Vario purchased!

An LxNav S3 is now in the mail.  It is a mechanical needle and not the latest tech (S10 or similar), but it is only a total energy pressure input, which will be insensitive to just how slowly the Goat flies, rather than an airspeed pressure sensor set up for glass ships.  Airspeed pressure scales poorly for the low-speed range, but total energy is close to static and it is the same pressure sensor for fast and slow-speed sailplanes.  The S3 is also self-contained with a speaker, so I just need to add power and (desired) connect to a total energy probe.  Static pressure will be close enough to total energy for my purposes, so this will also functionally serve as an altimeter.

And an ICOM A13 is also in the mail.  This is the "don't hit me" radio and should have been the first radio purchase anyway.

Navigation will be easy enough with a phone app.  There is no way I'll range away from beyond sight of the airfield for now, so the phone will be plenty sufficient.  And I already have the phone...

To-do's before the first flight are now:

1. do a weight & balance
2. do a very thorough pre-flight check
3. airband radio 
4. variometer 
5. finish weld trailer frame joints

Deferred:

• wing root kiss seal
• leather patch on wing tips where they rub the ground
• leather patch guides for elevator control lines
• trim color paint
• main strut fairings
• jury strut fairings
  
• emergency parachute
  
• drogue chute

 

Radios purchased

In trying to keep moving, I finally bought some radios for airplane / truck communications.  They are some inexpensive GMRS handsets to stay off of airband.  This may not be the final answer, but that's a starting point for having a conversation about a first flight.

Not many items are left in the to-do list... 

To-do's before the first flight are now:

1. do a weight & balance
2. do a very thorough pre-flight check
3. acquire radios (need 1x in car, 1x airborne)

Deferred:

• finish weld trailer frame joints
• wing root kiss seal
• leather patch on wing tips where they rub the ground
• leather patch guides for elevator control lines
• trim color paint
• main strut fairings
• jury strut fairings
  
• emergency parachute
  
• drogue chute
• variometer

Random welding side-project for a friend

Nothing Goat related, but I had a chance to weld some 316 stainless steel brackets for a friend.  The welds are grey (too much heat, not enough post-flow time), but they are stuck together.  Hopefully this works out for his boat.  Welding steel is so much easier than aluminum.

 

 

Upper rail welding done

The fall weather was excellent and Saturday is a day for welding.  This was a to clear an item from the to-do list.  The upper rail joints looked like this one, only partially welded.

My best joint was probably this one, which looks almost respectable.  The others aren't nearly as photogenic.

To-do's before the first flight are now:

1. finish weld the upper rail to the vertical supports
2. do a weight & balance
3. do a very thorough pre-flight check
4. acquire radios (need 1x in car, 1x airborne)

Deferred:

• finish weld trailer frame joints
• wing root kiss seal
• leather patch on wing tips where they rub the ground
• leather patch guides for elevator control lines
• trim color paint
• main strut fairings
• jury strut fairings
  
• emergency parachute
  
• drogue chute
• variometer

 

Mobility!

The entirety of Goat has been mobile for the first time!  The wing were strapped into the trailer with ratchet straps, and the struts and tail were strapped to the cross-beams with Velcro.  The horizontal tail sat atop the upper wing and jammed in-between the wing and flap/ailerons.  

 

The nose section was in the back of the sporty Prius-mobile.

With the tail section 'backwards' to the airflow, the rudder looked a bit wiggly at 45mph.  I'm sure there will be a better placement for each of the components, determined from some trial-and-error.  

The trailer rode reasonably well with the weight of the plywood and the stiffness of fully trussing the structure.  I could probably get away with the current welding, but it would make me feel much better to weld everything completely.

The upper wing mounts could be about 1in higher and still leave ample room.  The 1in square tube isn't quite large enough for the hitch pins to hold securely, so it would be nice to replace them with 1.25in square tube instead, and moving them up at the same time.

To-do's before the first flight are now:

1. take all of Goat for its first trip around the neighborhood 
2. finish weld the upper rail to the vertical supports
3. finish weld all the trailer joints
4. do a weight & balance
5. do a very thorough pre-flight check
6. acquire radios (need 1x in car, 1x airborne)

Deferred:

• wing root kiss seal
• leather patch on wing tips where they rub the ground
• leather patch guides for elevator control lines
• trim color paint
• main strut fairings
• jury strut fairings
  
• emergency parachute
  
• drogue chute
• variometer

A mount for the lower wing, installed

The lower wing mounting system is now installed and a wing panel seems to be reasonably okay on it.  It will need some tweaking over time, but I can move the mounts with a simple 1/4-in drill bit.  It really would be nicer if the ailerons folded flat (my fault, not the drawings)...

This is how the lower mount looks with a wing panel installed in the trailer.

The lower wing panel is well secured by three Velcro straps and is constrained by the cross-braces for the upper wing.

The lower mount bar has a long end for wrapping the strap around.  I made the upper and lower beams interchangeable, hence the extra hole visible.

To-do's before the first flight are now:

1. install lower wing mounts into trailer
2. finish weld the upper rail to the vertical supports
3. finish weld all the trailer joints
4. take all of Goat for its first trip around the neighborhood 
5. do a weight & balance
6. do a very thorough pre-flight check
7. acquire radios (need 1x in car, 1x airborne)

Deferred:

• wing root kiss seal
• leather patch on wing tips where they rub the ground
• leather patch guides for elevator control lines
• trim color paint
• main strut fairings
• jury strut fairings
  
• emergency parachute
  
• drogue chute
• variometer

A mount for the lower wing, parts

 

After a break that included travel to a crazy hot desert, crazy far north, and beautiful Vermont, I had a idea for a mounting system for the lower wing in the trailer.

On a rainy Saturday evening, a quick trip to the giant orange home store for aluminum square tube (oh so expensive) sets me up with some material.

I'm planning to run a long bolt through just the wood deck, so there is no drilling through the aluminum frame.  This is what it'll look like:

I'm ready for daylight to try mounting this to the trailer.

I also made it out to get more Argon for the remaining trailer welding, so that's also in the work queue.

To-do's before the first flight are now:

1. install lower wing mounts into trailer
2. finish weld the upper rail to the vertical supports
3. finish weld the trailer frame joints
4. take all of Goat for its first trip around the neighborhood 
5. do a weight & balance
6. do a very thorough pre-flight check
7. acquire radios (need 1x in car, 1x airborne)

Deferred:

• wing root kiss seal
• leather patch on wing tips where they rub the ground
• leather patch guides for elevator control lines
• trim color paint
• main strut fairings
• jury strut fairings
  
• emergency parachute
  
• drogue chute
• variometer