From the Flight Deck

Another quarter has whisked by, and you'd think things would begin to slow down, wouldn't you? After all, it's the dead of winter! But GlaStar and Glasair sales have continued to be strong even right through the Christmas season, which incidentally graced us with one the heaviest snowfalls I have ever seen in the Pacific Northwest. Luckily, we were closed for most of the storm, and it didn't affect business too much, but there were a handful of orders that unfortunately got overlooked or delayed due to the weather. We're sure sorry for the inconvenience.

S-H is a company in transition, and we're growing stronger daily. Since I last wrote, we have instigated many new procedures that have long been needed, such as document control, configuration management, return policies, back order sweeps, improved quality control procedures, etc. We have grown from a "mom and pop" operation in terms of volume to a company that needs more detailed and explicit policies and procedures. Much of the motivation for this has come from the many constructive comments we've received from our customers on our back order and shipping problems. Shipping is definitely on the mend. I received a voice mail message from a GlaStar customer right before our company Christmas party praising us for our recent announcement of our plans to eliminate back orders and shipping errors in the kit. 1 am thankful for the positive feedback and glad to have given hope for the future. Our next big focus with regards to company operations is back orders—a problem that is closely linked to purchasing.

In the engineering department, many things are brewing. Tom Hamilton arrived on January 16th from his Idaho skunkworks with a brand new pair of Aerocet 2200 floats for the GlaStar. Tom and his crew worked throughout the following week installing the floats on our prototype GlaStar, N824G, and on January 24th, the airplane was trailered to a nearby lake for flight testing. First flight off the water was the following day, and testing continues almost non-stop. Initial results are very positive; the GlaStar is quick off the water and seems to have retained excellent flight stability characteristics! Float testing represents the culmination of the GlaStar development program, since this is the mission the airplane was originally conceived for in the first place. Look for a full report on the float installation and testing in the next S-H News.

Here's some news many of you have been waiting patiently for: we have finally reached a decision on the auxiliary fuel tank option for the GlaStar! The tanks will be located between the spars in the outermost bay of each wing, and it looks most likely that they will be roto-molded plastic tanks rather than aluminum. The wing tip location proved to be the best from many standpoints, including safety, ease of installation and especially the ability to be retrofitted with a minimum of hassle to already flying airplanes. The plastic tanks will also offer decided advantages in terms of safety, durability and cost. Details of the aux fuel system still need to be worked out, but we're knocking them off our list at a fast pace. I anticipate some sort of auxiliary transfer pumps and of course additional plumbing for fuel lines and vents.

In other news, S-H just received another NASA Phase I SBIR research grant for continued research into crashworthy fuselage structure as it relates to cockpits and cowlings. We also continue to be involved in the NASA AGATE program with further research into certification issues such as lower cost fuselage structure and lightning protection. This is a Very beneficial program for general aviation.

Continued on Page 47 . . .

by Bob Gavinsky

President

An Anglo-American GlaStar

An exciting "GlaStar Build Challenge" has been set up by Stephen Wood, president of the newly formed EAA U.K. Chapter 1168 and chairman of the GreenHawk Trust, a not-for-profit charitable trust that intends to establish Anglo-American exchange links for kids with an interest in flight. The GreenHawk Trust is already approved in the U.S. by the Charities Aid Foundation America under IRS rules to receive tax-deductible donations. Construction of a GlaStar will begin as soon as the kit arrives in mid-February, and our volunteer builders intend to have the aircraft completed in ninety days!

Why the build challenge? Well, the answer's simple: the GlaStar is to be used exclusively for GreenHawk's "Aviation in the Community" flights and similar programs involving giving disabled and life-limited kids the transport experience of a lifetime. For example, GreenHawk hopes to work extensively with the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation International to let the many kids who suffer from diabetes experience the joys of flight. This will be an incentive for the kids to get their illness under control, for it is usually a lifelong illness, and the latest FAA ruling to grant medical waivers for insulin users could prove a great opportunity for many young people with diabetes to get involved in flying. After all, without tight control of blood sugar levels, the medical waiver will be withdrawn, and good control means fewer health problems in future years.

What will happen to the GlaStar when it's been built? For the first event, we have received an invitation from RAF Lyneham, the U.K. home of the Hercules, to take a group of thirty kids as guests of the base. The kids will be

driven from their hospice to Lyneham in an historic double-deck bus. They will then have a tour of the base, and we have received permission to fly the kids on their GlaStar flights directly from Lyneham on what will be a busy operational day. Other events are being arranged, including a behind-the-scenes look at the Concorde, linked with rides in Ferrari sports cars and then flights in the GlaStar and other aircraft.

Wow, let's give this worthwhile program all the help we can! Support for the build challenge is being received from many major aviation equipment suppliers, and the team at Stoddard-Hamilton is right in there with support. Anyone interested in helping with the GlaStar Build Challenge or in working with the Aviation in the Community program on a more involved basis should contact me by calling or faxing 44-1423-509777, or by e-mailing <100630.457@compuserve.com>.

Stephen Wood President of EAA U.K. Chapter 1168 and Chairman of the GreenHawk Trust

Glasair Has the Right Stuff

I just wanted to follow up on my meeting with Bob Gavinsky and Grant Semanske when they were here showing off S-H's Glasair III recently. I had done quite a bit of research prior to seeing them, including flying with Ed Pitrolo of Houston in his beautiful Glasair III, so by the time I saw N540LP, I was actually more interested in getting a feel for the people and the organization behind the airplane. I was duly impressed.

As a result, I have purchased my first kit of the Glasair III series. It's due to arrive next week and I 'm excited about

both the end product and the opportunity to work with my own hands and develop new skills in the process.

Greg Harbaugh NASA Space Shuttle astronaut Houston, TX, Glasair III

Editor j note: Greg is slated to make his fourth flight into orbit as a mission specialist aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery on February 13. On behalf of all of us at S-H, welcome to the team, Greg, and good luck!

A Happy Ending Beginning

My son, James Eliason, recently ordered a GlaStar. This doesn't marry us into the S-H family, but a tail kit should at least be good for a "trial engagement" and permit a letter to the editor.

I'm writing in response to Ted Setzer's "Blast from the Past" series in this newsletter. These stories not only give a very interesting insight into where S-H came from but also how it got there. People feel a kinship when they read a frank description of the struggles of a couple of would-be dentists and their families and friends. People automatically feel such a group deserves trust. Those stories will sell airplanes.

They also bring up memories of my own youth. I especially identify with the "Pig Farm" years. My own stove blast (Editor's note: See S-H News No. 60) took place in Italy during WW II, where I was a B-17 mechanic.

The Air Force had furnished us with six-man tents, but heat never entered their minds. They must have been reading the tourist literature about sunny Italy.

. and a

Air Mail Being innovative, we quickly built our own heating system. Was it fueled by coal or wood? Nope! One hundred octane gasoline!

The stove was a 100 gallon steel barrel cut in half. The open side sat on the dirt floor in the middle of the tent. A crude hole was chopped in the top of the barrel, and for a stove pipe, a length of 6" pipe was appropriated from the engineers who were laying a fuel supply line. It was quite heavy and held the drum securely to the ground. The top extended through the flap at the peak of the tent.

The fuel system was gravity-feed, the gravity obtained by fixing a five-gallon can atop a stack of empty bomb tail containers. A pipe from the can went down the side of the tent and into a trench across the floor, where it emptied into the soil under the center of the barrel. The line had a valve that we adjusted by trial and error to set the flow. If the flow got too heavy, the barrel would start to dance, even with the heavy pipe holding it down. Sounds dangerous, but it worked very well.

One day, the supply tank went dry and the fire went out. One of my tent mates went down to the flight line and returned with a can of gasoline. He filled the supply tank without thinking about turning the valve off. The bottom edge of the barrel had a 6" square hole in it for air and for lighting the stove. It faced the tent door. My buddy bent down, looked into the hole and threw in a match.

The blast blew him completely out the tent doorway and into the street. The stove lifted off like the space shuttle and achieved separation from the stove pipe. The top of the tent caught fire, and dirt, smoke and flames were everywhere. The fire fizzled quickly, but it sure was exciting. The stove lighter was not badly hurt, but it took quite a while for his eyebrows to grow back. The joke around camp was that the stoves were more liable to kill us than the enemy. To make things worse, the squadron

commander noted that we would be buying the Army a new tent, but he never did follow up on it.

After the war I returned to the home farm in Illinois. In my case, it was not an ex-pig farm, but a cow farm, and the cows were very much present. Aircraft mechanics were a dime a dozen, so I started farming again. I learned to fly on the GI Bill and bought a new Ercoupe. A neighbor loaned me his hayfield to use as a temporary landing field. I landed there one evening after a trip to Ohio and, walking over to his farmhouse to use the phone, I met the neighbor's lovely daughter. We were married a year later.

So, I had my own landing strip and hangar, a new plane, a new Buick, a new wife and, a couple years later, a new baby boy, James. It would seem like a pretty ideal situation. It was not. It was a seven-day-a-week job that left me no time to enjoy any of the above toys or to spend quality time with my wife and son. Finally, after twelve years, I said enough was enough. I sold the plane, bought a Spartan trailer, and we headed for California. We left some very unhappy parents behind who were certain we were crazy.

I attended Northrup Aeronautical College in Inglewood, California, and obtained my A&P ticket. I then spent about ten years with A e r o j e t General on their company fleet, a couple with a f r e i g h t e r company, and my last fifteen years with McDonnel l Douglas at Long Beach. These were the very best. Five years

were in overhaul and repair, some of it out of the country, rebuilding wrecks in Paris and South America. A couple of years went to sheet-metal development on the DC-10, and all the rest of my time was spent in the Flight Test Division. To this day, I watch DC-9s and DC-10s take off and say, "Gee, I was part of their success!"

Well! Here I am, ten years into contented retirement. My ex-baby boy is now 46 and a senior agent with the U.S. Border Patrol. He will need a good plane when he retires in about four years. My lovely wife is still with me and wondering what is taking me so long on this keyboard.

Everyone likes happy endings, so here's one for the Stoddard-Hamilton family: Do you recall the old cow farm that 1 left with much disgust? It lies right next to the city limits of the old home town . Its value has increased twenty times over in the last fifty years, and guess who inherited it? Your first guess is right, and he's buying his son a GlaStar.

Gee! I hope he'll let me drive a couple rivets!

Orville Eliason Financial Adviser and Head Riveter Ontario, CA

If you've called our Option Sales Department lately, chances are you've already had a chance to meet the newest member of the S-H team, GlaStar builder Harry DeLong. A recent retiree from the Missoula, Montana, police department, Harry has done a remarkably quick job of learning the ropes and integrating himself into the hectic routine of the sales desk.

How does one go from respected lawman to beleaguered S-H employee, you ask? Harry explains: "I started out assisting Missoula builder Cap Smith with his GlaStar tail. I always thought airplane construction was 'black magic,' but when I saw the parts and the manuals together and had a chance to get my feet wet, I decided it wasn't brain surgery and took the plunge.

"Two months later, on April 12, 1996, 1 took delivery of my GlaStar. I had the rudder completed in a week, twenty-three hours of construction time—a very motivating first part. Whenever I had a question or needed a part, I would call parts or builder support and just say hello, thinking they would remember me because I called on such a regular basis. I naively thought I was the only builder who called! I was very, very wrong!

"So how did I go from builder to employee? Purely by accident! Talking to Option Sales Manager Roy Matson one Wednesday, I happened to ask him

if there were ever any jobs at S-H. It seems that just the day before Ted Setzer had started searching for someone to assist option and kit sales.

"By Friday, I had talked my way into an interview, conducted between a never-ending series of phone calls. The phone just rings off the hook here. During the course of the day, I was able to put faces with many of the names and voices I had become acquainted with over the previous six months.

"I had tried to fly the GlaStar at Oshkosh in both '95 and '96, but the list

had always been full. Finally, at the end of my interview day, Ted gave me the chance to fly it for the first time. Absolutely no disappointment! The day ended with Ted inviting me to join his family for a great meal home-cooked by his wife, Kari. S-H really is one big family. Two weeks later, I was on the payroll.

"Well, I've been answering the phones for about three months now, and let me tell you, it's difficult to remember who I talked to from one hour to the next, let alone day to day or week to week. Thank God for Post-It Notes!"

Harry has relocated his GlaStar (which is at the "75% finished, 75% to go" stage) to the S-H hangar, and the sounds of his drill and rivet gun fill the lunch break almost every day. He intends to fly it to Sun n' Fun in April and to Alaska this summer. As a CFII with every rating known to man, it's a good bet that Harry will become a regular member of S-H's airshow team, so say hello when you see him!

And if Harry's glamorous tale piques your interest, it just happens that S-H is currently looking for another past or present builder interested in coming on board to work in option sales. Harry has done so well we want another one just like him! If you're interested or know someone who might be, please call Ted Setzer or Roy Matson.

Lycoming Offers

Engine School for

Owners/Pilots

Textron Lycoming, in conjunction with Pennsylvania College of Technology, offers a four-day "mechanics' refresher course" on the company's line of piston aircraft engines. The course is open to anyone with an interest in Lycoming engines—not just professional mechanics—and no specific prior knowledge is assumed or required. The course covers engine construction, operation, servicing and inspection. Specific topics include crankshafts, crankcases, valve trains, camshafts, starter ring gears, piston and connecting rod assemblies, exhaust systems, oil systems, ignition systems, induction systems, fuel systems and turbochargers. The course can be used for IA renewal per FAR 65.93 (a)(4).

Twenty-two separate course sessions will be offered throughout 1997. Each session consists of four consecutive eight-hour days. Classes are held at the Lycoming County/Montoursville Airport in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. Tuition is $400, which includes all course materials and a one-year subscription to all Lycoming service bulletins, letters and instructions. Students are responsible for their own transportation, meals and lodging.

For more information, call (717) 327-4775 or fax (717) 321-5546.

New Insurance

Alternative for

Glasair III Owners

With the discontinuation of the specialized Glasair III training formerly offered by Professional Instrument Courses, Inc., and the continued requirement on the part of AVEMCO for annual recurrency training, many Glasair

I l l owners are finding themselves between a rock and a hard place when it comes to insuring their aircraft. S-H continues to pursue new insurance options for owners of Glasair IIIs and other S-H aircraft, and along these lines, we're pleased to announce that the Falcon Insurance Agency of Arizona, Inc., has expressed a strong interest in discussing the insurance needs of Glasair III owners.

Falcon is currently setting up a Glasair insurance program through Commercial Aviation (COMAV). As of this writing, the complete program is not yet in place, but Falcon representatives are able to give premium quotes at this time. COMAV does not require special annual inspection of the aircraft to be insured or recurrent pilot training. In addition, Falcon reports that COMAV's rates are typically lower than AVEMCO's. (Of course, S-H recommends professional transition training for Glasair III pilots with modest high-performance time and recurrent training for all pilots, regardless of insurance requirements.)

Falcon operates seven offices across the United States. For more information and for the location of the office nearest you, call the main office in Scottsdale, Arizona, at (800) 880-3597. Ask for Eric Pfister or Terry Miller.

