1 Jan 07 5 Hours Total: 1074
Happy New Year. Approaching the end of four building years. Gotta get with it!
The cooling fairing came out okay. It's thin since I only used two layers of glass, but that made it somewhat easier to remove. I trimmed it down, sanded, and added new glass today.
I also shaped a piece of balsa to visually blend the nose wheel pant cap to the nose gear leg strut fairing. Unblended they are kind of ugly at the juncture of the pant and the strut fairing. I noticed on another guy's web site that he had done a nice job of blending the two to make them look better. So, I'm considering using balsa to fill most of the void and adding filler on top.
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| Above is the cooling fairing after removal and then after initial trimming and sanding. Finally, to the right I laid two more layers of glass and I'll do another trimming and sanding job tomorrow. | To right shows the balsa I sanded to shape. This angle shows how it will fill the funny shaped transition from the strut to the pant. I'll fill and sand it to shape. |  |
2 Jan 07 5 Hours Total: 1079
Nelson worked on getting the wheel pant intersections just right while I worked on cleaning up the cooling fairing. The wheel pants involve LOTS of filling and sanding. But they are coming along nicely.
Today I ordered the Stewart Warner 11 row dual pass oil cooler from Pacific Oil Coolers. I talked to Paul and he was very helpful. He had answered my email just hours after I sent it and he described to advantages/drawbacks to various oil coolers. The SW 11 row is the one I settled on and I'll mount it like Dick Martin recommends - on the rear of the left baffle and tilted back about 25 degrees.
I also order a Vetterman exhaust system. I called and it's a good thing because the exhaust for the IO-390 is slightly different than the IO-360. He fits it to an IO-360 and makes a slight adjustment to fit the IO-390 before welding it. Here's hoping it fits. Vetterman is one of the few companies who is fair on his handling and shipping charges. No handling charge and shipping is only $15. I commend him for that.
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We'll see how well this works, but at least I'm spending a lot of time on it! The fairing is fitting reasonable well after additional glass was applied. The S glass is very stiff which makes getting the fairing on/off more challenging. The left shots show the fairing in place. I'm looking at adding more fairings to the other engine mount struts. Below left shows the fairing after some cleanup and adding screws to hold the trailing edge tightly together. I'm using #6 1/2 inch SS screws with tinnerman washers and metal lock nuts. They are all small enough to be somewhat aerodynamic. I have more countersinking to do. Then to right below is the fairing with Super Fil smeared all over to fill the divets and pinholes. More sanding to come! |
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6 Jan 07 8 Hours Total: 1087
Nelson sanded all day on the main wheel pants. Just when we think they're about finished, we find another spot to fill and sand. I worked on the cooling fairing and the nose pant. These shots show the latest iteration of the cooling fairing. I will likely drill the flaps that fit over the gussets for screws to hold them down tight and nutplate the gussets.
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| Below are later photos with the exhaust installed. Everything is fitting without interference. It appears to me the fairing will improve the exit air flow. | ||
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7 Jan 07 5 Hours Total: 1092
More filling and sanding! The wheel pants are slowly coming into shape. There are lots of tiny holes in the finish of the pants and filling them is time-consuming. However, the seams between the pants parts are looking better every day and should appear nice when finished. We got the right brake line finished and plan to pressure test and ops check it when I get the brake fluid.
Last night at our annual EAA chapter dinner, I was asked if I had installed my "mud flaps" yet. I said, "Huh?" Apparently mud/snow/muck can be picked up by the tires and deposited in the aft end of the wheel pants causing them to sag and, potentially, break the mounts. We reinforced the screw holes earlier which will help with the problem, but today we added "mud flaps" in the wheel pants. The photos are below.
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Here's how we added the mud flaps. In all three wheel pants, we cut and belt sanded 1 inch styrafoam (insulation from HD) to fit tightly and laid fiberglass over it. I like to add a bit of Microlite to the resin mixture to add some color to the clear resin to make it easier to see where it has been applied, thus the reason for the tan color of the added fiberglass. |  |
8 Jan 07 2 Hours Total: 1094
Light work today - mostly planning. We have decided to make our own baffle/plenum rather than buying the Van's kit. Many people complain about the difficulty of understanding the instructions and with installing the baffle. It can't be any more aggravating to build your own than buying the precut. Can it?
Anyway, that's what we're going to do so we started by making a posterboard template today. We made good progress with the initial cuts and we're soaking the paper with wood hardner to see if we can get a stiff material to work with that is as thin as the metal.
We also removed the lifting lug from atop the engine. Monty Barrett told us the torque on the bolt is 90-100 inch pounds and to ensure there are flat washers next to the engine case. We had to add several washers to take up the space left when the lug was removed.
The oil cooler arrived today.
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Bought the oil cooler from Pacific Oil Coolers and I recommend them. They are honest and helpful. I wanted maximum cooling so I got the $795 SW 11 row dual pass cooler. That should do the job even in hot, humid Florida. I can always block it off if needed to get warmer oil temps. |  |
9 Jan 07 7 Hours Total: 1101
Well, several problems to solve today. We're tackling the baffle. The plan is to build a metal plenum which is split down the middle to stop the cross flow of air inside the plenum. Getting the air to move where we want it to and getting it to stay around long enough to remove heat from the cylinder fins are the goals. So, we decided to make posterboard templates before cutting into sheet metal. That is proving to be wise. It looks like we can make templates that will allow us to make accurate first-time cuts in the metal. We made a bracket for the aft edge of the plenum.
The SW 10631F Oil Cooler is large. I now understand why so many builders use the 7 or 8 row coolers - because they fit! So, it looks like I'll have to remote the cooler and pipe air to it.
Finally, the mud flap added to the nose pant has made it so stiff that getting it to fit the brackets is difficult. We're adding filler and sanding a lot on the pants.
I'm going to block off the lower end of the nose strut fairing so air can't get trapped there. I'll block it by using a balsa wood epoxied to one side of the fairing.
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Using posterboad to make baffle
templates. We've clarified several poorly understood things by
making the templates.
Below are shots of the aft baffle support bracket. |
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10 Jan 07 8 Hours Total: 1109
The baffling work continues. And we're also working on baffles.
Actually our progress today was rewarding and encouraging. We progressed from taped up templates to one piece templates to cutting metal. And the metal fit reasonably well right away. So the progress is good. I'm really liking the idea of the plenum. We're going to split it down the middle and completely enclose the engine. The goal of baffles is to direct the cooling air through the cylinder fins. The baffles have to be shaped to accomplish that. The air exiting the fins will exit out the bottom by wrapping the baffle around the cylinders to force the air downward.
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The rear baffle will be in three pieces and here the initial cuts have been made. It may not look like it, but they fit well. The intention was to pick up several convenient attachment locations on the engine and keep the parts count as low as possible while making the baffle fairly easy to install. Far right photo shows the right underside and how the baffle will curve under the cylinder. There are three different baffles cut to fit under the cylinder.
11 Jan 07 10 Hours Total 1119
Lots of work on the baffles. They are coming along much better than I expected and I'm glad I didn't buy the Van's baffle kit. Also some work on the nose pant.
