ScaleBirds, Home of the 63% Scale Hellcat replica kitplane project.
At Oshkosh AirVenture 2016 we met a great many pilots and aviation enthusiasts while sharing tent space with fellow Verner dealer Frank Johnson in his Performance Propellers USA booth.
One of those who stopped by was Dan Johnson, who fielded the following interview which was just posted today. Check it out:
Hey everyone! We finally finished the Verner radial installation on my Fisher Avenger "R"! We ran it today for the first time and a second time. There are a few minor issues and we will get those fixed this week. Our team is very excited to see it running and to hear it! Awesome sound! Can't wait to take it up and see how it climbs! We still have to do a weight and balance and inform the FAA FSDO office in Windsor Locks, CT and get their direction on the reinstating of phase 1 test period and perimeter for the testing. I'm expecting something like 5 hrs and 25 miles radius of Westerly State airport.
Some issues we resolved are embarrasing - like my hoses to the fuel filter were swapped. Didn't know that till we tried to run it and no fuel was getting to the throttle body injectors. The supply line and the return line were swapped so was pumping fuel back into the tank instead of the engine. Easy fix but took time to rip out the fuel tank and put it all back together. Thing is, when I installed it the first time, I studied the diagram and should have done it correctly.
Well, it is a real radial engine! Drips oil from the exhaust when parked. It also smokes a little on start-up. You still have to hand turn the prop through a few times to prevent oil from causing compression lock. The Warp Drive prop seems to be huge! But the blades have a narrow cord and the pitch isn't too heavy. Should work-out. In fact, Warp Drive is waiting to hear how this works out and what pitch we finally use.
For Memorial Day, I want to say how honored I have been to meet the many veterans I have and how we can't thank them enough.
ScaleBirds has been a dealer for Verner Motor for a good part of a year now. We have been finishing up our install on my Fisher Aero Avenger V which I am renaming the Avenger R. We will be running this engine shortly and will video the whole thing. This has taken a very long time – me bad. First the winter got in the way – the hanger gets very cold and I do not like cold! The propane heater worked pretty-good for a lot of the evenings and weekend work sessions. But I didn’t go when it was real cold. I know – whimp. A long time ago I spent two winters in North Dakota when I was in the Air Force – it ruined me. I don’t care to see another snowflake – ever! Then, my helpers all had too much going on and we split our time between the engine install, designing/modeling and making airplane parts. So both projects moved forward, just not quickly for either. Then, just as the weather is finally getting awesome, I got a wicked chest cold that would not go away for almost a month. Just getting over it. I could piddle around on stuff sometimes but mostly sat on my couch coughing after work. I took the worst days off but had to go in to work. So some good drugs and lots of caffeine kept me going. Anyway, progress is being made and here is a photo of the Avenger R install.
Getting closer to running the Scarlett 5Si
We have finally gotten some images of customer installations! Thanks Melvin Reed! Melvin is from PA and he is installing a Scarlett 5Si on his Kitfox III. It originally had a Rotax 582 and it flew well. Then, to go 4 stroke, Melvin built a Subaru and installed that. Not as impressive as he was hoping. Weight was way up and going with direct drive the hp was not very good. He had a couple hundred hours flying on that and then jumped on the Verner when it was available. He guessed he is a whole lot lighter with more power – It will be a serious machine! We are very excited to see his images and progress! Keep at it! I’m looking forward to getting a ride in that Kitfox R!
The P40/36 is progressing and we have finished the Horizontal stab. I painted the front of the frame the interior green we are looking for and painted the inside surfaces of all the fuselage skins. Didn’t help my cold one-bit! Scott is putting the finishing touches on the redesigned gun-deck and cowling models so we can make the front-end look like the P36 with the Verner. I will make those pieces and make a new canopy bow and front end – the P-36 and early P-40 had a slightly raked-back canopy bow and totally different shape to the windscreen and forward bracing. We decided to make it an early model even though I had made a late model canopy frame earlier. So that is next and then the fuselage will start to get buttoned-up. The wing modeling is done and being checked. That will allow us to start building the spars and center-section. The goal is to have it up on gear for showing in the rough at the Replica Fighters Association area at Air Venture 2017 in a few months. Tall order but we intend to “get ‘er done!”.
Great news! Verner Motors has informed us that they are starting development of a 9 cylinder engine! This one is projected to be 150 to 160 horespower at 2300 rpm. Weight about 232 pounds. Displacement of 372 cubic inches and direct drive. Diameter will be 34.6". It will be based on the 7Si, but will be a larger case to handle the additional cylinders.
Available in August, but they are taking 40% deposits on the first 10 units at a very big discount. Call me if you want to get in on it - going fast! I've already taken two deposits! This deposit money will fund the development cycle and pay for castings and such.
Can't wait to see this in some awesome replicas! It will also be the perfect engine for our 63% Hellcat!
