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RV-8 "Moody Rosie", B-KOO, Hong Kong

HighSchoolBuilders

Well Known Member
Here's my project. Just a brief background/history: It is an educational and non-profit project where high school student get to hands on building an RV8 with pilot and engineer mentors. Upon completion, this will be the first experimental aircraft registered under Hong Kong (B-KOO reserved).

So far we had more than 200 students went through the program. We are at the final stage where the aircraft is getting too big for the classroom, we moved to the maintenance hanger at the international airport where it will reside until completion.

Any suggestions and comments are welcomed, thanks for looking!
 
Pictures


Where it all begins


Student took 3 months, every wednesday, to work on the practice kit and learn how to use tools and sheet metal work.


Once they finished the practice kit, they move on to the real thing. Here they plan their work...


....and just do it
 
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Fuel Tank Stuff


They get their fair share of Prosealing


10:1 by weight. (Precision Scale: courtesy of Chemistry Lab)


Tank Stiffeners


Sealing the rivet heads


Before we close it up


Sealing the rivets and screws head


Leak test, no bubbles!


No Leak! Engineers and mechanics helped with closing the tank and leak test.
 
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Very nice workmanship! I love how the end of the tank cover screws have matching round globs of proseal! Plus the young lady applying to the shop heads on the rear bulkhead is doing a very professional job.

One other thing, make sure you do the SB's.
 
Wow

Hank,

That is absolutely AWESOME!!!! Don't you have an online buildsite for your project that we can see the progress?

Congratulations and keep up the good work!
 
I'm jealous, your students have done such a nest job with the pro seal.

Here's my project. Just a brief background/history: It is an educational and non-profit project where high school student get to hands on building an RV8 with pilot and engineer mentors. Upon completion, this will be the first experimental aircraft registered under Hong Kong (B-KOO reserved).

So far we had more than 200 students went through the program. We are at the final stage where the aircraft is getting too big for the classroom, we moved to the maintenance hanger at the international airport where it will reside until completion.

Any suggestions and comments are welcomed, thanks for looking!

Cheers
 
Very cool project! Thanks for sharing. I wish we had this back in my school days.

I do feel a little under-dressed now when I'm working on my RV-9A. Maybe I'll wear a tie for my next session. :D:D
 
Very nice workmanship! I love how the end of the tank cover screws have matching round globs of proseal! Plus the young lady applying to the shop heads on the rear bulkhead is doing a very professional job.

One other thing, make sure you do the SB's.

Arrrgggghhh! SBs (with an 's')
 
The BIG move

After 4 years of building in a classroom, she got to the point where she won't be able to leave the school if she gets any bigger in size.

We moved the aircraft from downtown Hong Kong to the international airport and that was quite an operation.


The day before move, a team of 10 movers helped with packing up everything for transport. Nothing fancy here, just lots of soft padding and wood structure to form a frame for the fuselage and wings.








Don't ask


On the day of the move, the school literally removed the entire window and built a platform across the top of the school perimeter.


Closed the road adjacent to the workshop


and lift!




A crane is ready outside to hoist it up, and ease it on to the pavement
 
BIG move Pt. II




On our way to the airport, at least she's happy


Arrived at the hanger on the top floor, her home until it's ready for engine run.

 
Congratulations!
Those students are lucky to have such an experience. It is quite an undertaking in a place like Hong Kong. Good luck on the rest of the project. Looking forward to reading more about your progress.
 
Nice photos of your progress on this project. Your students are doing great work and this is an excellent experience for them, given the growing aviation manufacturing industry all over China, especially in cities like Shenyang, Xian, Harbin, Nanchang, Shanghai and Chengdu. People with their skills will be in high demand.

I know the civil airspace in China has been "open" for a couple years officially now yet there seems to be almost no GA aircraft flying save for training flights in places like Chengdu and a handful of business jets and almost no infrastructure in place to support light aircraft GA operations or GA ATC functions.

I've been to China many times and know that Hong Kong operates under some different rules than the rest of China. Do you see GA flight operations really being permitted in your area by the time you are ready to fly your project? Interested to know your views on this aspect.
 
Great Stuff!

Very cool! Wish I was in on a high school project like that. Thanks for sharing and good choice on the RV-8. ;-)

~J~
 
Build on!

As a Teen-Flight mentor for the group in Hillsboro OR
I applaud your work!
The craftsmanship looks excellent and the students
look to be thoroughly engaged.
We will look for you in Oshkosh!
Jim Frisbie
 
RV8 build

The plans of course are in English, measurements in inches, nuts and bolts in inches.

How did you handle that? Have they, are they learning english?

Going to school is usually about getting graded for how you did on a written test.

Great job giving the students a chance to see that learning some new skills and hard work can turn into something tangible, something that flies.
 
Thanks

Thanks for all the encouragement!

