the newsletter of the sport aircraft association (auckland ... · the newsletter of the sport...

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

www.saaauckland.org.nz

Sport Aviator February 2017

http://www.saaauckland.org.nz/

Committee 2016/17 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 07 866 0625

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

Ivan Campbell in his Supermarine Mk.26b Spitfire at Great Plains 2017. Photo courtesy of Ashburton Aviation Museum.

Contents 2 Committee 2016/17

3 Presidents Report

4 From the Editor

5 Chapter News

9 Using the Chapter Prop Balancer

11 Ashburton in the Right Hand Seat

13 Great Plains 2017

15 RV Seminar Whitianga

18 Mystery Aircraft

19 In the News & On the Web

20 Upcoming Events

Next Meeting WHEN: Thursday 23rd February 2017

WHERE: Auckland Society of Model

Engineers Club Rooms Peterson Road, Panmure Basin Mt Wellington

SPEAKERS: Brent Hempel Brent will be speaking about

ferrying a PAC 750 XL from Auckland to the Middle East and the some of the interesting

experiences he had.

SAANZ Auckland Sport Aviator February 2017

3 President’s Report

Another month has literally flown by and the Great Plains fly in is done and dusted for 2017. For those of you that travelled to Ashburton I trust you had a great time. Personally, I flew just over 10 hours and saw some of the South Island that I hadn’t seen before including the Clarence river and Banks Peninsula in detail.

I also landed at Tekapo where the airfield is 2500 feet AMSL, the temp was 28 degrees C and there was no wind. A very interesting take off where I used most of the 800 meters available, something for us all to think about on these warm summer days.

Congrats to Gordon Lindsay on being awarded his wings certificate for his Corby, I understand he has flown approximately 12 hours in it now. Well Done.

There was a minor incident on the ground at Ashburton between two aircraft where one was extensively damaged. A good reminder that everyone should be carrying public liability insurance as a minimum as accidents do happen and without insurance this can be very costly for the party at fault.

Many thanks to the group at the Ashburton Aviation Museum for hosting us it is much appreciated.

Our Guest Speaker this month is Brent Hempel who ferried a PAC 750 from Auckland to the Middle East. I have already heard a few stories from his trip including a complete engine failure on the ground while taxing for take-off before an 800 mile overwater leg…. He reckons the flames going past his window wasn’t very cool….

I’m making slow progress on the One Design and hopefully will have it back home in the next few weeks where I can get more work done on it.

That enough from me, see if you can make Thursday night as Brent’s talk will be very interesting.

Cheers

David


4 From the Editor

Hi Everyone

Another very busy month around the region with lots

of successful events being held by various local SAA and Microlight clubs. We

have been spoilt for choice with the number and

variety of events to attend.

Of course the major event for SAA was the

Great Plains fly-in at Ashburton. It was great to see an excellent turn out from the

Auckland Chapter. I cannot say enough good things about the folks at the Ashburton Aviation Museum who do such an amazing job

of organising and hosting the Great Plains fly-in every two years. They are welcoming and

friendly to everyone and make Great Plains such an amazing event. On top of this they also have an incredible Museum which alone

is worth the effort to go and see. If you haven’t yet, then I would highly recommend a

trip south to make the pilgrimage to this event. I have included a photo spread later in the newsletter from Great Plains this year plus

an excellent article from Jon Farmer of his trip south with Evan Wheeler. The number of

photos isn’t huge however as I don’t want to take too much away from the upcoming Summer edition of Sport Flying magazine.

Apart than Great Plains, the list of other events happening in and around our region

has been amazing with at one least event every weekend. There have been fly-ins at

Waihi Beach hosted by the SAA BOP Chapter, at the North Shore airfield hosted by the Northern Microlight Club, at Leo John’s Mata

strip near Whangarei also hosted by the NMC. There was the Te Kowhai Country Market &

Community Day which was supported by the SAA Waikato Chapter and the RV Seminar held at Whitianga and hosted by the Jim

Evans and the Mercury Bay Aero Club.

