“EMG-6 Shop Notes” is a day-to-day accounting of what’s going on in the shop with the EMG-6 Electric Motor Glider.
August 29,2016
Jason hard at work making up sub assembly kits. In this picture here Jason has been boxing up elevator Kits.
Detailed pictures of the kit process
August 19, 2016
Jason has spent the last couple of days cleaning up the hangar 7 shop so that we can get back into production.
This week we have kept the CNC Router running pretty much full-time. In this picture here we have a 4 x 8 sheet of .040 2024 T-3 aluminum which has been predrilled for elevator ribs.
This 4 x 8 sheet will be one of 2 sheets that we cut just for elevator ribs during this run.
All of the parts are programmed in hangar 7 and sent out to the server which is accessed by the computer that runs the router. Jason often times will open the files and change the code usually it’s just to change the speed of travel on the router.
In this picture here we see the high-speed single fluted carbide cutter used in cutting sheet metal. When using a router for cutting sheet metal it’s all about the proper tools. A single fluted carbide bit is about the only tool that will reliably cut the .040 aluminum.
During the cutting process Jason takes each one of the ribs from the router table after they have been cut out and simultaneously while the parts are being cut he sets up the CNC press brake for bending the flanges. After completing the bending process the parts have to be labeled and then put into stock.
Jason is making up 9 sets of elevator kits. A lot of the work that goes into developing a kit is the set up and organizing so doing more than one at a time is much more efficient. You can see that we have brought one of the other fuselage boom’s down to hangar 7 and we are working on the builder video for the vertical stabilizer.
August 18, 2016
We’ve just released a new video onto the YouTube channel.
August 14, 2016
Tom Blankenship called the other day wanting the overall dimensions of the aircraft for the purposes of building a hangar. Typically I keep the individual files of the aircraft in sub assemblies in order to keep the file size small enough to function. It had been a while since we updated the overall dimensions for the aircraft and so created this file to assist with the Dimensioning. the PDF file is available on the builders database.
August 13, 2016
After returning from Oshkosh, Jason needed about a week off to recuperate. However after returning back to work Jason and Austin were able to get the EMG-6 back together and ready for us to continue our flight test program on the aircraft.
There’s still quite a bit of work to do with the unloading process. The hangar and the trailer currently look like a tornado went through.
August 11, 2016
Another drawing from Ed Santucci. All of Ed’s drawings we will post on his page as he develops a lower-cost system for manufacturing the fuselage welding jigs. Link to Ed’s Page
Icom Radio Mount Post
Although originally designed for the a Piper J-3 Cub, hence the color. This mount can be used on any aircraft including the EMG-6. Click here to link to the post about the 3-D printed ICOM radio mount
August 10, 2016
Ed Santucci has been building his EMG-6 making up his own welding fixtures. Even though we didn’t originally supply enough drawings to do it this way, there is in any reason why we can’t. We told Ed that any drawings that he needs in order to accomplish this process we will supply.
This was the drawing that we created to help come up with these dimensions that he needed. Even though it’s nonstandard practice to have so many different dimensions, we have created this just provide lots of options depending on how someone might lay out their own fixtures. Any of these drawings that we create we will add to the builders database as well. Additionally we laid out the drawing to 3 decimal places which is major overkill but some of us just like to know what the real number is rather than what it was rounded from.
August 9, 2016
The builder who is currently the farthest along is officially Charlie Becker. EMG-6 S/N 15-024. As a result Charlie is, on a regular basis, calling me for updates to files that I either need to work on or haven’t yet produced.
In the past I have been posting a lot of updates to the files on the builders database but as of yet I haven’t been disseminating the information on which files get posted or updated. This being said I have decided that I’m going to just go ahead and start publishing a JPEG of the drawings that I’ve been working on in the “shop notes blog” as well as posting the actual PDF files to the builders database. This should keep everyone semi-informed about the most recent changes to the database.
