A mile of runway can take you anywhere
Seeing a LinkedIn colleague post something about the early days of the Schneider trophyseaplane races reminded me of an amazing 2nd visit, my first being over 30 years ago, to the beautiful museum just N of Rome at Lake Bracciano
Years ago, when I first visited as a 20 something youngster, these were kept in a dark old wooden shed, covered in dust and dirt
Now, with a state of the art building and polished floor, they are very much looked after
The restore continues at a pace that is slower than I would ideally like ..
There are quite a lot of ‘moving parts’ in this project and it’s nit just a case of ‘go out and buy sonething’
The engine is in .. but may need to come out again so we can see if it’s possible to angle one of the rear cooling pipes to make the pipe feed miss the mounting brackets … getting the engine in ..with all it’s rubbers and multiple angled brackets and bolts was a bit trickier than the ‘out in 30 mins’ Jabiru !
Bob, at Priory, suggested leaving the engine in its mount and simply removing the 4 mounting bracket bolts from the bulkhead .. way easier
The repaired wing is now hanging in my garage at home to allow final finish and prep for recovering
The upper tank edge ribs are in place and capping Beech strips going in which has meant I can now measure the balsa rear trailing edge. This will then allow the ply Oratex landing plates to be fitted and the running of the fuel line from the top tank downwards.
At the same time, I’ve had Will helping review what is the best way to repair or replace the scuffed Oratex on the tail feathers.
He decided that removing back to a rib line was best bet, which means a bit of cleaning up, glue application will give me a good strong termination point for the small repair above (rudder) and outer edge (elevator). Ironically, both these were scuffed NOT in the crash but in the claim lift to turn her back over from upside down
The elevator trim tab is almost complete and just needs the hinge shaping around the tube-rib
Finally, the change of some aileron mount end brackets- which was spotted by the factory, will be completed in the next few days.
My very dear friend Christophe who lives just South of Paris has been a great help !
I have been working closely with him to help contact possible sources in France who have several Rangers with conversions to Rotax 912s and so have exhausts and cowls and cooling specs that could really help progress…
Having stripped the slightly damaged wing completely of Oratex covering and a more detailed inspection we collectively agreed it should and could be repaired.
This would entail drawing out a proposed ‘repair scheme’ which Algy and The Light Aircraft Company did noting how the damaged leading section of Rib 2 would be sandwiched either side for the spar to the nose ..leaving the old part in place as a KT point and added residual strength.
This has made a super string excellent repair job and, with the addition of a full new Rib 1 we were nearly ready to go.
To gain access however, we had had to remove the partially damaged 1mm ply leading edge so this required new scarfed sections to be made up and fitted.
Just 107 days after the incident.. we had the first test fit of the new Rotax engine.
Having fitted and removed the old engine several times, I had got used to the design and features of it, so this new and more complex and modern engine presented some challenges.
The brackets and flanges provided by The Light Aicraft Company had been beautifully finished and coated and, along with a pack of bolts and washers we set to work.
The question was .. should we fit the combined bracket to the engine mount first and then offer the engine up OR fit it all to the engine then offer the engine into the bracket ?
It was a problem .. we tried the former .. fitting the brackets and rubbers neatly to the frame .. then realised this left very little room for manoeuvre as the mounting rubbers impeded the angled engine side plates from allowing a gentle lowering of the hoist to seat the plates.
So, after removing and re hoisting .. we made the engine bade cradle up and fitted it to the lower engine brackets.
Although positioning the (rear) long engine bolts through the rubbers was slightly tricky they slid in.
The run of a couple of the cooling pipes is going to need adjusting but, after taking advice from TLAC, it seems that the flange on the outlet pipes are able to be slackened, turned and reset .. with appropriate use of loctite.
One thing I wanted to check was if the large oil cooling cylinder would fit. The securing ring was released and the chamber offered up from below and then reintroduced the top pieces in situ. Fitted a treat and was held (temporarily) in place with an extended cable tie pending sourcing suitable long jubilee steel straps.
It’s been a bit busy at work but lots going on behind the scenes with the rebuild.
Will has started the build of the new upper Starboard wing and we have salvaged some key parts to speed things along.
Algy has done an amazing job of repairing the Port upper that had only 2 ribs damaged.
The LAA have been amazing and Ben there has responded in super quick time with approvals for the repair and the new engine.
Engine mount in place and rubbers arrived with bolts so hopefully fit tomorrow
I have started to prep the edge ribs that sit either side of the (new) upper dump tank, fitting one side, as the mounting plates were still in place.
I’ve started to fit the upper tank filter and step down adaptors and will be shaping the trailing edge balsa when both end ribs are in place.
It looks like I need to make some doublers for the upper cabane ribs, to provide a larger surface area for Oratex fitting.
Wing peg bolt fittings will follow soon
Last week, saw the Jabiru engine coming out and being put in a car for its nip up to Yorkshire for ground checking
We still haven’t located a definitive reason for the inflight engine stop … and this trip was to strip down key parts to check for such.
It is always good to spend a day with Kevin Hyam … at Beverley. His knowledge is vast and is a genuinely nice guy to work with. He had another chap working with him rebuilding a classic engine from every bolt upwards .. a positive work of art as the pictures show.
We mounted my Jabiru engine ‘nose down’ ..having had it supprted and strapped down in the back bucket seats of the BMW .. didnt quite fit in the boot ! ..We stripped a range of items down to check … all looked fine .. Kevin also removed the fuel pump and completely refurbished it adding a slightly softer spring to aid pressure. His neat tool for setting the diaphragm placement was really clever.
