My Kolb Firestar II - 2018

[planecrazzzy]

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My plane has SAT for a few years...( In a pole barn )

Time to wipe the dust off and get her back in the air , So I thought I'd start a topic for 2018
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I need to get my pilot skills back in shape, Especially for the Runway I'm making.

But also for flying the plane I've been building , Wittman - 1938 "Buttercup"
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Gotta Fly...
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[planecrazzzy]

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Doing some cleaning,inspecting and more cleaning...
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I noticed the area on the Prop that the Exhausts points at...
I was thinking about a U-bend to direct the flow closer to the center...

Since I don't have anything right now...I have a small piece of Stainless steel "Defusing" the exhaust...
It helps direct the hot air above the muffler , in fast moving cool air

It's only attached on the underside,
I put a piece of safety wire on it... I am still looking for a U-bend

Gotta Fly...
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PS Cleaned the Carbs, New Fuel lines, Put the Harley Battery in it , After warm up , 5,700 RPM on the ground...
Sounds about right for 6,500 RPM in level flight.

[planecrazzzy]

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This simple Wing rack has stored both sets of wings on it at the same time ( Wittman "Buttercup and Kolb "Firestar II" )
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and after... it doesn't take up half the room . ( Like some wing racks I've seen )

It works great at getting the Wings back on , especially for One person.
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It was a busted furniture mover... I braced it and put some square tubing on it.
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Gotta Fly...
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[planecrazzzy]

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Who sez they only get heavier...
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Trimming some of the Weight, made a stow-able Jump Seat.

Why stow-able ? I wanna see the Fuel tanks (mirror)

Yes I have the Fuel flow meter... Works GREAT,
But there's nothing like getting a glance at the fuel in the tank.
My tanks burn uneven...Sits level on the ground, but in-flight the rear ones higher
Gravity balances the fuel in my system...

During this "Going over"... I raised the front tank with a 1 inch piece of Insulation foam..
But will I be able to fill the tanks...? Still testing

I sat in the sling seat. It worked like it should.
The stow rings were made from Pvc (split)

This saved a lot of weight from what i had for a rear seat before.
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Gotta Fly...

[planecrazzzy]

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Rethinking the Jump seat in "Stowed" position...
I added some holes in the seat ,and I'm thinking about re-positioning the fuel cover...
I will need to add fabric , but I think this will help aerodynamically...
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With a spot mirror in the same position as before, I was looking at the Fuel tank UNDER this Jump seat...

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Gotta Fly...
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[planecrazzzy]

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cleaning and inspecting...
Still have plenty to go over before I take her up,
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Thought I'd share my poor man's Trim
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It's masking tape

Gotta Fly...

[planecrazzzy]

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I was able to put a wing on while Miss Lucky Stars is in the shop.
That helps me get the Gap Seal area buttoned up better.
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As I was checking cleaning the Wing I noticed the paint line was ROUGH....
I took a light scuff pad and tested... it killed the edge...

But it rubs a wide area , even when your trying to be careful.
I have some Stainless Steel "Drops" I have saved.
They are working good...
They are Thin...(.010) and flexible
They resist wear as I use a rough scuff pad for fast results .
To keep the spacing I just taped some aluminum on each end.
The gap I'm using is a little over 1/16th in.
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The next step is wax...I use Turtle Wax in the bottle.
I noticed a few over-spray areas , I used "Mothers" Aluminum Mag Polish...Then wax.
Cleaned up nice
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Now that I've noticed this , I'll go over both wings , Killing all the line edges
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Gotta Fly...
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[planecrazzzy]

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Hey Guys,
I ordered some hanging scales to do the weight and balance...
They should be here today , so I'm getting a few things ready.

I made a simple harness to hang the wheel on each side.
I'm looking for material to make tripods over each wheel...
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I'm keeping in mind the other plane I'm building , this will work for it too...
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I still have the scales I did my first W&B.. But they are cheap..
and a couple of them are KINKED on top now...

These type of scales had a LOT of BLOCKING....
You need to have the plane on LEVEL blocks to roll gently onto the scales...
plus subtract "tare" afterwards.
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With these hanging scales... Tare is a flimsy piece of rope...(each one weighs 1/2 ounce)
and it's self leveling.
I will be using another rope between the scale and the harness...
Using a "Trucker Knot"... I will be able to lift each wheel with that knot.
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Gotta Fly...
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[planecrazzzy]

.Back to the drawing board...
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Scratch the rope harness...it was stretching too much.
Once I saw the length I needed between the axle and the scale,
I made a double loop wire harness.

