And Yet Another Trike!?!

Yes you read correctly...I now have yet another aircraft.  Yikes! 

On my last trip to Hawaii I had made a trade with a trike pilot friend who is now aspiring to be a paraglider pilot.

I traded a full rig, wing, harness, reserve, etc., etc., for a trike wing and chassis.
At least this one was not located so far away from where I live....up in Banks, Oregon, which is about 20min W of Portland.

I made the trip up this weekend staying at Russel's (flying cohort) house Saturday night.  We went out to Banks on Sunday and collected all of the gear which included, Jetwing Trike with 440 Kawasaki engine (same as on the A-10), 3 fin Ivo prop, balistic chute (unmounted), and Moyes GTR wing.

Everything is in pretty good shape....just needing some clean up and some minor fiddling here and there.


I am starting to think that I may have some sort of Obsessive/Compulsive aircraft collecting disorder.

Anybody know the number for 911?

To Idaho and Back

It has been a really long time since I have posted....so I thought I better get back on track.  It is now clear to me that this blog is going to be expanded to include other flying adventures beyond the Restoration of the A-10.  Apparently I will do anything to sidetrack a project...including and not limited to starting 2-3 more projects simultaneously.  It is amazing that I ever get anything done at all.

Anyway...long story short, I ended up buying another aircraft.  Or at least half of one.  I previously owned a trike (hanglider trike) and had been itching to get another one.   I spent a lot of time trolling on Craigslist and Barnstormers for deals....and a month or two back found one that I liked.  It was the chassis and engine, sans wing, single seat, Kawasaki 340 engine, instruments, power fin prop, etc.....a nice Light Trike setup.

Only hitch was that it was in Idaho....and not only in Idaho....but way on the North Eastern side of Idaho.
After e-mailing the owner back and forth and talking to him on the phone, I made a deal on the trike, contingent on me coming to Idaho to pick it up.  This deal was made just prior to my last month long trip to Hawaii and would have to wait until I returned.

After returning from Hawaii I set the date and off I went on my adventure.  I left at 4am Friday morning, driving solo, with my trailer in tow.  After about 14 hours and 800 miles I made it to my destination in Rigby, Idaho.  Greg (trike owner) very graciously talked me in on the final few miles to his place, where he was waiting to transfer ownership of the trike.  The trike was just as described and advertised, and I wasted no time loading up to get ready for the trip back.

Off I went to start the return trip to Oregon.  One of the highlights of this trip occurred on this late night exodus through Idaho.  I drove into and through one of the most amazing Lighting and Thunder Storms I had ever seen.  The Thunderheads were almost indescribable with dark fingers reaching down from the sky to the silhouetted landscape.  The strikes were bold and numerous....and I could not help thinking as I was driving along that the trike sitting in the trailer behind me...with it's tall mast....made an inviting target.

Anyway...I drove to about 1 am in the morning (Sat.) at which point I found a rest stop, and collapsed in the back of the van for a few hours of fitful sleep.  At 5:30 am I was back up and on my way.

I was back in Oregon early afternoon on Saturday....made a short stop to drop the trike in my RV storage slot at Creswell (keeping the A-10 company)....making it to my house at about 4 pm.  Yikes....1600 miles in about 36 hours....I was wiped out.

I have vowed that this is my last long cross country trip to bring back an airplane......I guess we'll see.

Ramping UP

Finally decided to take her down to the airport to test a few things.  I was feeling pretty optimistic and wanted
to accomplish a few specific tasks.

First I wanted to get the plane off the trailer, testing my new winch set up.  Secondly I wanted to pitch the prop, fuel the tank and fire her up. 

In preparation I had previously ordered Pennzoil 2 cycle air cooled oil from Aircraft Spruce for my premix, and purchased a new 12 volt battery from Wal-Mart as the old one was not coming back from the dead.

On Saturday I set off with my Dad for Creswell.  After hitching the trailer up and securing everything we set off for the airport.  After parking on a grassy area, we set up the ramps and tried our first attempt at lowering her off the trailer.

It always seems the case that things don't always work out quite as well as you think they will.  Although my setup of the winch seemed like it would work well enough, we ran into a problem.

