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victorbravo(at)sbcglobal.
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 Posted: Wed Mar 28, 2018 10:04 am Post subject: Firestar / HKS update |
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Hi Kolbers, greetings from Los Angeles,
It's been a while since I updated the list on my progress with the HKS installation and airframe repair on my FS2.
Progress has been slow but steady. I've designed and fabricated an oil cooler plenum and housing, and have designed and fabricated a center section leading edge fairing. Both of these components are almost complete, requiring final trimming and some mounting details.
The oil cooler plenum creates "updraft" style cooling. It will take air from a scoop underneath the wing (high pressure) and run it upwards through the cooler, and the top of the cooler is flush with the top surface of the wing (low pressure). It's mounted on the starboard side of the upper cage.
The old center section fairing that came with it would not fit around the HKS engine, since it had been made for the 447 or 503 that came with the aircraft..It had been made out of clear plexiglas or lexan, and was nicely constructed, but it weighed 3 or 4 pounds and I have no need for it to be transparent since my Firestar will be operated as single seater.
I designed a light weight sheet metal replacement, using .016" aluminum and light pop rivets. A wooden form block was made to match the shape o the forward wing rib, rib blanks were cut and "notch-relieved", and the metal was hammered around the form to make a left and a right side rib.
Another piece of .016 sheet was wrapped around a 7/8 rube to make a leading edge radius (1/25" after "springback". This was assembled on a bench with a whole lot of cleco-ing, drilling and re-cleco-ing. A decision was made to add one extra piece of vertical/spanwise aluminum in order to stiffen the skin against oil-canning. That piece was fabricated and installed, and the entire assembly was finally riveted together. A light coat of Zinc primer was sprayed where metal would be touching metal.
I'm pleased to report that this fairing weighs about half of what the original fairing did.
The intent at this stage is for this sheet metal part to be slid into position after the wings are unfolded, and to be retained by the overlap of the skins onto the root ribs of both wings. The original center fairing was held on this way using Velcro, but I believe I can use a spring clip or quarter-turn fastener of some type to make it easier to get on and off.
After these photos were taken, I added the recessed part of the scoop to the underside of the fairing. This will eventually mate up with the oil cooler plenum and the rest of the scoop (which is not done yet).
I also made up a "Swiss Muffler" as referenced in the Tony Bingelis EAA books, as an attempt to keep the aircraft as quiet as possible. This muffler is clamped under the tailboom tube using rubber padded clamps and spacer blocks. Photos and details of the muffler are available if anyone is interested.
Bill Berle
www.ezflaphandle.com - safety & performance upgrade for light aircraft
www.grantstar.net - winning proposals for non-profit and for-profit entities
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robpen5557(at)gmail.com
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| Posted: Wed Mar 28, 2018 3:00 pm Post subject: Firestar / HKS update |
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Very cool! Thanks for the update.
Robert Lobdell
Waskom, Texas
robpen5557(at)gmail.com (robpen5557(at)gmail.com)
Flying is the second greatest thill known to man. Landing is the first!
On Wed, Mar 28, 2018, 1:07 PM Bill Berle <victorbravo(at)sbcglobal.net (victorbravo(at)sbcglobal.net)> wrote:
| Quote: | Hi Kolbers, greetings from Los Angeles,
It's been a while since I updated the list on my progress with the HKS installation and airframe repair on my FS2.
Progress has been slow but steady. I've designed and fabricated an oil cooler plenum and housing, and have designed and fabricated a center section leading edge fairing. Both of these components are almost complete, requiring final trimming and some mounting details.
The oil cooler plenum creates "updraft" style cooling. It will take air from a scoop underneath the wing (high pressure) and run it upwards through the cooler, and the top of the cooler is flush with the top surface of the wing (low pressure). It's mounted on the starboard side of the upper cage.
The old center section fairing that came with it would not fit around the HKS engine, since it had been made for the 447 or 503 that came with the aircraft..It had been made out of clear plexiglas or lexan, and was nicely constructed, but it weighed 3 or 4 pounds and I have no need for it to be transparent since my Firestar will be operated as single seater.
I designed a light weight sheet metal replacement, using .016" aluminum and light pop rivets. A wooden form block was made to match the shape o the forward wing rib, rib blanks were cut and "notch-relieved", and the metal was hammered around the form to make a left and a right side rib.
Another piece of .016 sheet was wrapped around a 7/8 rube to make a leading edge radius (1/25" after "springback". This was assembled on a bench with a whole lot of cleco-ing, drilling and re-cleco-ing. A decision was made to add one extra piece of vertical/spanwise aluminum in order to stiffen the skin against oil-canning. That piece was fabricated and installed, and the entire assembly was finally riveted together. A light coat of Zinc primer was sprayed where metal would be touching metal.
I'm pleased to report that this fairing weighs about half of what the original fairing did.
The intent at this stage is for this sheet metal part to be slid into position after the wings are unfolded, and to be retained by the overlap of the skins onto the root ribs of both wings. The original center fairing was held on this way using Velcro, but I believe I can use a spring clip or quarter-turn fastener of some type to make it easier to get on and off.
After these photos were taken, I added the recessed part of the scoop to the underside of the fairing. This will eventually mate up with the oil cooler plenum and the rest of the scoop (which is not done yet).
I also made up a "Swiss Muffler" as referenced in the Tony Bingelis EAA books, as an attempt to keep the aircraft as quiet as possible. This muffler is clamped under the tailboom tube using rubber padded clamps and spacer blocks. Photos and details of the muffler are available if anyone is interested.
Bill Berle
www.ezflaphandle.com - safety & performance upgrade for light aircraft
www.grantstar.net - winning proposals for non-profit and for-profit entities
==== |
| | - The Matronics Kolb-List Email Forum - | | | Use the List Feature Navigator to browse the many List utilities available such as the Email Subscriptions page, Archive Search & Download, 7-Day Browse, Chat, FAQ, Photoshare, and much more:
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