EAA CHAPTER 25 MINNEAPOLIS / ST PAUL, MN JANUARY 2005

Legal Eagle Taking Shape

September - December 2004 by Pete Gavin

We last reported on Frank’s LEU

project in September. At that point, he
had framed up the tail feathers and com-
pleted the ribs and spars. For this up-
date, I visited Frank’s project again and
included material from his building log.
As you can see, he has made a lot of pro-
gress over the past few months.
Note: Frank has enlisted the help of
Howard Longpre throughout this pro-
ject.
Constructing the Wings
The most visible accomplishment since
September’s report has been construction
(Continued on page 4)

December Museum
Tour/Christmas Party
On December 19th, Chapter 25 members gathered
at the Golden Wings Air Museum at Anoka County
Airport for a private tour of their unique collection of
vintage aircraft. Later, members headed across the field
to member Dan Carroll’s hangar for the 2nd annual
chapter Christmas party. Dan was a great host, and eve-
ryone brought food or drink (Continued on page 3

Cleared for Takeoff/ December Meeting p2/ 3 Call for Volunteers/Pioneer Field Fly-In p7
State of the Chapter/Remembering the J2 p6 Events, Ads, and Treasurer’s Report p8
 Cleared for Takeoff
by Pat Halligan

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Around the holidays I received a number of e-mails from
members and they all said something to the effect; we’re glad we
belong to an active chapter and we think the officers are doing a
good job. I thank you for the kind words and rest assured we do
spend some of our waking hours thinking about how to make a
good chapter even better.
Last month in our newsletter we looked back at 2004, now
let’s look ahead. We’ll start with the web site. On New Years
Day I sent out an e-mail that Jeff Coffey had the site up and running. Jon Cumpton got the ball
rolling and then Jeff did the design work. It looks wonderful, so check it out at www.eaa25.org,
keeping in mind we still have some fine tuning to do.
The city of Lakeville will open its second high school this fall and we plan to offer a schol-
arship to the new school, in addition to the one we already offer at the original high school. You
should be very proud your chapter is doing something about education, instead of just talking
about it like a lot of politicians. Minneapolis/St. Paul
The Sonex airplane will be getting closer to its first flight as the year progresses and we will Visit our website at eaa25.com
need to form a flying club with chapter 25 members in order to know who will be flying the
plane and when. A membership in the “flying club” will be one way to keep flying affordable President
without putting your first born up for adoption. With the flying club, nobody will be able to Pat Halligan 651-452-7050
walk around the hanger and say they can’t afford to fly. [email protected]
We will continue to fly Young Eagles every third Saturday of the month. Hopefully more Vice President
members will become involved and discover the joy of bringing a smile to a youngster’s face as Jon Cumpton 715-760-0203
they go for their first airplane ride. [email protected]
Sport pilot/light sport aircraft will continue to grow and we should see a new group of avia- Secretary
tors interested in flying and interested in our chapter. We’ve been adding approximately two Craig Nelson 952-949-0400
new members each month and I expect that number to increase. Our new membership coordina- [email protected]
tor, Rich Monteleone, will be working hard to make sure our guests and new members feel wel-
Treasurer
come. Please go out of your way to introduce yourself and make everyone feel welcome.
We will need to become more involved in community issues, like the mess at Crystal Air- Ron Oehler 952-894-2332
port, because in a roundabout way these events affect all of us. We will need to attend meetings [email protected]
and hearings to stay abreast of these issues. How many of you know that on December 20, 2004 Membership Coordinator
the M.A.C. doubled the square foot storage rate at Airlake? Rich Monteleone 952-431-1029
We are considering a private pilot ground school at our hanger during the summer months [email protected]
that would be free for our members and their kids/grandkids. I need your input as to your level 1403 Summit Oaks Drive
of interest as a student, instructor, etc… Burnsville, MN 55337-4772
I will continue to work hard at getting an interesting guest speaker for each monthly meet- Newsletter Editor
ing, because I figure if you’re going to take time out of your busy schedule to attend a meeting, Pete Gavin 612-866-6676
the least I can do is make it enjoyable. For the past two years my “old” V.P. Jeff Coffey has [email protected]
made the meetings very enjoyable when I’ve been out of town and I want to say “Thanks Jeff,
Young Eagle Coordinator
you did a wonderful job.” You all know my new V.P. Jon Cumpton and his passion for flying
John Koser 952-831-5142
and for our chapter, so as a team you know we are going to keep right on having fun.
[email protected]
How was that for a quick look ahead? I could write about more subjects, but my space is
limited so we’ll talk about them at our next meeting or in another column. Technical Counselors
Chris Bobka 952-432-7969
Looking forward to 2005, Pat Dick Burns 952-473-1887
Bob Eckstein* 763-566-0577
ON FINAL is published monthly by Chapter 25 of the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) for the use, education Peter Denny 763-529-5325
and enjoyment of Chapter members and others to whom it is provided. No claim is made for the accuracy of materials
presented. Editorial content is the opinion of the contributor and does not necessarily reflect the position of Chapter 25 * also flight advisor
nor EAA. Submissions for publication, questions or comments on articles, etc. are encouraged and should be addressed
to: Pete Gavin 6905 12th Ave So. Richfield MN 55423, ph 612-866-6676, email [email protected].
Submission deadline: 1st Wednesday of the month. New or renewal memberships ($25/year) should be addressed to:
Rich Monteleone, 1403 Summit Oaks Drive, Burnsville, MN 55337. Permission for other EAA Chapters to
use the non-copyrighted portions of this publication is hereby given as long as the source is acknowledged. Any
copyrighted material that appears in this newsletter is with the permission of the acknowledged copyright holder. Any
further copying must obtain the permission of the original copyright holder.

