Keep in mind, a portion of the builders log is missing. As time permits, I will rewrite the log to fill the gaps.
| Shot of Horizontal Stabilizer | Vertical Stabilizer | Left elevator with Trim Tab |
|
|
|
| Trim Tab servo | Empennage Mounted | |
|
|
The logbook prior to this sentence was lost when I had a simultaneous dual hard drive failure. So, the dates and work time are excluded. I know I had 292 hours invested when I lost the data, so the remainder of the log is additive.
11 Jul 04 3 Hours Cum: 295
Designed and began building a mounting bracket for Whelen Strobes power supply. Decided to use a modified version of Kevin Horton's mounting bracket. I modified by using only .032 sheet metal and bent the edges to give it strength. Also, it looks like it would be difficult to rivet the brackets to the longerons, so I made the four longeron brackets a little different to make riveting easier. Also, I will attach #10 nutplates to facilitate easy installation and removal of the power supply. I have to keep it at least 24" from the BMA magnetometers so mounted it aft of the baggage panels.
 |
 |
12 Jul 04 1 Hour Cum: 296
Finally got my welding done. Had some aluminum 3/4" square tube welded for mounting the magnetometers and an attachment bracket to the control column weldment. The control column bracket is for the autopilot aileron servo to attach. I immediately primed the control column to prevent rust. I will go back and clean it up a little and repaint it.
13 Jul 04 2 Hours Cum: 298
Decided to use #8 screws instead of waiting to get #10 screws to mount the strobe power supply. I'd planned to use four #10 screws and will use eight #8 screws instead. Should be plenty strong. I want to use screws and nutplates instead of bolt and nut because maintenance will be easier. So, drilled, deburred and dimpled nutplates. Also scotchbrited and primed all pieces. Will rivet nutplates tomorrow. Cleaned the aft bulkhead area just forward of the empennage and primed inside. At first, I crawled inside the fuselage to clean and paint. That did NOT work. Too little work room and too many fumes. So, did the best I could by reaching into fuselage from outside.
15 Jul 04 1 Hour Cum: 299
Riveted nutplates on strobe brackets. Climbed into fuselage and sprayed primer in aft fuselage. I must use a fan next time I do that!
22 Jul 04 4 Hours Cum: 303 Hrs
Drilled nutplates for the Horz Stab installation. I hadn't thought about it before, but installing the washer and nut on the four HS front spar attach points, which was difficult enough with the plane somewhat open, would be very difficult once it's closed. Fortunately I saw a note from Alan on the Yahoo RV-8 List and he suggested installing nutplates for attaching the HS. He said Van's had blessed the idea. I decided that would be a very smart thing to do so jumped on it today. I have it all ready to be riveted. Also, built the mounting bracket for the Whelen strobe power supply. It will hang between two longerons on the right side of the plane aft of the rear baggage compartment. The bracket is made of .032 sheet and is very strong and light. I stole the idea from someone else and modified it to meet my needs.
 |
 |
 |
It will make installing the HS much easier. See Ideas Page for more photos.
23 Jul 04 6 Hours Cum: 309 Hrs
Got a lot of work done today. Spent most of the time lying in the back of the fuselage cleaning inside with Dupont Quik Prep and priming with Marhyde self-etching primer. I've discovered that both of those products can overwhelm, so today I used the respirator portion of my Citation HVLP sprayer and it kept me ventilated just fine for two hours. I know the wash primer is probably adequate, but I see so many metal objects corrode in Tampa's salty air and I felt obligated to prime the inside so as to protect as much as possible. Also, got a lot done on the magnetometer mount. It is 3/4" square aluminum tube (will be very stiff under all G loading) and I've raised the magnetometer as high as possible to keep it away from ferrous metals and electrical wiring. I believe the mount will function well. Although a bit heavy at one pound, I've drilled it with lightening holes to keep the weight down. Both magnetometers will be mounted on it.
 |
Although only one is mounted, the photo to the right shows where the magnetometers will be mounted. It is the best location I could find that keeps them at least 24" from ferrous metal or electrical things. Yes, I know the brass screw are too long, I'll trim them or get a different size. Left: The second magnetometer arrived from BMA - it's the one on the right - so I mounted them only to find out later that the older one didn't work. Had to send it back to BMA for replacement |
|
29 Jul 04 2 Hours Cum: 311
Multiple fitting and grinding of magnetometer mount. Finally gt a good fit.
