Edward - if you upload your user photo as a regular photo, I will add it to the "Rudders" album if you want. Welcome to the site!

You already uploaded your picture so now I'll add it to the Rudders! album. You don't need to do anything more. Thanks!

Went with the regular nav/strob light with the transformers at the end of the spar and I did install a tail light. I just put on the wings today, I'll post a picture.
Thanks,
Jim

i just noticed your message - i see from a photo that you have clecoed the stab skin onto the skeleton. i riveted the frame together because of 1) not enough clecoes 2)they get in the way under the skin and i didnt want to ding it up - must be cause its experimental you get to do whatever procedure you want - i noticed the same thing - beware of photos that lead you into an incorrect procedure...i installed the horns and was reattaching the skin wrong side first and actually riveted it.
lesson learned after removing those rivets...cleco everything, well at least all of one thing. the horns must obviously fit in first. i knew that intuitively but i saw a photo that showed something else. oh well. problem solved, next problem.
the tip rib attachment...the way i remember doing it (and i'm sure you're past this point by now) was cleco the skin to one side of tip rib and then could drill and cleco the angle bracket at the right spot.
i had the same questions.
ralph gregus

maybe you are filing too hard, they say just very lightly one one stroke..seems kinda hard to do sometimes. what is the new debur procedure? i pretty much use the 1/2" drill with a bunch of duck tape wrapped around to keep my hand from getting tired.

yes, i think thats what i have found too..
sometimes it seems the angle the drill is held at makes a difference on getting a cleaner job done...sometimes i think i just am thinking too much about it and it is fine.

i'll see if they have one at the show here at sun n fun.
i talked to one builder and he just used the drill for his 701...its almost in the air!

The American Southwest would be a fabulous place to fly a 701 or 750. That thought came to my head many times as I flew through it. I am sure you will love it. And I like your attitude about 500 AGL being all you need. I flew for nearly three days at 500 feet on this trip and I loved it. I just don't have the downward visibility you will have in a 750.

Steve

Doc, if you are interested I am inviting you to come and see my 801, it may give you some ideas and save you some heartache later. Feel free to call me and we can make arranements. 608-728-0365

Doc, I look forward to meeting you I will be working on the plane on friday hangar #43 usually until about 3:PM or so just for information. Feel free to call.

Comment by Dr. Edward L. Olds III 2 hours ago Delete Comment Wayne,
I'm using a digital camera to document my work and am keeping all my photos on the computer. I am also using a Kitlog system to document my work. Is there some "slick" way to feed all my photos into a powerpoint?
Ed


Sure is!

Here's what you do--plug the camera or memory card into your computer.

Open powerpoint and choose Insert>Picture>New Photo Album.

You'll get a dialog box that allows you to choose the camera or card (use the Scanner/Camera button) or you can pick a folder on your hard drive.

Works great. It's also possible from this dialog box to put a standard caption that spans all the photos.

Thanks!...Wayne

Ed,
The auto pilot is an EZ Pilot from Trio Avionics. All hardware needed comes with the unit. The only fabrication was making a mount for the servo and reinforcing the fuselage bottom.

Ed,

I haven't flown with this yet. I assume it would work in a 701, but you could get more meaningful info from someone who is flying a 701 with the AP installed.

Ed, my single hand method (referencing previous communique') of securing the flaperon skin worked even better on the second section. The three layers of holes aligned "spot on." Hope reassembly and numbers 3 and 4 go as well. Ken

I agree Ed, I was pretty excited to find someone so close. I'm in Iowa City every day, I work in the department of Internal Medicine, division of Infectious diseases, the inflammation Program.... A whole pile of descriptive verbiage to say I'm an RAIII in a research lab. You should let me know when you’ll be up here again. I can usually break away for lunch. You get that bird done and I’ll send you my address (GPS that is). I have 600 feet E-W x 150 feet N-S in my back yard made for it. No worries there aren’t any obstructions above corn high for almost a mile east, south and west. It should make for a very easy low and slow approach.

Ed,
I did a mapquest search and it looks like you're about 1 hr 30 minutes away. I see a road trip in my future. That is if you don't mind. I'd love to see a kit in the midst of construction. Might even be persuaded to lend a hand.

You'll have to let me know if (when) you get to Oshkosh this year. My Nephew was a controller last year and just let me know he has been invited back. With a bit of notice he can arrange a tower tour. Not that you would be interested I'm sure.... ;) If it matters I usually try to go the first 2 days.

I'll look into the Scotch Brite wheels. Do you recommend (other than Oshkosh) a source? And what grit do you use? I know there are different grits and grits for different materials. I've read a discussion about this on another builder forum and there was a warning about using materials other than aluminum oxide to polish or debur. Some abrasives are made form materials (other metal oxides) that can cause corrosion due to grit becoming imbedded in al clad skins. It then causes galvanic corrosion AKA differential metal corrosion.

Clay

Ed,

I'm trying to find a weekend in February that will work for me. I'm scheduled for the rudder workshop the 25th and 26th. If I can get a good look at a kit before I go I might be able to ask a few intellegent questions.

Clay

That would be great Ed..
It's nice to see you are getting help from the young Elves..haha Always nice to build our plane sourrounded by our family. Gives us the will to plow ahead despite all the technical difficulties..
I will follow your progress.
Thanks again Ed !!
Andre

Any Friday night...... That might work. I'll have to let you know for sure but it looks like the 12th might work out beautifully. What time are you home? My navigator (my 5 year old) and I could drive over for an hour or so.

If that doesn't work then the 13th looks pretty good.

