This section is for the bits and pieces of information that don’t yet have a home in the other categories.

Here’s the little fan I found for the cabin ventilation system. See Cabin Comfort section

While we’re on the Cabin Comfort thing, I used a Powerfile to open up the fresh air inlet duct on the underside of the tub. A Powerfile can plunge into the middle of the cavity and slowly remove material all round until you have a perfectly sized hole.

This is the strobe kit supplied by Southern Helicopters. CAA requires shielded lamps. I don’t quite know how they are shielded but it looks like a thin translucent silvering finish on the inside of the lamp housings.

This is the recommended position for the strobe controller mounting plate. It’s a piece of 2mm Aluminium secured to the frame with rubber lined saddle clamps. I made a little fold along the sides and punched some swaged holes to lighten it a little. The anti-vibration mounts are supplied with the strobe package.

First mounting attempt, as recommended.

Alas, clearance issues with the rear upper body panels forced a rethink and a simple solution. Mount the rear of the panel under the rearward tube instead of on top. Sorted.

The lamps have a rather clever fixing system that requires a pressed stainless steel plate to be fixed to the ship. I used my old favourite packing tape as a mould release on the tail boom and bedded the plate on a mound of filler.

Here it is dressed and trimmed and a perfect fit on the curved surface of the tail boom. I machined an undercut 1.5 mm wide and 2 mm deep in the filler just below the plate for the fixing clamp location. Painted black it’ll blend perfectly with the original mounting clamp.

Here’s the dusty red strobe in place on the tail boom.

I used the same technique on the Radio Antenna base. Here it is painted and ready to fit to the underside of the tail boom. This was originally a flat base antenna.

When you rivet the rubber strip into the upper engine mount it will distort and pull away from the mount around the rivets. This simple jig will hold it in place until the adhesive cures.

LANDING LIGHT

The popular lamp for Exec landing lights seems to be the General Electric PAR 36. I recall from my youth, these ‘Pin Spot’ lamps being used for Disco and Stage lighting. I can’t imagine that the very narrow beam angle would be very effective as a Helicopter landing light. Not that I plan to fly at night but with such a narrow beam angle, surely your visibility to others would be limited even in daylight conditions. However, something niggled at my memory cells and I eventually recalled that GE once manufactured a wider angle version of this lamp - not a flood lamp but a wider angle spot. After a little research I found a supplier and purchased a 50 watt 12 Volt Wide Angle Spot. (actually, I had to buy 6) The mounting and connections are identical to the narrow spot but the lens is patterned like a car headlamp instead of clear glass.

I made a saddle bracket from aluminium, trimmed to clear the brass terminals and with a cut out to lock onto a square ‘key’ moulded into the glass bowl. Two nylon spacers ensured a secure, unstressed mounting.

Countersunk screws in Tinnerman washers keeps a low profile fixing on the front of the panel.

OIL FILLER CAP / DIPSTICK

IMHO the Oil Filler cap and Integral Dipstick that Rotorway supply has several design flaws. The cap, which has an open cell foam filling and a circle of holes around its underside, also doubles as a breather. Other owners report that the oil vapour condensing in the cap drips through the holes onto the oil tank and runs down onto the inside of the tub. Rotorway suggest installing a donut of foam around the filler neck to soak up the drips.

Also, the filler cap locates over the filler neck but there is no seal between the two components. This allows yet more oil to run down the filler neck.

Lastly the cap is held in place on the filler neck by a bent piece of spring-steel that grips the inside of the aluminium neck. Mine had only been on and off a couple of times but the sharp edges of the spring steel had already gouged grooves on the inside of the filler neck. It wouldn’t take much more pulling and pushing and twisting before shavings of aluminium from the filler neck began to drop into the oil.

None of these points impressed me very much so I reckoned something had to be done. I’d read about a couple of different caps being available from other owner/suppliers on the ROG owners forum but I received no response from my inquiries so I decided to make my own.

I machined the cap body from a solid aluminium billet incorporating an O ring groove in the stem. I kept the wall thickness as thin as possible to minimise weight.