Continental

Announces 1997

Engine Prices

Teldyne Continental has released its 1997 Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) pricing schedule for new engines, and S-H is thus now able to publish its price for the 1O-240-B6B, the Continental engine recommended for the GlaStar. The new price for engines delivered before December 31, 1997, is $14,570.00. This engine comes with an alternator, oil cooler, oil filter adapter, air/oil separator, temperature control valve, engine mount vibration isolators, magnetos, ignition harness, spark plugs and fuel injection system; it does not

Continued on Page 39 . . .

Alert: Taxman Stalks Aircraft Buyers

A recent call from a distraught GlaStar builder alerted us to a serious situation that every kit purchaser should be aware of. This builder had received a letter from his state department of revenue demanding back sales tax and significant penalties on the purchase of his kit. The state auditor had learned of the purchase by consulting FAA records, which recorded the builder's application for an "N" number.

This builder certainly did not intend to evade taxes, but he had been unaware of his state's requirement that all out-of-state purchases be declared and that sales tax be paid on them. There may be exceptions to this law, but we suspect most states with a sales tax have such a law on the books.

Naturally, the task of monitoring and taxing out-of-state purchases is extremely difficult, and most states seem to rely on the honor system. However, this incident clearly shows that auditors target their enforcement efforts on "big-ticket" purchases like aircraft and that in this age of electronic information, their job is becoming increasingly easy.

We strongly urge all builders to acquaint themselves with the relevant tax law in their states to ensure that they receive no nasty surprises from the state revenue office.

Glasairs Set Record Pace at Kilo Trials

Glasair pilots achieved world-record speeds while taking some of the top places in the Kilo Trials, held November 30, 1996, in Buckeye, Arizona. The trials were the concluding event of the 1996 Rutan and Composite Enthusiasts (R.A.C.E.) racing season.

At last year's Kilo Trials, Dan Denney of Nampa, Idaho, became the first Glasair pilot to exceed 300 m.p.h. in level flight, posting a speed of 300.60 m.p.h. on his way to a first- place finish. This year, with Dan tied up putting the f i n i s h i n g touches on his m u c h - a n t i c i p a t e d 75%-scale Papa 51 Thunder Mustang, John Parker of Torrance, California, ably took up the challenge of securing the win for Glasair, and in the process, bettered Dan's mark by more than 5 m.p.h. John's speed of 305.70 m.p.h. is the fastest independently timed, level-flight

speed ever recorded by a Glasair. (Dan, meanwhile, has successfully test flown his Mustang. Congratulations, Dan!)

Second place for the second year running went to Dan Wright in his Swearingen SX-300. Wright improved

on his 1995 speed by more than 3 m.p.h., but it was not enough to overcome Parker's blazing III. In close third place was Mike Jones of Garden Grove, California, with a speed of 298.46 m.p.h. Mike must surely be able

to taste 300 m.p.h. from there—it can only be a matter of time before his becomes the third III to break the 300 m.p.h. barrier!

As significant as Parker's new record was, an equally important mark was set

by Tom Taylor of La Crescenta, California, in his Glasair II-S RG. In taking fifth place in the unlimited Kilo

T r i a l s compe t i t i on ,

Tom posted a speed of 261.21 m.p. h., the fastest level-flight speed ever recorded for a

four-cylinder Glasair. Clearly, Tom's Oshkosh Grand Champion N24TX is not just another pretty face!

Hot on Tom's heels was Roger Heisdorffer of

Taylor, Arizona, in his Glasair II RG, with a speed of 258.69 m.p.h. Considering that Roger's 180 h.p. IO-360 gives up twenty horses to Tom's engine, Tom can't be resting too easily on that slim 2-1/2 m.p.h. cushion!

8

GlasNews

Congratulations to both Tom and Roger for outstanding performances!

In other (but related) news, John Parker, with the help of his American Air Racing team (which includes Tom Taylor), qualified his III earlier this fall in the Unlimited Class at the 1996 Reno International Air Races. John's qualifying speed of 296 m.p.h. probably didn't cause too much lost sleep in the "Rare Bear" or "Strega" camps, but who'd have thought a puny, 300 h.p. homebuilt would ever turn the sacred pylons with those fire-breathing warbirds? The spirit and determination shown by John and his teammates make them winners in our book!

The R.A.C.E. group is always looking for new competitors, no prior experience necessary. For information on the 1997 season, 691-0515.

Place Pilot Aircraft Engine Speed

1st John Parker, Torrance, CA Glasair III IO-540 305.70 m.p.h.

2nd Dan Wright SX-300 IO-540 303.45 m.p.h.

3rd Mike Jones, Garden Grove, CA Glasair III 10-540 298.46 m.p.h.

4th Bob Kelliher Lancair IV TIO-550 287.93 m.p.h.

5th Tom Taylor, La Crescenta, CA Glasair II-S RG IO-360 261.21 m.p.h.

6th Roger Heisdorffer, Taylor, AZ Glasair II RG IO-360 258.69 m.p.h.

7th Ron Cook Lancair 360 IO-360 239.73 m.p.h.

8th Gus Sabo Long-EZ O-320 230.26 m.p.h.

9th Gary Hertzler Varieze 0-235 227.06 m.p.h.

10th Mark Kraft Cozy O-320 224.25 m.p.h.

(Editor's note: This story was written from a report provided by Tom Taylor. Thanks, Tom!)

Glasair N93BW Makes Video Debut

A recent training video shot for the Exxon Corporation featured N93BW, a very sharp Glasair II FT belonging to Bruce and Tina Williams of Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

The video, which will be distributed to Exxon facilities worldwide for unit safety training, uses depictions of a pilot's flight-planning, pre-flight inspections and in-flight procedures as analogies for the kind of meticulous, cautious, safety-oriented behavior Exxon wants to instill in its chemical plant operators. The professionally shot video thus features not only N93BW, but Bruce himself, acting out all the pre-flight activities up to and including take-off from the beautiful grass strip where the airplane lives. Individual sections of (he video are separated by high-speed fly-bys of the Glasair.

Bruce found the experience of being a movie star to be "a lot of fun," and commented that "most of the filming crew said they had never seen an airplane of this size, quality or speed!"

Bruce and Tina are currently building a GlaStar, which we look forward to seeing on the small screen someday soon!

Young Eagles

GlaStar Enjoys No

Winter Vacation

With work progressing smoothly on EAA Young Eagles GlaStar No. 2, the original has been working hard, flying Young Eagles almost every weekend from EAA's Pioneer Airport. Most of EAA's fleet is pretty much grounded during the winter months when Oshkosh weather turns severe, but EAA Air Adventure Museum Director Tom

Barrett reports that N231YE just keeps coming back for more. Thus, for the first time ever, Young Eagles activities will continue unabated at Oshkosh through the winter.

RSVPs Due Feb. 1 for Scottsdale Bash

Don't forget: the "First Annual St. Valentine's Day-and-a-Half Glasair Fly-In" will be held February 15 at Scottsdale Airpark in Scottsdale, Arizona. Free food and secured aircraft parking will be available on the airport, and nearby overnight accommodations can be arranged.

Please RSVP no later than February 1 to Lynn Babcock, fax: (602) 922-0839; phone: (602) 922-9945. Please include name, phone number, number of guests, whether you'll be flying in or driving, and whether you'll need overnight accommodations.

contact Shirl Dickey at (602)

by Christian Klix

Customer Support

Tech-Talk

Glasair Super II Weight and Balance

We are hearing about more and more Super II completions, and we'd like to report what we're finding. The Super II's engine is mounted 6" further forward of the wing than it was on the II-S to accommodate the wide variation in the level and type of equipment being installed. One extreme would be an RG with lots of avionics behind the baggage bulkhead and a light O-320 with a wooden prop. The other extreme would be an FT with a 200 h.p. engine and constant-speed prop.

In the first example the builder might wish to install his battery on the firewall to keep the CG as close to the forward limit as possible, thereby providing more baggage-carrying capacity. In the second example, the heavy engine and prop already put the CG fairly far forward. In this case, if the battery were hung on the firewall, it would most likely push the CG too far forward. In one recent call, a builder reported that he had put his twenty-pound battery on the firewall and found his CG was at least 4" forward of the forward limit. I ran his numbers on my Excel program and confirmed his calculations. I then ran some additional numbers with his battery relocated to Station

184, which is about even with the static ports. This put the forward CG right at the limit, which is ideal for the best longitudinal stability profile and baggage-carrying capability.

I present this calculation below in hopes that perhaps it will help you determine the optimal location for your battery.

GlaStar Elevator

Several builders have reported trouble getting proper edge distance on the rivets that secure the elevator hinges. Some of them have purchased hinge material that is 1-3/4" wide and used that instead of what is supplied in the kit, but this is obviously not an ideal solution.

In studying the problem, we've determined that it stems primarily from the hinges being positioned too far aft—i.e., with the hinge centerline too far away from the edge of the horizontal stabilizer skins. This problem was addressed in the ANOR OF 7/1/96.

Another contributing factor we found is that the horizontal skins are not fitting far enough aft to put the rivet line close enough to the trailing edge of the aft spar flange. To correct the fit of the skins, the nose ribs should be modified. Trim back the nose rib flanges as much as is required (up to 1/2") to allow the skins to move back to the point where things start to line up better and the aft rivet holes have proper edge distance to the hinge flanges.

Note: It is important to keep the spars straight. Before drilling, use a string or a long straightedge to check that the aft spar is straight. If the aft spar is straight, the forward spar will also be straight.

If the rivet holes have already been drilled through the spar and elevator hinges, and their edge distances are not correct, drill an additional #40 rivet hole staggered aft between each existing #30 hole, doubling up on the rivets. Use 3/32" rivets for the extra holes. (Editor's note: GlaStar Service Bulletin 19 also addresses this problem. It was mailed to all builders on

Continued on Next Page . . . 10

by Christian Klix

Customer Support

Accident Briefs

As FAA and NTSB accident reports can take up to one year to be published, advance notices of accidents in this column do not contain all the facts and information necessary to draw definitive conclusions about the incidents reported. Rather, these accounts are intended to bring the circumstances surrounding the incidents to the attention of the reader in the sole interest of promoting safety. These reports are not intended to judge the ability or capacity of any person, living or dead, or of any aircraft or accessory. Stoddard-Hamilton appreciates the willingness of its customers to share the details of their experiences so that similar outcomes might be avoided by others.

Glasair III Nose Gear Actuator Rod Incident

On takeoff, a Glasair ill pilot noticed that his nose gear transit light did not go out. He slowed the aircraft and, on attempting to extend the gear, noticed that the nose gear green light did not come on and the transit light stayed on. After about fifteen minutes, the nose gear green light eventually came on, and the pilot landed without incident.

On inspection it was found that the nose gear actuator rod had separated at the base of its threads. The nose gear extension springs had pulled the gear down against the air resistance and

held it in a locked down position. The aircraft has the early Glasair 111 gear extension system with dual micro-switches on the nose gear drag brace.

The cause of this failure is not yet known. However, if interference exists during retraction between the nose gear actuator and the drag brace, this would put a side load on the actuator rod, which could cause an eventual failure. It may be prudent for Glasair III owners to check this installation to insure that no interference exists. The owner of the aircraft involved in this incident is checking for this condition but has not reported any findings at the time of this writing.

Tech-Talk Continued from Previous Page

January 22, 1997. received a copy.)

Please write or call if you have not Builder Hints from the Net

GlaStar Building Sequence

Some builders have wondered if they could skip ahead and mount their landing gear before they get to the point of mounting their wings. Such builders may not have the space at this time to mount and rig the wings and flight controls, or they may simply wish to be able to roll the fuselage around on its gear for greater convenience.

The only reason we sequenced the gear installation after the wing mounting and control rigging is so that the fuselage would sit lower to the ground during work on the wings. This makes it much easier to route all the cables and such. If the airplane is sitting on its gear, all this the work has to be done on step ladders or a platform.

So, the answer is yes—go ahead and install you gear first if you prefer. You also have the option of installing and then removing the gear legs and setting the fuselage back down on the ground for fitting the wings.

Here are some excellent builder hints I gleaned off the Glastarnet that apply equally well to both GlaStar and Glasair projects.

To ease the process of repeatedly leveling the fuselage, Bob Skinner suggests leveling it as instructed in the Manual, and then body-puttying a "bull's eye" level on the bottom of the fuselage in the seat pan area. The fuselage can then be easily leveled in each axis to within a few tenths of a degree.

Paul Hansen offered these suggestions: When installing K1000-08 nutplates, don't drill the center hole with a #19 bit immediately. Instead, drill it to #30; then use a 1/8" Cleco to hold it in place while you drill the #40 rivet holes. Finally, drill the center hole up to #19 before you rivet in the nutplate. For larger, K1000-3 nutplates, use one size larger relatively.

Paul also discusses using a rivet shaver to shave down the protruding stems of pop rivets. To avoid scratching the skin when shaving these stems, cover the line of rivets with 2" masking tape. Then shave with your caged microstop countersink to the desired level. Remove the tape after completion. Without the tape, no matter how tightly you hold the tool, shavings get under the collar and scratch the skin.

11

by Cal Spangler

Customer Support

Hangar Notebook

As more and more GlaStar builders get close to flying, we naturally have been receiving more and more questions on avionics installation. In this quarter's Hangar Notebook, Cal Spangler looks into the issues related to antenna installation.

Depending of course on how you equip your GlaStar panel, there are several antennas you may need to install on your airplane. Most common will be COM, NAV, transponder and GPS antennas. Full IFR installations will also require antennas for the glideslope, marker beacon and/or DME receivers.

For that streamlined look, we recommend using copper foil dipole antennas for the COM and marker beacon installations. These are available from S-H, as is a copper foil FM antenna for in-flight entertainment. See your GlaStar Options Catalog for details.

Instructions for assembling the dipole antennas are included in the antenna kits, but a little more detail on installation procedures might be useful. Your COM antenna should be mounted inside the vertical fin as described in Step 4 of Assembly Manual "SECTION VII: FUSELAGE ASSEMBLY." Be sure that the active element of the antenna—that is, the one connected to the central conductor of the triaxial cable—is the upper one.

The marker beacon antenna is installed lengthwise on the fuselage sidewall, preferably on the opposite side of the aircraft from the COM antenna and its cable. The aft end of the antenna should be right up against Bulkhead B; it doesn't matter which element is placed aft and which forward. Extending the antenna elements forward, you'll quickly discover that it's too long to be completely unfurled between Bulkheads B and A. The solution? Cut a slot in Bulkhead A and keep going! Of course, if you can install the antenna first and the bulkhead afterwards, that's simpler.

Our copper foil dipole antennas have a self-stick adhesive backing on one side of the foil, which helps position the elements initially inside the fuselage. Lay out the location of the antenna and use duct tape to secure the triax cable, the ferrite beads and the central connection between the foils in the middle of the line. Then peel the backing off one foil at a time as you unroll it away from the center and stick it to the fuselage side. Stick the second foil element in a direct line with the first, but be sure there's a gap of 1/4" between the ends of the two elements.

