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Permalink Reply by Conrad Watters on November 30, 2011 at 9:47pm

worthwhile read for all of us.

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Permalink Reply by Bob Pustell on November 30, 2011 at 9:59pm

An excellent piece of reading, Jake. I know you focused on keeping it light, and I intend to as my build progresses. Easy to say, hard to do. That mindset has to permeate everything you do as you build, as you select components, as you decide not to add extra braces or reinforcements, etc etc. The "upgrade kit" makes me cringe, in that respect. They fixed every possible thing that some regulatory agency might consider a problem and added a lot of pork to the structure. It was a good business decision but a lousy weight control decision. End of rant.........

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Permalink Reply by Jake Reyna on December 1, 2011 at 9:10am

Bob, I believe that working to keep it light from the beginning will bring a pleasant surprise. There are number of builders that have reported XL's in the 725+/- pound range using the Jabiru or Rotax. Some of the newer Corvair installations are significantly lighter than those a few years ago.

I was at 686 pounds after the upgrade and expect to be at 700 pounds once it's dressed up, without paint or wheel pants, that adds 50 pounds.That's one bag of concrete. Once I get mostly done, I'll get another certified weight and will share that information.

Obtw, removed the nosewheel assembly yesterday. I think my bearings need grease. I'm going to work on that fender idea we talked about, something simple. Thinking I can have a couple of holes on the leading edge of the fender and use as a tow bar attach point. Plan on using aluminum and sandwich between the nosegear assembly and the forks.

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Permalink Reply by Chris Aysen on December 1, 2011 at 8:19am

86 lbs for an interior. Some are approaching that much over-weight just in engine choice; with an 86 lb interior on top of that. I believe engine choice [for a given airframe] is understated in this article. It's not that it does not matter about interior weight because it does, however, that weight is closer to CL (center of lift) and a bit less effective on overall performance given an engine of correct weight. But add all that interior with a heavy engine and performance degrades rapidly. Still an EXCELLENT article calling attention to weight problems seldom recognized.

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