The Pietenpol Aircamper

Update as of October 2007 click here

Engine test results click here

Wing loads and fitting stress analysis click here

The Aircamper was designed by Bernie Pietenpol in 1929 and was powered by a Ford Model A automobile engine. Although an old design, it is still popular with homebuilders today due to it's simple construction and low cost. My Aircamper will be powered by a 1965 Chevy Corvair engine. I started construction on the fuselage during the last week of August, 2002. Here’s some pictures of my Aircamper project.

12/25/2010 - Merry Christmas!

12/25/2010 - The aluminum around the cockpit has been cut, formed, primed and painted.  Again using Behr latex, wet sanded, polished, and waxed.  Only time will tell if it will hold up, but right now it looks pretty good.

12/25/2010 - The windscreens are Lexan, bent to shape after heating with a propane torch.  The seats and padding are covered with vinyl material in an aged leather pattern.

12/05/2010 - The fuselage and tail are now painted and it is back on the gear. I decided to avoid getting fancy and keep the paint job simple.  I'm glad to be done spraying paint for now.

These are the supplies that I used to finish the Pietenpol.  From left to right:  Stewart Systems EkoBond latex adhesive used to glue the fabric to the frame.  3M rubbing compound used with an electric buffer to shine the finish.  Behr Premium Plus Hi Gloss Latex paint for color coats.  Kobalt Latex spray gun.  Harbor Freight touch up spray gun.  Glidden Gripper gray latex primer for the base coats.  Foam brush to apply primer.  1000-1500 grit wet sanding paper to lightly sand final finish (also used 400 dry to sand primer). Mothers car wax to protect finish.

Here is a close up of the side of the fuselage after finishing painting.  As you can see there is a really nice gloss to the finish.  This was an unexpected surprise as I thought I would get a slight sheen from the paint at best.  I used Behr interior/exterior high gloss latex from Home Depot.  It took quite a bit of experimenting with thinning, spray guns and pressure to get good results.  I did seem to get the best results thinning about 10% with windshield washer fluid.  I read somewhere that the ammonia helps form smaller droplets, but I don't know if it's true.  I used both a Kobalt Latex spray gun from Lowes, and a touch up gun from Harbor Freight.  Both worked well.  I tried a larger Harbor Freight gun and a cheap Craftsman gun with poor results.

Spraying is only half the story.  After the paint dried I wet sanded with 1000 or 1500 grit paper and polished with 3M Polishing compound and a buffer.  Then I applied a coat of car wax.  I'm astounded with the result.  I really like the latex paint process.  It's about $30 per gallon and there are no toxic fumes.  The over spray doesn't stick to anything and can be vacuumed up.  I have goofed up on the paint job in several spots (runs, sanding through, overspray) but I'm still pleased with it.  Future painting should get better!

The fuselage and tail surfaces are painted with 3 thinned coats of grey latex primer applied using a foam brush, sanding with 400 grit after each coat.  I tried foam rollers but I did not like the way it looked.  I'm experimented with ways to apply the gloss latex top coats and went with spraying.  The form brushes leave brush marks, as do expensive nylon brushes.  Rollers leave orange peel.

I haven't been doing much on the Piet for quite a while, but I'm now back at it again.  The fuselage and tail have been moved to the basement and have been covered.  I used 1.8 oz uncertified cloth and EkoBond glue.  This stuff is fantastic.  Easy to use and  no odors.  I will never use MEK based products again.

The tail surfaces were all rib stitched.  I debated whether they really needed stitching, but in the end, I'm glad that I did.  Next adventure will be painting.  I have decided to use latex an d I'm experimenting with application techniques.

The Corvair Engine for the Pietenpol Aircamper. (Click on engine for more engine pictures)

Here's the fuselage framed up and sitting on saw horses. The construction was done in the 10 x 23 shop attached to the back of my garage. The wood came from Douglas Fir 2 x 4's. The instrument panels are just cardboard as shown here. It took only about a month to get this far.

Here's the fuselage on the landing gear. I'm using 1980 Yamaha Exciter wheels with cable activated drum brakes.

Here's the rear panel with the GPS on the left, ASI and altimeter in the center, and engine guages to the right. The two holes on the left are for the radio and intercom which I have out at the moment. The vertical wood pieces are cherry.

This shot shows both panels. The front panel just has an ASI and altimeter. The cherry strips on the front panel are on the door to the glove compartment.

This shows the dummy wing center section containing mock-up gas tank.

The tail is together and I'm making the brackets and control horns.

Another view with the tail on.

Here's the actual wing center section that will hold the fuel tank in progress. It's 4 feet wide and the aft 2 feet of the airfoil will fold up and over the top to allow the wing panels to fold backwards for storage. The wings will pivot around the rear spar. The cabane struts will be tilted outward from the fuselage to the attach points at the ends of the center section.

This is the start of the propeller. It is made of maple and the design is per the Alvin Schubert book "How I Make Propellers..

To build the prop I hand carved a single blade template, then borrowed a duplicator from a friend to make the final propeller. The duplicator is a 3-D tracer with a router mounted on a box that rides on rails..

Here you can see the single blade template and the propeller after carving and sanding.

This is a shot looking under the front seat. The "L" shapes are the brake pedals and just behind them are the front seat belt mounts.

The left wing is coming together and the center section is mounted on the cabanes..

The left wing.

To bend the top capstrips for the wing ribs, I made a tube from aluminimum foil, put it on the tea kettle, and stuck in a couple capstrips. The capstrips were steamed for about 10 minutes, then put in a bending jig.

The cabanes on my airplane are tilted outward at the top to reach the brackets at the end of the widened center wing section. The wider center section allows a bigger fuel tank, and will allow the outer wing panels to swing back for storage, similar to the Kitfox and other designs..

This is the rear spar universal joint.  It is the key to the folding wing and allow the wing to pivot 90 degrees around the rear spar.  The front spar has a latching pin to hold the wing in place.

This is the joint folded.  The wing swings back with the tip and leading edge going down slightly.

This is the rear spar attached to the center section.  As you can see, the outer hardware is basically the same ac in the 3 piece wing plans.  The angled, pivot joint on the center section is pretty beefy, especially when you consider that this area takes little of the total load on the wing.

Here is the front spar attached to the center section.  You can see the latch handle sticking down through the bottom of the center section sheeting.  To release the wing you simply pull back on the spring loaded latch.  Hardware on both the center section and outer panel is very similar to the 3 piece wing plans.  I'm currently deciding on several safety options.

Here is a shot of the fully cowled Corvair.  The nose bowl is made from insulation foam and will be fiberglassed.  The blue poster board will be replaced with aluminum.  You can also see the "V" strut arrangement that replaces the parallel struts called for in the original plans.  This was done to allow the wing to fold back.  This super powerful, super streamlined Piet should be wicked fast!

Below is the wiring diagram for the John Deere rectifier as I first tried it. This did not work because the wire connection represented by the "?" in the box was providing constant power to the started solinoid, keeping it engaged. Below is the current wiring setup