Started the build

John Recine

Pre-takeoff checklist
Joined
Feb 23, 2005
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119
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Pennsylvania
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Display name:
John Recine
Well I finished most of the research and discussion with other builders and taking their advise not to study the issue too long or hard and just start building, so thats what I decided to do.

I have started on a Pietenpol Air camper long fuse project, which will either turn out to be a labor of love, a next offering on ebay or barnstormers or a nice pile of fire wood. Having never build an airplane befor this should prove interesting. I would be interested to learn from other scratch builders any and every piece of advise and experience they have to offer. I am participating in the pietenpol builders board as well. Good advice is hard to come by, and experieinced piet builders are at a premium, yet very helpful.

Ill try to keep you posted from time to time as to the progress, till then wish me luck!

If you have any questions or advice please contact me at my e mail address Amsafetyc@aol.com. since I do not post or visit the boards too frequently anymore, too consumed by and with my own project, i guess?

Thanks

John
 
Good luck John. You might acutally get some good advice if you stay on the board. Also if Misery loves company then this is the place to be as Nick Brennan just began his project.
 
I second that - just start building and it'll all fall into place. Keep your mind open to the possibility of re-building certain pieces - it'll be easier and quicker the second time! :rolleyes:

Keep it simple and follow the plans. Don't try to customize it or you'll spend your whole life working on it.

An electrical system in a plane like this is like tits on a nun.

Some of my advice after three years, 535 man-hours, a fuselage, tail, landing gear, seats, and controls of an LMA J-3 replica.
 
Never built one, but have talked to several builders at Sun n Fun over the years. It's a fun project, and even more fun to fly, in their estimate.

There's a Pietenpol builder in Lexington, VA. He's the editor of the local paper.

PM me if you'l like his contact info.
 
Going with the wood fuselage, eh John? The Piet plans are like something out of another planet. I have a set somewhere and I love looking over them.
Maybe I'll stop by LNS sometime and take a look at your project.

Good Luck!
 
Rob, you and any other builder or wood be builder welcome to visit any time. Pesent time its being built in the basement of my office building. Which always begs the question, how ya gonna get it out of there, my reply, Iam gonna fly it out naturally.

The reason I am not building a boat is I didnd want all that water in the basement to drive iut out so I decided on an airplane.

Thanks for the encouragment all, I appreciate your comments and support as I go forth and glue!

Regards

John
 
Sounds like a lot of fun - I've got the plans for a RagWing Stork and will be starting on it as soon as I get the shop situated! Working with wood is pretty cool, I think. At least, I think so right now ....
 
Wood IS cool to work with. (As in, no heat from welding ha ha.)

If your plans call for epoxy cement for the wood, consider Fasco's 110 epoxy. That's what the LMA plans call for and it's supposedly the same as T88 at a fraction of the price. They have a cheesy website http://www.fascoepoxies.com/ but if you call them you talk to someone who actually knows the product.
 
Good luck dude! Glad to see another wood builder here. I love wood, even though I'm still waiting for the wood to get in (tomorrow I hope!!)
 
Er, uh, John Racine, or me? Not to hijack his thread, but here's a picture.

Either, we really like pics here!

BTW where in JAX John? I use to live in Mandarin and worked in PVB.
 
L


If I got this right you should be able to see an example of the Pietenpol Aircamper

John

If I dont have it right, my apologies for my inability
 
Hey troy

Thanks for posting the link.... Will be working most of the day today fine tuning the 2 fuse halves and cutting the laterals to join the halves. If I get ahead of the curve and I may start the gluing process of the fuse. I may even get some pics of her on the bench today. I realize its a rather ambitious goal. But to build an airplane you got to have some lofty goals and ambitions.

I ma not the computer wiz as most, so I doubt I'll be posting to an internet builders log. I am going low tech on that I got a note book and if I remeber at the end of the work session I will note my builders log/journal and come back tomorrow to work another day.

Anyone in the Lancaster PA area is welome to stop by and take a peak talk airplanes, tell some lies an have a coffee.

I got the table saw from hell, I think I may go look at a new one today, If I fid one with a true fence and miter guide I may be setting that bad boy up this afternoon or tomorrow. THe saw I have cuts , but its underpowered and you can rely on the rip fence as a guide tom make square cuts or accurate rips. My wood skills are not good enough to compensate for a poor sawm my helper was and could over come most any obsticle. Without help I am at the mercy of my equipment. Not a goot thing when your building an airplane.

You got to build like you life depends on it!


Thanks again!

John
 
Either, we really like pics here!

BTW where in JAX John? I use to live in Mandarin and worked in PVB.
I'm in Arlington, near JU.

The Piet in the link is magnificent! I've always wondered how they flew with no dihedral - anything noticeable?
 
I have never flown one, but the builder’s message board is full of guys that have built and flown them and do regularly say there is nothing like it. Its a dream to fly, according to them. I'll let ya know when I finish mine, till them I have to go with the experience of others.

