AV8R Paul’s SuperSTOL XL

[AV8R Paul]

I must admit I’m getting pumped. In October my daughter and I drove to Travelers Rest & Walhalla to visit with Chris Wallen & to visit the Just Aircraft factory. As we were touring the plant Gary asked have you ever gotten to ride in a SuperSTOL, my Daughter said no, and Gary was gracious enough to offer a ride to my Daughter Briann. Gary gave her about a 30 minute ride.

While touring the factory we got to see my new SuperSTOL XL fuselage frame weldment.

I’ve got the Kit and a Titan 180 HP, and a Garmin G3X Touch, Radios & Transponder all on order, I’m looking forward to working with Chris Wallen in the build process.

[AV8R Paul]

Titan Engine is finished & ready to ship. My wife picked the paint scheme.

[Clark in AZ]

Congratulations! Can't wait to see you document the build here.

[AV8R Paul]

I’ve been working on the floor boards & the tail feathers.

I’m making carbon fiber floor boards & baggage compartment. However, I’ve already made a change to the floor boards. They will look exceptional. I am working with Chris Wallen of Wallen Aircraft in a Builders Assist Program. I want to be young enough to fly it when we finish it,

[Clark in AZ]

Excellent! Details on the floorboards... How thick will the finished board be? What changes are you making? Thanks and MORE PICS!!!!

[AV8R Paul]

Floorboards Rev A 1/8 inch foam w layers of bidirectional, one layer of Honeycomb Pattern Carbon Fiber. I plan on using it through out, floor boards & baggage compartment. I’ll need to add a layer of carbon HoneyComb Pattern to the baggage compartment floorboards, no big deal..

[Clark in AZ]

When finished, I'd love to hear the difference in weight vs. the standard aluminum? Beautiful.

[AV8R Paul]

Once we cut them out I will post the weight.

I am planning to build it an Experimental - Light Sport Capable aircraft. When I purchased the interior, I only purchased the seats, no carpet, or wall carpet. The Floor Boards are the interior finish, I actually think it looks alot better than the carpeting. When I took them to Chris Wallens we picked up a sheet of Aluminum used for the Instrument Panels and picked up a comparable size piece of floorboard composite material, the weight was indistinguishable. Chris and I both thought it was lighter or the same. I wanted to vacuum bag to get all of the weight out of it I could but my vacuum pump wasn't working.

[Clark in AZ]

This awesome! I really want to learn how to vacuum bag carbon fiber, so this is right up my alley. Thanks so much for sharing it looks great!

Clark

[kenryan]

They look fantastic and I'm sure they will be very, very strong. I checked with a guy who does carbon fiber professionally and he advised me that I would not save any weight at all by using carbon fiber for floorboards. What I did for the baggage area was to use the lightweight aluminum that came with the kit (I think it was .020) and made swiss cheese out of it. Then I covered it with Oratex. The result is very light and should be plenty strong. It looks "okay" but it's in the back and it will pretty much always be covered with survival gear and day stuff. For the cabin floorboard, I couldn't live with the lightweight aluminum that came with the kit, so I bumped it up (I think .032).

[AV8R Paul]

They look fantastic and I'm sure they will be very, very strong. I checked with a guy who does carbon fiber professionally and he advised me that I would not save any weight at all by using carbon fiber for floorboards. What I did for the baggage area was to use the lightweight aluminum that came with the kit (I think it was .020) and made swiss cheese out of it. Then I covered it with Oratex. The result is very light and should be plenty strong. It looks "okay" but it's in the back and it will pretty much always be covered with survival gear and day stuff. For the cabin floorboard, I couldn't live with the lightweight aluminum that came with the kit, so I bumped it up (I think .032).

I will be rolling all of the edges after it is fit to the plane and adding a single layer 1 inch wide to stiffen. Even without that Chris and I both concurred it was significantly stiffer than the .020 aluminum. I would comparing the weight to the .020 Aluminum plus carpeting. If you look at the leading edge of the layup, I have already rolled the leading edge, and it is a glass to glass bond.
If someone has a cut out Aluminum .020 floor that is fitted to their airframe, please add a comment about the weight of the floor panel. Then when I complete mine I can add the weight of the baggage floor as a comparison.

[kenryan]

Could be a great "business opportunity." I would be very tempted to buy a cabin floorboard that looks like that and is lightweight. How will it hold up cosmetically?

[AV8R Paul]

Could be a great "business opportunity." I would be very tempted to buy a cabin floorboard that looks like that and is lightweight. How will it hold up cosmetically?

I am not sure how well it will hold up cosmetically, but I will be finding out. When I went to Valdez, I saw a SuperSTOL with Carbon Fiber Floor Boards.
Here is a picture of that plane's floor boards. On this one you can see the exposed foam closest to the pilot seat. I plan on having the rolled edge closest to the pilot.

[AV8R Paul]

Could be a great "business opportunity." I would be very tempted to buy a cabin floorboard that looks like that and is lightweight. How will it hold up cosmetically?

All I can say is get ready for the Cost, ouch!!

[AV8R Paul]

Working on the Instrument panel. I hate working with Carbon Fiber, talk about itchie. It’s coming along.

Layout the gauges, switches, circuit breakers, hard mounting places, etc. I’ve already changed my mind on the Airspeed and altimeter, I’ve opted for a Garmin G5, it includes airspeed, altimeter, slip ball, Artificial horizon, etc, and weight is less. I’ll have a G3 Touch in the center..

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