Apart from Great Plains, I also managed to

get to the RV Seminar held at Whitianga. Jim Evans did a great job putting this event together and it was well attended. The main

speaker at the event was Wally Anderson from Synergy Air in the US whose company

builds RV-12’s for Van’s aircraft. Synergy Air is a RV aircraft builders training and support facility that Wally set up specifically to assist

new RV builders but which has now grown into

a much bigger company building RV-12’s for Van’s and also RV-12 quick build kits. Wally

came across as a genuinely nice guy and was very generous about sharing the knowledge he and his team have accumulated with

building the RV-12’s. I managed to take some notes from the seminar and have included the

hints and tips he presented.

The mystery aircraft for January was correctly identified by Warren Sly as the Douglas XT3D

Torpedo Bomber. Wikipedia tells us. “The XT3D torpedo bomber

was first flown in 1931. Of metal construction with a fabric covering the XT3D had folding wings and an arrestor hook for carrier

operation. The XT3D had three open cockpits, forward for the gunner/bomb-aimer, centre for

the pilot, rear for another gunner. The XT3D failed to meet the Navy's requirements and after tests was returned to Douglas. It was

modified with a more powerful Pratt & Whitney engine, wheel fairings and the two rear

cockpits were enclosed. Re-designated XT3D-2, it still failed to pass Navy trials and was not ordered into production. The prototype was

used by the Navy for general purpose use until it was relegated to an instructional airframe in

1941.”

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

Ian Chapman – Van’s RV6

By Ian Chapman

Here are some photos of my Vans RV6 project you may want to include in the chapter newsletter

It was started in July 1994 so it easily qualifies as a slow build kit!

Engine is a Lycoming 0320 with Sensenich fixed pitch metal propeller

All painting is now completed with Dupont

Imron 700 polyurethane enamel

The instrument panel is stream gauge as

this was done some time ago.

Time to get it to Ardmore for assembly.

Any recommendations from members on transporting the fuselage would be welcome.

Late last year I started flying again after 10 years since doing a BFR.

In December I did the BFR and am now the holder of a RPL.


David Wilkinson– DR 107

By David Wilkinson

Tail on DR107.

M E M B E R N E W S

DCM – How many grandchildren will fit in a Tomahawk?

By David Campbell Morrison

Spent all day taking grandchildren for a flight around Auckland, a long awaited

promise from Xmas. (One at a time except for youngest, he will have to wait a couple of years.)


6 Chapter News

M E M B E R N E W S

Keith Morris – Jodel D9

By Keith Morris

A bit of news from me at the following link: http://nzcivair.blogspot.co.nz/2017/02/jodel-d-

9-zk-kmm-at-taumarunui-5-2-2017.html

I have now purchased ZK-KMM back, 33 years after it first flew and 43 years since I started building it.

Sunday 5/2/17 was an amazing day for flying at Taumarunui and a perfect day for

me to fly my Jodel D 9 ZK-KMM for the first time - 33 years after it had first flown!

First thing, open up the hangar.

Previous owner Howard Bradley has re-named Jodie as Honey Bebe.

Howard helping me strap in.

Good to go!

Taxying for take-off on Runway 19.

And airborne!

What a feeling as we rose above the hills to a magnificent vista of the mountains!

ZK-KMM (AACA 283) has now flown 935

hours which must put it among the higher hour original VW powered AACA Amateur

Built Aircraft. It is now registered as a Class 1 microlight and is still pretty original.

Thanks to everyone who has helped me

along with this adventure.


http://nzcivair.blogspot.co.nz/2017/02/jodel-d-9-zk-kmm-at-taumarunui-5-2-2017.html

http://nzcivair.blogspot.co.nz/2017/02/jodel-d-9-zk-kmm-at-taumarunui-5-2-2017.html

7 Chapter News


Pete Walton – Fokker DR1 Tri-Plane

By Gavin Magill

A couple of photos of Pete Walton’s Fokker Triplane taken on the day of the RV Seminar at Whitianga.

