Hatz Biplane Association

Well then, remove the agony and go for the Rotec!

If we had 5 people the math would be:
________Cowl__Tooling__Total
5 people: $375 + $695 = $1070/ea

just sayin'

Oh what the heck.......count me in Doug.

You're a bad influence. Next you're going to make me buy a set of Bose headsets.....

Great! Once the cowl is done I'll work on you getting a headset

Trade ya a headset for some dental work, say a free root canal?? Deal??

Fortunately I don't a need root canal... but I'll keep the option in mind

Doug I'm seriously considering throwing my hat in on this.

Nick

I haven't heard back on the possibility of a group discount and I doubt it would happen given that it's the tooling costs that are the biggest part of the bill. I'm moving ahead with getting something drawn up that they can use to build the tooling and I'll share it here first. I'm using the Waco drawings and scaling them down to fit.

One thing to consider. I spoke to the Rotec guys and confirmed with Hans & Sam that they chose to move their exhaust back 30mm (about 1 1/4 inches) by lengthening the stacks between the cylinders and the collector ring. I plan on doing the same. I'm not sure if there would be any clearance issues with the exhaust in the stock location so you have to check that and perhaps make some cutouts at the bottom of the ring to provide clearance. Not a big deal, just thought I should mention it.

Ok, so by my count we have 5 (including myself) who are either definitely interested or seriously considering it:

Doug (Myself)
Nick
Jeff Orear
Steve Searle
Ed White

At five that does a nice job of minimizing the tooling costs. As I said above, let me get something drawn up and share it here and see if we are all in agreement.

Doug,
I am going to have to cancel on the Speed Ring group order. I have decided to go with a cowling made by Dick Hartzler who posts on the Dawn Patrol site. I am going to try a stock offering with a 34" diameter and 8" radius. I will post some more info when the cowling arrives.
I hope this does not inconvenience you to much since prior to finding him I was "All In" on the group order.
His link is here: http://www.dawnpatrol.org/cowl.htm

Good luck on your build.

Ed White
Hatz #154

ok. Thanks for the heads up. I have connected with someone to do the CAD drawings for the ring and that should be done in a week or two. From that point I'll be looking for more solid commitment on the order so I can finalize with United Metal Spinning. I realize the price is higher due to the tooling cost, but with enough people we can lighten the load and future builders will benefit from a very affordable price for something that is not available today.

Good luck with the cowl.