Airplane Project

[giroux68]

That is awesome! I am thankful and mad that my county does not have an airport. The boat is enough for now. Is oshkosh goingto happen this year? Are you taking it?

 

[Julian]

Not many people can say "my plane is in my hangar"! Impressive from start to finish!

 

[upperdeck]

That is awesome! I am thankful and mad that my county does not have an airport. The boat is enough for now. Is oshkosh goingto happen this year? Are you taking it?

Unfortunately, OshKosh was canceled this year. I would have been there for sure. It's about a 20 minute flight from me.

 

[biglar155]

Unfortunately, OshKosh was canceled this year. I would have been there for sure. It's about a 20 minute flight from me.

It's a bummer that's for sure. I attended "on the grounds" for the first time last year. (We've lived in WI for 22 years and have regularly sat on the water to watch the airshow.) Having been there once now, I had all kinds of plans of taking time off from work to attend the 2020 show. I'm particularly interested in getting to see (and try my amateur hand at photographing) a night show.

Oh well. Here's hoping 2021 is twice as big.

 

[njmr2fan]

WOW! Beautiful! I had forgotten about this thread! Enjoy in good health!

 

[Seadeals]

The paint looks amazing! Heck, the whole plane is a gem. It would surely have caught a lot of attention at Oshkosh; but at least you don’t have to worry about thousands of people putting finger prints on your new paint. I have a feeling less ginormous events like Triple Tree here in SC may “take off” much sooner and in a huge way, since everyone had to miss their Oshkosh and SunNFun fix.

Triple Tree Fly-In - Triple Tree Aerodome

Pilot Information We look forward to seeing each of you at our 2021 Triple Tree Fly-In! Don't forget to pre-register! We are excited to welcome you back to Triple Tree! Pre-Registration is OPEN!

tta.aero

 

[upperdeck]

The paint looks amazing! Heck, the whole plane is a gem. It would surely have caught a lot of attention at Oshkosh; but at least you don’t have to worry about thousands of people putting finger prints on your new paint. I have a feeling less ginormous events like Triple Tree here in SC may “take off” much sooner and in a huge way, since everyone had to miss their Oshkosh and SunNFun fix.

Triple Tree Fly-In - Triple Tree Aerodome

Pilot Information We look forward to seeing each of you at our 2021 Triple Tree Fly-In! Don't forget to pre-register! We are excited to welcome you back to Triple Tree! Pre-Registration is OPEN!

tta.aero

Triple tree is most certainly on my hit list. I've been watching that event from afar for way too long!

 

[Dan Ruehl]

Nice build sir! I’m dealing with pro seal on a 14. What airport in Wi are you at? I’ve got friends at HXF. Oh, and I retired launching planes at osh in 2018. Big Ford was my last transmission as an faa controller.

 

[upperdeck]

Nice build sir! I’m dealing with pro seal on a 14. What airport in Wi are you at? I’ve got friends at HXF. Oh, and I retired launching planes at osh in 2018. Big Ford was my last transmission as an faa controller.

Hats off to you sir! I have flown to KOSH, but not during the big show yet. I'm based out of Waukesha. Good luck with that pro seal. My advice is to get them perfect the first time. I pressure tested using the balloon method and still had minor leaks that I only found after fuel sat in them for a long period of time... Pulling the tanks off to patch the weeping rivets was no fun. Had to be done before paint though.

 

[Seadeals]

If you ever decide to make the trip, give me a shout. It is very close and I could easily add a waterfall cruise on lake Jocassee to your agenda! I might be able to score you hangarage at GMU before/after the event.

 

[Dan Ruehl]

Hats off to you sir! I have flown to KOSH, but not during the big show yet. I'm based out of Waukesha. Good luck with that pro seal. My advice is to get them perfect the first time. I pressure tested using the balloon method and still had minor leaks that I only found after fuel sat in them for a long period of time... Pulling the tanks off to patch the weeping rivets was no fun. Had to be done before paint though.

Thanks! Make sure you make the trip at least once! This will be the first I’ve missed in 6 years. If you want some hints for the arrival, let me know!

 

[gthh]

You are living my dream! Such a beautiful machine and you built it!

Renting is a PITA but economical when you fly only a few times a month.
I have always wanted to own a used 180 and seriously considering a kit but could not justify the cost just to keep my hours up and flying recreationally (haven't retired yet). But, maybe based on your experience and when my hours are my own I plan to make that decision and buy that Cessna or have rented hanger bay and a Sling TSi that will be eating away at my kids inheritance!

Curious-How does this break down for you financially-in general

Also, not a single analog (altimeter) gauge on the console?

I had a return night flight in a rented a Cessna 150 that blew an alternator belt ( FBO Mechanic said). I am still not sure how I flew that bird back to the airport on just the battery and a prayer (believe me there was plenty of praying).

Of course this was in 1981 and the most sophiscated piece of electronic gear available was my flight calculator and my Sony Walkman hooked up to my Clark headsets! So I had no choice with the gauges-all analog. But still in even with all the sofiisticated electronics I would never be comfortable flying without my flight charts or an analog altimeter on my console. If I missed it looking at the photos-my bad!

 

[upperdeck]

You are living my dream! Such a beautiful machine and you built it!

Renting is a PITA but economical when you fly only a few times a month.
I have always wanted to own a used 180 and seriously considering a kit but could not justify the cost just to keep my hours up and flying recreationally (haven't retired yet). But, maybe based on your experience and when my hours are my own I plan to make that decision and buy that Cessna or have rented hanger bay and a Sling TSi that will be eating away at my kids inheritance!

Curious-How does this break down for you financially-in general

Also, not a single analog (altimeter) gauge on the console?

I had a return night flight in a rented a Cessna 150 that blew an alternator belt ( FBO Mechanic said). I am still not sure how I flew that bird back to the airport on just the battery and a prayer (believe me there was plenty of praying).

Of course this was in 1981 and the most sophiscated piece of electronic gear available was my flight calculator and my Sony Walkman hooked up to my Clark headsets! So I had no choice with the gauges-all analog. But still in even with all the sofiisticated electronics I would never be comfortable flying without my flight charts or an analog altimeter on mt console. If I missed it looking at the photos-my bad!

Everyone's financial situation is different. The reason I chose to build instead of buy outright, besides the experience of building itself, was because it was and will continue to be less expensive. I was able to buy the kits as needed over a period of 5 or 6 years instead of one huge upfront purchase. And unlike a factory built aircraft, I have the repairman's certificate which allows me to work on any part of the airplane and sign off on annual condition inspections. PM me and I can go over the financials in more detail.

As for no analog gauges, the panel is entirely glass, but there is redundancy built in. There are two alternators, two main batteries, and the back up instruments are themselves backed up by additional batteries.

For anyone interested, I've uploaded my electrical diagram. This is for the instruments only, it doesn't include the main batteries, etc.

 

[biglar155]

Everyone's financial situation is different. The reason I chose to build instead of buy outright, besides the experience of building itself, was because it was and will continue to be less expensive. I was able to buy the kits as needed over a period of 5 or 6 years instead of one huge upfront purchase. And unlike a factory built aircraft, I have the repairman's certificate which allows me to work on any part of the airplane and sign off on annual condition inspections. PM me and I can go over the financials in more detail.

As for no analog gauges, the panel is entirely glass, but there is redundancy built in. There are two alternators, two main batteries, and the back up instruments are themselves backed up by additional batteries.

For anyone interested, I've uploaded my electrical diagram. This is for the instruments only, it doesn't include the main batteries, etc.

This thread is a dangerous one for me.