You're really not a true redneck then... I was envisioning some pickup (Ford or Chevy?) with a construction tethered on the back to get it airborne and hold it there...

Kind of brave, really. I'm not good enough with my hands that I would step into something I built and just take off. Heck, I don't even like to change tires on my motorbike least they come off at inopportune moments...

I'm not a redneck, but I am very much Country. I did use shelf support angles for my rudder stops, after all.

Funny you should mention the Ford F-150 and flight testing. It's actually used. To determine the amount of thrust the engine and prop is putting out, one ties the aircraft's tail to the bumper of a truck with a rope and a scale. The engine is brought up and one looks at it.

In a normal aircraft the number would be deceiving, as there is ground effect in play (and thus the term "unloading the prop" on takeoff). But mine is so full of wires and struts and crap that it's got enough drag to make it about even.

Oh, and in October Greg Koontz is putting on his annual home show in October, but since it's a grass strip he won't be landing a Cub on a platform above a pick-up...

Ground Effect on Prop Thrust? Can't quite wrap my head around that one. I thought GE is for wings/lift...?

When a plane is tethered and the engine is brought up to full thrust, the prop wash under the plane is caught between the plane and the ground - the same effect as when moving on the runway.

The turbulence of all that air slapping from ground to plane and back again and off of the gear and stuff leaves when one climbs off.

In normal aircraft, that means one gets more effective power (thrust minus drag) as soon as one leaves the ground. In really, really dirty aircraft like mine it doesn't matter. The drag from the wires and wings isn't all the way there on a tethered run-up, but it's there when it's moving.

On landing, that same turbulence makes a cushion, letting us float down the runway.

Only plane manufacturers and home building nuts do a ground thrust check.

Ah okay, so basically "resistance" to air being pushed backwards on the ground = incorrect thrust readings. I think I got it

Yep.

My son says I should put some sort of graphic on the side of the aircraft, and my Mom asked if I had named it yet.

So SimHQ friends, I'd like some suggestions on the graphic.

A few things:

1) It's WWI, so no pinups!
2) It's a French plane, so let's keep that in mind
3) Nothing strictly historical. I don't want my plane identified with a specific pilot (though since I painted her in Verdun scheme I suppose Escadrille might be okay)
4) Keep it simple. I'm going to have to paint it myself, and I'm not much of an artist.

The wife ruled out my Hello Kitty In the Ring, much to my chagrin. She says it's too girly.

On naming the plane, I'm a bit of an animist. I just don't know the true gender of the aircraft or its temperament until I take her up in the air. Right now I refer to the plane as "her" and call her Bebe for obvious reasons.

So good French names of each gender would be cool.

Freedom Fryer

After posting here, it dawned on me I'd get better results in the Community Hall.

http://simhq.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/4162368/Help_with_my_Nieuport_11#Post4162368

Is that bus bar going to hold those small glass fuzes?
Like these? http://www.walmart.com/ip/40819219


Wheels

Hey Dart,

Do you play WOFF or ROF much?

I would think you could get some inspiration there.

If you are going for the Lafayette Escadrille thing then, as you know, there was no squadron symbol on the Bebe. But other squadrons had some, so you could go that way as well especially considering that not all Americans flew in the Laf Esc.

Alternately, it seemed that simple symbols were popular, (stars, stripes, cats, cranes, etc) so you could pick something meaningful to you. Another, easier route I've seen that was popular was initials; singly or as part of a monogram...no artistic work there.

If you have a little more talent, you could go for a more complicated image. I don't know how attached you are to your name here, but you could do something like a dart or darts sticking out of the Kaiser's behind or a dart board which would be easier to draw.

Or how about a cartoon character? The first one that popped to mind was Swee Pea from Popeye...




Which would go along with the "Bebe" theme. You'd need to do a little historical research to find out what the troops were reading back then.

Lastly, how about some words. Less popular in the Bebe I think but all the rage it seemed in the Pup were large and small stylized words,

DO DO, BABY MINE, CHIN CHOW

Maybe just a cool looking "BEBE" or whatever "My Baby" is in French. Girlfriend or daughter's name or nickmane like "BOBS"?