Pete is progressing the build quite quickly.

M E M B E R N E W S

AOPA Web Cams

By David Wilkinson

AOPA Web Cams now available.

http://www.aopawebcams.co.nz/

Two more WX Cams from Nev - UN NTH and STH

https://www.niwa.co.nz/our-science/coasts/tools-

and-resources/cam-era/pauanui-south

https://www.niwa.co.nz/our-science/coasts/tools-

and-resources/cam-era/pauanui-north

M E M B E R N E W S

Julian Coles & Keith Weale

By David Wilkinson


http://www.aopawebcams.co.nz/

https://www.niwa.co.nz/our-science/coasts/tools-and-resources/cam-era/pauanui-south

https://www.niwa.co.nz/our-science/coasts/tools-and-resources/cam-era/pauanui-south

https://www.niwa.co.nz/our-science/coasts/tools-and-resources/cam-era/pauanui-north

https://www.niwa.co.nz/our-science/coasts/tools-and-resources/cam-era/pauanui-north

8 Chapter News


Pat Sheehan – RV 9A

By Pat Sheehan

I note from my correspondence it’s been around 12 months since I updated you on this build. That’s almost 6 years since

conception which is 20% over on time. If I get that good on the money side I will be

well contented. So what’s happened in 12 months?

Went through the painting process which

was not one of my preferred skill sets, just the cowl to do then I can dismantle the tent

and get my space back.

Reached the engine mounting milestone. A

standard 0-320 FP but will run P Mags and a second Alternator.

The undercarriage went on without any problems, fitted a couple of mods to the training wheel which should assist with

setup and maintenance.

Currently working on the Cowl, once fitted,

there is only the baffles, (oh yeah - and the prop, wheel fairings, control sticks, ELT, dimmers, EMS sensors, oil cooler, antenna,

coffee mug holders ) to go then I can start on by 87 item final assembly checklist

schedule.

So what’s that - another 12 months? Just enough time for another builders report.



M E M B E R N E W S

Using the Chapter Prop Balancer

By Pete Walton

When I saw that our club had purchased a new DynaVibe prop balancer, I thought yep, I should give that a go.

Julian kindly dropped it off to my hanger, and I had already spend a bit of time down

loading and reading the manual on-line and also watching a few YouTube clips on how to use the balancer.

The DynaVibe comprises three units. An accelerometer that the book says should

be mounted perpendicular to the piston travel, an optical tach that needs to be

mounted so it can shine onto the spinner back plate or prop, and the head unit that the accelerometer and tach plug into, via

long cables.

Sounds pretty simple so far.

I mounted the accelerometer directly onto the block of the Suzuki V6 engine powering my Titan Mustang, and mounted the tach

through the forward bulkhead so it shines onto the inner ends of the prop blades. I

applied the correct length of tape onto one blade, making that blade the “master” blade. Real straight forward eh!

Original mounting position of the accelerometer on

the left. Also the tach and reflective tape positions

can be seen

Well it was not to be. I tied the Mustang to my Ranger Ute, and did a few run ups,

noting the readings. Bugger me, they were all over the place. I removed the prop

spinner, thinking that there must be some movement in that. Jeez, still all over the place.

I got onto the “manufacturer” in the US

although it is probably made in China. After a dozen or so emails, it was decided that

the accelerometer should be mounted onto of the re-drive and very close to the prop. They even send a picture of a Suzuki V6

with an AutoFlight redrive just like mine, with an arrow pointing to the suggested

new location. 10 points for assistance. At this point Warren Sly joined the crew, and he suggested shortening the bracket right

down and making a bit of a question mark shape to it to reduce harmonics.

Success. We were now getting consistent readings!

