Mike Hostage's Pioneer Builders Log
1993
2 Jan 3.0 Make angular jigs and glue ribs 1,2 and 8 on rudder spar. cut bottom trim
piece and trailing edge. Glued trailing edge in place.
3 Jan 1.5 Glue remaining rudder ribs and hinge blocks.
5 Jan 1.0 Skin left side of rudder.
6 Ian 1.3 Cut out trim lines on left side of rudder, skinned right side.
0.3 Glue lower part of ply rudder skins.
0.2 Fashion wire hooks for rudder springs. Drill holes and mount hooks on PVC
11/2" pipe, for nose hole. Cut 1/4" Aluminum pitot tube, drill PVC to fit.
7 Jan 1.3 Remove staples, mark and trim remainder of rudder ply. Glue last two cap
strips and lower corner piece.
1.5 Finish trimming and sanding rudder.
9 Jan 1.2 Cut and glue rudder hinge mounting blocks together. Mark C/L of rudder spar.
Cut, trim and glue skid pieces.
12 Jan 0.2 Measure arc of canopy bow. Also, look at where to attach BRS bridle.
(illustration in logbook)
0.1 Received Aircraft Spruce shipment. Need to reorder 5/8" inner diameter steel
tube for wheel spacers. I ordered 5/8" outer diameters
14 Jan 0.3 Drill out nose for PVC air inlet tube and pitot tube.
I5 Jan 0.4 Got more parts from Aircraft Spruce. Mounted both tow releases.
1.0 Cut spacers from 5/8" ID tube, for centering wheel on axle. Mounted
axle/whee/spacers. Re-measured for new fuselage aileron belcrank arm.
18 Jan 4.5 Drove to Wetumpka airport to find Ed Hora. His name given as having
swaging tool. Found him, he loaned the tool. He told me to find Elrose
Swindle, Aircrafters Ioc., at the west end of the field. Elrose let me use his
metal cutting bandsaw to cut out brackets for the carry through structure, as
well as the end prongs for the 3 new linkages I have to make. Used Swindle's
metal brake to bend 90 degree angles. Jim Dunn, local AI and FBO, told me
about Packaging and Machining Inc. where Don Murchison works. He can do
the welding I need. Drove home. Ground and fabricated end pieces for
linkages as well as brackets. Cut, measured and swaged 1/8" release cables in
fuselage. Cut spreader bars, from wood, to hold nylon tubing in place.
20 Jan 1.0 Took fuselage frame and 3 belcrank arms to Packaging and Machining Inc (welders)
to have BRS brackets welded on and new belcrank arms made.
Glued pitot tube into PVC housing.
28 Jan $65 1.0 Picked up fuselage frame and rods. Painted all with satin black. Also painted
stick and spoiler arm.
30 Jan 1.0 Reinstall stick, fuselage frame, aileron swing assembly, new center aileron
pushrod. Bolted frame to fuselage.
1.0 Flox then glass-in the pitot/air intake pipe, into nose.
0.8 Tried to glass release cable housing. Only did one section, left rear. glass kept
slipping down the side. Tried peel ply to get it to stay in place until cured,
using heat lamp. Lamp and peel ply seemed to work. Glass right rear release
cable housing. Used peel ply again, but used spreader bars and blocks to hold
glass in place.
31 Jan 0.8 Glass remaining left side cable housing.
1 Feb 0.6 Glass right side cable housing. Skid came unglued!
3 Feb 0.5 Planed, resawed, planed new ash boards to 3 laminations of 1/4" for another
skid attempt.
0.8 Glue 3 laminations of 1/4" ash for new skid
12 Feb $21.60 Bought 3"X43" stainless l/16" sheet for skid, from Packaging and Machining Inc.
Also, bought flat head machine bolts to assemble it with.
14 Feb 1.5 Trim and sand skid. cut stainless plate to skid length. Drill skid, stainless,
rubber blocks, and fuselage for mounting bolts.
