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This same construction technique
was evident in the first Murphy Rebel that I saw at Sun-N-Fun a number of years
ago. Darryl Murphy the designer and owner of Murphy Aircraft indicated that the reasons for this was that Dick Hiscock one of the original designers of
the Dehavilland Beaver was involved in the design of the Rebel.
This all metal rivet together
style of construction lends itself to low maintenance, high strength, and long
life. Things that bush plane pilots rely on for their livelihood and survival!
The Rebel kit is produced using state of the art CNC
equipment. This ensures that the parts are identical, and all of the
rivets holes are the right size and located in the proper place. This
also makes the kit easy to assemble. In fact because all of the skins
are pre-punched, no jigs or special tools are needed to build the kit.
The kit uses approximately 20,000 blind rivets so an air compressor and
air riveter is a must. Other tools needed include simple hand tools,
deburring tools, a file, drill, drill bits, standard and metric
wrenches, and "a pile of Clecoes"
All of the aluminum panel sections are the same.
That is, the top and bottom are interchangeable as are the left and right
hand sides. This means that builders spend their time building a
plane, rather than learning how they have to build it. According
to the factory building times come in at between 700 and 1,000 hours. My
personal experience would indicate that the latter is more accurate.
The craft can be
built in a two car garage but I know of several that have been built in
bedrooms (all single guys) and Darryl reports of one "built in a living
room (obviously the builder has a very understanding wife)."
Customers can choose to buy their Rebel in three kits,
empennage, wing and fuselage or as one complete unit. Darryl also
indicates that Murphy Aircraft will be offering the Rebel in both kit
and ready to fly form for the U.S. Light Sport Aircraft Category. |
