Hello to everyone! I've been on this BBS pushing 11 years and have been wanting to do this for a long time. Let me know if you like the idea I've presented.
I'm initiating an idea called "ETLB Tip of the Day" where anyone can become a contributor and give us your "tip of the day" that will be of value in building and flying our Airbikes, Hi-Maxes and Minimaxes.
The "ETLB Tip of the Day" is not a one a day thing, it's just how I named it . You can contribute any day/week/month that you want when you come up with an idea and want to share it with the rest of us. My only request you save it as: "ETLB Tip of the Day: <Name of Tip>" so that when these "Tips" get archived, it should be the best way of searching for them at a later time. Note: I might need some suggestions on this or this whole idea!
Anyway, below is my contribution to the first "ETLB Tip of the Day". You want these "Tips" to be simple but still allow you to do something better, faster, cheaper, or with better quality.
ETLB Tip of the Day: Stripped screw holes
If you removed your cowling several times over the years and realize the screw holes in the wood are stripped out and I've gone through this a few times over the years. Here are the steps to repair the problem:
1. Buy a bag of wooden golf tees. Why golf tees instead of dowels? Because you can use them for various size holes. You may have to cut some length off the tip to get the proper depth. 2. Using sandpaper, remove the varnish off the golf tees. 3. Drill out the stripped holes with a bit just slightly larger than the screws you were using. 4. Insert the tees coated with wood glue. (I use Titetbond III). 5. This is the part that will/could cost you some money if you don't have the item. You'll need to purchase a flush cut saw. These saws can be found in woodworking stores, hardware stores and online. 6. Once you have the saw and the glue has dried, flush cut the ends of the tees off. Then with a punch, put a center mark on the tee for drilling a pilot hole. After drilling a small pilot hole in each tee you are now good as new to use your screws again to install the cowling (or any other part that requires this type of repair).
A/B Plans #112 has 1008 hours as of 02-09-2015 Ace
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Here's another:
Magnetic Fingers
The convenience of those small clear plastic hardware storage boxes is sometimes overshadowed by the difficulty of removing hardware from the small compartments. By the time I get a finger and thumb in the compartment, I can't separate them to grasp a nut, washer or other small hardware item.
My solution is to use a magnet on the end of a flexible cable. Once the attracted hardware is removed from the compartment, strip off the items needed and return the balance to the compartment. A magnetic screwdriver or tack hammer will do the job just as well.
Thanks Paul, here's another, Balancing your ground adjustable prop.
I've aligned my ground adjustable prop per manufacture's instructions (Powerfin). But to check it (and do it from time to time), go to Walmart and buy a laser key chain for $2.49. Hot glue it on a piece of flat wood. I used the 1/4" square rib wood, left over from building the ribs. Move your prop horizontal as possible. Put the laser on the inside of the prop blade at a specific distance from the end of the prop (distance not important but towards the tip or a few inches from the tip is the best). I believe I did it at 6 inches from the tip(easy to measure with a ruler). Point the laser on the ground(floor) and mark it. This is easier done with 2 people, harder by yourself. Rotate the prop 180 degrees for the other blade and do the same thing by marking the ground. This works just as well with 3 props. I told a friend with a 3 bladed prop about this procedure, he did it, and his vibrations stopped (one blade was out)!
Here's the important thing, the two (or three) marks on the ground should be less than 1/4" apart. If they are not, you need to adjust a blade so the marks on the ground line up (doesn't matter which blade). If anybody tries this with successful results, please share it with our ETLB friends. Harold
I put this information on another thread but Tony Pickering suggested it belonged here:
The RC industry offers a number of small "spy" cameras. I bought one for $30 bucks and used it to search for a water leak in my RV. The camera uses a 9v battery and transmits to a receiver that attaches to the video in on a TV. I taped the camera to a 10' piece of conduit and placed a pen light in the conduit end for light. Watching the TV screen i could see into inaccessible areas and found my leak. Using this technique you could use inspection holes in a wing for an good look inside. Same for other hard to reach areas on you Max. $30 bucks is cheap insurance, give it a try.
Gary
DON'T COMPLAIN ABOUT GROWING OLDER, IT'S A PRIVILEGE DENIED TO MANY.
This tip-of-the-day is for AirBike wings: there is a pair of ¼” bolts/friction nuts on the forward spars between ribs #5 and #6 that secure the strut brackets. The heads of these bolts are inaccessible after the wing structure is completed (hidden behind leading edge wrap). I’m going to want to check the torque on these friction nuts periodically, perhaps through an inspection cover in the fabric, but there is no way that I can prevent the bolts from turning with the nuts.
My suggestion is: a “lock plate” fashioned of .035-.050” aluminum, held in place with safety pins over the heads of the bolts. I don’t think it would be possible to retrofit, so they must be installed during build (see photos). I believe this approach would work for mini-max and aero-max as well.
