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#11
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Ka-6 Rigging
Steve, Wow I see you have a CR with a pendulum elevator, not
many of those were made, I saw one in New Zealand many years ago. Mine also has a pendulum elevator however it's on a Ka6E My manual suggests putting in the bottom main pin first, perhaps that could be worth a try on the CR's as well I have also made fuselage dollys which makes managing the fuselage a snap,just roll it out and leave it sit. Agree with Bruce about the ingrates We should remind them that our aircraft are made of a unidirectional reinforced laminated composite material consisting of micro-tubular fibres embedded in a long chain polymer matrix and having a near infinite fatigue life. Dennis Ka6E #4009 On Aug 7, 6:55 am, Steve Leonard wrote: Ka-6s go together quite easy. Left wing on first, bring it in square or slightly tip forward. Get the drag pin in, then move the tip aft until the lift fitting bottoms out. Put a stand under it to make the bottom of the spar roughly parallel with the fuselage deck. The leading edge is a straight line from tip to tip, so tell your tip person this. That will get you right on the fore and aft part for the second wing, so the wings can slide together. I always put the drag pins in before the main pins. To get the main pins in, I always have to tell the new guys to hold onto the spar when you push the pins in. If you don't, the fuselage will roll back (ours sits on its wheel with a stand to keep it upright) if the fittings were not absolutely perfectly aligned, and the fitings will go out of alignment, making the pin impossible to put in. Is this maybe when you start to have an issue? I always like to go up as required to get the top pin in first, then go down and get the bottom pin. Once both wings are in place, it should take less than 30 seconds to get the pins in. With the wings sitting on pads beside the fuselage, putting each one on shouldn't take much over 30 seconds from Lift to On. We find it is easiest to have three people. This way, you can easily set the wing onto the fuselage, with one person suporting the wing by the laeding edge, and one supporting it by the trailing edge at the root. The TE guy can also tell you what needs to happen to engage the lift pin. Oh, and with three people, nobody has to lift over about 40 lbs, or do a lift in an awkward stance that might hurt your back. Steve Leonard Ka-6CrPE N958Z |
#12
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Ka-6 Rigging
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) |
#13
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Ka-6 Variants
Yes, the CrPE is a bit more rare. However, there are two of them based at
my field! And they are the two that were at the 1964 Nationals, at McCook, Nebraska. One flown by Graham Thompson, and one (mine) by Rudy Mozer. The truely rare are what is sometimes called a "Ka-6-0" (Ka-6 Zero), or a Ka-6BrPE. Also at my field are two Brs, two Crs, and an E. Yes, Nick, N6501D is still at Sunflower. It hasn't been very active lately, as the owners have been rather busy. But, they did get it inspected last Fall. I haven't seen either or them or the plane since, though. Rudy Mozer is here at Uvalde, and he flew N6501D to his Diamond Distance from Adrian, Michigan, to Frederick, Maryland, ifI remember the article correctly. Just under 400 miles. Not sure why the manual would suggest the bottom pin first. Maybe to prevent you from trying to raise the tips high enough to get a pin in the top when the wings weren't all the way together? Ka-6s are great fun airplanes. They are light, easy to rig, handle wonderfully, are inexpensive, and there is just something about flying a wooden glider that is an experience you just can't get when flying anything else. And, I am having fun at Uvalde, even though I am falling back down the scoresheet. On the plus side, I don't have far to fall! Great Job at Parowan with the Twin, Nick! Steve |
#14
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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 |
#15
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Ka-6 Rigging
On Aug 5, 9:41*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. Ideally I'd like to get to a system where I wouldn't have to bother fellow club members too much for help. I figure as long as I keep the beer fridge stocked with good beer, I might keep my fellow member happy enough to continue helping me rig :-) Peter To make assembly easier, simply do what Tony and I have done with our gliders: Take the glider off the trailer and assemble it for flight. Then, take it apart and put it back on the trailer. Repete this exercise about 25 times. After that, through a process similar to evolution you will be able to to do it in a fraction of the time it now takes. MM |
#16
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Ka-6 Rigging
On Aug 5, 9:41 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. Ideally I'd like to get to a system where I wouldn't have to bother fellow club members too much for help. I figure as long as I keep the beer fridge stocked with good beer, I might keep my fellow member happy enough to continue helping me rig :-) Peter I've assembled my k6e for 8 years and found that concise instructions to the wing tip holder, a wing tip stand and an additional stand near the fuselage to stage the wing root is about as quick as it gets. Consider raising the wing tip at the same time you bring the root onto the fuselage, keep all the pins well greased, and use a third pair of hands on a windy day. Finally, you can complete a critical assembly check and a positive control check in just a moment or two with the same help. All of this has never been a bother; help has always been gracious and it's safe too. |
#17
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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 |
#18
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Ka-6 Rigging
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. |
#19
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More Ka-Questions
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 |
#20
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More Ka-Questions
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 |
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