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Old 2nd Jan 2009, 07:51
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MasterGreen
 
Join Date: Feb 2000
Location: New Zealand
Age: 73
Posts: 120
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T51 Update - heavy going on the tailplane

The tail feathers have caused a lot of work - there was a lot to do getting the elevators properly setup and balanced, but that is now done. The fuselage skinning is now proceeding reasonably well. This one and the B787 is going to be a race to flight test I guess. But remember building one of these is a journey - not a destination. When it is actually finished we may have to fly it and I am not sure if I can watch so much work get airborne without having a little lay down....

As an aside I brought myself an Avid Speedwing to use as the syndicate tailwheel trainer. This is a very useful machine. It is more than demanding enough to be an excellent TW revision aircraft, and is cheap to run (and buy). Actually it is a little bitch to fly nicely - hence the name - the Wattle Witch.

There are some ongoing cooling problems with the new 582 setup that I have identified as a mistake in the original cooling circuit that allow the RH radiator to vapour lock on climb out. I have just ripped all the hoses off her and tomorrow she gets a new cooling setup that will have the wet stuff going around in the correct direction. It is a wonder that she ever got 204 hours in her previous life with this setup, maybe the new engine is more demanding on the cooling capacity. Anyway there is nothing too hard here and it is a nice change to work on a live one

There are some photos here with explanatory captions :

Picasa Web Albums - Ken - The Wattle Wi...

MG
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