'On the Road Again'...the 2016 Pietenpol Reunion at Brodhead, Wisconsin...The Video

RknRusty wrote:Great thread for gazing, Thanks, Kim.
A couple of questions:
Are the airfoils between the wheels adjustable during flight? Or once correctly installed, are they ever flight trimmed for any reason after the initial setup?

Do the control horns on the control surfaces have an adjustable throw like on our models?

That plane with the exhaust pipe down the side, I'm guessing it's an add-on by the owner, maybe for noise/smoke reduction. Could that cause engine cooling issues? Or is it more common than I realize?

Thanks again for the interesting thread.
Rusty

Hey Rusty, I've got a little experience with Experimental planes, and will take a shot at answering, but if I'm off, anyone else please check in.
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"Are the airfoils between the wheels adjustable during flight? Or once correctly installed, are they ever flight trimmed for any reason after the initial setup?"

These are not a Pietenpol item, but a builder's artistic take on customizing their plane.  They are bolted in place, but I think CAN be ground-adjusted as the plane goes through it's testing period.

An funny side-note, my bud, Steve Eldridge liked to 'air trim' his Pietenpol in flight by manually moving the wing's center hatch, which is hinged to allow easy access to the Piet's rear cockpit!
From my scrapbook:



Flying with Steve was always entertaining.  He managed to 'bout scare the crap out of me when he cranked up a smoke system I didn't know he had.  I was close in on his right wing when white smoke exploded from his Piet's exhaust pipe.  I thought his engine had sucked a valve, and hauled out and away to give him room for his 'emergency landing'



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"Do the control horns on the control surfaces have an adjustable throw like on our models?"

All of the geometry and throw of the surfaces and their cables' routing are laided out in the plans.  Builders are strongly advised to adhere to the plans, but the planes ARE experimental, so a lot of builders take liberties with the designs.

The builder of the Dillhoefer Piet even ran his carry-through aileron cable across the top of the wing...sure makes it easy to inspect...



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"That plane with the exhaust pipe down the side, I'm guessing it's an add-on by the owner, maybe for noise/smoke reduction. Could that cause engine cooling issues? Or is it more common than I realize?"

I don't know if it'd cause cooling problems or not...think it was done more for antique flavor maybe.  It DID quiet it down a lot in flight.  I intend to ask him about it on the Pietenpol Facebook page...he has a 'Build Thread' there.

Of course, we ALL know that the really cool planes have long exhaust pipes!

On my favorite WW1 aircraft, the Nieuport 28 I often wondered if perhaps the angle of the horizontal strut located between the wheels was variable as a trimming device. Sort of far fetched on my part and probably negated by the fixed rod/wire extending down from the fuselage to the center of the strut.

Nice photo by Sandstein of a Swiss Air Force original WW1 Nieuport 28 flown by them in 1921/22.