5.00-5 tires on 5.00-5 tubes with QCU 5" Aluminum Rims
Todd Balsimo
Marine on St. Croix, Minnesota
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5.00-5 tires on 5.00-5 tubes with QCU 5" Aluminum Rims
01-01-2003: What a great way to
begin the New Year! Flew from the airport to the
lake on which I live. Landed on the ice for the fist time!
The ice is 8-10" thick and more than 12" thick near
the shore. It was exciting and very different to land on such a wide-open
space. There is nothing to line up with and no wind indicators
on the ground/ice. The ice was almost bare with patches of
snow here and there. After flying my lake recon and watching all the
ice fisherman wave to me, I set up to approach into the wind and stop
near my home. The wheels touched down gently onto 1800 acres of frozen
water. I landed close to shore and it was shallow water (6 feet
deep). I could see the bottom of the lake through the clear ice.
Lots and lots of expansion cracks in the ice allowing you to estimate
the thickness of the ice. It looked about 10" where I touched
down. I didn't even try to use the brakes, as I knew they would
not be effective. I slowed down well before my home and had to add
some power to get there. I entered in a new waypoint in my Garmin
III+ and called it "Home", shut down the engine, and went in the
house for a warm cup of coffee and some fresh bread. I went back down to the
lake and sat on my dock, which was pulled on shore. I had
some Skoal and sat back to enjoy the silent winter day. As I sat with
my legs stretched out in front of me, I stared at my plane. I thought
back to the 2 years of building it and how I dreamed of this day.
It felt great to fulfill my dream. It was slippery
on take-off and the nose wheel was ineffective to counter
act left-turning tendencies. Until I got some airflow over the
rudder, it was a little squirrelly on take-off. After take off, I
did a 180 and swooped down across the ice and waved my wings to the casual
observers. Life was good that day.
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No filing necessary - Tap down corners & sharp edges Tape with hockey or sports tape |
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Cover non-glue tubes with quilt material Applying Poly-Tak |
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Applying Poly-Tak before closing sock That iron in lower right is “hungry” to shrink that elevator |
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Picked up the fuselage at Don Z's. The air
was crisp and the coffee was hot.
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Attaching bottom sheet of inboard wing Marking lines at 3" interval (not 4"-5" like manual says) for ribs. 11-24-00 |
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Drilling holes in ribs. I didn't count, but there were 130 holes! I chose not to use drill press. |
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Clamps work well for riveting box tip.
A little duct tape to hold the tip in place for drilling and riveting fiberglass tip. |
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I ended up piecing in the gap between rib
and in inboard wall of box - it was too flimsy.
My daughter Amelia inspects the wing spar. |
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"Rivet's eye view". It can be done
by hand, but a pneumatic rivet gun is worth every penny - $60.
The string worked well to establish consistent rib height |
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My friend Eric helped me tape ailerons in prep to be covered. |
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It's time for the fuselage to "hatch". Background: My dad & I own a 1968 Mooney M20F Exec. 21 |
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I used an ATV vertical adjusting pneumatic platform for my work bench. |
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QCU's new wheels. |
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Wiring diagram. |