30 Jul 04 1 Hour Cum: 313
Drilled mag mount in assembly with longerons in aft fuselage. Very difficult t work that far aft and will be practically impossible to work on mag mount after elevator push-pull tube and battery are installed.
2 Aug 04 2 Hours Cum: 314
Drilled lightening holes in mag mount.
3 Aug 04 2 Hours Cum: 316
Finished drilling lightening holes in mag mount. Finished mount is reasonably light - about 1 pound. Primed mount.
4 Aug 04 2 Hours Cum: 318
Sanded and reprimed mag mount. Got a "Christmas" package from Van's with some hardware and flap tape. Hardware included AN426AD3-7 and 3-8 rivets for fastening the HS nutplates on. The 3-7s were long enough so got those nutplates fastened. Sanded and reprimed the control column where AP servo attach plates were added.
6 Aug 04 1 Hour Cum: 319
Put together the mag mount and test fitted in fuselage. I'm happy with the high strength of the mount even though it's a bit heavier than I'd like. It will NOT flex during maneuvering. Hopefully I will never need to remove the mag mount because it will be virtually impossible once everything is installed. I sure wish an engineer would design an airworthy inspection panel about 18" x 24" aft of the the baggage so it would be easy to access the battery, strobe power supply, magnetometers, elevator bellcrank, etc. Also riveted in the strobe power bracket. I relearned my lesson - always use Boelube. Why didn't I discover that stuff several decades ago??
17 Aug 04 1 Hour Cum: 320
Got the 2nd magnetometer from BMA, connected to EFIS Lite to bench check and found that the older mag doesn't work. Called BMA and asked to allow me to send it back for testing. They said just send it back for a new one.
24 Aug 04 4 Hours Cum: 324
Great progress today. Made and drilled in assembly the F870Cs and F870B to the front baggage floor. Drilled for all nutplates as well. Decided to put one battery in the lower portion of baggage and close it off to make a full width baggage floor. Just something else to eat up my time. Primed several pieces. Sent an email to Van's to see if I can get a F-899PP made but not bent. I will bend it myself to fit opposite the lower front baggage. I want the area around the rudder pedals to look symmetrical so I'll add a panel on the left to match the right one. I'll make it removable and put the electric fuel pump behind it. A bit of extra weight, but worthwhile to me.
25 Aug 04 2 Hours Cum: 326
Got the answer from Van's and they will make and ship the F-899PP in about 3-4 weeks. I don't know the cost, but it will save me several hours of little detail work so the cost is worthwhile. A little more work on the baggage compartment. Deburred all pieces and dimpled the 870Cs. Primed the fuselage where some parts will be attached. Will dimple the baggage floor tomorrow and rivet on the stiffeners.
27 Aug 04 4 Hours Cum: 330
Made stiffeners for front baggage floor. I spent a lot of time (probably too much) lightening the stiffeners. I'm anticipating my plane will be slightly heavy (above 1100 lbs) so I'm trying to save weight wherever I can. I'd rather spend a little extra time saving weight on one area so I can use that weight in other areas where I'm willing to have the weight in order to get something I want. An example is the cockpit consoles. They will add some weight to the plane, but I am willing to accept the weight in order to get the consoles. I attached the nutplates as required and primed all pieces with Marhyde. I attached two of the stiffeners but kept the other for a Boy Scout troop visit tomorrow.
28 Aug 04 2 Hours Cum: 332
I briefed the scout troop today on various ways to get into aviation and then we talked about building custom-built aircraft. I've decided to call OBAM (Owner Built and Maintained) custom built. I think the terms homebuilt or experimental carry connotations of poorly built. While that can hardly be farther from the truth, the general public doesn't understand. So, I've resolved to call homebuilt planes, custom-built planes. People respond better when they hear it is a custom built plane. Anyway, I talked the scouts through how to drill, deburr, dimple and rivet metal. Then, I let each of them rivet the final stiffener to the baggage floor. I only had to drill out one of the rivets, so they did a very good job.
1 Sep 04 2 Hours Cum: 334
Drilled nutplates for baggage floor attachment to the firewall. The nutplates are difficult to rivet because of the tight quarters. I tried some of them but decided to wait awhile and think it over. Also, may try to borrow a pneumatic squeezer to do the plates.
