Kit Aircraft Modifications

Hi Everyone,

Since I last posted about my wish to develop a Cellular based switch for turning on your aircraft engine pre-heater many things have been happening.

I was contacted buy a board manufacturer that makes a product that exceeds my requirements and along with them we have refined the design to meet the specific needs of the piloting community.

We now have a product that will independently switch 2 circuits. The circuits can be turned on simply by calling the unit which comes out of the box with its own phone number. The board has a 4 mode GSM module built into it which, along with the supplied SIM allow you to call it or SMS text it.

To trigger the pre-programmed functions you simply call the supplied phone number. The unit will not answer when you call. It senses the incoming call though and this triggers the board to turn on the relays in a pre-programmed fashion.

To configure the unit you have to send it SMS text messages. These messages have a cost that is deducted from the pre-paid T-Mobile card that is supplied with the unit. This card is re-loadable on the T-Mobile website and the SIM in the unit has no life limit.

I am excited that this unit is going to be able to be called to initiate a two circuit sequence that will see your battery trickle charger turn on for a predetermined amount of time before the engine heater is switched on.

This unit will address the two major problems we encounter when wanting to fly infrequently in colder climates (can you say winter time!) It will charge up your battery for the best performance in cranking over the engine and will pre-heat the engine for you without you having to go to the hangar to plug it in and wait.

This system is also a superior way to approach pre-heating your engine from an engine longevity stand point. Many out there have their engine pre-heaters on a timer circuit where the engine is preheated every morning in anticipation of good flying weather. This is not good for the engine as it promotes corrosion in the crankcase. These engines should be pre-heated then flown then allowed to cool to aviod unnecessary moisture build-up.

The units we are going to market are of very high quality and have been tested here for some time. The only issue we had wiwth the initial prototype was the signal strength in the all metal hangar. We have overcome this with the use of an external antenna and extension lead. The units will be UL tested for compliance in the North American market.

Below is a photo of the board sitting in the clear lidded box. We are going to be marketing them through distributors such as Aircraft Spruce and the price will be under $300.00 US

I received this post on the Matronics RV-10 forum last night and it was a review of the RV-10 Axle Spacers. I was very pleased to receive the feedback from John Gonzales after he received his package in the mail from Cleaveland Tools. Here is what he wrote:

“Mine came in the mail today so I haven’t had the opportunity to install them yet, but positive comment is in order.

Not only are these stainless steel pieces milled extremely well, but the pre-load spacer’s tight tolerance and fit are very, very close. With no grease on the threaded spacer, it is beautiful to feel how the two parts fit (Glide) together. This is no cheap piece of hardware and they would more so belong on a very, very expensive telescope tripod or on tooling machinery. Better than anything the dental industry puts out.

Nice Job. Shame it is going to eventually get covered in grime.”

I think that I made the right decision to make these out of stainless steel and that I didn’t comprise on the design. Of the units I have sold, all have been happy with the quality and functionality.

Dave

Hi Everyone,

This is a follow-up on what is happening with my axle spacers.

Cleaveland Tools and I  have been contacting the people who expressed interest in my axle spacers to determine the true number of people interested in them after the Matco offering.

When I first found out about the Matco unit I really didn’t think that many of you would still be interested in my version. Thankfully that wasn’t true.

In the interim I have received a couple of direct orders from the States and a couple of orders from guys here in Canada. These plus the confirmations from Cleaveland have allowed me to put together a small production run to satisfy those who have stuck with my design.

I have the parts being manufactured as we speak and the Cleaveland units should be shipped to them within 2 weeks.

I hope to now keep the design on Cleaveland Tools catalog but I think it is going to be done on  a pre-order basis.
I hope that this answers your question. If you have any more questions please do not hesitate to send them on.

Dave

Well I have received a couple of requests for my axle spacers even though the ones from Matco have been released. Thank you to those who like the design of my spacers over theirs. The comments that I have received are that customers want the stainless steel spacers I offer instead of the aluminum ones from Matco.

So here is what I am going to do. I am willing to produce these in small lots of 5 units and will put people on a waiting list until I get the 5 orders needed to manufacture them. This way I don’t have a whole lot of inventory sitting around.

I am also going to sell these units directly rather than through Cleaveland Tools. The numbers don’t make sense to have them keep stock.

I appreciate the trust that those who have purchased my products have put in me and I will continue to design high quality replacement parts and accessories for the kit aircraft market into the future.

Dave

Hi Everyone,

It seems as though I have been scooped in the marketplace!!

With the introduction of the Matco adjustable axle my product offering has effectively been run outta town! There is little chance of me being able to compete with a product being offered by the company with whom the problem originated. This is just how things go sometimes.

I would like to inform those who had contacted Cleaveland Tools to place a pre-order that I have canceled the product offering in fairness to Mike at Cleaveland Tools even though they had ordered product already. I would hate to have that product sit on their shelves with no interest in them.

