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Hoerner Wing Tips

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Bil4381

Well-Known Member
Joined
Oct 17, 2007
Messages
884
I visited the Puma LSA factory yesterday. I was thinking of having them make a plug for the wing tips. It's not going to happen. The owner did tell me that he sometimes made a foam plug, glassed over it with a vacuum layup then dissolved the foam core with acetone.

The advantage is that the foam can be enclosed and all the bulkheads and stiffners installed. The acetone/foam waste is drained out through the same hole the acetone was poured in.

I'm wondering what foam would be used for that procedure.
Bill E
 
I've been working on my SII, new J3300 engine and Hoerner wing tips. With this weekend's electrical work it seems more probable it'll fly again in 2017. Here's today's blurb on it

Installing a J3300 engine and Hoerner Wingtips has raised a Work Sheet now 53 items long. Some of those items involve 6 subpoints. At this point in time 32 items are completed on our Sonerai IILS.
Yesterday was a good example of what's involved for electrical power. I rewired the cockpit for fuses and switches It was for me a very full day.

With the J2200 engine there were say 4 cockpit systems switches: COM, GPS, Fuel Boost Pump, and Strobe lights. The Jab3300 engine configured as we have it also requires: Electric Carb anti-ice/deice, Fuel Transfer pump, Fuel Quantity Indication and Electric Stabilize trim. Stab Trim will have both a Directional UP/DN Switch and a On-Off Switch.

The Stabilizer issue is inadvertent movement. We only ever needed to operate the Stabilizer Trim once in Flight. While the movement was minute, it occurred so quickly that the aircraft appeared to jump a tiny bit. Thus an On-OFF guarded switch makes a great deal of sense to us. Aircraft are not supposed to jump. Jumps may rattle the flight crew.

As an aside there is also a modest Elevator Trim System. That trim tab is 3" X 12" and is sufficient for a given aircraft loading. Add a passenger then the stab needs to be trimmed. Fortunately Stabilizer Trim can be done during preflight.

With the Jab 2200 engine individual fuses and fuse holders were originally placed in the same small panel as the switches. In a word that panel was maxed-out. Further, the one time we had to do some work there, the close proximity of the 10 components there made accidental shorts more problematic. You'd almost need to mold everything in silicone after soldering to be safe.

Thus when the J3300 engine & Hoerner Wingtips etc were made, it became necessary to install a better fuse panel and make it easily acccessable but separate from the cockpit switch panel.
This involves an 8 position fuse block in groups of 4. One side of the block contains all the Fuel System Fuses while the opposite Fuse Bank contains everything else. Tape labels are used for now but P-Touch labels will be made later. All the fuses are 1 amp except the 2 pumps, stab trim and carb heat which are 5 amps. System tests will determine the final fuse sizes.
In theory a fuse could be replaced in flight but because of the neutral stability of the Sonerai, that's not ever practical. A small supply of spare fuses will be provided in the aircraft's flight bag but to be used on the ground.

Cheap parts will not do for a main fuse block. The wiring and lugs are teflon coated aircraft grade.

We previously purchased a $100 pair of crimping pliers. Further, for many of the lugs the bare wire end was folded back to fill the lug which ensures a really solid crimp. The lugs were also firmly pulled and wiggled after crimping to be sure they can't come off or wiggle in the lug.

With the new fuse panel installed, the next bit is the make up a new switch panel and install the 8 switches. We like to have the switch levers in different colors, but the same colors now in use. We have good quality enamel paints to color and switches that don't have suitable bayonet urethane covers.

Covers- Speaking of covers. We will fabricate light weight hinged covers for both the switch and fuse panels. The fuse panel wants a dust cover and the switch panel a cover to prevent inadvertent switch operation. In flight the switches are just above our right elbow which is the arm used to fly the airplane.

Switches. The micro-switches work just fine for portable avionics power supplies, strobes and gauges. Carb heat and fuel pumps might draw say 5 amps. In extended use, the micro-switches could overheat, so we'll revert to AN switches with the screw attachments for the terminal lugs.

Resolution -This fuse panel installation and all the related bits had been a problem for say 2 years. While we had all the parts, the devil was in the details. The why and how and where of it were unresolved. How can one run the wiring for carb heat, transfer pump etc when you don't know where the fuses and switches will be located.
I am taking photos of the work as it progresses, but don't recall how to post them here.
Anyone care to post them for me?
Bill E
 
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