Amphibian project resurrection & modifications

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Posted

WOW!  Nothing better than having the original designer to talk to!

EDMO

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Posted

image.thumb.jpeg.cce040b50d59e486725ac3cimage.thumb.jpeg.c0bcd94749311c6b852f6e0image.thumb.jpeg.ccb15e3354565162ce110efimage.thumb.jpeg.5fdb06ad43903b91a46d80bLuke and Don   Thought you might be interested in a project Dean W. Is doing now, he is modifying the original (proof of concept wheels only) Catilena. The original owner put over 2000 hrs on it with a 532, now the current owner wants to make it into an amfib. As well as changing engines, 85 cont. increasing GW, adding 12 inches on each side of the hull etc. Today it was upside down but I took some pictures anyway, you can see where he moved the dorsal tube over (at the "4") and on back,added a couple of vertical tubes, heated the vertical fin attach points to release stress etc. Anyway Dean said if he could be of any help, call him. Usually lunch time 12:20-1:00 pacific will catch him. 509-758-3269.image.thumb.jpeg.bd2c90ff53ae0940161f125

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WOW that's awesome!!!!!!!  Thank you Logtrucker!!   Maybe it's just me but knowing that Dean is continuing to design and build aircraft gives me a serious case of the warm fuzzes!!  If it's OK with Dean / Logtrucker some more pictures of his project would be great. 

I'm looking forward to talking with Dean.

Thank you again

Luke

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Posted (edited)

I was able to remove one of the wing tip sponsons today. It took a little finesse to get it apart without destroying it.  I'm not planning on useing them currently but there good parts for someone that needs one. I'll rally up a scale and get a weight on it there preaty light, steel brace included I'm guessing 5lbs or so.

Luke

20160208_014302.jpg

20160208_015244.jpg

Edited by lukemn
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Posted

 I recall reading correspondence between Riblett and an avid owner, where Riblett discussed the modifications that might be made to the existing ribs, by applying material to modify the existing ribs.  Seems as though there was a flattening of the bottom, and a change and extension to the leading profile..?    I'm 99% certain that the "newer" kitfox ribs were the riblett design. The twist in the elevator on my cat is, as I recall, quite substantial.  I'm running a Hirth F30 swinging a three-blade warp drive prop, and I can really tell when I hit the drag curve-  more power==more noise, and not much else.  I can also tell when I'm even a half degree out of pitch on the prop- getting over the hump can get exciting. I can take off the water at 1250 lbs with my current setup.

I did use the plastic leading edges on my cat to reduce drag a bit.  I also have a pipe wall flange on the copilot side floor, pretty far forward. When I'm alone, I use a short pipe nipple and cap to secure a 25 pound barbell weight for ballast.  That way I can remove it when I'm flying pax, and they can sit up front.  I sat in the back once, and would never force anyone back there!  I also registered as a two-place, and placarded as such.  I'm 6' and 195, and even the front pax seat is cramped for me. And, since I fly sport...

I  changed to the full-lotus sponsons.  They saved me around 8 pounds, and I *think* they're a bit more aerodynamic.  I haven't finalized the mounts yet, as tufting indicated that they're still a bit high in the front.  I used a 1" diameter tube for the attach- I split it to form tabs for the sponson attach points, and stuffed a small "superball" in the ends. The pic earlier in this thread is the one I used as a template, and I've already extended about 2 inches down in the front, with probably another inch to go.  Here's a picture of that::

IMG_1663.thumb.JPG.11d8545ad3ac4f8e62b92

And yes, I still have fairing to do-  in this pic you can see an experiment, which I'm not quite happy with yet- monokote. .  I simply glued a paint stir stick to the back edge of the sponson support, and wrapped monokote around the lot and shrank it tight., just to see if it would hold up.  Thus far, it has, and I may do the rest of the unfaired tubes in the same manner.  I'd also used monokote to cover the strut fairings-  It was my first attempt using it, and I highly recommend buying a heat gun that has multiple temperature settings if you go that route, as quite a bit of shrinking needs to take place, and an iron just didn't work for me.  You might say working with monokote was a whole new wrinkle?  And- I struggled with where to and how to mount the transponder antenna-  this seems to work ok for me, and is easily serviced!

One more thing I did, and would probably not do again, is use the optional leading edge- a strip of thin material to better form the wing profile.  The manual called out aluminum, but to avoid oil-canning, I used plywood- it still oil-canned *after* I'd covered and rib-stictched, and done the second shrink.  I had to add additional finger ribs to strengthen the profile.  I *really* hated cutting off all that fabric, and in retrospect, while I probably gained lift, I probably increased drag at the same time.   If you fair out ( using epoxy and microballoons- slather the stuff on, then stretch saranwrap over it.  you can work out bubbles and voids with  your fingers (and a pin)  if need be, and it greatly reduces the sanding required.  This picture shows- the leading edge strip, the attached plastic leading edge and fairing in the gas tank (using saran wrap) before the pin was used to pop those bubbles.

