I have finished the rudder of my Bede BD-4C! Well, almost finished the rudder. It still needs the counterbalance on the top and the weldment on the bottom. And it needs to actually be riveted together. But, other than those trivialities, the rudder is done. The two skins are trimmed to size. The piano hinge […]
Don’t Build Airplanes While Sleeping
I know that this keeps you awake at night, wondering whether or not you will be able to avoid building an airplane while asleep. Let me encourage you to persevere in your efforts. At all costs, strive to be awake when building your airplanes. Monday night, I built a set of ribs for the rudder […]
Rudder Ribs
I have designed and fabricated my first parts from scratch! As I mentioned in Starting on the Rudder, I needed to design new, smaller ribs for my Bede BD-4C rudder. I did and they fit. 🙂 Click the photo to jump to the on-line gallery where you can see larger pictures.
Starting on the Rudder
I started on the rudder of my Bede BD-4C, again. A week or so ago, I had built two of the ribs that go inside the rudder, the VS-9 rib for the bottom and the VS-10 rib for the middle. These two were made out of 0.025″ aluminum but I could not make the top […]
Top of the Tail Cone
I had all five pieces of tail cone for my Bede BD-4C cut out but I had not been able to drill the screw holes in the top. The TC-2 (top piece) fits over the skins. That would have been just fine except the skins came pre-fabricated from BedeCorp, including having the screw holes pre-drilled. […]
Hawk Update
I checked on “our” hawk and learned that he was taken to the World Bird Sanctuary in Valley Park, MO. He is a Cooper’s Hawk with a fractured right wing. Fortunately, he is eating and seems to be doing well. I was told that he would be recuperating for two to three weeks.
Hawk Visitor
We had a hawk visitor last night. Candy looked out the front door to discover this poor bird sitting on a chair on our front porch. Ms. Klinger of the St. Charles County Division of Humane Services was good enough to come collect it, quite gently, thank you. By the time you read this, the […]
Bede BD-4C Tail Cone
I have spent bits of time over the last week or so making the top, bottom, and back of the Bede BD-4C tail cone, which is a bit of a misnomer since the tail cone is not conical, but never mind. The sides, which are a pretty complex shape, came prefabricated from BedeCorp and saved […]
Finishing Up the Horizontal Stabilator
I finished up the horizontal stabilator (for awhile) on Thursday with a whoop of joy and a grin that lasted for hours. Drilling and riveting the static skin to the right end went quickly and without a hitch, since all of the processes that I used for the left end were still fresh in my […]
Riveted Static Skins to Horizontal Stabilator
Red letter day on my Bede BD-4C airplane project. I have riveted the skins to the left end of the horizontal stabilator! It has taken lots of time to get to this point, building the ribs that go inside the skins, cutting the skins, fitting everything, measuring measuring measuring…. But it all payed off tonight […]
Anti-Servo WHAT? Horizontal Stabil-WHERE?
Several of you have told me how much you are enjoying these postings, and you have been encouraging me to keep building and keep writing. Thank you very much. Believe me, I appreciate all of the positive energy you are sending my way! Almost all of you have been completely lost about what the heck an […]
First Assembled BD-4C Part
Today is a Red Letter Day. I have assembled the anti-servo tab, my first BD-4C part! It is comprised of the HS-6 skin, with four HS-7 ribs inside it, and two TS-16 brackets on the bottom (outside). The rod for adjusting the anti-servo tab will attach to the brackets. I fitted the two HS-7 ribs to […]
Rebuilding HS-7 Ribs
Having ruined two HS-7 ribs last night, tonight’s task was to rebuild them and drill them properly. The trick, which several good friends from EAA chapter 32 pointed out to me, is to draw a line down the middle of the flange on the rib. Then I can assure that the line is visible through […]
Building Brackets for the Anti-Servo Tab
I have spent the last three sessions (spaced out over more than a week, since rehearsals for Nunsense took priority over the BD-4C for awhile) building the brackets which will attach the push-pull rod to the anti-servo tab on the trailing edge of the horizontal stabilator. If that’s all gobble-de-gook, never mind. Just read on and […]
Building Small Ribs
Santa Claus, in the guise of Roger the UPS Man, brought me two big boxes of Bede BD-4C pieces on Friday so I was finally able to start construction of my plane. I quickly learned that there is a world of difference between assembling pre-made parts, which I had done in September when I spent […]
Heads Up, Doc!
Added November 6, 2011: Since sending a copy of this letter to the doctor, I spoke with his office manager and him, receiving both a good explanation and sincere apologies. I have returned to his office for my FAA medical exam and had a delightful experience with everything running on time and like clockwork. Dear […]
Good Bye Arrow. Hello BD-4C.
My Piper Arrow is gone and my Bede BD-4C kit has started to arrive. I flew the Arrow from St. Charles County Smartt airport (KSET) to Mansfield Lahm Regional Airport (KMFD) on Saturday, delivering it to Jim Bede Jr. as my last flight. I could not have asked for a better trip. With cool temperatures and […]
Need Gas? Help Yourself.
This is a sad indicator of how tough times have become for some people. Our garage was burglarized recently and the only item taken was the gasoline can. Not tools. Nor the radios out of the cars. Gasoline. The sad part? This is the second time that we have been victimized in exactly the same […]
First Workbench
Today was workbench day at the Zemon’s. I built the first of two 2′ x 5′ workbenches that I will use for my BD-4C construction. Believe it or not, this is the first real work table that I have ever had. This is a relatively small table but should be just right for my space, […]
Bede BD-4C Construction: Day 3
Friday morning was set aside for installing the skin on the inboard end of the right wing, which includes the fuel tank. There were a few prep steps remaining because we simply ran out of time on Thursday afternoon. First, I shortened the fuel pickup line and drilled a new fuel strainer in the end. […]
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