If I were to build another one.

[alan]

If I were to build another one, I would:

1. Put the fuel vents just outboard of the fuel caps. As it is you cannot completely fill the tanks as the edges of the filler hole captures maybe a gallon of air in the upper portion of the tanks.

2. Put some kind of buffer material, maybe some weatherstrip, between the upper forward headrack windshield former and the windshield material. It rattles something fierce during taxi.

3. Get the tuned 4-into-1 header system and use a motorcycle muffler something like what Lynn is using instead of the Toucan mufflers. The Toucan requires a heavy cross brace between the tail pipes to keep from shearing off the locating rivet and, just by it's design, has to have more horsepower robbing backpressure than the newer header system. And Lynn's is so quiet!

4. Use the Polyfiber system all the way through final paint. I used polyurethane paint and now I will have a serious problem repairing any damage as MEK will not strip it off. Woe is me!

5. Paint all exposed powder coated parts. The contractor Just uses puts the bare minimun thickness on all parts and now I have rusting struts and cross bracing in the cockpit. The powder coating should be considered as primer only.

There will probably be some other stuff I'll remember later and I'll add it. Feel free to add your own thoughts.

Alan (starting second annual inspection with 190 hours)

[Wes]

Alan,
Good thoughts and right on track from my observations of finished planes that have some time on them.
Maybe the rust problem wouldn't affect those in drier climates, but here in FL and I know in TX it is a MAJOR problem.
Thanks for sharing, since you probably have one of the 'high-time' birds.

GL on the annual.

Wes

[CanadianSheepHunter]

If I were to build another one, I would:

1. Put the fuel vents just outboard of the fuel caps. As it is you cannot completely fill the tanks as the edges of the filler hole captures maybe a gallon of air in the upper portion of the tanks.

2. Put some kind of buffer material, maybe some weatherstrip, between the upper forward headrack windshield former and the windshield material. It rattles something fierce during taxi.

3. Get the tuned 4-into-1 header system and use a motorcycle muffler something like what Lynn is using instead of the Toucan mufflers. The Toucan requires a heavy cross brace between the tail pipes to keep from shearing off the locating rivet and, just by it's design, has to have more horsepower robbing backpressure than the newer header system. And Lynn's is so quiet!

4. Use the Polyfiber system all the way through final paint. I used polyurethane paint and now I will have a serious problem repairing any damage as MEK will not strip it off. Woe is me!

5. Paint all exposed powder coated parts. The contractor Just uses puts the bare minimun thickness on all parts and now I have rusting struts and cross bracing in the cockpit. The powder coating should be considered as primer only.

There will probably be some other stuff I'll remember later and I'll add it. Feel free to add your own thoughts.

Does anyone know if the powder coating was applied heavier at all in aprox 2014 kits?...im currently building a kit that was from the factory aprox 2012/2014

Alan (starting second annual inspection with 190 hours)

[danerazz]

I would build it a lot faster.

[danerazz]

If I were to build another one, I would:

4. Use the Polyfiber system all the way through final paint. I used polyurethane paint and now I will have a serious problem repairing any damage as MEK will not strip it off. Woe is me!

Did you use Stewart’s? You could probably repair over the polyurethane with Stewart by scuffing, Eko-bond, prime and paint. That is how Stewart repairs over their Eko-poly. I can’t imagine it wouldn’t work on other Poly paints. It makes for a pretty easy repair. You can pre-paint patches while painting the rest, cut them out as needed, and glue/iron them in place and done.

[CanadianSheepHunter]

If I were to build another one, I would:

1. Put the fuel vents just outboard of the fuel caps. As it is you cannot completely fill the tanks as the edges of the filler hole captures maybe a gallon of air in the upper portion of the tanks.

2. Put some kind of buffer material, maybe some weatherstrip, between the upper forward headrack windshield former and the windshield material. It rattles something fierce during taxi.

3. Get the tuned 4-into-1 header system and use a motorcycle muffler something like what Lynn is using instead of the Toucan mufflers. The Toucan requires a heavy cross brace between the tail pipes to keep from shearing off the locating rivet and, just by it's design, has to have more horsepower robbing backpressure than the newer header system. And Lynn's is so quiet!

4. Use the Polyfiber system all the way through final paint. I used polyurethane paint and now I will have a serious problem repairing any damage as MEK will not strip it off. Woe is me!




5. Paint all exposed powder coated parts. The contractor Just uses puts the bare minimun thickness on all parts and now I have rusting struts and cross bracing in the cockpit. The powder coating should be considered as primer only.

There will probably be some other stuff I'll remember later and I'll add it. Feel free to add your own thoughts.

Alan (starting second annual inspection with 190 hours)

Does anyone know if the powder coating was applied heavier at all in aprox 2014 kits ?...or ever?...or is the powder coat still applied lighter than it could or should be?...im currently building a kit that was from the factory aprox 2012/2014?

[alan]

I used Stits (Poly Fiber) all the way except for the color coats. As far as the powder coat goes, my problems came from the vendor not properly prepping the metal before applying the powdered paint. I have a very early kit. There is no doubt the later kits were better prepared.

Still flying with over 900 hours and 13-1/2 years

alan

[danerazz]

You should be able to repair with Stewart’s over the poly without having to strip to fabric, even though you used Stits for covering. If you call them and ask they can tell you how, and probably save you a lot of trouble.

