SparrowHawk II Build

[Heather Poe]

A few minutes ago I received my SparrowHawk II keel kit. Many, many pictures will follow.

[StanFoster]

Heather: I am really looking forward to your build. I have no doubt it will be a jewel when you are done.


Stan

[Heather Poe]

The first picture shows the delivery man and my husband bringing the heavier box into the shed. As shown in the third picture, it contains many pieces of nicely wrapped and machined metal. The other box contained things like the documentation (both a book of diagrams and a written manual), tires, and wheels. The two boxes together weigh 109 pounds.

[route66]

I like the delivery truck, "Pilot Delivery". How apropos!
I’m excited to watch you begin your journey. Looks like a fun time. Thanks for posting.

[StanFoster]

Heather: I am getting all lathered up looking at those pictures. Its a flash back to when my shipment arrived. It was such a satisfying project that is paying me dividends every flight.

Stan

[Jim Wade]

Enjoy your build time!! It's over before you know it. I enjoy building as much as flying. Well maybe flying most. You will find the Sparrow Hawk a good easy build.
Blue Skies
Jim

[Heather Poe]

This is the last day of the Arlington Washington air show, and I made some purchases for my Sparrowhawk II build.

First of all, I bought some special foam to reupholster the seats. http://www.seatfoam.com/ This foam is the kind used in the space shuttle, and prevents spinal injuries. I used a 3-density pad in my wheel chair and it was very comfortable.

In consultation with Dan Banks of GBA, I purchased a air hydraulic riveter, to help me make the best installation of each pop-rivet. http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalo...es/ATS8805.php. It connects to my air compressor.

For the other types of rivets, I purchased a rivet squeezer
http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalo...etsqueezer.php
with http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalo...ivset4sqzr.php.

For cable swaging, I purchased the ratcheting type tool http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalo...es/locoloc.php.

Today I plan to be out in my shed building work benches and hanging shop lights.

[Harry_S.]

Goll-y Heather, when are you gonna start on the kit?!

A caution on using that ATS rivet puller. It's a goody...I have one.

Use an AIR Regulator and no more than 90 - 100 PSI to the puller. More than 100 psi, it will pull the rivets faster than a blink but that excess air pressure will make for a short lived puller.


Cheers

[Heather Poe]

Harry,
I am studying the plans, which I consider to be a wise use of my time. As to actual construction, it will wait until some of the workbench is done.
Heather

[StanFoster]

Heather: You hit the nail on the head about studying the plans as not wasting your time. I have learned a long time ago that a job well planned is already half done.

You are going at the tool choices correctly.


Stan

[Coen]

When pulling rivvets set your compressor's presure so that it does not pull the nail of in a blink ,it must rather take close to a full second to 2 seconds this makes for a rivet that has seated good and neat, if set to hi the nail is broken of even before the rivet has had chance to seat properly. Enjoy every rivet you only get to them once and if need be don't drill them rather grind off the head and use a punch to hammer the shaft through the hole.
Regards Coen

[Udi]

Originally Posted by Heather Poe

...I am studying the plans...

You must not be an engineer then, Heather Our (engineers) motto is - when all else fail, read the instructions.

Udi

[Heather Poe]

Originally Posted by Udi

You must not be an engineer then, Heather

Udi,
Perhaps I am not your average engineer. I find reading the instructions usually saves time and materials. For the record, my first paid engineering job was in 1978. Before then I was a technician.
Heather

[Harry_S.]

Originally Posted by Coen

When pulling rivvets set your compressor's presure so that it does not pull the nail of in a blink ,it must rather take close to a full second to 2 seconds this makes for a rivet that has seated good and neat, if set to hi the nail is broken of even before the rivet has had chance to seat properly. Enjoy every rivet you only get to them once and if need be don't drill them rather grind off the head and use a punch to hammer the shaft through the hole.
Regards Coen

With a powered rivet puller, ( 90-100 psi ) it would be best to pull the rivet, in stages, that meaning, in not one sustained pull. If you have to, squeeze the trigger 2-3 times before the stem snaps, that IMO is the best procedure. The first squeeze would be to "set" the rivet.

I have removed many a rivet over the years and I always drilled thru the head and snapped it off. then punched the stem/shank out of the hole. That's Mil Spec as well. Use the same size drill as you used to drill the rivet hole. It's much quicker than grinding and there will be no surface damage surrounding the hole if you try grinding the head off. This precedure is for solid shank rivets as well. A little practice on scrap material is advised. If one removed a lot of rivets, one could even snap off the rivet head with the drill bit while drilling. If a head was stubborn, then use the sized punch to snap off the head and punch out the stem/shank.

In most cases, the steel stem will be below the horizontal metal surface, so there will be no problem in drilling thru the rivet head.


Cheers

[StanFoster]

Heather: That rotary laser of mine is extremely useful for making sure your cabin is dead square with the keel. I applied masking tape down the center of the cabin....then marked on the tape the exact centerline. I place the laser on a stepladder well out in front of the gyro so the vertical plane of red laser light centered exactly on the cabins interior centerline. Also...the vertical laser line was centered right down the mast and keel. If you get the laser at a high enough point...the beam will go through the cabin window hitting your center marks...and also effectlively "cut" your mast and keel down the middle. Its a dead on way of KNOWING your cabin is square.....and not someday finding out you were a degree or two off.

Same with aligning the tailboom over the keel. This one tool I could hardly live without on my stairbuilding...and almost any construction job I do. You can do it without it of course..but once tasting how easy and accurate it is.....you will get spoiled.


Stan