English is mandatory in high school in HK, so that is not an issue for them. We do have to teach them measurement in inches/feet. Things like AN426AD3-3.5, we tell them what does the numbers mean and they apply that in their practice kit.

This project has became their pride and getting into the project is competitive. I only have tools for 20 students, so I can't take everyone in. When they do get in, they are really into it and take it seriously, I am very proud of them.

GA is extremely limited in HK. There are only 2 airports, one is the international airport, equivalent to the class B in the U.S.; The other airport is the military airport which allows weekend flying only, minus bad weather and military exercise closure, there isn't much days you can fly GA in a year.

Experimental/Homebuilt does not exist. There were many case of builders fail to get thru the red tape and force to take their project home. When I approach the school, I took a gamble to promise them the aircraft WILL fly, it took us 4 years to breakthrough that red tape and we are granted one traffic pattern.....yes you heard me right, one traffic pattern! After that, we do not have the right to fly in Hong Kong again.

As much as I would like to protest, I don't want to jeopardize what might be the only opportunity for the student to see their work take flight. We are baby-stepping, I am sure more opportunities will knock on our door when we have a successful first flight.

One thing I learnt from the project, is you can't wait for everything to line up nicely before you take the step, just have to deal with challenges as it comes.

Will post more photos later....
 
Thanks for filling in the gray areas Hank. :) You have done an amazing job organizing this whole build given the difficulties and red tape challenges. Keep up the great work and we all hope the powers that be allow more than one flight when you are all done.
 
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Perhaps the "Powers-that-be" should be invited now and become befriended with them. Then invite them to watch the first flight and discuss the dependability, the quality construction and so on.

After all, Fernando Abasolo managed to fight for the right to fly IFR in experiments, in Chile and it is now allowed.

Best,
 
News

Dear Cheng,
I?m eagerly waiting for updates to this fascinating story. The school year has restarted in Hong Kong? Please keep us posted. (My HK ID # is P842***(4) ):)
 
After a year....

It must be a busy year when it felt like yesterday when I posted my last update on the project. It was indeed an extremely busy year to get the aircraft ready to fly. I am extremely fortunate to have a fellow pilot from my airline to join the building effort. Geoff from Australia built 2 RVs before, with his knowledge, he saved the project both time and money from potential traps and hurdles. On a sad note, Michael Tam, a friend who helped the project since the beginning, past away in a car accident. He was the electrical guru and extremely skilled pilot, the electrical system was his "baby" and it was completed the night before his departure.

One positive aspect of moving from the school to the maintenance hanger, is that the project attracted a lot of interest from local engineers and mechanics. The project was at the stage where their skill and knowledge comes into play, and I can't ask for a better sets of hands to help out.

The aircraft is now almost completed and ready for her first engine run. Our next hurdle is how to bring the aircraft back down to the ground from our roof top workshop....


Building the ADAHRS Rack


ADAHRS wiring and lines routing


Pitot/AOA Probe Plumbing


Probe testing


using a tester from the maintenance facility that I can't afford otherwise


Panel Planning


Panel for real!


Michael powering up the panel for the first time, it works!


Building the avionic rack


Canopy cutting. We waited for the summer of Hong Kong where temperature does not go below 90F.
 
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More photos


It was easier than I thought but can't let the guard down


Clean cut


We went the Sikaflex route and am happy with the result


I am surprise they sell them here in Hong Kong, and cheap! less than $10USD a tube!


Canopy Skirt went on okay, on and off countless time for trimming


Engine arrived!


Looks new!


Geoff in his element


Baffling was probably the most annoying part of the build, Titan didn't make it easy with the tapered cooling fin, we modified the Van's baffle kit so that it will contour the fins to allow max cooling.


Begin to look like an airplane
 
More photos


A brand new Catto RV8 Prop, sponsored by Catto prop! Took delivery when I operated to SFO and visited Craig's workshop. Many many thanks to Catto Prop for their generosity and support!


Problem.....


Problem solved


Arrived safely!


Love the three blades prop!


Tim is an engineer by trade, but he is a natural born artist. He drew this cutaway of our RV8 hoping it will raise the fund we need for our first flight. The insurance alone for our first flight at the international airport is $11,000USD (yes, that's for one flight only).


This is the draft only.


Painting day! Engineers gave instruction to the student on the basics of painting and safety equipment




Try on smaller parts before going big
 
Wow, that went together fast! Nice work everyone!

Looks like the name changed from "Moody Rosie" to "Inspiration"?
 
Sharp eyes

Sharp eyes Snowflake. Moody Rosie was kinda nickname from me, the team agree that it would be more appropriate to name it "Inspiration" if we ever want to get sponsors to support "Inspiration" than "Moody Rosie".
 
Bravo Zulu

Hank,

Wonderful to see the finished airplane! Having shared some of the journey with you, you must be incredibly proud to have crafted such a wonderful airplane.

