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Gentlemen,GyroVan registered as a Caravan this date.Drop down side bunks installed. Room for Two Double swags on the floor. (sleeps six.) Stove and gas line installed.Decals to come. Mitch. Image Insert:
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Greg,Magnificent, all the best.Pete Barsden
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Crikey,I'd hate to be flying in my sleep and fall out of bed.. might need an oxygen mask to stop the nose bleeds...Couple of q's.1. What stops the bunks from falling down while you're driving around? (Suggest something with elastic to hold it in postion if not fitted)2. What stops the bugs from getting in while you're sleeping?3. How do you get in the bunks?4. Where's the rotor hoist?5. How do you deal with fuel fumes if you and the gyro have to sleep together? (Two trips for the price of one..)6. Are you going to gusset the top corners to stop them from cracking due to flexing?7. Where are the helper springs on the tailgate so your back doesn't suffer every time you have to lower or raise the tailgate? (Or do you have a winch in mind, hmm, this could double for a rotor hoist)8. What stops the chains on the bunks from scraping around while you're driving? (More bungee cord?)9. Are you going to gusset the tailgate?10. Some insulation on the walls might be a good idea, and the roof, most caravans have some.11. Are you going to put a lip on the stove bench so things won't fall off while you are driving around?12. Is it marine ply flooring? Is slippery when wet - you might want to consider anti slip coating.For a rough camper tis a good one.Cheers,Nick.
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Thanks Pete,Decals on. My main priority was to get the gas fitters ticket and registered as caravan. All done. The little creature comforts will follow over the next 12 months.Nick,Where to start.....drop down beds were installed at given positions to allow for gyro to remain in doors if wet and still sleeps two in the bunks and room for a single swag each side of the rear keel. Thereby allowing for sleeping four with gyro on board and six with gyro removed.If your getting a nose bleed looking at the height of bunks, 560 feet AGL will give you a major haemorage. Be carefull Nick.1. welded bolt and nut2. fly screen on side door and dust seal on rear door. Bug spray helps. Mozzie coils, fly swats and shot guns.3. milk crates.4. No rotor hoist, Benson blades are light and easily installed by standing on wheel arch. Will look at a hoist as I become more and more incapacitated. 5. What fumes.6. Maybe..there is very little flexing with the rear drop door closed. The cut down (fuel saver) at front gives rigidity as well as the two forward and two aft wings welded to chasis and frame. Colour bond skin riveted and folded around corners, also braces the body.7. Have a pully set-up in mind, no winch required and again at this stage, dropping and closing rear drop door is not an issue. Maybe, when the running boards go in that pulley will be required, we will see.8. Chains laid back in behind beds when folded up, no rattles.9. No.10. It's dry and it keeps the wind away, what more do you need. Creature comforts to follow. Weight will be the deciding factor. 11. The stove and bench it's on, were simply requirements to get through rego. Even with a lip on the bench, things will still jump off. Stuff gets packed away.12. steel floor, the MF wants to lay carpet down.GyroVan trailers well, and is very draggy, cruises at 80 kms comfortably behind 2.4 L four cylinder Triton. Will do 100 kms but drag becomes very noticable at this speed. Hills are a killer, often back to third gear. Still savings of $1400 on Devonport to Melbourne, Sydney to Devonport, more than compensate for extra fuel and slow trip.It is not a camper...it is a GYROVAN with the basic requirements to get it registered as a caravan.Note the brackets on ends of drop down bunks, these will come off and longer brackets installed to allow for the 4" foam mattress' to remain insitu when bunks are folded up, this will mean installing longer bolt with thread and nut, on each as retainers.Hope this answers most of your questions Nick. My son Jake was the consulting engineer on this project, (see pic) he will do some calculations this evening to determine if there is a further need for gussetting rear internal frame. I dont do anything without his advice or approval.[
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]Cheers,Mitch.Image Insert:
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What an astute young fellow, at his age... and he's already up on section modulus and the radius of gyration...Styrene sheets are a good lightweight insulator if weight is a concern, they're easy to fit as well, glue it on with silicon or NMG, but watch for petrol spills.Adds a nice finishing touch putting the stickers on, looks good.Cheers,Nick.
