Welcome

*****Skyote #88 gets Bronze Lindy for "Airventure-Oshkosh 2016 Plans Built Champion"******


October, 2007

Welcome to "Skyotelog", the build record of Skyote #88. I assume that you are familar with the Skyote biplane. If not, you should visit http://www.skyote.org/ for a complete introduction to this unique but elusive biplane.

The posts are presented in reverse chronological order (newest first). Or you can click on one of the "Labels" to see all of the posts concerning a specific topic. Click on any photo for a larger image.

All my building experience is limited to Van's RV's so I have no experience with building tube and fabric or "plans building". I have much to learn so take everything I write with a grain of salt and reasonable skepticisim.


I do not intend to follow a "traditional" path for the construction of #88. I intend to employ low level technology and $ to reduce the construction time and difficulty where possible and practical. By low level technology I am referring to CAD, laser, waterjet, CNC. For example:

  • I have purchased a complete wing spar kit from Jerry Kerr.
  • A rib kit from Mr. Bartoe.
  • Brunton Flying Wires and Drag wires from Harvey Swack.
  • CNC profiled tube kits for the fuselage, tail feathers and landing gear from VR3.

In addition I have converted all of the wing fittings, brackets, links, lugs etc. to CAD and had them cut by water jet. I have designed a laser cut wing spar drill template/jig which positions the five spar components so that all of the holes can be drilled in a complete spar as an assembly. I plan to continue converting as many parts as I can to CAD so that I can reduce the "hand-made" components to a minimum.

Note: As of June 2015 I have over 100 CAD files which provide 600+ water jet cut parts for the Skyote.


While it takes a little time, converting the design to CAD is a great way to truly understand the drawings. plus a huge amount of information has been extracted from the rather complex drawings. This can be a great help to others in understanding and interpreting the design.


The Skyote is uniquely suited for conversion to CAD in that a "computer" was used in it's original design. I have read that Mr. Bartoe used a HP calculator to "compute" the design and dimensions of the Skyote. The plans show all of the critical dimensions to three decimal places for X,Y and Z axes.


Amazingly, when I put the design into CAD the resulting 3D models agree with Mr. Bartoe's thee decimal place dimensions about 99.9% of the time. I have found one discrepancy but less than 0.030"!


If you want to build your Skyote as cheaply as possible, or if you enjoy handcrafting the same parts over and over again then my approach to building is not for you!


If you want to build your Skyote in the minimum possible time with highly accurate parts then this approach may be the answer. I personally get a lot of satisfaction out of organizing the project so that it can be produced accurately. Hopefully some of this work will prove useful to others in the future.


Comments are welcome. I will respond as time permits

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Monday, January 25, 2010

Instrument panel Progress




Tom has almost completed the wiring for the instrument panel. The layout has evolved somewhat so that a few critical circuit breakers are located on the panel and a few non-critical breakers are located on a sub-panel hidden behind the AV80R GPS/Moving map. The AV80R has buttons located on its edges so it has to be surface mounted on the face of the panel. It snaps out easily for use in the "land mode".




"Eyeball" fittings are used for the signal wire penetrations through the firewall. Having the right tools really comes in handy for tasks like sizing the holes in the two-piece eyeball to the appropriate size for the wire bundle. Les set these up in his mill and sized the holes as required.
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Fuel Piping FWF



We completed the firewall-forward part of the fuel piping today. A Facet fuel pump is employed as a back-up to the engine driven pump and as a boost pump for priming at start-up. 3/8" tubing and hose is used throughout. A fuel flow transducer will supply info to the EIS engine monitor yielding fuel used, fuel remaining and time remaining. Others who have used this system have reported that it is very accurate.

The system is somewhat complicated by the addition of check valves to create separate and parallel systems for the two fuel pumps. This is probably overkill as the engine will likely run okay with gravity flow under most conditions.
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Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Oil Cooler



The Jabiru uses an oil cooler adapter which fits between the engine block and the oil filter at the front of the engine. The supply and return lines run to the oil cooler which is located back on the firewall. The adapter normally has 1/8"NPT ports but we enlarged them to 1/4"NPT feeding 3/8" hoses.



Cooling air will be supplied by a NACA scoop and flow downward through the cooler. The hot air leaving the cooler will be ducted down to the intake and used for carb heat when necessary.
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