Very exciting time! The list is getting. Shorter every day! Thanks for all the support! I will be flying soon! Great advice Recardo. Advice I plan to follow! Here you see the fuel lines with fire sleeve. Also duel electronic ignition! And fuel flow test at 20 degree angle. Fuel system is stock mechanical engine run pump. With electronic back up fuel pump. Pumps are parallel . With check valves. Fuel flow was 21 gallons an hour! That should be sufficient! Finishing up cowl now.

Addeed my snoopy to the tail......who don't love that darn dog!!! It may be a single seater, but I won't be up there alone

Tremendously inspiring, Brian,

Tom

BRIAN!!! I think I saw a little bit of taxi in your engine run video (about 8 inches or so) This is such an inspiration to me in building my V-max!

Yours looks so good. All the hard work will pay of in a short bit for you i'm sure!

Way to Go!!!!!

Piece of advice:
On the snoopy sign change the second "L" for a "W" and you'll have all the license necessary to fly your plane whenever you fill like it.

Brian, congrats to your engine run! Sounds very solid and like a real airplane! Huge difference to my 2 stroke... You are the man!
Cheers
Reto

Great work!- it will not be long now!

Quoted from Ricardo

Piece of advice:
On the snoopy sign change the second "L" for a "W" and you'll have all the license necessary to fly your plane whenever you fill like it.

Lol lucky for me I already have one of those! 😉

Ok folks basically working on cosmetic stuff. And trying to eliminate some radio noise! I get static and ignition feedback when trying to transmit! I am fitting cowl and working on filling in wing LE gaps. Also going to finish up my tailwheel endorsement!!! Wow it's moving fast now. Do have some sad news. One of my hanger mates died in an accident last Tuesday. Still not sure what happened. Broke my heart when the news showed the tail of an  Aircraft sticking out of a roof.  Then I recognized his tail number. He is the guy taking photos in the beginning of my engine run up video. Went to work on my Max day after event and his car was still parked outside hanger.....Notice pictures below. Empty spot next to my plane was where Al kept his Sonix...
RIP buddy....
http://www.necn.com/news/new-e.....ation-415086803.html

Well....enough of that back to the build ......here is the modified cowl.....as I stated before I am using starter ring as front and flow cowl back from there. I cut around starter. My original plan was a bump orotund it. But I really like the industrial look of it open like you see. I plan on leaving it that way....

Sorry to hear about your friend Al.

I agree the starter cutout looks good.
That small MiniMax spinner looks out of place with that giant flywheel behind it.

Very sorry about the loss of your friend Brian.I will say a prayer. You are getting so close to your goals; and I am happy for your success.

I love this thread, you set 2 goals that aren't easy and are well on the way to completion on both and you also found time to keep us posted on your progress from start to finish. I wish you well and that you have many happy healthy years of flying in your airplane. this threat is part of the inspiration to start on my Ultra-piet. I only hope to have the same success as you.

The spinner does look a bit funny. But once everything is painted. I think it will flow relatively well.... time will tell. Cdlwingnut... get started on that build!!! Please send me a link to build when you do! Just keep plugging away! I am so close now!!! It's like a roll of toilet paper... closer you get to the end...faster it goes!!! Thanks to all for all the support along the way!
B-😃

Brian:
Sorry to hear the sad news about your hangar friend.  I hope they find the accident cause that could save other pilot's life. My condolences to the family.

So sorry to hear about the loss of your hangar mate, Brian.  Sad, sad news, but like they say, shit happens. I'm glad it hasn't stopped your will to fly.

Re your radio noise, I have this problem too.  I can hear fine, but people say my transmissions are very crackly. I think it is probably RF noise transmitted from the alternator or CD ignition. I have my antenna in the tail, so can't get it further away from the engine. Someone suggested ferrules on the power supply lead to the radio, to soak up the spikes - I may try this. If it is the ignition, I'm guessing it's going to be lots of work to isolate the interference.

At the moment, Im able to fly ok from my (radio mandatory) local airfield. I keep my transmissions short, & just shut the throttle down when I transmit! It works ok, & I don't lose too much height or speed for the short time I need to transmit.

I'll be interested to hear if you fix your problem, although we have different engines.

Can't wait to hear your first flight report. It must be getting towards Spring in your hemisphere, too, so an ideal time for first flight.

Bruce

Brian,

I am interested in your Transponder install, where did you place the antenna and how was the ground plane achieved?   I looked into making the copper tape antennas as they do in the composite aircraft on my bird, but found that I could incorporate a ground plane into the top of my Hi-max cabin.   I am considering adding a small Transponder since I am in a bit of a high traffic area, and would like to know your thoughts on how that is working.

Quoted from Seaplane Pirate

Brian,

I am interested in your Transponder install, where did you place the antenna and how was the ground plane achieved?   I looked into making the copper tape antennas as they do in the composite aircraft on my bird, but found that I could incorporate a ground plane into the top of my Hi-max cabin.   I am considering adding a small Transponder since I am in a bit of a high traffic area, and would like to know your thoughts on how that is working.

My thoughts as well. Very interested.

Quoted from Kaliche Kid

My thoughts as well. Very interested.

I can take some photos of install. But remember I haven't flown it yet... so I am not sure about performance! Basically I mounted the antenna below fuselage, behind seat. The ground plane is on the floor behind seat! I'll post some pics in a couple days.

