Piper Pawnee 235 (33% - Hanger 9)

[MarnochS]

Rick Shelby designed Sailplane release mechanism

I can testify that the release is "strong enough" with first hand experience......As I found myself in a Torque Roll attitude with a ballasted Antares at the bottom. Quite the sight to behold and surprisingly stable. The minor concern was the slow decent rate......Sailplane was unable to release so I gave mine a "go" before having to result to any unusual attitude recovery maneuvers.


These are some of Rick's photos showing parts

[lenb]

beautiful work Scot... and Rick

[MarnochS]

Ringing in the New Year with the satisfying aroma of PolyTaK and some Polyester fabric......

​​​​​​

[MarnochS]

Dizzy with excitement............or maybe it's the Methyl Ethyl Ketone.......



Throttle / Choke / header tank install

[lenb]

Can you see the finish line? It's right there behind the paint cans.

len

[MarnochS]

Installed servo tube down the side of the fuselage to keep them contained.


Squared up the top Cowl screw mount and installed a brass threaded insert instead of the blind nut



Then the "B" side and the bottom covering.........



Picked up a new Slimline Flightline Fueler - 2.5 gal at the AMA Convention in Ontario, CA. Looks like it will hold more that 2.5 gallons by a fair bit.

[ARUP]

Those brass threaded inserts are great! You are getting closer to the paint booth! 'Groovy' marine themed sheet or towel on workbench! lol

[MarnochS]

Poly-Brush (untinted) sealing of the fabric after it was shrunk to 275-300F.
Looks like a Fuselage Rotisserie jig is next on the list to aid the finishing process

[MarnochS]

Fuselage Tapes.............and .....alas,...."installation aid" .......



With the un-tinted polybrush, the Tapes are almost hidden.

Another oddity is that before I applied the polybrush, the fabric didn't sound all that tight ....kind of a thunk,thunk sound ......after the Poly-Brush it sounds nice and tight....tink tink tink.
Must be that its glued down to all the wood

[ARUP]

Still lurking in the shadows! Nice work! If you're gonna wear 'installation aids' get some 'purdy' ones... like my blue or neon green ones! Are you a bona fide card carrying member of the 'reading glasses' crowd, now?

[MarnochS]

Shadows.....its too dark in hear to see any shadows........

[lenb]

Probably stiffens it a bit too, making the fabric not as soft.

[MarnochS]

Tapes completed ....,,,,,and some Hanger flying....

Found a quick pass with a Top Flight Trim Sealing Tool on the edges of the tapes seals them down nicely -----



and, of course, some minor inspiration.

[MarnochS]

Spark plugs - I was planning on installing some teardrop covers to hide the spark plugs but the Left side plug protrudes a little bit too much for that, and the fact that I can't install the Cowl with both plugs on .....is a limiting factor. I guess I'll go with the backup plan of painting the spark plug caps to match the Cowl.

[lenb]

I had the same issue Scot and did just about the same cut you made. After a month or so I noticed the fiberglass cowl was chaffing the wire on the spark plug where it touches.

Love the build....


Len

[MarnochS]

Thank for the heads up on the chaffing - planing on using spiral wire wrap to protect the wires.

[MarnochS]

More Cowl re-configurations. After getting too happy with the Dremel drum sander attachment cutting the exhaust exits, reverted to Rick Shelby's modification.
Used 0.015 G10 material and then reinforced with 1oz glass cloth





On the top side, some reinforcement with 6 oz cloth

[MarnochS]

Some Primer and Masking tape.......

[RShelby]

I had the same issue Scot and did just about the same cut you made. After a month or so I noticed the fiberglass cowl was chaffing the wire on the spark plug where it touches.

Love the build....


Len

I wrapped the affected area of the spark plug wire with silicone tape. After 5 years and hundreds of hours of towing there is still no chafing on either the wire or the cowl.

Rick