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Flaps+Welder

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naumuk(at)alltel.net
Guest

Posted: Sun May 28, 2006 8:31 am Post subject: Flaps+Welder

All-

     Before I go farther, I'd like to say that I'd appreciate the owner =

reviews on the HF welder and comments from builders of more than one kit =

as to how the Zenith plans stack up I originally requested.

     Flaps? Bottom line is, you depend on them if that's the way you =

were trained. Before there were such things as flaps, there was a =

technique known as the slip. I was taught to never rely on anything =

electrically powered. Partial panel training- how about ZERO panel?! =

Example:

    You've had an electrical fire and had to pop all the breakers. The =

cockpit is full of smoke, you're flying in fog, and the only instrument =

you can see is the whiskey compass. How do you survive?

    Use the fluid level in the whiskey compass as an ad-hoc artificial =

horizon. Shut off the engine(s) and secure the gas feed(s). Drop the =

nose and slip the plane right into the ground. The plane will be a mess =

unless you break out, you might spend time in the hospital, but you'll =

live to tell the story. This is an example of what JJ taught me, because =

he had to do it himself flying an Air Force C-54. He also pulled a Bob =

Hoover, taxiing up to within 200 ft of the main hangar after losing half =

a prop at the hub on a C-172 at 6000', then dead sticking it 13 miles to =

a field 1400' MSL.=20

    JJ quit logging his time after he went over 40K hours. His wife =

recently died (She was also an instructor who taught me how to land a =

C-150 in a 35kt crosswind- we survived, but she was a nervous wreck) and =

I haven't seen him since last year, when we spent 2 hrs doing every =

maneuver legal in the same C-172 that lost the prop.

    For me, flying is more people than hardware. I hope you all can =

experience the feeling you get when someone in the right seat grabs the =

stick/yoke and you KNOW he/she's the boss.

                                                                   Bill

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p.mulwitz(at)worldnet.att
Guest

Posted: Sun May 28, 2006 9:30 am Post subject: Flaps+Welder

Bill,



I built a MiniMax a couple of decades ago.  I found the plans 

flawless for that design.



My experience with last year's version of the XL prints is something 

different.  I have noticed many small inconsistencies and some just 

plain errors in the drawings from Mexico, MO.  I feel the 

instructions are even worse.  They often are off by several years 

from the actual design in the prints.  Furthermore, the instructions 

are not well thought out.  I have found the order of operations and 

the methods of getting the parts properly installed leave a lot to be desired.



The worst example I have encountered caused me to destroy my first 

wing.  It calls for aligning the nose skin using the reference line 

on the nose ribs.  Unfortunately, only scratch builders have this 

line available to them since it is a line on the forming block for 

the nose ribs.  The kit supplied parts do not have this line.  I 

tried to estimate where it belonged and made a 1/2 inch mistake that 

cost me my wing spar.  The mistake was mine, but the instructions 

were involved in getting there.



All that said, there are some very positive things to say about the 

XL kit too.  All the parts are labeled with the drawing number and 

some dimensions.  That is a vast improvement over the MiniMax kit 

where nothing was labeled and I needed to figure out which part was 

which in the large pile of pieces.  Also, the Zodiac design is much 

better than the MiniMax (IMHO) and the sales documentation did a much 

better job of describing the plane sufficiently to make a good 

purchase choice.  I stopped building the MiniMax after it was on its 

wheels when I discovered my shoulders didn't fit in the 

cockpit.  After a year of building on the XL and a demo flight I am 

still convinced it was the perfect choice of a design for me to build.



One last note on the XL drawings - I suspect what has happened is the 

"Designer" has changed since Chris Heintz retired.  The drawing pages 

just show his name in the information block, but I am quite sure he 

has not been doing the day to day changes for the last few 

years.  This explains (at least for me) both the inconsistencies in 

the drawings and some of the parts that seem to be designed with a 

completely different philosophy from the rest of the plane.  An 

example of the last notion is the flat outboard elevator trim tab 

shown on my original prints which has since been changed to one with 

the inset triangular shape consistent with the rest of the plane.



I am still willing to recommend the XL kit to anyone interested in 

the same things as me when selecting a kit.  These include:  All 

metal construction; Light Sport Aircraft qualification with maximum 

performance allowed;  significant design longevity indicating a safe 

flying history; and reasonably good looking lines (unlike the Sonex 

which I think is ugly).  While the documentation package doesn't live 

up to my fondest wishes, the difficulties that arise from the 

shortcomings are not severe. I don't think any of them add up to 

safety problems with the finished plane.



Paul

XL wings

do not archive

At 09:29 AM 5/28/2006, you wrote:

 	  Quote: 	
		     Before I go farther, I'd like to say that I'd appreciate the owner =

reviews on the HF welder and comments from builders of more than one kit =

as to how the Zenith plans stack up I originally requested.


	


-

- The Matronics Zenith-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:

http://www.matronics.com/Navigator?Zenith-List

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