Original Posted By: "Clif Dawson"
I suppose I must give this a try (first time contributor)... especially following so nice a narrative by Mr. Boothe and being so kind to mention me and my Piet project. I have monitored this thread for some time now and have gleaned many great ideas and facts from it as my building progress moves along. I can truthfully say that only my trips to Brodhead the last two years have proven more valuable. (of course a close third is the visit by Kevin Purtee to Gilmer on a cold winter=99s day in his outstanding Piet). I take pride in being counted among all you builders and flyers of Bernard=99s creation. I can only dream and hope that I will wing my way to Brodhead in a year, or few, in my own Piet.So, thanks to you all, and now that you all know about Gilmer, TX... don=99t be strangers. I am currently working to put my fuselage on wheels. Welding the tubular struts for the Cub style LG. I just completed the fabrication of a 15 gal. fuel tank that will fit in a 36=9D wide center section. I am awaiting my welder to complete the tank (I refuse to attempt to weld aluminum... I do well with 4130 with a gas set-up, but will let the TIG guys do the Al.)I hope to use Covair power, having acquired a partially converted =98Vair that attended a Corvair College in 2001 but never made it all the way to running on the stand. Oh yeah, the seat thing... well, its just my attempt to be comfortable if and when I make that long cross country. I took my lead from the Bingelis books and applied a little creative woodwork (isn=99t that what we all do?). Of course I won=99t really be as comfortable as I want until I fly it... sitting in it and making airplane noises is probably not a good indicator. A big thank you to Gary B. for stopping by, and even though California is a long way from Gilmer, you never know when two Piet builder=99s paths will cross.Robert Caldwell=9CBrodhead in 2012=9D________________________________________________________________________________
Pietenpol-List: Gilmer, TX
Re: Pietenpol-List: Re: View Questions, Fuselage Construction and so on....
Original Posted By: "skipgadd(at)earthlink.net"
Oh, crap! Here we go again! Corky where are you!!??Hahahahahahaha!Clif If we assume that a Piet in sea water is 600 lb of dead weight (no buoyancy contribution from wood or fuel...or pilot), it would take 7918 air-filled ping-pong balls or 7909 helium-filled ping pong balls to provide neutral buoyancy. Mike Hardaway________________________________________________________________________________
Oh, crap! Here we go again! Corky where are you!!??Hahahahahahaha!Clif If we assume that a Piet in sea water is 600 lb of dead weight (no buoyancy contribution from wood or fuel...or pilot), it would take 7918 air-filled ping-pong balls or 7909 helium-filled ping pong balls to provide neutral buoyancy. Mike Hardaway________________________________________________________________________________