the newsletter of the sport aircraft association (auckland ......paul edgars’ sd1 minisport is now...

The newsletter of the Sport Aircraft Association (Auckland Chapter) Inc

www.saaauckland.org.nz

Sport Aviator August 2016

Committee 2016 E X E C U T I V E C O M M I T T E E

President: David Wilkinson 021 468 270

Vice President: Gary Briggs 09 277 9959 021 168 7206

Secretary: Ken Watters 09 535 2435

027 565 9596

Treasurer: Gordon Sanders 09 534 2464

021 266 0585

C O M M I T T E E M E M B E R S Peter Armstrong David Campbell- 09 576 3676 Morrison 021 883 080 09 817 4782 021 946 078

Scott Neill 09 826 5655 027 479 3280

O P E R A T I O N A L P O S I T I O N S Safety Officer Technical Library Norm Bartlett Rob Keith 09 528 0108 09 534 3845 027 611 2153

Tool Library Newsletter Editor Manfred Scherbius Gavin Magill 09 298 0221 09 298 7174 021 0813 6503 027 291 0525

Catering Airspace Users Group Carl Pudney Steve Chilcott 027 430 5303 09 376 3794 021 763 742

T E C H N I C A L M E N T O R S Wood & Fabric Mike Tunnicliffe 09 237 8173 Composites Alistair McLachlan 299 2775 Metal Skin Kevin Paulsen 296 5125 Avionics Liviu Filimon 268 1199

FRONT PAGE Paul Edgars’ SD1 Minisport is now complete and just awaiting painting. Seen here sitting outside its hangar at North Shore airfield.

Contents 2 Committee 2016

3 Presidents Report

4 From the Editor

5 Chapter News

10 Stan Smith Honoured by FAI

11 Red Bull Air Racing at Ascot

12 Industry & Aviation News

13 Mystery Aircraft Quiz

14 In The News & On The Web

15 Upcoming Events

Next Meeting WHEN: Thursday 28th August 2016 WHERE: Auckland Society of Model Engineers Club Rooms Peterson Road, Panmure Basin Mt Wellington

SUBJECTS: DCM to give us a run down on his trip to UK.

SAANZ Auckland Sport Aviator August 2016

3 President’s Report

Another month has slipped by and the days are slowly getting longer.

We have had some great weather over the past week and a few members managed to get to the Hawera Aero Clubs dawn breakfast. There were over 50 aircraft in attendance and a fantastic breakfast was supplied by the club, many thanks.

DCM and I were airborne in the RV8 right on morning civil twilight but we had to wait on the runway threshold until the windscreen demisted. Lloyd Morris and Stu Wards in Lloyd’s Glastar MPO also flew from North Shore with the Kevin and Leanne in their RV PRV flying from Ardmore. On the way back we headed for the central plateau for a scenic and on to Pauanui for lunch.

News from Ardmore is that the latest Mosquito has completed engine runs and the first flight will hopefully be within the next few weeks, so if you are down that way keep an eye out for it.

We are still struggling for guest speakers and will be asking members to speak on building/flying experiences whether good or bad to share with us at the monthly meetings. We would like members to share technical knowledge/techniques and flying experiences that we can all learn from and hopefully keep us safe.

I know a few years ago I had an event at the Barrier on a hot day with a heavy aircraft and no wind that very nearly ended in disaster.

You will be given a few months’ notice to put together a 20 min presentation so don’t panic.

Hope you all have a good week and we will see you all on Thursday night.

Cheers

David

SAANZ Auckland Sport Aviator June 2016

4 From The Editor

Hi Everyone

This month has most definitely raced past for yours truly. Between getting our current house ready for sale and moving stuff from Papakura to our new house in Whitianga, Delys and I have covered a fair few

kilometres in the past couple of weeks. We took possession a couple of weeks ago and I have included a bit of an update and a few photos in the news section on the house. Delys and I are very happy with the result. All we need to do now is sell our place in Papakura. Fingers crossed.

