The Murphy Builders Site

We have been busy this winter in Kingston getting Dan Cybulski's rebel to the airport and up on floats and wings on. We have been building this plane for almost 10 years. I had the week off from my day job so we went at getting the engine running. We did the total rebuild starting with a new crank cam and cylinder assemblies. the video is during the first run with the cooling hood installed. We used the Lycoming recommended run in schedule with the first run lasting 1.8 hours. The second run was a one hour oil consumption run at rated power. We ended with a clean filter and one big step closer to flying http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JEF4vhE-GM8

Sean

Gotta be careful... those Toyotas don't weigh as much as a Ford or GMC !!

Sure wouldn't wanna keep that polished! But sure looks GREAT!

Those Zenairs under it?

whats this?-- derisive comments regarding Zenairs?
I love my Murphy Rebel. but with the monocoque construction, it will fold up like a pop can in a crash(I dont plan to crash it)

I am building a Zenair 801-- thats the 4 place.

I have a210 HP turbocharged Lycoming in it. It will be ready to fly in about a month.

The Rebel could use a little more of the longitudinal framing that the Zenair has.

While neither have the crashworthyness of a tube frame like a Kitfox, Cub or Mooney, the Zenair looks more survivable .
The engine is much better tied into the airframe and the cabin is pretty well surrounded with tube and heavier bracing

Karl Hipp

Karl... what are you going off on? I asked Sean a simple question.. are those Zenair floats under it?

I live 6 miles from the Zenair factory. Chris is a personal friend, as are his sons....

Now back to Sean sharing the glory of finally getting Dan's bird ready to fly.... We can argue structural rigidity somewhere else... and do your homework before we do, I have two CH701's and a Pegastol in my hangar! I even let my wife fly one of them...

Looks Very Nice! Sounds good too.
Should fly as good as it looks.
Curtis
175R

Have to agree with Wayne, it'll look real nice when it's polished,
Rebel 804 down under.

Hi Wayne
Thanks for the kind comments.
The floats are Czech 1900 Amphibs. I believe they were associated with Zenair in some way before they went out of business. They are heavier than the Murphy floats which led to the decision to polish the aircraft rather than paint.
Hope to have it airborne in a couple of months.
Cheers
Dan

Not "going off" at all. Just observations from building the 801 and having done a few structural mods on the Rebel.
I don't have any experience with the 701 which is the more comparable bird to the Rebel. Perhaps it is not built quite as stout as the 801 and more like a Rebel. I don't know--A friend has a 701 with 800 hours and no complaints.

I didn't see the previous posts relating to the floats.

I think that Zenair and Murphy both make fantastic airplanes. They are what they are.

Karl

Hi Wayne

As Dan said they are Czech floats. But The gear is different then the standard Zenair fair. It is beefy and it has real gas struts on the main gear. They are heavier we are guessing about 60lbs. We will know for sure in the next few weeks when we weight the plane. The one thing I don't like is the main gear is at least 6" further back than the Murphy 1800. These floats were on a Glastar and the guy that owned them at the time said they are a good working float but time will tell. Dan bought the floats back when it was unsure if Murphy would be making much of anything and the price was right. And the mighty Titan had a full tank

Sean

Did you weigh the floats before you put them on?

Main wheel 6" further back.. gonna be some nose wheel slappin going on when landing on the pavement, unless Dan carries some stuff in the baggage area or a gallon or two of water in each back float compartment. Won't make any real difference on the water.