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QuickTalk 19 - QUICKIE HINTS

From Jerry Homsley N79BW

I had an eventful trip to Oshkosh that might be of interest to Quickie builders.

I left Little Rock about 15 minutes behind a group of buddies flying a Pitts, Vari-Eze and a Cessna 172. I let them go on ahead since I didn't want to slow them down, but much to their surprise, they didn't run off and leave the poor little Quickie. In fact, we maintained close radio contact right up to my emergency landing in Rockford, IL. I was almost within sight of the airport when my 22 hp Onan began to sputter and lose power. I requested and was cleared for an immediate landing. The Quickie crippled in on partial power to a safe landing and taxied back leading the parade of emergency vehicles and fire trucks.

After a thorough check-out of the electrical and fuel systems, and finding no real problem, I again departed for Oshkosh. Upon my arrival, I related my problem to Gene Sheehan of QAC. Gene went straight to the carburetor and removed the top to check for contamination in the bowl. Sure enough, he found some black specks, which he said, would migrate to the small jet, partially blocking it. Vibration would dislodge it and, presto...it would be as good as new again...for while. We cleaned the carb bowl good and installed an additional fuel filter for the trip home.

This fix worked fine until somewhere over MO., where I had just taken off from a fuel stop and climbed to about 300' AGL when I lost power again. I was able to execute a 180 deg. turn and land downwind on the runway I'd just left. I cleaned the carb bowl again, pumped several gallons through the system and took off again.

Since getting back home to Little Rock, and with the help of my A&P brother, we completely majored the engine, replaced the entire fuel system including the carburetor, and all electrical parts. I'm not sure which replacement did the trick, but it's been running great ever since.

Mine is the oldest flying Quickie. It was the second kit built Quickie to fly that was way back in May of '79. I am extremely well pleased with my little bird and totally agree with early advertisements that flying the Quickie is the most fun a person can have in the daytime with his clothes on.


From Jim Prell (816) 454-9422

I thought I should pass on some positive experiences I had while flying N69KP cross-country. I dug these out of my log book, so pardon the lack of detail.

Gardner, KS to Newton, KS...165 statute miles, 2 hours flat on the Hobbs hour meter. Onan burned 2.8 gal and averaged 82.5 mph. Coming back I had a quartering tailwind so the groundspeed jumped to 94.2 mph. Fuel burn was 2.45 gal so for the total 330 mi trip I had an average 62.85 mpg!

Gardner, KS to Stromsburg, NE...3 hours flat on the Hobbs, stiff headwind, 232 statute miles one way. I diverted west to avoid a light snow flurry. I got so cold (no cabin heat) that I decided to land at Crete, NE to warm up. Final approach at Stromsburg was too slow at 65 indicated. As I flared, the canard stalled completely at 3' above the runway. I quickly found out that a fibreglass wing has great elasticity as I began to vault down the runway trying to imitate a drunken kangaroo. A judicious application of throttle finally straightened everything out.

I flew south from Stromsburg to refuel at York, NE. The Quickie took on 5 gal exactly for the 257 mi flown - 51.4 mpg. With a quartering tailwind, coming back was much faster...230 mi in 2 hrs with 2.8 gal fuel consumed (115 mph groundspeed and 82.14 mpg). I did let the nose trim down just a hair to trade altitude for airspeed in the last 30 mi to Gardner, with 145 mph on the indicator.

A few tips should be passed on to you guys and gals regarding the Onan. If you want to have a RELIABLE engine, you MUST make 5 changes (mandatory, in my opinion):

1. Buy the factory 20 hp heads (they put out MORE power than those Mickey Mouse shaved stock heads QAC has been peddling.

2. Buy the factory supplied graphoil head gaskets.

3. Do the carburetor mod yourself.

4. Use TWO inline fuel filters. This cuts your fuel contamination chances to nil (I use clear, see-thru VW fuel filters).

5. Junk the baffling set-up shown on the plans and follow the instructions given by Ray Anderson in some previous QBA newsletters.

