Aviation

Let the drilling begin

Dean Betz
Clecos on parade

I finally broke the seal today and started assembling the rudder from the pre-drilled kit.

It was a slow start, as I needed to get up to speed with the Renton Technical College instructor whose shop I have the pleasure of using as I toy with the idea of building a plane. As you’d expect from a shop that prepares Boeing assemblers, it has all of the tools I’ll need — pneumatic drills and rivet pullers; air chucks at every workstation; all of the right drill bits, tool chests full of files, fussy little clamps, deburring tools, machinist’s rules, well-organized clecos, cleco pliers, and everything else you might need to assemble an aluminum airplane. For a sloppy-workbench guy like me it’s a dream!

I’m starting with the skeleton of the rudder. In the course of an hour I got a groove on assembling the spar, first by cleaning off labels and markings off of the pieces, which all have been cut, bent and mostly drilled at the factory.

Cleaning with isopropyl alcohol

So far about two-thirds of the work is done to clean, deburr and drill the holes needed to attach the doublers to the spar. It’s super-easy because the spar already has the holes, it’s just a matter of putting in the doubler holes and enlarging holes in the assembled pieces to the final size. Honestly, as a kid I made more complicated plastic models.

Rounding sharp corners
Deburring and smoothing sharp edges

I won’t be back on the project until Wednesday. Next week’s goal is to see if I can complete initial assembly of the rudder skeleton in preparation for adding corrosion protection and starting to pull rivets. I’m guessing that dry-assembly work will take no more than several hours.

Short-takeoff-and-what!?

Dean Betz

A friend on the Facebook Pages version of this blog loved the STOL video I posted earlier. Here’s another that shows the incredible short-takeoff performance of these planes.

Not to confuse matters, the version of the CH 750 family that interests me is the cross-country type. But some builders, including Jonathan Fay, have modified their Cruzers as excellent back-country planes that have great short-takeoff performance, as well. Without much sacrifice of a higher cruising speed.

They’re more than just holes in metal

Dean Betz

I present to you my initial work as a student of precision machining at Renton Technical College, in Renton, Wash. These are blocks of carbon steel and aluminum drilled to tolerances of no more than 30 thou. (That’s 0.030 inches.)

Eventually, this course leads to a program in Aerospace & Industrial Production Technologies — it’s a pipeline to Boeing, which of course builds 737s at a plant about two miles away from the college. It also gives me access to resources that will be useful as I build a Cruzer rudder and toy with the idea of building an airplane.

I will not get nervous about my check ride. I will not get nervous about my check ride. I will not get nervous about my check ride.

Dean Betz

It’s scheduled for May 11 with a brand-new designated pilot examiner. If I don’t screw it up, I’ll then be an Official Licensed Pilot.

There’s an hour-long oral examination on everything I’ve learned as a student pilot, then an hour or so of demonstrating takeoffs, a series of flight maneuvers, and landings. The flying part should go something like this:

What is a Zenith 750 Cruzer?

Dean Betz

It’s an all-metal, two-seat aircraft that meets the requirements of the sport pilot license. The Cruzer is the cross-country member of the CH 750 family, which includes a STOL “off-airport” plane and a stretch “super duty” version.

Stock photo of Zenith 750 Cruzer
Cruise102 knots
Stall Speed34 knots
Never Exceed Speed 126 knots
Rate of Climb1200 fpm
Range450 nautical miles
Endurance4.5 hours
Empty Weight780 lbs
Gross Weight (LSA)1320 lbs
Useful Load (LSA)540 lbs
Design Gross Weight1440 lbs
Design Useful Load660 lbs
Load Factor +6/-3 g
Take-off Roll350 ft
Landing Roll350 ft

Here are all the details at Zenith’s site.

The moment you’ve all been waiting for: The unboxing

Dean Betz
Photo of a tall, thin box with the top lid removed, showing packing paper. Oh, and the electric screwdriver used to remove the box's top lid.

The rudder kit was nicely packed, and the inventory was complete.

  • Manual
  • Ribs
  • Spar
  • Skins
  • Doublers
  • Hinge
  • Rudder horn
  • Top cap

Photo of the contents of the tall, thin box, showing laid out across the packaging paper a half-dozen or so formed, aluminum airplane parts; rivets; a plastic streamlined top cap; and a plastic-bound manual. Oh, and the electric screwdriver used to remove the box's top cover.

And best of all, 300 rivets to pull!

The next step will be studying the very detailed manual over the weekend and making a list of a few new tools I’ll need.

X-STOL in a Zenith 750

Dean Betz

This plane is similar to the Cruzer I’m toying with. Some key differences from where I’m at:

  • The Cruzer is the “fast” version of the 750 series
  • The aircraft in the video is the short-takeoff-and-landing version, which is slower in flight but has amazing performance
  • Bush pilots in New Zealand are very talented