Final position of the accelerometer. Note the very

short bracket

We started doing four runs then analysing

the results. The unit produces an “inches per second” reading which gives an

indication of the weight required and a number of degrees from where the accelerometer is mounted, once the master

blade is lined up with the tach light.

Typical reading, showing prop rpm, Intensity of

vibration in inches per second and position to

remove weight in degrees



M E M B E R N E W S

Using the Chapter Prop Balancer - Cont

By Pete Walton

This is the heavy spot, which means you need to remove weight from that location, BUT typically means you add a weight 180

degrees from this point. Sounds a bit complicated but isn’t really.

I started by balancing the prop without the spinner attached to see how far out the prop/spinner backing plate assembly was.

We then refitted the spinner, making sure it had no movement in it and started again.

This was much easier initially as the spinner is held on with sixteen screws pretty much

equidistance around the trailing edge of the spinner. Due to the consistency of the readings, we moved to doing two run ups

then making a change. Once we got the weight close, we could move it radially to

another spinner mounting screw, looking for an improvement. Then we would remove the spinner and mount that weight onto the

spinner back plate using an AN3 bolt with a nylock nut. We used AN3 sized washers as

per the picture.

AN3 sized washers used for balance weights

The little ones don’t weight much when you take into account the Mustangs prop is four blades and 84 inches in diameter. OK just

over 2.1 meters!

Let’s cut to the chase!

We did ninety four runs after we got consistent readings. Ninety bloody four! Warren and I spent over twelve hours each

over two days. No we are not going to get into the prop balancing business but we are

happy to share what we learnt.

Lessons learnt:

Keep your accelerometer bracket as short and as rigid as possible. If the readings are

not consistent, stop and sort that out.

On a V6 with a re-drive it needs to go close to the prop. Probably every engine needs

this?

The tach worked fine mounted about 200

mm back from the prop. There is a chart showing how long the reflective tape needs to be based on where it is mounted.

Add weight slowly. In the beginning we kept adding too much which just confused us.

The rpm the test is done at must be consistent each time. This also confused us at the start and was not clearly noted in the

instructions.

We finished with the small washers. They

weight nothing, but make a difference.

We never got closer than 0.07 IPS which is into the “GOOD” range but I had been

hoping for 0.04IPS which is EXCELLENT.

Although I approached this to have a play

rather than thinking I had an issue, the engine certainly feels much smoother.

Thanks to Warren for being such a help.



M E M B E R N E W S

Ashburton in the Right Hand Seat of a Murphy Rebel

By Jon Farmer

Evan and I had ZK-WEM all fuelled up with luggage stowed by 8am on Friday 3rd February but it was raining with poor

visibility and so we waited. After lunch we drove up Pukekohe hill to check visibility on

the West Coast and found that it was improving. In the end we took off at 3pm and headed down the West Coast into an

increasing SW wind, through the Stratford Gap to Whanganui where the wind was

20kts gusting 30kts. As it was now 5pm we tied the aircraft down for the night and after

a chat with the duty instructor at the Aero Club decided to spend the night on their settees. This was a good arrangement as

we could keep an eye on the aircraft in the gusty wind and we were on the spot for an

early start. A pilot who had just flown in in a Cherokee overheard us asking about a taxi into town and said his wife would be

out in ten minutes and we could have a lift. He turned out to be a doctor, with IFR

rating who commuted to Wellington. his car was a new Land Rover Discovery and his personable wife was either a nurse or

doctor at Whanganui hospital. They dropped us at the Rutland Arms Inn where the very

nice meal with drinks cost almost as much as a night in a moderate motel!!

Saturday morning we were on our way by

8am into a stiff SW wind, through the inactive bombing range and past

Paraparaumu with a brief chat to Flight Service. Later we were heading into the Cook Strait and requesting SAR watch from

Wellington. They advised that a number of aircraft were heading to the ' Healthy

Bastards' comps at Omaka. Later we heard that the gusty 40 knot SW winds had caused the comp's cancellation.

