N195AK Construction Log

Hey Mike,

Im new to the site and the building idea. I want to get a small sport aircraft to fly say 30 min to and from fishing holes ard Skweetna, flying from the Mat-Su.

Im researching now and cant decide wheather i shld build, part-build or buy used.

I need a aircraft that can do floats and allow me to bring back as many Kings as are legal plus some reds. I guess its possible i may want to fly further afield.

I am retired but not sure i can see a complete build thru till the end.

Anyway, given all your building expercience, what wld you recommend?

cld an older plane say 50's 0r 60's or 70's do it w/o breaking down all the time?

Blueraven aka Rick

The smaller brother to the plane I'm building, the Rebel, with a Rotax 912 would be excellent for this type of flying. Deciding whether to build or not is a tough decision... it is going to take time, a lot of time. You might want to keep an eye on the classifieds site I host for builders... sometimes there are partially completed kits listed there. http://www.dcsol.com/classifieds.

There are a number of older aircraft that would work well for this type of mission also, but reliability can certainly be Russian Roulette. One in good shape can be hard to find, and getting one into good shape can be very expensive.

There are certainly other experimental aircraft that might fit the bill, but you might have a hard time getting a load of fish into most of the 2 seaters on the market. The Rebel really has a lot of room in it that would make it perfect for this mission.

Murphy Aircraft has some good information on their web site right now about the Rebel as an LSA aircraft. http://www.murphyair.com/

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Oh, I should probably mention too that there are a number of Murphy kits in the Mat-Su area, as well as in Anchorage. I'm sure we could find you somebody down there to talk to, who has a kit you can go look at.

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Mike,

I appreciate your input. Its def helps. I did talk a memeber of the EAA group here and he told me abt a Chris Gill that supposdly has info abt home-builts.

I did find this link:

http://www.airbum.com/pireps/PirepRebel160.html

ITs a pilot report for the Rebel and I'm def impressed with it.

Some of the kits come partly completeted or ard 51% done I think.

Thanks agains & I'll chk your links and keep looking. Im building a new house and shop in the vall\ey and hafta get that livable before i can play.

Take care and "keep the shiney side up".

Wm Harvey

Chris has a nice SR2500 on floats that he flies out of Lake Hood. Has the O-540 on it, and is bare aluminum, probably pretty easy to spot if you take a drive around Lake Hood after the ice melts. I used to have some photos of it, but I'm afraid I lost those with the server crash 2 years ago.
Both the Moose and Elite are available in a "fast build" kit, but I'm not aware of the Rebel being offered this way. There is one posted for sale nearly complete on the classifieds site right now though.
http://www.dcsol.com/classifieds/detail.php?siteid=14

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Mike,

So far, I've looked at some nice machines:

The Mermaid looks nice. Might need larger engine for better useful load. I've always wanted a widgeon. Are there other single engine pushers? Here's some intereresting videos:

http://www.skyshops.org/mermaid-main.htm

The Rebel looks good and I really like the SR3500 but doint need that capacity. You must be planning a hauling business.

Also, the BearHawk http://www.airbum.com/pireps/PirepBearhawk260.html
may be an option also.

I getting a workbench from a member of the EEA 42, Rob Spoo. He has oneof those Pietenpol Air Camper kits for sale. He's done some work on it if you know anyone interested.

BR
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That's a pretty neat looking little sea plane, I'll have to look at that some more. One I like the looks of is the SeaRey... http://www.searey.com.

Only planning on hauling friends, family, and moose meat in my Moose... but I'm sure you can imagine what a couple of women could pack into that airplane on a weekend excursion down to Anchorage.

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Mike,

I just looked at the Searay. Very interesting. Be neat to compare its useful load to the others with the floats on. I think the Rebel will beat it tho.

The manual has nos by the dwg but some dont show up on the parts list.

was there significance in the colkored parts vs the black parts. it kinda looked likethe colored parts go inside the black pieces or that may have been just that dwg..

I did talk to a Rebel owner here in Anchorage. Sounded like an old timer. He had wrecked his, but not to bad. Mostly the landing gear on the rough landing. Forgot to turn the other fuel valve on and ran out. poor guy. But he brhght it down safely in w wooded hilly area. He didnt know abt giving me a ride but he may after he gets it fixed. He's had it 10 yrs. but doesnt have that many hrs on it. Must be one of the orig kits.

there's another one in Soldotna im gonna call too.

You know what i aught to do is come up to your place and watch you do some of the nit-picky work for a few hrs to get the mind set of it..Or at least watch someone for awhile to see what is is like.

Too darn bad you cant weld the planes together..Seems likethat wld be faster and stronger..I can do steel but not alum....yet..

Thanks Again,

WRH = Blueraven

I'm sure the Rebel would beat the Searey in useful... it's a much bigger airplane.