The adhesive on the foil is solely to help you position the elements where they belong. To permanently attach them to the airframe, cover the entire length of both elements as well

as the junction between them with a 1" wide strip of bi-directional cloth and resin. Cable routing will be discussed below, but before laminating the bonding strip over the foil elements, make sure the triax departs from the junction between them at a 90° angle. It should continue in this direction for at least 4-6" before making any bends.

Transponder and DME antennas can be either of the fin or post type. S-H doesn't sell these antennas, but they're widely available from avionics retailers. For successful operation, these antennas require a "ground plane." In a conventional aluminum airplane, the structure itself serves as a ground plane, but in the composite GlaStar, the builder must provide a separate ground plane made out of aluminum sheet.

In the initial release of the GlaStar Assembly Manual, mention was made of an S-H "Ground Plane Option Kit." A part number was even given for ordering. Well, this proved to be a little premature! When we got to thinking about how simple a ground plane is, we began to feel kind of sheepish about planning to sell a "kit" for it. So, this is no longer a live option, and it will be eliminated from the Manual in the next revision.

Here's how to make your own ground plane. All it is is a piece of aluminum sheet, ideally mounted between the cage and the fuselage shells under the seat pans. The transponder and DME antennas each require a plane of about 250 square inches in area. This works out to about an 18" diameter circle. The plane doesn't have to be round, however, and you could go as large as 32" square and mount both the transponder and DME antennas to the same plane; this kind of sharing works fine as long as each antenna has sufficient area. In general, the larger the plane, the more efficient the antenna's transmission or reception.

You wouldn't want to make your ground plane out of aluminum foil, but it doesn't need to be very thick or heavy either—we recommend using sheet between .016" and .025" in thickness. Any alloy will do just fine, so while we'd be happy to sell you an expensive sheet of aircraft-grade aluminum (e.g., P/N 750-0610-003, .025" X 24" X 24" 6061-T6, $16.92 plus shipping—ouch!), I'd check the scrap bin at my local heating and air conditioning contractor if it were my airplane!

If you can get your ground plane in before you screw the shells

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Hangar Notebook

SUGGESTED ANTENNA LOCATIONS

to the cage, then just size and shape your plane to pick up three or four of the screw locations and use those to fasten the plane in place. If you're using nylon washers at those screw locations, put them on top of the plane so that it sits tight against the inside of the shell.

If you already have your shells screwed to the cage, don't fret. You can either unscrew a few screws and slip a plane into place, or you can leave all the screws alone and easily slip a 15" X 17" (i.e., 255 square inch) ground plane into the cage structure immediately aft of the taildragger main gear sockets. Use hardware-store pop rivets to rivet the plane to the inner laminates of the shell every 6" or so, and you're all set.

With your ground plane(s) in place, drill from outside the fuselage to mount the antenna(s) according to the manufacturer's instructions. As far as location goes, the transponder antenna is best located on the pilot's side about 8" left of the aircraft centerline. This keeps it out of the exhaust trail. The DME, if installed, should be mounted the same distance from the centerline on the co-pilot's side; it will just have to suffer some exhaust fouling.

If you install a GPS antenna (which is definitely recommended for best results even with a handheld unit), it should be mounted as high as possible, which means centered between the skylights about 9" aft of the windshield. It may be possible to get acceptable results with the antenna mounted inside the fuselage between the wing-fold hatches, but GPS antennas are

essentially line-of-sight antennas, and having cage structure forward of the internally mounted antenna would cut down on its horizon somewhat. We haven't tested this installation, and for the tiny amount of drag the external antenna would contribute, it's probably not worth the degradation in satellite reception to mount it inside.

For optimal results, you should install a small ground plane for your GPS antenna. This can be pop-riveted to the inner laminates of the top deck directly under the antenna location. The GPS ground plane doesn't need to be any bigger than about 6" in diameter, and in fact, it appears that we entirely forgot to install a ground plane in N824G, our prototype, with no apparent ill effects. It may be that the cage structure acts as a ground plane for this antenna. In any case, if the installation works well without a ground plane, it should work even better with one.

This brings us to the last two antennas you're likely to want, the VOR and the glideslope. We are recommending the use of a "cat-whisker" type of dipole antenna, which is widely available from avionics suppliers or big homebuilder supply houses like Wicks or Aircraft Spruce. You can either use a separate antenna for your VOR and glideslope receivers, or you can use a "splitter." which plugs into the NAV antenna cable at the avionics rack and takes its signal for the glideslope receiver from there.

The cat-whisker antenna(s) can be mounted on the top of the

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Hangar Notebook

vertical fin and/or under the aft fuselage of the airplane. The latter location is obviously not as practical for taildraggers or floatplanes. The "whiskers" of the antenna can point either forward or aft—the radios don't care a bit. Aesthetically, most seem to agree that aft-pointing antennas look faster, but if you mount an aft-pointing cat-whisker antenna on top of the fin of your taildragger, watch out for the pre-flight eye-poker you've created!

Cat-whisker antennas from different manufacturers have slightly different shapes and mounting schemes, but in almost all cases, there will be a pair of holes—usually #10s—in the central "puck" to accommodate 10-32 bolts or screws. If you're installing the antenna under the belly, simply drill through the fuselage shell and use AN970-3 large-area washers and AN364-1032A nylon self-locking nuts to secure the antenna in place.

If you're putting the antenna atop the fin, MF5000-3 or K1000-3 nutplates are more appropriate, since you won't have any access to the underside of the fin rib for conventional nuts. If you know you want to install a cat-whisker antenna on your fin before you bond the fin rib in place, simply lay up two layers of bi-directional glass on the underside of the rib and pop rivet the nutplates in place to these laminates before bonding the rib into the fin. (Note: the initial release of the Assembly Manual calls out a single layer of cloth on the underside of the rib for antenna installations, but two layers would probably be better.) Also, before bonding the rib in place, be sure the cut small notches in the fin shells for the cat whiskers and check to see how far below the top of the fin the rib must be located to ensure adequate clearance between the antenna puck and the rudder. Some antennas may require the rib to be located a bit lower than the 3/4" called out in the Manual.

But what if you already bonded your vertical fin rib in place without any laminates on the underside before you decided you wanted an antenna there? No sweat! From a scrap piece of aluminum—something between .040" and .063" thick would be about right—cut a backing plate about 1-1/2" wide and a bit long than the antenna puck is in diameter. Drill holes in this plate for the antenna connector(s) and the mounting screws. Then drill small holes in each corner of the plate for #6 or #8 sheet-metal screws. Next, use this plate as a template to drill matching holes for the connectors, mounting screws and sheet-metal screws through the vertical fin rib. Finally, rivet nutplates to one side of the plate at the mounting screw locations.

Drop a string through the center hole in the fin rib to fish the backing plate up from below. Hold the plate in position under the rib by engaging the antenna mounting screws in the nutplates, and then use long sheet-metal screws in the four

corner holes to fix it there permanently. You might want to use washers under the heads of the sheet-metal screws to prevent them from pulling through the single layer of glass on top of the rib.

Most cat-whisker VOR antennas come with BNC connectors, but some simply have a pair of threaded studs for attaching the cable. In the latter case, simply connect the central conductor of the antenna cable to one stud and the shielding to the other—it doesn't matter which goes with which.

If your antenna comes with cable, chances are it will be coax with a female BNC connector already in place on one end. However, Stoddard-Hamilton sells triaxial cable for all our antenna installations. We've found that the extra layer of outer shielding provides better protection against interference from stray RF emissions. If you're using triax, the procedure for connecting a BNC connector is slightly non-standard. It's too much to outline here, but all of Stoddard-Hamilton's antenna installation kits come with instructions for using BNC connectors with triax. These instructions are also available separately for a nominal charge; order P/N 631-0195-066.

The last consideration is the routing of the antenna cables from the various antenna locations to the avionics stack. First, the COM and transponder cables should be run as far separately from other cables as is practical, because they are transmitting antennas. The COM cable should preferably run down the right side of the fuselage, go under the upholstery in the baggage compartment, under the cage and right-hand floorboard, and up the right-hand fuselage sidewall to the radio. The transponder and DME cables can run straight forward from the antenna to the firewall, passing under the rudder pedal weldments, and then up and over to the radios. All other cables can be routed as convenient and bundled together with most other wiring. However, don't bundle any of them with the strobe light wiring; this is what causes that annoying "bleep bleep bleep" often heard in headsets.

More hints: the optimal minimum separation between transmitting cables is 18", but this is just a guideline. There are obviously places where that isn't possible. Don't cross any cables or other wiring over the foil elements of any dipole antenna. For maximum performance, the length of the cable of any dipole antenna, including the pigtail out of the radio rack, should be an even multiple of twice the length of one of the foil elements. The length of transponder, DME and GPS antenna cables isn't critical; in general, keeping these cables as short as possible will give the best results. If you have excess cable, secure it in coils of not less than 10" in diameter. Finally, avoid making very sharp bends in antenna cables, as internal damage may occur.

14

lying across the Atlantic in a single-engine general aviation aircraft isn't

too great a novelty these days, but when the aircraft in question is a brand-new homebuilt, there's a little more intrinsic drama than there would be if it were just another Cessna. And when the homebuilt is a GlaStar with a little Continental IO-240 up front and a big yellow ferry tank in the right seat, the story becomes more interesting still. But put the Swiss adventurer/pilot/banquet speaker extraordinaire Felix Estermann behind the stick, and edge-of-your-seat excitment is guaranteed!

In fact, Felix's adventures in flying N160FM, the GlaStar belonging to Peter Daetwyler of Davison, North Carolina, to Euorpe and back are too numerous to all be recounted here. For the details of Felix's May 1996 flight from Oshkosh to Berlin via the Azores and North Africa, you'll have to ask Felix himself the next time you see him at an airshow. And you can believe that getting him talking will not be a problem!

This feature picks up Felix's story in Europe and follows him on the return trip, which culminated in his triumphant return to Oshkosh just in time for the 1996 EAA Fly-In and Convention. The story is told in Felix's own words, transcribed from a cassette he graciously recorded for us.

—Editor

Doing Europe, Estermann-Style

My first public appearance with the GlaStar in Europe was at the Gebraucht Flugzeugmesse in Baden-Baden, Germany—a kind of swap-meet for airplanes. It was raining for the entire weekend, and the place was swamped,

but the GlaStar was a main attraction. Since people were walking mostly on the paved taxiways while the airplanes were parked in the grass, I immediately parked the GlaStar along the taxiway to let people see the beautiful lines.

As a little attention-getter I brought

along a typical sunscreen tent like people use for parties. I had three chairs, a little table, a vase and a bouquet of roses and a huge wineglass, which I kept always full with grape juice that looks like red wine.

This airplane was an attention-getter, and I had no problem giving away free beers from the cooler I had also brought along! So people were asking where my ground-support car was that had

brought along all my equipment. I said, "Well, this is my support car—just look at the roomy interior!"

The next event was the ILA airshow at Schonefeld near Berlin. This was also the annual fly-in of the OUV—the German EAA. 1 created a lot of mixed

feelings amongst those people, since the OUV is basically founded by members who design and build their own airplanes. So this kit-builder movement kind of brings in a new wind, and the old establishment within the club accepts those people with mixed feelings.

When I taxied up, many planes were already on the field, and the officials were very Germanic: "You will park there along that taxiway with your wheels on that line!" and so on. But I didn't like that taxiway, so 1 just pulled up in front of the main hangar where the announcer's stand was and stopped the engine.

It took them about a microsecond to tell me that I couldn't park there, and I replied, "Hello!" They were surprised that I said hello instead of immediately parking my airplane at the end of the line. But I made them understand that I had

come from the United States just to show the airplane and that I did not feel like parking way down the line. Every hour or two, someone else came along to try to get me to move, but I simply wouldn't move.

From the very first moment, the GlaStar was the main attraction amongst many other very sophisticated airplanes. 1 got a lot of nice compliments on the looks of

15

F

the airplane, and I said, "Hey, to me, performance is more important than looks, but if it looks nice . . . even better!" It was like going to a party with a good-looking girl who actually belongs to somebody else! I enjoyed that feeling very much!

The following week, I was off to Cranfieldf, England, site of the annual Popular Flying Association Rally, Britain's premier sport aviation event]. Now listen to this: July 6th, 6,000 feet over London, collecting ice. Europe should be called an airborne ocean rather than a continent. We have so much moisture in the air that we have to live with icing even in the summer at 6.000 feet. Well, having had quite a bit of ice experience in my Mooney, I . ----------- have to tell you that the GlaStar takes the ice nicer than the Mooney, but it sure kills the speed! The airplane has no trouble staying aloft with quite a bit of ice, but the speed goes to pot.

To my surprise the wine-glass approach was much better understood in England, than it had been in Germany The British thought, "That guy is doing the right thing!"

1 left Cranfield for a little airport near Hanover, Germany, where I had an appointment with a reporter from a Danish magazine. So 1 flew from England straight over the North Sea, which was about an hour over open water, with the cooler as my only survival gear.

Pils or Lager?

After spending half a day with the Danish reporter, I had to go home to Switzerland. In order to go through the congested areas of Frankfurt and Stuttgart, I filed IFR, despite the fact that homebuilt airplanes cannot fly IFR in Europe. But since the controllers didn't

know I was homebuilt or experimental, I just called "GlaStar," they accepted that, and I entered the system. And I believe that that saved the airplane's life and probably mine too, because you have to listen to what's coming now.

I was something like twenty miles to the north of Stuttgart, off airway—always off airway because I always go direct. We cannot yet fly direct the way you can in the United States, but if you ask hard enough or often enough to make shortcuts, you will get them, and since European airways are pretty much overloaded, the controllers let people go direct over a distance of three or four VORs.

So, I was going from Wurtsburg pretty

much direct to a VOR southwest of Stuttgart at 7,000 feet and all of a sudden, the GlaStar's engine quit—and I mean quit, just as if I had turned off both magnetos, period. No more power, not even a little bit, and I could feel how the airplane was pushing the propeller through the air.

The first thing I did was take a look for

the closest airport. Eighteen miles just over my left shoulder. So, I got the airplane around towards that airport. Just think: eighteen miles out of 7,000 feet—no way] But I thought maybe I 'd get a little bit out of the engine, just partial power.

Below me were already passing the suburbs of Stuttgart, with a couple corn or wheat fields in between. But you know, it was still July—the corn was tall, and a landing in one of those fields would be not very pleasant. So I checked out various freeways, but since it was about 6:00 p.m., the freeways were loaded and I thought, gee, I would have a hard time finding a spot between cars.

I had completed something like a 160° turn and established glide speed, and so I started working on the engine: you know, fuel selector, magnetos, full lean, full rich, boost pump—no difference.

At this point, the controller asked, "Zero Fox Mike, what's your heading?" I told him the reason for my heading change and that I was going to the nearest airport. Later, I ordered the ATC tapes

16

because I want to listen to my voice. I would like to hear if I sounded relaxed and professional or squealy and squeaky. I would have included that cassette, but it hasn't come yet.

