A time log to keep track of progress.
''Quality means doing it right when no one is looking.'' (Henry Ford)
| Date | Progress |
| 15th December 2009 | William Wynne Corvair conversion manual ordered. |
| 1st January 2010 | Web site built. |
| 14th January 2010 | 1965 Corvair 164 Cubic Inch engine block on its way from the USA. |
| 20th January 2010 | Corvair engine block & 65 shop manual arrived. |
| 20th January 2010 | Plans on the way from Andrew Pietenpol. |
| 5th February 2010 | Ordered LAA approved supplements from Jim Wills. |
| 24th February 2010 | LAA approved supplements from Jim Wills arrive. |
| 5th March 2010 | Tonight I started drawing the Rib template which will then serve as the jig pattern to build the Ribs in. I am using a jig to hopefully make sure all the Ribs are built the same. |
| 7th March 2010 | 100 x 72" lengths of 1/2" x1/4" Spruce cap strip ordered from Aircraft Spruce in the USA for wing ribs. |
| 14th March 2010 | I have finished drawing the rib template for the jig. |
| 21st March 2010 | Today I had the discovery of the year! I had a tour of a storage facility containing a quantity of aircraft grade spruce just 3 hours away from me in Newcastle, NSW. Tom who is the owner of this spruce is more than happy to receive calls if your interested in purchasing some for your project. Ph: 02 49696464. |
| 23rd March 2010 | Spruce cap strip arrived from Aircraft Spruce in the USA for wing ribs. |
| 25th March 2010 | Made the cap strip bending jig and a capped PVC tube to soak the spruce cap strip in so it can be bent. Trialing first strip........... |
| 29th March 2010 | 10 top rib cap strips now bent......22 to go..... |
| 30th March 2010 | While still bending cap strips...... I have started screwing the blocks on the rib template to hold the capstrip in place for glueing..... |
| 1 - 4 April 2010 | Attended Natfly in Temora for the annual fly in. Lots of plane porn! |
| 10th April 2010 | Made the jig to bend the bottom capstrip of the ribs. Nearly finished bending the top strips then start bending 32 of the bottom strips. The jigs only hold 3 strips at a time so takes a while..... |
| 11th April 2010 | Assembled first rib. Will now use these parts as patterns to cut out capstrip for all 32 ribs..... Started cleaning the little rust that has accumulated on the cylinder studs on the Corvair block. Will get these cleaned up and prime them..... |
| 15th April 2010 | Last two pieces of top rib cap strip soaked and bent!.....Now bottom to go.... My handy wood working friend carefully planed 2 blocks of wood to exact measurements for the jig where the spars will fit through the ribs. Once I have glued all the ribs I will send these to the chap I am buying the spruce from so the spars can be planed to the same dimensions. Thanks Norm for your hard work! |
| 15th April 2010 | All top capstrip are cut to fit and started on the other rib pieces.....there are a lot of little pieces in one rib!...x 32!... |
| 26th April 2010 | At the moment its too labour intensive to detail every day. I am currently spending as much time as I can each day cutting out rib parts till I have a full set, then will start gluing. |
| 7th May 2010 | All capstrips are cut for the ribs. Waiting on ply to arrive so ribs can be assembled. Just ordered the flight instruments today. |
| 10th May 2010 | According to the Fed-Ex site, my T-88 Glue, Nails & Instruments are vacationing briefly in Honolulu! So I made a mock up of the hinge arrangment for the elevators and rudder using AN eyebolts. |
| 12th May 2010 | Instruments, Glue and Nails have landed... |
| 15th May 2010 | Measured all the gusset's on the rib so I can cut the ply in to strips on a table saw. I am still trying to source a reasonably priced supplier of AS2272 AA-A Bond Marine Grade Hoop Pine ply in 1.5mm.....There are a total of 1088 gussets to be cut out! |
| 28th May 2010 | Progress again! Zenith Timber Industries in Queensland are going to supply me with the Ply! They are waiting approx 2-3 weeks for the 1.5mm sheets to come in and Dave Brown who runs a laser cutting business cutting Radio Control plane kits has kindly offered to collect it when he is up there....Good stuff! |
