| Bonded the leading edge wrap to the front spar with DP-460. Also mounted the aux tank. | |
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Use waxed paper to avoid having the
wood glued to the wing! I decided to use the DP-460 instead of the JB Weld. The only reason is that the DP-460 comes in a tube that mixes the stuff properly and then spreads a nice bead on the wing. It's a lot easier to use than JB Weld but a lot more expensive. |
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Use lots of clamps! |
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The next step with this wing is to let the DP-460 dry over night and then I'll use superfil to blend in the leading edge. |
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The one major drawback (in my opinion)
about Rans airplanes is that they just don't carry enough fuel to have a
useful range for flying cross country flights. Each wing carries 9
gallons and the 100 hp Rotax will burn 5 to 5.5 gph in cruise.
I am optimistically planning on a 130mph cruise speed so if I have 23 gallons of fuel, use 4 gallons for a reserve, and burn 5 gallons an hour...that gives me 3.8 hours of flying and almost a 500 mile range. I think...I'm typing this at 6:30 in the morn... |
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I just have to figure out how I want to run the fuel lines. I could run each tank into the aux tank and use it as a header tank that would always be full, or I could use a selector valve and only fill it when I need the range. Hmm... |
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As you can see, the tank takes up very little room in the baggage compartment. I will have to take the weight of the fuel into consideration though. I suppose that the stuff I would put in the aft baggage area would be large but fairly light things like a sleeping bag, blanket, and a few shirts and pants. |