it for these.
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These are a couple of pics showing STA3 carry through and plates as I get ready to remove them for
painting. The bolts here are just normal 1/4" ones for alignment purposes. I will obviously replace them
with proper AN ones later.
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Here are some shots taken today May 9th 2005. Above left is cutting the slot in the control pylon torque
tube using a vertical mill.
The one on the right shows turning up the wooden handle for the joystick.
Indents for the finger and thumb placements were done by tracing my hand onto the turned blank and then
using a bobbin sander. Yes, I know it's not strictly metalwork, but it does go to the whole metal joystick.
The timber is 'Sheoak' a local Australian species with an interesting grain and lustre. I will post
a pic of it varnished later.
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Well, I'm still waiting for the pulley to arrive, so I cant finish the control pylon off yet. But here
it is above mostly done. I put in the stop bolt to limit backward pressure of the column and I think
I will put in the forward one as well.
Below is the varnished joystick grip in Sheoak.
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As mentioned above, the photo above right is the finished control column/ torque shaft including the
foward stop and pulley - bolts are still hardware type at the moment.
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Made the dashboard today. Cut the shape with a jigsaw and then did the engine turning with the drillpress.
It's very easy to do. Only took an hour and looks quite impressive.
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Here is the grip almost finished -a bit more of a rub back and another coat of sealer should do it.
I decided to make a company fob for the grip with the "Staaken" company 'S' logo on it. Was easy to do
- printed out in Paintshop Pro, cut and mounted onto circular thin brass sheet, a few coats of lacquer,
and you're there! total time was about 1/2 an hour!
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Heelboard aluminium has been 'engine turned' and screwed into place.
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Redesigned the V-Frame twin pulley bracket (my pulleys are a bit larger) and welded the cable guard
into place rather than relying solely on the bolt to hold it straight.
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Drilled for the lower harness restraint brackets and fitted the STA's and their associated metalwork
for the last time.
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Made front and rear fuselage undercarriage fittings. Will paint them tomorrow.
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Here is the cabane on the jig being welded.
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Above are an example of the hinges and the forward fin bracket. I'm thinking of using the eyebolt hinges
instead (even though I spent a fair bit of time making these). These ones are lighter but really hard
to install and align.
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Here is the welding board and the start of the landing gear. And my feet! OOPS!
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Above is the setting up and welding of the Landing gear. Still have the bobbins on the end of the bungee
tube to be welded on.
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Made up some of the aluminium cover for the cabane area today. A little more to do. The press I made
worked well. I might redo this as it looks a bit rudimentary to me. A coat of paint, however, may change
my mind.
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As a test I tried making a press (male/female) out of hardwood on the lathe and tried it with a piece
of thin gauge aluminium. Seems to work well. I will need these bulges in the aluminium panels to go over
the lower cabane mounting brackets/bolt heads.
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Made up the tailwheel bracketry and welded the steering arm on today.
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These are the wing compression rib aluminium brackets. I fabricated them from 1" square tube, drilled
them, cut them out with a bandsaw, and filed them to finish. Not too hard or time consuming.
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You may notice higher up on this page I wasn't that happy with the hinges. I have now changed it and
have kept the larger of the 'C' brackets and replaced the smaller one with an eyebolt. This is a melding
of the designers two hinge designs and means I can easily use nutplates. On the left I am turning up
the brass hinge spacers. On the right is the new hinge.
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Drilling the holes for the turnbuckle replacement straps. Lynn has designed a method of making your
own tensioner for the internal wing drag bracing wires without the cost of turnbuckles. Lots of work
but a significant saving.
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Above and to the side shows the test rig I sent off to be destruction tested this week. It failed at
the copper swages rather than the coated ones at 5.2 Kn or 525 kg. This is more than is required of them
so I'm glad. Lynn's substitute turnbuckle held up well! These are used for the internal wing bracing
- drag and antidrag tensioning.
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On the left is the finished Throttle Arm assembly. The knob is of Western Australian jarrah. Below
is the quadrant section and also the turning and knurling of the friction nut. As I am planning to use
a Jabiru engine with the Bing carb I don't need a mixture control. Total time to scratchbuild - 3 hrs.
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On the left you can see how I made the shrouds for the cable exits on the tailplane and lower wings.
The base has a female mould carved into it and thin gauge aluminium is laid across it and screwed
down with a couple of battens. One batten is missing a screw to allow the aluminium to 'creep' a little
to allow for the extra depth of the shroud at that point.
To avoid leaving dents, the former
was a shaped piece of pine with a leather strop stapled over the end of it. Some creative hitting of
the former with a mallet into the female depression and "voila!" A shroud is born!
Want to
see an example of how it looks finished and fitted? Have a look at the "Empennage" page to see.
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I modified the hand brakes I had on the column and turned them into heel brakes otherwise I would have
arms like Popeye before too long.
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I made my own English Wheel and thought 'well, why not have a go at it - what can I lose?'
It
was a LOT of work to make my own aluminium cowl from scratch with no prior experience.
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Cowl construction/frustrations.
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Finished it! I used a scuffed finish on the cowl and the side covers are natural. I also added a black
mesh (the type for security doors) under the chin area to afford airflow for the oil cooler.
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