| 9th June 2010 | ...While waiting for the Ply to arrive I thought I would whip up a Sunday flyer! Sig Astrohog! |
|
|
| 24th June 2010 | Progress again! I received a box full of used Corvair Parts from Fred in the USA. These parts can all be cleaned up and reused. Things like valve covers, cylinder shrouds and many more! Thanks Mate! |
| 4th July 2010 | Started soaking the push rod tubes in solvent degreaser. They are coming up well! Once degreased I am cleaning the surface rust off with a wire brush wheel and then will paint them. |
| 5th July 2010 | Dave Brown arrived today with some sheets of AS2272 AA-A Bond Hoop Pine Ply. Thanks Mate!...Just waiting on the 1.5mm sheets which were held up by the Mill. I need the 1.5mm to make the rib gussets. |
| 6th July 2010 | Corvair valve covers and cylinder cooling baffles gone into the Chromers to be cleaned and the valve covers chromed and the baffles zinc coated and then I will paint them. |
| 18th July 2010 | Collected the Spruce for the Empenage today... |
| 28th July 2010 | Cut and glued the leading and trailing edges of the rudder. Rather than rebating a single piece I am using two pieces cut to size and glueing them together. |
| 8th August 2010 | Framed up the rudder ready for gluing... Holes have been drilled in the leading edge of the rudder for the AN Eyebolt hinges.. |
| 21st August 2010 | Rudder gussets and ribs cut out. Glued the Rudder frame and one side of gussets and ribs. |
| 23rd August 2010 | Turned Rudder over and glued rest of gussets and ribs. Rudder complete! |
| 18th September 2010 | Glued Vert stab main frame |
| 25th September 2010 | Laminated spruce sections to make the top Vertical stab section. Sorted the cut spruce in to components for the horizontal stab and elevators. |
| 26th September 2010 | Cut out & glued Vert stab top section and right side ribs. Painted other side of Corvair cooling baffles. |
| 27th September 2010 | Built Elevator jig. |
| 12th October 2010 | 1.5mm Ply has arrived so rib building can continue. |
| 17th October 2010 | Glued right elevator frame & started cutting rib gussets. |
| 31st October 2010 | Glued right elevator ribs. |
| 11th November 2010 | Framed up left elevator. |
| 5th February 2011 | Cut horizontal stabiliser leading & trailing edges. |
| 13th February 2011 | Glued left elevator frame. |
| 6th March 2011 | Draw out rib gussets to be cut. |
| 15th March 2011 | Cut out wing rib gussets with hole saw. |
| 25th March 2011 | Sanding gussets in the drill ready for glueing the first rib... |
| 26th March 2011 | Rib 1 glued & left elevator ribs glued... |
| 29th March 2011 | Rib 2 glued... |
| 30th March 2011 | Rib 3 glued... |
| 1st April 2011 | Rib 4 glued... |
| 2nd April 2011 | Rib 5 glued & left elevator gussets glued... |
| 3rd April 2011 | Right elevator gussets glued... |
| 4th April 2011 | Rib 6 glued... |
| 6th April 2011 | Rib 7 glued... |
| 9th April 2011 | Rib 8 glued... |
| 10th April 2011 | Rib 9 glued... |
| 12th April 2011 | Rib 10 glued... |
| 13th April 2011 | Rib 11 glued... |
| 14th April 2011 | Rib 12 glued... |
| 15th April 2011 | Rib 13 glued... |
| 16th April 2011 | Rib 14 glued... |
| 17th April 2011 | Rib 15 glued... |
| 26th April 2011 | Rib 16 glued... |
| 30th April 2011 | Rib 17 glued... |
| 1st May 2011 | Rib 18 glued... |
| 3rd May 2011 | Rib 19 (A) glued... Upon inspection, a hairline crack was noted so this rib is scrap. Will make a nice wall talking point! |
| 7th May 2011 | Rib 19 (B) glued... |
| 8th May 2011 | Rib 20 glued... |
| 10th May 2011 | Rib 21 glued... |
| 11th May 2011 | Rib 22 glued... |
| 12th May 2011 | Rib 23 glued... |
| 14th May 2011 | Rib 24 glued... |
| 15th May 2011 | Rib 25 glued... |
| 16th May 2011 | Rib 26 glued... |
| 4th June 2011 | Rib 27 glued... |
| 5th June 2011 | Rib 28 glued... |
| 10th June 2011 | First spoked wheel laced and trued...... |
| 13th June 2011 | Rib 29 glued... |
| 15th June 2011 | Rib 30 glued... |
| 25th June 2011 | Rib 31 glued... |
| 3rd July 2011 | Rib 32 glued... |
| 9th July 2011 | Horizontal stabiliser trailing edge glued... |
| 10th July 2011 | Horizontal stabiliser leading edge glued... |
| 7th August 2011 | Horizontal stabiliser glued together... |
| 14th August 2011 | Horizontal stabiliser removed from jig & Rib 9 right gussets glued... |