Friday March 29th,  2013 to Monday April 1st,2013

I got the 701 out again and flew around for touch and goes... Much better elevator response at all speeds but more noticeable on landings. I also like the added headroom ... I got 3.1 hours before going back in and got the Beanie pilot window installed. Requires patience but not that difficult. Don't forget to weatherproof all rivets and joints otherwise you'll love your new installed shower !!!

On monday, I installed the passenger side Beanie window...It was way faster since I knew where and what I was doing. Didn't get a chance at flying the new improved Beanie...Next time. Still have to make th windshield to wing fairings but that is just cosmetics and it can wait...

For people that would want to copy my Beanie Ribs, here are the measurements. Horizontal is X and vertical is Y measurements. All are in millimeters. Reference is X=0 for front of Beanie rib.

X=0, Y=90

X=100, Y=123

X=200, Y=138

X=300, Y=136

X=400, Y=125

X=500, Y=108

X=600, Y=88

X=700, Y=71

X=810, Y=42

These measurments do not include the top and bottom lips used to rivet the rib to the roof or door sill.

The ribs are riveted to the side of the door sills  (7F19-12D) but can be riveted to the top of the cabin (7F19-1)

Check my photos to see how I got the actual location of the ribs.

Also, the nose part is a copy of 7V4-1 (wing root nose rib) fitted to the front of the Beanie rib.

If someone wanted the Beanie to start at the windshield, just use X=0, Y=0 instead of my measurements and delete the nose rib altogether...

Use a carboard mock up first ! This way you'll be able to figure out everything BEFORE you make any costly errors.

The top roof is made of a 36 inch X 48 inch 0.025 6061-t6 piece and the front (nose rib to top) is 12 inch X 48 inch 0.016 6061-t6. Both pieces are riveted together (top over the nose part).

Got questions, drop me an email and I'll try to help as best I can.

Norm

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Friday March 22nd,2013

Finished the trailing edge part of the Beanie and put scelant everywhere I could. I tried making the 2 windshield trims out of 0.0250 aluminum...Too heavy gauge ! I was unable to make a nice fit so I'll make new parts out of 0.016 and try again next time. I didn't get the top windows installed...Wanted to go for a spin and try the Beanie CH701...

There is a definite difference in the effectiveness of the elevator at all speeds but it is more noticeable at lower/approach speed. I got to hold the nose up until the end of the flare on landing. Something I couldn't do very well before. Also noticed that the elevator feels 'lighter' and more responsive...Maybe, I'm dreaming all of this but at least I didn't detect any adverse effects from the Beanie change. 

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Friday March15th, 2013

To the hangar to finish the Beanie installation. I had to reposition the Beanie leading edge because it was crooked. Took all the clecos out, deburred everything and riveted leading edge and top skin. All done except for the trailing edge of the Beanie...Waiting for aileron traling edge stock from Aircraft Scrounch to arrive. Also adjusted the trailing edge of the Beanie top skin to meet with the side 'L' rivets. It looks more natural.

Also, ordered 6061-t6 (0.090) to make the wing fences and additionnal slats supports. Got the wing VGs out to prime and paint (have to pierce them first for rivets). Checking for location on the wing...

Norm 

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Friday March 8th,2013.

Back to the hangar with some reinforcement! René, my helper extraordinaire joined me for a lenghtly session on the Beanie modification. We made 2 new middle ribs and installed them. Then it was time for the skin to go on. That's a job for 2 people with a lot of patience !

We struggled for most of the afternoon but finally the whole thing is clecoed in place. I have to say that I sat in the plane with the Beanie modification done and WHAT A DIFFERENCE it makes ! I'm 6 foot 2inches and before my head used to rub againts the plexisglass but now, I got 4 inches between my brain and the cealing of the plane !

On top of this, the 701 looks nicer with the new roof; I still have to finalize the installation of rectangular shaped windows on the Beanie but I'm very happy how this turned out. This should be all finished when I go back next friday.

René told me that he's anxiuos to see how the Beanie improves the flight envelope of the 701 and so do I.

For now, I'm just happy with the added head clearence I got !  

My next project : taking the SLATS OFF and replacing them with the wing VGs that I have.

