Ah to only have to worry about regular maintenance and oil changes and not major rebuilds and the like !
Looking forward to the days I can be flying and then just taking a little time out to check plugs and change oil and clean filters .. the simple pleasures in aviating life ❤️
Ive got 2 maintenance timers. One in the rear P1 cockpit on the old ‘green screen’ MGL multiple instrument which also does the hobbs full timer count ..but i also have one on the relatively new Colour MGL that is in the front cockpit and gives a super clear display of revs. It also is way easier to see than instruments in the rear cockpit due to natural line of sight.
I generally have set maintenence and pil change schedules to a fixed 25 hours .. the manual says you can go 50 and 100 which you innately do on 25 x schedules but it’s so easy to work on why wouldn’t you chekx more frequently
That gap … when the inspection is done… the updates post the inspection have been done and it’s been rechecked .. and you are now awaiting formal LAA release for test flying ..
The last time this happened was just after the build .. all intervening sign offs have only required the inspector and then off you go .. this one, following a more significant update and work, is getting an oversight from the Chief inspector.
I remember the ‘gap’ awaiting the first release for testing… an odd mixture of frustration (because I wanted to just get her tested after the 4 year build) and anxiety (because a sign off would mean i would HAVE to get on and put all those nuts, boots, wood, metal and fabric into the air for the first time).
You then get what my good friend Andy Brown talks about…Imposter Syndrome .. im not a qualified engineer, ive never done anything like this before, were all those late late nights leaving me too tired to check and re check everything, what would friends and family think when this all turned out to be a long 4 year unmitigated disaster and waste of time and money !
This time, the wait is more aligned with the frustrating trait .. the weather is always a factor and we seem to be in a spell of warm and relatively calm weather… so each morning and each evening feels like ‘lost’ opportunity.
The garden hasn’t had so much attention and tidying up home garage and base hangar after all the bits and pieces ive needed during the rebuild is a diversionary task that inevitably leaves you looking skyward and checking winds !
Ive mapped our the first 4 or 5 flight schedules to get a sequence in my mind and test things quickly and efficiently.
Im not going to fuel the new top tank initially (it’s had its leak test on the ground) but can be eliminated from the initial flight and so cut down the list of ‘variables’ to contend with on that first return to the air.
The initial flight can then focus on new main tank, new upper starboard wing, repaired upper port, new trim tab and general handling. The planned duration ot this one is simply ONE circuit.
That’s going to be about 3-5 minutes but will allow a quick cool down ground check before running the 2nd and 3rd where I introduce the other tank for powered leak checks.
Post the leak checks i can get both tanks covered over in Oratex.
In the meantime .. it’s time to ‘fettle’ .. thay word all pilots use when the work is never ending .. always something to do..
In this case it’s get the leather boot over one of the legs that has been left open for some time. I’d left if off to check any ingress of smoke oil but all is fine. To slip the boot on you need to jack the aircraft up and undo the centre bolt on the leg mount.. not an easy task (first tjme) but ive done it many times and jacking at the top of the leg works just fine .. ot also let’s you check brakes and free running of the wheel.
Another ‘fettle’ is the tailwheel. During the recovery we had put a strop on the top arm of the tailwheel and bent it slightly as we jiggled the aircraft back onto its main gear. This was a pretty cheap item to replace and took all of 10 minutes to do but id decided to not reconnect the steering cables. This makes it way easier to get in and out of the hangar and also pirouette on the ground runs on a fairly narrow turning area.
Its a quick job just to remove the pin spring lock and connect up again .. shame as I used to love the control the Stampe SV4 had with its pop out tail steering. This is where the rudder movement provides a ‘slaved’ degree of follow …but then the cables (usually spliced into the main rudder feeds) reach their limit and the wheel won’t turn any more… in some cases the tail mechanism allows the movement to ‘snap out’ usually against a ball bearing and it goes full castoring until it clicks in again .. really neat idea !
I haven’t got that ! And James (Milne) assures me that I will eventually learnt the skills of blipping the throttle and using rudder to coax an aircraftto turn sharper circles!
I know my problem with this ‘prop threatening’ manoeuvre… it’s that i instinctively hall back on the stick on the ground when taxying.. so planting the tail firmly in position
When you blip the throttle .. with full up .. it just loads the tail even more!