Anyhow, the controller, oh, he was cool. He said, "Zero Fox Mike, your closest airport is 160° . . ." and I was sitting on needles because I knew the miles were coming, but how many? And that fraction of a second after he said "160°" was like hours\ C'mon boy, how many miles?! And finally, here it came: five mi l e s . Five mi le s ou t o f 7 ,000 feet—well, in the meantime it had become 6,000 feet, but I could make it easily*. The airport was an abandoned U.S.

helicopter base with a little paved runway of something like 1,800 feet. I came in on downwind, and believe me, I came in high, because most of these guys you read about having a dead engine with the propeller producing drag seem to land a little bit short, and I just thought, "That's not gonna be me!" So I came in high, made a tight base, still very high, slipped down final with full rudder and put the airplane on the

numbers. Halfway down the runway I was able to turn off onto the ramp, and in the middle of the ramp, the airplane came to a full stop without any brakes!

Oh, by the way ... All the way down I had the mixture full rich, the throttle wide open, boost pump on, and when I started turning base, I saw fuel coming onto the windshield. How nice! So I knew something was wrong up front besides the engine not producing any power, and I closed the fuel selector on final.

Safely on the ground, I jumped out of the airplane, grabbed my Swiss Army knife off my belt, and started opening the cowling right away. I didn't even

have the cowling open when I heard on the horizon chup chup chup chup chup—ah! A German police helicopter was coming. They landed right next to me, and two policemen got out. They asked me if I was OK, and I asked them if they were OK. I was in a very good mood! 1 told them 1 was very thankful that they came after me, and I apologized for making their mission useless. 1 asked them to

relay the message to everybody involved in this incident that no one could have done anything any better.

The policemen stayed around to see what was under the cowling. I got the top cowling off, and there it was: the fuel pressure transducer, which was attached with an extension tube to the fuel injection spider, had broken off completely, so all the fuel was draining directly out through this 1/8" NPT hole. You can imagine what kind of fuel squirts out when you turn on the boost pump. I estimate that I pumped something like four or five gallons of raw fuel over the engine during those few minutes. I think it was the first time I had "fuel-cooled magnetos." I'm glad they have shielded wires! I think I was really lucky.

The helicopter left then, but soon after the police on the ground showed up, and then the fire department showed up. That airport still had a little flying club, one member of which was a roofer working nearby. He saw an airplane with its propeller windmilling going into his airport, which nobody else has access to, so he made an emergency cellular phone call to all the other club members. Twenty minutes later, believe me, that airport almost turned into an airshow with one airplane in the middle!

They asked me, "Pils or lager?" I told them, "Pils,"

which they brought right to the airplane. I tell you again, I was

in a very good mood, and since so many people were there, I asked, "Is anyone here a plumber?" They said, "Not here, but we know of one." I said, "Please call me one. I need a 1/8" NPT plug!"

So, with this awful pair of pliers we found, we got the broken tube out of the injector servo and installed a plug, which somebody had brought within half an

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Zero FOX Mike

hour. My problem was fixed.

They didn't want me to make a test flight that very same evening because they said that the entire neighborhood was kind of sensitive about the emergency landing some airplane had just made, and they didn't want to provoke any further reaction. We parked the airplane

overnight in a hangar, and with the president of the club and two of his secretaries, I went to a restaurant and had a nice dinner . It was on my bill that night, since I was still in such a good mood from not bending that airplane!

Flying with the R/C Mooney

On July 22nd, from my little airport in Switzerland, I flew to Geneva, because I had filed a world speed record attempt from Geneva to Oshkosh. I had had a friend fly my personal airplane, a Mooney 201, to Frankfurt, where I intended to meet two German pilots who would escort me in the GlaStar all the way to the United States.

The next day's five-hour-and-fifty-minute flight took us from Aschaffenburg, Germany to Wyck, Scotland . . . in formation, IFR, the

Mooney and the GlaStar together as one airplane! We told the controller that he could handle the two airplanes like one, and that we would maintain visual separation. If we could not do this, we would separate and let him know. To my surprise, the controller bought that, and it worked quite well. It took my escort pilots a while to get used

to this, since they had never done any formation flying. So I told this gentleman over the radio how to fly my Mooney: "You turn on the autopilot and you set the heading, and I'll let you know what you have to do with the throttle." It was the first time I had flown my Mooney by remote control!

To my surprise, the GlaStar was more fuel-efficient than the Mooney—not much, but I burned a little bit less fuel going at the same speed, the same altitude, same direction, same everything.

The next day brought a five-hour-and-fifty-five-minute flight to Reykjavik, Iceland. In Iceland, we had a little . . . incident.

A nice government official working for the aviation authority wanted to see the

GlaStar's permit to fly into Icelandic airspace. I kind of knew what was coming. I had a permit for Canada, for the United States, for Germany, for England, and I was sure he would recognize or honor one of those for flying through the airspace of his country. But he said, "No, no, you have to have one for this country, and I'm afraid you'll have to see my boss."

So I went to an office, where it took the boss about a microsecond to tell me that I was grounded. But hey, in the meantime, it was July 24th, and Oshkosh was coming closer. I needed to go! He told me he had to see about the legal consequences of entering Icelandic airspace without permission. He wanted to see and photocopy all the documents of the airplane, and he told me he had to fax all this to the FAA office at London-Gatwick, since that was the FAA office handling Iceland. And he said that he had to talk to the judge to see if they wanted to make a court case out of this.

So I said, "Well, I'm not to happy about this, but if that's what must be done, then it must be done. Life goes on and we have to look ahead and see what we can do so I can continue my flight with little delay." But it was obvious that he did not want there to be little delay.

Since I was stuck, I made use of my calling card and called the AOPA and EAA legal departments. Interestingly enough, AOPA could not give me helpful support. They gave a lot of good effort, but they didn't come up with the spiffy answers like EAA did. The people there told me they would consult with their lawyers and that I should call back in an hour-and-a-half for an answer. And I got an answer . . . I have to tell you!

The legal adviser from EAA asked me if I filed a flight plan from Scotland to Iceland. I said yes. IFR flight plan? Yes. Did I get a clearance to go to Iceland? Yes. What did this clearance sound like? Well, the clearance I got in Scotland sounded like, "You are cleared

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Zero fox Mike

to Reykjavik Airport." He interrupted me right there. He asked me, "What does that mean—'cleared to Reykjavik Airport?'" "Rightl" I said, "Hey! That's permission!" I filed a flight plan, they received it, they had an opportunity to reject it, they didn't, so an ATC clearance was issued, and I think that's pretty much legal, about as legal as you can be.

So I thought to myself, I had to get ahead of this guy who wanted to build a case against me. I used my calling card again to call London-Gatwick, and I got the particular gentleman who had all the copies of my papers and was aware that 1 had been charged with illegal entry into Icelandic airspace and so on, and I told him exactly the same story. It made sense to him!

The next morning, I had a session with the guy who told me I was grounded. He didn't let me start talking or anything. He told me that things had turned out OK, that a permit could be issued right away, and that I didn't have to wait for any further court cases. He was very brief and seemed to want to get me out of the office. I just kept smiling the whole time and didn't say a word. Finally he blurted out, "And don't hand me that bull about this IFR clearance being your permit to enter Icelandic airspace. That doesn't count, period!" Obviously the guy in London had given him a briefing on that ATC clearance, and it worked really well.

So, I was out the door, and it looked like we were even for the moment, but not for long. Listen to how he won Round Number Two!

We had lost one day due to this little incident, and we gassed both airplanes up to the brim for the flight to Greenland. We had already been in the air for an hour and thirty minutes, both airplanes at 8,000 feet, when here came a squeaky voice on the radio saying, "This is Iceland Radio. We just received a fax that GlaStar Zero Fox Mike is prohibited from entering Greenland

airspace. What are your intentions?" I told them to stand by and went to a discreet frequency to discuss further strategies with my escort Mooney. It took us two or three minutes to decide to make a 180° and return to beautiful Iceland. I'm sure my Icelandic friend had had a little phone conversation with Copenhagen and said, "Hey, there's an airplane coming that has a permit for Iceland but none for Greenland, and I think we should teach that guy a lesson."

So, we returned to Iceland where they presented me with a fax from Denmark, which I will read to you: "Dear Mr. Estermann. Your request per telefax received 24 July is answered as follows: You are hereby prohibited from

transiting Greenland by air with an amateur-built airplane, Glasair SH-4, registration N160FM, as it is the policy of the Civil Aviation Administration Denmark not to allow operation in transit Greenland with amateur-built aircraft due to high cost of search and rescue operations. Yours sincerely, P. C. Andersson, Engineer, Airworthiness Division, Engineering

Section." So, what would you do? First, I called the Danish embassy in Iceland and explained my situation. Well, that guy was more diplomat than pilot, and he told me that this was a strictly aviation issue and that he couldn't really help me, but that I should talk to the Danish NATO representative in Iceland. So, I gave him a call and explained the whole thing. The first thing he did was to apologize for being Danish! He said he was ashamed that a civilized nation would give such a hard time to an airplane that sounded so nice. He said there wasn't much he could do for me that day, since it was already late in Denmark, but he said he would call at 7:00 the next morning to try to reopen the case. We agreed that I would call

him back at 9:00 to see how he had progressed, but the answer was still no!

The Final Leg

I had done a little homework. The previous evening I had talked to a local Icelandic 757 pilot who also had a Russian Yak 55, and he told me that they gave him all kinds of red tape for having

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Zero Fox Mike

such a different airplane in Iceland, and he felt bad for what was happening to me. And I told him, "You know what? I need a couple plastic cans, maybe 100 liters total." That's about twenty-eight gallons. That same evening, he came up with four plastic cans he could spare. So I had those cans ready, just in case things should go sour, which they did.

So, I filled up those plastic cans. Flight plan—Iceland to Canada, VFR direct. Time en route—eleven hours. Endurance — fourteen hours.

I called up on the radio, "Reykjavik Tower, GlaStar Zero Fox Mike ready for taxi, VFR westbound departure," just like I was going on a local flight. Five miles out, I asked to leave the frequency. They said, "Frequency change approved. Have a nice day." And I never talked to anyone anymore, period!

I was following my escort Mooney, which was IFR, and after awhile, I heard Iceland call them and ask if they had seen or heard anything of that GlaStar airplane. My friends replied, "Well, we saw him taking off in Reykjavik, but we don't know anything about his present whereabouts." Hmm, they were concerned!

So, 1 just followed on the wing. The Mooney didn't have quite the range to make it direct to Canada, so the plan was that they would fly into Greenland, and I would keep on flying all the way straight to Canada. Off the coast of Greenland, we had a little photo session and took some nice pictures of each other. Over Greenland, they pulled ahead a little bit because I got caught in some heavy downdrafts over the icecap and had to struggle a little bit to stay in between layers. I wanted to be sure to stay in the clear at all times because icing

conditions were uncertain and I was still heavy with fuel. But otherwise—fuel-management-wise—things looked OK. If things turned sour, I could still land in Greenland despite having no permit and settle the dispute later. But things looked OK for the moment.

My friends in the Mooney made an instrument approach, an NDB/DME approach, but they broke out something

like 4,000 or 5,000 feet above the ground and reported final. They reported that they were on the ground just as I passed overhead at 12,000 feet, but nobody but them was aware of that! No radar, no nothing, and I was not talking to anyone. So the next 670 miles I flew by myself. My friends made a quick stopover, spending one or two hours on the ground, and we agreed that we'd see each other in Goose Bay if everything was OK.

My flight over the Labrador Sea was uneventful except that the wind kept increasing. When I was over Greenland, based on the time I had made and the fuel I had used, I thought if I were lucky I wouldn't have to touch my plastic cans, my spare twenty-eight gallons. But then a little bit of headwind came up and I thought, well, I think I'll have to use one. And the

wind got a little bit stronger, and I thought, well, I think I'll need two. And the wind got even a little bit stronger, and it looked like I needed three of them, w h i c h s t i l l l e f t o n e s p a r e . And—whew!—that wind is increasing! I need number four, too! And even then, I started kind of wondering whether those four cans would really do the job.

Halfway across the Labrador Sea I made the calculation very carefully if it would be better to return to Greenland after having done something like three-quarters of the trip. But to go back to Greenland, kind of sneaking in full of regret? No. So I was really happy when I landed in Canada!

Once in Canada, things were easy! From Goose Bay, my next destination was Bangor, Maine— five hours, twenty-four minutes. The same day, I took off on another flight of nine hours and five minutes: Bangor non-

stop to Oshkosh. I landed on July 27th shortly before midnight. Since the tower didn't give me any replies, I taxied straight over the Super 8 motel and still got a room—can you believe that, a couple days before Oshkosh?!—and had a good night's sleep.

Felix was uncharacteristically reticent on his tape about just how he managed to transfer twenty-eight gallons of gasoline into a top-filling ferry tank while flying solo with only a wing-leveler for help, but he has on other occasions been heard to remark that "Avgas tastes terrible/"

Naturally, S-H urges all pilots to adhere to the regs and to put safety first whenever they fly, but we also salute Felix for his adventurous can-do attitude, for his tireless promotion of the GlaStar, and most of all, for his safe return to Earth!

an two mechanics have a really great time flying a GlaStar to

Phoenix? The short answer to this question is definitely "yes!"

Marshall Whipp, Brian Costello and I were offered the opportunity to represent S-H at the Copperstate Fly-In this past October. Marshall and I elected to fly the 'Star, while Brian took the Glasair Super II RG. Not being professional company pilots, the trip offered Marshall and me the chance to get a bunch of free flying time and to see some interesting country. Of course, the thought of some warm Phoenix weather had its appeal also. Little did we know that "warm" would turn out to be "hot-HOT!"

Our instructions were to "just be at the fly-in by Thursday morning." Of course, the timely arrival of the GlaStar was important not only because there were so many people waiting to see it, but also because it has become the company truck. The GlaStar's load-carrying ability and generous baggage area make it the natural choice to carry all the sales and display materials taken to airshows, so it hardly ever leaves the state much

under maximum gross weight.

Fall weather in Washington can include rain and fog, and the beginning of our departure week had more than its fair share of both. Finally, the fog cleared on Tuesday afternoon enough for us to slip away with the intention of getting on the east side of the Cascades and the promise of better conditions Wednesday morning.

We reached Pendleton, Oregon, just before the sun began to set. The light was good enough for the tower operators to get an eyeful of the GlaStar and ply us with questions over the radio. When we told them the plane was made by the Glasair company, they said they could see the family resemblance!

W e d n e s d a y morning saw us up before daybreak and climbing into the sunrise over the Blue Mountains. This was truly a

m e m o r a b l e e x p e r i e n c e ,

heading right into the sun with this

e n o r m o u s P 1 e x i g 1 a s windshield in front of us. Fortunately, Marshall is pretty

good at creative chart folding!

Long-range tanks in the 'Star would be of little use to pilots like Marshall and me, because we were not created with them ourselves. Besides, every airport we flew over was one we had never visited. First stop was Jackpot, Nevada. Gassing up there is a unique experience since the fuel concessionaire is Cactus Pete's casino. Not wishing to miss an opportunity, I promptly lost two nickels in the slots and decided that would be enough to say I had tried gambling.

