Brodhead Pietenpol Association

Original Posted By: "Tom Anderson"
Douwe,Since you are welding the cap to the top before welding the top to the tank, itshould make it much easier for you to do some of the straightening. You shouldbe able to set the welded assembly on to a hard, solid surface (like an anvil,or a piece of steel plate) to act as the backing bar, when you gently use ahammer to stretch the metal back to the shape you want. Of course, if, as yousay, the two components were not correctly positioned when tacking, that willbe a big contributing factor to your distortion. Usually, it is possible to tapwith a hammer to close small gaps before welding off the joints.Good luck.Bill C.Read this topic online here:http://forums.matronics.com/viewtopic.p ... ___Subject: Pietenpol-List: Building, then learning to fly it - how feasible is it?

Original Posted By: Jim Ash
Tom;I'd say learning to fly in your own Piet would be great, with a couple of caveats.First, have an experienced test pilot fly off the hours and complete allthe necessary tweaking so it will fly right. The last thing a student needs isto be learning in an out-of-rig airplane. Second, make sure there is some sortof intercom. While that was not an option back in the days when Piets werefirst flown, it sure helps when instructing. Last, but not least, it mighttake quite a bit of courage for an instructor to ride in that front cockpit andnot have brakes or carb heat control. He or she can "save" a botched maneuverwith power and flight controls but it would sure be nice to have brakes upfront and absolutely essential to safety of flight to have proper operation ofcarb heat control.Ignition switch and fuel cutoff would also be nice to have in both cockpits buta lot of people have learned to fly in airplanes without access to them for bothstudent and instructor.If you can find an instructor willing to teach you in your Piet, go for it. Theairplane is certainly going to be a good teacher. And if I misunderstood yourquestion and you are already a pilot, then it's a no-brainer. Definitely doable.Oscar ZunigaAir Camper NX41CCSan Antonio, TXmailto: taildrags(at)hotmail.comwebsite at http://www.flysquirrel.net________________________________________________________________________________Date: Mon, 4 Aug 2008 10:44:28 -0400 (GMT-04:00)

Original Posted By: "TOM STINEMETZE"

Original Posted By: Oscar Zuniga
Oscar,Thanks for the response and no, you didn't misunderstand at all. I've got several(--------Location: Eastern N.C.Read this topic online here:http://forums.matronics.com/viewtopic.p ... __________