To those who had the confidence to pre-order my adjustable pre-load axle spacers, Thank You. It is always gratifying to have the confidence of your peers.

I look forward to offering other accessories and parts to the kit builder and kit manufacturer alike.

Regards,

Dave

I have just finalized an advertising deal with Doug Reeves at Van’s Air Force whereby my ad box will be placed HERE on the side bar of the page where the previous day’s posting is placed. It is going to see a great deal of traffic and hopefully it will bring an increase in traffic to this blog.

I am looking into developing a cell phone controlled remote switch that would allow you to call a number and have the airplane start pre-heating before you even leave for the airport.

I have found a circuit board that when triggered by the light of the cell phone screen will energize a relay that inturn energizes a recepticle you can plug your engine heater into.

The cell phone would be of the inexpensive pre-paid type and would be pluged in and powered on all of the time.

The cool trick is that you don’t have to even have the phone answer the call. The phone always activates the screen light when the incoming call is received and that is what triggers the control circuit via the light sensor.

The unit can be programmed to energize the recepticle for  0.5s, 2s, 30s, 1 min, 5 min, 15 min, 30min and 1 hour after which it will shut down automatically.

I am going to have to do some more research regarding the actual recommended cell phone and whether or not it would be included or be purchased independently by the customer. This might be a better way to go because the customer would likely want a local number to call to avoid any possible charges. The phone has to be a non-flip type phone as the unit has to be mounted beside the circuit board and have the light sensor siliconed to its screen.

I am interested in what you have to say about this.

E-mail me with your comments HERE

Dave

I’ve been working diligently in getting the axle spacer program up and running. Thanks to all of you who have come to read about them and who have gone to Cleaveland Tools and put your name on their waiting list. I will have product to them around the 15th of January.

I installed the prototypes on my nose gear today and took pictures to put together an informative instruction sheet. We got lots of good pictures and Mike Lauritsen is going to add them to his order page in the next couple of days.

I am hoping to get he word out to the RV-6/7/8/9 crowd that I have a fix for their problem design as well. It would be very helpful if any of you readers would mention it to your friends and possibly print out the article on my blog to post in your EAA, RAA, COPA and AOPA publications. Maybe even as an article in your newsletter.

The more people hear about this fix the more safe we are going to be. I have heard some real scarry stories about people coming back to land with excessive shimmy and spinning bearings.

Dave

I have been able to take the design for the RV-10 axle spacers and modify them to fit the RV-6, 7, 8 and 9A front wheel. They use the same bearing as the RV-10 and have been having the same problem with the spacers supplied by Van’s pre-loading on the bearing seal.

In this application, I reproduced the same configuration as the RV-10 including the through axle. I am going to be offering these two kits for sale through Cleaveland Aircraft Tools.

Retail price for the RV-10 will be around US$180.00 and the RV-6/7/8/9 will be around US$190.00 as the new axle is included. Cleaveland has not confirmed the final price but this is close. They will be available in January 2009.

The axle will be made of aluminum and will use the same through bolt that is supplied in the kit. The actual spacers will be made of stainless steel with stainless steel hardware. The locking screws that you tighten after adjusting the pre-load will have drilled heads so they can be safety wired.  As well, there is a notch milled into the outer portion of the spacers that fit into the heads of two socket head cap screws. These screws are installed in the yoke and keep the spacers from rotating.

Here are some photos. Contact me at HERE  or submit a comment if you are interested in purchasing these.

Thanks for  reading my Blog!

Dave

Everyone,

As you all know by now I am going to install a Corvette LS-1 Engine in my RV-10. I have chosen the conversion package from Geared Drives and will be receiving my engine package next summer.

In the mean time I have been working on all of the systems that need to be in place to support this beast. One of those is the cabin heater. I now have the use of hot liquid coolant from the engine to heat the cabin so I have made a heater box that its in the center tunnel just forward of the fuel valve.

I called the fine people at British American Transfer (BAT Inc) and ordered a 4 in. SPAL slim line puller fan, a 115mm 13 row oil heat exchanger and a couple of 8AN banjo fittings. I then crafted a plenum that enclosed the fan that is placed on top of the heat exchanger. This allows the fan to pull air upwards through the heat exchanger and the plenum has 2 in. outlets pointing for and aft towards the front and rear seat distribution tees.

I mounted the heat exchanger on a couple of long rectangular, looped mounting brackets that hold it about 8 in. off of the floor. I did this for a couple of reasons . First, I needed to allow air access to the underside of the heat exchanger and this was accomplished by rasing it up. Second, I needed to get the outlet positioned so that there were essntially straight runs to the distribution tees.

I have it mounted in the tunnel and haven’t taken pictures yet so they will have to come later. I will also talk about the hook ups for this heat exchanger in another post.

Dave