Carlton's KR1 rebuild - ZS-UHO

[flykr]

I came across KR1 (ZS-UHO) back in 1999 when I was buying some KR2 spares from a chap in Kempton Park. It was by chance while negotiating at his kitchen table I noticed the tailwheel of a KR1 sticking out from under a tarpaulin in his back yard He said to me that he was actually going to dump the aircraft because it was not worth rebuilding. We did some more negotiating and I eventually left with some KR2 parts and a complete KR1, all this for R2k

This is a photo of ZS-UHO taken in 1980 with the builder/owner. Hally Warmington

[flykr]

The KR1 was flown for 20 hours by the test pilot but unfortunately the owner had a mishap on his first flight and broke the undercarriage. After the undercarriage was repaired the plane went into storage. Somewhere in the passage of time the wings got lost and the fuselage changed hands a few times. Some attempts were made to restore it but without success . This is what she looked like before I started rebuilding her.

[flykr]

I've been rebuilding the KR1 on and off over the last 8 years. If all goes well I will hopefully finish it towards the end of 2008
Here I'm installing the wing attachment fittings (WAF's). These fittings are made from 3mm 4130 steel plate and hold on the outer wings. There is no room for mistakes when fitting the WAF's, any play hear can result in wing failure.
Dihedral is set @ 5deg's with a 3.5deg washout at the wing tips.

[flykr]

The elevator under construction, like most other parts on the KR, it is built from polyurathan foam sandwished between two wood spares and sanded to shape. It is then glassed with two layers of 6oz bidirectional fibreglass cloth. The rudder is made the same way.

[flykr]

For those not familiar with the KR1 it was originally designed by Ken Rand in the early seventies and was one of the first all "composite" aeroplanes to fly. This is a photo of Ken's original KR1 fitted with a VW1100 engine. The final version of this aircraft was fitted with a VW2.1 turbo and could cruise at 200mph. Ken's KR1 is currently in the EAA museum USA.

[grostek]

Hi Flykr,

What engine do you intend using and scondly how long until you finish?

Thanks for posting the pics and updates.

Kind regards,

Gunter Rostek

[flykr]

ZS-UHO was originally fitted with a VW1600 type1 turning a 52/34p prop. Cruise was about 100mph. I've decided to go for the Rotax 503di. I'll be using a 52/53p prop which theoretically should give me about 160mph cruise @ 3200rpm

I'm hoping on completing the project this year. I still have to finish the wings, cowling, engine installation and instruments.

[flykr]

Some construction photo's I've taken over the last few years.

[flykr]

Some more...

[flykr]

A few more...

[flykr]

The KR1 has very small wings, I'm 1.8meters tall

[flykr]

I decided to replace the original VW1600 with a Rotax 503. The original VW had no started or electrical system and was rather heavy for my liking No one has put one of these motors in a KR so I'll be the first, hopefully my efforts will pay off in the long run.
I'll post more on this later….

[Duck Rogers]

Looks like you doing a good job there C. As with everything else you do
Just not another yellow one please

[grostek]

Hi Flykr,

Lighter is always better, so performance should go up a notch with the 503.

ROC should be better and your cruising speed should also be increaced once you have dialed in an optimum prop.

she is starting to look really good.

Kind regards,

Gunter Rostek.

[flykr]

Building the fibreglass fuel tank..
I made up a template of the fuel tank using cardboard biscuit boxes and stuck them together with duct tape. The bottom of the template was then mounted into the front cockpit and secured in place with duct tape.
Duct tape was then applied over the cardboard and a layer of release agent and wax applied. 6 layers of glass cloth was then laid into the template with a generous amount of fuel resistant epoxy/micro balloon mix.