Ive got to be braver and use neutral and even forward stick with power to unload the tail whilst also applying a load of rudder … a evening test session beckons !
Whilst awaiting paperwork it’s good to get the engine settled in !
Technically it’s nothing to do with the engine .. it’s me !
Any lay off .. for whatever reason .. just adds a ‘tweak’ to your sensitivities ..
This is, in my view, healthy. Having that edge that says I need to check, double check triple check isn’t a bad thing.
So, it is all this that brings you to ground run the engine for a 3rd time … this will be followed by a 4th, 5th , 6th
Each start, each glance across the dash, each note of readings, each steady increase in throttle (up to.1,800 and she’s pulling on the brakes) back down to 8-900 tick over.
Being told by Bob and Trevor – both local experts, that she sounded sweet and clean and no rattles and smooth ..all increases your comfort and understanding that all is indeed well.
Ive always liked this colour scheme.
The upper deck olive green has the effect of making the nose depth look shallower and more streamlined.
The engine run was fine. Start first turn, choke full movement- post the adjustment last time.
Still just 1 EGT misreading ..but 3 are and 4 CHT all reading well within limits.. even in this hot day (28 degrees)
As I get nearer to test flight authorisation there are always some bits to complete and get ready.
The inspection panels have been off for some time so needed a tidy and clean and then refit.
Then, there were the leather fairleads that needed to be repaired and replaced. These are glued on top of the Oratex using contact adhesive and linked around the edges to make them look less obstructive
One thing I’d missed on the pre inspection was the fuel bowl wire locking. I’d seen the wire locking in position but failed to see id snipped in 12 months ago when I undid the bowl to inspect for impurities. Having found it clean as a whistle .. amd it should be as there is a pre strainer up stream at the bottom of the tank, id forgotten to re wire.
Cutting away the 2 sections i added new, twisted and looped through the bowl to secure
At last..ive reached the point where I can engage with the local inspector.
Tom (Woodhouse) covers a number roof aircraft at Priory Farm and so I thought it would be nice to ask him to look.
What a really nice, genuine guy.. nothing was too much trouble to look at and talk through.
Tom found a few bolts out of safety ..where little or no thread was showing through the nut-bolt combination..
On checking back through the original build manual I realised I had been a little over zealous with use of washers! I’d managed to put washers under the bolt head as well as under the nut .. removing all these put all the bolts into safety !
The image above shows it flush … post washer removal..2 threads showing
The same was found on 1 cross bracing wire in the front cabane. This had been covered for the last 5 years so clearly not visible.
Quite why I used so many washers is a mystery… washers in these positions (on bracing wires) are great for ‘finer’ adjustment .. where you have a fixed length of bracing cable .. removing washers has the effect of tightening the cable (quite significantly per washer) and adding slackens
3 washers! I think that was excessive !
Remove tang … tricky but it cam out relatively easily
Back to single washer, cable nice and taught and colour marked
Inevitably, the arrival of an aircraft into a field of wheat..no matter how slowly … is going to make some marks on the paint and.materail
I have to say, the Oratex was incredible!
Thinking back, there wasn’t one scratch on the fabric! At all !
I had to remove all the fabric from the Port upper (for inspection to identify it was indeed repairable) .. i removed all underside from P1 back to the leading edge of the tailplane ..
But it simply didn’t have a mark on it.
The lower cowl took the brunt from the crushing of ine of the most forward part ..the oil cooler matrix.
The spinner had quite a graze but I suspect that was from the recovery.. where we pirouetteed to take her back onto her main wheels
Roger, a great painting expert based at Priory Farm, stepped in and has done a amazing job.
The lower cowl, which had a number of holes to accommodate the exhausts and oil matrix, was reinforced with fibreglass matting before colour matching the olive Oratex and what a superb job !
Ironically, one of the most time consuming jobs wasn’t as a result of the incident back on 21 Jun 2024 .. the longest day !
Adding the trim tab seemed to take an inordinate amount of effort, especially as a ‘post build’ add on.
I remember asking the factory all those years ago, ‘where is the piano hinge for the trim tab’ .. we aren’t recommending it was the reply as it’s not hugely effective.
It turns out my weight (a pretty constant 75kg) means I could fly all day hands off and fuel level seems to make little difference.