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Baffle progression. TL shows the left rear baffle cut to size and TC shows it attached. The top edges are all different lengths right now because they will be trimmed later. TR shows the back side of the left where most guys install the oil cooler. Left shows the right side and to the right is the planned divider down the center line of the engine. I'm told that there is a lot of turbulence as air cross-flows from the left and right sides. Putting a divider in will hopefully stop the turbulence and reduce drag. |
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12 Jan 07 7 Hours Total: 1126
More baffle work and more wheel pant sanding.
13 Jan 07 4 Hours Total: 1130
Still trying to figure out the baffles. We've decided to wait to finish them until after we get the prop on and the cowling fitted.
I like the idea of a low oil warning before getting a low pressure warning, so I bought a low oil sensor from http://www.aircraftextras.com. What they don't mention on the web site is that they haven't tested it on an IO-390. I found that it doesn't fit the IO-390. It so happens that Aircraft Extras return policy is one of the worst in aviation, if not in the nation. Basically, once they get your money, they don't want to hear from you again. So, I needed to either sell it to another builder who is using an O/IO-360 or find a way to make the sensor fit. I reasoned that an adapter would lower the sensor permitting it to fit in the shallower IO-390 oil sump. Good solution except that the float on the sensor is .045 larger than the opening in the adapter. So, I'm awaiting an answer from Aircraft Extras as to whether or not I can remove .045 material from the outside of the float. Otherwise, I'll hone out .045 from the inside of the adapter.
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Well the answer was to not remove material from the float. So, I bought a 14mm (.55 inch) drill bit and bored out the adapter. That allowed room for the float to fit through so we installed it on the right side of the engine - the quick drain will fit on the left side. AircraftExtras.com may have very good aviation products, but I have to recommend against buying from them because of their pitiful return policy.
16 Jan 07 2 Hours Total: 1132
Fitting the baffles. We got the bracket mounted to the right side aft baffle and got the two aft pieces drilled in assembly. Looks like they are going to fit great. More sanding on the wheel pants.
17 Jan 07 5 Hours Total: 1137
Got the brakes bled and the lines held fine. Checked the parking brake also and it is fine.
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Left is a piece of tubing connected to the brake reservoir to catch overflow during bleeding. Right is a oil can with tubing to connect to the lower end of the brakes. Fluid is forced through the brake lines from the bottom up. This is an el cheapo oil can made in China. Don't buy this. Get a good quality American-made oil can or you won't have enough pump pressure to move the fluid upward through the brake system. |
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We bought hoses and fittings for the oil cooler. We've located where the oil cooler is going to be mounted. It will be remoted off the baffle on the right side. We'll build a fiberglass plenum for the cooler.
18 Jan 07 10 Hours Total: 1147
| Nelson has the wheel pants ready for primer. He filled the alignment holes in the sides of the nose pant and finally got the nose cap to fit well. We'll get those primed tomorrow and ready for more sanding. |  |
The oil cooler mounting is making progress. Today we made brackets to attach the cooler to the engine mount and the firewall. It is very secure when everything is tightened. I'll make a plenum to control the air to the cooler.
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We're locating the oil cooler remotely on the right side with ducting to provide air from the engine plenum. Here is the preliminary fitting of the three brackets. |
This shot shows the angle of the cooler in relation to the engine. We offset the cooler away from the firewall to ensure unrestricted air flow on the exhaust side of the cooler. |
These are the attachments for the oil hoses to the oil cooler. The adapter to the left is an attempt to make the Low Oil Level sensor ordered from Aircraft Extras, Inc fit the IO-390. They fail to mention on their web site that the sensor doesn't fit the IO-390 and their return policy sucks. |
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Here are the lower brackets after mounting using adel clamps. This provide a very secure mount and yet allows some flexibility to adjust the final location of the cooler. |
This is the upper bracket used to attach to the firewall. The clecos are through the angle under the baggage floor and will be replaced with #10 Screws and nuts. The upper edge will be flanged for strength and to provide a mounting location for wires and things. |
An overall shot of the cooler with mounting brackets. |
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If you think that looks like 4 inch sewer line PVC from the aviation department at Home Depot, then you would be right. I'm using it as a form around which to make a fiberglass duct for the cooler. The duct will be cut into two parts which will be rejoined by a flexible rubber connection. |
I've trimmed the pipe to get close to what I need and later I'll cover everything with plastic, add modeling clay to get the desired shape and overlay fiberglass. The advantage is the air duct will be very smooth inside and cooling drag is minimized. The final duct will have about a 4.5 inch ID which several builders have indicated is ideal. |
I've started the fiberglass work by making a .032 frame that will mount to the cooler. It will have a rubber gasket to completely seal the intersection between the cooler and the plenum. The frame will be molded into the fiberglass plenum and provide a strong surface for the screws to seat against. |
19 Jan 07 10 Hours Total: 1157
Nelson got the pants all primed and we were surprised at how many minor flaws were highlighted as a result. More sanding to do!
We got the fiberglass duct for the oil cooler made. Photos follow.
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The plastic over the cooler is to keep the modeling clay out of the fins. The new frame I made yesterday is installed with tape on it to keep stuff off the metal so the resin will stick to it later. The sewer pipe is taped into place. |
With the PVC in place, I started molding clay around both ends to make the shape of the plenum and the intake. |
As the clay took shape and held the PVC in place, the tape was removed. Mold release was applied to the PVC and everything we didn't want resin to adhere to. The tape on the bottom frame was removed so the fiberglass would stick to it. |
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This shot shows the upper end of the duct. I radiused the transition to smooth the air flow. |
The glass is laid with peel ply on top. It looks messy here. but it should look good when we're finished. Tomorrow will be interesting to see how easily it comes off. |
This is the Thermo Sleeve I got from ACS. Racing folks use it extensively. It's a reflective fiberglass-based covering for fuel and oil lines under the cowling. It's fireproof and rated to 2000 degrees F.. It's expensive, but should look much better than the red fire sleeve. |
20 Jan 07 8 Hours Total: 1165
More filling and sanding on the wheel pants. Removed the oil cooler duct from airplane and did initial cleanup. The PVC was removed using a wood chisel.
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23 Jan 07 4 Hours Total 1169
Filling and sanding. Cut the duct. Laid new fiberglass on duct to strengthen. Vetterman exhaust arrived.
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24 Jan 07 9 Hours Total: 1178
Filling and sanding. Sanded duct and added filler to strengthen and smooth.
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It's impossible to show how much filling
and sanding has been done on the wheel pants. They are a chore to
fit and the pinholes are never ending.
Right is the duct curing after more glass was laid. The PVC pieces are to hold the duct round while I worked on them. |
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25 Jan 07 5 Hours Total: 1183
The oil cooler duct needs filling and smoothing. Some of the glass wasn't adequately saturated and I got some weak spots. So, I mixed some resin and filled the low spots and weak spots.
We fitted the exhaust system to make sure it will fit before going further with engine work. The exhaust fit just right. The IO-390 is slightly different than the IO-360, so Vetterman had to adjust for the difference and he got it right. During final installation, we'll have to make sure there is clearance between the exhaust and other things under the cowling. We can make it all fit, but it will be challenging. We needed the exhaust fitted in order to start fitting other things like the engine control cables. Also, the cowling fitting will come along soon and the exhaust has to been installed to fit the cowling.