I look forward to news of the first flight!

Richard

(When serving in the RN, the message BZ is used when extremely high praise is warranted.)
 
Engine Alternate Air

Beautiful project and workmanship!

Can you please tell me about your engine alternate air door (post #28). It doesn't look like the standard hinged Van's alternate air door.
Thanks.
 
Thanks Richard

Richard,

Thanks for the encouragement and the honor of BZ! I still remember the early days when you come visit my project at the school. I can't wait to fly her, I hope the HKCAD will eventually let us base her permanently in HKG, where she was made and born.

Keep in touch!
Hank
 
ALT AIR SOURCE

Hi Terry,

That is an idea from my build buddy. He had that on his previous airplane and very happy with it. The door is modified and spring loaded closed. When the air filter/inlet is block, the negative pressure will open the alt air door and allow air in. It worked on his airplane but yet to test on mine, will test it out and post the result later.
 
Engine Alternate Air Door

Hi Terry,

That is an idea from my build buddy. He had that on his previous airplane and very happy with it. The door is modified and spring loaded closed. When the air filter/inlet is block, the negative pressure will open the alt air door and allow air in. It worked on his airplane but yet to test on mine, will test it out and post the result later.

Thanks Hank. Some Mooney's have a similar engine alternate air door. Do you have any close up pictures of yours that you can post?
 
Great work, Hank. The insurance bill for the first flight is somewhat eye-watering, though. Guess they are worried about you bumping into an A380 or the terminal.......

Concerning your alternate engine air, I know your system is not exactly like this but you might want to look at this:

http://www.vansaircraft.com/pdf/Fab-sb_05.pdf

And this will apply before your first engine run:

http://www.lycoming.com/Portals/0/t.../Pre-Oiling Engine Prior to Initial Start.pdf

If you keep it in Hong Kong, where can you fly from and where can you find airspace to do anything?
 
Hi Paul

Hi Paul,

I just checked out your page and many congratulations for the completion of your RV10! The plane is beautiful, you must be very proud!

Thanks for the heads up on the Alternate air source and engine run. I will give it a test when we run our engine. I am ready to put the standard Van's alternate air door if it doesn't function as expected.

The ultimate goal is to fly the airplane around the world, once that's done, I am hoping to donate the aircraft for youth flight program similar to the EAA Young Eagle program if they let us keep it in Hong Kong. I am baby stepping for now, get the first flight done before pushing for any further commitment from the government. They told me seven years ago that I can't build and fly my own airplane in Hong Kong, now I am getting one flight, who knows what will happen after the first flight. It's frustrating, and at the same time, exciting not knowing what will happen next.
 
ALT AIR SOURCE

Terry,

Here're some photos of the spring loaded closed alternate air door. This is yet to be tested, but a fellow builder had this on his two RVs and it works. Comments are welcomed and I will post the result when I run my engine.





 
Relocation

Monster crane vs. RV8


First flight...and I am not onboard


6.5 years of work, hanging 20' above


A small modification is needed to fit this onto the RV
 
W&B, Engine run

W&B in progress


ZFW 1150lbs


Fuel arrived, we can only get them in a barrel of 200 Litres, at $22/USG...ouch.


We were not allow to run the engine above idle at the maintenance hanger, despite the fact that the idle thrust of a GE90-115B is more than the static thrust of a IOX360.


And we are not allow to taxi before the engine is tested, so we pushed 2km to the engine run up bay.


Minor oil leak in the first run, after tightening a loose fitting, all indications normal. She is ready for her first flight.
 
You're just keeping us in suspense: I know it's flown, 'cos I saw a photo of it on Facebook. Where's the video? :D

I'm guessing it'll move to Shek Kong very soon?

- mark
 
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Video...

Hi Mark,

I don't know how to post a video...yet.

Here's the link to the local news:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJIlT9BDvjE#action=share

The RV8 departed from Hong Kong International Airport at 0615 local time, flew for 30 minutes, climbed to 5000?. She?s slightly right wing heavy, but otherwise very healthy. The aircraft landed and taxi back to the hanger for a quick check, then departed for her second flight at 0720L, this time with the presence of family, students and friends, for 15 minutes at 3000?.

Unfortunately, the government at this stage is not allowing us to fly again in Hong Kong airspace. We are seeking alternate locations in China or even US or Australia to complete her phase I, then begin our world tour, hopefully by summer of 2016.

Sunrise at 5000' above Hong Kong


Landing on 07L at VHHH
 
Fantastic effort Hank!

There will never be images quite like those posted here, ever again...

Well done my friend!
 
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Hong Kong Dollars, though it's still insane:

1,500,000.00 HKD = 193,521.66 USD

Is the high cost due to shipping costs alone??? :)

Congrats though, enormous effort I'm sure ... which makes it even more of an accomplishment.
 
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