| 11 | More Books | 12/28/2005 |
| | Based on the recommended reading in the back of William Wynne's Conversion Manual I order 2 more books, "Aircraft Welding" and the "Welder's Handbook". Beginners rate the "Welder's Handbook" highly while those more experienced give it low marks. I just read it through and liked it, but will probably take a Welding class before I start anything welding related. "Aircraft Welding" seems to go into all the types of welds that I'll encounter in my project. I give both books a thumbs-up. |
| | | "Welder's Handbook" | Non-Material Project | $18.95 | | "Aircraft Welding" | Non-Material Project | $11.95 |
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| 10 | Occassional TMI | 12/2/2005 |
| | I joined a Pietenpol list on the web. Discussions about medical issues, about which type of bolts to use and if the bolts go up or face down, which way the grain on plywood gussets should go, whether or not you need to remove nails, are a few examples of some of the topics as I, the newbie homebuilder, face. Too much information (TMI)? I feel overwhelmed by the enormity of the information you need to understand to get this project done right. The current conclusion I have come to is that you ask a question or read someone else's question and the replies that follow are like a class on that topic. I don't mean to say that you have learned the subject by reading others' comments, but you do learn about the various aspects of the topic to go off and do your own research. ...So I archive all the list discussions. I've decided to focus on one thing at a time and "become my own expert" on each subject as I complete it. For now the plan is to work on getting the motors and starting the engine conversion. Concurrently I will build as many wing ribs as I can this winter. Hopefully by spring I'll have them finished and can mount them on a spar and store the 3 piece wing in a safe place and move onto the fuselage. |
| 9 | Pietenpol List is Useful | 11/29/2005 |
| | Someone out in list land noticed I was from CT. So is he. He's about 1 hour from me and I'm trying to arrange to meet with him some night and gather more info on the project. After a few emails were exchanged I called him and he's a real nice guy. He has autocad drawings of the plans (since they are hard to understand sometimes) that he made and plotted in full size. He also has a jig that he said I could use for making wing ribs. This was a direct result of using the list so I kicked in a $20 contribution the person who maintains the list service. Well worth it. |
| | | Pietenpol List Server | Organizational Fees | $20.00 |
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| 8 | Easy Way to Take 40 Pounds Off the Plane | 11/20/2005 |
| | After reading that Mr. Pietenpol was a sleight framed man, weighing in at around 150 lbs. and additionally reading about the discomforts of larger pilots having trouble fitting into the plane I began to question the need for the 50 lbs. of payload I would be packing into the rear seating. I used to weigh 155 lbs. back when I was running between 8 and 12 miles a day or doing an equivalent workout cycling and doing a marathon or triathlon now and then. Over the past 15 years I've been able to keep running sporadically but not enough to keep 50 lbs. from sneaking into my body. ...So, I've been trying to run 7 miles 4 or 5 times a week. Building this plane is good for the mind AND body. My target is to reach 165 lbs. by first flight. At 209 lbs. with a 38 inch waist my goal is to drop 50 pounds and go shopping for size 34s (32s are out of the question). Today was my off-day but yesterday I did 7.2 miles in an hour instead of the normal 7. |
| 7 | Getting Organized | 11/19/2005 |
| | Where do I start? The wing? The fuse? I figured I'd start reading all the literature that came last week and see where that leads me.
Since I really wanted to go to Corvair College but couldn't I started reading the Conversion Manual by William Wynne. Having read a good chunk of the manual already I can't emphasize enough how well organized and clearly written it is. Even if you don't plan on using a Corvair motor in an Air Camper I would still recommend owning a copy of this manual just to know about the motor before you decide on something else. The day I ordered my manual I had a dozen questions I was planning on calling about. When the manual arrived I found that it answered EVERY ONE OF THEM.
I called around to begin my search for a motor but didn't find anything. In the spring I built an 8'x12' shed for my woodworking power tools. That will be the home of my motor when I find it.
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| 6 | Questions, Questions and More Questions | 11/15/2005 |
| | If you are not a pilot (as I am not) and are thinking about doing this you probably have a few questions to find answers for. "Where do I find the materials for the project", "How do I get the plane certified", "Who will fly the plane the first time?", "Should somebody be checking my work as I build?", "How will I get trained so that I will be a well-prepared, safe and capable pilot?". There are many sources of information and answers to these questions, but the best I have found so far is the EAA and their sport pilot site. |
| | | EAA Membership | Organizational Fees | $40.00 |
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| 5 | Creation of This Site | 11/15/2005 |
| | This project sure has a lot of details! I was afraid I would lose track of costs, forget helpful links to web resources or other bits of information I will come across in the lengthy process of building this plane. I thought about keeping track of it in Microsoft Access database. Why hoard the information? If I plan on using a database to track everything, why not just build a website that runs off the info in the database? After all, I am a software engineer. I spent a good night building this and hopefully what I learn along way will help somebody else. I also found that the place that hosts my domain does not support Access so I had to convert the database to mySQL. If you have any questions about that feel free to email me about the site too. Here I plan to document everything I do. To keep track of the time, cost, and hopefully the friends I make along the way.
Man hours: 5 |
| 4 | Decision Made | 11/3/2005 |
| | After a lot of thought over the past 2 months I decided to commit myself to this project. It will take me more than a year so I plan on doing it in stages. 2 weeks ago, on the morning of my 42nd birthday, I ordered a few things I thought I would need. The plans for the Air Camper, additional plans for modifying the fuselage for the Corvair motor I will be using, plans for the rib jig and a conversion manual for rebuilding a Corvair engine for an aircraft application. You can find the plans on the Pietenpol family website and the Corvair conversion information on www.flycorvair.com - The Corvair Authority. I received everything I ordered in a couple days. |
| | | Full Size Rib Plan | Non-Material Project | $16.50 | | Original Plans and Drawings Set | Non-Material Project | $148.00 | | Original Builder's Manual | Non-Material Project | $29.70 | | Shipping (Pietenpol Plans) | Non-Material Project | $13.00 | | Corvair Conversion Manual | Non-Material Project | $59.00 |
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