This post has been sitting in the wings awhile, waiting for pictures. Finally dug in and pulled these out.
Before getting into the rudder build, here's a few images showing the completion of the vertical:
But, that's already old hat. Onto the rudder:
We are just about complete with the rudder - the metal parts of it. The Top and bottom compound curved parts will be fiberglass that we will jump on when the elevator is built. The front counter weight bar is also not made yet but we will get that installed shortly. It went together nicely. Even though we have it modeled in detail in CAD, it still took a few iterations of fitting up the parts before riveting it all together. We had to invent the sequence for installation/assembly. For instance, the steel parts had to be drilled for rivets while in the fixture, then removed, de-burred and the holes primed. Re-installed and not riveted until the delrin bushings and hinge brackets were installed and fitted. This meant several iterations of putting it together, working on a part and pulling it all apart again. It was all fun and interesting work and we are very happy with the way it turned-out. We are going to be repeating this build twice more to make the elevator. The elevator design is going to be very similar to the rudder except for the inboard pass-thru and center-line hinge. Will likely jump onto working on the Horizontal stabilizer next and then do the elevators.
Also, making good progress on the Verner 5Si installation. Scott used the 3D router to actually cut foam in 3D to make the cowling ring. We sanded it up and glassed it. Its coming out great and we are looking forward to firing up the beast! Plumbing is done, except for installing the fuel tank - waiting on that until we finish the electrical connections. I ordered new oil pressure and temp gauges from Verner and they should be here any day now. Their tachometer is 3 inch diameter gauge and does not fit my panel space so I'm keeping with my Tiny Tach digital for now. The throttle quadrant needs to be re-installed and throttle cable cut to length. Then install the prop and fluids. Won't be long now!
So last time, we finished up the fuselage skins for the P-40/36. Right after, I then moved the fuselage out of the shop space and into the new garage bay I had mentioned. With the bench cleaned-up we jumped right into building the vertical stabilizer. Scott cut all the sheet pieces and forming blocks on the router table and our intern Roger Jr. and I hand formed the ribs for both the vertical and rudder. We used the typical homebuilder mallot on the forming blocks method to bend the flanges, with fluting pliers to straighten the ribs from the curl imposed by bending the flanges. Since the main router bit doesn't make an undercut on the sides of the forming blocks, we still have to manually bend the flanges to get them perpendicular to the rib face. This aluminum has about a 10 degree spring-back that needs to be removed with a little english. A proper mold could counter this but we're not there yet. Cleco's held the entire vertical sans skins for the test fit-up. Everything was as expected - fantastic!
To start actual assembly we went and finished deburring all holes and riveted the spars together, then ribs went to the spars. This frame for the vertical was fairly stout to begin with, and being pre-cut the pieces all fit up just so; but it needed to be held absolutely square and straight. So next was a vertical stab assembly fixture, which was made from some braces I had made for welding the canopy frame, and these got squared to the table with a laser. We could have made a nicer looking fixture on the router table from MDF but Scott was working on other stuff, we didn't want to wait, and it works just fine doing it by hand this way. With the frame screwed to the table its very stiff and secure.
Riveting the spars went quick enough, just pull and go, the skin had yet to be made so that is what takes most of the time. The skin was templated out using chip-board, and fitted several times to get all the curves just right. Then lines all got transferred to the .020 thick skin. We cut that out by hand and filed the edges smooth and straight. It went well and was quick and easy to do after working on the fuselage skins which were similarly hand-cut. With a sharpie, the centerline for the leading edge bend was laid-out on both sides of the sheet skin. A 3/4" solid aluminum rod was duct taped to the skin and and trailing edges got folded around and matched up, then clamped to the bench; almost like making a paper airplane. Hand forming the LE bend was done by one guy pulling each end the rod, keeping the skin tight, and another pressing down on the skin with a flat board to tighten the radius. It's by no means a machine-formed bend, but that method does work well on small parts that need a tight rounded nose.
After fitting and clamping the bent skin onto the stabilizer frame, we un-clamped one side at a time to mark the frame onto the inner skin surface. The rivet lines and spacing were then marked onto the inner skins and drilled. Re-clamping the skins in place on the frame and drilling through the rib and spar flanges. Cleco's are installed to hold the skins tight as it was drilled. Then deburred all the new holes, and re-clamped the skin to the frame. The pull rivets are fun to do and so easy it is, well, anti-climatic to a degree. Another major airframe part done just as it was getting started!
Next up is the rudder build! So far laying the groundwork. We made the rudder ribs already, need Scott to turn some bushings from delrin for the hinges, and I made the rudder horn from 4130 steel by way of hand tools and drill press. Our CNC router table can't really do steel, (Spindle spins too fast for the machine and the bits just burn up. Good way to let the smoke out) Even so, I just did it via the old school method in about an hour. With the trusty Miller, welded the horn to the torque tube adapter with some fillet welds all around on both sides. Then on a critical surface Scott used the mill to flycut the end down square and true. a little primer and she looks right proper! Now we are designing an assembly fixture for the rudder and will get you that shortly. Take a look at all the build pics, please let us know how we're doing, and have a great day!