Then it was off on the next leg to Ely, Nevada, a trip of slightly over two hours. This is an interesting airport at about 5,000 feet elevation. It was about 90° when we arrived, so it provided a good opportunity to see how our fully loaded airplane handled high and hot. No problem at all.

Cliff Faber, who recently commemorated a decade of service at S-H, is an A&P mechanic who has at various times worked in customer support and at the Service Center. Currently, he is spearheading GlaStar options development. Marshall Whipp is Stoddard-Hamilton's lead composites toolmaker.

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Next stop was Kingman, Arizona, where gusty winds were added to the high and the hot. Again, the GlaStar took it all in stride. The Kingman airport is rich in history, having served as a training base during World War II and then as a smelting center for thousands of surplus aircraft after the war. For an airplane nut like me, the idea of melting down perfectly good aircraft is unimaginable.

Leaving Kingman was a real test for the recently developed Lycoming cowling and baffling system—high, hot and heavy into rising terrain. But once again, no sweat. Two hours later we had left the wide-open spaces behind and arrived over Phoenix. Phoenix Center vectored us to Williams, and we touched down about thirty minutes after Brian in the Super II. He had left Arlington that morning with the aim of making good time, but we had taken in more sights!

As shows go, Copperstate is not as large as Oshkosh, Sun n' Fun or Arlington, but it was remarkable to me that everyone I spoke with was airplane knowledgeable and had some interest in the Glasair or GlaStar. I really appreciated the opportunity to spend more time with people who had lots of good questions.

Helping out in the talking department were Kern Hendricks and Dave Bauer, who flew down in Kern's turbocharged Super II RG. This dynamic duo really

helped during the show and provided us with continuing entertainment in the evenings. If you have a chance someday, ask Kern how one loses a ball in miniature golf!

The airshow wound down sufficiently to allow us to leave at noon on Sunday. The route chosen for the trip home took us west—lots of new country and new airports.

First stop was Needles, Nevada. This is quite literally in the middle of nowhere—the GPS said so! The next leg was, for us, a more ambitious three-and-a-half hour trip to Reno, which took us over Death Valley and much empty country. A reliable machine is a must down there, and we felt very good about being in the GlaStar. Reno is a great stop for gamblers and non-gamblers alike—cheap food and lodging and lots of interesting sights. In particular, the new Silver Legacy casino is really something.

Monday morning had us winging our way home, with a short gas stop in Redding, California, where Marshall showed the 'Star

off to his dad and brother. As at most airports along the way, others gathered around the GlaStar too, full of questions.

After a maximum performance takeoff to impress the onlookers, we headed north into

d e t e r i o r a t i n g weather. We had had it too good for too long, I guess.

By Salem, Oregon, the ceiling was starting to really come down, as was the rain. Marshall set the GPS to moving-map mode and kept close track of our position as we deviated around clouds and hills.

Marshall and I both qualify as "old" pilots rather than "bold" ones, and so we rapidly elected to sit out this weather at Portland-Hillsboro Airport. It was a tough decision when we were so close to home, especially since it meant giving up tailwinds that had been scooting us along at 160 knots ground speed!

Tuesday morning, the ceiling was a little better after the morning fog burned off, and we were able to get a Special VFR clearance to leave. Things improved substantially once we crossed the Columbia, which made the last leg very relaxing. After tucking the 'Star into the hangar, we thought it might be interesting to weigh the gear we had been carrying all week. Minus all the info packs and videos we sold, the grand total was 160 pounds—not bad with two 180-pound pilots up front.

Copperstate concluded the airshow season for Stoddard-Hamilton, but the winter promises to be very busy as we try to keep up with new orders and develop all the options that builders want for their GlaStars. As for Marshall and me, are we ready to go again? Any time!

22

EVERYTHING YOU ALWAYS WANTED TO KNOW

ABOUT TECH. PUBS.

(But Were Afraid to Ask)

by Cra\g O'Neill

know what you're thinking: "Everything I always wanted to know about technical

publications\l\ Well this'll be a short one!"

Yes, even though tech. pubs, are my life (during work hours, anyway), I recognize that ANORS and service bulletins do not make most builders' short lists of "Things I Like Best About My Glasair/GlaStar." 1 appreciate the fear and loathing that wells up in even the happiest-go-lucky builder when that familiar S-H envelope arrives in the mail, 'cause it's gotta be either a bill or another @%(*A$ service bulletin, right? And I even understand the frustration of having to enter all those ANOR corrections into your manual when you'd rather be slopping resin and banging rivets.

But empathy only goes so far: my colleagues and I remain under a sacred professional obligation to keep torturing you with tech. pubs., and that being the case, it's vital that you understand the whys and wherefors of these bothersome creatures. Judging by the number of calls, faxes, e-mails and smoke signals of distress we receive from befuddled builders, such understanding seems to be less than universal. We certainly accept our share of the blame for that; our job is not just to tell you what we have to tell you, but also why we're telling you, why we're telling you in the particular way we are, and what the importance of the information is to you.

Hence this article, in which I ' l l try to clear up some common points of confusion—less exciting, no doubt, than Felix's transatlantic travelogue (Page 15) or Ted's paranoid reminiscences (Page 26), but hopefully worth reading

all the same.

What Are We Talkin' About Here, Anyway?

I 'm called a lot of things around S-H, only some of which I can print here, this being a family newsletter! But my semi-official title is "head of technical publications" or something like that. Fight the temptation to be impressed, however, because my kingdom is a very small one! At present my full-time staff consists of me. I'm assisted part-time by Terry Hiatt, who has been an S-H tech. writer off and on for fifteen years, and by a new contract drafter.

This crackerjack staff is responsible for assembly manuals, owner's manuals, option instructions, construction templates, service bulletins and letters, advance notices of revision, revisions, parts lists and part numbers, manual stuffing, advisory publication mailing, tech. pubs, purchasing, this newsletter and the ubiquitous "other duties as your supervisor may assign." I list all this not to elicit your sympathy (well, maybe a little!) but simply to give you a picture of what we mean here at S-H when we talk about "tech. pubs." It's a lot of ground to cover.

Of course, the single biggest task is writing the assembly manuals for the five models of aircraft we currently sell. The GlaStar Assembly Manual, for example, has 1,648 pages (more than War and Peace\) and 632 illustrations (more than the annual Western Flyer swimsuit issue!). Put in more modern terms, that's 170 MB on the hard drive. But just as the homebuilder typically discovers that the project has just begun

when the airplane first flies, so too with our manuals—the work just keeps on coming after the manual is finally written because we discover (sometimes before the the thing comes back from the print shop) all kinds of ways in which it needs to be changed.

Why are so many changes to the manuals necessary? There are several categories of reasons. The first category—and I ' l l be the first to apologize for it—is plain old mistakes. We try not to type "13/64"" when we mean "13/16"," but these things happen.

However, a lot of changes that look like corrections of flat-out mistakes really belong to the "adjustments due to experience" category. When we write the manuals, we write up the procedures, parts, dimensions and so on that our mechanics used to build our prototype. As we receive feedback from customers in the field, we learn about pitfalls that simply didn't arise during the one-time experience of prototyping the airplane. A dimension to a hole, for example, may have worked fine when Cal Spangler drilled it, but when Joe Homebuilder drills it, he finds that he's violated edge margin. So, we revise the manual with a new dimension that gives more latitude. Or we learn from calls to customer support that a point we thought was obvious simply isn't. So, we revise the manual to emphasize it.

A third category of changes arises out of changes to parts. When Ford or GM come up with a better widget, they can slip it under the hood and the customer is none the wiser. But when a kitplane part changes, it's obviously important that the builder be made aware. Similarly. the fourth category of manual changes

23

I

Tech. Pubs. comes about because of improvements in assembly procedures. There's more than one way to skin a cat, and often the way we prescribe in the initial release of manual turns out not to be the best way.

All this is by way of explaining that the volume of changes made to our manuals—especially in the first year or so after their release—does not solely reflect our sloppiness. It also reflects the growth of our knowledge and our desire continually to improve our products and to enhance the building experience for our customers.

ANORS vs. Real, Honest-to-Gosh Revisions

When we talk about a manual "revision," we mean a set of brand new replacement pages containing new text and illustrations. Revisions are sent automatically to all manual holders. On receiving a revision, you should discard the old pages and insert the new ones into your binder. Each revision is assigned a revision letter, which appears at the bottom of every page that has been changed in that particular revision. Thus, a newly revised page in the upcoming GlaStar revision will have a "C" at the bottom. However, only pages that are changed will get the new letter; unchanged pages could have a previous revision letter or none at all if they have never been changed from the time of the manual's initial publication. So, the "GlaStar Assembly Manual, Revision C" will be a document with some unrevised pages, some Revision A pages, some Revision B pages and some Revision C pages. Just because any particular page lacks a "C" doesn't mean the whole manual isn't up to date.

To help you know whether a particular page is the most current page, all our manuals have "Lists of Revisions." These appear at the end of the "GENERAL INFORMATION" section in Volume 1 of the Glasair manuals and after the title page in each volume of the GlaStar manual. These lists show which pages of the manual were affected by each revision

that has been issued. For example, Revision A of the GlaStar manual affected only Pages i-xii of the Volume 1 Table of Contents. If a builder says, "My manual's not up to date because I'm missing Revision A of the elevator section," he's mistaken, because the elevator section has never been revised. So, a key point is that not every page is revised by every revision.

Another point of confusion surrounds the methods we use to get information about problems and changes to builders in between revisions. Remember, in our terminology, a change isn't a "revision" unless it's issued on a brand new replacement page. Because it is very time-consuming and expensive to generate revisions, we don't do it too often. In the interim, we rely on advance notices of revision (ANORS) (and occasionally service bulletins, depending on the nature of the change; more on this below). ANORS are like errata sheets—they simply list mistakes, changes and so on. As the name implies, they give advance notice of changes that will be made when the next revision is published.

ANORS are the publications everyone loves to hate, and I know it can be a royal pain to incorporate all the ANORS into your manual by hand. But ANORS are not something we ask you to settle for instead of comprehensive, accurate manuals; rather, they are the most efficient means available to us for keeping you supplied with current information while we continue to work on formal revisions. That's a second key point.

"OK," you say, "I can see why folks who already have their kits get ANORS, but why can't S-H at least get current manuals in all new kits as they go out the door?" Good question! The answer is that it's imperative that all the manuals in the field for a particular aircraft be identical. The most obvious reason for this has to do with the effectiveness of our customer support. When you call in with a question about

"the third paragraph on Page 128 where it says to use a #30 bit," our technicians have to know which Page 128 you're reading from. If we constantly updated the manuals as they were shipped rather than doing them all at one time, there would be hundreds of different versions of each manual out there.

Do Old ANORs Ever Die?

Good news—the answer is yes! Because they are a stop-gap to tide you over until the next formal revision, ANORS (or parts thereof) are rendered obsolete when revisions come out. Most of our revisions are "comprehensive," meaning they incorporate all the changes contained in all the ANORS issued since the previous revision. So, when you get a comprehensive revision, you can gleefully toss all the ANORS in the trash, because all their wisdom will be contained in the user-friendly revision.

However, things get a bit more complicated when we issue "partial revisions." Sometimes, we feel there are enough significant problems with a particular section of a manual that we'll issue a revision covering only that section. An example of this was Revision B of the GlaStar manual, which covered only the rudder assembly, the flap assembly and a bit of the wing assembly. This revision was issued because these sections had problems too extensive to deal with easily in ANORS. Our goal in issuing the partial revision was to make things easier for you.

But, partial revisions throw a wrench in the works because they render obsolete only certain parts of previous ANORS. All in all, however, it's a pretty small wrench. Just compare the affected pages called out in the List of Revisions against each ANOR. If the list says Revision B changed Pages 1-46 of the rudder section, then you know you can safely ignore any ANOR on pages 1-46 of the rudder section, unless the ANOR was issued after the revision. And don't be alarmed if you can't find the precise language of an old ANOR in the new

24

Tech. Pubs. revision or if the correction doesn't appear on the page the ANOR specified. Both specific verbiage and pagination get changed around a good bit in a revision.

What's in a Name? Service Bulletins and Service Letters

ANORS and revisions deal with problems in the manuals, and by definition, such problems are limited to the construction of the aircraft. This is fine for folks still building, but often, completed aircraft or sub-assemblies require changes, inspections and so on. In these cases, changing the assembly manual alone won't do any good, because the assembly work has already been done. Enter service bulletins and service letters, which together are referred to as "advisory publications."

A service bulletin is designed to alert builders and pilots to changes, recommendations, problems, or other information of a critical nature pertaining to either the completed aircraft or a completed sub-assembly. Service bulletins often prescribe actions to be undertaken by the builder or pilot.

Some service bulletins are called mandatory service bulletins. These are issued for problems with or changes in parts, assembly procedures or aircraft operations that are directly related to the safety of flight. Actions prescribed in mandatory service bulletins are compulsory. Ordinary service bulletins are non-mandatory, meaning they concern non-flight-critical changes in parts, assembly procedures or aircraft operations. Undertaking the actions prescribed in non-mandatory bulletins is strongly recommended to enhance ease of kit assembly and/or serviceability of the completed aircraft, but compliance remains at the builder's or pilot's discretion.

Service letters are advisory publications of a non-critical nature concerning company policies, recommended operating procedures, aircraft systems,

maintenance issues and so on. Any actions suggested in service letters are to be undertaken solely at the builder's or pilot's discretion.

Often, service bulletins are issued that are very similar to ANORS. An example is GlaStar Service Bulletin 16 and the GlaStar ANOR of 11/20/96, both of which outline our switch to a new-style trim tab control horn and counterweight arm. Some builders were confused about why there were two publications and why not everyone got the service bulletin. The explanation is that the service bulletin detailed the procedures for builders who had already installed the old-style horn, while the ANOR was for those who had not yet completed that part of the assembly. The bulletin was sent only to those builders whose kits contained an old-style horn, since the ANOR covered everyone else.

This brings up a third key point (and yes, there will be a quiz later!): not all service bulletins or letters apply to all kits. We take a great deal of care to insure that advisory publications are sent to all builders to whom they could possibly apply. But just as we don't want anyone to miss information that's relevant, we don't want to bury anyone in irrelevant junk mail either.

Depending on the nature of the problem, the applicability of a service bulletin or letter might be described in a number of different ways. The easiest, from your point of view, is when we specify a range of affected kit numbers. If your kit number ain 't on the list, then you don't need the service bulletin or letter\ Sometimes, though, we can't identify the specific kits affected, often due to limitations in our computer database system (which we hope will be packed off to the Museum of Obsolete Technology any day now!). In these cases, we specify a range of shipping dates for the relevant kit, part or option. So save the paperwork that comes with every order you receive from S-H; the shipping date is always right at the top.