YouTube channel hits 600 subscribers
Someone inform me the other day that it’s supposed to be a really big deal when your YouTube channel reaches 500 subscribers. Who knew! Well, we are currently at 608 subscribers. I want to thank all of you that continually follow this blog and watch our videos. We continue to strive to put out high quality videos that are worth watching. Everyone makes fun of me for my obsessive-compulsive attitude towards telling all of you hitting the like button on my videos. But the subscriber base as well as the like button gives me a good idea if I’m on the right track or not. So keep it up. If you’re not a subscriber, go ahead and hit that red subscribe button on the right-hand side of the YouTube channel front page. And remember if you like our website “tell everybody” if you don’t like it “don’t tell nobody”.
August 8, 2016
The last couple of days of been busy finishing up October article for Sport Aviation / Experimenter magazine.
link to the July issue article.
August 6, 2016 Back in the Shop after Air Venture 2016
Well finally, were back in the shop and starting to play catch-up with all of the things that we have been putting off while we were at Air Venture 2016. This year we had a booth in the ultralight area displaying the EMG-6 prototype #2. We presented 2 forums on the EMG-6. We also presented 2 forums on the light sport repairman maintenance training courses. We did one presentation in the homebuilders workshop area on Solidworks for EAA. In addition to that, we did 5 media interviews with different Publications. The day after the show we did about 2 hours of video for EAA on the EMG-6, Solid Works, and 3-D printing. We then put on a 2 day light sport repairman inspection course in the EAA Museum in the Vette theater for 20 students. We stayed an additional day after that shooting “Hints for Homebuilders” tips for the video series that EAA puts on. We then drove straight through to Polson Montana where we had Carol’s Varga Kachina waiting to be picked up after a maintenance issue on our last trip home from Kalispell Montana. I then flew the Varga kachina 8 hours home to Corning while Jason continued driving the truck and additional 17 hours. I’m happy to say everyone survived and we are home safely. The EAA Air Venture convention is the highlight of our yearly activities.
We are very proud of our collaboration with EAA and consider the EAA organization as one of the keys to our success in the aviation industry. Charlie Becker (Director of Communities for EAA) was instrumental in bringing the light sport repairman maintenance class (the three-week class) to EAA headquarters during the 1st years of the light sport rule change. We taught the class every September for 8 years beginning in 2007 before bringing the class back to Corning California where we now teach the three-week class exclusively.
Each year while teaching at EAA headquarters Paul Poberezny (Founder of EAA) made it a habit of coming down after class and talking to the students. What an absolute gift. In the subsequent years we had past presidents Tom Poberezny, then Rod Hightower volunteer to come and speak to the class. This was a always one of the students fondest memories of the class. Although we no longer hold the three-week course at EAA headquarters, we do, every year after EAA air venture, hold the 2 day light sport repairman inspection class in the Vette theater in the EAA Museum headquarters. This year we were delighted to have the current EAA president, Jack Pelton come and talk to the students. Although we’ve had several opportunities to interact with Jack in the past this was the 1st year that we’ve had an opportunity to meet his lovely wife Rose. She was an absolute delight, full of enthusiasm and smiles.
Aero News Network came by to do an interview. Unfortunately I was running late for a forum that I was scheduled to conduct. So we did about a 10 minute quickie interview and I had to run. Although it was a fairly short interview I think they did a great job of capturing the essence of what we had to say. It would’ve been nice to spend more time with them.
August 5, 2016
Setting up the booth on Sunday before the airshow started.
One of the display items that we had was the CNC match drilled fuselage boom assembly being utilized as a Winsock. Carol thought was necessary that we get our OSHA approved installation process on camera.
And what would air venture be without a few thunderstorms. This year was no exception we had 3 days of on and off rain. all in all I would say the temperatures and weather was better than average. The humidity subsided and the temperatures came down. Making this airshow one of the best weatherwise airshows that I think we have ever attended..
