Nothing Wasted?.. (or ?that?s NOT junk Honey??)

[Ironflight]

Every builder has a junk?.er??Spare Parts? box ? right? A box in the corner that gets those bits and pieces that didn?t turn out quite right, that you decided not to use, that got removed because you had a ?better idea??.you know what I mean. The amazing thing is that, after you have finished building, and the flying is begun, that parts box begins to empty. It is almost magical ? those little bits and pieces find their way into little airplane improvements, extra (other, more) bits and pieces, and even home improvement projects.

Take, for instance, this wire whip antenna I have here. I bought it at a fly market for twenty bucks (porcelain insulator and all) back when I was building the Val. Drilled a hole in the belly of the project, wired it up, and when I fired up the radio, every LED indicator in the cockpit lit up in unison due to the massive RF leak! Out it came, thrown in the parts box, condemned to shop purgatory for untold ages.

Then a couple of weeks ago, I had a brainstorm. Living at the airpark, I thought it would be nice to have a Comm radio tuned to receive our CTAF frequency ? nice way to know that Louise was ?in range? on her daily commute so I could greet her with a beer when the canopy popped open. But of course, I didn?t want to spend any money on such a thing, so I asked here on the forums. Sure enough, an intrepid RV?ator over at the next airport offered an old Collins Comm-250 for the project (You remember those, the ?Micro-Line? radios ? square, little sexy-looking units that appeared in all the panels I sketched for airplanes I never built in High School. I never realized that while the front was small, the dang things were two feet long! Well?.almost?.) if I hauled it away. So I dropped by on Saturday morning, we met up with the denizens of the T-Hangars at KAXH, swapped RV stories, looked at RV?s, looked at RV projects, flew over to the neighboring field for lunch?a typical way to enjoy a few unplanned hours. Flew home, unpacked my new treasure, wired up a harness, and sure enough ? it worked!

But what to do about an antenna?.Hmmmmm?.oh yeah, the junk?er?parts box! Out came the antenna and up went the ladder. A nice half inch hole in the hangar roof thanks to the Unibit, a little leftover RG-58, a spare BNC connector and voila ? an in-house radio receiver! Total actual expenditure? Five bucks for a box speaker at the local electronics surplus house. Cable, wire, connectors ? and that antenna ? all courtesy of the ?spare parts box? from my build.

So when your significant other asks you to clean out those bits an pieces, just remember ? you never know when you?ll need that spare part you just threw away! It?s not junk ? it just hasn?t been released from purgatory!

Paul

[AlexPeterson]

Paul, you just justified my whole garage. It is chugged full of junk just waiting to be transformed into, well, into something. Lots of prototype spit-backs and just general project debris. Some of it is just a placeholder to keep the kids or wife from putting their junk there. I can't imagine how many dumpsters we will need when the day comes to move...

[Mel]

Originally Posted by Ironflight

Take, for instance, this wire whip antenna I have here. I bought it at a fly market for twenty bucks (porcelain insulator and all) back when I was building the Val.
But what to do about an antenna?.Hmmmmm?.oh yeah, the junk?er?parts box! Out came the antenna and up went the ladder. A nice half inch hole in the hangar roof thanks to the Unibit, a little leftover RG-58, a spare BNC connector and voila ? an in-house radio receiver! Total actual expenditure? Five bucks for a box speaker at the local electronics surplus house. Cable, wire, connectors ? and that antenna ? all courtesy of the ?spare parts box? from my build.

Same set-up I have in my hangar. Same antenna and a scanner with CTAF as priority channel. Been working great for about 15 years.

[Ironflight]

Originally Posted by Mel

Same set-up I have in my hangar. Same antenna and a scanner with CTAF as priority channel. Been working great for about 15 years.

And a 2,000 square foot ground plane!!

[Mel]

Originally Posted by Ironflight

And a 2,000 square foot ground plane!!

2,400 sq/ft in my case, but who's counting. I also have a speaker in the shop and one in the hangar that I can switch between.

[plehrke]

Originally Posted by Ironflight

. . . old Collins Comm-250 for the project (You remember those, the ?Micro-Line? radios ? square, little sexy-looking units that appeared in all the panels I sketched for airplanes I never built in High School. I never realized that while the front was small, the dang things were two feet long! Well?.almost?.) if I hauled it away.

Hey careful what you say about a Collins 250. I am cleaning up the one from my C-140 right now and will be putting it back in the panel with a new intercom. Looks classic in the C-140.

Back on topic . . . Maybe I can use that "not quite good enough" RV-6A trim tab on the C-140. Naaa, I will keep it for something else.

It extends past just the stuff you buy and do not use. What about all the stuff you see someone else throwing out but think you may someday have use for it. I was wondering why I have a RH upper wing from a Beech Staggerwing hanging in my hanger (and not just because it looks cool). Currently it is used as an excellent place to watch spiders make webs. Maybe I can use it for something on my next project.

[Rick6a]

Originally Posted by Ironflight

Every builder has a junk?.er??Spare Parts? box ? right? A box in the corner that gets those bits and pieces that didn?t turn out quite right. Paul

Oh yeah, the spare parts box! Any idea what this is? I'm guessing most quickbuilders and matched holers have no idea. Try to guess its purpose before reading answer at the bottom of this post.

I constantly rummage through the scrapped parts pile, most recently to find just the right stock I needed to do a minor FAB repair.

Answer: It's a full size mockup of the RV-6A rear fuselage area I fabricated before working up the courage to cut in its elevator bellcrank inspection holes using a 4" holesaw.

[xavierm]

Originally Posted by plehrke

I was wondering why I have a RH upper wing from a Beech Staggerwing hanging in my hanger (and not just because it looks cool). Currently it is used as an excellent place to watch spiders make webs. Maybe I can use it for something on my next project.

Because you thought about making a cool looking glass top desk with it.

[az_gila]

in Houston?

I'm not sure if a roof maounted antenna in AZ would work better as a lightening rod or antenna during monsoon season....

gil A - living in one of the lightening capitals of the US, but presently in sunny Liverpool, UK

[Ironflight]

Originally Posted by az_gila

in Houston?

I'm not sure if a roof maounted antenna in AZ would work better as a lightening rod or antenna during monsoon season....

Not to worry Gil....my neighbors hangar (and trees) are higher!