Sportsman SB 74 Tailwheel Assembly Compressing Foam Core

Sportsman Service Bulletin #74 – Fuselage Tail Cone Damage

Glasair Aviation published a service bulletin to address crushed or delaminated portions of the tail cone near the aft tailwheel bracket. The SB is...
Superior XP-400 piston. Top two are compression rings and the bottom is the oil control ring.

Engine Break-in

Break-in of an engine refers primarily to the initial phase of operation in which the piston rings will "seat" against the cylinder walls. Run-in refers...
lightweight-small-jack

Lightweight Custom Jack

Steve and I recently installed a set of Thomas Cox’s jack pads on our tricycle-gear GlaStar. These beautifully machined pads fit perfectly and will...
Safari-cargo-net-

Safari Cargo Net

I became interested in a net at the back of the seats, separating the cargo area, when I saw Alan Negrin’s Sportsman last September. I...
McFarlane Vernier Assist Controls

Vernier-Assist Throttle Control

I struggled with the ACS throttle control cable on N11YM for the first 82 hours. I had two issues: The throttle control was too...

California Custom Metal Polish PIREP

California Custom makes two products of interest to some of us crazy enough to think we want polished aluminum surfaces on our GlaStar or...
Glasair Sportsman in Alaska

Extended Heavy-Duty Landing Gear

My wife Chris and I are based in Seattle and spend 4-6 weeks each summer exploring Alaska with our young daughter and a Sportsman...
Rigging jig used to hold the right control stick in a vertical orientation.

Sportsman Aileron Rigging Process Improvement

During the process of final-rigging of the ailerons in our early-model Sportsman it became abundantly clear that a very small number of improvements to...
Engine disassembly

Engine Overhaul

As part of requirement to obtain my A&P certificate, I was to witness a few more engine overhauls, so I called Poplar Grove Airmotive...

T3 Tailwheel Suspension Installation on a Sportsman

It would be an understatement to say that the T3 tailwheel suspension system is proving itself to be a dramatic improvement over the factory...