Hello All,
Figured I would share some photos of my rebuild of 7EC. Photo of tubing shows only part of crack, only about 30% of tube was still connected. Damage history from late sixtys, flew this way untill 98. About 500 hrs worth. Says alot about champ enginering and strength! Wings were completely dissasembled and rebuilt with new hardware, leading edges, wiring,rainbow spars, cables, tanks cleaned and pressure checked, new vent lines all metal etched and epoxy primed, blah ,blah, blah... Superflight is much better than my usual nitrate, buterate, and ceconite.
Old fuel vents wre completly blocked with mud daubers, Don't know how engine even got fuel! Can anyone with the 13 gal tanks give me some experience on fuel flow, in other words two tanks, one gauge in RT wing, does fuel drain equaly or can you get a imbalance like some Cessnas do. Long and short, can I trust the gauge on long flights?
http://s241.photobucket.com/albums/ff25/pitts12cg/
surprize,surprize
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Nathan K. Hammond
- Posts: 2371
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- Location: Danville, KY (DVK)
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My tailpost mostly came off with the old fabric - I've seen worse 
Keeping one eye on the hour meter, I trust my gauge. I pretty regularly work it with a couple gallons in each wing - when you can't make the gauge bounce it's time to land.
My only real scary experience with the 2x13 setup was when I lost a gasket on one cap - the pressure vent pumps the good tank into the bad one, then out over the tailfeathers. If you lose (or gain - I lost my left gasket @ almost full fuel) a bunch of gas all at once, find a place to land ASAP and get out the duct tape.
Keeping one eye on the hour meter, I trust my gauge. I pretty regularly work it with a couple gallons in each wing - when you can't make the gauge bounce it's time to land.
My only real scary experience with the 2x13 setup was when I lost a gasket on one cap - the pressure vent pumps the good tank into the bad one, then out over the tailfeathers. If you lose (or gain - I lost my left gasket @ almost full fuel) a bunch of gas all at once, find a place to land ASAP and get out the duct tape.
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mike newall
- Posts: 247
- Joined: Thu Nov 18, 2004 06:32
- Location: UK
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Duct tape don't work !
Left one Citabria cap off once, noticed when I went to fill up, thought I would duct tape it. Used loads, wound round and round.
Half way back I had a nice plume of gas venting out the tank - lost about 10 gallons in 20 minutes.
And that is 10 gallons at $10 a gallon over here in England !
Left one Citabria cap off once, noticed when I went to fill up, thought I would duct tape it. Used loads, wound round and round.
Half way back I had a nice plume of gas venting out the tank - lost about 10 gallons in 20 minutes.
And that is 10 gallons at $10 a gallon over here in England !
Mike, Mike, Mike....
There are few things that can't be done with duct tape. Those things (like, say, bent struts or busted spars) are better left to trapping wire and spruce poles (covered in duct tape, of course). Everything else can - should, perhaps - be done with duct tape.
I was a couple hundred miles from the nearest parts store or mechanic when my gasket let go. I flew her around for a few days using duct tape as the cap before I found someone with a chunk of cork gasket (which I HAPPILY paid $20 for). The tape works just fine, although it does turn into a sticky mess overnight.
Avgas was around $7/gallon out west last year. I didn't make it out there this year, but I doubt that much has changed. And it's a long way between gas pumps. I was 2 1/2 hours from the nearest pump when I figured out that I was rapidly heading for 2 hours of fuel aboard. Save me, Bushwheels!
Stop by if you ever get to AK. Come for the duct tape, stay for the blue tarps....
There are few things that can't be done with duct tape. Those things (like, say, bent struts or busted spars) are better left to trapping wire and spruce poles (covered in duct tape, of course). Everything else can - should, perhaps - be done with duct tape.
I was a couple hundred miles from the nearest parts store or mechanic when my gasket let go. I flew her around for a few days using duct tape as the cap before I found someone with a chunk of cork gasket (which I HAPPILY paid $20 for). The tape works just fine, although it does turn into a sticky mess overnight.
Avgas was around $7/gallon out west last year. I didn't make it out there this year, but I doubt that much has changed. And it's a long way between gas pumps. I was 2 1/2 hours from the nearest pump when I figured out that I was rapidly heading for 2 hours of fuel aboard. Save me, Bushwheels!
Stop by if you ever get to AK. Come for the duct tape, stay for the blue tarps....
Man...
Man, those wings are sure pretty. Look like new. Great job. Probably will last another 60 years..