Just got home from 2 week vacation in Iceland then London! We walked everywhere our average was over 10 miles a day. Using public transportation as a last resort! It wasn't that long ago when a walk across a parking lot left me winded!!!
                  Also decided to "buy into" a 1/3 share of this Piper Cherokee! Since basic med has passed I am laddering up from Sport pilot to PPL !!! Between the Cherokee and the Minimax I am sure looking forward to a great flying Season!!!! Two different planes with two entirely different missions!!!

Quoted from beragoobruce

So sorry to hear about the loss of your hangar mate, Brian.  Sad, sad news, but like they say, shit happens. I'm glad it hasn't stopped your will to fly.

Re your radio noise, I have this problem too.  I can hear fine, but people say my transmissions are very crackly. I think it is probably RF noise transmitted from the alternator or CD ignition. I have my antenna in the tail, so can't get it further away from the engine. Someone suggested ferrules on the power supply lead to the radio, to soak up the spikes - I may try this. If it is the ignition, I'm guessing it's going to be lots of work to isolate the interference.

At the moment, Im able to fly ok from my (radio mandatory) local airfield. I keep my transmissions short, & just shut the throttle down when I transmit! It works ok, & I don't lose too much height or speed for the short time I need to transmit.

I'll be interested to hear if you fix your problem, although we have different engines.

Can't wait to hear your first flight report. It must be getting towards Spring in your hemisphere, too, so an ideal time for first flight.

Bruce

Your right Bruce "sh*^t does happen, but as a Paramedic I am fully aware of the risks in life!!! He will be missed but life goes on!

    I am trying to chase down some potential ground loops. Also purchased some resistor style caps for spark plugs and some braided metal wire sleeve covers for spark plug wires! Now that I am back from vacation I will begin in earnest to chase down the interference!  

Brian, I am sorry to hear about what happened to your hangar mate. The empty space in your hangar should soon be occupied with an other flying machine...

You are getting close, fantastic!

Just learned that I will need COM/XPDR/ELT over here too...

Cheers
Reto

Hi Brian, congratulations on your progress.

I have just started work on finishing a part built Brugger Colibri, which is VW powered. I was wondering about your starter ring, what diameter is it?  

I am planning to fit a modified Limbach engine but it has a rear starter and magneto. I want to convert to a front starter arrangement like yours.

Regards,

Colin

I found a picture of my ground plane for the transponder antenna. It is behind the seat. I epoxied it to the floor. Antenna pointing dow. Still working on radio noise.
Colin that looks like a fun plane. I will take measurement for you tomorrow. I know this unit in its entirety is available From Hummel Engines.
Retro  good luck with the install. If I wasn't chasing down engine noise in Radio I would be done by now!m

Three ferrite beads on the coax for the vhf may help on the radio noise.... I have a technical paper on it I can email you if needed.  I may have some extra beads too

Quoted from Seaplane Pirate

Three ferrite beads on the coax for the vhf may help on the radio noise.... I have a technical paper on it I can email you if needed.  I may have some extra beads too

Please send me the paper at brianxx2@yahoo.com also if you have extra beads please let me know. I'll try them! I sheethed the spark plug cables in metal braid and put on resistor caps. According to the tower they are receiving me 4/5. Before I was transmitting an unreadable "squeal"! So progress!!!!! Also started taxi tests. Really glad I put in differential breaking!
Thank you!
Brian!!!

Quoted from bigbrixx1

Fuel flow was 21 gallons an hour! That should be sufficient!  

You have a rather short range Max there, haven't you?  

I had a Colemill 310 with 300 hp. engines and it burned only about 24 gph total, and the cruise speed was 230mph.  

Just had to poke you a little; everything about your thread and build has been so good that there just hasn't been much opportunity to harass you, and it looks like there's not much time left.

Hope you get rid of the radio noise. Magneto ignitions used to require shielded wires and a capacitor. That's all so old that it's probably not relevant to your installation.

Have a great time in both airplanes, but not at the same time.

Still working on radio noise! Making great progress. Bert that 310 sounds like a blast to fly! Although a bit pricey😉. I have started taxi test. Slow tests. But it's great! The sound is awesome! Ricardo I stole your idea about putting casters under wheels and it allows me to move max in and out of hanger sideways! Much easier!  Paperwork on its way to FAA. Trying to schedule a airworthiness inspection soon! Down to a few cosmetic touches, cleaning up radio noise and some safety checks! The never ending list is getting smaller.  Note the leather flying cap and goggles! Christmas present! Red Baron eat your heart out!!! Here is a link to my taxi video posted on the team Facebook page

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1173577879430949&id=207841032671310

Final fitting and painting of cowl getting close!
Brian 🎉😃

GREAT Brian. You will be flying soon. Good luck.

Well done Brian!  Now for the full runway tail up taxi trials (the fun bit!).  Your plane sounds great, especially with the WW1 'blipping'.

Bruce

Awesome! How did the weight and balance go?
How many pounds of pull force did you get from your engine? The engine sound is soooo nice!

can't wait for that first flight report/video!

Wow! Great looking airplane!
Where'd you buy that thing?   (That's your cue. Now you can tell them. )

I bet you will here that a lot.

Thanks for the vid.