---------------------------------------------------------- Kolb-List Digest Archive --- Total Messages Posted Fri 01/15/21: 1 ---------------------------------------------------------- Today's Message Index: ---------------------- 1. 04:22 AM - Re: Re: Original Firestar (Robert Lobdell) ________________________________ Message 1 _____________________________________ Time: 04:22:33 AM PST US From: Robert Lobdell Subject: Re: Kolb-List: Re: Original Firestar Richard, thanks I=99m with you. If you had a hand in making somethi ng and someone foolishly tries to make a change. All rules are off. Thanks Richard. Robert Lobdell Waskom, TX On Thu, Jan 14, 2021 at 8:50 PM Richard Pike wrote: > > > Latex painting airplanes: one easy, one a pain in the butt, and a War > Story. > > First time I did it was back in the late 80's, I had a Maxair Hummer that > the sails were about to go bad, modified the wing so that it had a > lightweight but sort of conventional rib structure and covered it with > lightweight (glider) dacron from Aircraft Spruce. Don't know if they stil l > sell that weight or not. > Attached it in the usual way with Stits Poly-Tak. Sprayed all the fabric > with Sears Weather Beater Black latex paint, thinned with water enough to > spray well and penetrate to both sides of the fabric, as that it how you > make it stick, it has to be thin enough to be on both sides of the Dacron .. > Used a regular Sears quart pressure pot sprayer that I had used over the > years to paint cars with lacquer, etc, don't remember how much PSI, > whatever it took to make it spray right. > The parts I wanted to be yellow, I went back over & sprayed white, and > then again with the yellow. It went pretty well, the weight was about 8 > pounds heavier than with the original slip on sails and tube ribs, and it > was dirt cheap. I think I had $300 in it, it looked good and worked fine. > One thing you have to careful of; the Hummer's wings folded together, you > had to be careful not to hang them up touching, or the latex on one wing > would bond to the latex on the other and it would pull off. > > The second airplane was Ed's FSII, & for whatever reason the latex we wer e > using (don't remember the brand) did not want to cooperate with the Stits > fabric. Thinning with water wasn't doing quite right, tried using > windshield washer fluid - so/so, nothing worked really great. Maybe the > paint brand? > We got some ex-tend (I think it was called) from the dealer as the > preferred thinner/ drying time extender, and eventually we got it looking > really great, but for whatever reason, it was a terrible hassle. One thin g > I remember was that we sprayed it with a HVLP sprayer, don't know if that > helped or hurt. > > Now on a totally different and unrelated topic ~ AKA War Story > Eventually I sold the Hummer , it got sold again, and again, and then > ended up belonging to a guy on the coast of NC. When I sold it, it was > registered and had an Airworthiness Certificate, but it probably could ha ve > been made to make Part 103, seems like it weighed about 162 pounds if I > remember right. It still had all the original U/L structure in it. > The guy on the coast modified it; took off the 277 & replaced it with a > 503, and added a second seat. The wings & tail were unmodified, that was > how I first recognized it in the video. > I about had a cow. The fool had created a death trap, and was flying his > family and friends around in it. > Original gross weight was under 600 pounds, and VNE was 65 mph. > The wings had 1 3/4" leading edge tubes, 1 1/2" trailing edge tubes, no > internal drag/anti drag bracing, just flying/landing wires attached at th e > wing compression struts, two per side. No way there was proper structure to > support what he was doing with it, and I knew he had not modified it or > beefed it up, because the paint job was unmolested. > > I found it one night on Youtube, he had a bunch of videos, one of which > showed him taking off with a large passenger, the camera was pointing at > the passenger from over the pilots shoulder, and during the climbout, the > fabric in the first rib bay split fore and aft. Front spar to rear spar. > The passenger looked like "Is it supposed to do this?" The flight continu ed > on for several minutes. > > The next day I called Southern Region FSDO and told the man what I had > seen, and suggested that they might want to look into it. Never heard bac k > from him, but about a week later, all the videos of my old airplane were > off YouTube... > > I'm all for minding my own business, but when some idiot modifies an > airplane that I built in such a way that it is guaranteed to kill some > innocent passenger, and give "ultralights/homebuilts" a black eye; naw - > that don't work for me. > > -------- > Richard Pike > Kolb MKIII N420P (420ldPoops) > Kolb Firefly Part 103 legal > Kingsport, TN 3TN0 > > Forgiving is tough, being forgiven is wonderful, and God's grace really i s > amazing. > > > Read this topic online here: > > http://forums.matronics.com/viewtopic.php?p=500241#500241 > > > Attachments: > > http://forums.matronics.com//files/fallhummer_117.jpg > http://forums.matronics.com//files/n582ef1st_211.jpg > > =========== =========== =========== =========== =========== > > > -- Aviation is science. . . Flying is art. . . 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