Will, my son, who was slightly heavier than me found he was constantly having to hold forward ot back stick to maintain straight and level.
I offered to retro fit the tab which meant cutting into that lovely elevator curve .. mine being slightly larger as there are no tell tale pilot holes onnthe trailing edge, so just made it look ‘nice’ !
Maybe it’s that extra surface area that helps her stability ?
Anyway, to fit the steel cable to operate the tab and it’s outer demanded i cut access through the underside to ensure the outer cable was regularly secured and couldn’t bend… a classic radio control modelling issue with unsecured bowden cable – where you can lose anything from 50% to total movement if not secured
Now, cutting material off from a 5 year old aircraft that has been upside down and had lots of smoke oil and fuel over the years makes for an interesting challenge to cleanup and recover.
Cutting out one of the old belly pan ply landing plates and replacing it gave me a much cleaner base from which to work.
Adding panels back in to the underside will facilitate any partial re opening in future..vs one long nose to tail piece of Oratex (which the original covering was)
Final pieces going in today and doublers strips over the overlaps just for good meaurse
It’s a complex shape underneath with curves this way and that and undercarriage in the way .
Pre shrinkage – the aim being to get it as tight as you can before applying heat gun and iron …shrink rate is around 20% so impressive curved smooth finish
Given the changes that have been made recently it is mandated that a re weigh of the aircraft is required.
Technically the replacement wing is factory so should be the same weight.. the covering is the same … but .. a full re weigh will show up any deviations.
A Priory Farm Aviator member (Tom) very kindly offered some scales that he had hired for his flex wing check
The kit, from the BMAA is beautifully put together .. the lid of each scale doubles up as a ramp .. neat and effective!
Got the aircraft setup into flying position..then roll her onto the scales and drop her gently onto the tailwheel
The resultant weight was extremely close to the original weight check and also showed that Left and Right were really.close too
With the new upper tank in place I’ve started to focus on getting things completed and ready for the inspection.
The upper tank has taken the place of the original open structure that was formed of 3 ply ribs around the cabane cross members. This then had 1mm sheet ply sandwiching a made up radio plane (relative sheet – rather like a paper backed bacon foil). The radio plane had an allow arm that gripped the foil top and bottom and the resulting black earth was connected to the foot of the Commant arial.
It sounds (and looked) a bit odd ..BUT .. worked a treat . I got a good radio signal more than half way across the Channel..not bad for a largely wood and fabric aircraft.
Now, with the new upper alloy purpose made ‘trip’ tank, I have a ready made radio plane. The tank turned out to be insulated from the aircraft (due to its rubber seating tape). This wouldn’t be good as the rest of the aircraft would provide mass radio ‘noise’ so I needed to add the earth lead.
I ended up repurposing part of the original metal arm and fittings and ran 2 earth leads ..one for the tank to a cabane mounting bolt that had ample thread to accept one small washer more. The second earth lead (and original part) will go to the new Commant ariel. The old ariel may well be OK but was bent 45′ as she up ended.
The feed from the upper tank is via a short piece of rubber fuel tubing to a ‘cut to length’ alloy tube that runs down one of the rear cabane arms and the connects to a small piece of rubber tube to the Valve selector.
I’ve got quite a ‘busy’ panel and I wanted the location of this ‘dump’ selector to be obvious and easy. I elected to move the previous side mounted mag1, 2 and push starter to the main panel.
This freed up some side coving space that allowed the chunky but purposeful fuel switch to the side.
I’ve started to run the back fuel tubing along through the side of the P2 cockpit and then lines up nicely with the feed nozzle.
I’m going to be fitting the basic fuel site gauge and so need to check if there are definitive holes to use in the new main tank.
Over the years I’ve re rigged the aircraft a number of times … usually when the wings were on and off between transportation runs between the barn where I built her and the airport. Later trips were easier as I had a trailer and the folding wings were obviously a huge help !
All turnbuckle wire locking removed and each wing with a trestle under to support the (almost) correct angle .. allows you to bring up the turnbuckle tension to achieve the desired angles
Lower wings – 3 degrees
Upper wings – 1 degree
It didn’t take too long before the numbers started aligning and the flying and landing wires started to ping quite nicely
Getting the aircraft straight and level and into ‘flying’ position first is key to ensuring correct settings
Jersey Sherwood Ranger 