ON FINAL JANUARY 2005 2

This Month—Jan 19th—Washburn High—6:30 pm
Meeting starts at 6:30 Free coffee & snacks

Speaker—Our speaker this month will be Brent Behn, Midwest Regional Director of
46 St
OurPLANE, Corp. OurPLANE is an aircraft management company that manages frac-
tional ownership on factory new aircraft for GA pilots. They also offer an executive pro-
gram aimed at small and medium sized companies. OurPLANE was developed by two X
pilots from London, Ontario who became frustrated with the traditional methods of own- 50 St
ership and renting. Their company manages all of the details of aircraft ownership - fuel-
ing, maintenance, hangarage, insurance and cleaning, etc. - so the pilots can relax and
concentrate on flying. Lyndale 35W

Directions to Meeting: From the South: Left exit 108 from 35W at the Crosstown.
Continue north on Lyndale Ave to 50th Street. Right turn and proceed 3 blocks. Turn left
into the school south parking lot. Enter south door #9, meeting down the hall on your
right.
From the North: 46th street exit from 35W, turn right. West on 46th street to Nicollet,
turn left. South on Nicollet to 50th, turn right. West on 50th past the Junior High School Hwy 62
to the Sr. High School 2 blocks west of Nicollet. Turn right into the school south parking
lot. Enter at south door #9, meeting down the hall on your right. 35W Nicollet

December Tour/Party
(Continued from page 1)

to share. This event replaced our normal December meeting,

and although there was not much business to report, everyone
had a great time. Dan promises to continue this new “tradition”
again next year. Thanks to Jon Perry and Jon
Cumpton for sharing these pictures.

ON FINAL JANUARY 2005 3

Legal Eagle (Continued from page 1)