The weather this past week has finally given us a bit of a break with a couple of fine weekends thrown in for good measure. Don and David Wilkinson, DCM and Lloyd Morris made the most of one of the days with a trip to Raglan and produced some great photos from the flight down. Would like to be out there doing a bit of flying myself but I have other priorities to deal with at the moment.

At the last Chapter meeting I noted that the Chapter Scales were due to be tested and I want to offer my thanks to Jon Farmer and Gordon Sanders for stepping in and sorting this out. The scales are now good to go.

Gary Briggs sent me an email this month to say he didn’t have an update to send through as he has spent the month thinking about how he will lay out the ancillary equipment for his Rotax. He did say that it has been a year since the last visit to his home workshop so he is hosting another visit on Saturday 11th of September. Gary will send out a general invite next week with times and details but it would be great to get a good turn-out of the Chapter members.

And speaking of workshop visits, how about we get an invite or two from others in the Chapter who are building. There are plenty of spare weekends between now and Xmas and it would be awesome to see a few more project up close and personal. If you want to host a visit, flick David Wilkinson an email to let him know what day would suit you and he will advise me and I can advertise it.

SAANZ members and magazine subscribers should have received their Winter 2016 Edition of Sport Flying magazine last week. If you didn’t, please let me know so we can chase it along. Excellent cover photo this issue.

Also if you received a reminder letter about paying your subscription, please do so by the end of August as Delys and I need to start putting together the 2016/2017 Membership Directory and printing the membership cards.

On to the Mystery aircraft. Last month’s aircraft was correctly identified by Keith Weale. The Bumble Bee II was built by Robert Starr and had its maiden flight (and crash) on the 8th of May 1988. Mr Starr deserves a medal just for even attempting to fly it.

Barry has sent another mystery aircraft picture for this month. Give it a go.

Enjoy the newsletter. See you Thursday night.

Cheers Gavin


5 Chapter News P R O J E C T U P D A T E

Paul Edgar – SD1 MiniSport By Paul Edgar

[You may recall that Don Wilkinson spotted a project underway at North Shore airfield last year. It was being built by Pal Edgar and he has joined the Chapter at the suggestion of Don Wilkinson.]

Hi, my form is filled and I have paid online, I'm just finishing my SD1 Minisport and am undercoating as soon as the weather turns.

Don Wilkinson suggested I join. I look forward to meeting the members, Regards, Paul Edgar.

M E M B E R N E W S

Gary Briggs– Sonex #1531 By Gary Briggs

I don't have any updates this month, tend to have done a lot of thinking about the engine installation and where to put everything. However, it has been a year since my last workshop visit so I am going to host one on Saturday the 10th of September, hope there are no other conflicting functions. I will send out a general invite next week. my address is "11 Gilford Place, Botany"

M E M B E R N E W S

Pat Sheehan By Pat Sheehan

I have just returned from taking some transition training for the RV in Idaho, I got to see what they get up to in that part of the world: We had a bad owie here in Alaska a few weeks ago, resulting in this remarkable photo. A short, wealthy woman was alone and flying this beautiful Cessna 206. She was attempting a glassy water landing in an ocean bay. She dropped it in from height, bounced 20 feet into the air, added full power, and flew into the large spruce tree shown. Note how it had exploded. The float was torn off the airplane... unbelievable. The airplane then fell nose down into the salt water. A nearby boat pulled the woman out of the airplane. Remarkably, she lived with minor injuries. The whole episode scared the piddle out of the eagle shown just under the nose of the float.



Richard Hood – Pitts Special

By Richard Hood

It might not look like it, but the collection of parts is coming together nicely.

M E M B E R N E W S

Gavin Magill – Hangar House By Hangar House

Delys and I took possession of our new home at Whitianga from the building company on Tuesday the 9th of August. We are very happy with the result and looking forward to moving in and sitting on the deck enjoying the view with tea and scones.

