Kit Mods

[Dan L]

I thought some other builders might like to see some of the mods I've made to my kit.

Here is a tail cleanout/trim access panel held in place with three #85 Southco's and three formed 4130 clips riveted to the panel:

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An extended baggage. The white panels are .040" Kydex, door is .032" aluminum, floor is .040" aluminum. Five wing head #85 Southco's to retain the door. Total net weight gain is 7.0 pounds over the original extended baggage:

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And I wanted a panel that was a little larger than the one furnished with the kit and without a center radio stack cutout.

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The empty panel weight with a partial backer stiffener is 1.50 pounds.

[wzlyyn]

Dan

I like the tail clean out. Great idea. I am very pleased that people are watching the weight. It is a hard thing to keep under control. (weight)

Mark

[randylervold]

Nice work Dan, those look like carefully considered and well executed mods. Aint homebuilding great!

[Dan L]

Nice work Dan, those look like carefully considered and well executed mods. Aint homebuilding great!

It really is nice to be able to make changes like these without going through any STC paper work.

I'm building this as an 1865 pound gross kit so weight isn't as big of a concern as it would be for LSA. I also went with the 44 gallon fuel tanks.

As I told Mitch the last time I was there, I'm an engineer and have been involved in manufacturing since I was 16 years old. From working as an engineer at the John Deere Tractor Works and 26 years in my own business of making precision rifle barrels where we hold tolerances in the .0001" range, so I'm not easily impressed. But I am impressed with the parts in the kit, both in quality of design and execution in manufacturing. It makes putting the Cub together all fun.

[randylervold]

...I'm not easily impressed. But I am impressed with the parts in the kit, both in quality of design and execution in manufacturing. It makes putting the Cub together all fun.

Thank you for noticing, we try!

Speaking of rifle barrels, I may call you some time for the straight story on some questions I have if you wouldn't mind.

[Dan L]

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I came up with a different technique for locating the middle rivet in the LE that is quick, simple and always accurate. Before putting on any skins I stretched a string between the two outside nose ribs over the position of the middle rivet. I then center punched and drilled with a #30 drill each rib where the string layed. Then I put on skins as you normally would. When it came time to drill the middle rivet hole in the skin I used my cordless drill with a 12" long 1/8" dia. bit and match drilled the previously drilled rib hole through the skin from the bottom side. It worked really well and every hole was centered in the rib and in line with the other middle rivets.

[Dan L]

Ready to install leading edge skins on the left wing. I have the extended range tanks too, which I've had in the wing. The fuselage is ready to cover. My build time records show 211 hours up to this point which includes all of my mods to the fuselage including the new instrument panel fabrication and head scratching on the extended baggage and baggage door.

I haven't built a kit before but I know this is going together faster than my PA-18 did when I rebuilt it. And the wings required little work.

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[Dan L]

It was time to flip the wing to cover the bottom side. It needed to be on the horses to allow open access to the strut-attach fitting areas. And I wanted to maintain the built-in 1" twist in the wing when I went to the 350º iron - not warp it out of shape. So here was my solution:

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The bracket supports the wing on the 1" dia. tube in round cradles. The bottom of the cradle is 6.0" above the 2x4 that was bolted to the horse when I first started the wing build. The 6.0" height allows good clearance between the uppermost part of the airfoil when it is upside down and also permits a pair of carpeted 2x6's to be screwed to the other horse and keep the wing level lengthwise. The two big red clamps are there just to ensure the 1" diameter tube stays put in the cradles. And the bracket is screwed to the 2x4 with drywall screws.

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A little shimming with carpet on the trailing edge side adjusts the wing twist to maintain the 1" built into the rear spar. I double checked the angles before flipping the wing with a digital 4' long level. And knowing the angle I can check again as the fabric tightens. The 2x6's are long enough to span three ribs.

[Dan L]

Hi Pete,

Yes that is 3" extended Dodge gear with 1.5" axles. Before I sold my Super Cub and bought this kit I checked with Noel at the Cubworks to verify that the Carbon Cub would accept PA-18 gear. If it hadn't that one thing would have kept me from buying the kit. I have a set of Landes LW2500 skis that I wanted to keep. And with those skis there are some special fittings welded onto the gear that Landes will only weld on in their shop. So I bought new 3" Dodge gear through them with the fittings. When I sold my PA-18 I kept the skis and gear and have that gear on the Carbon Cub now as I worked on the fuselage. I sold the 3" Cub Crafter gear to a friend in Billings.

Since the Grove wheels that came with the kit were for 1.25" axles I called Grove and asked about an exchange for 1.5" axles. They were very good to work with and made an even trade with me for 1.5" bearings and wheels. I'll use those wheels with 31" Bushwheels and the 8" tires in the images are on Clevelands.

I did fly the Demo Carbon Cub with the 3x3 gear when Jim was over here last summer. Nice for hard braking.

I made another change to the kit. I'd moved the brake master cylinders to the front pedals (and eliminated the rear pedals). I used the furnished poly tubing to run the brake line from the masters to the front of the V-panel and then put in bulkhead fittings. I'll run braided line from that point to the calipers. Should I go to floats someday it makes a clean way to terminate the brake lines too.

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The duct tape on the cabane was just to protect the finish during the boot cowl built.

I think it was a smart move to keep the gear and tail feathers on the kit the same as the Top Cub.

[Dan L]

Started covering the right wing:

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