15/11/13
Interestingly, I was reading an old copy of a PFA magazine the other day, and saw this advert', for our Turb', which was printed several years ago. It was quite a spectacular asking price for a single seater, and with no Permit!! Added to which, it's an interesting place to test run an aircraft, in a hangar, and in front of another aircraft!!
I've also been contacted by a forumite who is another past-owner of G-ARIM, and who also has done some work on her!! He too saw evidence of flight when he bought her, so she's clearly got an interesting history, that nobody actually knows....!
Since finishing the wing covering there have been quite a few bits to do on the fuselage before the fabric could be applied. Firstly, we had to store the wing somewhere dry and safe.
After that, the fusealge needed to have the cockpit area cleaned up and painted in my favourite colour - cockpit green. Note the "Rioja Locka" behind the pilot's head; a perfectly formed and sized storage space for wine, beer, gin and/or toothbrush. Note: this picture has been rotated as the fuselage was on its side when it was taken.
Then, the rudder pedals had to be attached. These had been overhauled beautifully by Sam some time ago, so was mainly a case of bolting on. Note the two metal footplates too, perfectly cut to size.
Following that, that tricky job of calculating where the rudder cables will exit the fuselage had to be worked out. Sam used some clever calcuation and his result came out absolutely spot on, with very little further exit point needing to be sanded/filed in the ply fuselage wall. Had that been me trying to do it, the exit hole would have been larger than a cat flap...
The fusealge fabric was started this morning. I felt a bt guilty as I had to rush out and repair some fencing that a horse had destroyed over the weekend so Sam had to fabric over a curving wooden surface on his own - and a lovely job he did too. We ironed/doped out any imperfections and the other side is now ready for the same tomorrow.
From here, and when the fuselage surface is finished, it's a case of attaching the firewall and instrument panel and sorting out the cable installation for throttle, carb heat, instrument cable drives etc. That will be a case of installing, getting it all sorted, and then temporarily uninstalling while painting takes place.
Several people have asked me how much space is needed for such a project. The answer is, not a lot really. It is amazing how clever you can be with space, and although we have plenty of it, the actual area needed is really quite small, especially for a small aircraft like this.
I've also been asked about costs involved. To be honest, it's hard to say as although we have kept a close tally on what we have spent, we haven't added it up yet. We will do this at the end, and as long as Sam is happy to disclose what has been spent, then I will summarise it if people are interested.
The thing that has amazed me, is how attached one can get to an aircraft when being involved so closely with its creation. I have spent over 20 years poling around the sky in aircraft I have had nothing to do with the construction of. I have never been able to say that I know an aircraft inside out, and have always slightly envied people who do. On this occassion though, I really do feel like she is a creation, rather than just an aircaft if that makes sense.
PS And you thought I was joking about the Rioja Locka...
03/12/13
Fuselage fabric is pretty much finished now, with tapes going on today. It's all looking remarkably aircraft-like now, and getting progressively exciting to see less surface wood, and more surface fabric as the process proceeds.
There are some paperwork matters to deal with now (with the LAA) to finalise the painting method, and I'm hoping this won't take long... In the mean time, we have the panel to sort and the firewall to get installed. Next update pre-Christmas...
Having realised I need to be 12 stone to fly this, I've started my weight loss programme already. 9 lbs in 4 weeks, and with 19 to go. I'd like to get to 11 stone 8, which will allow me to carry full fuel, toothbrush, AND the Rioja, but will see how it goes.