Ka-6 Rigging

I rig and fly a K6CR

If you make sure the fuselage is exactly upright (install a small balance
indicator in a suitable place to assist) Then it seems the wings come
together quite easily

I had about 30 years of experience rigging a Ka6E with only two of us. The
minimum equipment we used was either a car with a cushion on the roof, or
a trestle, plus a padded U-shaped cradle which I found is better if the
fuselage is a slightly sloppy fit in it.

To rig the first wing, I took the root, and the helper took the wingtip to
a position giving about 45° sweep back. Rotate the wing horizontally at
that point. The trailing edge of the root can now be rested on the turtle
deck. I then only had to hold the leading edge of the root to support part
of the root weight.

The wingtip holder then comes forward until the wing is at right angles to
the fuselage, in the normal rigging position. The drag pin can now be
inserted. I moved to the wingtip either to put a trestle under it, or
position the car with a cushion on its roof so that wingtip can rest on
it.

The wingtip helper and I then fetched the second wing and repeated the
process.

When both drag pins are in, the wingtip helper adjusts the height of his
wing. By rocking the fuselage slightly in its loose cradle, I was able to
ensure all holes lined up for the two main pins. This avoids the need for
either a second wingtip holder, or very precise alignment of the dihedral
of the first wing to the fuselage.

The point of the 45° sweep back is to avoid a very awkward stretch,
holding the whole weight of the root, until the wing root is resting on
the fuselage. Only a straight lift of the root weight was involved, not
lifting and stretching over it too.

Using a car roof and a cushion is a handy tip if the trestle is lost, or
has been left behind in the event of a field landing.

Chris N.

Thanks for all the great advice. Rigging this weekend went a whole lot
easier than the first few times. besides the wings are still lighter
than some of the plastic ships at our field.

On to the next stupid question. I'd like to install a TE probe. From
what I can tell It never had a TE probe, but rather an internal
Schuemann Compensator. since I currently have neither, I really would
like to install some sort of TE system.

I am thinking of installing a standard tail mounted probe. The ILEC
probe and socket look good, but I am a bit apprehensive about drilling/
cutting into the tail. Any advice on what to do and not to do?

Thanks

Pete

One option would be to go all out and install a CAI 302 and then plumb it
with electronic TE, which does work very very well in my Twin Astir.and
ASW 20.. you don't need a TE probe for this configuration.
Add a CAI 303 display and you would have a GPS engine, a certified logger
and a super easy to install and very easy to use computor/vario /final
glide computer that is accurate, and very easy to install the Ka polar and
easy to tweak to get just right.

Another option to install a TE probe, is to install one on the fuselage
top..Dick Johnson wrote a very good recent article on how to do this, it
is very low profile and does not have to be installed everytime your rig,
its permanetly installed and only aprox, a couple of inches tall and seems
to work quite well

Nick Kennedy



At 23:17 13 August 2008, vontresc wrote:

Thanks for all the great advice. Rigging this weekend went a whole lot
easier than the first few times. besides the wings are still lighter
than some of the plastic ships at our field.

On to the next stupid question. I'd like to install a TE probe. From
what I can tell It never had a TE probe, but rather an internal
Schuemann Compensator. since I currently have neither, I really would
like to install some sort of TE system.

I am thinking of installing a standard tail mounted probe. The ILEC
probe and socket look good, but I am a bit apprehensive about drilling/
cutting into the tail. Any advice on what to do and not to do?

Thanks

Pete