Most confusing to builders are service bulletins or letters that are keyed to assembly manual revisions. For example, GlaStar Service Bulletin 4, issued in October of 1995, was applicable to "all GlaStar kits shipped before publication of GlaStar Assembly Manual Revision B." The deal here is that our engineers had mandated a design change, in this case • a reinforcement of the flap tracks. The modification applied to all GlaStars— past, present and future. A mandatory service bulletin was called for because builders who had already built their flaps and flap tracks were required to rework them. However, we couldn't specify the applicability of the bulletin as simply "all GlaStars" because we knew that eventually we would incorporate the mods in the assembly manual, and at that point, the service bulletin would no longer apply to "all GlaStars." So, we keyed the bulletin to the revision status of the manual.

We still get two or three calls a week, though, from builders complaining that they didn't get Service Bulletin 4. Well, no, they didn't, and it's because they got Revision B of the manual, which incorporates Service Bulletin 4. This highlights the importance of knowing the revision status of your manual.

The Great Parts List Conundrum

The final subject I want to discuss (which is really relevant only to GlaStar builders) is parts lists. Nothing seems to generate more confusion and frustration among builders than parts lists, and if it's even the slightest consolation, let me assure you that nothing generates more confusion and frustration among us either! The trouble with parts lists is that there are different kinds serving different purposes, and we haven't done a good job of explaining the differences. The two types of parts lists that you will encounter are the manual parts lists and the kit contents lists.

Continued on Back Cover. .

25

Most of the time, the kitplane business is all about fun, but sometimes the game turns serious, as Ted explains in the fourth installment of his random and mostly truthful history ofS-H. This newsletter will self-destruct in five seconds.

he following story could have been on the bestseller list with the likes of The Hunt for Red

October, but in the interests of national security, I've been unable to share this account with anyone . . . until now. Enough time has finally passed since the events I 'm about to relate to satisfy concerns about the protection of deep-cover agents and super-secret operations that might otherwise have been jeopardized.

Now quit laughing! This is a true story! Though many of you have known me to spin a yarn from time to time, this is no tall tale. Hard to believe? Absolutely! But true? Every last word of it!

Your Mission, Should You Choose to Accept It. . .

Over the years, S-H has made more than one "cash sale" wherein a shiny new Glasair kit has gone out the door in exchange for an equally shiny pile of crisp, new hundred dollar bills. The cash raises suspicions, and rightly so, for many of these airplanes have ended up in impound down in Miami or New Orleans and these cash customers have ended up in the DEA's "gotcha column."

Well, this story is about a cash customer—we'll call him "Jacob"—who aroused suspicions from our sales manager all the way to the White House.

He looked like a foreigner but acted and sounded very American. I shook hands with him and went back to my desk, handing him off to our sales manager, Mike Currieri, who took him on the factory tour. It was sometime after lunch

that Mike raised the first alarm. He came into my office and expressed a concern that this guy was up to something fishy. Jacob, it seemed, was ready to pay cash not only for a Glasair RG (the II and III hadn't been introduced yet), but for a complete set of spare parts—engine mount, landing gear, flight controls, the works. I remember the total bill being in the neighborhood of $40-45,000. And we're talking cash, remember!

Mike also reported that while showing Jacob around the production building, he had been called to the telephone, and upon returning, he had "caught" Jacob "studying the manufacturing process." Mike's conclusion? Jacob was going to run off cheap copies of the Glasair overseas and drive S-H out of business!

Mike was so adamant about his suspicions that Tom Hamilton and I finally agreed to meet with Jacob and question him a bit. We respectfully inquired about why he needed all the spares. We also asked his nationality and where the kit was to be shipped. Jacob produced identification showing him to be an American citizen. He said he was purchasing the kit on behalf of a wealthy Italian friend. His friend, said Jacob, simply had a lot of money, and wanted a spare parts inventory close at hand so he wouldn't have to wait for anything to be shipped from Arlington.

Jacob's understanding smile at our expressed concern about his copying our design put us at ease. In fact, it made us a bit embarrassed. After all, who in his right mind would go to so much trouble to get into the kitplane

business!?! We shook hands with Jacob, accepted his money and chastised poor Mike for being overzealous in his suspicions. For crying out loud, we didn't want to give up a big sale to a legitimate customer, did we?

A Need-to-Know Basis

It wasn't ten minutes after Jacob drove away that a couple of guys in crew-cuts and really bad suits were at the front desk asking to see me. They showed FBI IDs and demanded to know everything I could tell them about Jacob. Tactfully dodging all my questions, they would reveal only that Jacob was "no ordinary kitplane purchaser." We were instructed to let them know whenever Jacob contacted us and to provide them with any information he provided us.

Naturally, we were dying of curiosity, but we could only trust that the FBI knew what it was doing. About a week prior to the date the kit was to be shipped, the G-men came back to the factory and marked various parts with real invisible ink. (I'd always wondered if they really used that Dick Tracy kind of stuff!)

Spy vs. Spy, Part 1

Things were getting really exciting: Jacob was getting anxious to get the kit shipped, and between every phone call from him, we were having these real cloak-and-dagger conversations with the FBI. In the midst of all this, about two days before the shipment date, my phone rang. It was Alice, our receptionist. "Ted," she said, "It's the Pentagon on

26

T

Line 2." Alice was always very cool under pressure.

The man from the Pentagon identified himself as the Head of Naval Intelligence or something very close to that. He said he was calling to request that we stop the shipment of Jacob's kit. Naturally, I asked why, and even more tactfully and respectfully than the FBI men, he answered simply that "the Navy feels that this shipment would be prejudicial to National Security." (You could tell by his voice that he was using capital letters for "National Security.")

Wow! This was heavy stuff—almost too heavy for little ol' Stoddard-Hamilton, late of the Pig Farm and only recently moved to the Big City of Arlington. Coming back down to earth, I registered two concerns about the Navy man's request: First, how was I to explain to a customer who had given me $45,000 (that I wanted to keep) why I couldn't or wouldn't ship his kit when I didn't really understand why not myself? And second, if this was for National Security, how come the FBI wanted us to let the kit (complete with invisible ink) go?

Dead silence on the phone from Washington. "The FBI? I ' l l have to have my people get with their people on this and get back to you," said the Head of Naval Intelligence after a long and awkward pause. "Do you have their phone number?"

I gave him the number the FBI guys had given me and waited anxiously for the phone to ring again. It was a tense time, let me tell you. Everything in the company was taking a back seat to the drama that was unfolding. So if any of you are still holding a grudge against me for not returning a phone call or something back about ten years ago, now you know the reason why!

Finally, late in the afternoon, the call came. The Navy and the FBI, it seemed, needed more time to "co-ordinate inter-agency parameters for maximal operational effectivity" or something

like that. They needed me to call Jacob and give him a believable excuse for delaying the shipment of his kit by one week. Boy was I nervous! As a good Christian lad, I was uncomfortable lying to a customer, but heck, I had been given permission to fib by the Head of Naval Intelligence! I figured on Judgment Day that was likely to be about the best excuse I'd ever have.

My palms were sweaty, but I don't think Jacob ever suspected a thing. He was a little perturbed by the news and asked some probing questions, but I held firm with my story that one of his fuselage halves had been damaged during removal from the mold. A new one would have to be made, which would entail a week's delay. Jacob accepted the delay, and I called the FBI with the good news.

Spy vs. Spy, Part 2

Fast-forward to Wednes day of the f o 11 o w i n g week. The excitement was mount ing once again, with the FBI and the Pentagon now singing off the same page. The Glasair kit was to be shipped so it could be shadowed to its destina tion. By Wednesday afternoon, I was bursting at the seams, dying to tell anyone and everyone. "If only my high

school reunion were next week," I thought. . .

"So, what are you doing these days, Ted?"

"Oh, nothing much, 1 do a bit of inter-agency co-ordination work with Naval Intelligence, set operational parameters with the FBI. . .1 can't really talk about it . . . it has to do with the maximal effectivity of National Security . . . very hush-hush . . .Top Secret . . . you understand. . . "

Alice once again interrupted my daydream. "Ted, the White House is on Line 1."

Now, let me interrupt myself here briefly to remind you that this story is 100% true! (Well, except for the lie 1 told to Jacob about the damaged fuselage half.)

27

I know it's almost too much to swallow, but I don't want to lose you to "Builder Hints" or "First Flights." So stay with me here and read on . . . this really happened!

OK, so I picked up the phone and said in a squeaky voice, "Hello, this is Sed Tetzer." The voice on the phone identified himself as the personal aide to Secretary of Defense Casper Weinberger. "I'm sitting here with Secretary Weinberger and Secretary of State Schultz," he said, "and we're discussing the pending sale of your company's product to an unfriendly nation. In the interest of National Security, we are issuing a very strong request that you stop this sale."

"Italy!?!" I thought.

Holy smokes, were the wheels spinning in my head. I asked this guy the same question 1 had asked of the FBI and the Navy: why? The secretary's aide was every bit as adept at avoiding substantive answers. "Let's just say that Jacob is not an ordinary kitplane builder," he said in a confidential murmur. Well, that was nothing I didn't already know—I had long ago decided that we wouldn't be seeing Jacob at Oshkosh anytime soon.

1 asked to speak with Secretary Weinberger, but was rebuffed. "Well, just make sure he lets the Navy and the FBI know what's going on," I said.

Another long awkward silence on the phone from Washington. "The Navy and the FBI," he asked? More phone numbers were exchanged and once again, I was told to wait.

My excitement at our role in this drama was rapidly diminishing with the growing realization that, although all the hounds were after the same fox, none of them knew it. Were these bunglers the people I was counting on to keep me and my family safe in our beds at night!?!

The next day I got another call from the

Pentagon. Yep, you guessed it: their people were "firming things up liaison-wise" with the FBI and the State Department, but meanwhile I needed to delay the kit another week. I can't remember the precise excuse I cooked up for Jacob, but I think it had to do with backorders—yeah that's it—too many backordered parts to ship the kit. I expressed my concern to the Naval Intelligence man that this might not be a plausible excuse, since it was well-known throughout the kitplane industry that Stoddard-Hamilton hardly ever had any backorders . . . (OK, there's the second lie of this story, but everything else is true! And we're working hard on that problem, in all seriousness!)

I called Jacob and bemoaned the unusual spate of backorders. One more week, I promised. I immediately called the FBI, the Pentagon and the State Department and told them that I was worried that Jacob had been suspicious. In fact, he hadn't sounded suspicious at all; he'd just sounded like any other enthused homebuilder anxious to get going on his kit. "Just wait for our call," the Feds said.

Loose Lips Sink Ships

At this point, I was really beginning to lose patience with the spies, and I just didn't know what I ought to do about Jacob's kit. So I did what any red-blooded American boy would've done: I called my dad for advice. Dad listened to my story and then said, "You should tell the "darn" government to either give you a good "darn" reason not to sell the "darn" kit or to step aside and let the "darn" sale go through!" Dad never was a big fan of the Reagan Administration.

As it turned out, Dad's advice (though probably correct) was unnecessary, as we received a call from our FBI buddies a few days later. Jacob, it seemed, had been arrested boarding an international flight out of New York City with classified computer materials and more

than $10,000 in undeclared cash in his possession. Needless to say, we never heard from Jacob or his wealthy Italian friend again.

Several months later, we learned from the FBI that "Jacob"—real name "Yahoob"—had posted bail and promptly fled to Libya. Apparently he had been working for Libyan Intelligence on a scheme to stuff a Glasair full of explosives and use it as a kamikaze bomber against a U.S. naval target in the Mediterranean. Now that would've been a first for kit aviation that we would not have wanted to claim in the pages of Sport Aviation]

The FBI requested that we refrain from discussing the incident for "a few years" in order to protect undercover agents still working on related cases. We respectfully held the lid on this for more than ten years, and just think of the advertising ammunition we had to forgo in the interest of National Security ...

"In view of its outstanding speed, agile handling, practical payload, rugged durability, quick build time, stealthy radar signature and superior customer support, Glasair was simply the only choice for our mission."

—Yahoob, Libyan Intelligence operative, Glasair builder

GLASAIR—The Choice of Discerning Terrorists Around the

World!

Or, maybe not. . .

Epilogue

There is one question that remains hanging over this affair, however: whatever happened to Yahoob's cash? Alas, the answer to that, my friends, remains a matter of National Security to this very day.

28

Stoddard-Hamilton freely shares ideas submitted by builders. However, inclusion of an idea in this newsletter should not be construed as official endorsement or approval of the idea by Stoddard-Hamilton. Builders are strongly urged to exercise their own discretion and judgement when considering the implementation of a suggestion presented in this column.

Glasair Fuel Tank Transfer System by

Paul Sponseller, Glasair I RG, Fredericksburg, VA

I was happily flying along, intending to burn most of the fuel from my main wing tank in order to change a dripping fuel sump drain, when the engine suddenly quit. I thought I should still have had nearly two gallons in the tank. That incident started me thinking, and that can get dangerous.

The figure on the opposite page shows how I intend to modify my fuel system. With this option, the pilot can still select which tank to use first, but the system would primarily be used by leaving the fuel selector on the header tank at all times. Since all fuel is fed to the engine from the header tank, there is no danger of the engine quitting when the main tank goes dry. This would be a real advantage if you have an injected engine and want to squeeze all the range you can from your fuel aboard.

GlaStar Notes by

George Best, GlaStar, Scottsdale, AZ

I have my wings, stabilizer, ailerons and rudder done and am through the fuselage section. I have a few thoughts to share with my fellow builders.

I 'd like to start with the suggestion that the bolts that attach the horizontal stabilizer to Bulkhead E be AN4//10As—i.e., have their heads drilled so that they can be safety-wired like prop bolts are. The reason is obvious: they will not come out unless you cut the safety wire.

In squaring Bulkhead D to the centerline, I found it helpful to clamp my 10' aluminum angle straightedge to the bulkhead and measure from an equal distance outboard on the straightedge to the strut attach hole on the cage where it protrudes through the fuselage shell.

1 found that if 1 glued the trailing edges on the elevator and ailerons and clamped them to my straightedge overnight, I could then drill and rivet them and have great, non-wavy trailing edges. I have also glued my skins on as I rivet with

3M Epoxy Adhesive 2216. Learjet in Tucson has used this for years in their repairs, and this is the product that 3M recommended when I called them. It takes seven days to cure and never becomes brittle. One kit of 1-1/2 quarts will do the whole plane. It is messy when riveting through. Also, it's necessary to use an epoxy primer like AXZKO from Aircraft Spruce, as the bond is then epoxy-to-epoxy, not bare metal-to-bare metal.

I was able to place and drill the hat sections when working alone by taking a 2X4 that was long enough to fit behind the flanges of the main and aft spars and jamming two other short pieces of 2X4 between the hat section and the long 2X4 while I drilled away.

I found a water level using 30' of plastic tubing to be a great help in leveling the fuselage after locating the waterlines.

I question whether Q-cell is adequate for the fuselage hardpoints. 1 have built two Rutan planes and felt better using cotton flox for these areas and where the layup is at right angles to other fiberglass.

That's all I have for now. The parts from S-H are great, and I am building my plane as slowly as I can as I am enjoying the project so much.

