Restoration of ZS-UAD, Tipsy Nipper T66 mk 1

Tipsy Flyer · Postby **Tipsy Flyer** » Mon Aug 10, 2009 4:43 pm

Hi Neil,
Thanks for the kind words, much appreciated Very Happy

I have been thinking along the same line with respect to making new link rods with proper ends. If i may bug you, have you got a photo/drawing anything for me to "see" what to start collecting.
Pleased to hear that you are progressing with the engine. Please keep me posted with the building of the new cowling as i will be doing much the same soon!
Neil, my canopy is in very good condition and is mounted onto an original Nipper canopy frame.
Please check the photo below, i'm looking for 4 (four) of these. The shaft lenght is 41mm and
the elevator is the only place this lenght is used, thanks !

: Shaft is 41mm long.JPG (40.79 KiB) Viewed 21302 times

Tipsy Flyer · Postby **Tipsy Flyer** » Sat Sep 05, 2009 5:20 pm

The past weekend was spent at Bethlehem attending the National EAA flyin coupled with the Bethlehem airshow. Made contact with the guy's from Kits planes who have the means to weld my airframe and they supply a widely used locally manufactured version of polyfibre/ceconite at an affordable price.
I have been busy with lots of small items ie removing old paint and repriming. Today i made a jig to be used to align the new engine lugs/mounts when the welding takes place.

: Engine mount jig.JPG (28.65 KiB) Viewed 21109 times

Tipsy Flyer · Postby **Tipsy Flyer** » Sun Sep 27, 2009 6:18 pm

Hi all,
Firstly, i would like to thank Dave S for contacting Harry icw the engine mount drawing and thanks to Harry who kindly made a nice copy and posted it to me.......thanks gentleman!!!
Secondly, i am on annual leave for three weeks, needed it badly Very Happy

I will be using the time to complete the fuselage repairs and mods as i will have to travel to get the welding done etc!
I sourced the correct grade steel which includes tubing and flat sheet, so... no more excuses.
Firstly i made the engine mount profile out of aluminium and would use this as the reference point to churn out 4 mounts that are exactly the same as this is critical to the alignment.
Made a small flat sheet profile bender to bend the flat pieces to the correct angle. I heated the steel to cherry red and bent the steel over the profile and only buggered up one piece luckly Shocked

I carefully cut and filed the front and rear pieces to fit 100% and cut four pieces of 1/2 inch tubing . I had to ream the through tubing a fraction as i need to pass a 10mm bolt through as the engine bolts are metric (10mm)
I cut 8 pieces of 2.5mm steel and turned 8 washes that fit on the front and rear of the mounting, luckly i have a lathe Very Happy

I have started profiling the bent steel pieces to fit over the horisontal front tubes. This is very critical stage as there is no room for errors now, otherwise the engine will simply not fit squarely and align properly.
I intend to spot weld the pieces together to test the alignment before permanent welding takes place. Pic's of two days work!!

: Ali profile.JPG (32.39 KiB) Viewed 20898 times

: Home made bend profile.JPG (45.52 KiB) Viewed 20997 times

: Engine mount kit.JPG (39.09 KiB) Viewed 20963 times

: Engine mount temp assembly.JPG (33.24 KiB) Viewed 20885 times

: Engine mount temp assembly 1.JPG (34.35 KiB) Viewed 20922 times

Tipsy Flyer · Postby **Tipsy Flyer** » Sun Sep 27, 2009 6:30 pm

Time honoured method of creating 1/2 a hole Shocked

: How to create half a hole.JPG (46.91 KiB) Viewed 20928 times

: Pacman !!.JPG (42.13 KiB) Viewed 20888 times

: Toothless pacman.JPG (46.99 KiB) Viewed 20884 times

Will finely "tune" the 1/2 hole by hand file tomorrow!

G-ARBG · Postby **G-ARBG** » Sun Sep 27, 2009 6:42 pm

Glen,

Only to pleased to help. I never cease to be impressed with your resourcefulness and capability.