The whole idea is that I should be able to raise and lower the aircraft off of the trailer, solely on my own.  However the ramps are so steep....by the time the nose wheel is on the ground, the winch cable which is connected to the nose fork starts to contact the underside of the fiberglass pod.  However, there is still too much weight from the aircraft at this point to disengage the winch and lower her solo.  Furthermore there is really no other place to effectively "hitch" to the aircraft.

So.....need to do some more engineering.

Oh, I forgot to mention there was one more complicating factor going on.  Most airplane pilots, and any other pilots for that matter.....have never seen a Mitchell Wing before.  So practically everyone in site of my plane, came by to ask questions and offer advice.  As much as I love to talk about the Mitchell Wing and specifically my little bird.....it does not allow for getting a lot of work done.  So lesson learned.....try to do as much work away from the airport as possible.

Second lesson learned.....when the Mitchell Wing is off the trailer.....the wing is very, very low to the ground.
Most maintenance and work on the aircraft will be easier to do while it is on the trailer.

Feeling somewhat defeated for the day....I decided to pack it up and head home.

After a few hours of thinking we decided the solution to our problem was to make the ramps longer.  This would decrease the angle of the aircraft coming off of the trailer, get a better angle of dangle on the winch cable, and allow me to disengage the cable and lower the aircraft solo.

Super Dad, who happens to be a retired crew chief on an F-16, and a handy carpenter, was able to extend the ramps by 3 feet using simple 2 x 8's.  They make the previous aluminum ramps stiffer, and give the desired angle of descent.

Yesterday we went back to the RV storage yard, pulled the trailer out of its slot an tried them out.

Success!  I can raise and lower the aircraft off the trailer without any additional hands.

What's next?

Baby Steps of Progress

It has been a few weeks since I have updated....so I though I had better get something up.
I haven't accomplished anything major but have gotten a few things done.

First of all I located the battery.  My A-10 has an electric start, making it easy to shut the engine off in flight to take advantage of any soarable lift, with the ability to restart when necessary.  There is a forward compartment on the main pod, accessible through a small hatch.  I pulled the cover and inside I found a couple of things.  One was the battery.  The terminals were still connected....so it is doubtful that the battery is still any good.  But I pulled it and brought it home and we will see if it will take a charge.

Inside the compartment I also found a heavy set of wing tie downs.  I pulled them out for the moment, but will probably be putting them back in before flying as they may be part of the CG balance.(which we will check before flying)

Secondly I installed my winch.  It took a fair amount of engineering to get it set up properly, but I think it should work very well.  I had purchased a worm-drive unit which I installed on the rear of the trailer.  This way I can raise and lower the A-10 while being fully clear of the aircraft.  The winch cable is led forward underneath the A-10, and then is turned 90 degrees via a cable pulley to attach at the front wheel fork.  A medium size vertical pulley was also installed just aft of the wheel wheel to guide the cable as the aircraft is lowered.

Lastly I put on the prop.  A very nice composite 3 blade Powerfin Prop came with the A-10 but was not installed.  I first gave the prop hub a cursory cleaning along with the prop surfaces to insure a proper mating.  After a little scrounging in the part boxes I was able to come up with the 6 AN bolts and washers for mounting.  I cleaned them up as well and then mounted the prop.  According to the Manufacturer specs I applied 175 Inch-Pounds of torque to each bolt.  The proper way to mount a prop is to make very small incremental turns on each bolt, very slowly increasing the torque....working in a cross bolt pattern like you would when replacing a wheel on a car.

I should have some new photos shortly to show the progress.

The Great Polish OFF

Anxious to try out the polishes, I set out for Creswell.  On the way I picked up a few polishing aids, thin red rags, micro-fiber towels etc.

I picked a small area on the leading edge to test out the two polishes.  This area has a dime sized rough black spot which will be a good indicator of how well the polishes are going to work.  There are a variety of small spots like this on the wing, showing slightly heavier oxidation, and in my opinion are in areas where the blue cover was in contact with the wing.  I am not too keen on such covers, as I feel instead of protecting, they tend to trap moisture and promote corrosion.

