Wild West Aircraft

For general discussion of the Just Aircraft family of aircraft.
Includes: Highlander, Escapade, Summit and SuperSTOL.
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taildrgfun
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Location: Nampa Idaho

Re: Wild West Aircraft

Post by taildrgfun »

Joe I have done the ailerons this way on my last three Highlanders and yes they work much much better than the stock Highlander ailerons. The ailerons were one thing that I actually did like about the Superstol.

We just recently completed a builder assist with a guy on a new Highlander built like my Highlander and he was telling me yesterday it’s not even like the same model of airplane it works so much better than the standard Highlander that he had before. It really is amazing what a few simple modifications do for a Highlander. He liked his standard Highlander so much that even after wrecking it he knew he would not be happy with anything but another Highlander. He is just amazed at how much better the Highlander built like mine is then a stock one.

No matter how you guys fly your Highlanders you really should get our leading edge cuff even if you just land at airports. You should pick up one or two miles an hour in cruise and be able to land it about 5 miles an hour slower than without the cuff.
Steve Henry, Wild West Aircraft
(the Dead Stick Take-off Guy)
moving2time
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Re: Wild West Aircraft

Post by moving2time »

Sorry to belabor the details but, am I correct in assuming that the aileron is completely rebuilt and the false spar is also modified? Unfortunately I didn't get to take any photos last year at Oshkosh. I only figured out where your plane was after the first night of the STOL competition and later that night I received an emergency call from home and drove home through the night. Missed talking about your engine and modifications. Very disappointed. Such is life. Hopefully I will have better luck this year. Joe B
AV8R Paul
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Re: Wild West Aircraft

Post by AV8R Paul »

Since Steve said he used the modified Ailerons on his last three Highlanders, I went and looked at his Web Sited Build photos. He’s got a really good photo of the flaps in construction & the ailerons. One has a fiberglass leading edge that is rounded, the other has a leading edge with an Aluminum leading edge. It looks like he bent the leading edge to the desired shape, and the bent aluminum wouldn’t need a false spar. If you go down about half way through the pictures you can find the photos. There is also a couple of good photos showing the mounting & positioning of the Leading Edge.
http://www.wildwestaircraft.com/galleri ... g-the-new/
AV8R Paul
Certified Light Sport Repairman LSRM-A
moving2time
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Re: Wild West Aircraft

Post by moving2time »

Just blasted through the hundreds of photos I have on my compute. Clearly one thing I was confused about was the false spar. While going through the SS photos, I found that I thought the false spar on the SS wing was curved to match the movement of the pointed leading edge of the aileron. After review I see that the false spar in front of the aileron is flat not curved and the flaps have the curved false spar for the newer flap geometry on the SS. So that answers the false spar question on the Highlander which appears to be flat the entire length of the wing.

I did find one photo in Steve's 2016 build photos that shows the modified aileron using a bent metal leading edge instead of the molded leading edge that comes with the kit. Looks like a fairly simple modification to the aileron. Crazy thing, in all the photos I have taken in my collection and in all the others that people have posted of their build, almost all of these photos of the wing or control surfaces that show the false spar at all were focused on the area in front of the flap. Virtually no detailed photos of the aileron area of the wing with the false spar installed. Just coincidence but surprising. Joe B
taildrgfun
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Location: Nampa Idaho

Re: Wild West Aircraft

Post by taildrgfun »

Back when I had my Superstol I was extremely disappointed with it until I squared off that curved area in front of the flaps. It just always really bothered me how it felt like it was dragging its tail through the air all the time. Like it never quite wanted to get up on the step. Every Superstol that I ever flew was the same way too, it was not just mine. With it squared off it feels more like you’re flying in cruise with one notch of flaps but without the drag of having one nach of flaps in.
Steve Henry, Wild West Aircraft
(the Dead Stick Take-off Guy)
taildrgfun
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Re: Wild West Aircraft

Post by taildrgfun »

I have been so busy this summer that today is the first time I have even looked at the forum here in a couple months! My entire Oshkosh trip was awesome from start to finish! The trip out and back with my fellow Flying Cowboys was a blast with waterskiing, landing on sandbars and hilltops etc.
My newest Yamaha powered Highlander was flawless for the entire trip including the stol competition. It was great winning it two years in a row now against some really good competition, all of whom are my friends. Hal Stockman was second in his brand new 598 pound big bore Rotax Rans S7 and Kevin Quinn was third in his new FX3 Carbon Cub.

Winning the Reserve Grand Champion light sport plane was a real bonus! I wasn’t even going to have them judge my plane but they kind of talked me into it there at registration. I don’t really even know what they are looking for when they judge the airplanes but it must be more than just a pretty finish. I guess they must have liked it that I built my own motor mount, exhaust header, airbox etc for my Yamaha engine as well as other modifications to make a good aircraft into a great aircraft. I flew it quite a few times during the week in the ultralight area as well as doing the stol competition so they would have had a lot of opportunity to see how really well the airplane performed too. I’m just guessing here I really don’t know just what the judges are looking for but I know I’m very happy to have won this award!