15 Feb 1.5 Countersunk 6 screw holes in skid. Drill 5/16 holes for seat belt anchors.
Clean shipping tape residue from fiberglass surfaces.
16 Feb 0.7 Fabricate tail wheel mounting block from 3/4" cherry. Cut "HQ" brand 21/2"
wheel from bracket, to mount 3" wheel (with bearing), ordered from Aircraft
Spruce. Test drilleft E7P5000-08 (floating nut plates) to take 1/8" pop rivets,
used #30 drill bit.
17 Feb 1.5 Fabricate 20" x 7" tube to simulate BRS system. Place in fuselage. 20" too
long. Called BRS, they can pack the ULS chute in a shorter (18"). fatter can.
Fit 18" tube at various angles. Also laid out instrument panel. Fitted hose
clamp to panel air vent.
20 Feb 1.5 Cut out instrument holes in fiberglass panel. cut altimeter notch and drill
mounting holes for air vent.
24 Feb 1.5 Drill holes and mount Airspeed indicator and compass switch + fuse. cut
holes for lap belt, in seat pan.
28 Feb 0.5 Glass in expander 45 degree joint for air intake in nose.
1 Mar 0.5 Used 1/4" brake line for Brunsweig tube. Bent 1" radius. Used Epoxy to close
end. Glued 2" piece into brass tube to form seat to hold tube in place, in the
brass mounting tube.
2 Mar 0.8 Rivet in blind nuts for instrument panel hold down. Needbracket type of
fitting (see illustration in logbook) to secure bottom front of panel. Began
clamping in bracing blocks to hold wheel well in position for glassing.
3 Mar 0.5 Cut and drill basswood block to hold Brunsweig tube.
5 Mar 0.5 Glass 1/3 of area around wheel housing. Limited by heat lamp coverage.
(approx. 55 degrees in the garage)
0.4 Fabricate shoulder strap bracket.
0.3 Glass another l/3 of wheel well.
0.4 Glass remaining 1/3 of wheel well.
6 Mar 1.5 Dress (sand) wheel opening. Tried to put axle on wheel, pushed bearing out!
Need to thin axle slightly. Cut hole for wheel brake.
0.7 Cut 1/2" ply shelf for BRS system. Tested by standing on it, will hold
200+1bs. Drilled 1/8" pilot holes. Need to make brackets for forward edge, and
fasten blind nuts for wiog/head bolts.
7 Mar 4 5 Trimmed tip dollies to accept wings with ailerons attached. Cut elevator
control locks from aluminum sheet. May want to rig alternate lock for root
fittings. Drilled, deburred and painted forward catches for BRS shelf.
Varnished all hinge pads (for ailerons, elevators, and rudder) along with rudder
interior. Drilled holes for rudder hinges.
8 Mar 1.5 Attach hinges and elevator torque fittings to both elevators. Attach hinges to
ailerons. Bondo trailing edge of right aileron.
9 Mar 1.5 Sand both elevators and ailerons. re-bondoed right aileron trailing edge, sand
to shape. Reinstall fuselage control systems.
10 Mar 0.5 Sand rudder,attach hinges. Paint mold release on 3 inch PVC pipe. Glassed
4 inch test section on pipe. (for trim tube)
11 Mar 0.5 Mold release unsuccessful. Applied past wax after stripping mold release.
Also installed shoulder belt and bracket.
0.3 Test fiberglass over paste wax.
0.3 Sanded axle to fit wheel bearings. Installed wheel and collars. Mounted brake
assembly.
15 Mar 1.0 Fashioned clamp for release support tube, to hold front end of instrument
panel.
0.2 Cut holes, for elevator torque fittings, in root wall.
16 Mar 0.7 Fiberglass 2 layers on inside of turtle deck, to reinforce future BRS cutout area
0.3 Put mold release on outside area, where BRS cutout will be. Glued Brunsweig
tube support into top of fin.
0.8 Glass 5 layers over plastic, on outside (right side) of turtle deck. This will
form mold for BRS cover.