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Wednesday March 6th,2013.

Went to the hangar to trial fit my Beanie ribs...Took 3 hours but finally installed the 2 outward ribs with clecoes.

Hardest part was taking out rivets from the door top and installing L shaped supports for the ribs. I didn't have time to check the center rib but at least when I come back on friday, I know this will work!

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Sunday March 3rd to Tuesday March 5th,2013

It was time to cut some aluminum, so I did ! I made 3 Beanie ribs (2 outboards + 1 middle) and 2 Beanie nose rib

doublers. They were all made of 0.025 6061-t6 aluminum cut from my 4 feet x 12 feet sheet. I used pliers to fold the top and bottom lips that will be used to rivet the top Beanie aluminum to the ribs. Also, the lower fold was done OUTWARD looking from the front of the plane towards the tail; this will serve to rivet a rectangular piece of aluminum to cover the underwing gap between the wing skin and the cabin side. This gap always existed but there wasn't much concern about it. So, in resume, the top fold of the Beanie ribs are done INWARD and the bottom are done OUTWARD.

I'll make some drawings of this and get photos when installed.

That's for next friday !

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Thursday February 28th,2013

Over last weekend, I made 2 Beanie mockup ribs from carboard to use as templates for the real aluminum ribs.

I had to use those templates to mark all the electrical wires and fuel lines exits from the wing to the cabin sides.

So, today I got to the hangar and for 3 hours, I fitted the 2 Beanie ribs to the cabin sides/top and checked alignment with the wing roots. After all was done, I checked my initial design against the actual ribs. Well, I have to say it was pretty close to the drawing i had...

Nevertheless, It worked out real good!  Now, I have to manufacture the real ribs !

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Friday February 22nd,2013

I went to the hangar and after flying two 45 minute legs, I decided it was time to retire momentarily the 701 and start

The Beanie mod. Don't get me wrong, you DON'T HAVE TO DO this modification; the 701 with elevator VGs responds very well to elevator input down to a very low landing speed BUT since I'm 6feet2inches tall my head keep touching the skylight plexis and it is very annoying.

So, here we go ! The first thing I did was cutting the aluminum part of the wing that goes over the plexis. I cut up to 1 inch inboard of the 7V4-2 ribs and then sanded the cut.

The next thing on the list was removing the plexis skylight. To do this, I had to take out two inverted 'L' shaped aluminum pieces that sandwiched the plexis to the sides of the 701 door. I punched out the rivets and carefully undid the caulking to unseat the plexis. Then, I removed all the screws holding the top part of the windshield to the front wing spar brace.

I pried out the plexis and it came out in one piece. After cleaning up the caulking, I was ready to reconstruct the top cabin.

The first thing I noticed is that the rivets to rib 7V4-2 are actually HIGHER than the rib itself, Refer to the plans, the bend to the top of that rib is OUTWARD and it makes a 30degree angle upward. For reference, check page 7-V-4 and you'll notice that for the front part of the rib, it is bent upwards 30 degrees to zero degrees near the trailing edge (flat).

If I wanted my Beanie to fit nicely, the front part of my new ribs would have to be higher that the actual 7V4-2 ribs and the rear part of my new rib would be very close to the 7V4-2 rib design. 

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After reviewing the plans, I decided to keep the 2 inner wing ribs but instead add height to those ribs to make the Beanie mod. I drew up the 2 main wing ribs 7V4-2 and 7V1-2 for the 701 wing. All the addons will be fabricated from 6061-t6 0.025 thickness.

Also, I have to start drawing the 2 top cabin ribs...
Photos to follow soon.
Norm
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So, the CH701 is flying quite nicely, the little Subaru/Aeroinjector/WarpDrive are all working without any problem... Gee I'm getting bored already !!!
Last year, I fixed my aileron deflection problem, added VG's to the stabilitor... What other improvement can I make ????
Flying last summer, I realized that the sunroof is nice but the SUN is a HOT thing and since I'm 6'2" my head gets really close to the acrylic. An all aluminum Beanie with only small rectangular windows over the passenger and pilot would be a good thing.
I will try to use other people's design and ideas and adapt them.
Let's report back with photos and drawings soon...