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Numatx HTS system... for anything up to 1/8", about half the weight of standard C-type squeezers. I have the full yoke set - 1.5, 3, offset, and the large 4"... worked well for stuff that it can be used on. Also spendy compared to used/rebuilt stuff.

OK... so still competing with every kit-built aircraft... and a lot more of those than plans-built these days. Respectable number of judges that came by to look, which is a good sign. Hope your customer does well in 2027.

First time you drop those barn doors on your Patrol, you will appreciate that extra rivet adding a bit of extra shear load handling, given the nature of that flying surface.

I think I did 5 rivets from rib to angle for flaps... don't recall the callout, but given ailerons were x4, figured 5 would not hurt.

Bearhawks in the Oshkosh winner's circle: Carlo's N37BP took home the Bronze Plans-Built Lindy! Also a 5 that took a Bronze in Kitbuilt - trying to get details! Carlo and Lin in shot...

More shots...

First flight of Carlo's airplane... test pilot was our local hot stick (high time F-16 test pilot; race plane guy). Airworthiness inspection yesterday, and no real issues there. The usual high power run-up and then off the ground about 3 minutes after target time. Build ran September 2023...

No need to make a mock up full size - you can make up a 1/6th scale or 1/8th scale model of the main spar out of some 1/32" ply or balsa or even scrap hardwood for a web (leave the flanges off the mockup - not needed), plus balsa or solid wood strips for the caps, spacers, doublers, etc. Some...

My recommendation is to do full-sized layout prior to committing to cutting metal. Once those inner and outer 8' spar webs are bent, a handy 16' x 2' surface that can be painted with cheap white ceiling paint, marked up for the gross stuff, and the various spar bits and pieces dry-fitted...

In terms of bill of materials, you'll need 4 x 143-5/8", 4 x 131-3/8", 6 x 71-1/2", and 2 x 102". This can be gotten out of 13 pieces of 144" (12') 1/8" x 1" cap material. Here's the model sitting on a quick sketch I did. Do not use my sketch to build from - use it to better understand your...

We did something similar, but use 4130... nice to reduce overall trim system weight.

Not quite far enough along to fly Carlo's Patrol down from FDK, but looks like we will be taking his AirCam down to handle a cowl back-haul (lots of room behind the back seat in a flying cargo canoe). Target is Oshkosh 2026 (he ordered plans after Oshkosh 2023!) for his airplane and mine will...

There is a tip rib, but it cannot be airfoil-shaped if we want to transition from the airfoil-shaped stab to tapered slab -style elevator horn profile at the tip of the stab. The tip rib is the same straight line tapered construction as the elevator ribs, but a bit deeper flange at 9/16", with...

I already had a 20 ton press with air over hydraulic bottle used to press out my wing ribs, so I picked up a finger brake kit from Swag Off Road for most of my fittings. I used a combination of: - Bottoming dies with a fabricated upper die with desired bend radius ground in and tack-welded to...

For the Patrol, that is what we did with the basic stab and elevator structure. I don't have a set of plans for the 4B or 5, but Bob seemed to have used same design (symmetrical airfoil) on the tandems and the 4B/5. Easy to verify with 4B plans, so if I am wrong, let me know. Even with an...

Carlo headed to Oshkosh next week while I head down to Tampa to close out my GPS disruption resiliency work at the airport and enjoy that refreshing Gulf Coast mid-summer weather. Did get a few shots of the elevator trim servo mount after the airplane got wings removed and moved back to home...

The lasers were surprisingly accurate for mass-produced tools - the biggest issue was line width and brightness at longer distances. Closing the hanger door addressed the brightness issue, and the 1/16" apparent line width just required consistency in use. I did cal on my shorter (24") digital...

Spent a toasty Sunday at Frederick Airport getting Carlo's wings on. Clock is ticking on this one, as the owner of the hanger next to Carlo's (very full hanger) is out for a few more weeks (Cirrus jet touring Europe). Usual conversations on this stuff as shown in the video screen grabs. Once...

Carlo has been prototyping the overhead actuation system for the flaps with some engineering help on my part... a little CNC magic for the aluminum actuation bar grip (local straight-tail Bonanza guy is a CNC machine shop owner) and what is a multi-position ratchet quadrant to allow fine-tuning...

Tail feather jigs completed with the rudder jig... Lots of minor tweaks on this airplane - such as saving some weight by a 'Y' in the T1 versus two full-length pieces... these braces keep the inner-most stab rib from bending due to covering loads, and a single piece of T1 is plenty strong...