Not sure off the top of my head about the manual questions, one thing to consider is that chapter is for an SR2500, but I'm building a Moose, and the Moose has a number of different parts, and a supplemental manual that only addresses the changes between the two... so the parts list may not be completely accurate. I just thought you might like to see what their manual looks like.

You're welcome to come up to Fairbanks and visit, there is a SR2500 builder in the area who is just about ready to fly, so you could get a good look at the finished product... or at least the fuselage, I think he's already moved everything else down to the hanger.

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Thanks Mike for the offer.

You know the start of the 2006 Iditarod may be moved bec of the snow. That isnt determined yet. I was gonna help park and handle the dogs this yr.

If its moved to Fairbanks, Id prob visit you and the other plane and take some pics.

Prob unlikley it wld happen that way tho. The start is such a big deal for the sponsors etc.

I did send an email to that guy Chris Gill abt his seeing his plane and a ride in his plane. Havent heard from him yet. Do you know him? He's an EAA member.

I know if i go to chilliwack i can prob get a ride in the Rebel or at least one of their planes and if i go to Phoenix i can get a ride in a BH.

Thanks again for the advice and info.

Oh i saw the GlaStar and didnt even know hey made fiberglass airplanes like that for the home builder and even short courses and real time kit building schools. Amazing. Guess the prices went up so much its now feasible. Bet the main Aircraft Manuf or loosing some bucks huh?

BR

http://www.ultralightnews.ca/lilbuzzard ... ard582.htm

This plane has almost 1k useful load. Not sure on floats tho?

HAve you seent his aricraft or know anyone that has one on floats?

I drove down to look at Chris' airplane before he had finished it years ago, but that is the only time I've met him... and of course he has been on the builders list for years.

The GlaStar has been around for quite a while, and is a really nice airplane... the fuselage is a welded steel frame with a fiberglass shell, the wings are all aluminum. The perfect engine for this airplane is the Eggenfellner Subaru conversion http://www.eggenfellneraircraft.com/.

The lilbuzzard cannot possibly have 1k useful... I would suspect that the number you saw is the gross. The Rotax 582 is only 60-65 HP depending on the model. You'd never get an airplane with 1k useful off the ground with that! Even your best designs usually weigh at least 1/2 their gross, so lets just say that 1k useful would be around 2k gross... have you ever flown a Cherokee 140? 140 HP and 1950 lbs gross, and an absolute dog! The Cherokee 180 at 2400 lbs gross is a decent flying airplane, but at gross you won't see over 500 fpm climb on a warm day, I can't even imagine what it would be like on floats!

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Mike,

Herr's there web site info: Li'l buzzard

Empty weight ranges from 550 lbs to 770 lbs depending on engine and options

Gross weight ranges from 1200 lbs as an ultralight in Canada to 1500 lbs as an amateur built aircraft

If i subtract 550 from 1500 i get 950 lbs..But thats not apples i bet.

IT prob more like 1500 - 770 = 780 useful load.

I just looked and that is abt the same as the Rebel.
Useful Load (lb.) 700 750 750 607 650a

so the little ultrlite has the same useful load as the reg Rebel.,.

Amazing..so if i add floats to either one i get the same(approx,) usefuol load..

Right or not?


WRH
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I think the key here is that it can be built as a Canadian ultralight, or as an experimental... Remember Canadian ultralight is the same as a US sport airplane... not a US ultralight. The Rebel is the same here in that it can be built as an advanced ultralight in Canada, or as a much heavier experimental.

I'd want to do a little more research before I'd come to the conclusion that these two are comparable, the articles I've seen on the Li'l buzzard in the past paint it to be more like a Kitfox or Avid type airplane. We've had a number of builders on the list who have had one of these airplanes, and are now building a Rebel... according to them, there's no comparison. To quote one builder, "the Kitfox is a nice little airplane, but it's more of a toy, while the Rebel is a real airplane". We also had a Moose builder here in Fairbanks who had flown a Kitfox for years, and he was of the same opinion.

It all depends on what you want... I woudn't hesitate to fly in a Kitfox, I've nothing against them. If that type of airplane meets your mission requirements, then great. It's hard to beat the Rebel if you want a utilitarian work horse. It's built incredibly strong, and has fantastic performance as a STOL bush plane. If you're going to fly off of unimproved strips, and in and around the mountains, make sure your airplane has both the performance and durability to handle it.

Again, I'm not trying to knock the Li'l Buzzard, I've never seen one up close.

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Mike,

I'm not knocking the Rebel and dont want to get stoned form the Rebel builders either

..From everything I've uncovered so far, it seems the BH Co is more organized and together than the Murphy company. I havent seen all the updates and modes etc from the BH company that I have from the Murphy co.

Plus , the BH is 4130 welded tubing. Pretty strong and their open to show the plant and how they weld it up etc ect. Thats impressive.

I have asked some pro metal workers abt the diff of the welded vs riveted systems..If i get an answer Ill let ya know.

As far as the Rebel vs the BH ,I prob aught to be comparing the BH to the
Moose..

Take Care..