Badland Part 103 Pilots and Builders Forum

ksatter26

I was having a lot of trouble getting my 303 to start. I replaced the factory battery with one with a higher Cold Cranking Amps ratiing and that helped some. I did note that I had a small amount of oily grey/black material along the cylinder. I thought this to be some Evans Cooling Fluid overflow fr...

ksatter26

Looking into camera mounts. However, weather has again postponed any testing work. WE hope to get out to the field on Election Day. (Voted early 1st day in crazy Red Texas.) Tried starting the engine with the beast tied down on the trailer after sitting a couple of weeks. Thank goodness for the aero...

ksatter26

Reboot fixed the upload problem.

ksatter26

Not much to report on actual testing progress, but still much going on. Taxi/Crow-hop progress on-hold as my helpers/camera-men are off to college. However, I did just finish a modification to my trailer to add a tail-wheel ramp. No I can unload/load the beast by myself with the wings folded. So, I ...

ksatter26

Chris is very responsive to parts problems. Those that we had on my build were from his suppliers ... especially the Polini engine folks. Chris is constantly improving the design and 2 or 3 times I had either older (or newer) parts that needed to be swapped out. Aircraft parts confusion centered aro...

ksatter26

I haven't posted in a good while but I've solved my trailer and one-dtop-overnite fuel leak problem. I hope to get the beast back to the airstrip to continue taxi testing and crow hops in the next few days. To address the kit lead time. My F-3 is serial number 15. I placed the order about the middle...

ksatter26

Check my Build Log (and some Discussion Posts). I tried to keep a running commentary of my build discussing my problems (many self-inflicted) and fixes. Also Peer's Build Log (LA F2 Flyer) was a big help to me. Feel free to send us questions ... the forum members are a great source of help and encou...

ksatter26

Progress updates ... AS I last posted, I've done some tail-dragger refresher training in a 1946 T-Craft. Techniques do seem to come back. Still lots of fun cruising the patch at 60mph. Caddo Mills airstrip has gotten busier what with Nick giving T-Craft instruction; the parachute training facility o...

ksatter26

The IflyGPS guys are located just 15 miles from me in McKinney, TX. it's over-kill bit I like the views and the sectionals work well.

ksatter26

Still can't weld worth a damn. Eons ago I actually took a metalworking class at a Jr. College. The instructor let me make Fly Baby parts and attempted to teach me to weld.

ksatter26

Great use of a scissors-jack. I like it.

ksatter26

I haven't posted in a few weeks, so here's an update. (1) Completed the trailer bed upgrade. Thompson's Water Seal did not do a good job of finishing the original 1/2" ply deck. I applied 2 coats of Olympic Sealant to the original and added a 3/16" ply deck over the original after sealing ...

ksatter26

That was my 1st project and had more moving van miles on it than many commercial A/C have flying ... Started in Alvin, TX ... moved to Reading, PA (sat in a storage locker for a couple of years ... moved to Raleigh, NC where some work got done in a rented garage ... moved to Santa Clara, CA and anot...

ksatter26

My 1st project was a Bowers' FyBaby ... all wood, 65 Franklin. I had worked for a year to get the fuselage together when the neighbors moved in with two young boys. I had it up on saw-horses in the open 2 car garage (Alvin, TX) and had just drawn the aft sides together at the rudder post. The audien...

ksatter26

I haven't posted in a few weeks ... family and just too darn hot ... 107 outside and near 100 with the big fan in the shop. (1) Peer was good enough to explain that the little spigot tiny hose fitting on the plastic 90 degree cylinder head coolant fitting is NOT an overflow drain. He has his clamped...

ksatter26

Anybody got any lbs-thrust values on a 303 F3 running an E-Prop?
My cheapie hunter's scale only shows around 160# at max throttle (6800-7800 RPM). Thanks.

ksatter26

With the cooling system reservoir relocated. I started up the 303, sans prop. I found that the small multifunction gauge (Tach & CHT) would not display anything. With some effort, I removed the small button CR2032 battery and found it to be a good 3.1+ volts. However, the negative contact seemed...

ksatter26

I have one if those. I probably need another couple if pounds of wire and a month or two of practice time.

ksatter26

Nice. If only I could weld.

ksatter26

After finally getting my cooling system temperature sensor and gauge working and some discussions with my 303 Guru (London Ivey in Tampa) we determined that the location of the reservoir (positioned BELOW the highest point in the cooling system, ie., the elbow off the top of the cylinder head) was n...

ksatter26

I have modified a used a shop roller stand to support the aft fuselage on the trailer. I drilled thru the adjustable sliding height arm to 31" and secured this location with an AN3 bolt. I covered the roller portion with a length of pool-noodle (seured with two zip ties. I will bolt the forward...

ksatter26

That was in the original design using PVC pipe. Back to the drawing board. I'll probably hinge it to the floor

ksatter26

The two soft, light weight, beveled grommets delivered with the bulkhead fitting shredded when I torqued down on the mounting nut. I cut a 1/2" rubber grommet in half and replaced the two soft seals late yesterday afternoon. Checked on the beast this morning and saw a few drops of fuel had leak...

ksatter26

The 2nd round of taxi testing a few weeks ago was a real adventure resulting in the last few weeks of education, research, repairs and upgrades. I hope to post a 4 minute video of the test. about 2 minutes into the video is when I found I had no left rudder control, so I wandered all around the taxi...

ksatter26

My plan as well.

ksatter26

With limited panel space I found this 1.5" dual VOM & Coolant Temperature gage to replace my single VOM display. It's made in China (TEMU), but I could not find anything close to this size from elsewhere. Here's the TEMU link. I ordered the red. Due about the 20th. 1 12 24v Car Round Temper...