The way these scales work...
I need to turn them on...Then load the weight.
Once the Mains are in the air I'll check the Wing angle for 9 degrees
and put a scale under the tail wheel.
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I want to order another scale... Like a 150 lb postal scale
But If this ends up outside before I get it... I'll grab a bathroom scale and calibrate it.
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Gotta Fly...
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[planecrazzzy]

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Hey Guys,
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10 lbs. !!!

That's how much weight was removed from the nose cone and replaced with a 12.5 lb Battery
Bottom line : 10 lbs was removed from the plane , just because I "Moved" the Battery
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First Flight required I had 16 lbs in the nose , and no fuel in the Aft tank.
Since then I've flown with only 10 lbs and both Tanks used.


I'm experimenting with a new battery...Still testing.
I tried my original Battery ( Bigger/heavier) and it will fit in the battery platform that was made.
The platform does a nice job of clearing the Strobe light and also the Rudder Tube and springs.
That is the same "tube" I have attached the main hold-down for the battery...
Home Depot has some small Bungees I'm gonna look at.

Gotta Fly...

PS I still have room to pull in the pitot tube for storage
or even at fly-ins...I see kids grabbing them and $#@$&%
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[planecrazzzy]

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Fun with Masking Tapes...
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Hmmm, Can you guess which Kolb this is ?

I wanted to do this in Red...a plastic insulation seal tape...
As I was experimenting at first , I needed to "Lift" the tape off several times to place it in the right position.
The red tape STUCK really good... too good for experimenting...So I used Masking tape...
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I MIGHT mess with it and exchange each piece with a Red one...
It was originally thought of an extension of the seat checkers fading off to the Firestar...
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Gotta Fly...
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[planecrazzzy]

. In the back of my mind I knew I had added this Star and flame after I finished the pattern...
as I was doing it I thought I should have it in the pattern...
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Well.... it's only masking tape , I moved it
.From a distance , it has a better "Flow"
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Gotta Fly...
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[planecrazzzy]

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I did another "Run-up" before the Weight and Balance was done.
Temps all looked good...CHT & EGT
RPM's High and Low are good.

Then I siphoned both fuel tanks to get "empty" weight first.
Then empty "with" pilot...
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My hanging scales worked great...
The one under the tail wheel would shut down if it sat for a couple minutes.
We just had to read that scale first.
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My empty weight came out to be 406.5 lbs.
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My Original weight was 436 lbs...
from there I added the full windscreen frame and lexan.
. The old Battery weighed 16.4 lbs (19 Ah)
new battery -on-line $39 bucks (20Ah) and weighs 12.3 lbs
Putting the battery in the nose added weight with heavy cable...So the weight might balance out...
But I was able to remove 10 pounds of steel plates from the nose (CG)...
Right there was a third of the weight I scrubbed...
Wow... 30 pounds lighter...( OK 29.5 )
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Can't wait to Fly her again...
Still gotta crunch the numbers...
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Gotta Fly...
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PS The Plane and the Goose look like they have the SAME profile...HA !
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[planecrazzzy]

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Anyone going to do Weight and balance numbers for the FAA, might wanna look at the Official W&B to clear the airworthiness Cert.
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I used them as a Guide for my current W&B that I need to carry on the plane.
I found a mistake on oil consumption ...it didn't change weight...
It doesn't change by much... I changed it on my current one.
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Since moving the weight around in the plane , and removing or lightening things...The CG range looks very "centered" without any "dead weight" added.
I have 180.5 lbs to carry... Passenger or Camping luggage and Extra Fuel for Safer 100 mile legs...
The Area for a passenger takes care of the 180 lbs limit , I don't think anyone bigger could SQUEEZE into the cubby hole.
But I've packed a lot of camping equip in her...and "Jaz" the Flying Dog...
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Good reason I went with a two seater... They are built to carry more load.
and the load is very close to the Datum line , which barely messes with the CG range.
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Gotta Fly...
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[planecrazzzy]

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Here are my numbers weighing the aircraft with the wing bottom set at Nine degrees...
With the Wing at Nine degrees , a string "Plum-bob" was hung over the leading edge.
All the "Arm" measurements were taken at this point...Forward of the Datum line are "Negative" numbers.
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Gotta Fly...
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