SC Aviation Association Gives Skyote #88 "Peoples Choice" Award.

Skyote # 88 attended the Sunday breakfast fl-in event which was part of the 2016 South Eastern Aviation Expo held at KGRD.. Skyote #88 won the top prize, "Peoples Choice Award" !

We arrived early and got a good parking spot.

It was overcast or broken all day which helped with the heat.

A nice smooth 70 nm cruise at 1500' both ways.

First Fly-In for Skyote#88

This past Saturday Skyote #88 went to the Fabric and Tail Wheel event held at the fantastic Triple Tree Aerodrome. Between 75 and 100 beautiful fabric and/or tail dragger airplanes showed up on a nice but hot day.

Triple Tree Aerodrome is a unique "Country Club for Airplanes". It features a 7000' x 400' wide grass strip that looks like a golf course.  You can learn all about it @  www.tripletreeaerodrome.com .

All in all it was a very nice day. Skyote #88 was well received.
There were some very nice airplanes there:

Don't Be Shocked

The party is over for the gas-filled oil-damped shocks. Earlier this week one one suffered a significant oil leak. I always realized that this was a real possibility but I had hoped that the "mean time between failures" would be high enough to make the risk low. This failure occurred at about 30 hours total time which is totally unacceptable.  \

Luckily the failure occurred at my home base and the "Skyote Pit Crew" replaced them  them with my design urethane compression style shocks.

Tom's son, Nathan, handles the grunt work. From discovery of the leak to back to flying status took about one hour max.

The Skyote now rides on urethane compression bushings. Compared to the original bungee struts and the gas filled shocks, these struts are almost bullet proof.  If these struts fail then likely a few other things will be bent as well! In addition, these struts are adjustable for spring rate, ride height, and pre-load. makes me wonder why I was so fired up about the gas filled shocks?

These struts have performed well for about ten hours. They are just a little more "active" than the gas filled, oil damped shocks which is to be expected. I think the average pilot would not really notice any difference from the cockpit.

Some kind of covers may be in order.

Skyote #88 Is Out of Jail

As of June 9, 2016, Skyote #88 has completed its required  40 hours of flight test time! When we completed the reinstall of the O-200 and brought #88 home on May 27 she had 9.1 hours on the meter. So Tom and I got in 31 hours in 12 days.. She hardly ever cooled off! 

#88 is free to roam now.  I plan to take her to the Fabric and Tailwheel fly-in at Triple Tree Aerodrome tomorrow (SC00).  I hope she behaves herself.

Not so good cockpit photo showing 40.3 hrs. on the EIS.

Skyote Component Photo Opportunity

This past weekend we put together a practice photo shoot in preparation for Airventure/Oshkosh 2016. Dale Doane visited with a partially completed Skyote air frame (about 50% complete) and Johnathon came by with a full set of Skyote spar/aileron components.  The idea is to show all of the components available to the Skyote plans builder.in one photo.

This is just my amateur shot.  The professional photographer  was able to get get everything straight on in one shot. Look close and you will see the aileron spar and nose skin components behind the wings. That's Dale Doane adjusting the seat in the fuse and Johnathon Pritchard in the jeans with Les Kanna in the background.

Pritchard, Doane and VR3 will all have Skyote components for plans builders on display in their booths in Hangar D.

Almost looks like an RC Model!

Skyote #88 Gets Her Groove Back!

I am happy to say that #88 is all back together again and better than ever.  The totally rebuilt engine was re-installed this past Tuesday. She now has painted ailerons and and a prototype stripe on the fuselage. The engine runs great and is silky smooth. A few installation photos follow.

We used this pressurized can to pre-lube the bearings. It was hooked to shop air to provide a regulated 38 psi.

Jack Moore rebuilt my engine. At 80+ Jack still knows his stuff. I am very privileged to have Jack do my work.  Here he is pumping two quarts  through the oil galleries prior to first start up.

The engine started on the second blade and has behaved itself very well since.

It now has about four hours flight time and I am extremely happy with it.

Tom making a few last minute checks before the second "first flight". The first few flights were made with the cowl off to make leak checks easier. Fortunately there were none. Also lots of cooling air flowing over the oil sump hanging out in the breeze.

Looks ugly from the outside but you cant tell the cowl is missing from the cockpit!

.The second first flight which occurred at SC76 on this past Wednesday was uneventful. 

