Clarice the cub - build page

12/10/2024

I was walking out of the hanger and couldn’t help myself so finished 2 more jobs… I trimmed the main fuel line that runs into the fuel selector valve after I moved the whole system fwd about 2” and flared - attached the fitting, then added the mandatory placard that’s needed for the after market flaps and added a random checklist device I made

12/10/2024

All flaps are done :)

12/10/2024

Another of the million ‘little’ tasks was to make something for the fabric to stick to - around the underwing fuel tank drain or this piece of fabric will flap around a bit. Too much of that causes paint to crack in the future…

12/10/2024

Up super early this morning to install the flap into the other wing. I first removed the stock one along with all the hardware and repeated the work from the other day

10/10/2024

Waaaay too much information about turnbuckles however they are a critical device! The other thing I forgot to mention was with the opposing threads, when you tighten the buckle, the cable doesn’t twist around which is rather good…. Oh, if anyone ever considers building an airplane, and ‘old mate’ from your local airport tries to give you advi about how he uses this or that in stead because it works better ….. reference it! Just because they’ve been around aviation for a while doesn’t qualify them for anything. Even if they have built an airplane - smile and nod and listen to the sage advice, however they werent part of the strain testing approval process for that part or aren’t aware of what drove the standard change. Aviation standards have often been written in blood as the result of people dying or critical failures. There is one ‘minimum’ standard to follow and it’s not ‘ole mate’ who’s always done it this way…. This is it:https://www.faa.gov/documentLibrary/media/Advisory_Circular/AC_43.13-1B_CHG_1_Ed_Upd_FAA.pdf

10/10/2024

10/10/2024

How the flap cable travels from the handle out to the wings

10/10/2024

Fis (the misso) is away in Melbourne for a few day so time to burn some midnight oil… I managed a solid 4hrs building this evening, finishing off the right wing flap instal.

09/10/2024

Putting that level to more use.. you can see the physical angle under the spirit level - I have to move that computer box sitting underneath to level with the spirit level as it’s the electronic gyro - level line for all the avionics systems and have to achieve this with non Ferris metals due to magnetism issues… not impossible - but it will surely exercise the grey matter

09/10/2024

A piece of art

09/10/2024

Adjusting the turnbuckle( it works exactly the same as dubro) to set the flap travels

09/10/2024

I popped out to the hangar to see if the wing had fallen out of its cradle and couldn’t help myself so installed the after market flap…

07/10/2024

Standing on top of a trellace for 6 hrs, whilst tracing out wires for the engine management computer. I’m tired now 😞

06/10/2024

Today was aeroclub monthly bbq day so only achieved a few hours work either side - but we still achieved a little

05/10/2024

Somebody asked me today, why are you building an airplane? Other than ‘it’s a
Challenge or mid life crisis bs excuses ./. Etc and I need to exercise the grey matter … to put things into realistic perspective….. it’s approx $130 an hr to pay someone to do this work ….. I have to maintain a build log and currently sitting around 480 hrs and probably 50% finished so do the math….that’s JUST for labour…. I build because I wanted the challenge - but also, it’s to save a hell of a lot of money

05/10/2024

05/10/2024

Firewall and heat blanket fitted back to the fuselage so I can measure and make some cables

05/10/2024

The tools were quite cheaper and didn’t take much practice to use.. they’ll also come in very handy for making some other parts

05/10/2024

The firewall fl**ge that I bought from an old metal basher in the states, makes them for a stick piper supercub and mines 4” wider - hence Ive got a gap to fill… with the cowl fitted - you won’t see it but the issue with building yourself is, I’ll know it’s there! The piece also has a wired curve to it so I googled shrinking and stretching metal and bought a tool.

04/10/2024

After riveting in place all the fasteners and sealing holes in the firewall, I started bolting things back into place

04/10/2024

I need to make some filler pieces where my firewall fl**ge was too short (we had our front fuselage area widened by 4”) soa stock fl**ge come up short - and I also wanted to make some custom fl**ges to make removable cooling scoops for the lower cowl so…. Bought some metal Shrinker and stretcher tools. After watching fools tube, I think I can make these pieces myself and will record the results

02/10/2024

I’m waiting on more heavy gauge battery cable to arrive so I can finish up routing some big wires on the firewall along with all their fittings (of course every post or component they attach to are different sized studs just to test my patience). Whilst waiting, I drilled and installed nutplates for most of the firewall components - and fire sealed the fl**ges that my electrical cables will pass through.