Mark builds "Yankee One" in Saratoga, NY. Are You Ready For This?

[Mark Keneston]

Tuesday we had EAA 602 in for their monthly meeting and alittle pizza and CubCrafters kit discussion. There were many wide eyes and questions. They were all impressed with the quality and completeness of the kit. Here is the link to some photos. Tallyho! Yankee1

https://www.eaa602.org/apps/photos/a...bumid=16143891

[Mark Keneston]

5/21/2019 PROGRESS UPDATE
It is spring in the Northeast and presently we have The Ark under construction here in the hanger. In fact the animals are starting to line up also. The weather has been particularly wet and spring can be this way here. Our local lakes, streams and rivers have burst their banks and we are lucky compared to other parts of the country.

Yankee One is cooking right along, wings were completed and are set aside and awaiting cover and paint. I am maybe 90% complete with the fuselage and then it will be ready for cover too. Being this is the first run in the fuselage assembly, I have been challenged. The revision of the manual is part of this project and I am looking for areas that need to be linked together. As an example, I had early on installed the extended baggage liner and that was a good experience. It went well. Later on I had to install the stringers that give the fuselage it skeleton shape under the covering. One of those stringers is a tube that goes in the belly. It would have been far easier to have installed that prior to installing the baggage liner. It went fine but frustrating doing it lying on my back. I should think having a rotator for the fuselage would be optimal also. I have the cockpit all complete with the floor pan in and its parts that include the torque tubes, control sticks, rudder/brake pedals and control rods.

I have to also confess that you will do far better than I if you remove the protective plastic film on the baggage wall exterior before you try to bond them to the airframe. I was under the impression that the plastic was just on the inside surfaces which I left on for protection during the build process. That makes sense right? As such, there was an extra step and a little extra epoxy used oh and a special note for the manual.

The jack screw and trim motor went in just fine and no problems really further. I also had to modify a ¼” reamer so that I could do the reaming that is recommended on the rudder hinges. Do that job by hand on the closed in end of the rudder. Last I guess is the fuel system. It has gone in well but I seem to be hyper sensitive to its routing and making sure there are no kinks, bends, crushed lines or cracks. It’s the life blood to the heart of this beast so that is important. From here I will start the boot cowl and hope to get it completed prior to the flight down to AOAP Regional fly in next week in Frederick, MD. If you are around, be sure to stop in and say hello. Look for N92LG in the STOL competition. Also, please join us for the 3rd annual CubCrafters Northeast STOL at Basin Harbor Resort (B06) on Saturday 5/25/19. It should be a blast. Thank you for following along.

[Mark Keneston]

Yankee One got a little cover last night. We stuffed the powder coating off the elevators and then sprayed with alcohol then wiped clean. Once dry, we then fitted the envelope and trimmed to rough measurements for cementing the fabric along the leading edge.

You want to think through which side is which and install the fabric such that the top overlap rolls over the leading edge for the bottom side of the surface so as to hide the seam.

At first whack it looks good. Watch for the next blog post and thanks for following.

[MikeG]

Hey Mark, the Cub is really starting to take shape now. I wanted to know if people can stop by to check it out? I will be in Albany WED and I am interested in the possibility of a Cub kit sometime in the next few years.

Mike

[Mark Keneston]

Hi Mike
You are absolutely welcome to stop. Text me and let me know day and time.

[Mark Keneston]

Built, covered and ready for a new suit of clothes, Yankee1 is headed for the paint shop for Lancaster Aero’s masterful art work. Stay tuned for more progress and thanks for watching. MK

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