The Murphy Builders Site

I got my plane raised and am now fitting the struts and cross cables. My
manual tells me to attach the bottom WT-06 tangs directly to the AN5 bolts
on the float fittings. However, I find then that the tang interferes with
the bottom of the strut edge and does not line up directly with the cable.
The same manual also has some pictures which shows the bottom tangs attached
to the AN4 bolts which attach the fittings to the strut material. I am
wondering which is best or what others have done.

Also, the manual doesn't tell you how to position the floats forward or back
relative to the plane. I notice there are a couple of inches of flex in the
struts before attaching the diagonal struts. Should the rear attach strut be
exactly perpendicular with the float or should it perpendicular to the plane
in level flight (bottom of cabin floor or top of door sill)?




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Hi Walt,
In answer to your first question, about the tang, I examined pic's,investigated angle cutting the strut bottom to allow for tang passage, and then called Grant at MAM. Final Answer? bolt it to the bottom bolt in the strut attach brace.
On the rear strut attachment, I drew a line acrossed the rear spreader bar, and also a line across the fusealage, center of the tang attach slot. Plum bob down from there, with the aircraft in level flight attitude, to center in both directions. I found tha
t if I did not have everything in close alignment that way I could not get the tang in place and the bolt did not want to go through all the way.
Kinda scary with yur aircraft 56" up in the air and no wheels, Huh!!!
If the weather stays as predicted, taxi and flight tests tomorrow on my floats. Curt N97MR



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Just got back after a soggy weekend (usually the hottest, driest weekend of
the year) here on the wet coast. The tang interference problem solved
itself, as I had to raise the rear strut a total of 4 holes (3 on the bottom
and 1 on top) to get the desired 2.5 degrees angle of incidence for the
floats. On the front, the strut material was high enough and with a bit of
bend left in the tang, it cleared the strut even at the bottom position.

I still have not attached the diagonal strut as I still am not clear on
exactly where to position the float fore and aft relative to the fuselage.
Curt, if I understand your last message here, you put a plumb bob from the
fuse (centred at the tang slot) down to the spreader bar. Did you then
centre the bottom of the plumb bob to the middle of the rear spreader bar
width?

Also, looking forward to hearing about your test flight.



-----Original Message-----
From: murphy-rebel@dcsol.com [mailto:murphy-rebel@dcsol.com]On Behalf Of
Rebflyer@aol.com
Sent: August 3, 2001 5:52 PM
To: murphy-rebel@dcsol.com
Subject: Re: Float Installation


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Hi Walt,
In answer to your first question, about the tang, I examined
pic's,investigated angle cutting the strut bottom to allow for tang passage,
and then called Grant at MAM. Final Answer? bolt it to the bottom bolt in
the strut attach brace.
On the rear strut attachment, I drew a line acrossed the rear spreader
bar, and also a line across the fusealage, center of the tang attach slot.
Plum bob down from there, with the aircraft in level flight attitude, to
center in both directions. I found tha

t if I did not have everything in close alignment that way I could not get
the tang in place and the bolt did not want to go through all the way.
Kinda scary with yur aircraft 56" up in the air and no wheels, Huh!!!
If the weather stays as predicted, taxi and flight tests tomorrow on my
floats. Curt N97MR
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Hi Walt,
Yes, you need to center the plumb bob both ways from the center of the
fuse, side to side, to the center of the spreader bar side to side, and the
line of the tang as spoken about before to get fore and aft. You may want to
check your angle of incident again to be sure it didn't change with the aft
struts being vertical. At this time my setup has me at the minimum length on
all struts. Interesting that you're so much higher in the back. I'll keep
you posted on the flight testing. I head for the FAA fisdo this a.m. to
finish the paperwork. The newest revisions gives the builder a lot more
latitude without having to contact the FAA for every change.
Good luck, Keep at it it's worth it Curt N97MR

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What you say, Curt, about the plumb bob centring with the plane positioned in level flight, does make sense to me. However, why are your struts set to the minimum and my rear ones need to be raised? I am wondering now if my manual instructions are for the Elite, not the Rebel for this section. I believe the Elite rear struts need to be shorter because of the lower rear floor. My manual has '98 revisions for these pages. I would be interested to know the exact length of your rear struts at the minimum setting, centre of top AN5 hole to centre of bottom AN5 hole. I will be heading out to work on my plane again now, and will do the same.