IMG_0887.thumb.JPG.0e4f1a6d2fae4edaf5a9a

Jack

Austin, TX

 

 

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Posted

Jack,  The Riblett profile and modification is posted in our Files and Forms.   You made a great post on the Cat above.  EDMO

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Posted

Y'know, if the CPS wing tanks had been available at the time, I might have tried those out, instead of the full-lotus sponsons- empty, they'd serve the same purpose, and if nothing else, you could use them unplumbed to hold spare fuel (or?) for a long flight..?

Jack

 

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Posted

I'm thinking mounting them inboard on the jury strut may be an option for me.  I have a 6 gallon tank in one wing now but it would be nice to not have to haul fuel in 5 gallon jugs.

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Posted

I'm thinking mounting them inboard on the jury strut may be an option for me.  I have a 6 gallon tank in one wing now but it would be nice to not have to haul fuel in 5 gallon jugs.

That should make room for a case of Captain Morgan!  :BC:  EDMO

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Posted (edited)

I'm thinking mounting them inboard on the jury strut may be an option for me.  I have a 6 gallon tank in one wing now but it would be nice to not have to haul fuel in 5 gallon jugs.

6 in one wing and a header tank? Or do you have the Panel tank?

That's not much gas for a thirsty 582…  stick%20with%20poke.gif

Edited by Av8r3400

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Posted

Main tank over head is 17.5 gallons.

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Posted

??

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Posted

The main gas tank is over the roof of the cabin.  Its molded plastic that fits nicely inside the fiberglass faring.

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Posted

 I recall reading correspondence between Riblett and an avid owner, where Riblett discussed the modifications that might be made to the existing ribs, by applying material to modify the existing ribs.  Seems as though there was a flattening of the bottom, and a change and extension to the leading profile..?    I'm 99% certain that the "newer" kitfox ribs were the riblett design. The twist in the elevator on my cat is, as I recall, quite substantial.  I'm running a Hirth F30 swinging a three-blade warp drive prop, and I can really tell when I hit the drag curve-  more power==more noise, and not much else.  I can also tell when I'm even a half degree out of pitch on the prop- getting over the hump can get exciting. I can take off the water at 1250 lbs with my current setup.

I did use the plastic leading edges on my cat to reduce drag a bit.  I also have a pipe wall flange on the copilot side floor, pretty far forward. When I'm alone, I use a short pipe nipple and cap to secure a 25 pound barbell weight for ballast.  That way I can remove it when I'm flying pax, and they can sit up front.  I sat in the back once, and would never force anyone back there!  I also registered as a two-place, and placarded as such.  I'm 6' and 195, and even the front pax seat is cramped for me. And, since I fly sport...

I  changed to the full-lotus sponsons.  They saved me around 8 pounds, and I *think* they're a bit more aerodynamic.  I haven't finalized the mounts yet, as tufting indicated that they're still a bit high in the front.  I used a 1" diameter tube for the attach- I split it to form tabs for the sponson attach points, and stuffed a small "superball" in the ends. The pic earlier in this thread is the one I used as a template, and I've already extended about 2 inches down in the front, with probably another inch to go.  Here's a picture of that::

IMG_1663.thumb.JPG.11d8545ad3ac4f8e62b92

And yes, I still have fairing to do-  in this pic you can see an experiment, which I'm not quite happy with yet- monokote. .  I simply glued a paint stir stick to the back edge of the sponson support, and wrapped monokote around the lot and shrank it tight., just to see if it would hold up.  Thus far, it has, and I may do the rest of the unfaired tubes in the same manner.  I'd also used monokote to cover the strut fairings-  It was my first attempt using it, and I highly recommend buying a heat gun that has multiple temperature settings if you go that route, as quite a bit of shrinking needs to take place, and an iron just didn't work for me.  You might say working with monokote was a whole new wrinkle?  And- I struggled with where to and how to mount the transponder antenna-  this seems to work ok for me, and is easily serviced!