I made a new dipstick from a piece of 3 mm stainless steel rod, flattened at the end under a gas torch and silver soldered it to a small drilled stainless plate which I then riveted into the cap body. I calibrated the dipstick by transferring the measurements accurately from the old one.

Some aftermarket Chevy breather caps are packed with wire wool to assist in condensing the oil vapour that passes through. I used half of a kitchen scouring pad made from stainless steel wool - not the fine wire variety but a much coarser version rather like spiral swarf shavings from a lathe. I figures there would be less chance of small pieces breaking off and finding their way into the oil.

I then made a lid from 1.5 mm aluminium and welded in a 1/2 inch outlet tube. Ray, my main man and TIG welder supremo, glued it all together.

And here we have an oil-tight custom cap the fits well, looks great and weighs just 8 grammes more than the old one. It’ll eventually be fitted with a 1/2 inch PVC pipe routed through the bottom of the tub. All that remains is to get it approved by my CAA inspector.

HEADSETS

I’ve done a little research on headsets and read a few magazine reports and it seems to me that some installations can become a little complex and untidy. My Transair Radio has built-in intercom that keeps it neat at that end and I didn’t want a whole bunch of wires, plugs, switches and batteries at the business end.

I eventually opted for Graphite Blue Flightcom Denali ANR models with a coiled lead. These are powered from the overhead panel and are supplied with a ten pin socket, pre-wired to a harness and a little mounting plate and fixing screws. They’re lighter than most and are one of the few headsets I’ve seen to have soft leather ear cups. Apparently, this is a rather unusual combination of features so my headsets had to be shipped in from US and (judging by the long delivery time) probably made to order.

FOOTREST PANELS

This is the lid of the under-floor storage box. It’s an embossed aluminium material that we sometimes use on the floorpans of our cars. I figured that the regular aluminium sheet would soon be scratched and unsightly but this stuff will stay smarter longer and provide a little texture underfoot.

ROTOR TACH SENSOR

This is only a small detail but one the I thought was worth a few minutes of my time.

Thus is the locknut on the Rotor Tach sender that fits inside the square tube mount that bolts under the head bearing. It fits inside the tube OK but, because of the inside radius of the tubing, the nut will not fit flush to the tube wall. I just filed a small radius on two opposing flats on the nut it it fits neat, flush and secure.

FUEL SHUT OFF VALVE CABLE

As is often the case, a cock-up inspired this little modification. I had already trial fitted the  the fuel valve cable to the footwell panel just to confirm it’s length and cable run. But I forgot that there was a flat on the cable mounting ferrule so I just drilled a hole through the panel. It would probably have been OK with the nut tightened but I wasn’t too happy about the having to remove the cable completely  whenever I wanted to lift off the footwell panel. Hence a little thought and a small mod.

I machined a stepped aluminium mounting disc that would be mounted underneath the panel.

Four screws and the plate will drop through the panel and no possibility of wearing away the GRP hole with the ‘turn to lock’ action of the cable.

SUNGLASSES

Being relatively new to aviation I may be preaching to the converted here but I thought I’d just report on my ‘Discovery of the Week’.

My general eyesight is pretty good but the problem is, I need a little magnification to read the small print on maps in flight. Now, I’m a great fan of Ray Ban sunglasses - the wraparound design of my Aviators is perfect for reducing the glare and draughts that seem to come from every angle into the cockpit but I cannot find an optician who is willing or able to grind some Bifocal or Varifocal lenses for them.

I’ve spent a small fortune having glasses made at a High Street Optician but I just can’t get on with them - the magnifying area is too big and distorts my peripheral vision.

I’ve even tried sacrificing a pair of my cheapie 1.5 magnification glasses by shaping the lenses and bonding them to the inside of my Aviators. That kind-of works but makes them too heavy. Juggling glasses whilst wearing headphones in flight is not an option.

Quite by luck, as I was flicking through a magazine I came across an advert for these Sunglasses. They have small, clear magnifying lenses moulded into the corner. They’re available in several styles and magnifications and they solve the problem at a stroke. Ray Bans they ain’t but for £15 they’re the solution for me.www.grettoptik.com

I made this headset cradle from a strip of 1/8 x 5/8 Aluminium and covered it with heatshrink tubing.

