Brodhead Pietenpol Association

Original Posted By: Fisherman Caye
Hello, low 'n' slow fliers;If anyone is seriously considering restoring the cam bearing clearance on their Continental by having the cam bearing surfaces welded back up and isn't concerned about "certified engine" issues, may I recommend Delta Camshaft of Tacoma, Washington? Website at http://www.deltacam.com and if you call, ask for Jerry. These folks aren't afraid when you say "aircraft". They do cam regrind work, and have done them for Subaru and Corvair conversions (I just got mine back from them, a regrind of my stock 110HP Corvair cam to a profile improved for "our" RPM range). Mine was under $75, shipping both ways and all. Check out the "Services" and "Camshaft Grinding Process" tabs on their website for info. I feel certain that restoring bearing surfaces to new spec would be an easy job. Oh, and FWIW- I shipped the cam off (UPS) on a Tuesday and it was back in my hands the following Tuesday.Oscar ZunigaMedford, Oregonmailto: taildrags(at)hotmail.comwebsite at http://www.flysquirrel.net________________________________________________________________________________Date: 9 Feb 2002 10:26:56 -0800

Original Posted By: Doc Mosher
Among other things, Fisherman Caye wrote:> The 14 guage wire is ... Thick enough I figure, can skip the thimbles andshackles> and just wind a couple of loops around the bracket holes.Are you sure this isn't just a troll?> Going to have to spring for those Aviation turnbuckles though.> There are 8 of them. There must be another way of doing that tightening?Well, maybe. Someone in the neighborhood once built a near-ultralightthat used some fittings from one of the U/L makers in the tail brace wires.They were small steel rectangles (with the corners rounded off), with aseries of holes along the center line. The idea was, you'd put one of thesetabs on the attach fitting and another on the wire, pull things as tight astheyneeded to be, and put a small bolt through a matched pair of holes in theoverlapping tabs. The adjustment was not as fine as turnbuckles; the holeswere spaced perhaps half an inch apart. But the idea seemed to work fairlywell, and I don't see why it would not also work for control cables.Wouldn't want to use the tabs in a high-stress application, but I doubt thePietenpol has any pieces that are too highly stressed for them. My onlyreal worry would be if they vibrated in the wind, but that did not seem tobe a problem. I think RANS supplied them.Owen Davies________________________________________________________________________________Date: Sat, 09 Feb 2002 16:27:42 -0600

Original Posted By: Owen Davies
Those tail wires are there to keep harmonics from vibrating the tail. Therereally isn't much stress on the tail end of the airplanes we fly - they arejust too dadgimmed slow. But the pulses off the propellor blades seem topick that particular spot to thump on, so without the wires the horizontaland vertical stabs would vibrate like a bees wings. John Powell,designer/builder of the Acey Ducey (another parasol) said that when he firstflew his N12CP, he didn't have the wires on it, and the stabs were just ablur. So, he put the wires on, and everything held still just like we likeit to.In the absence of acro-type stresses, I think that Ray is on the right trackwith his galvanized 14-ga. wire. Now, if he'll just go to Home Depot andget some of those small, galvanized gate turnbuckles at about a buck each.. . . . ;-)Craig----- Original Message -----

Original Posted By: Fisherman Caye
Subject: Re: Pietenpol-List: stabilizer wires and fittingsIn a message dated 2/9/02 3:39:36 PM Pacific Standard Time, craigwilcox(at)peoplepc.com writes:> Those tail wires are there to keep harmonics from vibrating the tail. There> really isn't much stress on the tail end of the airplanes we fly - they are> just too dadgimmed slow. But the pulses off the propellor blades seem to> pick that particular spot to thump on, so without the wires the horizontal> and vertical stabs would vibrate like a bees wings. John Powell,> designer/builder of the Acey Ducey (another parasol) said that when he > first> flew his N12CP, he didn't have the wires on it, and the stabs were just a> blur. So, he put the wires on, and everything held still just like we like> it to.> In the absence of acro-type stresses, I think that Ray is on the right > track> with his galvanized 14-ga. wire. Now, if he'll just go to Home Depot and> get some of those small, galvanized gate turnbuckles at about a buck each.> . . . . > Craig> Craig,I must nicely, strongly disagree, the tail would brake off the Piet if it lost just one wire. It is an externally braced system. The wire should be exactly what is on the plans, either hard wire (1095 high carbon steel with the correct ferrules, very difficult to find today) or 1/16 aircraft cable; some use 3/32 cable. The low carbon steel wire from the harware store should not be used, even though it looks the part and may even be on some airplanes. Doug Bryant ________________________________________________________________________________Date: 9 Feb 2002 16:11:29 -0800

Original Posted By: Fisherman Caye

Original Posted By: Fisherman Caye

Original Posted By: "Jack Phillips"
> Craig,>> I must nicely, strongly disagree, the tail would brake off the Piet if it> lost just one wire. It is an externally braced system. The wire should be> exactly what is on the plans, either hard wire (1095 high carbon steelwith> the correct ferrules, very difficult to find today) or 1/16 aircraftcable;> some use 3/32 cable. The low carbon steel wire from the harware storeshould> not be used, even though it looks the part and may even be on someairplanes.> Doug BryantDoug -Plenty of room here for disagreement. Just wish that the oysters didn't bitmy fingers the other day so I could type better. Stitches keep getting inthe way!But the biggest load on any tailplane is a small download, to counter thelift provided elsewhere. That's why the spars in the tail section are sosmall, and why we need to provide the correct incidence on that tailplane.If it were otherwise, the spar would need to be much stronger, and the boltswould need to be larger. I have no diagreement with what is on the plans,and certainly my Duce uses 3/16" stainless rod, but that is more forappearance than anything. I could use 1/16th" cable, and have no problems.14 ga. galvanized wire, about 1/8" dia., is certainly plenty strong enoughhere. Unfortunately, it is not flexible enough to go around our smalldiameter pulleys, nor is it the right temper to refrain from cracks whensubjected to repeated bending.Craig________________________________________________________________________________

Original Posted By: owner-pietenpol-list-server(at)matronics.com
Craig, I have to side with Doug. This is a wire braced airplane, stronglyrelated to the Curtiss JN-4D Jenny. It is similar to other woodenwire-braced airplanes, in that having a wire break in flight is generally acatastrophic failure. Have you built your tail yet and mounted it on thefuselage? I have and even just sitting in my shop I have it braced so itwon't get broken or take a set just from its own weight. It is not a verystrong structure, unsupported. Once the bracing wires are in place, it isquite strong.Jack Phillips -----Original Message-----