One more thing I did, and would probably not do again, is use the optional leading edge- a strip of thin material to better form the wing profile.  The manual called out aluminum, but to avoid oil-canning, I used plywood- it still oil-canned *after* I'd covered and rib-stictched, and done the second shrink.  I had to add additional finger ribs to strengthen the profile.  I *really* hated cutting off all that fabric, and in retrospect, while I probably gained lift, I probably increased drag at the same time.   If you fair out ( using epoxy and microballoons- slather the stuff on, then stretch saranwrap over it.  you can work out bubbles and voids with  your fingers (and a pin)  if need be, and it greatly reduces the sanding required.  This picture shows- the leading edge strip, the attached plastic leading edge and fairing in the gas tank (using saran wrap) before the pin was used to pop those bubbles.

IMG_0887.thumb.JPG.0e4f1a6d2fae4edaf5a9a

Jack

Austin, TX

 

 

Hi Jack:

Awesome first post!!!  & welcome aboard!!  Is your plane the one on YouTube with the red and white tail?  I've watched that video several times flying on lake Granger.  I'm still working out wing / sponson / covering / etc. It's good to here from active  Catalina pilots. If you have time starting a thread on your aircraft would be great.  The wing work you've done is some of the things I've been thinking about incorporating in to my project.  A few questions (ok alot of questions) How many additional finger Ribs did you add & what type of plywood did you make them out of? Is the plastic leading edge your using sourced from kitfox? Do you have the center main fuel tank as well as wing tanks?  The S7 STi ribs look alot like the modified stock ribs with the flater bottoms I'm trying to find a builder that's willing to trace one so I can compare it to the profiles that are in the files section of the site. I did notice the STi wing uses flat bottom flaparons similar to the Catalina flaparons.

Thanks Jack

Luke

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Posted

Just for the record...

The chances of me ever owning a Catalina are somewhere between slim and none, but none the less, I have really been enjoying reading this thread (and other similar threads) with the pictures of the progress and some discussion about the thought processes to get there. Thanks to all of you for taking the time to post this stuff.

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Posted

There's a nice one for 34K on Barnstormers right now.

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Posted

Yes, that's mine/me on youtube "Lake Granger Splashin".  I've taken rough water videos as well, but it's a pain to find "public domain" music to go along with it all.  While building, I tried to capture every picture I could of other catalinas/amphibians/landphibians,and some of them saved a lot of head-scratching.  One thing I've noted- Not one catalina has done their gear lock/unlock the same way.  I'm still working on that one- I can lock wheels up just fine, but there have been a few "button pinching" episodes trying to get the gear back down.  I just made another mod- hopefully it'll be better. At the end of almost every work session, I took pictures of what I'd done that day, so if you want... 

  Mine was a project started in 1992, and donated to a Civil Air Patrol  squadron, where it sat and lost parts, and was then auctioned off, and stuck in a storage room for another ten years, losing parts along the way (my center gas tank is in the catalina in Forth Worth- the blue one).  Mine came with the Hirth F30, purchased from the original distributor, Falconar in Canada, and they'd set it up with a dynafocal mount.  It also had one of the VERY first NSI gearboxes.  I hated scrapping out a zero-time gearbox.

I used aircraft birch the same thickness as the originals for the finger ribs. I'd had a few tails lost on mine through the storage years, and had already made a few replacements.  The leading edge ply (1/32) is also aircraft birch.  The plastic leading edge I bought from Steve Winder back when-  his comments: "The Plastic Leading edge cuff DOES Work.  It "sharpens" the Front Spar Radius which helps reduce stall and improve speed. Every little helps on a slow draggy airplane...like Avids."  It's the same used for the kitfox, but if you go with the Riblett rib the profile already incorporates that, and more. 

To secure the leading edge to the finger ribs- I cut an outside clamp for gluing. you can just make out the foam between it and the leading edge.  You can also see how I clamped the  extra finger ribs- no tail needed.  There was a lever effect- pull down the tail with the leading edge ply already secured, and then temporarily tie the tail using safety wire while the thickened epoxy set, and cut 'em off later. 

IMG_0972.thumb.JPG.5d91a356e78f391eabe4c

Incidentally, those HF bar clamps work pretty well for gluing- if you try and tighten them too much, which would cause a glue-starved joint, they break.  But- they have a lifetime warranty- keep your receipt.

Here's another thing you might do while the wing is open-I ended up putting my comm antenna out on the wing, over inspection plates for the pitot. Please, if you don't have it, put in a combination static/pitot.  I could *never* find a good static spot. Anyway- looks pretty iffy before covering, but I've talked 40 miles, using an Icom A3.  I'd also run a thin pex tube to the wingtip to run your nav light wires through if you use them, that way, if something happens in the future, they're a lot easier to replace.

IMG_0913.thumb.JPG.c09961674289738dcdcbe

I used Smiths CPS ( clear penetrating epoxy sealer) to prime all my wood- I first used it when restoring a large wooden boat,and became hooked.

 

-Jack

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