Welcome to a work in progress

This blog is dedicated to the restoration and modification of a Glasflügel Standard Libelle H201B, and a tribute to those who have dared to do the same, and to those who are helping with seeing this dream take flight.

Thursday, May 15, 2014

I can't seem to keep anything nice for more than 30 minutes

We are two weeks past the deadline I was hoping we would have met for first flight, but one thing after another has hampered the finishing progress.


We finally got the glider together and started the weights and balances.
 

Fully loaded, we are within limits  but we need to reweigh it with me in it. The tail seems too heavy and the flight CG is still a couple of inches to far aft of the safe limit datum. Then comes the fun. When we worked on the adjusting the travel. there was a bit of confusion on the setting of the travel on the ailerons. but after three hours of deliberation, we got it set.


Next, we started to take the wings off, but forgot we were not on the dolly, and after starting
the removal of the left wing, the fuselage started to slip out from under me, which I caught before falling over and hitting the horizontal. But not after the wing chipped the paint on the top of the fairing. Joseph got pissed on that one.. but he really threw in the towel after the FUBAR with the horizontal.


So after that drama, we tried to adjust the travel of the elevator, only to find that the elevator bracket was hanging up on the back of the notch in the tail.

The movement was hindered to stop up at about 10 degrees. We discovered that my aircraft has been flying with reduced elevator control since 1976. The elevator travel on a 201B is 18 degrees +/-1 degree in both directions (up/down) The travel down was 18'ish, up motion stopped at about 10 degrees. The problem is that the back of the vertical wall on the horizontal insert did not allow the travel.

After looking at photos of the original control horn, looked thinner at the riveted sleeve in the center. It looks like my original control horn was sent to Streifeneder to have the welded supports added, and
Streifeneder sent them a new one which was designed bulkier for the newer Libelles manufactured after 1975.


Now after scrapping the inside of the horizontal stabilizer shelf, and building up the inside.. now it works. And more paint patchup. I now have to keep sharp objects away from Joseph
This weekend, we will button up the control bolts, and get another set of weights and balances with me in it... I hope this weekend goes better than the last.