The Bobcat/Supercat newsletter is dedicated to sharing
ideas among "Cat" enthusiasts. We are not affiliated
with any organization. It is our intention to provide
accurate and unbiased information to the "Cat
builder/flyer". Any articles or ideas contained within
this newsletter (web site), are those solely of the
individual writer. We assume no responsibility for any
modifications or ideas that are used by the
builder/flyer.
The spring newsletter is upon us. Out here in the
midwest it was dry most of the spring and then about the
first of May all hell broke loose. It has been raining
ever since. As I sit and write this newsletter tonite it
is pouring (almost 2" of rain already).God does perform
many miracles of nature all the time if we just take the
time to smell the flowers. I think sometimes we get so
wrapped up in our work and everything else that we don't
get to really enjoy the good things around us.
The responce to the surveys wasn't quite what I
intended. Come on guys, Please send in your surveys so
that I can get some ideas. Anyway, I have received quite
a few letters and will share them with you. We have also
picked up several new subscribers to the newsletter and
I hope that they can enjoy it and use it to their
advantage.
I was planning to start a FOR SALE and WANTED columm or
page this issue but have received neither to date.
For those of you that do not know ( and those of us that
do) the FAA has been taking a hard look at part103 of
the FAA Regs. The way that I read what is going on is
that the new proposed FAA regs will not effect part 103
at all. Part 103 will stay in tact just as it is, with
no changes, for the people who wish to take advantage of
those regs. The proposal is to create a new
classification for the people with "fat" ULs or two seat
type UL airplanes. Under the new regs, if adopted, it
would be that an airplane like an MXL2 or Supercat could
get a simple inspection and be registered under this new
class. And there is rumors that if you care to go into
this new class, current holders of USUA UL pilots
license could be grand fathered to the new license,
which will be similar to the current recreational
license with less restrictions. There would be an exam,
of course. So there is something here for everyone, if
you want to fly a legal 103 plane with whatever license
you now have (or no license at all) you will be able to
do so. Or if you are flying a fat UL or a two-seater you
will be able to do that, too, with a minimun amount of
hassle. I think it is a good proposal and we should all
support it. ( Note that this has been going on since
1996 and here it is 2001. ed)
I received a letter (and survey) from Hans Larsen in
Denmark. Hans says, " I bought a set of drawings from
Bruce Bowdler to get started. It is not easy to find the
right parts in Denmark, so I have to substitute a lot,
and convert inches to millimeters. I am not very long in
the project. I got busy on the job and my wife's car
needed a hand but things have calmed down a little now.
And in the mean time a few new ideas have been shown in
the CAT SCRATCHES and I hope that "you out ther" don't
mind if I contact you for more details about your ideas.
Right now I have a Quicksilver MX, but I like to fly in
the winter, so I looked for a substitute for the MX, and
the Bobcat looked right to me".
"Hans, hang in there. It will take a whle to put
everything together, but in the end you will be able to
look back and reflect on all of your accomplishments. If
any of us can be of any help to you, please drop us a
line.".
Letter from Roger VanWinkle reads, I'm pleased that you
are interested in publishing the "Cat Scratches" and
keeping communications open for builders and other
interested persons. I've met some very talented people
interested in working on and flying the two "CATS".
Since I had heart surgery again last July, I didn't get
back in the air until September. We left for Arizona in
Oct. So my flying year was shortened. I've often
wondered how my Super Cat would handle if power failed.
I was pleased at how well the Cat handles "dead stick."
I believe the belt on my 503 got loose (my fault for not
checking) and turned over and shredded. I aligned with
the soybean rows in the field below and probably made
the best landing I ever accomplished. Just keep your
airspeed up and the plane handles fine without power.
Having reached my 70th birthday and having heart surgery
twice, I don't know how long I can continue flying; but
I'll always be interested.
Highest Personal Regards,
"Roger, I was touched to read your letter. 70 years old
and still flying! What more can a guy ask for. Whether
flying or not, I know the desire will always be with
you. We go through many things in life, some good and
some bad, but in the end we always look back on the
thing that we love. Best wishes to you and lets shoot to
keep flying unti 80.