ksatter26

New sleeves pass the niccopress guage.

ksatter26

Lots of adjustments after 2nd taxi testing adventure: (1) Removed my 3/16" rod/clevis fork folded wing stays and replaced with 1/8" 0.75" L-angle stays. Seem to be much more rigid. (2) added larger washers as bushings to the AN5 tailwheel axle and torqued down on the AN5 bolt connecti...

ksatter26

Great day for the testing ... 76 degrees, slightly overcast, and 12 MPH SSE winds. The 13 mile trailering trip TO Caddo Mills was uneventful ... light traffic and good road conditions. The process of unfolding the wings and unloading the beast off the trailer getting easier with practice. I remember...

ksatter26

Looks like Tuesday (30 April) will be dry and only 11 mph winds at Caddo Mills Airstrip. Hope to get some taxi/hops in. I adjusted the brakes, replaced the tailwheel/rudder springs and fixed the port folded wing stay. We'll use MY camera for the pictures so we won't have the iCloud storage/transfer ...

ksatter26

They are pretty stiff, but if you look closely the two do not match. I guess I didn't check them when I pulled the pair out of the "spring bin" at the hardware store. I'll remedy that tomorrow, but it looks like they'll work fine. IMG_1288.JPG Reset and tightened the brake and rudder cable...

ksatter26

ksatter26

I believe i finally have a good set of springs. Relaxed, they are about 2.5" + 3/8" for the mounting ring. Diameter is about 0.5". Will try mounting later today. Anyone out there know how to copy .MOV files located somewhere in the great void of the iCloud ( that can view on my Androi...

ksatter26

I taxied on the asphalt for a start. That's when I noted that the stb brake was weak and the rudder cables could be tighter ... probsbly also a function of the weak tsilwheel springs. I then taxied off to the grass. With the weak stb brake I managed to get the stb gear into a small hole. I was able ...

ksatter26

I have an "old timey" hardware store close to me. Stock goes back to pre-WW-II. I picked over their stock with no joy. I've even pulled out the old Physics book to try and understand the relationships between loaded lengts, travel, compression, and tension. It's been a loooong while since ...

ksatter26

I'm convinced that the tailelwheel problems can be greatly ameliorate with stronger springs. Still searching for a spring tat I can stretch to get a mid-point and will compress to the rudder travel stop. Still looking.

ksatter26

We are still trying to breakup the larger .MOV files into smaller .MP4 files for transfer to my PC ... will hopefully get that done this evening.

Here's the unloading video ...

Unloading01.MP4: (11.09 MiB) Downloaded 1387 times

ksatter26

While trying to get videos loaded, I can report on the 20 minutes of 1st taxi testing ... misty rain and marginal winds cut us short. (1) DEFINITELY need to find better tailwheel springs! The ones I have installed are WAY TOO light. (2) I need to add larger washer spacers between the nice tailwheel ...

ksatter26

Fred took the documentation videos on HIS iPhone. We are now experiencing a great deal of difficulty getting those transferred to me (via either my Android or Windows PC). When I get them downloaded they go to an iCloud directory (as .MOV) files which will only SHARE the smaller videos. We are worki...

ksatter26

Forecast today was for showers after 4PM, so we loaded up the F-3 to do the trailering and (hopefully) some taxi testing this morning. Loaded02.JPG Loaded01.JPG To start the trailering test, We took the 2016 Ford Escort and trailer a mile down the road to a circular drive at a nearby church parking ...

ksatter26

No rain forecast until late this afternoon. Will try to get the beast off to the testing strip.

Added a couple of small wheel chocks to the kit.

ksatter26

Peet is a " fat finger" reference to Peer ... zip ties and safery wire added ... thanks.

ksatter26

I put together a kit of the things I believe might be needed for road-trips to/from the testing strip (13 miles away): Badland F-3 “Let’s Go!” Kit 1. Rubber Malot 2. 25’ Nylon Rope 3. Gloves 4. 6” length 3/16” rod (tighten turnbuckles and clevis ends) 5. Portable Tire Inflator 6. Roll Duck Tape 7. S...

ksatter26

I haven't posted any updates on the project in a few weeks due to some weather related problems and a faux pas on my part. We've had some standard North Texas crazy weather ... not as bad as Peer is getting in SoCal, but enough to cause me problems. As I've stated before a North Wind driven rain ove...

ksatter26

Attached (I hope) are the F3D files for the Spar Caps (as transmitted to me from my 3D printer buddy). You will probably want to modify the half spar (rear) cap by removing about a half an inch of the circumferential flange to make a better fit against the AN5 mounting bolt. I used pop rivets to pro...

ksatter26

Of course I haven't even tried any taxing yet, but just moving around the hangar that tailwheel always looks cock-eyed. I've tried a number of sized springs but can't seem to find the right spring size/length/strength combination. I bought several from the local "old-timey" hardware store,...

ksatter26

My 3D printing buddy is out of town for eclipse viewing. He said he'd get the files to me on Tuesday (Eclipse tomorrow). I will give him some mods that should make the rear spar caps easier to use: (1) reduce the length of the circumferential flange so that it clears the AN5 bolt. I trimmed mine wit...

ksatter26

Will post the 3D Print file and pix. The aft spar cap is held in place with a rubber band and a pop rivet.

ksatter26

I moved my converted boat trailer into the hangar/shop to make further adjustments for trailering the A/C. trailer.JPG The gear tread just fits on the converted trailer bed so I added rail/fences to both the Harbor Freight ramps and the trailer to keep the beast positioned and provide locations for ...

ksatter26

Just came in from adding 5/8" ply "fences" to the Harbor Freight ramps. I will also add these fences to the perimeter of the trailer.

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