[BDA]

Oratex will stick to anything as well

[CanadianSheepHunter]

Tonight with a leading edge slat bolted onto the slat hinges and wing...BUT with some nuts left off for fitting...the very first time i pushed the slat against the wing the one bolt head that was sticking up too far because i left the nut off for fitting...the bolt head hooked the aluminum skin and would not let me pull the slat forward...i could only move the slat from touching wing to 2" out...jammed by the bolt head hooking the aluminum skin...frustrated to say the least !...took awhile to see where and how it hooked...i tried a pry bar and a big flat blade screwdriver to try and pry the aluminum up and over the bolt head...but you just couldn't access it properly with the narrow 2' gap between the slat and wing...i ended up using a hack saw blade held in my leather gloved hands and was barely able to get stroking and cutting the bolt head off...i finally cut the bolt head off with a few scratches to the aluminum...MORAL OF THE STORY IS...SNUG UP THE NUTS ON SLAT HINGES BEFORE CLOSING A NEWLY INSTALLED SLAT.
An another note, i have quick build wings that had the leading edge skins and slat brackets done at factory. My slat hinges were in a bundle of 4 for one wing...two of the hinges are a fixed length and two that can come apart if you remove the cross bolt. I found nothing in the manual except to put the ones with the bolts to the wing tip end. Nothing is said how to attach a slat...i finally figured it out...because you have to twist and turn the slat hinge to get it into the slat bracket that is on the spar. I ended up attaching the slat hinges to the slat first. You want to attach the non adjustable slat hinge first then attach the other slat hinge that separates in 1/2 when you remove the 1/4" bolt. Take that slat hinge apart and twist and turn the one 1/2 it into its place in the hinge bracket on spar, then slide the two 1/2's of the slat hinge back together and put the bolt in(AND SNUG UP THE NUT...this is not the nut i had hook)...in a nutshell the slats are a pain in the arse to get the hinges bolted on...hard to get at the bolt holes with your fingers...the wing rotator i used when doing this is a MUST.

[Clark in AZ]

Don't forget the slat spacers that go underneath the bolt and bearing on the wing side. These raise the slat up for clearance. The number of spacers is trial and error, so the slats have to be taken on and off several times to get it right. Oh, and those spacers, they don't fit in the bearing cup, you have to grind them to fit first. NOT IN THE MANUAL. Oh, and there are different size spacers (washers) thin and thick. NOT IN THE MANUAL.

Call Jak at the factory for very specific, long winded instructions on how to hang the slats properly. Definitely NOT IN THE MANUAL. You are also to rivet each slat with three rivets after you have it all adjusted properly to set the gap at the trailing edge, I don't remember exactly what he said and will have to call Jak myself when I get to final assembly of the slats. You guessed it, NOT IN THE MANUAL.

It makes me wonder how many SuperSTOL's actually have the slats installed properly?

Clark

[CanadianSheepHunter]

Don't forget the slat spacers that go underneath the bolt and bearing on the wing side. These raise the slat up for clearance. The number of spacers is trial and error, so the slats have to be taken on and off several times to get it right. Oh, and those spacers, they don't fit in the bearing cup, you have to grind them to fit first. NOT IN THE MANUAL. Oh, and there are different size spacers (washers) thin and thick. NOT IN THE MANUAL.

Call Jak at the factory for very specific, long winded instructions on how to hang the slats properly. Definitely NOT IN THE MANUAL. You are also to rivet each slat with three rivets after you have it all adjusted properly to set the gap at the trailing edge, I don't remember exactly what he said and will have to call Jak myself when I get to final assembly of the slats. You guessed it, NOT IN THE MANUAL.

It makes me wonder how many SuperSTOL's actually have the slats installed properly?

Clark

Thanks

[CanadianSheepHunter]

Don't forget the slat spacers that go underneath the bolt and bearing on the wing side. These raise the slat up for clearance. The number of spacers is trial and error, so the slats have to be taken on and off several times to get it right. Oh, and those spacers, they don't fit in the bearing cup, you have to grind them to fit first. NOT IN THE MANUAL. Oh, and there are different size spacers (washers) thin and thick. NOT IN THE MANUAL.

Call Jak at the factory for very specific, long winded instructions on how to hang the slats properly. Definitely NOT IN THE MANUAL. You are also to rivet each slat with three rivets after you have it all adjusted properly to set the gap at the trailing edge, I don't remember exactly what he said and will have to call Jak myself when I get to final assembly of the slats. You guessed it, NOT IN THE MANUAL.

It makes me wonder how many SuperSTOL's actually have the slats installed properly?

Clark

So when you say the slat spacers go under the bearing on wing side to raise the slat I assume you mean the bearing on the top side of wing correct?


Thanks

[Clark in AZ]

Yes. I would call Jak to verify. I spoke with him some time ago about this and don't remember all the details. As I said, I'll have to call him back when I get to this again myself.

Clark

[CanadianSheepHunter]

When installing the small bearings for the dogbanes on a Superstol slats i could not buff/ream the bearing cups on the bottom side due to the aluminum skin in the way...i pulled the bearings in on the bottom with the AN bolt...when i went to take slats off realized from forcing them into the bearing cups on bottom it damaged some of the bearings and one could be felt rough as i moved a dogbone with no slat attached. What i think will help or even solve it is to use a washer very close to the bearing diameter so that your not forcing the bearing in with pressure on the inner race...thats what a local bearing shop told me.