Two of the chromed intake tubes had flawed chroming (peeling) so I shipped those today to Barrett Engines in Tulsa to be rechromed. Allen Barrett apologized for the problem and said he would get them done ASAP.
I also talked to Brad at E Mags and he said there is a firmware update for the P Mags, so I shipped them today to Texas for the update. I was a bit concerned about retiming them after reinstallation, but he assured me that timing will be absurdly simple. You mount the P Mags in any position, tighten them down, connect a hose to the MP sensor, blow in it twice, and the timing is set. Say WHAT?? We'll see.
26 Jan 07 7 Hours Total: 1190
Some finishing on the oil cooler duct. Still more sanding to do, but it's looking pretty good. I'm going to get the inside smooth to improve air flow and get the outside reasonably smooth. Then I'll paint the outside with Rustoleum hammered finish paint. This was recommended to me by a friend who does lots of glass work and it's one of his techniques. So, we'll see how well it works.
We also designed a small door for the nose wheel pant that will permit easy tire pressure checks and inflation. Nelson had a great idea to hinge a small door. The concept is coming along and we made a prototype today. Nelson will bend a new hinge tomorrow that will better fit our needs. Since the mail gear tires can be accessed by removing the nose cap (8 screws), I've decided to not make doors for the main pants and I'll instead remove the nose cap whenever I need to check tire pressure. Hopefully it's not a mistake.
I talked to Jim Ayers at Less Drag about the prop colors and they can do any color using DuPont single stage paint. So, I will get the color codes for him. I'm planning a silver or gray metallic base color on the prop with red metallic tips. The red tips will match the color of the airframe.
30 Jan 07 5 Hours Total: 1195
Got the cooler duct finished and painted.
31 Jan 07 8 Hours Total: 1203
Made good progress on the oil cooler and fuel lines installation. We bought more fuel fittings today along with fuel hose and put them together to plumb the electric fuel pump to mechanical fuel pump and on to the injector. Also, connected the oil lines to the cooler. The ducting is mostly finished and installed. Here is a series of photos showing the oil cooler duct.
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| The finished oil cooler ducting. The outside is painted with Rustoleum hammered effect paint. | The cooler mounting bracket is also painted with the Rustoleum paint. It's made of .050 with flanges bent to provide strength and mounting locations for wires or hoses. | Here's the cooler connected to the engine mount and firewall. |
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Here you can see the adel clamps on bottom of cooler. Above shows the silicone tape and soft insulation used to act as a gasket and seal the edges of the oil plenum. Next are shots of the lower plenum duct installed. |  |
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Finally, here are overview shots of the installation. Of course, I still must add a flexible connector between the ducts. Still, you get a good idea of the overall effect. The exhaust area for he oil cooler is easily shown in the right photo. |  |
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Left shows the duct final
configuration. The upper piece is attached via nutplates to the
baffle. At the lower end, the sealing material looks like it will
keep in most of the air.
Right shows the Thermo-Sleeve material cut to size and wrapped around the duct. Only one SS hose clamp is shown, but two will hold the material in place when finished. Some flexible material is required so as to avoid cracking due to vibration and engine movement. The duct ID is 4.5 inches which some guys have reported as the ideal diameter for a remote oil cooler. There are no restrictions to airflow inside and the duct spreads at the face of the oil cooler to permit air to cover the entire cooler surface. |
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The oil line connections show in these shots. Left photo is from the right side and right photo is from left side. These lines will be Thermo-Sleeved later. |  |
1 Feb 07 9 Hours Total: 1212
We made good progress today on fuel and oil lines and on the exhaust pipes support hangers. We're using Thermo-Sleeve on all oil and fuel lines which should make a better looking engine compartment. The Thermo-Sleeve is fiberglass overlaid with mylar and it is fireproof to 2000 degrees F. It is much less bulky than traditional red firesleeve and its appearance is much better. We used safety wire spiraled around the hose, but we may modify that and apply Thermo tape around the Thermo-Sleeve. I'm also using a bit of the material to seal the small gap between the two pieces of the oil cooler duct.
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Left is the fuel line from the engine-driven fuel pump to the injector body. It is sleeved with Thermo-Sleeve and is routed above a portion of the sump. It will be clamped in three places so it should be plenty sturdy. |  |
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We also spent several hours on making the hangers for the Vetterman exhaust. As much as I like Larry's exhaust system, I find his instruction sheets to be rubbish. They appear to have been done by a grade-school child. If you are trying to figure out his drawings, perhaps the following photos will help.
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It took as long to figure out Vetterman's
instructions as it did to install. I need to contact him and
suggest the instructions could use some work.
The Vetterman hanger system looks like it will work okay. It fit right in place on the IO-390. He calls for rubber hose to be used as a shock absorber between the hangers. We took the aft support tubes to the sump bolts, per the instructions. Those bolts then had to be retorqued to 100 inch-pounds. |
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Vetterman also calls for spacers to be used to get the pipe lateral stability connection high enough to clear the upper nose strut. The left side pipe clamp is moved forward slightly to ensure the black hose isn't rubbing on the fairing. |  |
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Although not the best photos, these show where Vetterman's bracket fits on the sump. He recommends attaching at either the corner bolt or the next one forward. In my case, on the left side I had to use the corner bolt so the support would clear the exhaust pipe and on the right side I had to use the forward bolt. |  |
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Clearance for the pipes as they exit seems to be acceptable. The fairing is made of S Glass and can withstand temps to 1500 F. Still, I'll be adding some reflective material to avoid any damage. |  |
2 Feb 07 8 Hours Total:1220
Added Thermo-Sleeve to additional oil and fuel lines. Bored out the 1/2" NPT adapter for the oil low level sensor and attached it to the engine and safety wired (see photo on 13 Jan 07 above). We cut the nose pant hole for valve stem access. We designed an exotic little door for valve stem access, but then realized that it needed to be simple and lightweight. Nelson's idea to cut a round access panel and attach it with screws fits the bill. Another ACS shipment arrived with mineral oil and a quick drain sump valve.
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The nose tire valve stem access will be through a round port that is secured with #6 flat head torx screws. Right photo shows the inside of the pant with the .032 support plate with nutplates. |  |
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3 Feb 07 10 Hours Total: 1230
We made good progress today on installation of the ADC oil filtration system. Deciding where to mount it was the time consuming part. We called Joe at ADC and discussed the issue. He asked if I was going to mount it on the engine mount frame or on the firewall. Without thinking, I told him the firewall. Later, after hanging up, I thought more about mounting it on the engine mount. Seemed like it might be feasible because there were several issues I didn't like with the firewall mounting. I didn't like the close tolerance between the filter and the P Mags. When removing the filter for cleaning, it would be clumsy to remove the front cover. Also, it would be best to add a doubler to the firewall. Whenever cleaning the filter, it would be messy and difficult to contain the dripping oil. Finally, the oil hoses would be short which makes removing the cover for cleaning more difficult.
So, with those things in mind we began looking at where we could mount on the engine mount. We found a spot that solves all of the problems, but requires us to make a bracket for the filter. Long story short - we decided to mount the filter on the left side of the engine mount. Seems like it is going to be an ideal spot.