A local contractor shaped the soil in front of the hangar doors to form a ramp up to the level on the hardstand outside the hangar.

I am very pleased with the view out of the hangar doors. The centre mullion unlatches and slides to the left. Because the doors are on remotes we are getting an electrical isolation switch fitted to the top latch so that when it is unlatched the motors for the doors won’t work.

Over the last couple of weekends Delys and I have been making trips over to Whitianga to declutter the garage and house at our place in Papakura in preparation for its sale. As part of this process we also purchased a number of racks and benches from Bunnings as these were on clearance or special. We have purchased seven of the three level racks in the picture below and six of these are installed at Whitianga with one in my hangar at Ardmore. These were on clearance at Bunnings for $70 each. We also purchased six of work benches which will form the new main workbench for my KR2S project. I haven’t figured out yet just how I will transport the KR2S boat stage over to WT. I may need to borrow or hire a large trailer or truck. Amazingly even with the racks and benches installed there is still plenty of room to park the cars and the Zenith once I get it over there.

Looking forward to getting the rest of my tools set up and restarting work on the KR.


7 Chapter News M E M B E R N E W S

David Wilkinson in Fiji By David Wilkinson

Right hand seat of a turbine power DH Otter float plane in FIJI

P R O J E C T U P D A T E

Ken Watters – RV-7 By Ken Watters

This past month I completed the layout of my panel and have been working on the design of the power circuits. Not really much to photograph but I have attached the panel skeleton.

C H A P T E R N E W S

Checking the Chapter Aircraft Scales By Jon Farmer

Until recently Manfred has always looked after checking the Chapter scales but right now he is overseas and it was discovered that they were a month or two past their 're-check' date. Gordon Sanders said that he had some calibrated weights and, as my R80 Tiger Moth is in Gavin's hanger, where the scales are residing, it made it easy for me to uplift them for transport to Gordon's. Before we could find a mutually free day, I emailed Gordon with details and serial number of the scales and he contacted the manufacturer to obtain instructions for re-calibration which we now have on file, if required. When I arrived at Gordon's we laid three load cell pads on the floor and connected them to the display unit (the fourth pad is never used and remains in the tool cabinet) then we piled 7 iron ingots onto each in turn. These 7 ingots were checked out of the foundry on certified scales as being, together, exactly 100 kgs and that was what the display unit read for each pad. As a double check, Gordon had a set of barbell weights which had been weighed on certified scales at Air NZ and each had its weight written on to 3 decimal places of a kilogram. When these barbell weights were placed on each pad in turn, the display unit read the correct weight of 97kgs. As the display only reads out to the nearest 0.5kg the 2nd and 3rd decimal points were a bit superfluous and in practice, the scales read out to +/- 250 grams, about the difference of the pilot having drunk a mug of tea before or after being weighed whilst sitting in the cockpit. Gordon has put a label on the display unit declaring that the next test is required in August 2017 and I have returned the scales to Gavin's hanger. Cheers Jon



Keith Weale – RV-12 By Keith Weale

Building an aircraft is meant to be educational and recreational, and mine certainly ticked both boxes this past month. It started with a third party manufactured main spar that was clearly dimensionally out of spec, bulging by 1.5 mm top and bottom over the length of four wing ribs. I had expectations of having to wait months for a replacement. An afternoon of precision measurements to a tenth of a degree and 0.05 mm reflected itself in a spreadsheet that made its way to Van’s Aircraft support post-haste. A day later the most unexpected reply came back, ‘just bend it right – to the following dimensions,’ which I did (it took three hours), and hey presto a perfect spar.

It’s funny, but the tasks that I agonise over, thinking that they are going to be the most difficult, turn out to be a cinch. Cutting the landing light opening into the all-important leading edge had me on tender hooks for weeks, but it turned out to be a non-event and I am extremely happy with the precision of the result. The same could be said for the glass fibre navigation light extension, which went swimmingly well.

