I once watched a comedy film that had a scene where two people climb into a convertible sports car. An utterly cavalier man with a ridiculous thin-line mustache and a comical French accent turns to the passenger and says: “The first rule of driving is that what is behind you does not matter!” He then […]
corvair
I spent a fair bit of time reviewing the SPA Corvair Engine Assembly Manual before setting to work on assembling the pistons / rods / rings / cylinders. I reread the main section multiple times. It wasn’t like work, but it was not as fun and putting the instructions and theory into practice a few […]
I quickly realized I had no idea how to sort through the hundreds of bolts, nuts, washers, and other pieces that are part of the hardware holding a CH 750 together. On the wall hung a caliper accurate to 1000ths of an inch, and tape measures galore in my toolbox. I had to repeatedly hit […]
I puzzled over it. I looked at the way the chain hooked onto the two eye bolts screwed into the top of the engine cover. How it looped through the crane hook. I jacked up TZero and twisted her this way and that, slithered her around, but no joy — no joy. I could not […]
I’d picked up the empennage, slats, and flaps — a whole crate of parts — in a kamikaze run to San Antonio April 1st. Governor Abbott had declared a statewide pseudo-shutdown a few days before. I simply could not handle my parts being “mothballed” in a warehouse for a month. I mean, that would seriously […]
I had a lot of fun working on the stabilizer and finishing it out. I did the rudder first, but this is the first part I did after a kamikaze run to San Antonio on April Fool’s Day to get my crated empennage parts before a state shutdown (I thought) would trap them at the […]
During a brief vacation in late June I had opportunity to focus on the “learn” part of the EAA motto “Learn, Build, Fly”. I was at a spot in my CH750 STOL elevator build where it made sense to study up on aircraft wiring — which I knew next to nothing about. This was essentially […]
Painted 3.0L Corvair cylinders: Fabricated cylinder painting blocks from 4″ PVC drain pipe (ala Billy Kerchner). Cut two sections about six to eight long, then squared up on the oscillating belt sander which was grand. During day painted all 3 right hand side cylinders. Acquired some cylinder hold down hardware at HD and engine […]
Morning Trim tab hole cleaned up. Tested fitting of the servo control arm with the hinge piece that attaches to the trim tab. Made sure it moved 40 degrees down and 20 degrees up. Started cleaning cylinders. Noticed that machining for 3.0L had reduced bottom cylinder step to ~ 1mm in some locations around the […]
Stabilizer work on tips and some skin layout.