19 Mar 2.0 Mount ailerons, aileron homs, belcranks and pushrods. Mount elevators.
Had to relieve top ply sheet at trailing edge for elevator horns.
20 Mar 1.0 Fabricate elevator root locks. Cut aileron drive tube holes in fuselage sides.
3.0 connect wings, ailerons, elevators. Check control throws, and binding.
Ailerons still stiff. Ailerons move full travel, but stick is +- 31/2" instead of +- 5".
Elevator drive tube is too short. New tubing is slightly too thick walled for
my inserts. Will order new tubing.
21 Mar 2.0 Test clamp turtle deck. Clean fuselage insides. Cut glass strips for joining halves.
22 Mar 0.5 Trim rudder hinge blocks.
23 Mar 1.5 Finish lower rudder hinge block (had to add 1/2" thick block). Align rudder to
place cable. Drill rudder cable holes in bulkheads. Glass in left rudder cable housing.
24 Mar 0.5 Trim seat pan to fit past rudder cable housings.
25 Mar 1.5 Glass in right rudder cable housing. Modify 5/16 nut plates, rivet in place as hold downs
for BRS tray.
27 Mar 2.5 Glass turtlefteck to main fuselage
28 Mar 0.3 Glass small loose area mid-right side.
29 Mar 1.5 Mount 5th point restraint Cut hole for 5th belt in seat pan. Install all bolts,
strapped in OK. cut holes for all 4 BRS risers, into fuselage. Installed risers.
Begin cutting wood form for fairings (gave up this idea). Glass first section of
fairing, using bridle (encased in wax paper and masking tape) as mold
30 Mar 0.8 Test pull bridle through one layer of fiberglass, scored with dremel tool.
Works great! Tested masking tape, with and without paste wax, to stick
bridles to fuselage while laying up glass channels.
1.0 Tape all 4 bridles down with masking tape. Lay one test strip on left side of
turtle deck. also, cut clamping blocks to use with C-damps, to hold the glass
fairing in place while gluing.
31 Mar 0.2 Fiberglass doesn't seem to lift easily from making tape. Applied paste wax to
remainder of tape.
1 Apr 1.4 Glass remaining failings.
0.5 Drill new middle rudder hinge, glue hinge blocks to fin.
2 Apr 2.5 Drill and mount rudder hinges. Removed fairings from tape. Trimmed edges.
Scored right side fairing. Scuff sanded glue edge of fainng and fuselage on
nght side. Wrapped cable in wax paper (to protect from epoxy). Glued right
fairing in place. Used clamps and wood strips to hold edges down.
3 Apr 1.5 Scuff sand left fairing and fuselage side. cut score line in left fairing. Wrap
riser with wax paper. glue on fairing. Removed clamps from right side. Glue
cap to top of rudder.
0.5 Mask off BRS opening area, coat with paste wax.
4 Apr 2.5 Scuff sand short left turtle deck fairing, wrap risers in wax paper, glue down
fairing. Glass 1 layer for BRS cover. May want to try 2 layers if 1 is too
flimsy. Sanded rudder cap, filled holes with floxed epoxy.
0.5 Adjust bearing tube on aileron belcrank (cut off 1/8") to keep left aileron drive
tube from rubbing on frame. Cut rudder cables to rough length.
1.2 Cut new elevator drive tube, drill new rivet holes for end pieces, drive four
new aluminum rivets (after cutting them from 3/16 rod). Bolt in place.
6 Apr 2.0 Swage rudder cables. Swage brake cable. Used Howard Williamson's swaging tool.
7 Apr 1.0 Varnish skid, inside of rudder cap and rudder hinge blocks.
9 Apr 1.7 Glass bumps over elevator torque tube holes, fill areas at instrument
panel/canopy rail junctions and at aft portions of canopy rails. Glass final
fairing on right rear upper section.
10 Apr 0.5 Weighed fuselage with skid, seat, instrument panel (without instruments).
Weighed l10 lbs.
19 Apr 2.0 Make felt and 3/32 ply lip around canopy opening (to make chatmel for canopy
seal)- Mask perimeter of canopy opening.