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In all of these photos, ignore the fact
that the filter appears to be upside down. It doesn't care which
way is up. Also, this is not the final installation so not all of
the nuts are tightened.
Left shows the location on the left side of the engine mount. Right - the bracket was made of .125 aluminum angle and attached with adel clamps. |
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The adel clamps give some standoff from the engine mount. The input hose is next to the firewall and the return line exits on the top. The chip detector is on the left. |  |
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Here the top view shows lateral positioning. The filter assembly is well inside the cowling and ideally positioned for servicing. Right shows the back of the bracket and filter. You'll notice the aft bracket is inboard of the engine mount tubes while the forward one is outboard. Had we not done that, the clearance with the cowling would not have been enough. The bypass sensor is on the back. Notice there are cooling fins on front and back which ADC claims will reduce oil temps by 15-20 degrees. This combined with my massive oil cooler means the engine oil should be frozen most of the time! |  |
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Our brackets required the use of two spacers on the upper connections to get the angles right with the engine mount. We're using 90 degree aluminum fittings for the hoses and we'll build in a service loop so removing the cover is easy. I'll rig some type of tray to hang on the brackets to catch oil during servicing. More photos when it's finished. |  |
7 Feb 07 4 Hours Total: 1234
A little work on making the valve stem port on the nose wheel pant fit nice and smoothing and rounding the outside for a flush fit. Got the P Mags back and reinstalled. Brad at E Mags is great. He explains things in detail and is very interested in the customer being happy with his product. He updated my P Mags with the latest firmware without charge or shipping fees. I can't recommend E Mags highly enough. If you need an electronic ignition, I recommend you consider the E/P Mags. It sounds like the timing process for the P Mags is incredibly simple. Attach the P Mags in any desired orientation, apply power, attach a small hose to the MP port on each mag, blow in it for one second until the red LED flashes and then blow in it again until a greed LED lights. The timing is done!
Nelson for the ADC oil filter bracket cleaned up a bit and painted. It's looking good.
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Left are the P Mags reinstalled. It's nice to be able to orient them in any direction because it allows you to make the mounting points easily accessible and the electrical connections easy to reach. Right is the nearly finished ADC oil filter mounting. |
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8 Feb 07 5 Hours Total: 1239
Filling and sanding to get the valve stem door on the nose pant finished. And lots of planning for control cables and ducting.
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Left shows the final mounting of the Low Oil Sensor. Aircraftextras.com's sensor is designed to fit the IO-360 which forced me to purchase an adapter to make it fit the IO-390. The adapter had to be drilled out to 0.55 inches for the sensor float to fit through it. To right is the Saf-Air quick drain oil drain. Attach a hose and the oil drain can be locked open to permit draining and changing the oil. |
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The ADC Oil Filter is mounted and plumbed. The hoses are Thermo-Sleeved and ready for action. It's easy to see in the photos how the bracket was constructed. It holds the filter solidly in position and weighs no more than the factory bracket. Before mounting it for the final time, I'll flip the cover so the printing is upright. |
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9 Feb 07 6 Hours Total: 1245
A bit more work on the nose wheel pant and some on the cooling fairing, but most time spent on making the oil filter hoses. The nose pant valve stem door is almost finished. Once it's done we can start on the leading edge mod on the pant. We did a bit of glass work on the cooling fairing. Nelson will sand it and paint it tomorrow.
The oil filter hoses are excellent. We talked to Joe Beuer of ADC today and he said our installation appears to be a good one - although he'd like to see the name turned right side up. Maybe I'll do that next week.
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The finished cooling fairing. It will go in for the last time before long. We'll see how it does in close proximity to the exhaust pipes and if any heat problem is noted, I'll add heat reflective tape over the fairing. |
13 Feb 07 10 Hours Total: 1255
I came home to find the wheel pants all installed. Nelson had done a lot of fine tuning and fitting and the pants are really looking good. We got a goodie package from Aircraft Spruce. It contained a new air/oil separator, scat tube, O rings, Adel clamps, hose clamps, firewall eyeballs, control cable and other goodies.
Nice progress today on wheel pants, air/oil separator and nose wheel pant. Nelson filled, sanded, added fiberglass and fitted the main wheel pants. We keep finding pinholes to fill. I guess eventually we'll find them all.
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The main wheel pants are looking better every day. We are down to pin holes and minor fine tuning to get the best finish. The pants marry well with the gear leg fairings. |
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We also added fiberglass to the nose pant to streamline and fair the pant better. The new fiberglass adds a new profile to the front of the pant. The nose wheel pant/nose gear strut intersection is somewhat ugly as seen to the left. I noticed on another web site that adding glass in order to make the line of the strut match that of the nose pant front cap created a nice looking pant. So I carved some balsa wood to approximately the desired shape and added fiberglass over it to obtain the desired shape seen to the right. You can also see the newly finished valve stem door. I'm going to leave the tow bar holes as they are - that is, no door to cover them. Nelson found longer bolts and, by using spacers, the bolts extend almost out to the surface of the pant and make use of the tow bar easier.
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The pant had to be in perfect trail because the glass is laid over both the pant and the strut. Obviously, the airplane should not be moved. Tomorrow we'll cut a slot in the new fairing that will permit the wheel pant to move independently of the strut. |
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Also made a mounting bracket for the new Andair air/oil separator. The Andair is very expensive, but it is of high quality and has a water separator as well. The low cost one I had had a different size hose connection than the breather connection on the IO-390, so it wasn't user-friendly. I could have stepped down the hose, but didn't really like the idea, so I solved the problem with money.
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The high dollar Andair Air-Oil separator needed a firewall bracket so I put together a bracket to hold the separator and the water trap. Photo to right shows about where it will be mounted. |
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14 Feb 07 10 Hours Total: 1265
Built up more fiberglass on the nose pant in a low spot and after it cured we cut the pant loose from the gear leg fairing. Silly me, I forgot that we need the lower end of the strut fairing intact so it can be secured with a hose clamp. We'll have to devise another method to secure the fairing.
Finished the air/oil separator bracket and got it mounted.
I got another notice from Brad Dement at E Mag Ignitions that another firmware update was needed. The newly devised manifold pressure "puffing" method of timing was working correctly, but it could sense negative pressure as well as positive pressure. Brad had a work around to avoid problems, but another update would be the best option. So, we removed the P Mags again and shipped them. Brad quickly turned them around. The E Mag guys are very nice to work with and, as with any new product or concept, there are a few growing pains.
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Left to right, Top to bottom shows the progression of the nose pant. The peel ply was removed and lots of sanding lay ahead. But first, the cut had to be made using a hack saw to separate the pant from the strut fairing. Then hours of sanding and filling to get the nice fairing at the bottom right.
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The main pants also turned out nice after many hours of sanding. The intersection fairings I bought are finally beautifully blended into the pants. The Andair Air-Oil separator bracket is finished and installed. Later we'll add of the connecting hoses. |
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18 Feb 07 10 Hours Total: 1275
Lots of thinking today about the cockpit heating system. I think we have a plan.
The vacuum pad cover plate arrived from Barrett Engines so we repainted it and installed it.