The Plexiglas landing light lens, on the other hand is a nightmare. Multiple blogs describe the agony suffered by RV-12 builders trying all sorts of techniques to get the lens to fit to the profile of the leading edge, which generally result in resorting to heat guns. I, on the other hand, regarded the finesse of a heat gun to be somewhat lacking in temperature control, and could imagine the Plexiglas bubbling and my primer blistering as I applied heat, so decided that Keith would attack the problem more professionally. Yeah right! I came across this very good manual at http://www.plexiglas.com/export/sites/plexiglas/.content/medias/downloads/sheet-docs/plexiglas-forming-manual.pdf which tells you everything about forming Plexiglas. I reckoned that that the supplied piece of Plexiglas just needed to be bent outwards a bit to fit my pencil tracing of the wing profile. I tried a piece of scrap Plexiglas in the oven at the recommended 145°C and to my horror it came out as limp as a piece of spaghetti, so I tried a lower temperature at 130°C. It was soft, but not soft enough.

Forcing the Plexiglas to bend at 130°C would be classed as cold forming with the inherent problem of inducing internal stresses in the Plexiglas. So I made a thing out of wood with special grooves that would hold the lens in place at the correct dimension, and placed it in the oven. Nothing happened at 135°C, so I upped it to 140°C, and at once I could see the lens was slumping in the wrong direction making a worse fit. Back to the drawing board I went, and made another wooden thing that could press the lens to the shape of the leading edge from the inside of the wing, with comfortable handle and all. That didn’t work, as the working time at my garage ambient winter temperature is about 6 seconds, which is too short to get from the kitchen to the garage and the lens into the wing. More cold forming would result. The thing made out of wood then morphed into what could clearly be mistaken for a bird feeder. This is when the tables turned. I heated the lens and bird feeder to 145°C (the correct temperature) together in the oven, removed both and stroked my mittened hands over the Plexiglas to keep it in contact with the form while it slowly cooled, then removed it from the form at 50°C and had the perfect fit. Educational – yes, recreational – well the Olympics had to take second place, except for watching our girls and boys perform so well.


9 Chapter News M E M B E R N E W S

Big Day Out to Raglan By Don & David Wilkinson

Don and David sent me these photos of their flight down to Raglan for the day. Looks like it was a picture perfect day for flying.

Even Spike got to go for a ride for the day.


10 Stan Smith Honoured by FAI Robin Hickman spotted this article in the July 26th issue of the Rodney Times News about SAANZ Life Member Stan Smith being honoured by FAI for his contributions to aviation. Congratulations to Stan on receiving this honour.


11 Red Bull Air Racing at Ascot A V I A T I O N S P O R T S

Red Bull Air Racing at Ascot By Bill Sisley

SAANZ President Bill Sisley is currently in the UK on holiday and while there managed to get to Ascot to see the Red Bull Air Racing. He sent these pictures and I also found a video link which gives a very good idea of the course and what was happening.

Below is the link to the online video. Well worth watching. Would love to see this come to NZ or even Aussie. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PME5NCQyMwg


12 Industry & Aviation News I N T E R E S T I N G R E A D I N G

Dopes & Paints Comparison By Jeff Scott via KRnet

[Jeff Scott is a US based KR builder and A&P who contributes to the KRNet email list. - Gavin]

I supervised the recovering of both a Taylorcraft and a TriPacer with Stewarts system in the last few years. I have to say, the TriPacer came out exceptionally nice as the owner also put a lot of $$ and work into it besides just the cover. But the Stewart system is simple and relatively easy to do if you follow their instructions. I didn't care for the cost of the Stewart systems, but otherwise I thought it was a good covering system.

I have also covered using the Nitrate/Butyrate, and Polyfiber systems. All of them work well, although the Stewarts system is significantly less toxic to work with.

