Thread: Ka-6 Rigging
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Old August 8th 08, 08:47 AM posted to rec.aviation.soaring
ka6e
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Posts: 2
Default Ka-6 Rigging

On Aug 8, 6:50 am, db wrote:
On Aug 6, 2:41 am, vontresc wrote:

Well I finally got out in my (new to me anyways) Ka-6 the other day,
and I was wondering if anyone out there has some tips to make
assembling it any easier.


Hi Peter, It's good to hear from people that still love to fly wooden
ships.
I had the same problem trying to find people to rig my wooden glider
(BG12-16), so tinkered around in my workshop and after about 5
different versions came up with a one 'person' radio controlled device
that now fits the bill marvelously. The transmitter is tiny and can
fit in your shirt pocket or on a key-ring.
My wing roots are very heavy and awkward so I use a special 'clip-on'
trolley that picks up on the trailer fitting for the wing root so I
can wheel the wing out and only have to lift the tip out of it's
trolley and put it down again beside it. The rig does the rest.
I've since made another two for friends - one for a Nimbus and the
other for a Kestrel 19. The Kestrel owner rigs totally by himself,
and very quickly too might I add. - I wanted some pictures of him
derigging and in the time it took to get my camera out of the case and
turn it on he had one wing away allready! Needless to say he had to
get it out and start again so I could get the pics .

The rig entailed a lot of head-scratching to make it as simple and
compact as possible. The wing cradle comes off by pulling one pin and
then the thing just folds flat. I can quickly remove the wheels, or
if necessary, pull the axle out to reduce the width for stowing. My
one easily lifts 200 lb and the other two built lift 300 lb. I was
initially concerned about how the electrics would stand up to use in
the rain but they work fine (ask me how I know...) The last one I
made had the electronics in a sealed container just to be sure.
A couple of things to know if you try and build one, it needs to have
up and down movement of course, but must have a sliding sytem on the
axle to allow for back and forwards adjustment when rigging, and some
form of adjuster for holding the wing incidence. This last one is not
so important with fibreglass ships.

Good luck

derry
(New Zealand)


Derry,
I saw your wonderful invention at Piako's 50th and was really
impressed with
the ease it brought to rigging/de-rigging the Kestrel 19 good job.

Dennis
Ka6E #4009
Australia