Quoted from Tom

Really good plywood can be essentially a work of art in itself.  We see so much horrible stuff it's hard to believe how perfect the really good stuff can be.  The top quality stuff is much stronger than the mediocre stuff too.  It never really costs that much more.

Tom

Quoted from beragoobruce

Great job on the cowlings, Reto. Especially considering all the relocating work you had to do for a non standard engine. I'm looking at how much I'll have to do on the cowlings to fit a different engine, and it's a lot of work.

Have you looked into which propellor you will use for the Hirth?

Bruce

Quoted from beragoobruce

They look nice props. From Peter's experience it seems you need a fair bit of blade area to absorb all those lovely Hirth horsepower. Though I don't suppose you have to use all of them if you choose not to. I'll be very interested to hear how your system works later on.

My platform is already built to accept a 503, but is too high for the belt reduction drive MZ 201 I'm considering at the moment. The belt pulley centres are about 50mm further apart than the gear centres.

I have temporarily 'installed' the upper cowling, angled up to suit the MZ 201 thrust line. It doesn't look right, & I will have trouble extending the lower cowl by 2" to suit the higher prop centre.

So I am currently on the drawing board deciding the best way to lower the engine mount. It's fun this aircraft building, isn't it?

I am not concerned by the small difference in the thrust line as regards it's effect on flying. I very much doubt it will be noticeable. But the appearance is surprisingly a lot worse with the upper cowl tilted up. D'Oh!

Bruce

Quoted from PUFF

Look out Huns!  The fabrics starting to go on!  

Quoted from viktorvonragaman

your work is so nice .. that last pic looks like a piece of artwork. very clean!!

Quoted from aeronut

That is great looking work. Hope you are able to continue your fantastic build. Thanks for posting.

Quoted from TreeTopsTom

I have looked at this same (issue) with mine and was thinking about trying to male some sort of an extension out from the rudder pedals for the cables to hook to in an effort to solve for the problem. Not sure that it's the best solution though. It would put the cables right next to the side wall all the way from the pedals back to the bulkhead behind the seat without the need for any angle change hardware. Might make for a more comfortable feel for your feet on the rudder pedals as well. As it is, your foot position is blocked from any further outward position as it's limited by the cable being mounted right there. It might not seem like a big deal but being able to have that little bit extra foot movement could be a considerable difference in comfort level.
Or I guess there are also options of increasing the width of the floor board and mounting the pedals at the furthest outside position OR having pedals that are shaped so as to have a big outside (bow) to them so as the cable attaching to them will again be as far to the outside as possible. It's probably simplest to mount something like Reto shows in his drawing but I see my ideas as possibly making the foot area seem more spacey (feeling). Don't think any of the ideas would require that much extra work.
Especially for a new build. Nor do I think they would be changes that effect structural integrity in any way , shape or form.      

Quoted from beragoobruce

Great work on the rear fairing, Reto. It's a bit fiddly, but satisfying to get it right, isn't it?
.
As to your ideas on re-routing the rudder cables, I too didn't like the idea of a control cable sharing my seat. so I ran the cables under the seat, through an extra fairlead in the forward seat bulkhead, and then through some aluminium tube to stop them fouling the seat belt.  See pics below from my 'Pushrod Controls' thread.

Quoted from Tom

That rear fairing is really beautifully done.

Tom

Quoted from Ricardo

Mine is suspended by rubber supports one on each side an another in the upper middle.
The rubber pieces had inserted bolts at each end, I think they are Piper brand or else, bought them at an air show.

Quoted from beragoobruce

Like Ricardo, I rubber mounted my panel too. More pix, etc, on my own thread here  http://www.lonesomebuzzards.com/cgi-bin/forum/Blah.pl?m-1409444380/s-90/

Bruce

Quoted from Harless Greear

Most all GA aircraft have aluminum panels...........