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.