FUEL CAP / FILLER

This is the standard fuel filler cap, just sticking through a clearance hole in the body. I’ve been a little concerned about spilling and overflowing fuel during refilling, especially when  the tanks near to full. Any spills and overflow will run down the tank and inside of the body panels. If the engine and exhaust are hot .......  ‘nuff said. Similar concerns from fellow builder Xavier de Tracy prompted me to do something about it.

I ordered an extra filler cap and stripped out the internal breather mechanism, leaving just a hollow threaded ‘Top Hat’.

I wrapped the thread with masking tape to protect it and bored out the inside of the cap to accept a short length of 32 mm Aluminium tube.

I played around a little with dimensions and eventually made cardboard ring templates  from three circles 48 mm, 130 mm and 180 mm. I transferred the dimensions to a sheet of 16 gauge aluminium.

I annealed the aluminium and formed it into cones. You’ll probably get the idea from this shot. Here’s my welder, Ray, tacking the pieces together.

And the finished article. I machined off the bottom 1/4 inch of the plastic cap for a better flow when filling. The aluminium tube is bonded into the cap with epoxy putty.

In situ. It may take a little longer to fill with fuel but at least spills shouldn’t run down the inside. It’s small and light enough to take with you if you’re traveling cross country.

UNDERSEAT FOAM

Rotorway specify 5 layers of foam to be fixed beneath both seats with locking wire to provide some impact absorption in the event of a very hard landing. In reality, it probably means that you’ll only shatter 9 vertebrae instead of 10.

I used plastic Cable Tie Bases on each corner as wire guides and load spreaders. This picture shows the underside of the Pilots seat looking up. The black cable is the Tail Rotor Control and the Beige cable is the Fadec Display cable.

If I had a choice on this one I think I’d change the design to something like we use to make custom bucket seats for racing cars. It’s basically a large plastic bag into which you pour a two-part Polyurethane Expanding Foam mixture. The mixture reacts and expands inside the bag whilst the driver is sitting in the car. After 20 minutes or so we have a solid foam seat, perfectly moulded around the drivers back and butt. I would devise a method of moulding something similar in the space between the seats and the tub.

MANEUVERING DOLLY

I’ve been looking at various designs of maneuvering dolly to pull the Exec around on the ground. One of the most popular has a frame that clamps to the skids in front of the front landing gear and outboard steering wheels linked to a central pulling handle. This was my plan until I came across this little beauty for less than Sixty Quid in B&Q.

It’s called the ‘LUVCART’ and it’s an electric garden trolley. It has two driven wheels, a single caster at the rear, two forward speeds and reverse all controlled from buttons on the handle.

If I can’t make something to drag my Exec around from this then I’ll take up Flower arranging.

And here it is. Just thrown together in a couple of hours and still unpainted but it seems to work fine. I chopped up the various parts of the Luvcart, extended the handle tubes and welded a simple frame from 1 1/4” x 1 1/4 “ x 1/8” wall square steel tube. A 1/2” bolt welded to the cart frame is the pivot point.

Four pieces of 2” x 1/4” angle iron with welded hinges and a simple adjustable over-centre fastener on each made up the Skid Clamps. 1/8” thick rubber mat pads glued to the inside protect the skids.

Well, it works fine on flat and level surfaces but struggles a little off-road. I need an incentive to resurface our yard - and here it is.

[Home] [Specifications] [Frame] [Tub Split] [Body Assembly] [Roof Panel Modifications] [More Body Mods] [Interior Finishing] [Painting] [Screen] [Doors] [Skid Pants] [Controls] [Tail Boom & Fins] [Tail Rotor & Drive] [Chain Oil Bath] [Drive Train] [Rigging] [Cooling] [Instruments & Wiring] [Cabin Comfort] [Exhaust] [Silencer] [Heat Shield] [Fuel Tanks] [IT LIVES!! &Teething Troubles] [Testing] [Main Rotor Blades] [Miscellaneous] [Tools] [Parts Supply] [Build Diary] [Events] [Flight Training] [Links] [Toys and Dogs]