-----Original Message-----
From: murphy-rebel@dcsol.com [mailto:murphy-rebel@dcsol.com]On Behalf Of Rebflyer@aol.com
Sent: August 6, 2001 4:51 AM
To: murphy-rebel@dcsol.com
Subject: Re: Float Installation


Hi Walt,
Yes, you need to center the plumb bob both ways from the center of the
fuse, side to side, to the center of the spreader bar side to side, and the
line of the tang as spoken about before to get fore and aft. You may want to
check your angle of incident again to be sure it didn't change with the aft
struts being vertical. At this time my setup has me at the minimum length on
all struts. Interesting that you're so much higher in the back. I'll keep
you posted on the flight testing. I head for the FAA fisdo this a.m. to
finish the paperwork. The newest revisions gives the builder a lot more
latitude without having to contact the FAA for every change.
Good luck, Keep at it it's worth it Curt N97MR

Hi Walt,
Ran to the hanger and checked the length. Center to center is 38 7/8" on the rear strut. 41 1/4" fronts. Just be sure nothing has shifted out of alignment before you make the angle struts. As the plane shifts the dimension shortens the length of the strut
. (I was using hydraulic jacks and one of them sagged on me causing the floats to slide forward and the angle to lessen on the strut) I was in a bit of a hurry and neglected to lock the jack in place the sag was not noticable. I should have marked the post, I
should have locked the jack. Not a real good move, and the strut stock is pricey. Curt N97MR



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One other thing Walt,
Just to verify, the 2.5 deg diff is between the bottom of the wing and the top of the float. That gives about 6deg at the cord line. Curt



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Thanks Curt. I have now adjusted my rear struts to be 2 holes longer than
the minimum which makes them 39 3/8 centre to centre on the AN5's. That gets
me to the 2.5 degrees angle of incidence to the plane in level flight
(bottom of floor or top of door sill on the Rebel), not the wing as you
mentioned in your other message. MAM previously had been using 2.1 on their
Elite and changed it to 2.6. Wayne O. in an earlier message had said that he
used 2 degrees as well. This is why I am going very slow on this portion, as
I am still getting inconsistent information from different people.

I don't know exactly what the length of my front struts are, as they are
harder to measure on the plane with that angle. I am going down there again
tonight so will have another look.

Also, spoke to MAM about the fore and aft placement of the floats, but again
could not get a definite answer. I got the impression it didn't matter that
much and was advised to place them so the fittings don't bind. I wish
someone could tell me exactly the distance of the step to the plane's gear
leg centre, or leading edge of the wing, something that I can measure to a
fraction of an inch. Or is there a relationship of the step to you centre of
gravity.

-----Original Message-----
From: murphy-rebel@dcsol.com [mailto:murphy-rebel@dcsol.com]On Behalf Of
Rebflyer@aol.com
Sent: August 7, 2001 6:28 PM
To: murphy-rebel@dcsol.com
Subject: RE: Float Installation


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Hi Walt,
Ran to the hanger and checked the length. Center to center is 38 7/8" on
the rear strut. 41 1/4" fronts. Just be sure nothing has shifted out of
alignment before you make the angle struts. As the plane shifts the
dimension shortens the length of the strut

. (I was using hydraulic jacks and one of them sagged on me causing the
floats to slide forward and the angle to lessen on the strut) I was in a bit
of a hurry and neglected to lock the jack in place the sag was not
noticable. I should have marked the post, I

should have locked the jack. Not a real good move, and the strut stock is
pricey. Curt N97MR
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Hi Walter,

I was going to start my float installation last weekend but the weather was
so cold I bagged working in the unheated hanger.

I have to baby sit this weekend as Laurie is in your neighborhood at a scrap
book convention.

Next weekend Laurie and I are escaping for weekend to be alone together. Then
remodeling the floors in the home, thanksgiving, trip to Disneyland in
December, Christmas, new year! where does the time go?

I should be retired. I have to wonder how it was I ever found the time to
build two kit planes in the first place!

I have plans on getting my float rating at Wennatchee Flying Service in
January.

Bruce



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