If anyone reads the comments on my posts you will likely recognise Wayne Huk’s name as being a contributor. We’ve been emailing regularly about our 750 home builds for quite some time and he offered to host Teri and I myself at his casa in the great white north so that I could crawl around his build, and see a 701 build that has the same engine as mine. Today’s entry then is part planes, part trip blog.
You can see the whole album of pictures on my flickr
Wayne’s Plane
Wayne’s plane has quite a few modifications over mine, some of which I intend to flatter by copying. For instance he has the weather proofing kit that does a good job of keeping the door tight to the cabin. After some reading I am only going to install the Z channel that goes against the windshield at the front.
Wayne fabricated some plastic blocks to make the latch much tighter.
My plan is to put a second latch at the front of the door where it meets the cabin frame and the (new) Z channel. A lot of people have done this and it will be a final protection from the doors getting hit by the wind. I’m not sure what kind of latch we can come up with but at the very least perhaps a small bungee and ball stud.
Another interesting modification is the use of the Skytek windshield strip
and I have also ordered one of these, since it looks a lot more sturdy than the Zenith-supplied one. It is possible we can’t use it since I have already drilled out my holes but it wasn’t expensive and will be worth it if we can.
One of the things I was keen to look at was the flaperon installation and the ‘twist’. Now, I’ve already used that intel to do my own but here you can see where he had to enlarge the control rod hole.
Wayne has several access holes in the fuselage, using George Race’s excellent access hole covers
I kinda figure I’ll put some in as and when I find I need to get in there to access something. Definitely a good idea.
Here’s a pic of me and Wayne in front of his beast
Since he has been smart and had professionals help him with the wiring and the engine I was obviously keen to see what they had done. Here’s a long shot view of the engine install.
Great looking job, and you can see from here how well done the wiring is, labels on the wires and everything.
Here’s the back of his panel, he has a couple more things hooked up than me but I like how well organised and neat it is, I’ll be using this as a guide to get mine looking half as good.
Wayne has a great looking plane and it is soon off to the paint shop to look even better. Can’t wait to see it flying.
Captain Vic’s 701
Wayne had arranged for us to meet a guy who had bought a 701, but not just any 701. This 701 is one of only two in the world as it has “Pega-STOL” wings.
In these wings, the slats retract automatically into the wing and come back out at slow speeds to give the drag that the 750 has all the time. So you get the benefit of STOL in takeoff and landing without the drag during cruise.
Vic’s plane has the Rotax 912ULS I am using so I wanted to see how he had hooked up the battery and other items.
Here’s his solenoid that is in the back of his plane
Everyone seems to have these fancy connectors on their battery wires – I wonder where/how I get those. Talking to him and see what he had done was a great help in my understanding of how the battery and ignition circuits work, though since I’ve come back and studied the manuals again I see that I have a starter relay, no solenoid.
Shortly before I traveled to Canada I had ordered the towbar kit from Zenith and I noticed that Vic had it, said it was very handy indeed, made it real easy to move the plane around.
I had been thinking that it was going to be difficult to install the tubes in the nose gear but he said it was pretty straightforward. Wayne also gave some advice on engine management and flying techniques for the plane which was interesting to hear.
Osoyoos, BC
I’ll admit that I’d never heard of Osoyoos (though I had heard of Canada) so didn’t really know where I was going other than a long drive north west-ish out of Spokane. Wayne and Jennifer have a beautiful home on one of the lakes and the whole area is just spectacular.
Here are our hosts in their back garden.
The weather was fantastic and I had no idea that some of the lakes had beaches, and the weather and the water are warm enough for people to be in swim suits in and out of the water. In Canada. I didn’t know there was any such place.
The whole area is a massive wine growing region with well over a 100 wineries in a very small space, and Wayne took us on a tour of the area including a stop or two to sample the grape. Here’s Therapy Vineyards
Burrowing Owl Estate Winery has its own accommodations and private pool with a view
Here’s me and Teri with a view
As part of our visit, ‘Captain’ Vic took us on a sightseeing trip over the Valley in his 182. Here’s a couple of pictures of the stunning scenery.
A very beautiful place with some great friendly people who made us feel very welcome. A huge thank you to Wayne and Jennifer for letting two strangers into their home and showing them great hospitality.