Lindy
1/13/2011
I planned a smoke system for the airplane pretty much from the beginning, and while I installed the pump and cage for the tank last year, my buddy Ray and I have just recently started completing the installation. A few weeks ago, we made the nozzles for the exhaust pipes. I really wish I would've taken pictures of that process because watching Ray work the lathe is really cool. Anyway, we haven't done a whole lot since before Christmas, but this week we started on it again. Ray is the man for helping me with the lathe and welding...neither of which I know a thing about operating. I should also mention that I am shamelessly lifting the complete (well almost...my tank and supply lines are different) system from Tony Spicer, who came up with a very simple, yet effective way to make a smoke system on very LITTLE money.
So, today I took some pictures of what we have so far. Last night, Ray made the bushing out of mild steel rod for me. That involved using the lathe to turn down some solid 1" rod to a hair under 3/4", and then drill a hole thru the center of it. I wasn't there when he did it, so all I have is a picture of the rod, and the bushing after they have both been cut...
That shorter piece was turned down to this diameter (although it was almost two inches long before I took this pic)...
Here's the piece after it was rough cut with a hacksaw-
Ray then put the shorter piece in the lathe to "face" the uneven side.
Here is the fitting that I drilled out the NPT side for a nozzle to slide in (see below), the finished bushing, and the base plate that will get clamped to the exhaust pipe.
Here's one of the nozzles that we made a month ago. It slides in the fitting like a glove, and will get welded in place...
...like this. The nozzle has a 1/8" hole on the inflow side, and then it's reduced to a #55 hole with a countersink on the outflow side to give it a spray pattern.
I removed the nozzle for this pic, but here you can see the bushing sitting on the base plate (they will be welded together), and the hole in the bushing will be transferred to the base plate, and then tapped for the NPT threads. The nozzle will stick thru the base plate in to the exhaust.
We plan to weld everything up on Saturday!