RansMail #014 April 11th 2004 

I followed up Ed's number for the microlight school at Chatteris nr. Cambridge & found CFI Deepak very helpful. There's an open invitation to land there FOC, but no o/head join as parachuting too. The 'yellow Rans' owner is apparently a Geoffrey Scott, 5th down, on my G-INFO based list; it's an S4, reg. G-MWES.  
(He is on 02077390141 which was re-routed to 02072536664, I left a message on the ans. ph. Th. 08 Apr 04.)
 
Vince reports on rebuilding the throttle box complex:-
"I've spent two weeks now fiddling with my box, deeper & deeper into intricacies and afraid to touch anything because I know it will get worse   i.e. to rectify badly assembled box it had to come off......that meant release all three cables. That meant eventual refixing six end bits in a fixed unknown sequence and adjusted , when I know that once you've tightened the clamps you can't remove and replace the distorted cable end.   i.e. start all over with new cables and new sequence.
I spent from 11am till 7 p.m. walking round from one side to the other Friday to find tools, better position and missing bits, dropped grubscrews etc. Nearly finished the last bit, checking trim motion tightening friction so trim wouldn't slip away when the cable end in the box pulled out...........Start again. !!
I'd had a lot of difficulty trying to solder all the cable ends to prevent fraying and this one was SS so I couldn't. Only super-human agility upside down in the cockpit and most violent swearing enabled me to rethread the end against the pull of what seemed to be a bungee sized elastic hidden in a one inch tube.
During all this I think that my careful shortening of original slotted screws for internal working clearances had left insufficient clamping grip so I had to use two of the allen head screws that I had spent 2 or three days over  and then rejected as not being exactly like the originals. Fortunately the most clearance critical slotted screw (throttle, in the middle)  hung on but from now on I will always have to be very gentle and worrying that one might slip."
 
"Then I flew up to Dunkeswell Sat (10th April) p.m.  CFI Jim said the airfield was closed due to expected bad weather, I wasn't surprised as when I flew closer, the hills it looked quite claggy with bands of stuff sitting drizzling on the ridges but I cut a few corners and went as fast as I could and chopped a few minutes off my time. I  left what documents I had with Dave but he can't do my plane before the end of the month as he is going to Sun`n`Fun too.
and only returning about 26th , I come back 23/24th. 
 BTW the last time I moved the machine the Stbd. leg softened to almost beyond full stretch even though the bungee looked sound. My safety restraint check cords weren't in fact short enough, although the shorter telltales broke and I now see why the previous owner had fitted  those heavy duty steel cable strops. What would have happened if I'd taken it and done a heavy landing?? 
So now I will have to fit shorter ones of 5 or 8 mm abseiling cord which should be good for 1-2000 lbs. each.
I get the impression that the geometry is such that the bungee and stiffness gets weaker as the leg extends.  I had given the wings a good old waggle before the taxi test which showed the port leg as functioning OK,  so I certainly didn't expect anything untoward; so I think that even normal landings may have been banging those wire strops quite hard enough.
Of course this time my landing was immaculate"
 
 
I had some fun today trying to get what pictures I have altogether. It would be excellent to have some project photographs too, so all eight of us are represented.
 
Mike Hallam.

Rans G-MW...-LZ ; -GN ; -GA ; -FW.