Nelson has the nose pant looking very good. We still have some filling and sanding to do, but it's getting close. Hmmm, I think I've said that before.
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These are some of the very nice aluminum heating components from aviacompworldwide.com. They retail their products through Aircraft Spruce and others. They're very pricey, but the quality is high. I have to order a few more parts and I can start making progress on the heating system. I really like the black aeroduct I got from ACS. It's 2 inch and fits the aluminum connectors perfectly. I bought the Wemac air vents from Wentworth Aircraft at Sun n Fun a couple of years ago. I bought 7 of them and got a good deal on the group - one of which is a Lancair vent. So, I'm going to place two vents low in the front cockpit - one for heat and cold air and the other for cold air only from the NACA vent. Additionally, I'll have a vent that directs air toward my feet. The RCP will have only the cold air vent from the underwing NACA vent. |
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19 Feb 07 6 Hours Total: 1281
Sanding on wheel pants, especially the nose pant. Made a engine bracket for the purge valve control.
20 Feb 07 6 Hours Total: 1287
Made a new bracket to go on the engine for the purge valve control and mounted it. Drilled through the firewall and mounted the purge control. The paper template that is provided with the steel eyeball firewall penetration from ACS is not right. I recommend not using the template.
My purge valve control will be low on the left side. The pilot must make an effort to actuate the control. Since it shuts off all fuel to the injector spider, I want the knob to require effort to use it. Just above the purge valve will be the engine alternate air source knob. I'm trying to keep all the engine controls on the left and using red knobs/controls for it.
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21 Feb 07 6 Hours Total: 1293
More fiberglass sanding. Also started on the fiberglass tips for the HS, VS, elevators and rudder.
22 Feb 07 8 Hours Total: 1301
More goodie boxes arrive every day. Shipments from ACS and Advanced Flight Systems arrived. Special made control cables arrived as did the sensor package from AFS. Now we can get the throttle and mixture rigged and the engine sensors mounted and all the wires routed.
Today we worked on the rudder and VS tips. They are time consuming and require a lot of plans study.
23 Feb 07 6 Hours Total: 1307
The P Mags arrived back from Brad Dement. He was very prompt with the update and return shipment. We got those reinstalled and did some study on how to connect the manifold pressure lines.
24 Feb 07 6 Hours Total: 1313
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We opened the sensor package from Advanced Flight Systems. It had 4 CHT probes, 4 EGT probes, oil pressure, oil temp, fuel pressure, fuel flow, OAT, shunt, Hall effect device and all the wiring necessary for the connections. It will be a challenge to install it all. I don't know yet what I'll do about the BMA EFIS engine display. I don't believe I can send the signals to two displays, so the EFIS may be getting only OAT with all the engine readings going to the AFS monitor. I need to study to ensure that the EFIS can function properly with only the OAT input. |
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We made good progress on the fiberglass tips for the rudder. The technique of hot gluing a sheet of aluminum on the end of the fiberglass parts and laying fiberglass in the end is a good one. I got the idea for this from another web site. It is a good idea and I modified his technique only a little. Instead of putting in duct tape after gluing the metal on, I covered the metal with clear packing tape and then hot glued it to the fiberglass tip. That way you can immediately lay in the wet fiberglass and the finished end turns out nice. Also, I curved the metal to match the arc of the rudder balance arm. It turns out Van's has the radius just about right so if you use their plan, it will turn out great.
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The VS and rudder are easy to work on if mounted on a work table. I used drywall screws with a washer to protect the metal. Right shows the nutplated VS tip with .025 strip for the nutplates. I decided to nutplate the VS tip incase I decide to install and antenna there. It may be a good location for the XRX TCAS antenna if they EVER get the panel mount unit with remote antenna completed. |
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I modified another guys technique of fiberglassing the end of the tip. His idea was to hot glue metal to the fiberglass which holds the desired shape when the tip is removed for glassing. He duct taped inside after removal to lay the glass. I applied clear packing tape before hot gluing the metal to the tip so I could immediately lay in the glass and it would have a smooth finish when cured. |
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I added a strip of metal that extended into the cavity above the top VS rib so that the glass would enclose that space. Right photo shows the removed tip before glassing. Note I curved the scrap metal to match the arc of the rudder balance arm that passes by the tip. The leading edge of the balance arm will be made to match the arc of the tip. |
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I failed to get a photo of the tip after laying in the glass. Left shows the tip after removing the metal. The hot glue comes off relatively easy. To right is the tip after some cleanup. This method is light and fairly easy to do. |
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27 Feb 07 8 Hours Total: 1321
Blue Mountain send me an email that the EFIS One has shipped. That is good news.
We worked on filling and sanding on the rudder fiberglass parts. The glass work sure is slow.
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| The rudder fiberglass tips clecoed in place | Curved metal hot glued in place | Another shot showing the curve of the metal to match the VS tip |
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| Fiberglass laid on the metal to form the balance arm leading edge | Clecoed in place after some cleanup | All the gelcoat has to be removed so the new glass will adhere well |
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Glass laid over the exposed metal of the balance arm |
The rudder bottom drilled and clecoed. I'm going to form a fairing around the rudder cable attachment using clay. |
The clay in place with glass laid over it. Not pretty at this point. |
28 Feb 07 6 Hours Total: 1327
More filling and sanding. Made some progress on the rudder tips.
1 Mar 07 6 Hours Total: 1333
Made holes in the firewall for the heater selector and into the front lower baggage (battery compartment) to route the heating/cooling air. I'm using lots of 2 inch aluminum tubing from aviacompworldwide.com and combining it with the 2 inch aeroduct from ACS to construct the heat/cooling air for the right side of the cockpit.
Finally, the long awaited BMA Gen 4 EFIS One arrived.
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Not much to it on the back. This is much different from the Gen 3 EFIS! |
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I had to do a quick bench test. It
fired up okay with the magnetometer and GPS antenna attached.
Very nice appearance. I'm interested to see if it performs. |
5 Mar 07 6 Hours Total: 1339
Cut more holes in the firewall for control cables. Need to route the cables through the firewall to determine where the bracket needs to be to support the engine side end of the cables. Planning to have a steel cable bracket welded up. Got more sanding done on the rudder tips and had to add additional fiberglass and resin. Getting a smooth transition for the glass tip to metal contact is a challenge. Nelson bought more hose and fittings from Amazon Hose for the fuel line connections.
6 Mar 07 4 Hours Total: 1343
Had to do FFDO requal today so that used half of the day, but we still got the injector body to injector spider fuel line made and installed. It is 1/4" braided teflon line and we covered it with the Thermo-Sleeve and had to add some Thermo Tape at the point where it passes through the cylinder baffle grommet so as to get a tight fit. Also had to remove the straight AN fitting from the spider and use a 45 degree AN in order to ensure the hose was not touching the cylinder fins. I called Allen Barrett and he said nobody else had mentioned that the line might rub with the straight fitting, so there may be some IO-390s out there with potential problems.