30

Builder Hints

Stabilizing the GlaStar Stabilizer by

Jim & Orville Eliason, GlaStar, Ontario, CA

Every GlaStar builder we've talked to agrees that the hardest thing they've encountered so far is installing the horizontal stabilizer skin. Everyone has found that the nose ribs hold the skin too far forward to allow the pre-punched skin holes to come anywhere near the measured rivet line or even to clear the bend radius of the spar by a proper margin. Every one had a story about filing, sanding, cutting or bending the ribs and ending up with skins that were dimpled or flattened from excess pressure on the points of the nose ribs.

We avoided some of these problems by slightly modifying the leading edge of our horizontal stabilizer nose ribs using a modified vise grip fluting tool sold by Avery Enterprises. We especially like this unit because the depth of the flutes can be preset. We used a combination of three flutes starting with one centered on the flat area at the nose end on the flanged side of the rib. (See figure.) This first flute is "down" and the other two are "up." The "up" ones are only half flutes, as one prong of the tool is bedded in the curve of the center flute when each of the lower ones is formed. This pulls the upper and lower flanges of the nose rib evenly. The flutes extend into the lightening hole.

The fluting tool was set as deeply as the metal thickness would allow. This method has the advantage of not butchering the rib ends as some builders seem to have done, while keeping the top and bottom curvatures even and looking factory professional. It takes only minutes and can be done with the nose ribs Clecoed in place.

The above modification helped a lot and preserved the nose skin where it contacted the ribs, but this was not enough to anywhere near align the pre-punched skin holes with the spar rivet line, or even enough to obtain rivet edge distance from the spar corner radius.

The ANOR of 7/1/96 removed the suggestion to use cabinetmaker's web straps to pull the skin into place. I presume a lot of folks crushed their ribs and ruined the skin, and so the straps were banned. The only problem is that nothing was suggested to replace them. Sand bags and heavy pieces of 2X4 will hold the skin down but will not pull it back to pick up the rivet lines on the spars. Only pull and downward pressure working together will force the skin smoothly against the ribs and provide enough skin length to align the rivet lines and rivet holes.

We bought some l"-wide light-duty load straps. They are ratchet tightened. We positioned two smooth pieces of wood along the top and bottom of the nose skin, just covering the second nose rivet hole. The wood slats are 1-1/2" square. The

32

Builder Hints

straps were positioned over the nose ribs and over the tops of the wooden slats. They were then secured at the rear spar where the spar and skin edges were protected by a piece of 2X4. The straps were tightened slowly and evenly while the nose area was hand massaged. Once the straps were snug, small sand bags were laid along the top of the forward spar and each rib to hold the skin smoothly against the rib flanges. There were no kinks in the skin due to the nose rib modification and because the pressure exerted on the nose by the straps was decreased by the straps being angled onto the wood strips. At the same time, the wood strips increased the downward pressure on the nose skin and spread it along the length of the skin.

At this point, the skin was clamped to the rear spar. The unit was then flipped over and the opposite side was secured in the same manner. The above procedure made the job a cake walk.

A Word on Sand Bags

Sand bags are mentioned casually as though everyone already knew all about sand bags, but where does one get small bags to lay some hold down weight where it is needed? We used 10-9/16" X 11" heavy-duty Ziploc storage bags. You can use dry dirt or sand in them, but not large pebbles. A huge bag of sand costs about $2, and dirt is "dirt cheap." Set the bag vertically between a couple 2X4s and fill it 2-1/2"-3" deep. Don't worry about zipping the lock; just roll the excess bag around the sand and snap on three or four rubber bands. The bags are quite strong, and the excess wrap adds to that. If you wish to make the bags even more sturdy, wrap them completely with duct tape. It really grips the plastic.

How about adjustable-height sand bags? Don't snicker—they work great and will level a unit such as a wing or horizontal stabilizer in minutes. No fussing with various shims that never seem to be just right to obtain a level reading. Construction of variable-height sand bags is as follows:

For each freezer bag, we cut two boards 3/4" thick by 2-1/2" wide by 10" long. The boards' size must be varied to fit the bag size used. Drill the boards with 1/4" holes centered and 1/2" in from each end. Install 6" carriage bolts in the holes in

one board, driving the square heads into the wood. The holes in the other board should be slightly looser for free movement. Install the second board over the bolts and install a washer and wing nut on each bolt. This is the adjustment frame.

With the nuts installed, set an empty bag between the boards and bolts. Scoop sand into the bag. Scoop and shake until the sand is even with the top of the boards. Roll the excess height of the bag down and secure with duct tape. Since these bags will be subject to a lot of pressure, cover them fully with duct tape.

To use the bags, place four or six of them under the structure to be supported. The bags are adjusted by tightening or loosening the wing nuts. The bags can't go any lower than the height of the boards, but upward adjustments of an inch are quickly obtained. Changing the alignment or twist of the horizontal is as easy as turning the wing nuts. Of course, anytime sand bags are used for leveling, the unit being worked on must be pressed onto the bags to achieve a solid and stable contact. The level must then be rechecked or reset as needed. Sand bags will probably be needed on top of the unit to maintain whatever adjustment you are checking or setting.

Out of the Frying Pan, Into the Workshop

by Bob Newman, GlaStar,

Toms River, NJ

When assembling the GlaStar fuselage around the cage, particularly when laying up the long belly seam, spray the powder-coated cage with Pam cooking spray to prevent resin drips from sticking to the cage. Take care to spray in a manner that keeps the spray off any areas of the fiberglass to be laminated. Clean-up afterwards is absolutely no problem with this method.

Trimming the GlaStar Aft Control Cable Cover

by Terry Hiatt, S-H Technical Publications Department

In "Section X: Final Assembly," you have to trim the lower edges of the aft control cable cover to match the curvature of the fuselage floor in the baggage area. An easy way to mark these for trimming is an old shipwright's trick used for

scribing parts to fit inside boat hulls, where nothing is straight.

Set the cover in place in the fuselage over the control cables. Replace the pencil in a schoolchild's drawing compass with a felt-tip pen. Set the point of the pen the same distance away from the compass point as the width of the widest gap between the fuselage floor and the lower edge of the cover. Then draw the point of the compass along the fuselage floor with the pen point resting on the side of the cover. This will mark a trim line perfectly parallel to the curved belly.

33

Builder Hints

Unsticking Cleveland Master

Cylinders and Rolling Your

Own (Glasair, That Is) by

Richard May, Glasair III, Tega Cay, SC

I came across something interesting while assembling m brake system. On my left brake master cylinder, 1 noticed th when I fully depressed the brake pedal, it would stick in tf fully depressed position. I could only get it to release by giving the brake pedal a good rap on its back side.

1 disassembled the master cylinder and found that the area shown in Figure 1 (at right) was sticking. I reduced the diameter by sanding it on my 1" sander.

This condition may exist in other brake cylinders that were sold when mine was. If this condition were not corrected, a low brake reservoir or a condition with a lot of air in the brake lines could create a condition whereby the brake pedal could be fully depressed. If it were to stick like mine did, it could cause a loss of directional control and possibly an accident. All Cleveland

master cylinders should be checked in the fully depressed position to see if they stick. If so, make the repairs shown in

Figure 1. Also, for builders like myself who have to work alone, Figure 2 (opposite page) shows an arrangement that makes hoisting the fuselage over the wing and mounting the engine easy.

Beating the Draft by

Fred Van Raden, Glasair II-S RG, Portland, OR

Have you cured that big draft that enters your Glasair cockpit from the cutouts in the 'B' ribs? Here is a way that is airtight. It has been on our II-S RG (N9VR) for more than 100 hours. It has not required any maintenance.

Use the full-sized patterns shown on Page 36 to make two boots out of l/8"-thick closed-cell neoprene. Try your local dive shop to find this material. Then make two mounting flanges for the 'B' ribs, also using the full-sized pattern. Use aluminum angle stock or fiberglass.

Locate the aileron push tube in its neutral position. Wrap the boot around the pushrod and cement the seam with neoprene cement. After the cement has cured, locate the boot on the tube 2-1/2" from the rib, as shown in Figure A. Also, check the full-sized pattern page and

orient the boot seam as shown. Secure the narrow end of the boot to the tube with a tie wrap kept close to the end of the boot.

Turn the boot inside out and secure the wide end to its mounting flange with another tie wrap. The rolling action of the boot assures free movement of the push tube.

34

Figure 1

Figure A

Builder Hints

Builder Hints

36

Aileron Push-Pull Tube 'B' Rib Boot and Cutout

Full-Sized Pattern (See Fred Van Raden's hint, Page 34)

The class activities will include an introduction to molded composite and sheetmetal light aircraft fabrication. Following introductory lessons, using a team approach, class activities wiH revolve around the fabrication of a GLASTAR.

The workshop is open to all individuals who have an interest in aviation and basic capabilities with materials and tools. An excellent opportunity to learn and develop composite aircraft fabrication skills and knowledge concerning the purchase of a light aircraft. This program is a part of the Indian Hills Community College Continuing Education Program.

The class will consist of four weeks of instruction during the month of June. Tuition: $600 which includes a reservation/laboratory fee of $100. If the class fills (15 students), the reservation deposit ($100) will not be refunded after April 15th. Partial scholarships are available for college students. The laboratory facilities are located at the Ottumwa Industrial Airport, Aviation Center. Short-term students can participate on the following tuition and lab fee basis: One or two weeks, $375.

CLASS ORGANIZATION AND MANAGEMENT;

The participants will receive a copy of the aircraft prints and other essential details prior to coming to class. Following a plans exam, the class will be organized into teams based upon interest, knowledge and skill. These teams will proceed to build their respective aircraft sub-assemblies and then collectively assemble the plane. Class hours will be 8:00 a. m. to 6:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, over a four-week period. There will be dairy seminars concerning aircraft fabrication techniques.

FOR DETAILS:

John Vanddb Indian Hills Community College Division of Continuing Education 525 Grandview Ottumwa, IA 52501 1-800-726-2585 ext 183 or (515) 683-5183

Dr. John Riley Professor 1978 21 Oth Street Boone, IA 50036 (515)432-6319

Ottumwa Campus 525 Grandview Ottumwa, Iowa 52501 (515)683-5111

Right Well Pleased ... by

Claude M. Reese, Glasair Super II RG, Greenwood, FL

I received Super II RG Kit #2340 on December 7, 1994, and with the good help of Godfrey Lawrence, Ed Shumaker and about ten other good guys (at turnover time), I was able to make the maiden flight on June 5, 1996. I had my 73rd birthday on June 3rd, and June 6th was the 52nd anniversary of my first flight as an Army Air Corps basic flight instructor at Cochran Field in Macon, Georgia. I despised the BT-13, but after one class we got AT-6s and finished the war in them.

The Glasair is painted Daytona White with yellow stripes. It has a Lycoming IO-360-B1E engine by Don George. Without the wing extensions, I usually cruise at 197 m.p.h. at 23" and 2,300 r.p.m. With the extensions it is usually about 205 m.p.h. (true). The propeller is the recommended 74" Hartzell constant-speed.

1 bent the rudder trim about 1/32", and if the fuel is even in the tanks, the plane flies hands-off. When I take up one of my fellow pilots, I trim it hands-off, and then if we both lean to the right, the plane will gradually go into a right turn. If we lean to the left, it rolls out and into a left turn.

I'm right well pleased with the way it turned out. I 'm a wood worker but had never done any fiberglass work. Ed is a rated pilot, aircraft mechanic and inspector. Godfrey is an aircraft mechanic and pilot, being qualified in all sorts of planes, including the Lear. They both have the misfortune of being grounded because of heart problems.

The number is N904RJ—area code plus two young lovers. It's just a wonderful airplane. We flew from St. Louis, Missouri, to Marianna, Florida, in three hours and forty minutes with a ten-knot headwind. After landing, we drained the tanks to confirm the fuel gauge readings and still had thirteen gallons left. Somewhat better than a two-day drive. Now have sixty hours and lots of fun.

P.S.: Building time was 5,300 hours.

38

First Flights

No Monday Night Football (But Worth It!)

by Ed Knutson, Glasair II-S FT, Rice

Lake, WI

Glasair II-S FT Kit #2089 was ordered in August of 1990 and received in Rice Lake, Wisconsin, on October 9th of that year. The first flight of the completed N89EK was made on June 29, 1996.

After reading in this newsletter about the first flights of other pilots, I feel that what I have to say has been said many times before. All the folks at Stoddard-Hamilton made this moment possible, and for that, I am grateful. The builder-support hero for whom I have much admiration is Cliff Faber, along with Roy Matson and Lorri Miller. I also got a great deal of help from other members of the "builders' family," like Dan Dudley in M a d i s o n , Wisconsin; Jim

Kropp in St. Paul, Minnesota; and Julian Campbell in Albertville, Alabama.

For the last six years, almost every Saturday and Monday night were set aside for my Glasair "appointments." I am now proud to show off what a Norwegian number-cruncher (accountant) was able to do with his time. (No hunting, fishing, golf or Monday-night football.)

The Glasair is just as I had hoped, and the stats are what I was told to expect. It flies great with the Lycoming O-360-A1D and the recommended Hartzell constant-speed prop, along with Lance Turk's VM 1000 telling me what's going on under the hood.

GlaStar to Appear at Northwest Trade Show

Stoddard-Hamilton will display a partially completed GlaStar at the Northwest Aviation Conference and Trade Show, to be held February 22-23, 1997, in Puyallup, Washington. The show, which is jointly sponsored by the Washington Aviation Association, General Aviation News & Flyer, the FAA and the Aviation Division of the Washington Department of Transportation, will be held at the Western Washington State Fairgrounds. S-H personnel will be on hand throughout the show to answer questions from prospective and current builders.

Meanwhile, Back at the Plant . . . . . . Continued from Page 7

Fly-in visitors to the shows should use Pierce County Airport-Thun Field (1S0). See the map on Page 29.

Deft Primer Is Freeze-Proof

Several GlaStar builders have inquired about whether the water-based Deft primer sold by S-H is adversely affected by freezing and thawing in the course of shipment or storage in the winter months. According to Deft there is no water in the product as it is shipped. Therefore, "there will be no loss of quality or other difficulties" with either the base or catalyst if they should be exposed to freezing conditions prior to reduction with water.

