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Last Modified November 4th 1996
1st - 9th June Overseas. No building but I did get to fly a Europa and visit the factory. You can get details of this visit here
10th - 17th June Despite my best efforts I haven't been able to spend much time on the plane. Winter arrived and I discovered my nice warm workshop can get quite cold with an Antarctic blast blowing through the gaps in the boards of my garage door. Down to the building supplies to buy some board to line the door. Carol looks skywards (again) as yet more expense gets poured into the plane. She does comment that the garage door looks good however.
My resin pump arrived at last. This is one fantastic toy and one I would now consider mandatory. One additional benefit I have found is that you don't end up with a cup of unset hardener lying around which is inevitable if you use the two cup method of measuring. I did find that I had to manually confirm the setting of the pump by weight as the 29:100 ratio point on the pump was actually pumping too much hardener when I checked the weight with my balance. I keep the pump in an old LP cabinet (remember those round plastic things that made music!) with a 60W lamp underneath to keep the resin warm. When I get around to it I will add a thermostat so it doesn't get too warm in summer - not a problem at the moment I can assure you!
18th June I tidied up a small lump in the rudder leading edge last by cutting back and laying in a small piece of uni. The leading edge now meets my check criteria and is ready for the bid layup. While I was at it I peel plyed the bottom surface lip and bonded on an aluminium rod to keep the edge dead straight while I do the layup. Cutting out the bid to the correct size is an interesting exercise on a narrow cutting bench. I found that the easiest way was to adjust the bid at the end so that the fibres crossed at 90 degrees. measure the correct width of the cut and note which herringbone pattern you have to follow then cut along that line. If you follow the line even if it seems to curve you end up with a piece that is of constant width. The only disadvantage with this method is that after thirty centimetres or so you go crosseyed and have to refocus! Do not do this after your third glass of (very fine New Zealand) wine. If I had more space I would ensure that I have a good sized cutting bench to work with.
The Rudder ready for leading edge closeout
Note the aluminium bar epoxied to peel ply to keep the edge straight. The bid laid out on the bench is lying on cling wrap film for epoxying and then laying onto the rudder wet.
19th -21st June No building, we have visitors at the house and for some reason Carol thinks that spending time on my plane while they are here is being very antisocial. I did get to tidy up the workshop so it looks nice for the inevitable tour following the "You're building a plane in the garage?" question.
Having worked out that it is going to take less than six weeks to finish the tailplane I have reached my go, no go point. I decided early on in this project that I would buy the tailkit as a test of my building skills and then, once I was happy with that then I would decide whether to continue. I am pleased to say that I have decided to continue. Building the Europa has now turned into a labour of love. It is a fantastic plane to fly and I (despite the setback of the rudder) am actually enjoying the build process. I have thrown my original build deadline out of the door and just intend building the plane at my own comfortable pace. My order for the wing kit goes off to Europa tomorrow and I should see it in my workshop in six or seven weeks time.
22nd June The rudder is almost finished other than for fitting the hinges. The leading edge closeout is quite 'fun' to do. I followed the advice of a much more experienced builder and laid up the bid on cling film and then laid it into the closeout. This technique is superb for the first layer but messy for the second where the wet cloth wants to stick to everything. Next time round I would lay the second layer on dry.
23rd June A bit of tidying up of the rudder where I had bonded my straight edge on and then its onto the tailplane.
Today I epoxied the slots on both tailplanes. The Aircraft Spruce industrial syringes are excellent for this job as you can get the epoxy deep into the slit without the dander of leaving a bump on the surface. The syringes are made of slippery plastic that the epoxy won't bond to so you can reuse them afterwards. While the epoxy was drying I got my hobby blowtorch out, heated a rod and made the air vent holes in the lightening holes. To ensure that the jigs are flat on the bench I use strips of double sided tape spaced at 10cm intervals across the bench with the jig stuck onto this. Considering the amount of double sided tape I have used so far I reckon that 3M should give me shares. You will note in the picture that I there is a long piece of tape on the rear closeout. This is to remind myself not to epoxy this gap!
As I had a few hours to wait until the epoxy was well and truly set I decided to work on the tube inserts that go into the inner tailplane cores. These need roughing up a bit to ensure that they grip well. The manual says that they should be sanded with rough paper and then have grooves cut in them with a hacksaw blade. I chose to dimple the surface to give a good grip instead of using the hacksaw blade. Having carefully set up my benchpress to give a correct depth dimple I proceeded to make the surface look like a cylindrical golf ball. You have to be really careful doing this as the last thing you want is to create bumps on the inside surface and prevent the TP4 torque tube from being inserted! I am pleased to report that mine does not have that problem.
24th June Now for the bit I really enjoy - shaping foam.
Having previously made a wooden tip outline during a spare evening I used this to make a pair of cardboard templates which were then attached to the end of each tailplane in turn and the required shape cut out. A line was then drawn on the horizontal surface equidistant between the previously drawn 5.5cm line and the edge. Another line was drawn on the vertical edge surface equidistant between the centre line and the edge. Out with a hacksaw blade and cut a slice of foam out at 45 degrees using these two lines as a guide. Repeat the process drawing three lines this time, one in the middle of the horizontal surface, one in the middle of the 45 degree surface and one in the middle of the vertical surface. Slice the foam twice with the drawn lines as a guide and then take out your handy permagrit sander and have fun. It only took me an hour or so to get two tips that I am really pleased with using this technique.
Having shaped the tips it was time to work on the rebate which I must admit I had been a bit apprehensive about. When I discovered that my Permagrit sanding spline was exactly the right depth for the rebate the job took on a whole new light! I cut a very shallow line with a craft knife blade along the inner edge of the rebate to ensure that I would have a clean edge then proceeded to sand back. Very soon I had a clean rebate at the correct depth and flat to the surface. I didn't quite finish the starboard rebate today as I was told that unless I came in from the garage certain privileges would be withheld for being so antisocial!
25th June I finished off the rebate this evening and then glued in and tidied up the lightening hole plugs.
26th June Sticky stuff time again. This time it is only with 5 minute epoxy (now I know why they give you such a big tube). I glued the TP5 and TP6 tubes which I had previously dimpled into the starboard core being very careful not to get any resin on the torque tube. The manual says that you can align the inner tube by eye but I didn't risk it and measured distances and angles beforehand. While the glue was drying I prepared my ply pieces ready for reinforcing the layup. Once all of that was completed the starboard inner core joined its partner back in the storage area and it was time to start on the port side. Being an observant person I noted that the epoxy holding the rear slit closed had come loose so I had to reapply epoxy to that slit and gave up work in the garage for the evening. As I like to have things to do I spent a bit of time in front of the TV marking out the rudder and flap hinges ready for cutting.
27th June No building tonight. It's our local Sport Aviation Association (EAA Chapter 666) meeting tonight. I want to show off my handiwork so I thought I would walk in with fin under arm. Everyone was impressed though a few tin bashers did wonder why I had brought a surfboard with me.
28th June- 30th June No building - working in California.