I'll just need an address and phone number for when I get lost. You can Eamil it to me if you prefer.
clayton-hollenback@uiowa.edu

Dr. Olds,
My apologies. I'm still so new to the site that I accidentally erased your comments - rather inexcusable since you were my first contact on the project! You've also created a great shop and I envy your space. Time will tell where the parts will go, but thanks so much for your encouragement.
Joe

You read my mind ED. I was thinking about polishing wheels of some sort while watching the rudder build video last nite. Thanks,
Joe

I had a great time. The guys in the shop are over flowing with tips and advice. I learned more in two days than i could have in months on my own. I can't wait to get the HS and elevator finished. Unfortunately I have to wait just a bit to get started. I have to get my shop cleaned out and ready for parts. Hopefully the bulk of that work might get done this weekend.

Hello, Thanks, it worked out well. I looked at the picture of the factory ,(AMD) interior and went from there. I measured from the seat support at the stick location forward 5" then up to the panel frame. I was going to put my fuel valve on the 5" flat area but, I forgot that the rudder cables go under that area. I moved the fuel valve up and everything fit.My headset jacks and intercom along with key swich and 12 volt acess round it out. I designed it with cardboard templates and then cut it out of 032 aluminium. I also routed all my cables, wires and pitot lines thru this area to get them out of sight. Thanks for the interest and feel free to ask more questions, Jim

Hi Ed, You have that bird in the air yet?? I'm almost done with the tail kit. July 2nd I'm off to Mexico Mo to get the feselage and finish kits.

Hi Ed, greetings from this side of the 'pond'.
The pic was of G-CECZ taking off. I'm in the process of upgrading my microlight ( ultralight) licence so unfortunately cant fly her solo at the moment, but its not too far off now with my extra training. She was built by the guy who imports them over here and he has done a fantastic job. I'm too impatient to build so buying 'ready-to-fly' suits me fine.
All the best with your build.
Ade

Ed,
Thanks for the kind comment. One of the ways that this hobby has survived so long is by the participants passing along their tribal knowledge. Glad I could help a builder just starting out.
Good luck with that 750. I know the grand kids will enjoy going flying with their grand father.
Jerry

Hey. If you have any questions let me know.  I've built planes and had inspections both ways with paint and with out.  Never had an issue. I ordered my engine on the 2nd of aug.  

Hi Ed,

I saw your post about filler and drain holes not linking up. You can buy little trim plates and then the holes don't need to line up "perfectly." They are available here:

http://www.mrrace.com/Products/index.htm

Ed,
I ran into the same problem with the filler neck & drain outlets not lining up with the skin holes. I eongated the holes with a half round file till I had clearance and used George Race's products (filler neck ring, sump drain ring) to trim it out. Worked great. There is a photo on my profile page if you care to see the filler neck trim ring.

George has a website, http://www.mrrace.com/
He has a lot of items for Zenith builders such as access doors, instrument panel face plates, too much to mention. He is a great guy. He also hosts a Monday night chat room on-line for Zenith builders.
Take care - Jimmy Young

Hi Edward! Greetings from Northern Finland and thanks for your comment. We have about 50cm of snow here and more will sure come. The ski-flying season is about to start as the days are getting longer. I do not know if we get our STOL701 project flying before spring but if we do, we'll put it on skis too.

I think wheel skis like in the ZAC video are great if you do not have much snow and you fly from lake ice or fields. And they are handy when taking the plane in the hangar  too.

-ari

Hi Ed,

We have just installed skis on our club Ikarus and will be flying it shortly. The plan was to start yesterday but it was snowing too much, took visibility down to a mile and it was all just grey. You would not be able to see the "runway" from the air. We'll start an other day. There is so much soft snow that the runway must be prepared and marked, the plane sinks into the snow otherwise and you either get stuck or flip.

-ari

Ed,

Today it's -15C and beatiful sunshine - the WX is getting better towards the spring. The ski flying season ends perhaps in April - May in the North but I don't know if we manage to get our 701 ready by that. Snow is fun but the dark mid-winter is not so..

-ari

Whirlwind prop 

I would be interested in hearing what you thought of the Jabiru Work Shop.

Thanks Ed

It's a really nice feeling to do your own paint job except when things go wrong. There is usually something that goes wrong for me at the start of painting. Once I get those little things sorted, it all instantly visible progress from there.

Good luck with yours Ed, hope to see it soon.

 

Phill

Ed

There is a guy on the Forum "750" that has been trying to join his fuse for the past several days and has a problem.  Perhaps you could take a look at his post on the forum page for the 750's.  Maybe you could help him find his problem since you have just recently been there!  Good luck with the rest of your build.  Looks like it's comming along.

Joe B

Ed

At least you tried.  I just ran across your notes and recent activity and thought of his recent activity and thought you could help.  He wrote to me when I commented back to him about his problem.  Perhaps now that the holidays are gone you might hear from him.

Joe B

Ed

I'm planning on scratch building myself so I feel for Steve's problem.  Didn't get to kick off my project yet.  Ran into delays with an addition to the house that I need to complete before I can start devoting time to building.  There is always something.  You can't imagine how good it feels to know that there are still some people out there that will go out of their way to give a stranger a hand.  I applaud your efforts.  Good luck with your build.  You must feel good to be getting so close.  Take care.

Joe b

Looking at your pics, I noticed you have a Dynon Skyview panel built by Aerotronics.  Installing avionics and electrical wiring is something I will need some assistance.  Do they have good documentation and instructions for a novice and would you recomend using their service?  Appreciate you comments, THX

 

Ken