The trip across to Cape Campbell was slow but relatively smooth, however, as we

rounded the cape it started to get very turbulent. We noted the airstrip and could see whole reefs that had risen out of the

sea and later some of the slips one of which was so massive that it's no wonder there is

an estimate of a year to clear it.

Big slip Ohau Pt.

Two locos trapped between slips were

'mothballed' in white plastic but there was no sign of the wagons.

We landed at Kaikoura for a rest from the turbulence, fuel and coffee and had a chat

with one of the Whale Watch pilots who was quite chuffed having just shown his passengers seven wales on the one flight.

Kaikoura Refuelling

After Kaikoura the turbulence was so severe that we went some two miles out to sea where it was much smoother. Eventually

we flew up Lyttelton harbour and out onto the great flat expanse of the Canterbury

Plains landing at Ashburton around 2pm for a late lunch.

David, DCM and myself ended up sleeping

together in a small bunkroom which was not ideal as DCM snored (gently?) and David

created a small earthquake when he turned over. The second night DCM had returned to Auckland but he bequeathed his pillow to

me however that caused me to sleep (pass out after 2/3rds of a bottle of Merlot!!!) with

my chin on my chest and snore (not so gently!!).



David was a bit annoyed by this and came

down from the top bunk to remove the bottom pillow. When this didn't stop my

snoring he was very tempted to use the spare pillow to suffocate me!!!!

The Fly-in was a great success with around 75 aircraft and some 150 people registered.

Ashburton Aviation Museum volunteers were fantastic providing food and drinks

including an evening meal on Saturday and a 'Gala Dinner' on the Sunday. All of their museum was open for us to wander round

and many of the aircraft had steps to enable people to look into the cockpits. A

lot of time was spent wandering round the homebuilt aircraft that had flown in, and chatting to the builders. The SAA AGM was

held on Saturday evening and during Sunday there was a seminar on aircraft

engines by Phil Kennedy. On Sunday we flew round Banks Peninsula in company

with two other aircraft one of which was flown by a topdressing pilot. He not only led us round Akaroa Harbour where a massive

'floating hotel' was anchored but pointed out several topdressing strips on the ridges.

Monday morning, after a cooked breakfast,

we set off home the way we had come down, except this time we tried keeping close in, around 100m, to the cliffs in an

attempt to avoid the turbulence but it was in vain and we had a very rough trip to

Kaikoura. Probably you need to be a lot closer in than we were prepared to go but not ZK- WLK who caught us up and

swooped past between us and the cliffs!!!! After fuelling and a coffee at Kaikoura we

carried on North and took the inland route over Ward and lake Grassmere hoping it would be calmer than going round Cape

Campbell.

All we did was save a few miles but it was still quite turbulent. Heading out into Cooks

Strait on a direct course for Cape Terawhiti the wind was 20 to 30 knots right on the

nose which made for a very slow crossing but not too turbulent. Low cloud obscured the North Island and we kept one eye over

our shoulder on the South Island which was still visible. We checked in with Wellington

Control and were told by a South bound aircraft that we might get through at 800 feet.

In the end we were at 500 feet sneaking

through to Cape Terawhiti then following the surf line up the coast with the cliff tops

in cloud. It had cleared by the time we reached Whanganui where we fuelled and had a coffee.

Approaching Hawera the visibility was

decreasing with low cloud ahead although we glimpsed the peak of Mount Egmont at

one stage. Through the Stratford gap we were forced further and further East by low cloud rolling in from the coast although we

had two 'outs' as the base of Mount Ruapehu was visible and we knew the cloud

layer was thin with the Sun shining through at times and the occasional hole showing blue sky. After a while Mount Pirongia

showed up then Mount Karioi at Raglan and we had a good run then to Patumahoe,

arriving about 5pm. Quite an adventure with around 11 hours flying time over the

weekend.

PS. Yes, I did have a camera with me but no, I never took it out of its case !!!!