Before polishing my spot, I washed the test area with water, and then with the Nuvite Dry Wash.

First the Gord's.  Instructions say to shake it very well, which I did.  There is apparently a penny on the inside of the bottle to help the mixing.  I thought I would try it first with a thin red shop rag, as this was recommended by the manufacturer. Polish, polish, polish.....here comes the usual black residue, indicating the polish is working.  Even though it seems to be polishing well in general, it is not having much effect on the black spot.  So next I tried a piece of synthetic 0000 steel wool.(looks like a scouring pad)  Polish, polish, polish, .....that spot, although slightly smoother, is still not going away.

Next step try the Metal Gloss.  Applied with the red rag, polish, polish, polish, ....again no real effect on the spot.

Initial conclusions.  The Gord's, although it seems to work well enough for general oxidation, is not going to be strong enough for some areas of the wing.  Furthermore, the Gord's is very thin, and it is drippy.  This makes it fairly impractical for polishing any where except the upper surfaces.

The Metal Gloss has more appeal as it is more of a paste, with good enough viscosity to be able to apply on most any of the wing surfaces.  In addition it seems to really polish to a mirror finish, as evidenced by the results I achieved on my little test area.

So...between the two, I will probably only be re-ordering the Metal Gloss.

I am however still stuck with having to explore other polishes.  These two will finish well enough, but I need something with a little more teeth for the heavier oxidized areas of the wing.  I am going to go back to either the Rolite or Nuvite Brands, and get several grades of polish to experiment with.

Somewhat slow and frustrating, but this is how we learn.

So much Polish and so little Time

Getting back to clean up.  The A-10 has a very large wing.  The specs show a 34' wing span with 156 sq ft.
of aluminum....yikes!  That is a lot of area to polish.

Cleaning and washing will be one job....but polishing will be quite another.

First of all there are a ton of aluminum polishes on the market.  Names like Rolite, Nuvite, Met-All, Fitz just to name a few.  And everyone has a opinion on the best way to polish aluminum.

Polishes by definition, different than waxes, work by removing varying degrees of metal.  Each brand of polish, contains varying amounts of abrasives.  Even within the same brand, a variety of polishes may be offered for anything from very aggressive oxidation removal, with course abrasives, to the final mirror polishing stage, with only very fine abrasives.

The A-10 has very thin aluminum skins, so I want to be able to clean and remove the light to medium oxidation, while removing the minimum of material.

Of course everyone markets their polish as the best, and none of them are exactly cheap.  So how does one choose?

Even after you have chosen a polish, then you need to decide if you are going to do the job by hand, or involve machinery.  Hand polishing is slow and tedious when you are dealing with a lot of surface area.  Machinery will definitely cut down the time.....but the downside is that you can do a lot of damage in a short period time if you are not careful.

Decisions, decisions.

I decided to order two different polishes in small quantities that I have heard good things about.  The first one is "Gord's" Aluminum Polish, the second is "Metal Gloss".  Gord's is a soap based polish that is supposed to be 15 times less abrasive than most polishes on the market.  Metal Gloss is also marketed as very safe for aluminum, chrome etc., and has a good following in the show bike community.

From what I have read, the Gord's will be good for areas that are a little more oxidized and stubborn....while the Metal Gloss will be for areas in better condition and for finishing.  I will test each on very small areas to see how well they work.

In addition to the polishes I also ordered Metal Gloss Sealer (for sealing after polishing) and Nuvite Dry Wash for cleaning small areas without water.

I initially intend to proceed by hand.....we will have to see how far I get.

TO BE legal OR NOT TO BE legal

While I was working on the front end flat, my mind kept drifting back to the issue of legal flying.  I have been thinking about this for a while, but pulling the fiberglass wheel spat made me think of the issue again.

The issue I refer to is FAR Part 103 flying (legal ultralight) vs. registered flying, such as Light Sport, Experimental, General Aviation, etc.

There are a variety of constraints that an aircraft must meet to be a legal ultralight.  Weight of less than 254 lbs. is just one of the them.  The Mitchell Wing A-10 is too heavy to be a legal ultralight.  The specs show the aircraft to weigh in at 270 lbs, assuming the standard Zenoah G25B engine. 

