I have a little time so here are some updated pictures.

This is the right wing just before final riveting




This is the rear fuselage up-side-down. We added the X-brackets inside to help keep the oil-canning down.


Here is the firewall before riveting


The Jabiru 3300 up-side-down in the shipping crate


Won't be long now as the little pieces become big pieces!

Any of you guys have experience with a Dynon FlightDEK-D180?

I am thinking about using that as our primary (and only) instrument panel for the 701. We want a VFR only bird and that panel seems like it covers all the bases nicely. We just add a radio and a transponder and we are good to go.

Would appreciate any pros/cons from anybody that might already have one. Thanks!

only experience with a standard Dynon.

But will say this, there was a compass built into the AvMap on the Viking Cub and the DER would not accept it. Had to run out to the auto parts store and pick up a windshield stick 'em on style whiskey compass before he was satisfied. May want to have one on hand should you run into this.

BRD wrote:only experience with a standard Dynon.

But will say this, there was a compass built into the AvMap on the Viking Cub and the DER would not accept it. Had to run out to the auto parts store and pick up a windshield stick 'em on style whiskey compass before he was satisfied. May want to have one on hand should you run into this.

Thanks for the tip BRD. I will check before hand to see if that is necessary.

Well, we have our 701 project up on it's gear now and are preparing to mount the engine.



The fuel tanks are installed in the wings and the wings will be closed up this coming week. Progress is good!

We hung the engine and are getting ready to put the wings on.

The gang.


Time to order the Dynon FlightDEK D180 and do the instrument panel!

I have been enjoying your progress on the 701. I had one for six years but it was the 950 gross wt model. I had so much fun with it. I hope you have as much fun as I did.
Good luck
dirtstrip

Well, I just received our Dynon FlightDek 180 from Aircraft Spruce this morning! I looked at the new Skyview system but it looks to be much more than a VFR daytime-only aircraft needs. We are moving an almost completed Commonwealth out of the main hangar and back over to it's permanent hangar space so we have room to hang the wings on the 701. This project has run much longer than I thought but we are having fun building it and that is the point. Although, if you look at the builder's log we still have less than 400 hours in it so far.

One thing we have all noticed is that as we get nearer the end the directions become less and less specific.

My wife asked me when I thought we might be done. I told her when we only had one part left!

[the point. Although, if you look at the builder's log we still have less than 400 hours in it so far.

One thing we have all noticed is that as we get nearer the end the directions become less and less specific. Quote..

Yup... On my 801 build the instructions got pretty vague about 2/3 of the way through. I wore out the speed dial on my phone calling Zenith.

Ben
N801BH

We just about have the instrument panel completed and we have primed the interior just before we do final assembly. Here are some pictures.

This is the instrument panel being assembled before we prime and paint.


Here I am filing out the Dynon and Garmin Dock cutouts.


Final fitting of the engine baffles.


Engine wiring.


Oil cooler mounted.


Observer doors fitted.


Mounting the Jabiru 3300 engine.


Right wing closed up and ready to go.


My son Tim working on the slats. He just graduated from Embry-Riddle with an degree in Aviation IT and his A&P. Finally getting some payback!


I will pass along some more pictures when we finish painting the cockpit. I think that we will have the plane wrapped instead of painting it. Half the weight of paint, half the thickness, half the cost, & a 10 year warranty!

What prop are you planning to use? In other words, are you going to spin a small prop up to the 120 rated horsepower @ 3300 RPM, or keep the revs down with a bigger prop running slower, thus less power? Not a criticism at all, I understand that is the way the 3300 Jab is being propped by guys needing an honest 100 horse or so, and with a STOL type design aircraft as opposed to a go fast. I hear the 3300 has loads of low end torque and this is a viable option. With the 912S pushing 20K real hard I'm interested in ALL options! What fuel flows are given for that scenario?

This thread hits home. Last week a friend flew his 701 for the first time. He is 74 and was nervous as a cat. I flew chase plane in my 2+2. He has a 912 in it and it really gets off the ground. He flew it for about a half hour, landed and uncoweled to look for problems, none found. Great little airplanes good luck with yours.

