Hangar Flying => Hangar Flying => Topic started by: vaviator on June 26, 2009, 07:44:18 PM
Title: Inspection Advice
Post by: vaviator on June 26, 2009, 07:44:18 PM
Hello all-
I've recently received the generous (I think) donation of a Varieze in the process of being built. The original builder had died during it's construction and it was passed to a couple family members before one of them found me. The one who donated the aircraft to me simply wanted the engine that was once with the aircraft, and doesn't want "anything to do with experimental planes". In short, that's the story.
Now, I need to figure out what I've got. From a set of temporarily borrowed plans, I've managed to estimate the builder had completed 14 of the 21 building chapters in the first section. So far the fuselage is largely completed and on the gear, the canard, wings, and winglets are also complete for the most part. Only one winglet has been installed and preparations were made to install the second. There has been no filling work done and the strakes have yet to be built.
The advice I'm looking for is on what needs to be inspected - what parts are the most crucial - and how to go about inspecting. Before I sink a lot of time and money into this thing, I'd really like to know the work that's been completed was done correctly. What I have determined so far is that the wing and canard incidence needs to be checked, and that the entire plane's glass work needs to be inspected. One builder suggested wetting the surfaces with a damp cloth to look for delaminations that should appear white. Are there any other super critical parts/areas that need to be inspected? And how obvious are white areas that could be delamination? And any other advice anyone could throw in there would be really appreciated! Thanks!
-Andrew
PS - I'm going to post this over on Canard Zone as well to try and get as much advice as I can. If you're over there too, no need to answer both :)
Title: Re: Inspection Advice
Post by: Brett795 on June 28, 2009, 04:22:07 PM
Where are you located? Another method to check for delamination is to use the "coin test" method- tapping a quarter over the strucutures. It does take some time. I did this on my Long EZ project and found a few places where the damage had occured while the plane had been sitting in the hanger since 1985. This plane too was passed along through a few family members before I bought it from an Estate sale. One other thing to check is the winglet attachment- there was on EZ that the owner "re-enginereed" Burts methold and it ripped the winglet off- it is in the Canard Pushers.
Good luck,
Brett Gerber Ft. Wayne, Indiana A&P Long EZ/ Cozy Builder (#1566)
Title: Re: Inspection Advice
Post by: dorr on July 08, 2009, 11:50:23 PM
If you send me an e-mail as to your location I'll give you a list of locals who you can call on to look it over.
Congratulations, by the way!
David Orr canardfinder@att.net
Title: Re: Inspection Advice
Post by: vaviator on July 13, 2009, 07:54:06 AM
Thanks Brett for the response and info. To answer the question for you and David, I'm in Richmond, VA. David, I was told on another forum to contact you, so I'm glad you found me first! If you know of anyone that would be willing to inspect it, I'd really appreciate their info. I'm on the road right now until mid-August, but hope to get to work as soon as I get home. Thanks again!