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Bob Grimstead
Unregistered
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 Posted Tuesday, February 3, 2009 @ 02:15 AM
Hi Folks,
As I've said elsewhere, I've just taken HDO's wing off again.
I followed my checklist above, and have since slightly amended the sequence to make it more practical.
Working alone, it took me a day to prepare for separation, and under an hour to undo that lower stick casting (what a difference it makes, having the correct tools).
Incidentally, regarding those little (4mm?) nuts & bolts on the lower stick casting, I think they should go back with the bolt heads outside the casting and bolt tails and nuts inside the torque tube, but I have found them both ways on our two Fourniers.
I have now corrected the above checklist, so I think it's as good as I can get it, but I'm always open to advice and suggestions.
Yours, Bob
[Edit by Bob Grimstead on Tuesday, February 3, 2009 @ 02:34 AM]
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eugenio
Unregistered
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Posted Tuesday, February 3, 2009 @ 02:58 PM
The stick base bolts are usually from the inside to the outside for two reasons: first it's easier to put the nut from the outside of the stick base, second if the bolts are too long or the nuts are too thick (there are two sizes of self locking nuts) the pushrod's head inside may touch them .
In any case if they do not touch, it's indifferent which position they are.
Eugenio
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Bob Grimstead
Unregistered
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Posted Tuesday, February 3, 2009 @ 08:19 PM
Thanks Eugenio,
I knew there would be a 'best' way.
I will replace them like that.
Yours, Bob
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Bob Grimstead
Unregistered
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Posted Thursday, February 19, 2009 @ 10:58 PM
Hi Guys,
More info...
When we put the red Fournier's fuselage back on to its wing we found that, as we pushed the fuselage rearwards to engage the main bolts in their holes, the wing wanted to slide backwards off its trestles. The consequences of the ensuing damage do not bear thinking about, so this time I pus a couple of full 40gal/200litre fuel drums against the trailing edges.
This worked well, and the wing showed no tendency to shift.
You will see from another post that we have plugged and re-drilled the main spar wing bolt holes in the fuselage bulkhead, to make up for shrinkage and wear. I cut a very short 1/8-inch taper to get the bolts started, but otherwise those 14mm holes were as drilled.
I had been told that they were actually tapered a little to allow the wing to be fitted, but was not sure by how much.
Actually, it is now clear that they are not tapered at all, and do not need to be.
To my utter amazement, the fuselage just slid onto the wing in about two minutes. It is of course vital to get the tail up high over the wing as you move the fuselage rearwards, so that the rear spar fittings on the fuselage do not gouge and damage the centre-section, but once the fuselage bulkhead is near the wing bolts, you merely lower the fuselage right down until it's resting on the wing roots and slide it back, and it just goes on!
It is of course important that the fuselage is very precisely positioned in pitch, roll and yaw, as well as being exactly centered and at the correct height, so it isn't DEAD easy, but it's not as hard as I had expected.
Good luck if you have to do it.
The whole process of dismantling and reassembly seems to take me around a week, working alone except for the physical separating and re-joining the fuelagae and wing.
Yours, Bob
[Edit by Bob Grimstead on Thursday, February 19, 2009 @ 11:00 PM]
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Antti
Unregistered
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Posted Sunday, September 29, 2019 @ 03:56 PM
Hi after a long time,
My Fournier world has been a bit too quiet lately, although I've been doing a litte bit of this and a little bit of that every now and then. Anyway, it was time to take the Fournier Mech's Oath again and unscrew those six little devils in order to disassemble the stick casting. I should finally transfer my other little baby to her new home - where ever that will be.
It's been a couple of years since the last time (or four, actually...) and I hated the job even before. So, I tried with the tools I happened to have with me. Got the two easy ones out. Then a couple of hours with practically no result. Today I went to a tool shop and bought two ratchets the remains of which can be found in the photo below. They got bent several times to be in correct angle. Nice chrome-vanadium, no problem! About 15 minutes and the two screws below were out. The fifth one, right one on top, took me some time before I took the locking pliers and got a hold of the screw. Then a couple of minutes. But the last one. There seemed to be no way. It took me a great while before noticing that the fastest way was to use an old, small and rusty wrench (the third from right). Maybe 2,5 hours with the four screws, bending the tools, picking stuff up from the floor, fighting with an old lamp and so on. But finally it's done. There are no such curse words in English that would describe my feelings. But believe me, there's a plenty in Finnish - and I used them all! Perrrrrr-ke-le!
The casting and a collection of tools used in the job
The not so nice place to work in. This example seems to be harder than some others.
A couple of questions:
If I remember correctly, all the other RF4D's I've worked with (OH-380, OH-370, OH-371) had normal hexagonal bolt heads, while this one had allen heads. Does my memory fail me or is this a later fix? Anyways, they were installed wrong in the 371 I last parted. The nuts were inside the torsion tube.
Is it possible to take the gear out before the casting or does it come on the way? I've never tried, but was quite near trying it yesterday in lack of better tools. (EDIT: Ah, it seems there is another screw below the casting that cannot be reached.)
After all, it was super cool to work with an RF4D this weekend! Shoulda make a habit of it!
Antti
[Edit by Antti on Sunday, September 29, 2019 @ 04:08 PM]
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Bob Grimstead
Unregistered
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Posted Sunday, September 29, 2019 @ 04:27 PM
Well done Antti,
Like you, I now have special tools for that casting, but it still takes me half a day to dismantle plus at least a full day to reassemble. I call it the 'Haemhorroid Fitting' because it is such a pain in the ass!
Mine are all 4mm bolts, but I often have to use hex-head Allen capscrews in other places because I can no longer find bolts with the correct ratio of shank to length.
My Fournier world has also been a bit too quiet lately. This summer I have not done either enough Fournier flying or enough Fournier maintenance, so I am suffering withdrawal symptoms.
I'm a little confused. Which is your 'other little baby'?
Anyhow, very good luck with your endeavours and we all look forward to seeing more posts from you in the future.
Happy Fournicating, Bob
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Antti
Unregistered
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Posted Monday, September 30, 2019 @ 05:40 AM
Thanks, Bob!
Your term is quite a good one! I may use it next time! 
I haven' flown at all for over a year. Got some issues with high blood pressure. It's OK now with pills, but still haven't done enough to get my medical back. I've had my share of maintenance though, not with Fourniers but museum planes and other club aircraft like Diamonds.
My other little baby is another RF4D which I bought when the former owner passed away. It's been sitting in a hangar since 1993, but the owner refused to sell it. There were many people trying. So, I kind of reserved it with the idea that if it happens to be a total splint basket, it might be part of our future museum collections. But more I spend time with it, more it looks like a flying machine with a certain color scheme... We'll see. The other one has not progressed too much either. But the good new ideas. Perhaps, perhaps 
Thanks, I'll try to post more. There's an album in my Facebook account that should be public:
https://www.facebook.com/antti.t.laukkanen/media_set?set=a.10153436371242487&type=3
The other one looks pretty much the same, only with a 3 instead of 1. The former owner was kind of an inventor. There's an electrical system based on a bicycle dynamo, an additional fuel tank with manual handle operated pump located behind pilot's back and some other interesting and heavy looking stuff as well.
Antti
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