Justin's Raven

[justin.schoeman]

And the finished job. Well, nearly finished, as I still need more fine sanding pads to polish 'em up:

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It is nice when you finish drilling 5 stacked pieces, put them back on top of each other, and all the holes line up so perfectly you can barely see the seem!

One more day, and the gear should be refitted with the new nylon bushes.

[justin.schoeman]

Heh. Just got a happy surprise. I needed some cadmium plated 8.8 cap screws to put the fron u/c back together. I was dreading the usual efforts of driving to all the places, getting bogus promises, etc.

A week or two ago, I saw 'Silverton Bolt and Nut' in Pretoria Rd (5 minutes from work), so I thought I would give them a try. And they have EVERYTHING. All the bolts you can imagine (except AN). All the tools I have battled to find. Basically a one stop shop for a lot of the hardware, tools and fittings I need.

Pity I didn't find them earlier!

-justin

[Rudix]

Heh. Just got a happy surprise. I needed some cadmium plated 8.8 cap screws to put the fron u/c back together. I was dreading the usual efforts of driving to all the places, getting bogus promises, etc.

A week or two ago, I saw 'Silverton Bolt and Nut' in Pretoria Rd (5 minutes from work), so I thought I would give them a try. And they have EVERYTHING. All the bolts you can imagine (except AN). All the tools I have battled to find. Basically a one stop shop for a lot of the hardware, tools and fittings I need.

Pity I didn't find them earlier!

-justin

Hi Justin,

Yes, an amazing place, also visited them a week ago for the first time, found all the nuts and bolts I needed for the Savannah! And all the tools, could not believe the selection Easy place to spend lots!!

Regards,
Rudi

[justin.schoeman]

This is my next victim:

Although functional, I find the fuel cap of the Raven particularly unattractive, and aerodynamically, a bit of a disaster.

At the moment I am thinking hard of various possibilities for closing the tank. One option is to drop the tank, use a standard cap, and put a flush panel over the hole. The tank is a little larger than standard though, so dropping it further may make life uncomfortable for long legged pax.

I am leaning towards some (currently fictitious) arrangement where some flush fitting cap seals firmly against the tank, and the fuselage. Probably a fairly thick aluminium plate with a silicon rubber disc stuck to the bottom, and some mechanism to hold it firmly against the filler neck.

Anybody have any ideas/examples of what they have done?

Thanks,
Justin

[justin.schoeman]

A while ago, someone asked for a pic of the wing:

That is the corner of a standard door (2.1m high) sticking out just behind it... Scarily small wing span here! The base is exactly the same width as an HD wing, if you need more scale.

[Wallaby]

Yep, it was me who asked. Thanks Justin. How much faster is your stall speed with this wing? And it looks like around a 7m wingspan that you're going to have. Are there any other Raven planes with this wing flying around? I see that Carl kept with the full span ailerons and there's no flaps. With this short wings you'll have a incredible roll rate.

[justin.schoeman]

Yep, it was me who asked. Thanks Justin. How much faster is your stall speed with this wing? And it looks like around a 7m wingspan that you're going to have. Are there any other Raven planes with this wing flying around? I see that Carl kept with the full span ailerons and there's no flaps. With this short wings you'll have a incredible roll rate.

I don't think there are any Raven's, but there are a couple of Zodiacs (601HDS) in the country. Never flown the HDS wing myself, but apparently quite sporty . Stall speed should be around 58mph @ 540kg, or 54mph @ 500kg. I do have VGs that I will install. Tested stall speed in a 601HDS with VGs is 44mph.

[justin.schoeman]

Picked up the type 4 motor, and spent about an hour drooling over it. It looks like someone at VW said 'Let's make an aero engine', and then went and built this.

Motor is solid, and simple. Heads have at least double the cooling capacity of the type 1. Oil filter and oil cooler are in exactly the right place. Plenty of threaded bosses for attaching baffles and bits. Easy to baffle, easy to mount, everything...

I am sorely tempted to build this one up for the Raven, but it will put the project months behind, and I WANT TO FLY!

[grostek]

Picked up the type 4 motor, and spent about an hour drooling over it. It looks like someone at VW said 'Let's make an aero engine', and then went and built this.

Motor is solid, and simple. Heads have at least double the cooling capacity of the type 1. Oil filter and oil cooler are in exactly the right place. Plenty of threaded bosses for attaching baffles and bits. Easy to baffle, easy to mount, everything...

I am sorely tempted to build this one up for the Raven, but it will put the project months behind, and I WANT TO FLY!

Hi Justin,

What is the weight difference between the Type 1 motor and the Type 4 motor.

Kind regards,

Gunter Rostek

[justin.schoeman]

What is the weight difference between the Type 1 motor and the Type 4 motor.

The type 4 weighs about 30lbs more. I was planning on a much simpler accessory lay out, flywheel drive, and no starter. Should weigh in at around 180-190lbs installed.

[justin.schoeman]

Whee - made my first rib today (replacing one of the Raven's short end ribs with the Zodiac's full rib).

Again, it seems like I spend more time building the tools, and peripheral stuff, rather than actually building the plane. 1.5 hours to make the top and bottom form blocks. 1 hour to machine a rivet mandrel for A4 rivets. 1 hour for the first attempt at the rib. Stuffed it up, and spent another 1/2 hour making a new one. 1/2 hour to drill, deburr and rivet.

Half a day for one small part, but not too many parts to go!

[grostek]

Hi Justin,

Well done, it gets easier as you make more parts, next week you will say to yourself " Why didn't I do that sooner?"

How about a pic of the part you made, please.

Kind Regards,

Gunter Rostek

[doreen]

Hi Justin,

Made this for my XL fuel caps.

cap covers

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[justin.schoeman]

Hi Justin,

Made this for my XL fuel caps.

DSCF1303_opt.jpg

That looks good. How do they attach in the front?

[doreen]

8mm hole in the skin

cover

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