20 Apr 0.5 Wax masking tape area.
21 Apr 0.7 Second coat of wax on masking tape. cut 1/4" strips of glass, to build up seal
flange area
23 Apr 3.0 Glass canopy frame rim.
0.3 Razor trim glass when it was like "sticky taffy" (green stage, ala Rutan).
24 Apr 2.5 Cut, trim, glue ash canopy rails.
25 Apr 1.5 Sand and trim/finish ash canopy rails. Made ply former for aft canopy bow,
bent 5052 aluminum bow. Cut channels in aft end of canopy rails. Bow seems too
sloppy to use for canopy rail. Will get canopy, see if rail can be built up after
canopy is cut to fit.
26 Apr 1.5 Retrieved canopy from trailer. Initial trim of fore and aft ends of canopy
blank. The cut made the canopy much more flexible. Fltted on fuselage,
marked next trim.
27 Apr 0.7 BROKE CANOPY!!! Was cutting along lower left canopy rail line. Did not
adequately support the waste piece as the cut progressed. Long cantilevered
load of cut-off piece caused crack which progressed along front windscreen
area. Ordered $325 replacement canopy from Jim Marske!
4 May 1.0 Cut nose former for trailer fuselage mount.
5 May 0.3 Drill and mount tailwheel.
0.6 Tape and wax canopy frame. Will make second fiberglass frame, minus the
channel for rubber seal. The first frame was too ragged on the under side.
6 May 0.2 Take measurements for size of fuselage and trailer dolly parts. (see drawing in
notebook.)
7 May 0.5 Cut fiberglass strips for new canopy frame.
9 May 0.1 Received BRS system.
11 May 3.0 Mounted BRS on shelf. Fabricated inclined bracket, cut relief hole in shelf to
help clearance at chute end of BRS. Cut radius on edge of shelf to guide
arming handle cable. Had to mount system to fire out right side due to
location of firing handle and spoiler actuating tube. Marked cutout area on
fuselage side. Need to glass reinforcing sheets on right side of fuselage. Need
to fabricate bracket to hold arming handle below right interior canopy rail.
1.0 Glass reinforcing layers on left side, for BRS exit hole.
13 May 2.4 Glass new 4 layer canopy frame. Reverse mounting plate for BRS handle.
0.3 Trim "green lay-up" to proper outline for canopy frame.
14 May 1.3 Remove new canopy frame, pull tape from fuselage. Cut hole for BRS
rocket/chute/risers. Tape down risers, glass final fairing.
15 May Attended fabric covering seminar held by Alexander Aeroplane, in Griffin, GA.
16 May 0.3 Removed fairing lay-up, cut glass sheet for covering BRS hole.
1.0 Glass final fairing.
17 May 0.3 Glue on BRS exit hole cover. Glass small piece to join fairing and BRS exit cover.
18 May 3.2 Fabricate and install (in trader) mounting fixtures to hold fuselage. Need
wheel guides, end blocks and foam wedge to support tail
19 May 1.0 Install floor wheel guides for fuselage wheel track in trailer.
20 May 1.0 Begin fabrication of rear bungee support. Glue wood strip to waste canopy
frame for test lay-up of polyester/epoxy fillets and glass work.
21 May Drove 12 hours, each way, to Marske's home in Marion Ohio, to get new canopy.
22 May 1.0 Glue scrap piece of acrylic to extra canopy frame (the one I glued the
simulated wooden canopy rail to). Put two layers of glass on outside of acrylic
and canopy frame. Used polyester and flox to fill gaps. Used poly + flox to
glue acrylic to wood frame.
23 May $80 0.7 Got pneumatic cutoff tool, cuts canopy just fine! Glued canopy rails to frame.
25 May 2.5 Remove canopy frame (with rails) from fuselage. Trim sand/grind edges.
Drill and countersink 4 screws for flush mount (from bottom of frame into
wood) to absorb peel loads from torqueing of fratne. Cut, grind and mount
rear pins in fuselage frame.