All buttoned up and back Home at UZA this afternoon.

Prototype stripe, version 2.

Skyote #88 Gets It's Engine Back Tomorrow

I am happy to report that Skyote #88 will soon be airworthy again.  Needless to say, it was a real bummer having to pull the engine for major repair just a few hours after the first flight. The engine has been totally rebuilt and should be in tip-top shape this time. As you can see from the following, I was very lucky to be at my good friend, Les Kanna's, airfield when we decided to ground the Skyote due to inappropriate noises from the engine.

#88 was pulled out of the barn today and moved up to the "airplane factory" at SC76.

She needed a good bath before going in to the hangar. I hope I never see it like this again!

The "good as new" O-200 in position and ready for installation to begin tomorrow.

#88 is sharing hangar space with some very interesting airplanes which are visible in the background.

Here is Les Kanna's gorgeous BMW K-1200 motorcycle engine powered Onex.  The BMW provides 100+hp in a plane which normally flies with 80hp. The bottom cowl has been removed which gives us a peek at the engine 

This is a real hot rod which flew for the first time this spring. This is way out on the end of the experimental limb of sport aviation.  This is the only installation of this engine that we are aware of. It now has over 40 hours and all of the landings have been at the intended destination! So far, so good. Silky smooth! Did I mention fast?

This is Ed Lee's slick Corvair powered Sonex.(all flush rivets!).  It should see air under the wheels soon as he is ready to call for the FAA any day now.  I hope some of the speed  of these two hot rods rubs off on #88!

Skyote #88 Down for Repair

The tardy FAA inspection plus the required 40 hour fly-off eliminated Sun-n-Fun from my plans this year.  As it turns out, it wouldn't have happened anyway.

In spite of our best efforts, the long (four year) storage of my engine took its toll with the resulting in scuffed piston! 

A little tapping noise was present following the first flight. We were hoping that it was a sticky lifter but over the next few hours it got a little worse so we pulled the valve cover and determined that the lifter was functioning properly.  We  then removed and cut open the oil filter and found some aluminum. Next we pulled the #4 cylinder and found that the piston was significantly scuffed.  The engine was then completely torn down. No other damage was found, no corrosion or indication of abnormal wear. 

The engine is now being reassembled with all new pistons,rings, bearings, expendable bolts, etc. Hopefully, we will have it reassembled by the end of next week and back on the airplane before the end of May.

It was a real disappointment to have to ground #88 so soon as I was just starting to feel at home in the cockpit.  I am really looking forward to getting it back in the air. I will have some more reports and videos when we get over this hurdle.

At least I did make use of this down time to get the ailerons painted!

Skyote #88 Flies

Skyote #88 flew for the first time today. It was flown by long-time friend, Bob Cabaniss.
It got off quick, flew straight and landed nicely!  A Good Day".

The following is a so-so YouTube video of the first departure and return to the hangar.  More later.


First flight video HERE

The Big Day!!

It's an Airplane!

Skyote #88 passed its inspection today and received its Airworthiness Certificate. FAA representatives Paul Fodor, center, and James Dangerfield, right, gave her the once over (three times) and pronounced her ready to fly. They did a great job and turned up a number of  things which needed remedial action. Fortunately, they were all minor and were corrected on the spot while the inspection was in progress. Scheduling conflicts, dental appointments, and weather will delay the first flight for a few days but it won't be long now!

Yours truly with Pink Slip in hand!
I was hoping my shirt would not be a bad omen!

Of course the Peanut Gallery was there to offer encouragement.

Left to right, Ray Petty, Wally Overton, Tom Dubrouillet, Les kanna and Ed Lee.

All great friends but special thanks to Tom and Les. I wouldn't have made it with out them!

Also very special thanks to Dale Doane, not pictured, for his outstanding contributions in tig welding and beautiful metal fab work. His outstanding work inspired us all to try to do the best we could. Also to Johnathan Pritchard for the patience and skill necessary to produce the hundreds of water jet cut fittings and components necessary for the completion of the Skyote.

Still waiting on the FAA!

Well mid December came and went and now we are nearing mid January. Maybe next week.!

Ready for the FAA

I failed to get photos of #88 when it was on the scales. The CG is good, a little on the forward side when empty.  The weight came out about 30# higher than I expected! Bummer! Likely a heavy paint job and too many improvements.  I will post some accurate numbers later. 

