Experimenter is a magazine created by EAA for people who build airplanes. We will report on amateur-built aircraft as well as ultralights and other light aircraft.
Issue link: http://experimenter.epubxp.com/i/113663
side curves as well," he explained, "and anytime you're doing fabric work around an inside curve, there's a lot of snipping or heat shrinking of the fabric before you glue it down. The whole airplane is fabric covered with the Poly-Fiber process and finished in Poly-Tone, including the wood-skinned wings." The elliptical wings can quickly and easily be folded aft, and the streamlined wing struts neatly conform to the contoured side of the fuselage. First, the turtle deck section must be removed, via quick-release cam locks (since the flaps fold into that area), and then the front spar pins are disengaged. The push-pull ailerons automatically disconnect when the wings are folded aft and connect when the wings are pinned into flying position. (The cable-operated flaps do not disconnect during wing folding.) Te wooden interior being installed inside the steel tube fuselage. Landing Gear The project already had a Scott tail wheel and large 8.5 by 6 main tires, which Christiansen retained—though the 6-inch wheels would allow him to easily swap the mains for smaller tires. The steel tube landing gear legs are neatly finished to an airfoil shape with fairings (as are the wing struts). Each gear fairing was initially two long fiberglass strips, which Scott carefully glued to the front and back of the gear legs. "Dean designed everything about this airplane for good forward speed," Scott said, "without having to use a lot of horsepower." Fire, Fuel, and Prop Instead of a 150-hp engine like the prototype, this project included a 180-hp Lycoming. Each wing tank holds 18 gallons and feeds a 4.5-gallon header tank, and Scott felt that the 41-gallon total capacity would be adequate for any increased fuel consumption. He decided to install a constant-speed prop, which was an approved combination of prop and engine, so he only had 25 hours of flight-test time instead of the typical 40 hours. Scott said, "It's a Hartzell prop with a scimitar blade, which has the same tapered, curved shape as the wings, so it was just a beautiful match for this airplane." Te plywood-skinned wings required a lot of sanding and shaping. The constant-speed prop required the installation of a prop governor on the engine, and Scott also made a custom prop governor line with a tube bender and stainlesssteel tubing, thus ensuring clearance of the dynafocal mount that is unique to this Ellipse and engine. Scott was concerned about the clearance between the cowling and the spinner, but a 1/8-inch spacer solved the problem. He also worked carefully to ensure that the Great care was taken to ensure a precision ft of the bafing. Photography by Jim Raeder and courtesy Scott Christiansen EAA Experimenter 23