Sport Pilot Talk

UPS truck pulled up today with my new Rotax 912 ULS! I asked UPS driver if he was Santa Claus? His last name was actually Klauss. What are the odds? Anyway, the engine looks great, BUT, ONE PROBLEM. For the FIRST time ever for MSS, the engine mounting bracket (white one, not grey one) WAS NOT INCLUDED. Dang. No worries, in true Midwest Sky Sports fashion, Henry jumps on the phone, orders the $900.00 bracket to be overnight shipped to us. So, we should be able to hang it tomorrow. Just a heads-up if you are buying a Rotax engine for a build....ask about the bracket that "has always been included". ???

A lot more riveting today...finished cargo area...finished the aluminum seat supports...worked on firewall prep for hanging engine...canopy partially on...rivets are being filled with "Super Fil"...various parts attached...I have been using pneumatic rivet guns and drill...very nice. Tomorrow, engine hanging begins...roughly a 3 day process...hope to install seats temporarily to adjust stick height to my preference...etc...more rivets I am sure!

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This is awesome, it would be like x-mas for sure. Great work and I'd love to see it in person when you get it back to Florida.

Thanks ShawnM...good excuse to fly over to Clearwater!

Another great day today! Engine hung! We had to wait for UPS to deliver the "missing" white mounting bracket until 1pm this afternoon. Henry is the primary guy helping me build...former Blue Angel Mechanic, the nicest, 'calmest', guy in the world...BUT, he is a beast! Watching him (and helping him) slap the engine on, while simultaneously giving me a Rotax Engine Executive Short Course, was a priceless experience. I am a Dummy when it comes to mechanical things...BUT...I can NOW show you how Bing carbs work, what carb floats look like, what Rotax crankshafts look like, what Rotax camshafts look like, where the water pump is located, green-dot oil filters, etc...etc...etc... stuff I did not know this morning. I am now less dumb!

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Wow - you’ve made tremendous progress in a short time! Your Sling 2 is looking great!

Whoa ...almost there!

Btw you never showed us the pain job you are planning to put on this baby ... you got to have something in mind by now.

Thanks guys. We are planning the standard Sling "swoosh". It will be like this picture, but in blue with silver accents. I need the primary white color for Florida heat/sun. We decided we really like the low key, conservative, Sling swoosh.

Well, my last day for this month is done! We, of course, had another great day of work. Finished the exhaust, sized what I want for stick grip height, a little riveting, paint barn tour and discussion, etc... Nothing dramatic to show with photos.

Now, back to Florida to negotiate a back rub from Wife!

Thanks for watching.

Awesome work, Cam737! Will you need to make a return trip for any other riveting, or have you completed your 51% and the next trip back to take delivery?

Your color choice will be stunning! I think this is the blue “swoosh” pattern you’ve picked out?

Good luck with the build going forward and you have made great progress in a short time as pointed out by RTK. It can only be really helpful in the future for you in the event of any troubleshooting you may have to do on the plane. Having intimate insight and knowledge of how the plane goes together and how it was built is priceless.

Great color choice by the way, my SportCruiser is also white with blue and silver accents. A little less blue and a bit more silver than the photo posted by RTK. Lighter colors really do help in the Florida sun.

RTK wrote:Awesome work, Cam737! Will you need to make a return trip for any other riveting, or have you completed your 51% and the next trip back to take delivery?

Your color choice will be stunning! I think this is the blue “swoosh” pattern you’ve picked out?

EC7CCD83-C080-47AD-86D6-C5A644768C5E.jpeg

My work is done! Next trip will be for delivery and 40 hour fly-off. And a good amount of flying training and G3X Touch learning. Yes, that is the paint scheme. Unless I change my mind again .

God's eye view...

Warmi wrote:Whoa ...almost there!

Btw you never showed us the pain job you are planning to put on this baby ... you got to have something in mind by now.

Stop the presses! Driving to the paint store today, wife asked "maybe we should do titanium color, silver like the Porsche in front of us". That got us both very excited, so we are changing our minds on color, for the 4th or 5th time. Plan now is for silver main color, fighter grey tip trim with black sliver. This should be fun! We picked out colors and sent paint numbers to Midwest Sky Sports. We stumbled upon the web site for Soneca 200, just recently certified to build Sling 2 variants in Belgium. Google "Soneca 200"...good videos and pics...and info...like the aircraft has over 800 parts and 15,000 rivets...I would have guessed 150,000 rivets... .