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/96284
builder should see this as a 3 to 4.5 scale of difficulty. I can't think of an easier first-airplane project. Or a less expensive one." A casual perusal of the plans shows that Don also drew up the plans with the first-timer in mind because no interpretation is needed to figure out how everything goes together. Plus, an outstanding cutaway is available that shows the relationship of all the parts to one another. "The plans are well drawn and very self-explanatory," Bill said. "A little studying and there would be no reason to contact the designer. They are that understandable. This really is an airplane anyone at any skill level can build. Same thing with flying it: It's very docile and Champ-like, so piloting skill required is also minimal." Landing shocks are absorbed by stacks of rubber wafers or Chevy motor mounts. Bill thinks so much of the airplane that he makes himself available to answer building questions and will custombuild components, if needed (capaviation1@rogers.com). A note should be made here concerning the use of the term "simple." There is a definite difference between "simple" and "crude." Simple means a lack of complexity. It means designing and engineering something so the job gets done with the smallest number of parts possible and making certain that each of those parts is, itself, easy to make. And that is the design philosophy behind the Headwind: Every single part of the airplane could be made with a hacksaw and files, if need be (except the axles). In theory, the entire airplane could be made with hand tools. In fact, it could be done without power tools, if you don't mind drilling a few holes in metal by hand. Now there is a worthwhile challenge: Prove that you can build an airplane without power tools! Of course, there's no reason to. Te cockpit can be built to ft almost any size pilot. Te door can be eliminated. Don said he built the prototype in five months using nothing but a hacksaw and a powered hand drill. He continued, "You start the fuselage by laying out the bottom truss, which forms the bottom of the triangle. You bolt that to a firm table and lift the tail end of it up to the right height, as indicated on the plans, bending the longerons in the process. Then you build some simple wooden jigging that locates the tail post and top longeron. Everything sort of 'hangs' from that. "One approach is to make three plywood patterns and stand them up on the worktable. The first establishes the firewall station, and you build the forward fuselage station and motor mount, which is part of the fuselage, to that. The second locates the front end of the top longeron and the main wing and landing gear fittings, and the third plywood station establishes the back of the Headwind builders consider simplicity to be more important than streamlining. EAA EXPERIM ENTER 17