My Kolb Firestar II - 2018

For general discussion of the Kolb family of aircraft.
Includes: Firefly, Firestar, Mark III C, Mark III X, Kolbra, Sport 600, Slingshot, Twinstar Mark II, and Ultrastar
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planecrazzzy
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My Kolb Firestar II - 2018

Post by 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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Sometimes you just have to take the leap
and build your wings on the way down...
                Gotta Fly...
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planecrazzzy
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Re: My Kolb Firestar II - 2018

Post by 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.
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
Sometimes you just have to take the leap
and build your wings on the way down...
                Gotta Fly...
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planecrazzzy
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Posts: 1154
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Re: My Kolb Firestar II - 2018

Post by 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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You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
Sometimes you just have to take the leap
and build your wings on the way down...
                Gotta Fly...
User avatar
planecrazzzy
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Posts: 1154
Joined: Sat Jan 01, 2005 1:23 pm
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Re: My Kolb Firestar II - 2018

Post by 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...
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
Sometimes you just have to take the leap
and build your wings on the way down...
                Gotta Fly...
User avatar
planecrazzzy
Site Admin
Posts: 1154
Joined: Sat Jan 01, 2005 1:23 pm
Location: Minnesota
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Re: My Kolb Firestar II - 2018

Post by 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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You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
Sometimes you just have to take the leap
and build your wings on the way down...
                Gotta Fly...
User avatar
planecrazzzy
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Posts: 1154
Joined: Sat Jan 01, 2005 1:23 pm
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Re: My Kolb Firestar II - 2018

Post by 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...
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
Sometimes you just have to take the leap
and build your wings on the way down...
                Gotta Fly...
User avatar
planecrazzzy
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Posts: 1154
Joined: Sat Jan 01, 2005 1:23 pm
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Re: My Kolb Firestar II - 2018

Post by 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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You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
Sometimes you just have to take the leap
and build your wings on the way down...
                Gotta Fly...
User avatar
planecrazzzy
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Posts: 1154
Joined: Sat Jan 01, 2005 1:23 pm
Location: Minnesota
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Re: My Kolb Firestar II - 2018

Post by 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...
.
.
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
Sometimes you just have to take the leap
and build your wings on the way down...
                Gotta Fly...
User avatar
planecrazzzy
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Posts: 1154
Joined: Sat Jan 01, 2005 1:23 pm
Location: Minnesota
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Re: My Kolb Firestar II - 2018

Post by 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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You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
Sometimes you just have to take the leap
and build your wings on the way down...
                Gotta Fly...
User avatar
planecrazzzy
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Posts: 1154
Joined: Sat Jan 01, 2005 1:23 pm
Location: Minnesota
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Re: My Kolb Firestar II - 2018

Post by 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 $#@$&%
.
.
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
Sometimes you just have to take the leap
and build your wings on the way down...
                Gotta Fly...
User avatar
planecrazzzy
Site Admin
Posts: 1154
Joined: Sat Jan 01, 2005 1:23 pm
Location: Minnesota
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Re: My Kolb Firestar II - 2018

Post by 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...
.
.
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
Sometimes you just have to take the leap
and build your wings on the way down...
                Gotta Fly...
User avatar
planecrazzzy
Site Admin
Posts: 1154
Joined: Sat Jan 01, 2005 1:23 pm
Location: Minnesota
Contact:

Re: My Kolb Firestar II - 2018

Post by 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...
.
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
Sometimes you just have to take the leap
and build your wings on the way down...
                Gotta Fly...
User avatar
planecrazzzy
Site Admin
Posts: 1154
Joined: Sat Jan 01, 2005 1:23 pm
Location: Minnesota
Contact:

Re: My Kolb Firestar II - 2018

Post by 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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You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
Sometimes you just have to take the leap
and build your wings on the way down...
                Gotta Fly...
User avatar
planecrazzzy
Site Admin
Posts: 1154
Joined: Sat Jan 01, 2005 1:23 pm
Location: Minnesota
Contact:

Re: My Kolb Firestar II - 2018

Post by 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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You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
Sometimes you just have to take the leap
and build your wings on the way down...
                Gotta Fly...
User avatar
planecrazzzy
Site Admin
Posts: 1154
Joined: Sat Jan 01, 2005 1:23 pm
Location: Minnesota
Contact:

Re: My Kolb Firestar II - 2018

Post by 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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You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
Sometimes you just have to take the leap
and build your wings on the way down...
                Gotta Fly...
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