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It's difficult to tell in the left photo, but had we not installed a 45 degree AN fitting, the fuel line would have touched the aft edge of the #1 cylinder fins. Right shows where line comes through the baffling. Added Thermo Tape to make the line fit tight in the grommet. The line is braided stainless steel and covered with the fireproof Thermo Sleeve. |
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Worked on the heat muff some more. Nelson found a 10-32 die and I was able to thread the rods that will hold the muff together. It looks like we can make our own heat muff - just have to get the welding done.
Put filler on the rudder to smooth a slight wrinkle/low spot and to fill pinholes in the rudder tips.
7 Mar 07 12 Hours Total: 1355
Work on the upper rudder glass getting it smooth and properly filled.
The throttle/mixture/prop controls are coming along. Spent 6 hours today making a bracket for the control cables
Did a bit of work on the heat muff.
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It may not look like much, but the throttle bracket took 6 hours today. It turned out to be no heavier than Van's original bracket and fits my needs better. I added a nutplated tab on the bracket for adel clamps to hold wiring. |
Here's where the cables pass through the bulkhead in front of the throttle. The aeroduct will not be mounted where shown. It was there to make sure there was no interference with the cables. The duct will connect to a Wemac outlet. |
Under the cowl, the cables will require a mounting bracket. We're in the process of determining the best bracket to use. It will have to be custom made. |
8 Mar 07 8 Hours Total: 1363
Fellow builder, Don Hughes, recently sold his RV-6 and bought another project which he's hauling home to work on in the garage. He bought a bubble canopy Midget Mustang. He made a carrying rack from 12' 2x6s and we helped load it in his small pickup and off he went. The airplane should be a beauty when he finishes.
Made a test bracket for mounting the throttle and mixture cables to the bottom of the engine but it didn't turn out good. So, I started over and came up with a better design but the bandsaw blade broke, so that came to a halt. Nelson did more filling and sanding on the rudder upper tip. Send the final payment for the MT 3 blade prop to Jim Ayers at Less Drag. Also, got a message that Advanced Flight is shipping the AF-3400. So, everything is coming together at once.
12 Mar 07 5 Hours Total: 1368
Nelson completed the throttle/mixture cable bracket while I was gone and it will be just right. He made three versions before getting one he was happy with. Sanded and shaped the rudder bottom fairings.
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Also, worked on the heat muff. The muff will have to be 7.5" long because there is only one place it will fit and there is only 7.5" of straight exhaust pipe where a symmetrical heat muff can fit. If you were to use an offset muff, you could get about 9" of usable length, which would be better in northern states.
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It was heart-wrenching to cut a 2" hole in the firewall, but the warm air has to get in somewhere. I've got a plan for the ducting and more photos will follow later. The hot/cold selector from Evan Johnson will mount through the hole and mate with a 90 degree elbow to route the air through the main battery compartment (lower baggage area). The only straight section of exhaust where I can put a muff is on the #1 cylinder exhaust. I made a prototype heat muff using the end pieces I got from ACS and a flanged piece of aluminum. The original plan was to nutplate the flanges, but I quickly realized that getting the flanges just right and accommodating the clamps on the end would be challenging. So, we'll overlap the wrapped aluminum and nutplate it together.
13 Mar 07 10 Hours Total: 1378
Excellent progress today on the throttle and mixture cable connections. The bracket is complete, painted and installed.
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The bracket is made from .063 6061 sheet with flanges added for strength. No consideration was given for aerodynamics because there is little airflow under the sump. The cable attachment points were cut separately, aligned for the cables, and riveted in place. |
Below the Thermo-Sleeve clearly shows. The cables will be clamped to the engine mount using adel clamps so as to keep them from touching the exhaust. The nearest point will be one inch and the Thermo-sleeve reflects 90% of radiant heat. |
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The throttle and mixture cables are custom cables ordered from ACS. They were expensive at $60 each, but they fit exactly as intended and they had threaded connections on both ends - a feature not available on other cable choices. They are special order, but took only two days to arrive. |
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Also, good progress on the heat muff. Now, I'm waiting on aviacompworldwide.com to get my aluminum tubing done. Got word from Advanced Flight that my AF-3400 is ready to ship.
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Left shows the threaded rod used to connect
the end pieces together. Nuts were spun on and equally spaced to
set the length of the muff. The threads inboard of the nuts were
staked to prevent the nuts from backing off. The SS end pieces
were drilled to #10 screw size and nuts with lock washers were added on
the outside.
The .032 6061 sheet was formed using a 2" diameter PVC pipe and overlapped, clamped and drilled for nutplates. |
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I used SS nutplates and screws to avoid corrosion |  |
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Left shows the muff in place with SS clamps and screws.
At right it is mounted. When the 2" tubing arrives, we'll trim it to size and have it welded to the muff. The intake air will come from the right side intake and go past the alternator to the lower end of the muff. The air will then "reverse flow" to the top of the muff where the exit will take it to the selector. The experts tell me that slowing the air in this manner allows it to gather heat better. The clearance with the intake is too small but it will be greater after final installation. |
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14 Mar 07 8 Hours Total: 1386
A bit of frustration today. We started out the day to make a bracket for the Ray Allen POS-12 sensor that sends the flap position signal to the AF-3400. So, as we cycled the flap motor to check the throw of the flap arm (the POS-12 is limited to 1.2"), the Show Planes flap position sensor snagged on the ethernet cables and pulled the cable backward through the console hole. Well we can't have that happening long term, so we set about solving that problem. It turned out the best solution is to reroute the ethernet cables along the other side of the cockpit. So we began removing all of the cabling and wiring for rerouting.
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As we removed the flap motor, we decided to modify the upper flap mechanism attachment with a 1/4" nutplate so the bolt can be installed from the inboard side. That way, future maintenance doesn't require the removal of the entire upper bracket just to remove the flap motor. |
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The mixture lever was reaching its stops in the cockpit before the arm on the injector reached its stops. I'd heard other builders had similar problems. We drilled another hole a little higher on the mixture lever to solve the problem. Now the injector arm reaches its stops just before the cockpit lever reaches its. |
Finally, late in the day we started on the POS-12 bracket.
19 Mar 07 6 Hours Total: 1392
Got the POS-12 sensor installed for the AF3400. Nelson sanded and filled on the wheel pants and strut fairings. We installed the wheel pants so as to fit the upper gear leg to fuselage fairings. In order to install the upper fairings, the strut fairings must be in the correct trail position which is determined by the wheel pants.
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The Advanced Flight Systems AF-3400 requires a flap position sensor to drive the flap indication on the display. AFS recommends the Ray Allen POS-12 sensor. I copied an idea from the Aircraft Extras web site to mount the sensor and it works fine. A length of .025 about twice the length of the POS-12 works good and I added a flange on the outboard edge for rigidity. A small bit of standard Van's piano hinge is at the top to permit the tiny amount of movement required. At the bottom, I made an attachment of .032 to clamp to the flap arm. I formed the tab to fit around the tube and clamped it on. The small bracket extends upward about an inch and I opened up the POS-12 hole to accept a #4 screw. The two are held together (not tightly) with the screw and a stop nut. Movement is the full range of the POS-12 and can be changed if needed by moving the clamp aft on the tube. |
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20 Mar 07 8 Hours Total: 1400
We did some more filling and sanding on the nose wheel pant and the rudder bottom fairing. Also, fitted the upper main gear to fuselage fairing. Fitting those was a challenge. Fortunately, Nelson pulled out one of his A&P tricks and showed me how to install blind nutplates. Those are nutplates where you can't get to the back side of them to place the nutplate and rivets. The photos help explain.