PPS. Evan had replaced both of his lovely old unreliable magnetos in ZK-WEM with electronic units. These are not much larger

than the distributor caps of the old magnetos and bolt straight on to the

accessory case in place of them. They need 12 Volts at startup but once the engine is running, they are self energised. An adaptor

is screwed into each spark plug hole which takes automotive type spark plugs. The

engine started first time every time on our trip and ran smooth as silk. Yeah !! for electronic ignition !!!!



The following are a selection of photos from

Great Plains 2017.

ZK-WLK over the Clarence river

ZK-TOY over the Southern Alps

FRIDAY

John Hansen’s Hansen Deuce ZK-JFH. John aircraft

was selected as Grand Champion for 2017

Murphy Rebel ZK-DBH and some admirers

Don speaking with Noel Bailey and Neil McHugh

owner of Just Highlander ZK-MCQ behind.

ZK-AST, ZK-WLK & ZK-TOY

David Wilkinson and Paul Carran

Aircraft parking and camping.



SATURDAY

David landing after aerobatics competition.

Simmonds Spartan ZK-ABK

Ivan Campbells Supermarine Mk26b Spitfire

SUNDAY

Lincoln Sport ZK-BMV

Evan Wheeler taxing in.

Russell Brodie’s Tiger Moth provides shade.

Tony Schischka in his Thorp T18.

Kevin and Leanne Paulsen flew in Saturday and

out again on Sunday afternoon.


15 RV Seminar at Whitianga

I managed to get along to the RV Seminar

hosted by Jim Evans at Whitianga on Saturday the 11th Feb. Jim had arranged a

number of presentations at the seminar.

The first was by Doug Kertell & Rob Fisher from Superior Air Parts who supply the

Superior XP series and ICP engines as well as parts to NZ.

The second was by Wally Anderson from Synergy Air whose company builds RV-12’s for Vans aircraft.

The third was from Pat Coleman of Garmin out of the Garmin Sydney office.

The following is a summary of the first two as these presentations.

Doug Kertell & Rob Fisher – Superior

Air Parts Doug is based in Auckland, Rob manages

the Sydney office. Background. Jim Evans and Doug started Superior Air Arts in NZ in 1984. Got going in 85/86. The 87 crunch

caused Ausy branch to close. Superior US then asked Jim & Doug to take over

distribution. US Superior went into Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 1993, recovered but then went into Chapter 11

again in 1996 before folding. NZ Superior kept going and was sold in 2002 with the

deal for Doug to stay on for a bit. He is still there.

Superior carries 18-19 thousand line items. Orders are taken by Australian office but

pick lists are printed in Auckland and orders fulfilled and distributed from Auckland. Back

orders come from Australia every Friday.

Superior sell the XP Series of engines which

are Lycoming copies. Models are XP320, XP360 & XP400. Kitsets sell for US$22K.

Built up engines for US$24K.

They also sell ECI engines. ECI are bringing to market a 540hp engine for experimental

category.

Superior are currently investigating

distributing the Gemini Diesel engine. This is a 6 piston, 3 cylinder engine with three pairs of horizontally opposed pistons.

http://www.geminidiesel.aero/index.php/why-diesel/gemini-diesel-solution

These will come in various sizes from 100hp

to 550hp. There are currently 5 engines being test flown in US. Aiming for 5K flight hours before certification. The 100hp engine

fits in same space as Rotax. Pricing is expected to be around US$23-24K. Runs Jet

A1 or Diesel. Specs say 20% less fuel burn than similar sized avgas engine but flight testing is apparently seeing much better

economy. Doug and Rob heading up to US in a month’s time to see demonstration.

http://www.geminidiesel.aero/index.php/aviation/gemini-100







Wally Anderson – Synergy Air

Background

- Wally spent time in USAF as jet engine

mechanic.

- Became a jeweller after leaving USAF.

- Got into flying just after getting married

- Lived 80 miles from Van’s original headquarters.