My A-10, has a Kawasaki 440 hp engine, making it even heavier.  So by weight alone, it will not be legal to fly as an ultralight.

Here is the rub.....it is very difficult now, maybe even impossible to get a aircraft such as mine....a heavy ultralight, legally registered under the new LSA, or experimental rules....unless you built the aircraft, or have the records of the build, including logs, photos, etc.

My aircraft was built at the old factory so getting it legal is probably not going to happen. 

Back to the fiberglass wheel spat.....what got me thinking again.  The wheel spat is what I would consider to be in fair to good condition.  The fiberglass on the aircraft in general is old, shows stress cracks and other imperfections here and there.

Furthermore, I am not a huge fan of fiberglass pods, wheel spats, etc.  The Pros are that they make the aircraft more streamlined, less draggy, and therefore contribute to a better L/D.  The cons are that they require upkeep, are easily damaged, and make it very difficult to clean, work on and inspect a lot of the aircraft.

In summation, I am flirting with the idea of removing all of the fiberglass from the aircraft.  First of all, this is the only way I am going to be able to completely inspect everything, and make sure it is airworthy.  Secondly, with all of the fiberglass and other weight added items removed from the fuselage, it is going to be much closer to being legal as an ultralight.

At the end of the day I would prefer to be flying under ultralight rules, without all of the regulations and inspections required under LSA and experimental flying anyway.  I also really enjoy being in the open airflow while flying vs. being in a enclosed cockpit.

However, we must be aware of the fact that removal of the fiberglass will have effects on the performance of the aircraft.  The aircraft will become more draggy, so the L/D will suffer somewhat, although the overall weight will also decrease which may help sink rate.  The Center of Gravity of the aircraft may be effected and will need to be checked as as well.  Overall it should perform almost as well.

So, I have pretty much decided....it is all coming off.  This will make the A-10 into a A-10B.  It is always possible that it may all go back on again.....but by the looks of it, it will come off a whole lot easier than it will go back on....so not too likely to happen.

Tale of a Tire

Sooooo...went to Harbor Freight and got my little winch for cheap.  You really gotta love that place.....they have practically everything, and at good prices.  If you don't mind buying stuff from China (and personally I don't care), they are hard to beat.  People in China need to make a living too!

Anyway, one thing that I had forgot to post was that my A-10 had a flat front tire.  We had aired it up when getting her ready to trailer in Washington, but the tire did not hold air.  So fixing the tire took precedence over installing the winch.

First stage...getting the wheel off.  I don't have a picture, but I will try to describe the situation as best I can.  The front of the A-10 has a fork, not unlike a bicycle fork, but shorter and beefier.  Both the tire and wheel spat (fiberglass fairing over the tire) are attached to the fork.  Picture if you can, the aircraft sitting on the trailer, with no real practical way to jack the front end up to work on it.

With only two attachment points it did not seem to be too much of a problem.  The lower attachment point was simply formed by the axle of the wheel, held on to the fork by two cotter pins.  Easy enough....pull the two cotter pins, and the axle will simply pull through, and the wheel will come off.

Here comes the problem.  The wheel spat has two small bolts also attaching it to the fork.  These bolts come through the inside of the wheel spat outward, with the nuts on the outside.  First I tried to just  loosen the nuts with a wrench, but they would turn along with the bolt, so this would obviously not work.  I felt for the bolt head on the inside of the wheel spat, and found no bolt head, just a smooth round piece of metal which I would not be able to get a tool on.

What to do oh what to do?  Not wanting to spend days on a relatively simple repair I decided to cut through the small bolts holding on the wheel spat.  A quick trip down the street to the Napa Auto store rendered up a hack saw blade.  Using just the naked blade I was able to slide it in between the wheel spat and front fork, and fairly quickly sawed through a couple of plastic bushings and the offending bolts.

Off comes the wheel spat and tire.

Fortunately for me....just a couple of more blocks down the street is the Tire Factory.  For the very reasonable sum of $5.50, the inner tube of the tire was replaced, refilled, and is now happily back on the A-10.