Mike
Mike
Thanks for compliments guys. Very time consuming, easier to build new that rebuild old! Story on damage is typical old airplane log--sketchy! Says RT leading edge repair and installed servicable RT gear assy. Who knows, probably flew it into a house! Fuselage will get same treatment as wings, hope to have in air in about a year. Thanks Joe for posting photos on board! Not too swift with uploading, just used photobucket cause it seemed easy.
Just to clarify, If I burn 6 gal/hr, top tanks, fly 2 hrs, I should have 7 gal a side? It always burns down equal,yes? Must have trust with only one gauge.
Just to clarify, If I burn 6 gal/hr, top tanks, fly 2 hrs, I should have 7 gal a side? It always burns down equal,yes? Must have trust with only one gauge.
12: mine does burn evenly. My gauge is not all that accurate, but it is precise. When it says I'm full, I'm full. When it says half, I have a bit over half. When the 0 goes out of sight, I land. I assume they're all slightly different. I sure wouldn't trust a new/different one without some experimenting. I'd never trust any gauge completely - I keep an eye on the tach time to make sure they jive. As I mentioned, a leak (presumably anywhere) in the system will cause the tanks to get uneven. In my limited experience, when the tanks aren't even they get VERY not even VERY quickly and you'll notice.
How did you like the Rainbow spars? I was a bit disappointed in mine - I bought them because I assumed they would be PERFECT. They were certainly serviceable, but I think I could have done just as well by building them myself.
How did you like the Rainbow spars? I was a bit disappointed in mine - I bought them because I assumed they would be PERFECT. They were certainly serviceable, but I think I could have done just as well by building them myself.
Dusty,
Thanks for info. Yeah, I have never trusted fuel gauges in anything. Usually if you have a tank you have a way to indicate quantity. Even with 5 gal wing you can watch main tank quantity increase as verification. Just a little unusual. I am planning a bunch of tests when I get her going just to be sure.
I heard all the Rainbow horror stories, mine were perfect, you can see a little bit from the photos that they are nice. Worst part was truck freight, took 3 sets until I got a good set. What a insurance scam, total carelessness! Heard good things about AC, Wag and Millman though. Just personal preference I guess. Metal seems a little overkill in a 90hp Champ! Spar AD started with higher horse, longer wing Scout and or completley maintenace neglected airplanes. If mine didn't even need to be welded together, I am not too worried about the spars!! LOL...
Thanks for info. Yeah, I have never trusted fuel gauges in anything. Usually if you have a tank you have a way to indicate quantity. Even with 5 gal wing you can watch main tank quantity increase as verification. Just a little unusual. I am planning a bunch of tests when I get her going just to be sure.
I heard all the Rainbow horror stories, mine were perfect, you can see a little bit from the photos that they are nice. Worst part was truck freight, took 3 sets until I got a good set. What a insurance scam, total carelessness! Heard good things about AC, Wag and Millman though. Just personal preference I guess. Metal seems a little overkill in a 90hp Champ! Spar AD started with higher horse, longer wing Scout and or completley maintenace neglected airplanes. If mine didn't even need to be welded together, I am not too worried about the spars!! LOL...
Interesting about the shipping - mine ONLY took two tries to get to AK!
Agreed with the tank setup being kind of goofy. I prefer the Piper style, but the dual 13s do work OK - and you'll never "run out" of gas with one full tank!
I've no experience with the metal spars, but they LOOK cobbled together - there are about 19000 little plywood spacers floating around in there. I have the AD (115HP), and it's a non-issue. I think it only gets scary when a spam-can mechanic gets paranoid. Going back with wood was an easy choice for me.
You might consider the topside inspection covers (from Rainbow) - they're handy to have if you ever need to look at your spars, even if they aren't required on your plane. They're easy to put in while you're covering - not so much after the cover - and they don't cause any problems or weigh much of anything.
Agreed with the tank setup being kind of goofy. I prefer the Piper style, but the dual 13s do work OK - and you'll never "run out" of gas with one full tank!
I've no experience with the metal spars, but they LOOK cobbled together - there are about 19000 little plywood spacers floating around in there. I have the AD (115HP), and it's a non-issue. I think it only gets scary when a spam-can mechanic gets paranoid. Going back with wood was an easy choice for me.
You might consider the topside inspection covers (from Rainbow) - they're handy to have if you ever need to look at your spars, even if they aren't required on your plane. They're easy to put in while you're covering - not so much after the cover - and they don't cause any problems or weigh much of anything.