I suppose there are many ways to make the lock plate. I made mine by starting with ¼” holes in .078” stock (.065” might be better). I then inserted the bolts and carefully scribed the outline of the hex head into the aluminum. After removing the bolts, I drilled the holes out to 27/64” diameter and filed six notches out to the scribe line with a tiny file. Safety pins are Aircraft Spruce AN416-2 .041” Stainless Steel.
my compliments, that is some beautiful metal work and wish i had that king of skill, should work great! i had the same concern while building my eros but was lazier and just traded out the nylocks for castle nuts and cotter pins, but it doesn't look nearly as nice and would not offer the adjustability if i ever need to retorque for any reason that yours does.
Once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, and there you will always long to return
First let me preface by saying, everything trick here is something I learned from other folks right here on ETLB (This forum ROCKS!). Those of you that contributed these tricks originally, thank you and forgive me I've read so many posts that I no longer remember who taught me what. The reason I want to add this here is it should be more convenient for new people than reading hundreds of forum posts to glean a few useful ideas.
The first trick is using inexpensive fiber reinforced packing tape with staples as a staple loosener tool for joints and gussets. The hard part with staples is not putting them in, that's easy, the hard part is getting them back out again. But strapping tape helps a lot and is a real time saver.
Once you have all your sticks and gussets cut to size and inserted into your rib jig; mix up a small batch of T-88. No more than you will use in 20 or 30 minutes at a time. Apply liberally to both the sticks AND to the gusset. Place the gusset in carefully. Then put your strapping tape where you plan to staple. It works best if the fibers are running perpendicular to the staple.
Wait 24 hours for your epoxy to set up and then lift up the tape. Ensure you hold the gusset down firmly before you lift up on the tape. A series of firm but gentle tugs on the tape usually will lift up the staple enough to get your staple removal tool of choice under the wire and pry it out. Additionally the tape helps protect the gusset from your tools so you don't mar a lamination.
For wing ribs as shown in the photo's most joint's require gussets on both sides of the joint. I don't waste staples and time on the back side. Once the top side is done lift the rib carefully from the jig and flip it over. Apply clear packing tape (not to be confused with fiber reinforced strapping tape) to the topside gusset (that is now underneath). Spread T-88 liberally on both the joint AND the gusset. The packing tape will protect your work surface from a lot of drips and squeeze out. Place your Gusset and then fold the clear packing tape around the outside of the rib and over the wet gusset using the tape to hold the gusset in place. The tape should be long enough to go past the gusset and stick to the rib web sticks. Now the joint is filled with T-88 and it's focused in the joint and won't drip out.
Finally apply clamping pressure with cheap wooden spring loaded clothes pins. The clear packing tape will prevent the T-88 from gluing the clothes pin to your work. After 24 hours clamps pop right off and you peel off the packing tape, easy peezy and you are left with a good solid joint.
My friendly neighborhood mini-max builder introduced me to a great little hand tool a month ago and I've been quietly testing it on my build.
It's a Miter Cutter Hand Shear called The Easy Cutter Ultimate. This tool has made rib building fun and easy. I can cut cap strips without having to fire up noisy saw and it just makes the process easier and far more enjoyable.
I do my airplane building in the pre-dawn hour every weekday so it's important that my tools are quiet so as not to wake the family or the neighbors.
The Easy Cutter has a simple miter mechanism that can be rapidly swiveled to reflect most angles or can be used free hand to cut along a pencil marked arbitrary angle.
It slices through 1/4" spruce cleanly without compressing the wood fibers. I tried to duplicate the cut with my next most similar tool in the toolbox in appearance (my tin-snips) and the tin-snips destroyed the wood completely before making the cut. No Contest, the Easy Cutter wins. It's faster than a saw and miter box too and much easier.
The blade stays surprisingly sharp even after my dozens and dozens of cuts. Though I may in the future try sharpening it. While you can cut cleanly through 1/4" spruce with a single rapid squeeze. I find I get the prettiest miter cuts if I make a slow steady squeeze. Utilize about the same speed and that you might use applying trigger pressure when shooting a rifle.
The Easy Cutter is low cost and available at most hobby suppliers. I picked mine up at the time of this writing for less than $25 and that includes the shipping cost.
The cutter seems to be a pretty good "non-aircraft grade" spruce detector. I sliced a piece of 1/4 inch that I had already determined to be "sub standard" because of poor grain density and run out. When I cut this junk wood with the ultra cutter the wood splits along the grain and crumbles/splinters around the cut. Whereas when I cut high quality spruce in the same way I get a nice smooth clean cut even on mitered angles. For those of you just learning to select wood, this tip might be of use.
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