Kit Mods

[Mitch]

Congratulations Dan, it is a really great looking Carbon Cub EX. It has been a pleasure working with you through your build. Thank you for taking the time to critique the manuals and help get rid of some of the fuzzy spots.I know you are going to have a good time pushing the envelope of your Carbon Cub EX. ThanksMitch

[Dan L]

I found my camera and took a few pictures over the weekend.

DSCN1933.jpg

The 31" Bushwheels and 3" extended gear give it a lot of angle of attack.

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I've got enough time and landings in it now to get a good feel for it. As I mentioned below it lands just like my old Cub, probably just a bit slower ground speeds at a similar weight. Take-off's are really impressive.

It didn't take me long to like the overhead flap handle. I'm not so sure yet on the toe brakes........

(Mitch, if you're going to stop here on your way back from Oshkosh and you have room you can have the nice wood boxes the flaps and ailerons came packed in for re-use.)

27JUL11

I took a few interior shots and added them:

DSCN1938.jpg

DSCN1939.jpg

If you look close you can see that the dog didn't get her new bed yet.

DSCN1940.jpg

[RanRan]

Beautiful airplane! Congrats on the first flight.

What was the hardest part of the build?

[Larry W]

Dan: Now that is craftsmanship.....congratulations. I know it must make you extremely pleased when you fly it. I will be in Plains the end of August and do a little drooling(I'll carry a paper towel). A great end to a great project. Regards Larry

[Ben Redman]

Great looking airplane! Job well done.



Ben

[Pete D]

Neat plane! I like the fish pole tube. Is that PVC or ?

Pete D

[Dan L]

Dan: Now that is craftsmanship.....congratulations. I know it must make you extremely pleased when you fly it. I will be in Plains the end of August and do a little drooling(I'll carry a paper towel). A great end to a great project. Regards Larry

Hi Larry, It was a fun project but the real fun is starting now. Looking forward to seeing you and so is Randy, I talked to him this morning. The airport is busy. We've got a fire going between here and Paradise and helicopters and SEATS flying steady. A spotter twin blew a tire landing yesterday and closed things for a while.

Millar forwarded your fishing report from the Wrangells yesterday. What a great trip.

RanRan, there wasn't really any part of the build that was especially difficult. The boot cowl and wings required attention but they weren't hard to do. As I mentioned in a few posts ago; putting the nuts on the fuel tank strap bolts wasn't easy.

Pete, the fishing rod tube is 6" in diameter and 36" long. I made it from the same .040" Kydex I used on the extended baggage sidewalls. It weighed just over one pound.

I'm finding the toe brakes a challenge for my landing technique. I always wheel-land (except on skis) and I like to get on the brakes hard. I keep the tail up with brakes and stick. It isn't for everyone but I like to stop that way. The problem for me is I have a hard time separating braking from rudder input. I also have the chains removed from the tailwheel and it is free-castering - which helps with this situation.

I'm working on it but I haven't got it down yet like I did with heel brakes.

[clipwingcub]

As I mentioned in a few posts ago; putting the nuts on the fuel tank strap bolts wasn't easy.

Dan, again, great work, it looks outstanding. I had the same problem with the fuel tank strap bolts on the first wing. Tried pump pliers, clamps, long socket extension, everything I could think of to get the nut started. Then on the second wing, I decided to try twisted wire around the flanges and it worked great. I know this won't help you, but maybe it will help others: Place the bolt up, loop medium safety wire around the bottom, and it was just enough to wedge the washer and bolt to keep in place - then loop around the top flange, and twist until you can easily get the washer and nut started. Clip the safety wire to get it out of the way, then tighten with a crow's foot on the bolt head, and ratchet on the nut.

I am still curious on how your antenna ground plane is working out. What kind of SWR readings did you get on it?

Tony

[RanRan]

Dan, again, great work, it looks outstanding. I had the same problem with the fuel tank strap bolts on the first wing.
Tony

Hey Tony, would a half inch longer bolt solve the problem? (This is how kits get changed.)

[Dan L]

Dan, again, great work, it looks outstanding. I had the same problem with the fuel tank strap bolts on the first wing. Tried pump pliers, clamps, long socket extension, everything I could think of to get the nut started. Then on the second wing, I decided to try twisted wire around the flanges and it worked great. I know this won't help you, but maybe it will help others: Place the bolt up, loop medium safety wire around the bottom, and it was just enough to wedge the washer and bolt to keep in place - then loop around the top flange, and twist until you can easily get the washer and nut started. Clip the safety wire to get it out of the way, then tighten with a crow's foot on the bolt head, and ratchet on the nut.

I am still curious on how your antenna ground plane is working out. What kind of SWR readings did you get on it?

Tony

Hi Tony, that sounds like a good idea - cinch it up with safety wire. RanRan, if the bolts were longer they would run out of thread before the strap was tight. It is just kind of difficult to pull the tank straps up tight and get the nut started on the bolt. Probably would be easier to re-do once they've been tight and take a close shape to the tank profile.

I have not checked SWR readings. I don't have the equipment to do so but once I've got my 40 hours flown off I plan to take it to the avionics shop for a static pitot certification and have them check the radio out too. I bought the Becker com through them. But they're about 10 miles outside of my phase one flight radius.

(December 2011 - I finally got the plane to the avionics shop and got a pitot/static/transponder certification for VFR flight and I asked them to check the radio functioning too. They told me that the antenna and coax readings were as they should be. The fellow doing the testing told me that the ground plane I had was very adequate.)

I posted this image on the 'turtle deck leaking air' thread.

DSCN1934.jpg

The piece of aluminum is grounded to the fuselage by the 4 screws that hold down the rear of the skylight and front of the turtle deck - sandwiched under them. Its length is about 7" or so back towards the back of the turtle deck and I also have two adel clamps holding the back end of the aluminum to fuselage tubes. Those two screws can be seen partway back on the turtle deck. (one is directly behind the ELT antenna.)