Building an Apis equivalent

Brad wrote:
Paint it in polyurethane and you can probably leave tied out about as
well, too. Brad can tell us how long it takes to build one.


Hi Eric,

Building the Apis was actually a lot of fun, with good instructions,
and advice from Robert Mudd I was able to complete the build process
in under 150 hours.

That's impressive! A retired guy should be able to build one a month,
then, working only 40 hours a week, including latte breaks.

The gel-coat (prestec) took considerably longer!

Would using polyurethane speed it up any?


The latest project on my 13m Apis is putting an engine in it.

I assume that will take 150+ hours?


After building 2 Russias and an Apis I'd like to tackle a design of my
own based on these 2 ships. Any one interested????......)

Some suggestions:

*simplify the power system by having the pilot extend it by hand from
beside the tail boom while on the ground, and "retract-only" in the air
(no in air restarts). Not my idea - Greg Cole is considering something
like this for the SparrowHawk to simplicate and add lightness.

*use a steerable tail wheel in the rudder like the LS-9 - that seems so
cool, but can have some drawbacks

*Turbine powered?

*A hybrid motorglider: an electric motor with enough battery capacity to
launch it to 3000', and a small gasoline motor to recharge the batteries
in an hour

For an Apis weight glider with a 6 minute climb to 3000 feet, maybe
you'd need 25 hp of electric power. To recharge in an hour would take a
gasoline motor of about 1/8 this, so that would only be 3 hp, or a small
lawnmower engine.

--
Change "netto" to "net" to email me directly

Eric Greenwell
Washington State
USA

Hi Eric,

Eric Greenwell wrote in message ...
Brad wrote:
Paint it in polyurethane and you can probably leave tied out about as
well, too. Brad can tell us how long it takes to build one.


Hi Eric,

Building the Apis was actually a lot of fun, with good instructions,
and advice from Robert Mudd I was able to complete the build process
in under 150 hours.

That's impressive! A retired guy should be able to build one a month,
then, working only 40 hours a week, including latte breaks.

The gel-coat (prestec) took considerably longer!

Would using polyurethane speed it up any?

Not sure as I have no experience with htat kind of paint.
Actually.....the Prested was pretty easy to spray and it wet sanded
easily. I think that there is given amount of time it takes to prepare
and paint and wet sand a sailplane and there are no shortcuts....(




The latest project on my 13m Apis is putting an engine in it.

I assume that will take 150+ hours?

The engine bay and doors are in, the mast is out for bid now......150
might be about right.




After building 2 Russias and an Apis I'd like to tackle a design of my
own based on these 2 ships. Any one interested????......)

Some suggestions:

*simplify the power system by having the pilot extend it by hand from
beside the tail boom while on the ground, and "retract-only" in the air
(no in air restarts). Not my idea - Greg Cole is considering something
like this for the SparrowHawk to simplicate and add lightness.

Yup.......I remember Greg and I had this conversation a few years ago
and that is sort of what I am doing. Altho I do have an electric jack
screw, I do not have an electric start and I will have the pull start
outside of the ship.

*use a steerable tail wheel in the rudder like the LS-9 - that seems so
cool, but can have some drawbacks

fixed tailwheel.....remember my ASK-14?



*Turbine powered?

18Hp MZ-100 engine 2 stroke



*A hybrid motorglider: an electric motor with enough battery capacity to
launch it to 3000', and a small gasoline motor to recharge the batteries
in an hour

good ideas for the new design!!



For an Apis weight glider with a 6 minute climb to 3000 feet, maybe
you'd need 25 hp of electric power. To recharge in an hour would take a
gasoline motor of about 1/8 this, so that would only be 3 hp, or a small
lawnmower engine.

I really like the idea of electric power, by the time I am ready for a
power plant in the new ship electric power will probably be much more
refined and hopefully the motors and batteries will be less $$$.

Thanks for the interest!

Brad