Dave S. (G-ARBG)

Tipsy Flyer · Postby **Tipsy Flyer** » Mon Sep 28, 2009 5:47 pm

Todays effort consisted of hand filing the mounts to suit the tube profile and to align the engine block perfectly with the front of the fuselage. I quickly built a engine "stand" that can be finely adjusted up and down plus forward and rearwards, so to achieve correct alignment, i turn the fine threaded adjusters a wee bit and it is surprising accurate. The front of this fuse is not 100% square but i have managed to get the engine block with in .020 thou , in respect of the mounts.
Tomorrow i will cut out the two diagonal tubes (mk1) that run from the cluster weld at the wing mounts forwards to the middle of the top front cross tube and will fashion three new tube as per the drawings for the MK111
Hi Dave S,
Thanks for the kind words.
All the small devices i make to get the job done are embarrassingly crude and are slapped together from " scrap". I plan to pass these things onto Dave Taylor if he needs them.

: engine mount.JPG (35.6 KiB) Viewed 20882 times

: engine mount 1.JPG (40.39 KiB) Viewed 20867 times

: Temp engine alignment stand.JPG (64.25 KiB) Viewed 21032 times

: Temp engine alignment stand 2.JPG (58.64 KiB) Viewed 20855 times

Tipsy Flyer · Postby **Tipsy Flyer** » Tue Sep 29, 2009 5:51 pm

Today's effort considered of cutting out the two top tubes (MK 1) and started shaping the new tube ends. I battled for hours to shape only two ends but seemed to have had reasonable success in the end. The aim was to achive a very close fit between the new tubes and the existing structure.

: going.....going.JPG (60.51 KiB) Viewed 20819 times

: Gone!!!.JPG (29.79 KiB) Viewed 20796 times

: Gone,.JPG (36.49 KiB) Viewed 20817 times

: New tubes.JPG (27.48 KiB) Viewed 20808 times

: New tubes 1.JPG (33.3 KiB) Viewed 20786 times

Tipsy Flyer · Postby **Tipsy Flyer** » Wed Sep 30, 2009 5:11 pm

Today's effort considered of firstly, sweep and tidy the workshop. Shocked

Secondly, started with the bracing tubes that meet at the rear of the new engine mounts.
Had to been extra careful here. one wrong more and the tubes turn to scrap if shortened to much.......no room for error Shocked

Have been chatting to Neil via email and i think i will take his good advise and do the seat mod together with all of the above. I'm only 182cm tall and my knee's where always jammed under the spar while flying. Laughing

: Mount support tubes 1.JPG (28.3 KiB) Viewed 20812 times

: Mount support tubes 4.JPG (27.75 KiB) Viewed 20814 times

: Mount support tubes3.JPG (48.78 KiB) Viewed 20807 times

Tipsy Flyer · Postby **Tipsy Flyer** » Fri Oct 02, 2009 5:18 pm

The original firewall was a mass of hole surrounded by rather crinkly metal, so i made a new firewall (years ago). At that time, i throught my new firewall was well made but now the stakes have been upped and this f/w has been retired Very Happy

Now, the problem with the Nippers f/w is the top and bottom have a lovely even curve........how do's one duplicate this curve with simple tools ??
Oviously, the original f/w's were pressed out using a mould of some sort....easy, but i do not have that mould, so i decided to use the fluting method to form even well made and stong curves for the top and bottom of my new firewall. I will then spot weld the curved pieces onto the flat pieces.
Any input would be welcomed to improve/change etc this idea Very Happy

: Home made fluting pliers.JPG (44.18 KiB) Viewed 20918 times

: One instant flute.JPG (31.92 KiB) Viewed 20770 times

: Placement of pliers.JPG (23.33 KiB) Viewed 20772 times

: Demo using a piece of cardboard.JPG (37.54 KiB) Viewed 20758 times

: Stronger and nicer curve.JPG (29.15 KiB) Viewed 20757 times

G-ARBG · Postby **G-ARBG** » Sat Oct 03, 2009 11:53 am

Glen,

Good idea but how do you achieve the 0-10deg change in angle of the flange at the top to fit the tank profile if you are using pre-bent angle?

The tooling I have seen was simply a hardwood template over which the flange was beaten. Have you got a drawing of the firewall? It is A3 size so can only be scanned in sections.