and rigging of the wings. He has assembled the ribs onto the
spars and constructed the remaining wing parts – the diago-
nals, D-sections, and leading and trailing edges. Frank says,
“Getting all of these pieces cut to correct size and properly
aligned and glued in place was like putting together a puz-
zle.”
They fabricated 18 false (foam) ribs for the leading D-
section. For these, they called on Marv Getten’s experience
and used Marv’s special electric foam cutter. This is a
homemade saw that uses a long wire to cut through multiple
foam blocks at the same time. This ensures that they are of
uniform size and shape. The leading edge consists of .8 mm
plywood. Howard’s recommendation was that they make
female forms to hold the plywood in place with straps while The initial wing alignment test was performed out on the
gluing to the leading edge ribs. lawn. Frank & Howard then moved the fuselage and wings
The aileron structures are built as part of the wing then cut into the living room for the rigging process. The initial trial
loose for final assembly. They employed this same form and assembly did not go smoothly. Both parasol attachment posts
strapping method to apply their D-sections. The aileron on the fuselage were slightly miss-aligned. It was impossible
pockets were strengthened with more plywood and closed to get the bolts in both fore & aft brackets and through the
out with poster foam-board material. posts at the same time. In the past, Frank had made several
email and newsgroup submissions to the builder’s support
Frank commented that “Howard is a real treat to work with, group. This was the first time he actually grabbed the phone.
and so capable…his machinists background is conveniently After talking about the situation with John Bolding, there was
put to good use on the project.” Brass bushings were in- only one option. Howard built a jig to help align and re-locate
serted in the outer aileron hinge blocks, and added into the the parasol posts. Frank borrowed an acetylene torch to apply
design at various places. Both wings and ailerons were then heat and bend the posts into position. They came out perfectly
finish sanded and varnished. Everything is now ready for the aligned.
covering phase.
They then built wing scaffolding and utilized a self-leveling
Rigging the Wings dual laser to level the wings. The procedure was to level the
The way the wings were originally designed, the leading wings, them move each wing tip up 3 inches for dihedral.
edges of the wings were offset by about 1/8” front to rear. They then affixed the forward strut attachment hardware. In-
This made it simpler to make up the wing attachments, but stead of using the round struts per plan most builders are go-
then the sections covering the gap between the wings would ing with streamlined. Frank ordered streamlined struts from
be slightly skewed. Frank corrected this by rearranging the Carlson Aircraft. This project has all the basic attributes;
attach brackets so that the leading edges came out lined up. translated this means there are gotcha’s. Howard had fabri-
This allows the sheet metal covering the gap to be square
with the wings.

ON FINAL JANUARY 2005 4

Legal Eagle (Continued from page 4)

cated the strut attachment hardware per the drawings. He

found a place that did aluminum welding. They did a great
job…problem was they only needed to have a seven degree
angle, not fifteen. The wings and struts are now rigged.
The original design with the round struts required jury struts
to keep the main struts from vibrating. These are not required
with the streamlined struts, but Frank still intends to install
them for extra strength.
Flight Controls
The control system mounts via nylon plate standoffs holding a
one-inch aluminum tube that is positioned horizontally be-
tween stations 2 and 3. Brackets and guard shields fabricated
out of AL sheet secure the 2 ½” pulleys called for in this con-
trol system. There is a riveted control stick shroud that and fairleads. Bert Sisler has agreed to help out with the
mounts on the horizontal tube, and a control stick installed welding once Frank decides on their final placement.
with bolt, washers, etc. Fuel Tank
The elevator cable that goes through the horizontal tube is de- The tank is constructed of fiberglass and ¼” PVC foam.
signed to pass by the bolts that go through the tube. Frank’s Frank’s was crafted by making a mock tank out of ¼” ply-
plane will use sailboat rudder and tiller blocks for the elevator wood from which the top laminate could be easily formed.
and rudder cable fixtures through which the cables must pass The mold was lined with poly and tested for volume. The
to the tail. He is using a small brake lever from a local bike box was then disassembled and the pieces used for patterns
shop to activate the brakes. The lever was designed for 7/8” in cutting the foam. The seven separate pieces of foam were
diameter handlebars, which was ground out to 1” for the con- laminated with the fiberglass on both sides. The box (minus
trol stick. A single hand lever will close both brake bands si- the top) was glued together with epoxy. All inside corners
multaneously; thus the brakes provide no directional control. were given radiuses of flox and more fiberglass which actu-
ally is both the structural and sealing surface, the epoxy is
Once again, Howard has applied his creativity to Frank’s ul- covered as most fuels will attack it.
tralight. He has fabricated most of the aileron bell cranks, rod,
pulley guards, and spacers used throughout. He made some After the box was constructed Frank installed the finger fuel
neat ¼” nylon/plastic stand off fasteners for routing the cable strainer in the outlet. The filler tube is actually a household
via brass fairleads fore and aft of the rear strut. These were sink drain PVC tube. It is goes in the tank’s top before in-
machined such that each half will contour to the shape and stalling the top. From Frank’s experience working on his fa-
screw together over the streamlined struts. ther-in-law’s Express project…he sealed the inside joints of
all mating surfaces along the top with flox. The next chal-
Frank borrowed the Nicropress tool (belonging to EAA Chap- lenge was finding a way to apply the same flox seal to the
ter 25), a cable cutter, and No-Go gauge from Chris Bobka. inside joints where the sides meet the top. He prepared
Wasting no time, they quickly fabricated aileron and elevator curved strips of fiberglass and bonded them along the inside
control cables to final length with turnbuckles for fine adjust- of the tank where the sides meet the top. He then filled the
ment. Getting the cables cut to exact length can be a real chal- gap between the curved strips and the sides with flox, wet-
lenge, and took more than one attempt in a couple of cases. ting every surface down with resin before pressing the top
These are now into place. The cover was weighted down with whatever bal-
installed and last Frank could apply. It’s all done, and nice and light. It
ready to go. The will be holding roughly 36 lbs. of fuel.
day I visited they
were starting on Engine
the rudder cables. The engine was ordered from Hummel Engines while at
Oshkosh. Delivered mid-October. It is a ½ VW full case up-
The fuselage still graded to 1200cc. It has Nicosil aluminum cylinder walls
needs a few tabs keeping temperature down which translates into more horse-
welded to the fu- power. It comes with an Aerocarb carburetor, tuned mani-
selage for rudder fold, exhaust, and a rotor-less
pedals, standoffs distributor. It’s rated at 45 HP, (Contnued on page 6)

