New Project!

So, after a couple years and projects I'm back!  After doing a bunch of chit chat with some of my buddies and looking around, I decided to get an ultralight!  More specifically, to build one from wood and cloth, kinda like the kayaks.

Here in Illinois a pilots license isn't needed to fly a true ultralight.. a true ultralight weighs under 254 lbs, has a top speed around 70 mph, and a stall speed of just under 30 mph. 

After looking around at a ton of different designs I settled on Minimax.  The plans are free, but after buying all the wood, glue, cloth, engine, etc. I'd be in the hole over to $8,000! It would be way cheaper to buy a used on that is rather beat up and rebuild it..

BarnStormers.com is the place to look for old planes.  After weeks of searching I came across a Minimax 1100R up in Michigan, about 7 hours north of me, for a fraction of the cost.  The planes fuselage was in pretty decent condition, but the wings and about everything else needed rebuilt.. included in the great deal is all the wood, glue, cloth, hardware, engine, prop, and everything I'll need besides paint and a throttle lever!

Last Friday afternoon my dad, brother and I headed on a long road trip, and came back with a sweet project!

Here are some pictures.. sorry the plane is all apart right now, so its tough to get  a complete image.

Fuselage..

 Wings..

  

Other parts..

 

 Since the plans and building manual start with building the fuselage, that is where is started.  The next couple pics are with the old cloth pulled off.

The next step is to lean up the fuselage wood and hardware and then get it ready to re-cloth.

Finished... almost

Now everything is finished! Besides installing the seat, and polishing it a bit. The seat is custom built to fit the boat, so it should be here in a week or two. Then it can be taken out for a test run!

The first 3 coats of varnish I brushed on at home, and the last 3 I sprayed on in a Body Shop's spay booth. The hatch straps are very low profile, with no knobs sticking up to hold the straps. The little slits in the deck for the straps were sealed with silicon when the straps were put in.

Also, the bulkheads are now in. The bulkheads separate the front and rear storage compartments from the cockpit. That way if the cockpit fills with water, the rest of the boat will remain water free. The hatches are sealed with weather stripping.

First 3 coats on below, now it heads to the spray shop..