- Attended the Van’s fly-in’s each year. Loved the community and people.

- Decided to buy a tail kit for an RV6

- Started the build but when he made an error didn’t know how to proceed.

- Asked a certified engineer friend for advice who showed him how to proceed.

- Realised most new builders have no idea

what is acceptable and what is not.

- Got well and truly bitten by the aviation

bug.

- His RV6 took 2years and 6 months to complete.

- The engineer who helped him, Larry Davidson, said for Wally to show other

builders how to build.

- Became EAA Councillor and served on local Chapter.

- Established Synergy Air and set up a workshop to teach others and a place

where builders could store and work on their kits.

- His wife says it is a hobby gone terribly

wrong.

Synergy Air

- Synergy Air takes new builders through

how to build tail kits and provides workshops for those without facilities.

- 2-3 years ago Van’s asked Synergy to

start building RV-12’s as LSA’s. Van’s is a kit provider, not aircraft manufacturer.

- Wally went to Boeing to study lean manufacturing. Asked himself, “how would Boeing build the RV-12?” Realised

he had to greatly reduce the hours to build. From 1st to 20th airframe they

reduced the construction time by 30%

- Hires people who are motivated and gets them to constantly look for ways to

improve.

- First batch of 12 aircraft sold in 8 hours.

- Synergy is now considered a remote facility of Vans

- They operate under the ASTM standards

and Wally serves on the ASTM Council.

- Vans produce the kits, Synergy

assembles the aircraft, delivers completed aircraft to Vans who apply customer finish and ship to customer.

- They currently operate two buildings. One for RV-12 assembly and one for

other RV’s. eg 7,8,9,10 & 14’s.

- Quick build kits are manufactured in the Philippines for Van’s.

- Van’s does not make quick build kits for RV-12. Synergy Air does make a quick

build kit for the RV-12.


Hints & Tips from Wally Anderson

Riveting 1. Smooth and rivet a sheet of aluminium the same

way you would smooth out a bed sheet.

2. Drill holes smaller than required, then use hi-speed ream in electric (not battery) drill to ream hole to correct size, then rivet. No deburring required.

3. Use a V tip reams to self-centre the ream in hole. Available from Cleveland Tools.

4. Suggests using a POP 1600 ProSet riveter for

speed. Costs US$400 from Cleveland Tools. http://poprivettooling.com/catalog/air-pneudraulic/

Clecos 5. Use cut down old plastic milk containers to hold

different size clecos.

6. Have separate containers for dirty clecos and

spray with WD-40.

Drills 7. Have separate sets of drills for metal and

fibreglass.

Glues & Resins 8. They use West Systems

9. They date containers when they arrive. 10. Use double gloves when handling.

Fibreglass 11. When sanding, cover skin in baby powder to fill

pores and use double gloves when handling. 12. They use Perma-Grit sanding blocks.

Solvent Handling 13. Use “Invisible Gloves” (PN#1215800 from Aircraft

Spruce). Is impervious to solvents. Comes off with soap & water though. Use double gloves as well.

Canopies 14. Use black die in resin to give nice edge to canopy.

15. Use coloured electrical tape to mark canopy edge. 16. Use PVC pipe wrap tape for masking canopy 17. Use Perma-Grit cutting tools for cutting Perspex.

They never go dull. Get a counter sink sanding tool.

Cowls

18. Use structural epoxy on hinge line rivet heads. 19. Counter sink holes slightly on cowl, then rivet

then add epoxy adhesive to smooth rivet heads. Once hard, sand then add a layer of fine fibre glass. Purely cosmetic but effective.

Washers 20. Use Superglue to hold them in place.