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I positioned the fairings, clamped them in place, and drilled #40 holes (later opened to accept #6 screws) and clecoed. The left gear fairing fit flush against the fuselage but the right one will need a bit of forming using a heat gun. I wanted the screws to pull the fairing tightly to the airframe so it made sense to use nutplates if possible. However, the problem with nutplating a QB kit is that the floor forward of the spar is a double floor. The exterior of the fuselage is the bottom floor and the interior floor is a second skin. Thus, there is a space between the two floors that varies from about 2 inches at the firewall to zero at the spar. To nutplate meant having to fit the nutplates between the two floors without having access. |
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I'm also planning two nutplates aft of the spar - one on the fuselage skin that protrudes out under the wing and the other on the cockpit floor. The left photo shows the cleco in one location. It also shows how the brake line transitions into the fairing. The fifth and final nutplate will be in the metal wing fairing that wraps around the leading edge. The right photo shows the technique for fishing the nutplate into position between the two floors. The forward most nutplate is already pop riveted into place (using the same fishing technique). A length of safety wire is fed through the screw hole and out the gear leg skin opening. Feed the nutplate on the wire and bend a kink in the wire to tug the nutplate and help position it. If you lose the nutplate inside before getting it positioned, use a magnet to drag it over to the gear opening. |
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Once the nutplate is positioned, use the wire to pull it to the skin while you insert a cleco. With both clecos in, insert a screw and tighten it. Then pop rivet. The rivets will be hidden under the fairing. |
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I'm using SS #6 button head screws because countersinking in the fiberglass would weaken it too much. The low profile round head screws fit flat against the fairing and provide a good, secure attachment. |
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21 Mar 07 6 Hours Total: 1406
Installed the CHT probes and planned for the EGT probes. Lots of filing and sanding on the rudder bottom fairings. Then added more glass and resin. They are coming along slowly.
The upper gear fairings are coming along. I wanted the trailing edge of the fairings to be completely closed, but because of the way they fit over the strut fairing they cannot pull together and thus leave a gap at the trailing edge. So, as I did with the strut fairing, I decided to add glass to fill the gap and then bring it back down to the desired shape.
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The CHT probes are installed. I still haven't got an engine manual from Lycoming for the Thunderbolt IO-390! I'm amazed that they sell $30K engines and don't provide an owners manual. Anyway, learning where to install everything like the EGT and CHT probes and manifold pressure and oil temp and oil pressure requires some research. |
I really like the way the upper gear leg fairings are coming along. They are fitting well and the nutplates allow me to pull them on tight. I added glass to the trailing edge to fill the gap that normally exists. I've seen a number of RVs that have ugly gaps and wavy fairings. |
There are a couple of places on the fairings that will need some new memory. Here you can see a small gap and a rivet shop head above it. I'll open up a hole to allow the rivet head to protrude through the fairing and then heat the edge while forming it to fit flush against the skin. When it cools, it remembers the new shape. |
22 Mar 07 5 Hours Total: 1411
Some work on the rubber bottom fairing. Removed some material and sanded. Had to strengthen a couple of spots with resin. Drilled the hole for the tail light/strobe wiring and did some filling.
Did some planning for the fuel flow transmitter installation. The already installed line from the firewall to the engine -driven fuel pump will have to be shortened and an aluminum tube added for the "Red Cube" transmitter.
Got the upper leg fairings nicely fitted and added some glass to strengthen one of them.
26 Mar 07 7 Hours Total: 1418
Filling and sanding on the rudder bottom fairing. It's beginning to look better although we have a long way to go. Some fine tuning of the upper gear fairings. Used the heat gun to shape them, but they need a bit more work. Removed the old autopilot Cat 5E cables and replaced them with shielded Cat 6 cables from L-Com. We also replaced the short canopy slider screws with longer ones. We connected the EFIS 1 to the AP controller to make sure it was getting the signal through the new cables and everything checked out okay.
27 Mar 07 6 Hours Total: 1424
Finished shaping the upper gear leg fairings and added Super Fil to smooth and fill. Sanded and primed and they look very good. Added nutplates and adel clamps to secure the ethernet cables. Caught an error with the upper rudder fairing. It is wider than the VS tip (by 1/4" in one spot), so we had to cut it and shape it using a heat gun and clamp. The adjustment worked and now we have more fiberglass work started.
Looked at the exhaust pipes and it appears the EGT probes will need to be installed 3.5 inches from the pipe flange. One of the probes will be on a curved portion, but all others will be on straight sections of pipe.
| Went to the aviation department at Ace Hardware and bought compression springs to use on the Matco master cylinders. When releasing the brakes, one brake would drag slightly. Stories I'd heard about brake fires indicated they were being caused from overheated brakes caused from dragging brakes. The spring forces the pedal back toward the pilot and thus releases pressure allowing the brakes to rotate freely. |  |
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28 Mar 07 6 Hours Total: 1430
Numerous things done today. More filling and sanding on the rudder glass. Also on the Fairings, Etc upper gear leg fairings. Those fairings are almost finished. The left one fits very nice but I need to do some more heat gun work on the right one. I talked to Bob Snedaker of Fairings, Etc today about getting one of his new upper nose gear fairings. They're actually made for the -9A but can be made to fit the -8A. His new fairing has a much more pleasing appearance and extends to the trailing edge of the lower cowl so it covers all of the fittings along the bottom of the cowl.
Also talked to Evan Johnson of Aviacomp Worldwide and he shipped my tubing connectors for the heat ducting 2 weeks ago. Still hasn't arrived. Any doubt why the US Postal Service is going down the tubes? He's remaking and reshipping.
And talked to Doug Turner of MT Propellors USA and my prop is to arrive on 28 March but after painting I won't get it until next week. Too bad as we need to mount it so we can fit the cowling.
Drilled the exhaust pipes for the EGT probes. The Advanced Flight Systems manual says to place them between 2 and 4 inches from the exhaust pipe flange and it is important for all of them to be the same distance. On my pipes, there was only one position that worked best and that was 3.5 inches. At that position, three of the probes were on a flat section of the pipe while one pipe had it on a bend.
We removed one fuel tank anticipating we would slosh the inside with sealant, BUT the baffles inside the tanks prevent us from doing it, so I have a $108 quart of fuel tank slosh available for a cheap price. Instead we're going to leak test the tanks tomorrow and permanently install them on the wings.
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The exhausts with EGT probe holes drilled and the tight-fitting Fairings, Etc upper gear leg fairing. |
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29 Mar 07 8 Hours Total. 1438
Got lots done today. Nelson did more filling and sanding on the rudder glass. Bought some Aeroquip hose for the Andair Air-Oil separator and for the manifold pressure sensor. Mounted the AF-3400 MP sensor and connected hose. Will have to go back later and add a T to take MP to the P Mags.
Since the tank slosh idea didn't work, we made good progress toward getting the tanks finalized. We added the purge return to the right tank, modified the fuel pickup according the Van's bulletin, prosealed the access panel and mounted it all. The Princeton capacitive fuel probes will go in next and then we'll pressure check everything. Then the tanks will be installed for the last time.