39

*William Curry, Hot Springs, AR, Glasair I TD, N622BC, 1,800+

*Dr. John Zasadny, Torrance, CA, Glasair III, N2JZ, 1,800+

Stoddard-Hamilton Aircraft, Glasair I FT, N89SH, 1,700+

Dr. Kent Farney, Navato, CA, Glasair I TD, N82SS, 1,400+

Stoddard-Hamilton Aircraft, Glasair Super II RG, N902S, 1,400+

Chuck Mason, Nokomis, FL, Glasair I TD, N28CM, 1,300+

John Bourland, Dallas, TX, Glasair I RG, N529RS, 1,100+

Carmine Petracca, Lewiston, ID, Glasair I FT, N272CP, 1,100+

Robin Rice, Nassau Bay, TX, Glasair I RG, N86JC, 1,100+

Tom Stanley, Hanford, CA, Glasair I RG, N309TS, 1,100+

*Peter Vollheim, Nashua, NH, Glasair I TD, N348PV, 1,100+

Ed Covington, Old Church, VA, Glasair I RG, N3EC, 1,000+

Everett Davis & Paul Wallace, Jackson, CA, Glasair I RG, N14WD, 1,000+

William Hillman, Tucson, AZ, Glasair I RG, N84AG, 1,000+

John Levy, Carlsbad, CA, Glasair I RG, N88JL, 1,000+

Dr. Jerry Pekin, San Diego, CA, Glasair I TD, 1,000+

Tom Robertson, Phoenix, AZ, Glasair I FT, N325TR, 1,000+

Gene Spaulding, Dallas, TX, Glasair I FT, N18GS, 1,000+

Bob Luwig, Meridian, MS, Glasair I RG, N86BS, 1,000+

Robin Young & Bill McKee, Lakeland, FL, Glasair I TD, N286YM, 1,000+

*denotes new member or change in hours

From the Flight Deck ... Continued from Page 2

As an indirect result of our involvement with NASA, the S-H family has recently gained a new builder for whom Glasair III speeds are awfully slow but apparently still acceptable. NASA astronaut Greg Harbaugh has taken delivery of his III kit and is having a great time building his plane. He'll have to take some time out, however, for his fourth space walk sometime in the middle of February. Welcome, Greg, and good luck! May God be with you for a safe and successful mission.

For those of you who may have the opportunity to visit us here in Arlington, you'll see some new improvements to the R&D/showroom hangar. In an attempt to improve the utility of the R&D shop and to enhance the attractiveness of the showroom area, we have partitioned the hangar, including a a special area just for GlaStar options development. No less than three GlaStars are currently under construction in our hangar, so if you hear rivet guns in the background when you call, you'll know why!

We're considering putting together a GlaStar assembly course here in Arlington. For those of you who might be interested in such a class, please call and ask for Ted Setzer, as he will begin to put together a syllabus for the course if there is great enough interest.

The establishment of foreign dealerships continues to command a lot of my attention. We've found there are many legal issues to consider, and sorting these out has caused considerable delay in setting up dealerships in Europe and elsewhere. For those who have expressed interest in being dealers, please be patient. For the time being, with the exception of Wade Air's GlaStar concession for Australia and New Zealand, S-H continues to serve existing and prospective international customers directly from the factory.

Thanks agains for all your support. We look forward to a bright, safe and prosperous 1997. Happy New Year!

Flymarket

Tom Taylor, Owner 3559 Santa Carlotta St.

La Crescenta, CA 91214 (818)248-2499

High-quality, labor-saving, test-proven ...

... Glasair Performance Enhancements

As used on Tom Taylor's 261 m.p.h. Oshkosh Grand Champion II-S RG and John Parker's record-setting 305 m.p.h. III.

• Aft wing fairings: One-piece and retrofittable. Fits all Us and IIIs, easily adaptable to Is. $389.95 per pair.

• Wing tips: One piece, straight trailing edge. $199.95 per pair.

PLANE LUXURY AIRCRAFT INTERIORS Jim & Julie Londo, Owners Karen Louise, Order Desk (206)338-7070 P.O. Box 368 (619)394-4848 Mukilteo, WA 98275

(206) 745-6937

GlaStar Seat Packages • Choice of FAA-certified fabric, vinyl, fabric/vinyl combo

or fine European leather • Designed for comfort and made with airliner quality and

durability by the builder of Boeing 777 seats. • Four layers of foam for height adjustment. • Seats arrive ready to Velcro in place—a five-minute job. • Prices:

Fabric, vinyl or combination $1,249 per pair Fine European leather $1,649 per pair

Custom Interior Packages • Coordinated carpeting and headliner materials. • Quality, cost-effective materials. • Interior decorator available for custom design.

Call or write for color choices, fabric and material samples, and more information on finished products and custom options.

FOR SALE: Glasair II/III wing jig. Has built four wings. $150. Call Michael D. Cannon at (352) 326-2906.

FOR SALE: Bendix/King KY97A radio with tray. New, $750. II Morrow Apollo 2001 GPS with tray. New, $1,800. Standard Precision Vacuum artificial horizon. Yellow-tagged OHC, $100. Call Tom Dobbs at (210) 651-9347.

FOR SALE: Elevator trim hat switch for neutral stick grip. New and unused, $90. Call A.L. Hansen at (916) 283-4312 or e-mail <alhansen@psln.com>.

41

Section A : Engine Accessories A1 Please call A16 1,320.00 A31 345.00 A46 360.00 A61 4.86 A2 37,900.00 A17 1,320.00 A32 345.00 A47 Discontinued A62 5.90 A3 28,130.00 A18 1,320.00 A33 274.00 A48 360.00 A63 6.88 A4 25,225.00 A19 85.00 A34 Please call A49 360.00 A64 9.50 A5 17,585.00 A20 1,575.00 A35 84.44 A50 125.00 A65 9.95 A6 6,345.00 A21 1,575.00 A36 695.00 A51 220.00 A66 13.28 A7 6,445.00 A22 150.00 A37 695.00 A52 50.00 A67 43.99 A8 4,810.00 A23 150.00 A38 695.00 A53 15.60 A68 64.87 A9 7,497.00 A24 995.00 A39 715.00 A54 18.60 A69 75.65 A10 7,497.00 A25 395.00 A40 695.00 ASS 16.20 A70 88.41 A11 6,455.00 A26 52.03 A41 Discontinued A56 17.70 A71 120.12 A12 5,730.00 A27 80.00 A42 299.00 A57 17.70 A72 138.60 A13 150.00 A28 559.00 A43 250.00 ASS 14.25 A73 10.88 A14 140.00 A29 860.00 A44 250.00 A59 20.70 A74 22.47 A15 1,320.00 A30 279.00 A45 250.00 A60 4.86 A75 14.61

Section B: Instruments

B1 3,180.00 B6 9,360.00 B11 475.00 B16 1.28 B21 110.00 B2 5,410.00 B7 5,990.00 B12 SeeB11 B17 30.71 B22 30.49 B3 1,940.00 B8 1,175.00 B13 SeeB11 B18 120.00 B23 27.47 B4 1,436.00 B9 60.00 B14 30.27 B19 275.00 B24 27.91 B5 5,475.00 B10 75.00 B15 23.63 B20 275.00 B25 6.86

Section C:

Airframe Accessories

C1 22.50 C34 250.00 C67 24.50 C100 .44 C133 87.50 C2 149.00 C35 63.00 C68 24.50 C101 2.01 C134 122.50 C3 495.00 C36 620.00 C69 22.93 C102 .59 C135 385.00 C4 239.25 C37 90.00 C70 24.50 C103 .21 C136 31.50 C5 395.00 C38 90.00 C71 24.50 C104 26.73 C137 58.24 C6 395.00 C39 90.00 C72 24.50 C105 26.73 C138 Discontinued C7 995.00 C40 49.00 C73 24.50 C106 .28 C139 Discontinued C8 Discontinued C41 49.00 C74 36.43 C107 .37 C140 Discontinued C9 65.00 C42 22.15 C75 38.85 C108 .51 C141 6.97 C10 699.00 C43 22.15 C76 37.10 C109 1.28 C142 2.85 C11 699.00 C44 22.15 C77 .18 C110 1.19 C143 2.96 C12 226.10 C45 22.15 C78 .18 cm 2.45 C144 4.48 C13 262.50 C46 75.00 C79 3.94 C112 4.55 C145 2.85 C14 Seed 5 C47 75.00 C80 3.94 C113 Discontinued C146 2.85 C15 435.00 C48 199.00 C81 .22 C114 49.00 C147 2.85 C16 435.00 C49 199.00 C82 .12 C115 49.00 C148 1.33 C17 459.95 C50 95.00 C83 .30 C116 49.00 C149 .88 C18 465.00 C51 95.00 C84 .12 C117 49.00 C150 3.92 C19 590.00 C52 75.00 C85 .16 C118 49.00 C151 21.67 C20 495.00 C53 75.00 C86 2.36 C119 245.00 C152 5.76 C21 1,395.00 C54 95.00 C87 1.78 C120 295.00 C153 2.85 C22 1,395.00 CSS 120.00 C88 .79 C121 295.00 C154 5.69 C23 1,395.00 C56 14.47 C89 .33 C122 295.00 C155 87.15 C24 545.00 C57 495.00 C90 .18 C123 295.00 C156 59.66 C25 498.00 C58 525.00 C91 .14 C124 335.00 C157 77.73 C26 498.00 C59 13.62 C92 .11 C125 25.00 C158 5.69 C27 126.12 C60 2.20 C93 .09 C126 33.87 C159 7.00 C28 4.20 C61 22.50 C94 .70 C127 31.77 C160 9.00 C29 385.00 C62 112.00 C95 .12 C128 60.96 C161 5.95 C30 400.00 C63 23.71 C96 .62 C129 80.00 C162 3.66 C31 145.00 C64 24.52 C97 .44 C130 80.00 C32 585.00 C65 46.01 C98 .79 C131 96.25 C33 575.00 C66 10.50 C99 .92 C132 87.50

42

Section D: Tools D1 Discontinued D12 23.33 023 5.60 034 19.00 045 13.6002 6.02 D13 18.31 024 5.08 035 3.27 046 12.25D3 6.40 D14 75.00 025 4.55 036 7.21 047 21.72D4 6.40 D15 34.58 026 7.49 037 1.82 048 38.7605 4.09 D16 9.38 027 3.06 038 4.60 049 48.54D6 4.09 D17 9.38 028 4.88 039 3.34 050 25.00D7 52.50 D18 9.38 029 21.88 040 2.98 051 5.72D8 12.48 019 9.38 030 17.08 041 3.63 052 67.74D9 13.18 020 15.68 031 18.72 042 Discontinued 053 78.70D10 13.18 021 30.50 032 2.27 043 11.38 054 DiscontinuedD11 13.18 022 5.60 033 4.24 044 22.73

Section E: Construction Materials

E1 2.15 E10 10.00 E19 22.75 E28 10.19 E37 13.50E2 4.00 E11 5.86 E20 22.75 E29 54.00 E38 2.50E3 9.45 E12 Discontinued E21 1.50 E30 1.14 E39 20.34E4 9.45 E13 Discontinued E22 8.38 E31 .94 E40 12.34E5 5.00 E14 Discontinued E23 11.20 E32 7.78 E41 17.26E6 5.00 E15 7.88 E24 .44 E33 33.65 E42 21.30E7 3.36 E16 4.38 E25 .65 E34 16.83 E43 DiscontinuedE8 30.00 E17 4.03 E26 13.86 E35 13.39 E44 4.13E9 32.00 E18 18.41 E27 13.86 E36 2.12

Section F: Replacement Parts

F1 12.53 F10 97.50 F19 34.13 F28 16.00 F37 30.13F2 6.35 F11 67.00 F20 19.50 F29 16.00 F38 .45F3 9.15 F12 9.33 F21 4.88 F30 17.40 F39 .51F4 975.00 F13 11.25 F22 39.85 F31 15.43 F40 1.21F5 975.00 F14 202.50 F23 122.14 F32 14.75 F41 .54F6 975.00 F15 135.00 F24 29.00 F33 .79 F42 .92F7 975.00 F16 42.29 F25 24.15 F34 13.39 F43 1.10F8 995.00 F17 87.21 F26 16.00 F35 14.28 F9 1,260.00 F18 132.52 F27 16.00 F36 16.66 Section G: Pilot Supplies

G1 25.00 G5 Discontinued G9 4.38 G13 13.13 G2 Discontinued G6 8.00 G10 4.38 G14 2.98 G3 Discontinued G7 Discontinued G11 4.38 G15 3.50 G4 175.00 G8 10.50 G12 4.38 G16 1.75

Glasair I Accessories

GI-1 870.00 GI-10 34.44 GI-19 10.57 GI-28 75.00 GI-37 4.29GI-2 150.00 GI-11 395.00 GI-20 10.57 GI-29 675.00 GI-38 65.00GI-3 150.00 GI-1 2 175.00 GI-21 150.00 GI-30 175.00 GI-39 135.00GI-4 150.00 GI-13 22.50 GI-22 52.00 GI-31 120.14 GI-40 1.40GI-5 150.00 GI-14 22.50 GI-23 375.00 GI-32 75.50 GI-41 9.03GI-6 570.00 GI-15 22.49 GI-24 395.00 GI-33 345.00 GI-42 37.50GI-7 2,450.00 GI-16 345.00 GI-25 195.00 GI-34 325.00 GI-43 37.50GI-8 315.00 GI-17 640.00 GI-26 9.98 GI-35 199.00 GI-44 37.50GI-9 88.69 GI-18 9.12 GI-27 39.00 GI-36 375.00

STODDARD-HAMILTON AIRCRAFT, INCORPORATED

18701 58th Ave. N.E. Arlington, WA 98223

Phone: (360)435-8533 Fax: (360)435-9525

1/30/97 43

. . . Continued from Page 25 The manual parts lists, if you couldn't guess, are the lists at the beginning of each section of the manual. These lists serve one main purpose: by providing a key number for each part, they allow us to omit part numbers from the text and illustrations. This makes the text and illustrations more readable; as any Glasair builder can tell you, reading sentences full of ten-digit part numbers can grow very tiresome. It also makes revisions easier and more accurate, because when part numbers change, we need only change them once in the list instead of everywhere they appear in the text and illustrations. A secondary purpose of the manual parts lists is to give you some advance warning of which parts will be required for which assemblies. When you uncrate your fuselage kit, the manual parts lists alert you to the fact that the seat pans can safely be packed away in the attic since they're not needed until final assembly, while the big foam sheets better be left accessible for work on the fuselage.

So far so good. The trouble begins when builders use the manual parts lists to take inventory of their kits. Key Point No. 4: never, ever use the manual parts lists to inventory your kit! The proper lists to use for this important purpose are the ones that come with the kits themselves. We have variously referred to these in the past as "shipping parts lists," "kit lists" and "kit contents lists," but we've made a New Year's resolution to stick with "kit contents list" from here on out. These lists tell you what's supposed to be in the box.

Now, in theory, of course, the kit contents lists and manual parts lists should match! But parts and quantities change, and the kit contents lists and manual parts lists can't always be updated on the same schedule. In general (though not always), the kit contents lists will be more up-to-date. But you should always use the kit contents lists for inventory, even if the manual parts list is more current, because the former list is the one that

the Shipping Department used to pack your kit. Also, when we ship you an "addendum" (that is, new parts to bring your kit up to date after a change), we use your kit contents list as a baseline to know what to send you. Addenda are sent automatically whenever a kit contents list is changed, so if there are parts listed in the manual lists that you didn't get, it's either because they're obsolete (in which case, an ANOR or service bulletin will have been issued explaining which new parts to use and how) or because the new parts are on their way to you in an addendum. No action on your part is required or helpful!

Well, if you've read this far, you either read everything cover-to-cover or you must have been one of those builders whom we had confused a little bit. In either case, 1 hope this has given you a better understanding of what we do and why we do it. If further questions occur to you, my telephone is always open!