I have also done quite a bit of paint work as well, although I don't consider myself to be anywhere near a "professional" quality painter. However, I have used a lot of different types of paints. Stewarts would not be at the top of my list of paints that I would use on wood and/or glass. However, I do understand using it because of the lower toxicity. I'll write my evaluation of the various types of paints below based on the last 20 years of painting planes and cars, some of which came out really good, and some of which didn't.

All of these paints must be used with either a fresh air source into a hood, or a chemical and particulate respirator along with an adequate quantity of fresh air.

Acrylic Enamel - The first professional paint I ever used. I found it to be easy to spray as long as you were close to the recommended temperatures, but found that once cured, it chips quite easily and tends to be pretty brittle, so touch ups and repaints are in your future if you use it. Also pretty toxic stuff.

PolyUrethane - Can be difficult to paint. Loves to "Orange Peel" if anything is less than perfect for conditions. But leaves a gorgeous finish in the event you get everything right. Sticks to darned near

anything. Is also pretty flexible as I have shot this on top of dope and fabric and haven't seen any kind of significant cracking after 5 years of service. Probably one of the most toxic paints you can use. Also, many PolyUrethane paints are quite expensive >$300/gal. (I found the overspray from PolyUrethane stuck to my next door neighbors $150K Cirrus very nicely, which was a lot of work for us to clean back to "new" condition).

Base Coat (urethane) / Clear Coat (PolyUrethane) - The Urethane Base coat is so easy it's like spraying primer. You get spoiled by shooting the base coat. Then you spray the clear coat. Well, it's clear, so takes really good lighting to be able to see how you're spraying. Like the PolyUrethane above, it loves to "Orange Peel" and is really easy to get runs and sags since it's clear and you can't see it. Also, since it is a PolyUrethane, it's pretty darned toxic. However, you can lightly sand and polish out the runs, sags and orange peel to make it look good.

Acrylic Urethane - My current favorite. Sprays easy like Acrylic Enamel. Even uses the same catalyst. But is much more flexible when cured, and seems to be as tough and durable as PolyUrethane. This paint seems to have the good qualities of spraying easy like Acrylic Enamel with the shine, durability, and flexibility of PolyUrethane. But, it's still high on the toxicity scale. This is what I recommend for amateur painters like myself as I get good results with a shiny durable finish without the need for a paint booth and superior lighting.

Stewarts Acrylic Urethane - You want to follow the directions to the letter including prep work. No short cuts. If you stay within their directions, it paints reasonably well and will give you a good finish. It's used over fabric, so is clearly flexible and has reasonable durability. Stewarts is the least toxic of all of these paints and there is a lot to be said for using water as your reducer and for clean up rather than chemicals that like to attack your liver when inhaled or exposed to your skin.

Jeff Scott


13 Mystery Aircraft Quiz b y B a r r y G i l l i n g w a t e r Barry Gillingwater has sent us another interesting aircraft for you to try an identify. Email your answer to the editor at [email protected] before the next Chapter meeting and the first person to get the correct answer will earn a chocolate fish prize. Note you will need to turn up to the meeting to collect your prize.


14 In The News & On The Web O N T H E W E B

Bugatti 100P Replica Crash From Gavin Magill Sadly, the Bugatti 100P replica aircraft crashed on August 6th killing its pilot Scotty Wilson and destroying the aircraft. http://kfor.com/2016/08/06/historic-replica-airplane-the-bugatti-100p-crashes-near-burns-flat-pilot-and-designer-scotty-wilson-dies/

O N T H E W E B

Low Flying Water bomber From Gavin Magill Amazing pictures of a French water bomber doing an extremely low approach “through” spectators to land in a lake. Scary stuff. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3737850/Now-S-low-flying-aircraft-Amazing-picture-shows-pedestrians-dive-lives-water-bombing-plane-flies-refill-fight-against-French-forest-fires.html

