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The continuing saga of Niksons 1402 IMP sn 129
- Thread starter turbinator62
- Start date
turbinator62
Active member
I have tried about 3 different external rearview mirror installations on this cat but none have been entirely satisfactory. The primary issue is I need to be able to fold them in so they don't get torn off when I put the cat in the storage container. I currently have mirrors from a Suzuki motorcycle which can be folded down out of the way, but they are too small for the distance from your eyes that the field of view is inadequate. A friend showed me the mirrors he got for his front loader tractor. They are much larger, fully adjustable and can be folded forward out of the way. They come with magnets to stick in the front loader uprights. I took the magnets off (my cat body is aluminum) and made two 1"X 1" spacers to get the mirror a little farther out and will use two 2" stainless screws to attach them. I'll install them and post the results on our next trip over to the cabin.
The mirrors were about $30 on ebay.
The mirrors were about $30 on ebay.
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Not to hijack, I played around with a few different mirrors on my ST, didn't like anyof them so I went with a backup camera mounted on the rear of the cat and a monitor on the dash. Since I trailer, I got a RF camera. it's wired to the running lights. When I'm trailering the monitor goes into the tow rig, and I can see what's behind trailer as I'm backing. I like it as I can look and see what is behind on both sides at once, rather than looking at two mirrors.
We might need to take this to a new thread….So you have an RF camera on the cat and 2 monitors; one monitor in the cat and another one in your truck? Interested in specs/links?
turbinator62
Active member
turbinator62
Active member
We finally made it back to the cabin. We hadn't been here since 3 Jan. Just a few traces of snow here and there.
I put the new tractor mirrors on today. They are way better. These mirrors are about 3 times the area of the old motorcycle mirrors so the field of view is much greater. I mounted them on noticeable. To gdt them out past the door frame. They swing 90° forward and back so they are out of the way when I park it in the container.
Unfortunately they are not as streamlined as the old ones and produce a little more drag. Cruise speed dropped to about 5.28 mph from 5.33. Probably not noticeable.
I put the new tractor mirrors on today. They are way better. These mirrors are about 3 times the area of the old motorcycle mirrors so the field of view is much greater. I mounted them on noticeable. To gdt them out past the door frame. They swing 90° forward and back so they are out of the way when I park it in the container.
Unfortunately they are not as streamlined as the old ones and produce a little more drag. Cruise speed dropped to about 5.28 mph from 5.33. Probably not noticeable.
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turbinator62
Active member
Now hold on just a goldarn minute. This thing has a power to weight ratio of .012. That's right up there with the Polish Dombrowski -Sedlitz diesel powered cast iron helicopter.
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=http://discaircraft.greyfalcon.us/Major%20Howdy%20Bixby.htm&ved=2ahUKEwjtgvbLqc7-AhXsAjQIHSbUAn8QFnoECBAQAQ&usg=AOvVaw3A9g-yIFjJ_n0K1gQ-t6Gi
Plus it has comfy seats and does a very good job of turning gasoline into heat and noise!
Not to mention my wife thinks it's "cute".
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=http://discaircraft.greyfalcon.us/Major%20Howdy%20Bixby.htm&ved=2ahUKEwjtgvbLqc7-AhXsAjQIHSbUAn8QFnoECBAQAQ&usg=AOvVaw3A9g-yIFjJ_n0K1gQ-t6Gi
Plus it has comfy seats and does a very good job of turning gasoline into heat and noise!
Not to mention my wife thinks it's "cute".
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bi directional plane.That is a fantastic link
6000hp helicopter
I want to ride that ferris wheel
turbinator62
Active member
We haven't been to the cabin for a while because it's TOO DAMN HOT. I have been working on my plane though. The wing is pretty much done. All the parts are made but I have to take it apart, chromate the inside and do the final riveting. This has been an ongoing project from before I got the snowcat. It is scratch built, not a kit. The only things I didn't make are the wheels, tires and brakes, the nuts, bolts, bearings and the engine core. I did make the prop gearbox, prop hub, blades, exhaust, accessory drive and fuel control mods. It is an 80% scale Air Force T6A trainer. I finally got to where I have the time to really work on it. The wing is 27 feet long and 5 feet wide.
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turbinator62
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My last post was almost a year ago. Time flies! We never got
enough snow last year to get the cat out of its box. It did get stinking cold though. Down to about -10. When I checked out the cat this spring the battery was low and it wouldn't start. Took the battery home and charged it up. It is a 3 year old Optima so should be OK. That made me get off my ass to put a solar battery maintainer on the container. I used a 25 watt panel with a 5 amp charge controller and a 2 pin SAE rubber connector (like for a trailer) with a pigtail connected directly to the hot side of my disconnect switch. The whole thing only cost about 35 bucks.
enough snow last year to get the cat out of its box. It did get stinking cold though. Down to about -10. When I checked out the cat this spring the battery was low and it wouldn't start. Took the battery home and charged it up. It is a 3 year old Optima so should be OK. That made me get off my ass to put a solar battery maintainer on the container. I used a 25 watt panel with a 5 amp charge controller and a 2 pin SAE rubber connector (like for a trailer) with a pigtail connected directly to the hot side of my disconnect switch. The whole thing only cost about 35 bucks.