ON FINAL JANUARY 2005 5

Pat’s “State of the Remembering the J2
Chapter” Report from Lee Hurry

When I heard that the EAA may be planning to make a J2

Dear members, from their museum available for sale, I passed the informa-
I thought it would be of value to give you an idea of our tion on to Lee and asked what he could tell me about that
finances at the beginning of each year. Kind of a state of the model..Here is Lee’s response.
chapter report. You will be happy to here we are doing fine.
We started the year (2004) with $7414 in the bank and we I well remember the J-2 and flying it. Our modern ul-
ended the year with $7420. In between January 1st and De- tralites must be very similar, except the Cub has less power
cember 31st we spent a few dollars. for the weight. The single ignition only makes 37 hp (the
We spent about $2000 on hangar insulation. (Roof-doors very scarce dual ignition version makes another 3 hp, but
etc...) either way it's underpowered and thus many have been con-
$500 on the mezzanine. verted to 65 Continentals which makes it a pretty good
$500 on the scholarship. plane, lighter than the later J-3.
$500 for our gas hookup, a meter etc... The rudder has no aerodynamic counterbalance so one
$300 for EAA summer camp. must coordinate it well. It can't handle much wind and no
And $6000 toward the hangar as we paid the loan down brakes makes ground handling much like float plane han-
from $20000 to $14000. dling.
There were a lot of other expenses like utilities, printing,
insurance etc... that I didn’t break down. I recall Mankato had an above ground gas pump so one
As you can see it takes money to keep the chapter running. had to gauge the wind direction and strength when coming
I want to thank you for your donations, paying your dues and in to refuel. Cut the power the correct distance for the roll
helping with the fund raiser. When everyone does a little, we up or sometimes circle the pump so as to head into the wind
can accomplish a lot. If you have not paid your 2005 dues, to approach it.
please send a check to Rich Monteleone at this time. Rate of climb on a hot day with 2 aboard was immeasur-
Again “Thanks” for being a part of chapter 25, able. On cool days it was acceptable; one usually flew less
Pat the Prez. than 500' anyhow.
I bought two partial planes from Jim Southworth at
Chetek, Wis. I restored one as an early J-3 with 65 Lycom-
Legal Eagle (Continued from page 5) ing and the other as a homebuilt Kustom Kub with a hinged
door like a PA12 and T-craft ribs and an 85 Continental. I
and will probably be was covering this one when the regs for transponder etc
turning a 60 x 20 propel- came in so it was sold into southern Wisconsin. The other
ler. The engine has been was bought locally and resold quickly, I believe. That’s
run in a stand prior to when I sold my Jensen strip hangar too.
shipment. The J2 was a great little airplane—would make a great
Fuselage Main Gear chapter project!
The fuselage is standing
on the main gear, and
the wheels, tires etc. fit of fresh air through the
well. The design calls workshop. Most of our
for compression springs over one of the cross support tubes, as members know
one tube slides inside the other. Frank chose to use the Frank…he loves to say
stronger 1000 lbs. per inch die spring option. Some LEU “I am 90% finished,
builders have used valve springs from a diesel truck. From the with 90% yet to go!”
advise of previous LEU builders, these springs are pre-loaded One challenge that he is
¼” (or about 250 lbs.) Frank described the brake and axle open to hearing about
work that remains. your experience with, is what to do about a tail wheel spring?
Future Plans Frank’s drawn up a sketch of what he thinks is needed, and is
Frank appears very eager to tackle the fabric and covering trying to find a shop that can fabricate it out of SAE 1050 –
task, but will probably wait until the weather warms up. This 1095 mild steel.
generates a lot of fumes and one needs to be able to move a lot Stay tuned—more to come!
ON FINAL JANUARY 2005 6
Call for Volunteers
from Jon Cumpton

