upgrading ultralight kit

[Jesse Jenks]

Which skins are thinner on the ultralight version? Hopefully not the wing
skins that I just spent weeks drilling out.
Thanks
Jesse

Hi Jesse !

That would be the old ULTRALIGHT Rebel kit, I guess - it has thinner
spars, thin skins, and an all-fabric tail ... and a low gross weight
(originally 1,057 lb).

You are lucky !! I love the fiberglass springs, and will continue
to use them on my Rebels as long as I can get them !! They absorb shocks
well, and have a very benign failure mode - they delaminate & let you
down slowly..... Much better than steel springs, that just snap !
And infinitely better than the solid chunk of aluminum that now comes
as a "spring" - these can work IF you machine/grind them down to
taper from about 1" thick (!) to under 1/2" at the tailwheel attach end.

You should, of course, do Ontario Mod. #1 - a doubler over FUS-30,
to tie the top bulkhead, rudder post, and front triangular pieces together,
to better distribute the loads. Even if you are building as an ultralight !
This is one area that field experience has provided a 'fix' for - and
it IS necessary !

The old, original tailwheel worked great - Rebel #001 is still
flying
with that tailwheel ! It is a bit awkward for ground handling - you can't
push it backwards !! Fortunately, the old tailwheel can be retrofitted to
become a full-swivel wheel, as now shipped. There was an upgrade kit
shipped 'way back about 1993 for this, and all the parts are still
available.
This is a worthwhile thing to do - it makes ground handling much easier,
and will reduce the radius of your turns, as well.

What engine are you planning ??

......bobp

PS
If you are not going to use the fiberglass spring, you can toss it
my way ! :-)

-------------------------------orig.-------------------------
On Thursday 11 August 2005 12:27 pm, Jesse Jenks wrote:

Interesting discussion. I got an older kit from Wayne O. It has the old,

old

tailwheel mentioned by someone in this thread, with no castoring

provisions.

I also got a fiberglass spring. Since nobody responded to the query

about

how the old style tailwheel works I will ask again. Any comments on

them?

Thanks,
Jesse

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[Wayne G. O'Shea]

Jesse..sit back..have a drink and keep going. All skins are fine and you
also have those nice upgraded door sill channels I mfg for you etc. Bob has
repeated this for years that the AULA has thinner skins. I don't know where
he saw them or if I just got lucky...but both the kits I had have all the
same skin thinknessess as any 1650 Rebel kit.

Wayne

----- Original Message -----
From: "Jesse Jenks" <jessejenks@hotmail.com>
To: <rebel-builders@dcsol.com>
Sent: Thursday, August 11, 2005 9:30 PM
Subject: upgrading ultralight kit

Which skins are thinner on the ultralight version? Hopefully not the wing
skins that I just spent weeks drilling out.
Thanks
Jesse

Hi Jesse !

That would be the old ULTRALIGHT Rebel kit, I guess - it has

thinner

spars, thin skins, and an all-fabric tail ... and a low gross weight
(originally 1,057 lb).

You are lucky !! I love the fiberglass springs, and will continue
to use them on my Rebels as long as I can get them !! They absorb shocks
well, and have a very benign failure mode - they delaminate & let you
down slowly..... Much better than steel springs, that just snap !
And infinitely better than the solid chunk of aluminum that now comes
as a "spring" - these can work IF you machine/grind them down to
taper from about 1" thick (!) to under 1/2" at the tailwheel attach end.

You should, of course, do Ontario Mod. #1 - a doubler over FUS-30,
to tie the top bulkhead, rudder post, and front triangular pieces

together,

to better distribute the loads. Even if you are building as an ultralight

!

This is one area that field experience has provided a 'fix' for - and
it IS necessary !

The old, original tailwheel worked great - Rebel #001 is still
flying
with that tailwheel ! It is a bit awkward for ground handling - you

can't

push it backwards !! Fortunately, the old tailwheel can be retrofitted

to

become a full-swivel wheel, as now shipped. There was an upgrade kit
shipped 'way back about 1993 for this, and all the parts are still
available.
This is a worthwhile thing to do - it makes ground handling much easier,
and will reduce the radius of your turns, as well.

What engine are you planning ??

......bobp

PS
If you are not going to use the fiberglass spring, you can toss it
my way ! :-)

-------------------------------orig.-------------------------
On Thursday 11 August 2005 12:27 pm, Jesse Jenks wrote:

Interesting discussion. I got an older kit from Wayne O. It has the

old,

old

tailwheel mentioned by someone in this thread, with no castoring

provisions.

I also got a fiberglass spring. Since nobody responded to the query

about

how the old style tailwheel works I will ask again. Any comments on

them?

Thanks,
Jesse

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[Jesse Jenks]

Thanks Wayne,
Big sigh of relief. I already have so much work into one wing that I would
have had to just stick a lawnmower engine in and call it an ultralight
rather than start over.
I wasn't really that worried. I'm sure you would catch something like that,
and I do appreciate all the extra stuff you did for me substituting thicker
material in several locations. I think you even gave me some thicker corner
wraps.
Jesse

From: "Wayne G. O'Shea" <oifa@irishfield.on.ca>
Reply-To: <rebel-builders@dcsol.com>
To: <rebel-builders@dcsol.com>
Subject: Re: upgrading ultralight kit
Date: Thu, 11 Aug 2005 21:34:54 -0400

Jesse..sit back..have a drink and keep going. All skins are fine and you
also have those nice upgraded door sill channels I mfg for you etc. Bob has
repeated this for years that the AULA has thinner skins. I don't know where
he saw them or if I just got lucky...but both the kits I had have all the
same skin thinknessess as any 1650 Rebel kit.

Wayne

----- Original Message -----
From: "Jesse Jenks" <jessejenks@hotmail.com>
To: <rebel-builders@dcsol.com>
Sent: Thursday, August 11, 2005 9:30 PM
Subject: upgrading ultralight kit

Which skins are thinner on the ultralight version? Hopefully not the

wing

skins that I just spent weeks drilling out.
Thanks
Jesse

Hi Jesse !

That would be the old ULTRALIGHT Rebel kit, I guess - it has

thinner

spars, thin skins, and an all-fabric tail ... and a low gross weight
(originally 1,057 lb).

You are lucky !! I love the fiberglass springs, and will

continue

to use them on my Rebels as long as I can get them !! They absorb

shocks

well, and have a very benign failure mode - they delaminate & let you
down slowly..... Much better than steel springs, that just snap !
And infinitely better than the solid chunk of aluminum that now comes
as a "spring" - these can work IF you machine/grind them down to
taper from about 1" thick (!) to under 1/2" at the tailwheel attach

end.

You should, of course, do Ontario Mod. #1 - a doubler over

FUS-30,

to tie the top bulkhead, rudder post, and front triangular pieces

together,

to better distribute the loads. Even if you are building as an

ultralight
!

This is one area that field experience has provided a 'fix' for - and
it IS necessary !

The old, original tailwheel worked great - Rebel #001 is still
flying
with that tailwheel ! It is a bit awkward for ground handling - you

can't

push it backwards !! Fortunately, the old tailwheel can be retrofitted

to

become a full-swivel wheel, as now shipped. There was an upgrade kit
shipped 'way back about 1993 for this, and all the parts are still
available.
This is a worthwhile thing to do - it makes ground handling much

easier,

and will reduce the radius of your turns, as well.

What engine are you planning ??

......bobp

PS
If you are not going to use the fiberglass spring, you can toss

it

my way ! :-)

-------------------------------orig.-------------------------
On Thursday 11 August 2005 12:27 pm, Jesse Jenks wrote:

old,

old provisions. about them?

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