Over the years I have read the newsletters and your name
was a frequent contributor. Thank you for everything
that you have contributed to this news letter."
Letter from Tom Cummings reads:
It was a pleasure talking to you and learning of a
newsletter being maintained for us Supercat owners. My
Supercat was obtained already built but requires some
corrective maintenance before it's flown. I intend to us
a 1/2 Volkswagen with a 54 X 24 propeller.
"Glad to have you aboad Tom. "
Dan Sprague writes:
Dear fellow Cat builders & flyers,
I'm looking forward to getting my next issue of the
newsletter, I've missed reading it. Now just a few
notes: I finished my Supercat in April of '94, before I
kenw how to fly. I took a few lessons in a Cessna 150,
45 minutes in a supercub and then into the Supercat. It
should be called the Pussycat, the thing flies great!!
After 80 hours, and about 500 landings, I still can't
believe how stable it is, and how easy it was to lean to
fly. N503SC is powered by a Rotax 503 dual carb. It has
an 8 gal fuel tank, (which is too small). I used the 5"
azusa wheels with 5" aircraft tires which I think works
great. The empty weight is a little heavy, at 408 lbs.
With wheel pants and hand held radio mounted on a side
panel. It's covered with Stits Polyfiber. The first
flights were very uneventful, but very exciting because
it was the first time I had been in an open cockpit, the
first time I realized there was nothing between me and
the ground! After a couple of hours I felt it was nose
heavy, I added tail weight of lb. at a time until it
flew straight and level. It took lbs. I rechecked the CG
and was still in the limits so I continued to fly until
about 20 hours, then I added elevator trim and got rid
of all that tail weight (it flies better without it).
Climb rate is about 1500 ft. per min with a three blade
GSC prop turning 6200 RPMs, cruise at 5800 is about 70
MPH, landing at 50.
Now a few questions,
1) Does anyone know the true G load rating(max)?
2) has anyone done any mild aerobatics? (rolls, split
s's, stall turns, or spins).
"thanks for the letter, Dan. I think maybe the people
that are still building are drooling a little bit.
Jack Kreling writes:
I have recently purchased a set of plans for the
Supercat airplane.
Short letter from Neal Clem in Cutler, Indiana reads:
After a long delay, I am starting to work on my Supercat
project again.
"Thanks for the letter Neal, and hang in there. I've
been working on my cat for 4 years now and it seems as
the years go by I get less and less done. I've been
hitting it pretty heavy though this winter and have made
quite a bit of headway".
Letter from Gene Piper reads:
The first chance I get to roll my cat out, I'll take
some pictures of it and have an extra set made to send
to you. You'll see that I added a little more strength
to it than normal.
"Gene, think light and strong and you can't go wrong. I
think one of the most important ( and many times
overlooked or done wrong or guessed at) things is the CG
configuration and data. If this is done right, you will
never go wrong and it will tell you many things about
the project that you just completed. Many times I think
this is the most often overlooked or passed by part of
the constuction. BUT IT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT!! Thanks
for the letter and I will be looking for the pictures.
Dave Bennett writes the following letter:
I did fly down to Columbus, Ohio last summer to visit
JimCarruthers. Basically, I landed in his back yard
which eally kept me busy for a while. Maybe I canadd to
that sentence and make a story a little later. The Cat
has been running real good since I installed the 503 in
her. I bought the engine in a seized condition for $600.
Rebuilt it myself with about $200 in parts and I'm
coming up on 200 hours with out one ounce of trouble.
The secret is running coool on the head temp.(250
deg.-no more than 300 deg) and using the highest octane
gas containing its own injector cleaner. I also modified
my carb with the "needle screw adjust" so I can control
the "exhaust gas temp". I adjust to never exceed (1200
deg.) I removed the exhaust manifold at 100 hours,
pointed a bright light into the cylinders and the piston
domes and head domes shined like new aluminum. The rings
moved freely and had no carbon buildup. Not bad
considering the fact that the Rotax Co. suggests taking
the heads off and cleaning the carbon out every 50
hours.
