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/90184
material, they are traditional spruce trusses. "I'd had a lot of practice build- ing those kinds of ribs for the Acro Sport, so they went pretty fast," said Mike. "However, I basically doubled up on the ribs the way a lot of aero- batic guys do in their clipped Cubs. Everywhere there was a nose rib, I gave that station a full-length rib. It strengthens the fabric during aerobatics and lessens the possibility of broken ribs. At the same time, I went to a heavier leading edge that won't dent as easy as Cubs usually do. It was a bear to bend, but well worth the effort." Adding the Wings As accurately as Mike built his fuselage, when hang- ing wings, there's always an opportunity to introduce mistakes or corrections, but Mike has a method that produces precision wing alignment every time. "I drill and mount the front fi tting," he explained, "then I move the wingtips and get the tip-to-tail measurement as close as possible, then drill the rear fi tting. I got this one within 1/32 of an inch total. It always lets me match the angle of incidence left-to-right exactly so the airplane is really square and you can really tell it, when fl ying it." Next to naming babies and picking spouses, deciding on a paint scheme can be the most diffi cult decision in most homebuilders' lives. Not so Mike and his Cub. "This air- plane has been rattling around my brain for most of my life," he said, "and not for a second was the image of it anything but yellow. How could it be anything else? I used AirTech Coatings throughout over Ceconite, which meant it had to go on slick because I couldn't sand and buff it. At fi rst I had problems with orange peel, but I fi gured it out in the end." The pointy end of the airplane no longer has A-65 cylin- ders peeking out. As befi tting its aerobatic status, Mike's Cub is powered by a C-90-8F, which is the lightest engine in its class. And since Mike built it himself, it's also one of the least expensive. "I put a 72-by-46 wooden Sensenich on it because it's so pretty," said Mike. "But after this trip to Oshkosh, I won't go on long trips with the airplane. A metal prop is measurably faster." How Much? It's common to ask how much a builder has invested in his airplane, but it's seldom we get an answer like Mike's. "From beginning to end, which was 10 years of off/on building, it cost just a hair over $19,000," he said. "We don't think that's bad at all." Neither do we! It's also common to ask a builder what his plans are for his airplane, and Mike's answer is classic. He said, "My plans are to fly the wings off this airplane and grow old with it. This is a keeper, and I expect the next two or three generations of Finneys will enjoy it as much as Sherry and I do." What a grand thing to leave as a legacy. Here's a video of Mike Finney discussing his award-winning Cub, and a photo gallery showing construction details. Budd Davisson is an aeronautical engineer, has fl own more than 300 different aircraft types, and published four books and more than 4,000 articles. He is editor-in-chief of Flight Journal magazine and a fl ight instructor primarily in Pitts/tailwheel aircraft. Visit him at www.Airbum.com. EAA EXPERIMENTER 19