The FAA estimated "mid December" for the inspection.  I hope it happens before Christmas.

Final Details

These are some last minute details  before calling for the FAA.

Starting with Pete's wing fairing root patterns, Tom refined them and produced a great set of wing root fairings.

The trailing edge worked out to be very nice.

Back to the never ending prime and paint!

Yellow

Black

First Engine Run

Today was a good day!We rolled #88 out for its outdoors debut and started the engine for the first time. The engine start up and run went well. No leaks, good oil pressure and CHT numbers. 

One Step Closer

We fitted the engine cowl and the boot cowl today. It took just a little trimming here and there as this was the first time everything had been on the airplane at once so we found a few small spots of interference.

Only two significant items left to do.  Recover the ailerons and make and install the wing root fairings.

Rigging

Tom led the way again and we made good progress in getting the wires centered and rigged today. We have not tensioned the flying and landing wires yet but hopefully we can do that without disturbing things too much. We learned how important the center section is in the rigging process.  It must be made right before trying any other rigging.

We used a Bosh GLL3-15 three-plane chaulk line laser which really makes things much easier, especially with the Skyote having zero dihedral.

  

I didn't get any good photos but if you look carefully you can see the laser lines on the wings.  We were doing the preliminary set up at this point with the airplane sitting on the gear. Better results are obtained with the airplane supported directly by the airframe with the wheels off the floor. 

All Wired Up!

The wings are hung and all wires are installed.

Thanks to Big Tom Dubes for taking the lead in this phase.

Time to get her all rigged up!

Almost an Airplane

If I squint a little and use my imagination and if the light is just right I can almost see an airplane!

We hope to hang the upper wings this weekend

#88 will get a new panel when everything is finalized.

We just might be able to move the Trigg Comm and trandsponder up into the main panel and get rid of the sub panel which blocks the view of the fuel valves.

Matched Hole Spar First Look!

The "Matched Hole" Spar kit is an out-of-the-park home run!  The spar cap to spar web fit is perfect and the pre-bent spar mounted fittings do the same. With the exception of trimming the spar caps for the tapered tip these photos could have been made 5 minutes from the time the spar components came off the water jet table. The extrusioned spar caps make a much nicer spar compared to the formed spar caps. Wish I had them on #88!

This is a "shorty" demo spar made for ease of transport and show and tell. All of the critical features are retained from the full 9'-6" spar. Just the long sections with nothing but rivets have been eliminated. I created all of the CAD models for these components anand built this exact assembly in virtual space so I had a good idea of what the real thing would look like. Even so I wasn't prepared for how simple and elegant it is when actually in hand

The tapered tip uses features cut into the spar web as a template for trimming the legs of the spar. No measuring or layout of any kind is required. It is "automatic".  I will post more detail on this soon.

Overall View

Spar Root View

Wire Anchor Plate View

Interplane Strut Fitting View

Tip After Trimming and Bending Angles

Fourth Wing Painted and Top Wings Striped The end is in Sight!

 Well, the fourth wing is finally painted and both top wings have "Cruiser Orange" stripes.
A little vision hiccup kept me out of the paint booth for about three months but all is well now.The stripes turned out nicely. We pulled the tapes at just the right time so the edges healed over nice and smooth.

The lower wings are hung , just waiting on the upper wing stripes to cure. Actually due to schedule conflicts, we likely won't hang the upper wings before late next week. No matter, there are plenty of details to look after.  My hangar buddy and friend Tom Dubes  (that's his RV4 in Team AeroDynamics livery in the background) has been a tremendous help keeping the fires burning while I was down for maintenance.

Much has been accomplished since my last report Mostly by Tom with me helping a little.

• The elevator and rudder controls rigged
• Brakes topped up and pressure tested
• Fuel tanks flushed and leak tested.
• All avionics wiring completed and tested.
• Engine breather piping installed.
• Fuel tanks flow tested (again).
• Prop mounted.
• Primer pump installed.
• Belite fuel gauge  for fuselage tank installed and wired. This uses the new pressure transducer which makes for a very easy installation.

The major items left to do include making and installing the wing root fairings and some re-work on the ailerons which don't fit to the standard of the rest of the airplane.  We will likely wind up with a "matched hole" aileron kit as the result of the rework.

This is a very busy time with much progress being made on the Matched hole spar kit, welded fuselage kits, etc.  I will post as often as I can find the time but it might be a little spotty.