2 Sep 04 2.5 Hours Cum: 336.5
Countersank the 805 canopy slider attachment holes. This took a while because I didn't want to countersink too much. So, it was cut and try, cut and try until I got the drill press measurement right. The remaining holes were easier. The plans and manual don't address the forward most hole, but I assumed that since it is drilled to 1/8" it must also be a 507-6R10 screw. I'm not sure yet about the correct position of the 805/806 aft canopy slider rail. The forward bend is correct according to plans, but it doesn't fit perfectly. I'm going to think about it for another day or two before drilling the attachment holes.
10 Sep 04 2 Hours Cum: 338.5
RMD was kind enough to send me untrimmed wingtip light lenses and I am creating unique wingtip lights that will include HID landing lights as well as separate recognition lights that can flash and LED position lights and Whelen strobes. Today I worked on designing and building highly reflective wingtip lights.
30 Sep 04 2 Hours Cum: 340.5
Taped the canopy slider on the aft fuselage. Got ready to drill it to the fuselage when I realized that I wasn't sure if the position of the slider was correct. And I needed the canopy rails on and the canopy frame on to determine if the slider was right. In particular, the canopy needs to fit right at the front of the slider where it drops into the fuselage. I didn't fell like tackling the side rails tonight so I worked on the wingtip reflectors for a while.
7 Oct 04 2 Hours Cum: 342.5
Pulled out the canopy side rails and cut the slight angle on the end and fine tuned the fit to get it as close as possible. The fit turned out good. Used some angle and marked the plan width on it to used instead of measuring each time. Multiple measurements makes the chance of an error more likely. When marked on a piece of straight aluminum angle or channel (measure it several times to make sure it's right), the angle is quick and easy to use and produces a consistent measurement.
12 Oct 04 2.5 Hours Cum: 345
Trimmed the canopy side rails, clamped them to the fuselage and drilled the two aft holes. I made a silly mistake that, fortunately cost me only time. The canopy side rails arrive from Van's with the aft angle already cut. I failed to notice that and spent a couple of hours getting the perfect angle and fit - on the unfinished end! The rails are longer than needed so I simply marked and cut the other end to fit at the front. Harbor Freight is having a big sale so tomorrow I'm going to buy some tools that I've needed for a while.
 |
 |
13 Oct 04 1 Hour Cum: 346
Got a few tools. Nothing spectacular. Worked on fitting the canopy side rails some more. I removed the FCP seat back support so I could fit the rails but can't figure out if the rivets are to go through the seat support or not. I'll have to investigate. It's time for me to decide on the cockpit colors. I've been putting it off hoping someone will decide for me. But, I have to paint the interior and start final installation of some items, so the color has to be decided. I'm leaning toward the bluish-gray of the 737 cockpit. I don't like the homosexual-looking tan of the french Airbus so it looks like the China Blue Gray will be the color.
16 Oct 1 Hour Cum: 347
Worked a short time on the FCP seat support weldment where it attaches to the upper longeron. The plans are a bit confusing and I erroneously used rivets that were too long on five holes. But, the shop heads actually turned out pretty good so I didn't change them. It appears some of the rivets go through the weldment and that is where the longer rivets are needed. I'll drill those tomorrow and it's almost time to paint the cockpit.
17 Oct 2 Hours Cum: 349
Drilled the seat support weldment then removed it for painting. The Van's Flap Positioning System arrived so I installed it on the flap motor mechanism. Removed the canopy bow weldment for painting.
18 Oct 2 Hours Cum: 351
Cleaned the rest of the fuselage interior with Quikprep and primed much of the interior with Marhyde rattle cans. Decided on the interior colors. It's gotta be 737 China Blue Gray with lighter gray leather accents. The seats will be leather and some side panels.
19 Oct 04 2 Hours Cum: 353
A while back I ordered an unbent F-889PP from Van's and today I took it to the shop, bent it to shape, drilled it for nutplates, and primed it. Personally, I'm willing to spend some of my "weight money" on installing a complementary matching 889 on the left side of the cockpit. I don't like the look of a F-889 only on the right. I plan to make the left 889 removable with nutplates so I can install the fuel pump behind it. It won't be perfect, but I think it will look better than without it. I originally planned to cut the 889 myself out of .032 but decided it would be much smarter to let Van's cut it and not bend it. That proved to be money well spent. It saved me a lot of time.