Just some suggestions. Very jealous of where you are sitting my friend!

Deacon

I'm going to be the cheeky guy and make it for you.
It's going to be a Dart (duh!) With a face like the mosquito I drew for Combat Helo and maybe another detail.
I was thinking a prop or some wings like the bebe.

If I can replicate it as a decal, I'll put it on the forward sheeting in front of the cockpit.

I've been thinking of putting a few stickers there - an EAA logo and few ones from the vendors that I've bought parts from as well.

Of all the dippy....

With my new series 7 battery all hooked up and charged, the engine would turn over once and then go click-click-click. Normally this is a connection problem, so I spent the balance of a day charging it and re-charging it as I checked cables. I finally gave up on it.

Out back to the hangar today to start all over again.

So I spent a couple hours checking all the cables three or four times without any love. Finally I just threw up my hands and went to the parts store and bought a new battery, figuring that it was the only thing that could be screwing things up.

Thirty minutes and a hundred bucks later the new series 12 motorcycle battery was installed.

She cranked on the first turn!

A couple issues came up immediately:

First a minor leak at one of the fittings to the oil cooler - easy fix.
Second, none of my gauges - excepting my volt meter - are working. I'll start trouble shooting them some other time, as I'm whipped from bending into the airplane and getting frustrated.

The oil temp and pressure gauges wiggle when the master is first turned on, but I think they're not getting enough juice. We daisy chained the power connector to connector, with the first stop being the volt meter.

I'm going to move the incoming hot line to other gauges to see if that's the issue. Otherwise I'll beg Rusty (who helped run the wiring) to come out and ungefuch the system.

Dart,
Not sure what you mean by "series 12 motorcycle battery" but a few assumptions by me.

The numerical value is the amp hours of the battery.

Charging of batteries has changed since we changed from the standard 'wet' lead acid battery. A maintance free battery relies on the fumes trapped between cells, so charging at a rate that heats the battery causes the gasses to be lost through the valve that prevents it from exploding. I filled a 7 amp hour battery for a YFZ 450 from the leading battery maker today and there printing on the battery is max chage rate of 3A for one hour and a typical charge of 2A for 5 hours.

Jell battries are a little more forgiving, but they still require that you keep the "magic smoke" within the battery.

BTW, the typical lead/acid battery will loose 1% of charge to atmosphire per day. Once a battery reaches 50% charge (12.25 for 12v) it is at risk for sulfating. You drive your car more then once a month, so the battries live a long time. Your lawn tractor sits for months, so even the best brands die often.

I think another funny noseart idea would be a dart throwing baby, because she really has him on the move..
;=)

Valley Engineering said that they typically use a size seven motorcycle battery, so I went to the auto parts store and asked for one. They handed one over and asked for money. Basically just me using savant skills of saying stuff I didn't know the meaning of.

When I replaced it, the auto parts place didn't have a size seven, but they had a 12 and a 15 (each larger in dimensions), and I got the 12, which cranked and ran the engine just fine.

The whole battery thing is kind of scary, because it's in the territory of "unknown unknowns." The bulk of my build has been dealing with "known unknowns" like how to anneal aluminum, cover and paint the aircraft, and putting in the wiring. I haven't always had a ready solution or the skills to tackle problems, but at least I knew what had to be done - I knew what I didn't know.

Zebra, that is actually a very clever idea

After much fussing, the initial cowl stuff is done:



Loads of work to do on it, including mounting it, trimming to the horseshoe shape, painting, etc. But it's a cowl!

It does remarkably resemble an aircraft by now. Albeit if they had built them at your speed in the war you'd all be speaking German by now...

Dart,
Did you make the domed section, purchase or have it fabricated?

How is the cowl assembly attached? Depending on hours between service, your going to have to remove it a lot in it's life time. Pop-rivets are only good into sheet one or a few times. Plus, adding backing washers to rivets looks to be a real pain.

In it's lifetime that piece will see a lot of vibration from the harmonics of the engine. Your mountings need to spread out these forces or you will get localized fatigue.

What does the painters (blue) tape mark?

I wish I had the money to build my own tank. Huge respect to you for your hobby.