I’ve had a great time volunteering at Washburn. I think the best

thing has been that I have learned something from the kids and they
from me — they knew how to read and interpret the Sonex plans, I
had some experience with tools they didn't.

Whether you are an experienced builder or someone who is just

interested in seeing how an airplane is built, you guys need to visit
Washburn. Just find a way to fit an hour (9:30-10:30 am weekdays)
into your schedule. Most of the kids are dead serious about the
course, so don't worry that you've got to babysit anyone!!

As chapter members, this opportunity has just fallen in our laps, AVIATOR’S
courtesy of Peter. Try it, you'll like it!! QUICK REFERENCE MAPS
USA, Europe, Latin America & more
www.air-maps.com
1-800-852-1470
'COUPES, CUBS AND
AERONCAS FLY-IN
AT
PIONEER FIELD,
OSHKOSH, WISCONSIN

APRIL 30 & MAY 1, 2005

WE WILL STAY AT THE NEW AIR ACADEMY LODGE

THE ERCOUPE OWNERS CLUB, THE CUB CLUB AND

THE NATIONAL AERONCA ASSOCIATION WILL HOLD
A COMBINED FLY-IN AT THE GRASS STRIP BEHIND
THE EAA AIRVENTURE MUSEUM

TOUR PIONEER AIRPORT AND

THE EAA AIRVENTURE MUSEUM

SPONSORED BY THE WISCONSIN WING OF THE ER-

COUPE OWNERS CLUB, THE PIPER CUB CLUB AND
THE NATIONAL AERONCA ASSOCIATION

(LET'S SEE WHO HAS THE MOST PLANES SHOW UP)

NOTE: SPECIAL PERMISSION IS REQUIRED TO LAND.

CONTACT SYD COHEN ([email protected]) OR 715-842-
7814 TO RECEIVE THE REQUIRED DOCUMENTS