R.

david G-ARBG

Neil Spooner · Postby **Neil Spooner** » Sat Oct 03, 2009 1:57 pm

Hi Glen,
It is looking really good. Very Happy

As far as making a new firewall goes, if you make a former from MDF, then use polyester resin to treat the edge that you will be working on you should be able to beat it into the shape you need.
I have posted some photos of my Nipper for your consideration........the only fatal accident in a Nipper (to my knowledge) was due to head injuries after a forced landing went bad and the a/c inverted. With this in mind I added a second diagonal brace and an inner hoop to the first turtle deck support. I know about the weight penalty, but I felt it prudent. Having ended up inverted after my engine failure, although I didn't need it I feel the decision to have it valididated. Shocked

Another idea to consider, is what to do with the area behind the seat. Although the use of it is only for extremely light things due to W&B, it finishes the interior of the fuselage nicely. I have a latched small cubby box for fuel tester or tools just behind the seat. I have also attached my shoulder harness to the cross tube, as it works much better there for inverted work, and worked well during my deceleration (if that what you call it!) on my forced landing. The straps did break the top of the seat back, but I came no-where near the instrument panel. What I am leading up to, is that while you are welding it is an opportunity to install the 4130 tabs to fix the wooden panels to.....if you go this route, dont forget the tabs on the hoop also. It is worth brazing some captive nuts to the back of the tabs to make the fitting of the panels simple.

Neil

Tipsy Flyer · Postby **Tipsy Flyer** » Sat Oct 03, 2009 9:31 pm

Hi Dave,
I used a short lenght of sheet bent to maybe 80 degrees and fluted the one side. I'm not sure what will happen over a longed distance needed to form the top and botom piece.
Thanks for the offer of a drawing but the f/w i made years ago is a copy of the original....so i can use it as a template. I generally use corrigated cardboard to make templates as one can lightly sand the edges to get a perfect match. Neil has also suggested i make a hard wood template to form a new f/w.
Dave, i assume the f/w's are mild steel as my original was. What thickness would you use if you had to make a new f/w, i was thinking of 0.5mm / 020in to save weight.

Hi Neil,
Thanks for the photo's, i think the extra brace is a good idea and will include it now.
When you say you attached your shoulder straps, i assume you moved the attachment points to the top cross tube, they where originally at the bottom ?
I have sheets of lovely birch ply that i can use to make a similar "parcel tray", if you don't mind me copying your ideas Very Happy

Thanks for the replies.
Regards
Glen

Neil Spooner · Postby **Neil Spooner** » Sun Oct 04, 2009 8:22 am

Hi Glen,
You are more than welcome to use the same ideas.
The parcel shelf wood I used was extremely light, and I fancy the whole lot weighed less then a leather "curtain", and a whole lot easier to fabricate. The cubby box was made by using a razor saw to cut out the lid (so the wood matched) and making some hinge pins from brazing rod. The latch bolt I fabricated. The "bag" in the cubby box is made from sail material, very light and strong. The floor of the cubby box has a piece of balsa wood in it.
I did originally have my aerial fitted to the alloy ground plane you can see in the belly, but I got too much interference from the strobes and had to move it to the alloy turtle deck in front of the fin.
If you have a look just behind the ground plane you will see a rectangular tube set-up to support the battery. I had a battery box fitted to them, but moved the batteries to the firewall after my spin to move the CG fwd.
The upper seat belts were attached via the holes I cut in the parcel shelf right at the back, but decided not to use them as they were useless for inverted flight, putting your whole weight on the lap strap. Incidentally, I added a secondary lap belt.
As well as the diagonal brace I added a second tube to the inside of the first hoop, bending it was fun!!
Neil

G-ARBG · Postby **G-ARBG** » Sun Oct 04, 2009 11:20 am

Glen,

From the drawing - firewall is MS spec S3 24swg x520 x760, finish Cadmium plate.

I just mic'd mine and confirmed gauge is correct.

R.

David

Tipsy Flyer · Postby **Tipsy Flyer** » Thu Oct 08, 2009 6:06 pm

Today's effort started yesterday Very Happy

Firstly, my 4130 welding rods arrived from the State's
Secondly, i confirmed a booking for coming Monday to weld the Fuse, found a welding shop 300km's from home that are prepared to help me Very Happy

Thirdly, a friend in the woodwork trade cut and planed new pieces to replace the stringers behind the canopy to the tail Laughing

Forthly, found the correct gauge steel to fabricate a new firewall.

How to make a firewall....................the hard way Shocked

I made a small test piece to test the theory that one might be able to form a f/w over a shaped hard wood. Well... my effort did not go to well. I sure the originals were pressed in a serious mould, similiar to how car panels are pressed.
So back to making individual pieces and assemble to form a new f/w.
I had pieces of steel bent according to my spec's and have started preforming and testing for a decent fit. I intend to spot weld the pieces together apon completion.