Received a good letter from Winston Williams which
reads: I received the newsletter and was pleased to see
what a nice publication it was. I can relate to you
very well, your age, your hobbies, and your walking away
from a screw up. Hey, I cultivated some farm land
myself.
A little bit about myself, I'm 53, and a journeyman
welder-mechanic at New Madrid, MO power plant. For the
last 10 years before that, I helped construct
Powerplants as a Boilermaker. I've wanted to fly as far
back as I can remember. So 4 years ago my house burned
down and I had plenty of insurance on it and the money I
had left went into my dreams as I was single at that
time.
I bought a used Weedhopper-Cayuna and the first day
after my friend flew it home for me, I was practicing
the runway (taxiing). To make the story short, I became
airborne (wasn't expecting it). I will remember it
like it was yesterday and always will. What a thrill!! I
made it down OK and have loved flying ever since.
I got so aggravated because of the wind keeping me on
the ground that I bought a Gyro and learned how to fly
it. Now the wind hardly ever keeps me from flying. I
ruined the Cayuna, now the Weedhopper has a 447 Rotax
and my Gyro has a 503DC. I bought both of the engines
used and have learned to keep these 2 strokes healthy by
using and paying attention to your EGT. A higher number
of main jet in cold weather does the trick for me.
Well, let me tell you a little about the BOBCAT.
Lawrence Mueller from Morrow, GA was the original
builder and all his photos and documents were with the
cracked up Bobcat.
Harold Barks, a friend I work with, started building his
Cat in the summer of '89 with a fuselage kit from
Wicks.Well he likes to fish and in the summer of '90 on
one of his fishing trips, he spotted a Bobcat out of the
corner of his eye in Kentucky, on his way back to Ky
lake. Since Harold had not done much to his Cat, he
decided to buy this crashed Bobcat. This man in Kentucky
had bought this cat from Lawrence and I don't know how
long he had the Cat but (he got) too slow and too low,
it slid out of the air and broke the fuselage in two
behind the bulkhead aft of the seat with considerable
other damage as well.
Well, Harold told me all about this and I just had to
see it. He had all of this crammed into his garage. I
could see right off that this plane was well built,
Lawrence had takeng great pains with this and it just
made me sick to see it that way. Well, Harold, in the
next few months worked on gettting the fuselage back
together, to make a storng connection he put in all new
ribs, sides and bottoms and put in a new high turtle
back bulkhead, glued and bolted to the original bulkhead
behind the seat and lenthened the fuselage 20". That was
the way I bought it in June of '92. I put the last
bulkhead in on the tail and it fit perfectly. After that
I bored a 3/8" hold in that piece and rigged up the A
horses on the ends. Being able to rotate the fuselage
made the work go a lot easier.
My dad is a retired farmer and I used his 100 x 50 ft
Butler building and it is great.
I have never covered anything and the stits process was
news to me, so I found a builder that had done this and
he had a stits manual so I just read and re-read the
manual.
One day I just started. The 1.6oz. Dacron is so
forgiving with the way it shrinks, that was the most
enjoyable part of it all. It really takes shape.
So I did some more questioning of people I knew and the
paint dealers can be quite helpful. So I dug out this
old spray gun my dad had for years, cleaned it up and
did some spraying on his wall in the building. I really
should not have done that. He didn't say anything, but
I proably would have had, Ha, Ha!! I finished it in Sept
of '93.
It has a 447 with a 2.58 to 1 SC FC, Ivo 3 blade prop,
ALT, DEGT, ASI. I have taxied it a little, I want to fly
it this year in the spring. It's so easy to get on my
Gyro or the Weedhopper when I want to fly. I'm really
going to do it this year.
I thought our readers might be interested in how the
C.Gs turned out, on 20" lengtheing. 31 lbs was gained
over original BobCat. Here is a copy of the weight &
balance. If any weight is added, it has to go
forward. (I added) elec. Start and battery, solenoid &
cables. It never had before so this is where the 31 lbs
comes from, plus had 17 lbs of permanent ballast on the
engine mount. I did away with that.
FLY SAFE-
WINSTON WILLIAM