Pietenpol, low and slow, brings ya back to the golden age of aviation!

John
 
Looks like a boat compass. Way too many instruments for a plane like that. :)
 
No idea what that is, but you're right there is lots of instrumentation packed in that small space.

Although I like the clean and simple loook I also want something highly functional in a design Obviously that is ighli deoentand on the power plant: electrical system or not. Right now I am leaning towards electrical system and more horse power to drive the additional weight of battery, alternator and instrumentation.

I would love an 0235, or an 0200, but am looking at pricing and availability. I suppose If I can locate a run out powerplant and rebuild it that may be possible depending what I can get for the bucks. Also considering the Corvair or Subaru engines as strong alternatives. Each have their own distinct issues to over come.

Well got some time in today and started to join the two sides of the fuse, pretty soon I'll have an airframe. One more day joining the bottom, then its time to flip it in the Jig and begin on the top side. I suspect thats going to be a bit more of a challenge.

Thats it for todays adventure!


John
 
Got to do more work tonight, cut the lateral braces and lued them in place, all but the tail post are now joined. Went over the joints from last night sanded off the excess epoxy and filled any gaps. The proble with the slow cure epoxy is it leaves the joints from the bottom, so regluing the voide appears to be a regular part of the epoxy process.

Done for tonight.

Will be releasing it fromthe Jig tomorrow night.

John
 
Got to do more work tonight, cut the lateral braces and lued them in place, all but the tail post are now joined. Went over the joints from last night sanded off the excess epoxy and filled any gaps. The proble with the slow cure epoxy is it leaves the joints from the bottom, so regluing the voide appears to be a regular part of the epoxy process.

Done for tonight.

Will be releasing it fromthe Jig tomorrow night.

John

Here is a tip

place a piece of scotch tape over the glue joint to trap the glue in place.

Or

mix in a little microfiber to make a paste of the glue, wet the joint with regular glue, and then fill the gap with thickend glue that will not run out. then wipe up all excess glue before it hardens, with a rag and acetone.
 
Here is a tip

place a piece of scotch tape over the glue joint to trap the glue in place.

Or

mix in a little microfiber to make a paste of the glue, wet the joint with regular glue, and then fill the gap with thickend glue that will not run out. then wipe up all excess glue before it hardens, with a rag and acetone.

Great tip thanks Ill give the tape a try, never considered it as a way to slow or stop the migration. Sometime its the simple things that have the most value! Should reduce my sanding time quite a bit.

I am no pro so keep them tips coming, thanks again!

John
 
More building today, cut some more 2/3 X 1 rips for the bracing and then turned them into smaller sticks to glue to my big set of sticks. Oddly enough with all the cutting, gluing and sanding I can see a fuse beginning to take shape its pretty exciting. The entire process is rather exciting when it begins to take shape.

well I got another 3.5 hours in tonight.

John
 
John I second Nick's comment, get the camera going.

Could be a way to get your wife into it too!
 
I got some stills I could share if I knw how to upload them. Any suggestions on how to do that?

John
 
I just got set up on mykitplane.com I expect to be uploading pics or a semi regular basis to share and to have an electronic log to accompany my written journal. Hopefully this will be more than enough to satisfy the FAA inspection and documentation requirements for the aircraft and for my repairman’s certificate.

Any suggestions from the group are always welcome and appreciated. As soon as I get something worth while to look at Ill let ya know.

The site is www. mykitplane.com and go to the builders log area you should see my name and a listing of entries available for review.

John
 
Some pics now up in an album at mykitplane.com. I think the site went down while I was up loadig so all my stuff ddint make it on to the site. Its a start, take a look.
 
I don't see any pictures except the ones that have been there for a few days now - the ones of your table.

Are those the ones you mean? If so, nice table! :D
 
BTW John what do you do for a living? Are you an engineer or tradesperson? Or just mechanically inclined?

Pretty cool seeing you and Nick with the build progress.
 
Nick,

I tried to load an album to the site. January and Feb are together and March is a second album. I guess they didnt load.

John
 
BTW John what do you do for a living? Are you an engineer or tradesperson? Or just mechanically inclined?

Pretty cool seeing you and Nick with the build progress.

Jay,

I am a Safety Director with 35 years in the field. I come from a strong mechanical background having worked in my dads steel shop and my uncles garage. I guess some of it rubbed off. I have to say I am much better with wrenches and metal than I am with wood, but since I started the build I am really enjoying the journey of the build process.

At first I figured it was the only way for me to get a great airplane at an affordable cost, that since has given way to the challenge of the project and the solitude of working in a stress free environment, or at least self imposed stress. Its amazing that you can get so deep into the project that the rest or the world goes away. Its a Zen thing I guess!

The only thing is you have to remember to eat occasionally!

John
 
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