I love it when a project comes together.

Thoughts of Clean Up

Clean up is going to occur in several stages. The first of which is to wash the entire wing. It is dusty, and in need of a thorough cleansing. I am just not going to feel right until the entire wing is clean.

However, the A-10 on it's trailer is very high off of the ground. Not really practical for washing, and polishing, etc.

The good news is that the A-10 came with a lot of cool things, one of these being a nice 3 wheel dolly to move the aircraft around off of its trailer.

Here comes problem #1. I can not currently get the aircraft on and off the trailer by myself. The trailer is designed well, and has ramps for easy on and off loading. However, there used to be a winch on the trailer, but it is no longer there.

So to be self-sufficient I am going to have to install either a winch or some sort of
mechanical advantage.

Shopping online I have found a inexpensive winch ($25) at Harbor Freight which should do the job fine. So....off to buy and install the winch.

Bringing her home

After quite a few e-mail exchanges with the owner Mark (seller) a deal was struck on the A-10.
Mark had inherited the aircraft from his father, and had made the reluctant decision to sell her as opposed to start flying her himself.

The A-10 was up near the Seattle area, which meant about a 4 hour drive from Oregon.

My father and I left early on a Saturday morning and made the trek up arriving a little after 8 am. I had never actually seen a Mitchell wing completed, except in photos, so I was first struck by how large the aircraft was.

The Mitchell Wing is designed so that the outer wing sections fold back upon the main wing section for trailering and storage. My new bird had a large blue custom made cover protecting the folded wing.

On cursory inspection the aircraft was definitely all there, nothing missing. It had been sitting for a while so it had the expected light oxidation in certain areas of the wing, engine, etc. But nothing in my mind that would kill the deal.

The cover on the wing did not look like it was coming off easily, so we were only able to peek under certain areas....but what I could see seemed to be in good shape.

After doing all of the paper work and handing over the money we set to loading her up on the trailer. Mark was invaluable in helping to make sure the A-10 was loaded and secured properly.
Thank you Mark. After loading, we were off back to Oregon for another 4 hour trek.

Unfortunately the weather was rainy up and down, so by the time we arrived back in Oregon everything was pretty much soaked. We arrived back late, so all we could do was throw a tarp over her and let her sit until morning.

I had initially thought that when I brought the A-10 back I could slide her into a 20' storage unit.
But the size of the aircraft, and the height sitting on the trailer would make this prohibitive.

I called a RV storage site in Creswell, which is coincidentally only a mile away from the airport I will be flying out of. They are normally full, but a long term client had just left, opening up a very nice, dry covered 40' slot.

One more trail to the RV storage and she was home. I immediately set out to remove the blue wing cover, which I thought would come off in a few minutes. This cover almost seemed as if it had been sewn on the wing.....so my few minutes ended up to be about an hour. I don't think that cover is going on again.

After removing the cover, I spent another hour meticulously drying off the wing and the rest of the aircraft. The wing and all looked very good, just a slight amount of oxidation here and there which will come off with the first polishing.

I was quite pleased at my purchase, and could see that Mark's Dad had really cared for his aircraft.

Next stage, getting her cleaned up.

New Beginnings

This blog is going to chronicle the resurrection of a Mitchell Wing A-10 aircraft. I only say resurrection in the sense that this aircraft has been in storage for approximately 7 years, and it is going to take a bit of elbow grease to get her flying again.

The Mitchell Wing A-10 is a single place, 16 to 1 (L/d), all metal, tailless flying wing motor glider.

It was originally designed as a foot launch hang glider in the 70's and went to several versions, some factory built and some home built. A two place version was also made, the T-10 for training.

Coincidentally I have the kit for the T-10, and my father and I are attempting to build it. Our problem so far has been that the build documentation is extremely poor and we have had a lot of questions so far unanswered.

When I was able to locate a single place version in nice shape, and reasonably close by, the temptation to buy her was overwhelming as having a completed, flying model of a Mitchell Wing A-10 will be invaluable in answering a lot of questions about the T-10.

First stage, bringing the A-10 home.