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Titan SS
Modifications |
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The biggest worry about building something larger was if belly skins could be made to fit, since they're limited to 4'. I had to turn the sheet 90 degrees to run it the other way, and add a section on the left side to meet the window. Still looks good. | |
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I wasn't real impressed with the folded-over rubber gap seal that comes with the kit, so I used garage door seal. It has the right bends, molds easily to the wing, and since it's thicker (but probably lighter than the rubber) it should be quieter, too. | |
 
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Since the fuselage was stretched a bit, the front was further away from the wing than normal. I made an extension of the windscreen out of lexan. The door seal hugs the wing tightly, with no leaks. | |
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The door seal needs to be turned upside-down after going past the leading edge of the wing. I overlapped the two seals and used silicone to make sure they stay together. | |
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I used the same seal for the rear. It does a good job. You can see the angle of the side seal, where I used some silicone to close up the gap (I had to do this with the rubber seal too on the other Titan). | |
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The doors are held open with lift struts. They're rated at 24 lbs. Because of the force to close them, the vinyl hinge material isn't strong enough. I used antiservo trim tab hinges to strengthen the area, along with a triangular piece of aluminum to connect the door frame to the hinge. | |
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I used a trim hinge at the bottom of the door, too. For the back door, I only used a hinge at the top. | |
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The radiator was mounted to the wing instead of the engine to avoid vibration problems. Here you can see the top mounts, which are made out of strap aluminum. | |
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The bottom part of the radiator is supported by angled aluminum. | |
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Since the fuselage was 2" higher than normal, no Kevlar aft panels were available, and I didn't want to modify any (I hate working with composites, personally). I made my own panels out of aluminum sheets, using the edge of my workbench as a brake. They came out great. I used a lot of uralene epoxy along all the riveted sections to make sure nothing moved and cracked. On the outside, I used auto body seam sealer, which remains flexible. | |
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As before, I installed a door to monitor the fuel tank as I'm filling it. This is one of the most useful mods. | |
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Don't you just hate it when someone at an air show wants to take a break and sit down on your wheel pants? This should get the idea across. | |
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It was always hard to throw a leg over the stick when climbing in, so I shortened both the front and rear. I shortened the seat boot also. I replaced the stock grip with a G207, which has functions for the in-flight adjustable prop, flaps, PTT and EIS functions. | |
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Since I do a lot of XCs, I wanted to lock the plane while it sat overnight. The lock lever will rotate down when locked and prevent the door latch from opening. This part was easy once I found out that I only needed to lock the latch instead of the door itself. | |
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Same principal for the rear door. This picture shows where I placed the lock. | |
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I'm using an automotive heater core that is about 6" X 7". | |
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A 6" computer fan covers the core nicely. It's held in place with zip ties. | |
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Here's the front of the heater, which is basically 4 pieces of angled aluminum over a sheet, and 2 PVC 90 degree angles in it. | |
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After a few hours, I moved everything around on the sub-panels. All the switches are now on the right side, with the exception of the master. I left that on the left side out of the way so no one would be able to turn things on by playing with the switches. The left panel also has the avionics. Since that panel is easier to reach and I use avionics more than the switches, it was the right move. | |
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