tonycondon
Gastons CRO (Chief Dinner Reservation Officer)
http://greencastle-aero.blogspot.com/2007/12/new-airport-wind-t-for-green-castle.html
the clubs old wind tee was made out of floor trusses about 30 years ago. it was covered with tin or steel sheet metal, but was starting to sag severely, mostlye because the top of the main beam was completely rotten.
Ric gave me the great idea in flashchat one night to build a new one out of PVC. So i forwarded it on to the club and thats what came out of it. We considered using 8 inch PVC but that stuff is 1)hard to find and 2)expensive. so we went with 6 inch PVC which was a little more reasonable. capped everything off to keep the water and animals out. the Rudder was made of 3/8" plywood.
I didnt do much with the actual construction. I think Pete used some sort of metal strapping along with screws to hold the three pieces together. That insulating expansion foam was used to seal the side pieces while caps were used for the center and the T pieces. Cut a hole at the CG for the light pole to go up through. we plan to mount it back out by the runway on Saturday. Heres some pictures of the old T and the deconstruction process starring yours truly: http://greencastle-aero.blogspot.com/2007/11/wind-tee-tear-down.html
cutting it up with the sawzall was a lot more fun than putting the new one together.
OBTW the new one probably weighs about 50 lbs (at least) less than the old one. hopefully it will last a long time too.
the clubs old wind tee was made out of floor trusses about 30 years ago. it was covered with tin or steel sheet metal, but was starting to sag severely, mostlye because the top of the main beam was completely rotten.
Ric gave me the great idea in flashchat one night to build a new one out of PVC. So i forwarded it on to the club and thats what came out of it. We considered using 8 inch PVC but that stuff is 1)hard to find and 2)expensive. so we went with 6 inch PVC which was a little more reasonable. capped everything off to keep the water and animals out. the Rudder was made of 3/8" plywood.
I didnt do much with the actual construction. I think Pete used some sort of metal strapping along with screws to hold the three pieces together. That insulating expansion foam was used to seal the side pieces while caps were used for the center and the T pieces. Cut a hole at the CG for the light pole to go up through. we plan to mount it back out by the runway on Saturday. Heres some pictures of the old T and the deconstruction process starring yours truly: http://greencastle-aero.blogspot.com/2007/11/wind-tee-tear-down.html
cutting it up with the sawzall was a lot more fun than putting the new one together.
OBTW the new one probably weighs about 50 lbs (at least) less than the old one. hopefully it will last a long time too.