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Hi Greg, congratulations a great job with the 'gyrovan'.Just a comment on drag and how you said it pulls pretty well at 80 k's, most dragy trailers will allow themselves to be pulled to 80 k's by nearly any vehicle but over that horsepower and fuel is needed in larger quantities.Whats this 'rotor hoist' thing Nick, I pictured you as a big 6 ft 6 fellow that could hang a mallee bull out to pee !!!let alone throw up a set of rotors
You never know how far you can go, till you get there !
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Brian,Just making a few suggestions to help ye olde stoned humper out, I figured after he's finished building his house he'll need a rotor hoist .... saaaaaaaaay, there's another idea for you Greg - three uses out of it - a stone hoist! ooo, then there's the truss hoist, beam hoist, Greg, you silly bugger, you made it too small!Now there's another thing, it'd be a munster to back into things, which may happen more often than is desirable, hope you're a good trailer backer Greg.Sorry Brian, Mr average physically, no Einstein either so I'm not that scary, I'm good at looking ugly though, I must stop taking those tablets, birdy will start complaining, he'd run at a malle bull, I'd run the other way. Whilst I can put my rotors up off my shoulder, I do it by standing on the seat. Those days will soon be over with the installation of the redrive so a hoist will remove the 'awkward' factor from the equation. Although I did raise the seat 185 mm to compensate for the offset in the C O G due to the redrive (200 mm centres between crank and prop shafts).I was just thinking if you made it tall enough and strong enough that you could use it for hang tests... more uses!Cheers,Nick.
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Cheers Brian,Dead set right on the drag V horses, the V6 would be a step in the right direction, anyway we'll get to see how the big block 4 cyl Triton handles the next few years.Nick,Are you back on the herbal tea?????[][]Mitch.www.thebutterflyllc.com
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I'm starting to think a hoist would be a good idea Nick but I carry enough stuff about with me now. I used to have no problems getting the 27 ft Ricks up but these Revolution 27 ft 6 in glass blades are a lot heavier and it stretches me to the limit, even standing on the seat to get them up!! I couldnt do it without my wife holding one end to stop the rotors from twisting or getting caught in a breeze. I got caught lifting the Ricks off one day when a wind caught them and twisted them and I had to let them go and roll down my arms causing much pain but a lot less finacial pain had I let them fall onto the gyro!Mitch, you will find the 4 cyl will do the job at 80 k's no problems untill you get a strong headwind. The v6's are rumoured to be fairly ordinary on fuel but they have miles of grunt!!You never know how far you can go, till you get there !
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Greg,Mooo juice, it comes from grass...Cheers,Nick.
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Greg, been watching this one and it has turned out to look pretty smick,good on you for it it shows that you have a lot of pride in what you do, have fun at the nats, now we've got no where to go i might just have to get drunk instead, orrrr i mean do something different..Mark
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Mark,I recommend you get on a cheap Virgin for a weekend at Cooma.[
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)] You can even have the double.[][8D]Mitch.www.thebutterflyllc.com
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One for me too?Tim McClure
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Hmmmmm with everything that has gone on up here its temptingMark
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Gents,Jake helping out with the final touches. He's a 'cool cat'.[][8D]Butterfly 0630 hrs, waiting for daylight, got nearly an hour in that morning.Heading out to Cranbourne tomorrow to hopefully fly, mid morning, weather report looks promising. Then I'll load the Butterfly into her new mobile home, this gives me back the full use of the workshop. Bonus![]Bones, what's happening ol Mate, Russell back in the air yet, are you good to go for a flyin up that way. Fri, Sat, Sun nights, there's a spare bunk in the gyrovan out at the Cooma airfield. If we have a few rums I could be bunking there myself.[:0][^][B)] There may be a full time resident in the van from Friday through Sunday nights. Hope you can make it. Go on Mate, it's only three days. See ya there.MitchImage Insert:
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