O N T H E W E B

Whenuapai WWII Crashes From Nev Hay An interesting history of Whenuapai crashes and incidents during WW2. Whenuapai wartime crashes, revisited http://timespanner.blogspot.co.nz/2010/09/whenuapai-wartime-crashes-revisited.html

O N T H E W E B

707 Low Pass From Keith Weale Thank goodness for ground effect. Take a look at this video on YouTube: https://youtu.be/igF1X48ddWA


15 Upcoming Events b y G o r d o n S a n d e r s

Chapter Events 2016 Aug 25

Chapter Monthly Meeting Normal venue and time. 7.30 p.m. at the Auckland Society of Model Engineers clubrooms, Petersen Dr, Panmure Basin

Aviation Calendar 2016 2016 Every Sat

Dargaville Aero Club The place is buzzing every Sat, wet or fine, windy or calm, and the catered lunch at 12.30 is good value, just don’t be late! Club website is http://dargavilleac.weebly.com/. If going as a group, please ring in advance so the cook expects you. Ph. Murray 027-478 4308 or club house on 09-439 8024.

3rdSun Month

Turangi Aero Club Fly-In All welcome for a BBQ lunch. Contact Tony on 027-453 3740

Sept 10-11

Bridge Pa Taildragger Day Bridge Pa, Hastings Fly to Bridge Pa for a great weekend. Contact Hawke’s Bay & East Coast Aero Club CFI [email protected] or [email protected]

Sep 30 Oct 2

75 Squadron Assn NZ Biennial Reunion, Tauranga. Celebrating 100 years since 75(HD) Squadron RFC was formed in 1916. Calling all personnel who have worked on the squadron. For information and registration contact secretary Glen Turner. Ph: 021 732 835 E: [email protected]

Oct 14-15

Tiger Moth Club Spring Fly-In Taumarunui Annual welcome to decent flying weather and return to the club’s roots 47 years ago at magnificent grass aerodrome, some flying competitions. Contact Graeme Wood on 027 2932318 or [email protected]

Oct 15-16

South Island Akro Fest Omaka, Blenheim Theme: 70 years of the DHC-1 Chipmunk. Recreational and intermediate known, unknown and free programmes plus freestyle routines. All DH types welcome. Contact Andrew Love [email protected]

Aviation Calendar 2017

2017 Jan 28

Stratford Aero Club Sports Flyers 85th Birthday Celebrations. Stratford Airfield, Stratford Note change of date. Contact Nick Furmage Ph:020 40428854 or [email protected]

Feb 04-06

Great Plains Fly-In Ashburton Airfield, Ashburton The Ashburton Aviation Museum is again hosting the SAANZ bi-annual Great Plains Fly-In at Ashburton Airfield over Waitangi Weekend 2017. Details will be published on the SAANZ events page when available. Put in your leave application for the dates.

Feb 11-12

Healthy Bastards Bush Pilot Champs Omaka Aerodrome, Blenheim Contact Craig Anderson Ph: 029 890 4910 E [email protected]

Feb 17-19

Wings over Wairarapa Hood Aerodrome, Masterton Full info at www.wings.org.nz

Feb 24-26

RNZAF Air Tattoo RNZAF Base Ohakea Celebrating 80 years of service. More info at http://www.nzdf.mil.nz/news/media-releases/2015/20151118-afbasttm.htm

Mar 03-05

Tiger Moth Club AGM Fly-In Omarama Annual summer fly-in, competitions, annual dinner, AGM. Contact secretary Graeme Wood on 027-293 2318 or [email protected]

Apr 14-16

Classic Fighters Airshow - Omaka Omaka Airfield Includes Knights of the Sky Great War Exhibition. More info at: http://www.omaka.org.nz/ when the web site is updated -

If members are aware of other events that could be of interest to others, please pass the details to Gordon Sanders - [email protected].


the newsletter of the sport aircraft association (auckland ......paul edgars’ sd1 minisport is now...

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