Hey everybody, long time no see!
Hope you all enjoyed the Holidays of 2016!
We've tried to make the most of ours, without going too crazy.
Onto the P40 (P36?) build:
So I've recruited a high school intern into helping us out now. He has been helping me with fabricating the fuselage skins and adding stiffeners. Its fun to watch him learn new stuff and build skills, and fun to watch the build come together at the same time. With his help all the skins for the fuselage have now been finished up and are ready for primer coats.
Scott just finished cutting out all the metal ribs and spars for the Vertical and Rudder as well as the corresponding MDF forming blocks and jigs. We are ready to start on the tail build. I will have the intern (his name is Roger Jr.) form all the ribs and save me the hammering. I think with some guidance he will be building the entire tail group. OK, I'll do a little bit more than guide. At least the first one.
And as far as the Verner goes:
We are in the middle of installing the Verner 5Si radial engine on my Fisher Aero Corp Avenger V as a test bed. The Avenger R? Avenger R5? Still havn't figured out a name. The design phase is mostly complete, parts made, and everything more or less has been ordered. As of Wednesday, the engine is hung and looking great as you can see:
We are ready to install the major systems - fuel, oil and electric. Some stuff is already mounted but not hooked up, other things are going to mount to the engine mount. Scott's been gumming up the works by making a time-lapse video of the install, which means waiting to start while the camera gets setup; but once it's started it just hums along. Should be fun to watch though, and hopefully helpful for those interested in Verner motors and how the install goes.
According to the schedule I've been going on, all of this work should have been completed a while ago. Wanted to fly the Verner while it was still warm out! What's the hold-up? Well, my excuse - poor as it may be - is early in November, my car garage/storage tent decided to self destruct. It was an older model but the codes checked out. Well, guess it diddn't. The tent was a temporary solution for the normal stuff that the airplane parts have been displacing from the real garages. On a project like this space is at a premium and airplane parts tend to take priority. So looking at my options, I decided to build an addition to my separate two bay garage. It already had a concrete pad ready to go (which was seen back when we were load testing the Hellcat horizontal.) Piece of cake right? Right. Well it took 6 weeks to finish. I was thinking "3 weeks - no problem." I used to be able to do something like that easily in three weeks anyway. I don't know why things take so much longer to finish now. Anybody feel my pain?!? Then, after that, I got the flu which took me down for two weeks. When it rains, it pours!
Well, we are back on the project and rolling. Yesterday I had four guys working on parts, machining, CNC routing, designing. It was a thrill to have that much production going on. I think 2017 will be a great year!
Hey there everyone! Sorry its been so long. I just finished the update for the RFA magazine and sent that off - I wont copy that, just might hit some of the info.
We painted the frame in primer and made some of the internal components. We are back at the sheet metal work again - making fuselage skins and clamping them in place with clecos. Cant rivet yet - need to install some stuff and also paint the inside of the skins first. Although we did rivet in the inter-bulkhead stiffeners on the aft fuselage skins. That really worked well and was easy to do. We made the firewall bulkhead and capped the turtledeck skins - quite the ordeal with that! Ruined several pieces until we figured out the strap method to bend them and hold them in place to drill and cleco. In the midst of fabricating the forward skins right now.
Trying to work a little every night and get back up to full steam on the project. We had a lot of distractions in September and it is tough to get over the inertia all over again. The project seems to ebb and flow that way. Get going real great then bam slow down for a holiday or an event, then arrgh! Everyone becomes busy doing other stuff for a while and then we have to push on it till it starts going again. Momentum!! Gotta keep it!
We are completing the engineering on the wing and the CAD models for the tail. We are planning to start the tail feathers next in hopefully a couple weeks. I want them and the fuselage looking great by Christmas - that would be a fantastic gift! I think it is realistic but a challenge.
After Oshkosh, I decided to swap the engine out on my Fisher Avenger V for the Scarlett 5Si we have waiting on the Hellcat. Having the Avenger flying with the Verner will be a great way to get operational experience with the engines. It will be temporary but a good way to get going. For this swap, I designed and fabricated a new engine mount and the fixture to hold it all in place for welding. It came out great and I just painted it today - Blue! One of the trim colors of the plane. I also designed an oil tank and have a shop fabricating it out of aluminum. We will sell them to Verner owners as a great solution for the larger 5 and 7 cylinder engines. The 3 cylinder and small 5 need a smaller tank. We can do that too when it becomes an issue. I also bought the WarpDrive three blade prop that will go on the Hellcat to power the Avenger. It will be interesting to have the test data from both aircraft of this engine and prop combo.
Well, back to work! Gotta keep the Mo!
