Gerald Kelly (HDS)

Is there a better way to take some time off a family meeting than to say "I have to go see someone's project while I am here". After hearing of this individual in Eastern Township who has top skills in working with metal, I called him and scheduled a visit to his workshop. About two years later, in June 2001, Gerald completed the construction of his aircraft... well almost (he says he wants to finish the upstolery). His aircraft won two prizes at its first convention (Les Faucheurs de Marguerites). Best Plans Built trophy and Public Prize. Congratulations Gerald!

Completed Product:

Engine Installation:

This is a Subaru EA-81 engine fitted with a Karlo Kuhner reduction drive (this belt drive is no longer available as Karlo now build exclusively gear drives). The builder told me that he worked on the engine simultaneously with the airframe. The radiator (a Volkwagen Rabbit or Fox, don't remember), as in Fernand Levesque's plane is fitted behind the engine, on the firewall. One difference is the oil cooler which is mounted on the side of the aircraft, just beside the radiator.

The builder wanted to separate fuilds from electricity. All wires are coming on the right side of the airplane while all fuild reservoirs are filled from the left side. Two facet fuel pumps are mounted in parallel on the firewall.

Initial installation (notice, engine is black)

Cabin Heater:

The heater core is mounted inside the cabin, on the firewall. It comes from a Volkwagen Golf, but the original core was considerably stripped out of many items not required for aircraft use.

A few other things that we can observe on this picture. The builder installed a sound proofing material everywhere in the cabin and also in the fuselage. Finally, he made the top front fuselage skin removeable. This is a great idea as it provides access to the instruments, brakes and heater core for maintenance.

Canopy:

Gerald manufactured the plexiglass bubble himself. To achieve this, he made a large oven and he used a "blowing" technique to form the bubble. We can also observe that his canopy's installation is everything but common. It is a tilt forward. The canopy is cut in two parts, where the rear portion is fixed to the fuselage.

The two hinges are custom made and fit inside the plane. An additional cross-over tube is installed to stiffen the whole assembly. It can be used for two purposes: as a handle to get in and out of the plane, or as a frame for a glare shield.

A handle pulls a rod which locks the canopy in closed position. The cable on the right of the handle runs to the other side so that one action pulls the rods on both sides.