As for piano hinges, I'm not sure. It would be a pain to cut off the existing hinge tubing, make a plate, weld it on, then figure out how to attach the hinge.

I know Paul did this, so I'll have to look at his kitlog to see how he did it.

At this point I want to powder coat in Oct/Nov, so unless I really really really want it, I'm probably going to build as close as I can to plans. I've modified enough....

Schu, How difficult are the buckles to operate on those Schroth seat belts? I'm thinking about using them for my rear seats and am concerned that my young kids wouldn't be about to release them.

They aren't bad. Probably about as easy as any other seatbelt setup. Zane, what do you think?

Also, one more decision made. I sold my cleavland wheels/brakes and am installing 10" grove and desser 31" tires without tubes. It ends up being about the same weight as the bushwheels, but I get better brakes, much more durable tires, and cheaper replacements in the future.

Sure, they aren't as springy as the ABW, but I'll trade that for the ability to operate on pavement, especially when I plan to relocate to the lower 48 at some point.

Thanks Schu. I asked Z and ordered some belts. Thanks for posting about them.

I too plan to go with 31’ Dessers when I’m able to. Wish the 10” grove wheels would have been out when I was buying wheels.

Got thew new wheels in, and they are amazing.





There is just something about well done CNC machine work that just speaks to me.... like bark on a well smoked brisket.

They definitely look well made. You experimental guys have so many options. Once the STC stuff gets taken care of, there will be a lot more of those setups on the certified planes for sure. It’s nice to have additional players in the game. Keeps everyone on their toes. Like we talked about before, your gonna love those tires. Now hurry up and get that thing finished.

More decisions: door locks...

I can:

1. Pay the extra money and get tumblers that match the ignition/mag key and have a pilot, co-pilot, and rear door lock all keyed like. Pros: polished cons:expensive, and extra tumblers to fight with.

2. Pay a little less and have two keys, doors, and ignition.

3. Omit the co-pilot door and just reach through and pin it before closing the pilot door.

4. Omit the co-pilot and rear doors, and only lock the pilot door and know I'll have to reach through the airplane to get everything else opened up.

It's a fabric airplane, so this isn't really for real security, this is just at a fly-in or osh or whatever where I don't want someone crabbing a headset or something...

Thoughts?

I like having 1 key. However, I had to go with two keys because my ignition switch was not compatible with my door locks. Minor inconvenience to have two keys.

Having to reach through to pin the other doors sucks.

Put a lock on the other door. One thing that has pissed me off about the Caravans is the lack of an outside lock on the copilot door. You fuel the plane lock the three doors, realize you didn't throw the latch on the copilot side, unlock it climb over lock it climb back out and lock it. I don't even want to think how many times I have done that drill. Sad thing, the operators have mentioned it for the last 25 years and they still haven't put one in. You pay nearly 2 mil for a new one and they still can't put the same thing they put on the pilot door, not even an option.

Bottom line, just do it, you won't regret it.

If the cylinders are the wafer kind, you can make the door ones match the ignition quite easily, you stick the desired key in see which wafers don't match, try re-arranging them for a better fit. If they still don't fit, then file off the excess. Now they match. They will still lock.

Naturally, when I went to flight school in the Navy, I had flown Cherokee 140's & Warriors at Santa Monica as part of the NROTC program previously. So we do our first brief to go fly the T28 and we go through maintenance, look through the book, then start out to the aircraft. I asked the instructor if he had the key. He gave me that look (same one my wife gives me, a lot). The only Military plane I ever flew that had a key was the E2 Hawkeye and it just locked the door.

Just use switches for each mag push button start and locks for all doors one key. And switches are cheap.

That is the least possible failures in the back country and also fixes the 2 key issue. like it on the Beaver and cubs that are set up that way.

akschu wrote:More decisions: door locks...

I can:

1. Pay the extra money and get tumblers that match the ignition/mag key and have a pilot, co-pilot, and rear door lock all keyed like. Pros: polished cons:expensive, and extra tumblers to fight with.

2. Pay a little less and have two keys, doors, and ignition.

3. Omit the co-pilot door and just reach through and pin it before closing the pilot door.

4. Omit the co-pilot and rear doors, and only lock the pilot door and know I'll have to reach through the airplane to get everything else opened up.

It's a fabric airplane, so this isn't really for real security, this is just at a fly-in or osh or whatever where I don't want someone crabbing a headset or something...

Thoughts?

Pull the tumblers out of your door locks and pretend you have a 1 key system. No one will ever know.
There aren’t that many different keys anyway.