Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Matt Heintz on December 29, 2009 at 4:40am

Chris,
Good comments on the diagonal L angles in the rear fuselage.

Permalink Reply by Chris Sinfield on December 22, 2009 at 4:34am

Mathieu
With the fuslage side skin diaginal Z angle on page 6-ZU-3 which is from front botom of spar to topvirtical angle .. why is that a Z angle and just not a standard L angle? Is it required for Extra strength over the L angle as the standard L angle makes doing the inside upholstery so much easier. Just thought I'd ask before doing somthing wrong..
Chris.

Permalink Reply by Matt Heintz on December 29, 2009 at 4:37am

Chris,
Yes, the Z angle is preferred over the L in this area. The exact location of this Z angle is not critical at all. So when positioning it, make sure you can access the main spar bolts at the bottom easily.

Permalink Reply by Charles L Smith on December 30, 2009 at 5:13pm

Yep the Z angle is going to help with some twist! What I am going to do is make me A copy of 6-ZU-3-2 and install it backwards in front of the main section.

Permalink Reply by Andy Elliott on December 22, 2009 at 3:57pm

If you are/will be deconstructing your plane, you're going to need to remove a *LOT* of Avex rivets. And when building (or rebuilding), you'll definitely want to re-do any rivet that seems even the least bit marginal. The best and safest way to remove a pulled rivet without damaging the material or the hole is to:

1. Punch out the rivet mandrel.
2. Carefully drill off the rivet head.
3. Drill or punch out the rivet body.

I have developed a specialty tool for punching out the rivet mandrels which will make the job much, much easier. By getting a large number of the punch pins made, I was able to lower the cost per pin, so I can offer these to builders at a reasonable price. Not trying to get rich, just make back my costs. Also not a web guru (!), as you will see from the description page:

http://members.cox.net/n601ge/punch/autopunch.html

Please take a look. Orders will be filled immediately *after* Christmas! Be sure to include your shipping address in a note with payment.

Thanks,
Andy Elliott, Mesa, AZ
N601GE,601XL/TD,Corvair
150 hours, wings still on

Permalink Reply by Andy Elliott on December 31, 2009 at 2:40pm

Dave:

I have not tried the tool much on this kind of structure. But I have done a few on the flaps. Generally speaking, the tool has pros and cons. On the pro side, it provides a very sharp impact force, and usually pops the mandrel from an A4 with only one "hit". On the con side, you have to push the tool against the structure to load up the spring, so if the structure is compliant enough, it will move. Regardless, I think it is a lot better than a hammer in hand.

Do you want to completely deconstruct the rudder or just replace a few rivets? If it's just a few, I would recommend that you do them one at a time, so that you have the maximum retained structural strength to resist the spring loading up. This works much better then doing many at a time on minimalist structure. I have never seen a crease formed when done this way.

With respect to deconstructing the whole rudder, I think that if you start by de-riveting the nose piece, then the rest of the main spar, it'll work OK because of the extra layers of material there will allow the tool to work well. Then you'll have access to the inside to support the back sides of the rest of the rivets. You will find that the best sequence of deconstruction is not always the reverse of the construction order.

FWIW,
Andy Elliott
601XL/TD/Corvair
159 hrs, wings still on!

Permalink Reply by Matt Heintz on December 29, 2009 at 4:38am

Andy,
Good idea on the punch tool.

Permalink Reply by Brian Briggerman on December 26, 2009 at 7:06pm

I use Cortec for corrosion protection and know that it is like glue when two parts are put together after using this product. Any suggestions on how to take separate these parts, especially the wing sking, with out damaging them. When I had to separate parts during construction, I used a putty knife. That was before it was painted and they had not been joined for four years.


Brian Briggerman

Permalink Reply by Matt Heintz on December 30, 2009 at 3:48am

Brian,
I do not have another solution for you on this other than to contact the manufacture. Maybe someone else on here has another idea for you.

Permalink Reply by Floyd Wilkes on December 30, 2009 at 8:36am

I also used the Cortec. I used a plastic putty knife and it broke loose with no problem.

Floyd Wilkes

Permalink Reply by Matt Heintz on December 31, 2009 at 4:48am

David
For the weights, I will get the information from Zenith.
Yes, the wing lockers are still approved by Chris Heintz (CH)

Permalink Reply by Matt Heintz on December 31, 2009 at 12:27pm

David,
The Zenith 601XL total aircraft weight difference was 31 lbs. They added the diagonal
L angles in the rear fuselage as the 650 has but that probably is only a few lbs. I believe that the first AMD upgraded aircraft was about 25 lbs more. To really know, the aircraft needs to be weight just before and just after the upgrade.
Switching the lights to the LEDs saves about 2-3 lbs. What is also nice with the LED's is that barely use any power.

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