Tim

The EAA Chapter in Fairbanks, AK has a 701 that is about 70% done for sale. The guy building it passed away and donated it to the Chapter. I think they are asking $7,500.00 for it. I don't know if there is any FWF with it or not.

courierguy wrote:What prop are you planning to use? In other words, are you going to spin a small prop up to the 120 rated horsepower @ 3300 RPM, or keep the revs down with a bigger prop running slower, thus less power? Not a criticism at all, I understand that is the way the 3300 Jab is being propped by guys needing an honest 100 horse or so, and with a STOL type design aircraft as opposed to a go fast. I hear the 3300 has loads of low end torque and this is a viable option. With the 912S pushing 20K real hard I'm interested in ALL options! What fuel flows are given for that scenario?

The prop came with the Jabiru firewall forward kit. The kit was about $10K less than the 912S kit. It came with a wooden Sensenich prop, don't remember the size/pitch off hand. I will have to look that up for you. But the idea is to swing a bigger prop for exactly the reasons you stated. The 3300 is a high RPM engine and the 701 is a draggy plane. Gotta offset with the prop. I have flown in a 701 with the 3300 and is was really smooth. Impressed the heck out of me! I don't have any experience with the fuel flows yet. It should use 4.5 to 5 gph.

Skystrider, take a look into the "aftermarket" mods becoming popular with the 701, where they use VG's instead of the slats. There is a good website http://www.stolspeed.com . A guy in Australia has been promoting the idea of VG's instead of the slats on the 701, and apparently there is some validity to the idea. The slats make a lot of drag, and are there to keep the flow attached to the upper wing surface. VG's do the same thing, apparently with less drag.

If you guys have not built the slats yet, this is definitely something to look into. The guy in Australia has done wuite a bit of testing.

You need to make sure to keep the 701 weight to a minimum. The performance is spectacular when light but degrades rapidy with weight.

I have one flight in the 912 powered 701 that is owned by 182STOLdriver's friend in Las Vegas. It is very impressive, but there was a very disturbing airflow buffet with the power off, even 20 miles an hour ABOVE stall speed. The problem goes away with power, and I believe it is an airflow separation over the top of the fuselage or something. Airflow from the propeller makes it go away, but it should not be there in the first place IMHO. For a STOL airplane to have a strong buffet that far above stall speed negates part of the pilot's ability to get the STOL performance out of it.

Tim wrote:This thread hits home. Last week a friend flew his 701 for the first time. He is 74 and was nervous as a cat. I flew chase plane in my 2+2. He has a 912 in it and it really gets off the ground. He flew it for about a half hour, landed and uncoweled to look for problems, none found. Great little airplanes good luck with yours.

Tim

Tim, Great to hear your friend had a successfull first flight! I wish him the best of luck flying off the hours! Are you going to go up with him as a duly authorized technichian to record flight data?

EZFlap, Thanks for the information. We did take a look at VG's vs slats and decided to stick with the slats. I have been up in a couple of different 701's and did not notice any buffet. I will take at closer look on the builder's forum to see if anyone else has encountered the problem. As you say, it should not be there. It would be especially troublesome since most of our flying is probably going to be low and slow. Thanks again!

I had a 701 and did not have a buffet at all but did have lots of oil canning. Carry a little power through the landing flare to keep from sinking too fast and work in to adapting to the high sink rate with power off and no flaps. Immediate nose down and 55-60 with a dead stick all the way in to the landing flare to save momentum to carry it through the flare. It loses speed very quickly when you hold the nose off before touch down. Zero flaps works best with engine out. Once you have the ground rush mastered you will love the plane. For its size it has amazing cross wind handling ability. When the wheels touch chop the throttle and the nose drops leveling the slats and canceling all the lift. It rolls out solid on the ground like a F-150 pickup.

Had a friend of mine looking, he called the FAI folks and it is already sold.
GT

dirtstrip wrote:I had a 701 and did not have a buffet at all but did have lots of oil canning. Carry a little power through the landing flare to keep from sinking too fast and work in to adapting to the high sink rate with power off and no flaps. Immediate nose down and 55-60 with a dead stick all the way in to the landing flare to save momentum to carry it through the flare. It loses speed very quickly when you hold the nose off before touch down. Zero flaps works best with engine out. Once you have the ground rush mastered you will love the plane. For its size it has amazing cross wind handling ability. When the wheels touch chop the throttle and the nose drops leveling the slats and canceling all the lift. It rolls out solid on the ground like a F-150 pickup.

Yeah, we heard oil canning is a problem so we added X-brackets along the fuselage walls to control it. Sounds like you have had a little fun with one!