I used 30 wt non-detergent oil to break the engine in (and don't baby the Onan on break in!). You don't need to brutalize it either, but watching it idle for 10 hours in your driveway with 50 wt aircraft oil in it will guarantee that the piston rings will not seat properly.


From Alan Rowe #113

My Quickie was recently completed after 5 years of intermittent work. I lost track of hours on the project, but it certainly wasn't 400.

My first flight was on 30 Oct. 1984. After 2 runway flights which weren't too comfortable, I decided it would be better to keep it in the air on the 3rd attempt. It flew and controlled very nicely and the landing was easier and better than any I had managed in retraining in a Piper Cub (after 23 years non-flying). I've had 3 flights in the Quickie and all were enjoyable and problem free. The plane is now in my garage for the winter. I plan to put the 20 hp heads on before taking it back to the airfield in the spring.


From Jim Masal #457

1. For easy airing of your tires, you can mount the wheel so the valve stem is on the inside of the pant then cut out a notch on the inside of the pant to access the valve. Or you could drill a large hole in the pant and use a valve extension. A hole cover is available in auto stores.

2. If you mount your rudder pedals on the canard, consider spring loading your rudder pedals so that if you take your feet off in flight they won't fall toward you, out of reach.


From Ken Norwick #042

During the early stages of constructing a Quickie fuselage, just after the outer skin has been applied, Bondo a carpenter's level along the fuselage level line. It sure is much easier to mount the wings at the right angle of incidence if the fuselage can be leveled correctly.


ED. NOTE: Right On! And not only that, but you better keep a level reference somewhere forever because you'll need it whenever you do a Weight and Balance to determine your CG. Either mount your armrests dead level or Bondo bubble levels all over the place inside. For those who've lost their level, 'bout the best you have is that if the firewall is perpendicular to the earth, the waterline should be level.


From Tom Solan #259, Marietta, GA (404) 926-3174

I have enclosed a few photos of my "Super Quickie". As you can see from the pictures, the front end has been changed considerably to accommodate the 35 hp Global 4-cycle twin.

For those unfamiliar with the engine, it is one of the latest 1/2 VW derivatives. A horizontally opposed 4 stroke, it has a cast magnesium case, forged computer balanced crankshaft, stainless steel valves, aircraft magneto, and weighs in at 74 pounds. At 3250 rpm it cranks out 35 horses and, believe it or not, is very smooth. I watched mine run on the factory test stand, and am tickled pink with the performance.

And now for the installation. BOY, what a lot of work. From the time I received the engine, what you see in the photos represents exactly one year of planning and work. The engine mount is basically a combination of the Quickie and Q-2 mounts. The rubber bushings are the same ones used for the Q-2 (4 pairs of them), and should reduce the vibes considerably. New ESM-1 bushing holders had to be made to accommodate the larger rubbers. Another problem was the width of the engine; each cylinder sticks out 6" wider than the fuselage. This necessitated the rather large cheek cowls you see, which I think look great. The cowl cheeks were made out of Kevlar to try to keep the weight down, but I have mixed feelings because of the difficult handling problems with Kevlar (tough to cut, impossible to sand, doesn't drill, etc.) Hopefully, the engine will solve the problem of underpowered Quickies and make it a dream to fly.

Unfortunately, I am a terminal perfectionist. I promised myself from the start 5 years ago that I would do the best possible job I could. 4000 hrs of work so far is too much to risk in trying to "just get it in the air." The exterior is now ready for finish paint, but I still have a lot of interior finish work, plumbing, wiring and baffling to go. If no problems arise, I could fly by early summer. I will keep everyone posted on progress and results via QUICKTALK.

If everything goes successfully and enough interest is shown, I will make a mold for the cowl and cheeks from the original. This will save at least 50% of the time needed to make the conversion.

ED. NOTE: Meanwhile, back at the ranch out here in Anna, TX, Bob Giles is putting his Global powered Quickie through its final stages. Giles is a real body man so both of these aircraft should be real honeys. Giles did his engine mount and cowling differently - a la Questor - so comparisons ought to be very educational.