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turbinator62
Active member
Been busy this year though. Got the airplane wing all riveted and finished. There are 10,104 rivets give or take. Now I'll start on the fuselage. We also got our taxiway paved in July so no more dead summer grass. Put a new torque converter in my 76 GMC motorhome. The old one developed a crack. Heavy sucker. AND (drum roll) we welcomed our first grandson to the world on 3 Aug!
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Welcome to the grand club. Couple more years until the real fun starts. Then you can send him home with chocolate covered espresso beans after the weekend with you.
My high school shop teacher built a plane, in those years everyone laughed about it as it was in his basement. I learned how to make chips from him and on his plane is a leadscrew with a square acme type thread. He said id was for the landing gear. Im in awe of your skills.
turbinator62
Active member
There are more people building planes than most folks realize. In the past, most homebuilts were wood, tube and fabric and scratch built from plans. Now they are kits and more advanced than many factory-built planes which are hideously expensive these days. I had a 1968 Cessna Cardinal that I bought for 8500 bucks in 1983 and rebuilt with a bigger engine and new avionics. It was a beautiful, and at the time, affordable, airplane. (I'm an A&P) My wife and I flew it for 25 years and eventually sold it for 45k after I retired. It is still flying and worth about 150K now. I couldn't afford to buy back my own plane not to mention the cost of ownership. Most people are smart enough to build a kit plane but I always wanted to design and build something unique but conventional (not "cutting edge") from scratch. It keeps the brain active and away from the tv. This is my second homebuilt. If you are interested in more details about it, I have a builders log on the EAA website.
https://eaabuilderslog.org/?blproject&proj=8CgCKv386
It's kind of a quirky page. To scroll through all of the categories at once, click on "Show all entries". Otherwise, you have to select them one by one. I will be adding more as the project progresses.
You may find it interesting.
Thanks
https://eaabuilderslog.org/?blproject&proj=8CgCKv386
It's kind of a quirky page. To scroll through all of the categories at once, click on "Show all entries". Otherwise, you have to select them one by one. I will be adding more as the project progresses.
You may find it interesting.
Thanks
Hoo-Lee-Crap. I'm lucky I can butter toast.
turbinator62
Active member
You were lucky to have had a shop teacher like that. I had one too. He let me do almost anything I wanted. I built a dune buggy from a 62 Turboed Corvair Spyder in my senior year.
The Falso is an impressive airplane. It is made almost entirely from wood. You buy the plans and make everything yourself. The screws
were for the landing gear retract. Much like hydraulic cylinders but mechanical. He must have taught you well to be able to make acme threads.
The Falso is an impressive airplane. It is made almost entirely from wood. You buy the plans and make everything yourself. The screws
were for the landing gear retract. Much like hydraulic cylinders but mechanical. He must have taught you well to be able to make acme threads.
We ground our tooling, interacted with the wood working guys to make our patterns, had the metal fab welding students pour our molds. my senior year project was a wood lathe. step pulleys, cast iron tail stock. I learned to rivet on snow cats having seen it done on a sonex plane at a buddys house. the master ( father ) stearnly directing the apprentice ( son ) bucking rivets in good aweful positions in the wings
turbinator62
Active member
You have to be a contortionist to be an aircraft mechanic sometimes. My days of installing avionics in Comanches and Bonanzas are long over.
turbinator62
Active member
It happens. I have found bucking bars, screwdrivers and flashlights inside wings on annual inspections. I kept them.
turbinator62
Active member
Finally got enough snow to use the cat after 2 years. With the new solar battery maintainer the engine lit right off. Got us jp the hill as usual. We have about 15 inches at the cabin but it is that heavy, wet Washington crap. The cat doesn't like to turn in it. Tried to go snowmobiling and immediately got stuck. Going up to a friend's cabin in a while to help put together our fireworks display for new years. We're a bunch of amateurs so some years it gets "Interesting".
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Been a little over a week since I last visited my cabin, had a good 18" compacted/settled snow. More has fallen since with a good dump on the way for New Years day and beyond.
Yeah, heavy Washington crud. The first big dump late November (20") did a lot of damage, bending over and breaking some trees across the road. Chainsaw addressed that little issue. I'll be adding to my wood pile next spring. Need the temperature to drop, give us some fluffier white stuff.
Yeah, heavy Washington crud. The first big dump late November (20") did a lot of damage, bending over and breaking some trees across the road. Chainsaw addressed that little issue. I'll be adding to my wood pile next spring. Need the temperature to drop, give us some fluffier white stuff.
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Turbin 8 tor, did you ever need a clutch or monkey with yours.
I have acquired a air cooled imp. I really like it. And found i can over power the clutch in fourth range.
Ill likely not monkey with it till its necessary or spring.
Mostly curious if your clutch can snub the engine in 4th
I have acquired a air cooled imp. I really like it. And found i can over power the clutch in fourth range.
Ill likely not monkey with it till its necessary or spring.
Mostly curious if your clutch can snub the engine in 4th
Just chiming in. Years ago bought one of those thermoelectric 'self powered' fans and while they're kinda cool, they don't move any cfm to speak of. You're better off with a ceiling fan moving air around. Just saying.
I use a ceiling fan at my off grid log cabin wired into my AC inverter, to move the hot air down from my loft where I sleep nights. It can be 70F downstairs and 90F upstairs without it. Before bed I let the fire burn down and fire up the fan in advance. It's on a timer so I dont have to get up to shut it off when I'm about to doze off.