Flat F-889PP as received from Van's. |
F-889PP bent and installed to make footwell symmetrical. The F-889PP on the right is per the plans. I am considering putting the battery behind the right 889 and the fuel pump behind the left one. |
Finished and primed - it gives a finished, symmetrical look. |
22 Oct 04 2 Hours Cum: 355
Finished riveting nutplates to new F-889 shown above. Riveted in the brackets for the electric aileron trim. The Marhyde had not adhered well to the brackets so I had to sand, scotchbrite, and repaint them. While I have the plane opened up, I'm going to install all the subsystems. It is very tempting to start closing in the fuselage, but I know that will make detail work more difficult. So, I'm resisting the temptation to rush ahead.
26 Oct 04 5 Hours Cum: 360
Lots of time spent on the canopy slider. Drilled the #6 screw holes in the fuselage. Got the canopy frame all aligned to drill the C-806 Anchor Block. That's when the fun began. First of all, I don't understand why Van decided to use #6 screws anywhere on the plane. The heads strip out too easily. I've used #8 screws in several places for that reason alone. I wish Van had designed the slider with #8 screws. I guess it has to do with saving weight. So, while counterboring for the screw nut the drill bit grabbed the block and cut all the way through. I know, I should have clamped it to the drill table. Too late now. I ordered a new block tonight, but this afternoon I decided to try to save the old one. I stepped up to #8 screws for the two mounting screws and counterbored for washers and 832 stop nuts. Was able to dimple with the Tatco by using some washers to space the rivet set. I got it mounted and it looks fine, but I decided the better way to do it is to order a new block and drill it correctly for the #8 screws and press fit nuts. I'm using #6 stainless steel Torx screws to attach the slider to the top of the fuselage. The Torx hold up so much better on the small screws. They are a bit short but I can make them work.
10 Nov 04 1 Hour Cum: 361
Whew. No time to work on the plane this month. Too
much going on. Got to work on installing the taillight/flash on the rudder
bottom. I exchanged the non-taillight rudder bottom with Van's (they are
very gracious) for the whopping sum of $10.87. It was money well
spent. The work to fabricate the light receptacle would have taken me
several hours.
This way all I have to do is epoxy in the nutplates and
attach the light. The nutplates are attached to a round .032 aluminum
piece that fits the light. I'll epoxy it in place which will make the
light assembly easy to remove and replace. This was my first work on the
fiberglas and I hate it. Lots of dust and tiny little fibers that irritate
the heck out of you.
7 Dec 04 3 Hours Cum: 364
Finally got to work on the plane again. Drilled the new C-806 anchor block and it fit fairly nice. Reinstalled the canopy bow to check for alignment with the canopy frame. The canopy frame seems to fit reasonably well. I will have to make a few adjustments, but nothing dramatic.
22 Dec 04 2 Hours Cum: 366
Decided to look at and
think more about fitting the canopy frame. Unfortunately, while banging
with my hand to coax it into position, I knocked the entire fuselage off the
short sawhorse supporting the front. It fell about 17" and landed on
the left front fuselage just aft of where the cowling attaches. 
Needless
to say, I had a few select words since this is the first major mistake I've made
(that I'm aware of). I'm not sure how t go about repairing it since the
interior front floor and firewall is installed and I have no access to that
area. I think I may have to buy an auto dent puller to carefully reshape
it and then use lots of filler and sandpaper to make it look normal again.
A stupid error causes hours of extra work!
I now have nails through the unused rivet holes into the sawhorse. And my awareness level is increased. I clecoed in the console frames and did some more study while my blood pressure settled down.
I'm about ready to paint selected interior parts. I'll need to bring together all the parts and either paint them myself or take them to a local auto paint shop. It's also time to decide on what brand/type of paint to use. The color scheme is to have a dark gray (B-737 China Blue Gray) panel, consoles, and weldments and a lighter gray for highlight. The leather upholstery will use the same colors. I really didn't want to use a gray interior color because it seems so drab and unimaginative, but as I considered the alternatives, it's the best option for ease of color coordination, weight and future touchup.
I've considered options other than leather for the seats, but I like the feel, texture and wear of leather. My next choice would be sheep skin and then cloth. I'm very unimpressed with the seats I've seen in cloth, so it is not a likely choice. I'll use leather for the arm rests and side panels, too.