Ron Thornton, Islington, Ont., Canada

Finally I have some data to pass on about the Konig engine installation. I purchased a new exhaust system from Konig, which resulted in an improvement over Stubbs Aero exhaust system of about 4 hp, giving a true 28 hp at 4000 rpm. Although Konig advised using a 26 in. pitch x 42 in. diameter blade, I had a 28 in. pitch on hand so that is what I am presently using.

My aircraft weighs 289 lbs. empty, pilot 193 lbs., full fuel 48 lbs. for an all up gross of 530 lbs. At that weight, on a standard temp. day (15 degrees C), and no wind, my tests show:

Takeoff distance - 900' (see below)

Rate of Climb - 550 fpm

Max speed (4000') - 120 mph

Cruise at 4000' - 110 mph

Fuel Consumption - 2 gal/hr (est.)

Takeoff procedure is to keep the elevators at neutral until the aircraft starts to lift, then a slight back pressure results in a smooth lift off and straight climb out just like the big guys. Hence, 900' is used up. Take off QAC style (full aft stick) results in lift off at close to stall speed and requires flying down the runway to gain speed to climb out. This may result in sinking back to the runway and a second liftoff.

I am delighted with this performance, and feel my plane is now performing as Rutan designed it to fly.

Perhaps I could express an opinion here. For Quickies weighing in around the 300 lb mark, 30 hp seems adequate; 35 hp may be better, but no more. Anything about 35 is a waste of money and the plane may not withstand the greater forces. Certainly that company advertising a 72 hp Kawasaki is way off base. If you want that kind of power, build something else, not a Quickie.


Enclosed is my renewal for QUICKTALK. I don't want to miss anything; my Quickie would not be flyable without the help from QUICKTALK.

Had to do something about the gas tank. I was getting a small amount of debris through both filters which when dried became a white powder, fouling the carb and fuel pump. Since the fuel-measuring float was sticking, opening up the fuel tank was a must anyway. The tank was post-cured using a hairdryer...placed to blow into the opening, using asbestos sheet to seal the cracks, and a thermometer stuck into the filler spout to measure the exhausted air. This arrangement allowed the exhausted air to build up to 190 degrees F for two hours. I held the fuel float off the bottom with a string to prevent it from sticking. The tank is now much harder and nothing is visible in the fuel samples. Time will tell if the problem is solved.

We are now into a horrendous problem because of overheating caused by depending on a defective CHT gauge. It was showing 75 degrees cooler than real. It still scares me to think that for 13 hrs. I was flying around depending on an instrument that you wouldn't put into your kids' kiddy car. Hopefully a second report on that later.

Vic Schatz #317, Athol, ID


It took some time before I became convinced that just a few metal tabs would hold the back half of a Quickie/Q-2 fuselage securely to the front. Examination of a serious Q-2 accident convinced me for sure! This bird hit hard enough to break the canard on both sides and break the tail completely off just forward of the fin. The top of the fin had some crush damage so it's certain that plenty of force was applied to the aft fuselage. At the joint with the forward half, no tabs failed completely. In 4 of the tabs, the shear forces on the screw and nut plate almost, but not quite, pulled the tab apart. In all the remaining tabs, there was no indication that any mounting screw tried to pull through its mounting hole on the aft fuselage shell. None of the tabs showed any damage to the mounting on the front fuselage shell.

There's nothing like an in-flight test or crash, however unfortunate, to verify the validity of engineering calculations. It's assuring to know that someone's out there several hundred hours ahead of you flying the same airframe you are, proving it out well before you. It doesn't inspire my confidence to know that QAC is not flying the new carbon spar wing just as supplied to Q-2/Q-200 builders. The airfoil is the same, but the construction is different. The carbon spar may well be stronger, and if so, it will be flight proven (or not) by a homebuilder, not QAC. EDITOR



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