0.5 Make spacers to hold rear edge of canopy in place for gluing. Drill holes, in
fuselage, to accept canopy frame pins.
27 May 3.0 Cut, trim, fit canopy to frame. Rig straps and ropes to put tension on sides for
gluing. flox in aluminum tubes to accept canopy frame pins.
28 May $684 Drove to Griffin GA, to pick up covering materials at Alexander Aeroplane.
29 May 1.5 Glue canopy to side rails. Got glue on canopy!! (seems to clean up with
MEK, but leaves some clouding) Should have left protective covering sheet on
parts of canopy which were not getting glued.
1.5 Glass outer layer around canopy and frame.
30 May 2.0 Removed canopy from fuselage. Forgot that clamps would be hard to remove
with canopy glued in place! Had to reach in from rudder holes with stick and
knock vice-glip pliers off of frame. Fill gap between rails and canopy, flush to
top, with flox mixture. Glass inside of rear canopy bow.
1.5 Glass inside of forward canopy bow.
31 May 1.0 Trimmed canopy flange. Pulled tape, tried to clean up epoxy bleeds/drips with
MEK. Leaves streaking. Also, polyester resin seems to make the acrylic craze
crack wherever it touches.
3.0 Complete fuselage restraints for trailer. Make tail bungee and wheel chocks
Also braced wing root supports. Make rudder lock. Loaded fuselage onto
trailer for move to DC.
Move to Fairfax, VA
26 Sep 0.3 Marked straight foam tips for cut off, to make leading edge match wing. As
cut by the factory, the angle on the root end of the tips was backwards.
9 Oct 1.0 Trim root end piece of foam to fit wingtip. cut two wooden root pieces. Drill
and mark holes for left wingtip root piece. Cut and fashion four wingtip pins.
10 Oct 1.5 Fashion wingtip pin blocks, shear webs and spars, glue and rivet in place on
both tips.
11 Oct 0.5 Cut right tip foam root to fit root rib/spar assembly. Jig in place.
17 Oct 1.1 Cut foam wingtip tips at 45 angle (Horner tips?). Fit left foam tip to plug. trim plug
spars to fit foam tips, Bondo both foam tips to plugs.
0.7 Glass 2 layers over right tip root and foam core.
0.7 Glass 2 layers over left tip root and foam core.
21 Oct 0.7 Fill, forward of tip spars, with foam.
24 Oct 0.5 Fill holes, gaps with bondo, around tip root.
1.0 Glass shear webs of both wingtips, after sanding down filler.
0.7 Begin fitting foam core panels to cockpit walls.
25 Oct 0.8 Fill remaining gaps in tip assemblies with foam strips. Glass leading edge root areas.
30 Oct 1.5 Glass lower right wingtip surface.
31 Oct 1.5 Glass lower left wingtip surface.
1.0 Remove BRS line fairings, grind excess resin off exterior fuselage surfaces.
0.5 Glass BRS channel for inside of turtle deck.
2 Nov 1.5 Remove BRS fairing (to be replaced) cut new riser slot. Trim riser channel,
remove foam on inside to make "U" cross-section. Belt sand all remaining
exterior old glue surfaces. Trim trailing edges in line with the trailing edge of
the wing, for both wing tip assemblies. Remove foam around all exterior
edges, to be filled with micro-balloon mixture.
0.7 Glass inside of channel, flox to fair inside edges into walls.
2 Nov 0.2 Green glass trim edges of channel.
4 Nov 1.0 Micro balloon fill lower side of fuselage trailing edge. Glass 3 layers on
outside surface of channel. Used flox to improve radii of channel/fuselage juncture.
5 Nov 0.1 Green glass trim channel lay-up.
6 Nov 0.3 Cut away canopy seat rim at channel, file area smooth.
0.5 Glass single layer for BRS panel.
1.5 Glass top of left wingtip.
7 Nov 1.5 Glass top of right wingtip.
4 Dec 0.5 Sand trim wingtip trailing edges.