Another thing that was fun for me was flying at the same time as Troy in his Titan powered Superstol and Gary in his 914 powered Superstol and seeing how drastically less runway my much less expensive Yamaha powered Highlander required especially for take off. And I was not even using the Nitrous during the regular flying time.

I just returned from the Wings over Willamette fly in and stol expo in Independence Oregon. It was sponsored by Cub Crafters and I think there were 17 airplanes in the competition. I won it again this year and had a lot of fun throughout the entire weekend. The tough part was the 350 mile trip between here and there with all the smoke from these fires out west.

I’m sure most of you on this forum realize that we are dealers for Just Aircraft and also make firewall forward kits with the Yamaha engine but just in case someone is reading this that doesn’t realize that, now you know who to contact to get your Just Aircraft kit. Steve at 208-880-7887
Steve Henry, Wild West Aircraft
(the Dead Stick Take-off Guy)
Clark in AZ
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Re: Wild West Aircraft

Post by Clark in AZ »

Thanks for the report Steve and congratulations on ALL the wins! Have you had a chance to fly Teal's gearbox yet? Can't wait for a report on that.

Thanks again,
Clark
Building SuperSTOL Kit 512
Cave Creek, AZ
taildrgfun
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Re: Wild West Aircraft

Post by taildrgfun »

I have it on my test stand right now and plan on putting it on the airplane sometime within the next two weeks. It really looks good! Very high-quality and heavy duty too.
Steve Henry, Wild West Aircraft
(the Dead Stick Take-off Guy)
Clark in AZ
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Re: Wild West Aircraft

Post by Clark in AZ »

taildrgfun wrote:I have it on my test stand right now and plan on putting it on the airplane sometime within the next two weeks. It really looks good! Very high-quality and heavy duty too.
Anything to report yet Steve?

Clark
Building SuperSTOL Kit 512
Cave Creek, AZ
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BucF16
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Re: Wild West Aircraft

Post by BucF16 »

Hey Clark, Steve has updated on the Yamaha Aircraft Conversions Facebook page. I never wanted to have an account, but was told that Steve, Teal Jenkins, and Lars of Betteraircraft Fabric, mostly post there.

Teal posted yesterday:

I just wanted to post a little update about the testing of the gearbox. It has about 16 hours of flight testing on it. With Steve Henry doing a lot of Takeoffs some with nitrous pushing it close to 200hp. Some negatives right now are that it sounds a little noisier than the C gearbox and its running a little warmer than I would like it to. Im making a set of helical gears to see how it affects noise levels and Im also looking into changing the housing shape a bit. In the mean time Steve will continue to gain hours as I work on some enhancements for it. The housing changes may delay the release a bit but I dont want to leave anything on the table that I could have improved before the release.

Cheers
Bruce
Bruce Johnson Highlander # 393
"Because I fly, I envy no man on Earth"
Builder web site:
http://www.bruceshighlander.blogspot.com
Clark in AZ
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Re: Wild West Aircraft

Post by Clark in AZ »

Thanks Bruce! Yeah, I really don't want to have a FB account either, but I guess I might have to if I want to follow these guys...

Clark
Building SuperSTOL Kit 512
Cave Creek, AZ
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BucF16
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Re: Wild West Aircraft

Post by BucF16 »

I gave Facebook the minimum. Partial name and required birthday. But I'm sure Google et al will fill in the blanks for FB. :evil:
Bruce Johnson Highlander # 393
"Because I fly, I envy no man on Earth"
Builder web site:
http://www.bruceshighlander.blogspot.com
FredHoffman
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Re: Wild West Aircraft

Post by FredHoffman »

Any link to the facebook page? I searched and saw the last post was august 26th. I'm not a facebook member but they usually still let you view pages with an annoying join facebook bar at the bottom. Maybe they block recent posts now or google sent me to the wrong group. Really, Really not a fan of social media, and it is a bummer facebook is becoming the new forum.

I'm currently on my 60th hour on my highlander and thinking about another build. A yamaha conversion sounds like a very cool idea, only for the HP though. I certainly would like mine to perform with two people onboard as it does with one and 160 HP would fit the bill. Solo the Highlander is outrageous. This is really a very fun aircraft to fly. I'm already yearning for 60 hp of more fun. I have been thinking of a new wing using a thicker profile that also extends past the front spar like they did with the Kitfox STI, and adding double slotted flaps and spoilers.
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BucF16
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Re: Wild West Aircraft

Post by BucF16 »

Try this Fred:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/164864990778457/


By the way did you rib stick your tail feathers ?

Cheers
Bruce Johnson Highlander # 393
"Because I fly, I envy no man on Earth"
Builder web site:
http://www.bruceshighlander.blogspot.com
FredHoffman
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Joined: Fri Mar 23, 2012 8:57 pm

Re: Wild West Aircraft

Post by FredHoffman »

Thanks for the link, I could see the posts on Facebook they are not always in order. The Skytrax Apex engine has a lot of interest for me. It is something I want to follow for sure. I wonder what the reliability will be as compared to a hopped up 157hp rotax from edge performance. On the east coast an engine failure is much more dire with tall trees and much smaller landing spots.

As far as the tail I did not do any rib stitching. The tail fabric is solid after 60 hours. I did rib stitch the wings though, I thought it looked better than the pop rivets.
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