Re - HELP !

[Rick Harper]

Thanks for the replies everyone !

Yes......we have the THIN stainless steel ONLY firewall ! :-(

NO....we hadn't heard about the "float modifications"....we had / have no intention to put her on floats....so we didn't pay any attention to these mod's from MAM..
Would have been nice if we were warned that it was a common fault while we were building !

NO.... there's been no "hard" landings....(as yet)

We have coil spring suspension ...which are quite soft and forgiving.....much more so than spring gear I would imagine. The aviation school C.F.I who taught me to fly came with me the other day
and did a few circuits....(Steve has 6,000 hours..ALL in light aircraft and teaches mainly in Citabrias),.........and he was very impressed with the coil springs !!!

Theres NO WAY we can fit MAM's "C-section" stiffening now that it's all built.....
but we could do something similar to Wayne's doublers....but I fear that the whole firewall forward
is going to have to come off to do it :-( AAAaaaaarrrrrgggghhhhhhhhh !!!!!

Things like this really detract from the whole experience.....and we thought we were ready to go
adventuring.....

WHY the hell if this problem is "inevitable" doesn't MAM make an effort to notify builders with a
letter advising of the necessary upgrades ???
E-mail would reach probably 75% of builders...and cost them a few cents !

Looks like it'll be quite a while till we get airborne again.

By the way.....

GREAT Site you've got there Wayne !

Rick & Wendy Harper
541R

[Wayne G. O'Shea]

Rick, I have installed quite a few sets of upper plates now without removing the engine (as have customers!). A couple Rebels have required pulling the wiring harness (or misc items) back through the firewall, doing the plates and reinstalling the wire harness but that's about it. If you have a flex drill or a dremel with the 90 degree adapter, you can drill out the witches hat rivets that need to be removed to facilitate the plates and then any holes that you can't drill from the outside can be done from the inside. The upper plates are the critical ones and should be able to be installed in less than 8 hours (usually only about 3 hours, but the worse case I have ever had due to fresh air/cabin heat/wires/primer lines etc being in the way was 7 hours). The lower plate that I do is mainly there to protect in the unfortunate possibility of a prop strike, because the firewall will buckle in the opposite direction of the engine rotation if it does. Even if it is on it's last swing after the mixture has been pulled, going into sand. (Don't ask how we know!) If you don't do a bottom plate, you still need to remove the bolts and add a AN970-5 washer between the mount and firewall, on each lower mount, to keep your established thrust line!

Good luck and thanks about our website (did you have a look through all the pictures in the services section??)
Wayne G. O'Shea
www.irishfield.on.ca

----- Original Message -----
From: Rick Harper (rjwh@ozemail.com.au)
To: murphy-rebel@dcsol.com (murphy-rebel@dcsol.com)
Sent: Wednesday, May 30, 2001 8:41 AM
Subject: Re - HELP !


Thanks for the replies everyone !

Yes......we have the THIN stainless steel ONLY firewall ! :-(

NO....we hadn't heard about the "float modifications"....we had / have no intention to put her on floats....so we didn't pay any attention to these mod's from MAM..
Would have been nice if we were warned that it was a common fault while we were building !

NO.... there's been no "hard" landings....(as yet)

We have coil spring suspension ...which are quite soft and forgiving.....much more so than spring gear I would imagine. The aviation school C.F.I who taught me to fly came with me the other day
and did a few circuits....(Steve has 6,000 hours..ALL in light aircraft and teaches mainly in Citabrias),.........and he was very impressed with the coil springs !!!

Theres NO WAY we can fit MAM's "C-section" stiffening now that it's all built.....
but we could do something similar to Wayne's doublers....but I fear that the whole firewall forward
is going to have to come off to do it :-( AAAaaaaarrrrrgggghhhhhhhhh !!!!!

Things like this really detract from the whole experience.....and we thought we were ready to go
adventuring.....

WHY the hell if this problem is "inevitable" doesn't MAM make an effort to notify builders with a
letter advising of the necessary upgrades ???
E-mail would reach probably 75% of builders...and cost them a few cents !

Looks like it'll be quite a while till we get airborne again.

By the way.....

GREAT Site you've got there Wayne !

Rick & Wendy Harper
541R

[Legeorgen]

Rick,

I can''t imagine how frustrated and disappointed you must be about this.
Cheer up! It could have been worse. But, yes, I agree MAM seems to almost
look the other direction with stuff like this. Don't get me wrong, I love the
airplane and MAM has been very helpful when I call with questions and
concerns. But after having built another companies kit, I will say that MAM
could benefit with some "user friendly work" on their manual and service to
their customers. Especially when it comes to the evolution of the airplane
and it's growing pains. That's my own opinion.

D. Murphy and MAM have, on the other hand, designed an excellent plane that
you will reap the rewards from for may years to come. Think of all the other
poor soles that bought some other manufactures inferior plane and spent years
and countless hours building it and know have to fly it after they see yours
and you take them for a ride and they realize they could have had a Rebel.

Bruce G



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[Rick Harper]

Thanks heaps for the advice Wayne....(sure wish you lived down these neck'o' the woods)

Didn't get to see EVERY page on your site....but I will in the near future....I added it to my "favourites" listing :-)

Thanks again

Rick & Wendy Harper
541R

[Rick Harper]

G'day Bruce !

Yes you are quite right when you say that the REBEL is fine product and that
many builders spend years trying to fix shortcomings in design and / or kit
quality !
....and I really DO understand that aircraft kit design / supply is not a
field of endeavour that is probably going to make any person or company
billionaires
overnight.........BUT...

It doesn't take a Rhodes scholar to figure out a few basic principals of
successful business ethics......like :
LISTENING to your clientele and inter-reacting with same....Adequately
upgrading your systems when shortcomings are evident.....and keeping your
customers HAPPY...

The BEST form of advertising is ALWAYS word of mouth...especially in this
game !

As I have said before...The product is GOOD, .."some" of the staff are eager
to help
...others definitely not ,....and there is a definite NEED for a dedicated
"Manual upkeeper", "Modifications Upgrader / Notifyer" and Customer Liason
person.

This could all be done by one "with it" type of person and I'm sure they
would be cost beneficial to MAM in the long run as they definitely are here
for the long haul.....but it just doesn't look like happening does it .

Thanks christ for "The Webb"...and Chat groups like this !!!

Rick & Wendy
541R

----- Original Message -----
From: <Legeorgen@cs.com>
To: <murphy-rebel@dcsol.com>
Sent: Thursday, 31 May 2001 12:00
Subject: Re: Re - HELP !


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Rick,

I can''t imagine how frustrated and disappointed you must be about this.
Cheer up! It could have been worse. But, yes, I agree MAM seems to almost
look the other direction with stuff like this. Don't get me wrong, I love

the

airplane and MAM has been very helpful when I call with questions and
concerns. But after having built another companies kit, I will say that

MAM

could benefit with some "user friendly work" on their manual and service

to

their customers. Especially when it comes to the evolution of the airplane
and it's growing pains. That's my own opinion.

D. Murphy and MAM have, on the other hand, designed an excellent plane

that

you will reap the rewards from for may years to come. Think of all the

other

poor soles that bought some other manufactures inferior plane and spent

years

and countless hours building it and know have to fly it after they see

yours

and you take them for a ride and they realize they could have had a Rebel.

Bruce G

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