Nut-plates 21. They use ACF-50 Corrosion Block on screws when

first inserting into nut-plates. http://learchem.com/products/acf-50.html

Cutting Fluids 22. Use Boelube for aluminium, standard cutting oil

for Steel and P tip drills for plexiglass

Aluminium Tube 23. When flaring tube ends, use a drop of oil and

deburr flare when complete. 24. Buy a small cutter to get into tight spaces. 25. To straighten bent tube, use same technique as

for wire. Put one end in vice, clamp other end,

stretch tight, strike clamp a couple of times with hammer.


http://poprivettooling.com/catalog/air-pneudraulic/

http://poprivettooling.com/catalog/air-pneudraulic/

http://learchem.com/products/acf-50.html

18 Mystery Aircraft Quiz

Another interesting mystery aircraft sent to me by Barry Gillingwater. If you can

identify it, email your answer to the editor at [email protected] before the Chapter meeting and the first person to get the correct answer earns a chocky fish.


mailto:[email protected]

19 In the News & On the Web

O N T H E W E B

Lancaster Restoration

From Don Wilkinson

Lancaster Avro NX611 'Just Jane' is undergoing a mammoth restoration in East

Kirkby, Lincolnshire

Plane was built by Austin Motors in

Longbridge near Birmingham in April 1945 but did not see service

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-

4151298/Historic-Lancaster-bomber-painstakingly-restored.html

O N T H E W E B

Base to Final Stall & Spin

From David Wilkinson

If you're slow and over-banking during a

base-to-final turn, an unrecoverable stall/spin at low altitude can happen.

http://www.boldmethod.com/blog/learn-to-fly/maneuvers/strong-tailwinds-causes-

base-to-final-crash/

O N T H E W E B

History of Martin Baker Ejection Seats

From Rob Keith You might find this link interesting

http://aviationweek.com/air-combat-safety/seven-decades-ejection-seat-development

O N T H E W E B

RMS Titanic: Fascinating Engineering Facts

From Gavin Magill Well worth a look if you have any interest in the Titanic.

http://www.chonday.com/Videos/titanifactsinte5

AANZ Auckland Sport Aviator February 2017

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4151298/Historic-Lancaster-bomber-painstakingly-restored.html



http://www.boldmethod.com/blog/learn-to-fly/maneuvers/strong-tailwinds-causes-base-to-final-crash/







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

Chapter Events

2017

Feb 23

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 2017

2017

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

Feb

22-25

NZ Aerobatic Club National Champs.

Hood Aerodrome, Masterton. Contact

Grant Benns [email protected] or

www.aerobatics.co.nz

Feb

24-26

RNZAF Air Tattoo, RNZAF Base Ohakea

Celebrating 80 years of service. More info at

http://airforce.mil.nz/about-us/2017-air-

tattoo.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]

Mar

18

Langley/Marshall Aerobatic Memorial

Competition. North Shore airfield. 25th

anniversary of this renamed event, rain date

19 March. Contact contest director Simon

Marshall on 021 747 943 or

[email protected]

Mar

22-26

Balloons Over Waikato 2017. Hamilton

and other locations. More info at

http://balloonsoverwaikato.co.nz/

Mar

22-26

Vintage Aviator Flying Day. Hood

Aerodrome, Masterton. More info at

http://thevintageaviator.co.nz

Apr

14-16

Classic Fighters Airshow, Omaka Airfield

Includes Knights of the Sky Great War

Exhibition. More info at:

http://www.omaka.org.nz/

Apr

29-30

Vintage Aviator Flying Day. Hood

Aerodrome, Masterton. More info at

http://thevintageaviator.co.nz

Aviation Calendar 2017

2017

If members are aware of other events that could be of

interest to others, please pass the details to Gordon

Sanders - [email protected].


http://dargavilleac.weebly.com/


http://www.aerobatics.co.nz/

http://airforce.mil.nz/about-us/2017-air-tattoo.htm

http://airforce.mil.nz/about-us/2017-air-tattoo.htm



http://balloonsoverwaikato.co.nz/

http://thevintageaviator.co.nz/

http://www.omaka.org.nz/

http://thevintageaviator.co.nz/

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