COST: $50 PER PERSON FOR FOOD AND LODGING

Experience a Virtual Tour at: www.airovation.com

ON FINAL JANUARY 2005 7
 Chapter Events and Fly-Ins
Jan 19 Chapter 25 Meeting runway. Odell 218/685-5100
Washburn High School 6:30pm Feb 12 Walker Mn (pvt) 10a-4p
(See directions on page 3) Ski Fly-in Leech Lake 122.9
Future meetings 2/16, 3/16, 4/20 land SE of city park Food
5/18, 6/15, 7/20, 8/17, 9/21, 10/19 Eric 218/244-5658
Feb 19 So St Paul Mn (SGS) 11-1p
One Low Price. Plain and simple. Always!
Jan 15 Grand Rapids Mn 11a-2p Ski Fly-in Jeff 612/849-5940
(GPZ) Ski Fly-In & Chili, runways Feb 26 Hinckley Mn (04W) 8-11a Apple Valley Ford Apple Ford of Shakopee
open for skis. 218/244-5658. Bkfst 320/384-6488 (952) 431-5900 (952) 445-2420
Jan 15 Winsted Mn (10D) 11a-1p Feb 27 Warroad Mn (RRT) 8a-1p
9th Annual Chili Feed Fly-In Ski Fly-In Bkfst Skis land on
Russ Paschke 320/485-3720. Warroad River 218/386-1818.
Jan 16 Hayward Wi (pvt) 9a-3p Mar 6-8 Fargo ND Holiday Inn
Ski Fly-In Bkfst, so end of Big Upper Midwest Aviation Symp.
Round Lk, Grand Pines Resort [email protected].
122.8 Mike 715/462-3352 Mar 24-25 St Paul Mn
Feb 5 Brodhead Wi (C37) Mn Aviation Mtce Tech Conf
Groundhog Chili Fly-In. Runways Radisson Riverfront Hotel.
not plowed. 262/374-0465 800/857-3922.
Feb 12 Elbow Lk Mn (Y63) 10-2p
Ski Fly-in food and fun, lake or Apr 12-18 Sun N'Fun 2005 (LAL)

Stuff for Sale/Wanted

Wanted: Rebuilt low time engine for my PA12: 108, 115, 125 or 135 HP would be
acceptable. Jan (grounded supercruiserman) Berghoff cell 952-994-4114 home 952-
829-5914 office 507-357-6565.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

For Sale: pair of new headsets from Sporty’s, model Air-680, $120 ea. New. Plus
Flight Gear carrying bag, will sell both headsets plus bag for $75. Pat 651-452-7050
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

For Sale: From Stan’s Skybolt—Lycoming HO360-B1B 180 hp engine, conical

mounts, Ellison throttle body, 60 amp alt., oil sump heater, Christen inverted oil sys-
tem, JPI engine analyzer, 15 hrs since Buldoc overhaul, $17,500
Also, McCauley 74-56 prop 15 hrs since overhaul incl. chrome spinner $1,500
Email [email protected] or call Dave at 651-423-4912
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

For Sale: 29’x34’ homebuilder’s shop with walkout rambler attached. Burnsville, CONTINENTAL
joins Skyline park. 3 bdrm/fam rm/dbl garage. $279,000. Pat Green 952/890-3514 LYCOMING
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

For Sale: 1/10th share in J-3 Cub & hangar at MIC. Low cost flying .
Call Dan: 612/991-6392 for specifics. Bolduc Aviation
Specialized Services, Inc.
Chapter 25 2004 Month-Yr Treasurer’s Report ANOKA COUNTY AIRPORT DARRELL E. BOLDUC
Begin-Balance Income Expenses Ending-Balance 8891 AIRPORT ROAD PRESIDENT
January 7,414.07 1,988.55 1,723.42 7,679.20 MINNEAPOLIS, MN 55449 (763) 780-1185
February 7,679.20 640.00 2,538.91 5,780.29 “SPECIALIZING IN ENGINE REBUILDING AND REPAIR”
March 5,780.29 1,202.00 1,835.67 5,146.62
April 5,146.62 522.75 1,165.44 4,503.93
May 4,503.93 58.78 1,339.07 3,223.64
June 3,223.64 1,647.83 1,090.08 3,781.39
July 3,781.39 399.24 176.31 4,004.32
August 4,004.32 633.12 404.42 4,233.02
September 4,233.02 2,297.40 1,236.84 5,293.58
October 5,293.58 7,039.44 3,233.88 9,099.14
November 9,099.14 890.00 704.06 9,285.08
Dec to date 9,285.08 816.00 2,681.00 7,420.08
Total for Year 18,135.11 18,129.10
Submitted by Ron Oehler, Chapter 25 Treasurer
Note: Int free loans & hangar payoff to M. Gulbrandson removed from Inc & Exp Dec 5

ON FINAL JANUARY 2005 8