Valves and gaps were checked along with the entire ignition circuit
Some of he new parts that Kevin is engineering are really smart, not relying on the vagaries of foreign imports and bringing more and more under U.K. abased design, manufacturer and fit can only bode well !
Returning home with a ‘fit’ engine was a relief .. this engine is now destined for my sons rebuild Jabiru project
A few days later, I return to Priory to begin labelling all the existing firewall forward wires ahead of decoupling the mass.
The engine mount is a useful platform on which to locate and mount and secure cable runs. These all have to be clipped, marked and moved to clear the way for the engine cradle removal.
I still marvel at the relatively small 4 bolts that hold the engine mount in place. I seem to remember that the size of these bolts EACH have a sheer strength of something like 14,000kg !
The bolts duly removed … and after nearly 7 years since they were originally fitted …and the old frame simply slides off.
The new (Rotax) mount looks pretty sturdy compared to the old mount and slips easily into position.. ready to take the new shiny Rotax 912 ULS any day 😊
The Light Aviation Authority have come back really quickly … thank you Ben….
So today, about 10 minutes after Sam and I removed the Jabiru 2200 fro the airframe for ground checking, I received an email from the LAA approving all the stress analysis from The Light Aircraft Company (TLAC) and my approval to install and begin the full process of putting the Rotax 912 ULS 100hp engine in ❤️👍
The engine was ordered and we await delivery schedule.
I hadn’t realised it comes without a silencer so will need to plan that when I get it mounted and some idea of the cowl fitting.
Off to Yorkshire tomorrow to get the Jabiru ground checked and run out checks.. this is going to go into my sons Jabiru aircraft rebuild.
Re checked the packing list and laid out at Priory Farm ready
The fittings are all cut to size and a ‘soft fit’ showed that it would be a little tricky to fit in situ. This meant a bit of judicial readiness mouting some of the brackets to the tank and bringing it all into position
Releasing existing bolts .. some of which were blind behind riveted cross members was a little tight but not impossible
The neat rubber mounts are an exact fit so great accuracy in production
Yesterday, Friday 6th of September, I got a call from Paul at the factory … your first parts set are ready !
September the 6th is a special day in my Ranger terms … being the day (in 2016) that I first opened the throttle on all these assembled parts and (after 3 test hops) took her into the air for the first time.
In one of the TV interviews Immediatly after the flight I said I had a few months of tweaking and adjusting post test but, in reality, she flew almost perfectly from that first second.
Wind forward to today, and I now have a few boxes of goodies to check through. The pick regime at TLAC is ultra professional of course, and every little nut, bolt, rivet, washer, bracket is uniquely labelled and bagged .. so I cross check and get it all loaded into the car.
This pack should see almost all the major parts I am changing, upgrading in place including the new engine mount.
The 2 new tanks are a work of art, thanks to Chris at TLAC for such a professional job👍
Planning a sequence will help maintain levels of access as I progress the engine swap. So plan sequence is :
As I left the factory it was good to have a proper chat with James (Milne) my ever helpful inspector. I walked through the steps above and he reminded me to keep the LAA worksheet going ..as it’s easy to forget the myriad of things you are doing. I’ve already got this underway so will very much be a multi sheet document by the time we are finished.
I also asked if I can do all this work back at Priory which is so much easier as all my tools and hoists are there .. James said he will pop down a couple of times as things progress and will, in good time, approve for test flying when things are looking good.
Exciting times …
Rotax 912 ULS order going in imminently
Although we have yet to ascertain the exact reason for the stoppage, and I will be removing bone engine as soon as I get the nod from Kevin my engineer in Yorkshire, I have decided to explore alternatives.
The Jabiru is a neat fit in the Ranger and I have got used to the way it operates and, with all my new multi port monitoring guages can see it has been performing amazingly well and running at a really good temp and compression.
But ….
With a lot of recent flights 2 up, as I train and get Will up to speed and the desire to go further and faster …. The thought has turned to what other options might there be..
The Ranger is certified for 3 engines :
I’ve flown G-TLAC a number of times and it does zip around the sky on the 2 Stroke Rotax but the high revving is a slight put off
The D motor had issues on earlier models but seems to be sorted now but I don’t like the deep square fronted lines it demands getting it into the Ranger
And I’m on my 2nd Jabiru …
So, with enforced downtime, as I rebuild wings and do some other improvements (see next blog) it’s time to see if the 912 ULS is a complete ‘no no’ or not !
I’m looking at 912 as the 80hp Rotax would not offer any real advantage for going through the certification … the 100hp .. does !
For a start, it offers pretty much VNE in straight and level flight …not in a screaming dive that I do on my annual flight test !
Also, with 2 up and fuel she doesn’t exactly leap away from the ground .. something more under the bonnet would be nice.
Paul at TLAC very kindly disucssed the ups and downs with me but said he would be very happy to help me progress and support certification with them.
Duly emailed Ben Syson – Head of Design at the LAA and got a response in a couple of days! Excellent …
Ben advised completing a MOD 5 .. this is specifically for Engine changes and asks a load of questions about design for the mount, stress analysis, weight and balance, prop details and also testing regime. I drafted what I thought was a good first stab on the form, Paul kindly gave at once over and tweak and off it went to Ben.
Not entirely sure of the next steps … but will update this blog as I go ….
Jersey Sherwood Ranger 