ETLB Squawk Forums — Archive

A little over two months ago my AirBike was upside down on my home airfield following a broken wheel socket which caused the wheel to separate from the plane. Another case of "Loose wheel (Lucille) you picked a fine time to leave me."

Since then, active repair of my little warbird has been underway. The following photos will show some of the repair and upgrades. As of June 2nd, I trailered the repaired fuselage to the hangar where it will rejoin its wings within the next few days.

The fuselage has been straightened and re-welded where necessary by a local A & P repair shop. The fuselage fabric has been repaired where it was pulled away from the joints for rewelding. The new paint does not match the old but this plane ain't no hangar queen.

The engine cowl was reinforced with fiberglass on the inside and repainted. Original wheel barrow wheels and tires replaced the salvaged Rans wheels and tires that had been on the plane. New industrial bearings replaced the original wheel barrow bearings. These wheels permitted the installation of cable operated disk brakes operated independently by toe brake pedals. They also have wheel covers painted with a star on a field of blue.

A new windshield was cut from .06" polycarbonate and fitted to the fuselage and metal dash cover. The original sheet metal intake ductwork was replaced with George's SuperCowl. A new and different tail light strobe replaced the original broken one.

The diagonal overload springs and cables were upgraded with new cables and turnbuckles that allow for some adjustment. The parachute has had its annual repack and my plane will soon be through with its Annual Condition Inspection.

The broken outside wing nose rib bay has been repaired, and painted. Again the new paint in the can doesn't match the 17-year old weathered paint on the plane. Photo below shows primer.

The AirBike was then hauled to the hangar on a trailer.

I hope to be airborne by mid-June. Those Huns have been harassing the aerodrome without mercy. We must make them back off! We have two new defenders, both flying Weedhoppers, their support is definitely needed. They are Chris Duncan and Christi McCormack.

Paul Fiebich

a.k.a. AirBike Ace

And here are a couple more photos

Paul Fiebich

Somehow in that last post I included a duplicate photo instead of the one I wanted. This photo shows the reinforced socket that joins the wheel axle and the gear leg. The initial photo in this thread shows the socket before adding the reinforcing strap. This strap was welded in place, same was done for both wheel sockets.

Paul Fiebich

PS Sorry, but I don't know how to delete the duplicate photo, edit tab doesn't offer that option.

Great pictures! and good work of course.
Make sure the reinforcement doesn't turn into a water or moisture trap that will speed up rusting the metal.

Thanks for your observation and concern Ricardo, the strap has been welded all around so it has become an integral part of the original weldment. Also, both the socket and gear leg were well greased before assembly, that practice in the past has prevented rusting between those two parts.

The fuselage has been in the hangar for two days waiting for its wings to be installed. It is a three person job (two can do it but three is better) and so far I have been unable to get three of us together at the same time to do this. Maybe this weekend, I sure hope so. I busted my butt to get the plane repaired and now it just sits there with nothing being done. It adds to the frustration!

I hope you are getting in plenty of air time with your bird.

Paul Fiebich

Paul , Great job !  

Yes well said...Im with you Peter...

Question:

I see you have an intake silencer.  (a)Does it help a lot with engine noise,  and(b) how does it affect your HP and carb jetting?

Looks nice, but I must have missed the picture of the afterburner. Got to have high performance to whip those Hun's. Hope you are back in the air soon.

Ace, regrading your question about the intake silencer. Somewhere I read that the intake silencer takes away about 1 HP from the engine. In my opinion, that is a small price to pay for about a 10db reduction in engine noise, it even changes the "note." It sounds different than one without a silencer.  

And yes, it does affect the carb jetting. According to the Rotax manul different jets are used. On my Rotax 503 DCDI with silencer the Main Jet is 148, the Idler Jet is 45, Needle Jet is 2.68, and Jet Needle is 11K--position 2, Air Screw is 2 turns out. Adjustments to these numbers need be made for flight altitude. Full information and charts can be obtained from Leading Edge AirFoils.

And thanks or your support Gary and Arthur, I hope to be flying within a week. The wings and struts are now on, wiring is complete. Next the ailerons will be installed and the center wing fairing strip. A few other little things will need to be done before taxi and then flying tests.

Thanks or your interest.

Paul Fiebich

Low speed taxi tests were performed at noon today, everything went well. Engine ran up nicely, controls are free and functional. Disk brakes are not as effective as the drum brakes but their real value is for stopping when taxiing into a parking place and shortening the turning radius. A swiveling tail wheel would make things even better.

This evening near sunset I hope to make my high speed taxi tests then flight tests. Will likely stay in the pattern and make a number of touch 'n goes and full stop landings to get the feel of things again. It has been a bit over two months since I flew.

Paul Fiebich

That was a fast recovery of your Airbike Paul and two months grounded do absolutely nothing on your flying skills.
Is time to feel the air on your knees again!

I notice that the new socket is square on top as opposed to chamfered (is that the word for sloped?) to spread the stress on the gear leg.
Perhaps I misunderstood that part of the discussion in the thread about the original Hun attack, or maybe the provider of the socket does not consider that an issue. Just wondering.

I guess the shape of the end of the gear leg inside the socket would be more critical to the stress on the socket. It really doesn't matter now.

Love those toe brakes. Do you think that would work with drum brakes? I think I could construct the brake pedal and reroute the brake cables if they would work with drum brakes.

I'm really surprised that you're back in the saddle so quickly. Good work - looks good.

Can you tell me a bit more about the brake installation?  this appears to allow for differential braking with a standard "Toe point" style pedal, very nice.  I am wondering about retrofit to my Aero-max.

Hi Pirate, I will post information about my toe brake set-up in a few days or sooner. I will start another  thread. Look for it.

Paul Fiebich