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Left shows the MP sensor for the AF-3400. The wires connect in the green device. The mounting holes for the sensor were strange. They were large enough for #10 screws (to hold 2 ounces!) yet there wasn't room for #10 screw heads to fit. So I went with #8 screws and stop nutted them on the engine side. Right shows where the MP is taken from the #3 cylinder using a #4 barbed fitting. |
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The air-oil separator hose is installed and will be routed to exit on the exhaust. Right are the anti-rotation mods to the fuel pickups. |
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Left shows where I'll return the purged fuel to the right tank. Right shows the access plate installed and sealed. Next are the fuel probes and leak testing. |
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2 Apr 07 10 Hours Total: 1448
The prop finally arrived. Via pickup. We temporarily installed the prop and spinner so as to fit the cowling. Once that is done, we'll remove the prop to make life in the small garage happier.
The prop is the MT 3 blade with composite spinner. The spinner is silver plated and the clear coated so it looks like polished metal but is very light weight.
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Phillip from MT Propellers USA delivered the prop via pickup truck from Deland, FL. He said a trash can is perfect for supporting a prop so that's where is went. The right photo shows the color selection. It's painted with Imron 5.0 which is a single stage paint. Both colors are metallic. The blade is charcoal effect and the tips are ruby red effect. The charcoal is darker than I expected, but it's tough to tell that from a small paper paint chip selection book. |
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Overall, the prop and spinner look good. Here it is mounted on the plane. I think it's going to be a nice looking prop. Doug Turner at MT Props groaned when I asked him to not put on the pastel green MT decals on the blades, but as you can see, he accommodated me. The green MT decal would not have looked good stuck on the blades. |
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Left is another shot of the prop and to the right is a shot of Nelson as we began covering the blades to protect them. The High-Glo spinner looks very nice and everyone who's seen it thought it was metal. |
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5 Apr 07 8 Hours Total: 1456
After mounting the fuel tank access plates we discovered the fuel probes cannot be installed, so that necessitated removing the access panels and they had to be reinstalled simultaneously with the fuel probes.
We started to mark and trim the lower cowl but our brains took over and convinced us to read the instructions. Ah ha! Install the upper cowl first. So, we began work on that process.
6 Apr 07 4 Hours Total: 1460
Not a lot of progress today, but lots of thinking and planning. The prop governor arrived from Less Drag Products (they forgot to ship it earlier) along with the nose strut upper fairing from Fairings, Etc. Bob Snedeker at Fairings, Etc is a very nice guy, very helpful, and prompt with his deliveries. His product is top quality and I strongly recommend buying his fairings. The upper nose strut fairing is a work of art and fit perfectly. It will very nicely cover all the ugly cuts and work on the lower cowl. A very nice design! Photos of that work to follow.
11 Apr 07 8 Hours Total: 1468
Made the initial upper cowl trimming. I'm allowing minimum space between the spinner and the cowl so I can trim more off later if I need to. It worked nice to put the cowl in place and place a drop light under the cowl and trace the edge of the metal onto the cowl using a pencil. Then take it off and rest it on a table with the drop light underneath and the line is easy to see and transfer to the top. The distance between the cowl and the rocker covers on each side of the engine will be different so expect one side to be close. Nelson finished the rudder glass work and we packed it away for safe keeping. Also pressure tested the fuel tanks.
Cut the breather hose and installed it using snap clamps and adel clamps.
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Clecoed tabs to the upper cowl to help hold it in place. Use tape on the tabs to protect the spinner. We followed Van's advice and marked a line 2 inches aft on the fuselage |
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I used minimum distance between the spinner and the cowl so there would be room for trimming later. That turned out to be wise. |
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During the process we realized that placing a drop light under the cowl allowed us to trace the exact edge of the metal on the inside of the cowl. Then with the cowl resting on a small table it was easy to transfer the line to the outside of the cowl and cut along the trim line. |
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The fit on the left side is very good, but the right side has a gap that will have to be reclaimed by gradually sanding away the trailing edge of the cowl and thus increase the gap between the cowl and the spinner. |
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Because the engine is canted off to one side to help account for P factor, the distance from the rocker covers to the cowl differs on each side. |
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12 Apr 07 5 Hours Total: 1473
| Installed the fuel tanks on the wings for the "last" time. Before installation they had to be tested after the Princeton Probes were installed. We used Van's pressure test kit and inflated the balloon using a bike tire pump and then checked the seams and rivets with soapy water. |  |
15 Apr 07 10 Hours Total: 1483
Nelson made a very nice bracket for the prop governor cable. The prop cable has to come through the left intake ramp. The governor design and the forward location on the engine force bringing the control cable from below and the only way to do it is to bring the cable through the lower intake ramp. We got the bracket finished today, painted, and installed.
We also made a hard line connection from the fuel firewall union to the fuel flow transducer and added the flex line from the transducer to the engine-driven fuel pump.
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The forward mounted prop governor requires some engineering to get correct movements. In the photo above, the aft position (shown) of the governor arm is the high rpm (flat pitch) setting. However, a control cable connected directly to it would cause the prop pitch to work opposite to normal operation. So the cable to the governor must come from below and the actuator arm must be rotated counterclockwise to align with the cable. That will force us to bring the control cable through the lower ramp of the baffles. |
The fuel flow transducer accepts fuel directly downstream of the electric fuel pump. A hard line feeds the transducer and we made a fuel hose out the other side to the engine driven fuel pump. |
16 Apr 07 6 Hours Total: 1489
We had to make a minor change to the prop governor bracket to insure the cable would clear the cylinder fins. We also put together braided hoses for the fuel and oil pressure lines. We installed the lines and torqued them. We discovered the oil pressure source on the engine block already had a 45 degree fitting installed. A call to Barrett Engine revealed the 45 degree fitting is not a restrictor fitting. The restrictor fitting is important for safety such that in the event of a hose failure the loss of fuel or oil is minimized by the restrictor fitting. We could not remove the 45 degree fitting, so, Allen Barrett said the fitting can be capped and another fitting installed next to it in another orifice above the mags.
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Above shows the location of the pressure manifold. It turns out you can't mount the pressure sensors directly on the engine, so a remote mounting point is used and hoses feed the pressure readings to the transducers which convert it to digital for display on the engine monitor. |
I decided to orient the manifold vertically so it will better withstand positive G forces. If it were horizontal, the weight of the transducers would unnecessarily strain the firewall and fasteners. I have the oil pressure sensor on the top and the fuel pressure sensor on the bottom. |
An overview of the manifold location |
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| Not a great photo, but it is intended to show the engine builder installed 45 degree fitting to the right and the aircraft builder installed fitting to the left (above the mag). If you want a restrictor fitting for the oil pressure, I suggest you install it BEFORE mounting the engine. Once the engine is on the mount, you cannot remove the fitting. That means you must cap the original fitting and add a new one in the orifice above the mag. | This photo shows the new 45 degree restrictor fitting installed and you can just barely see the original fitting to the right of it. | The oil pressure hose was made of braided metal covered teflon hose with the high dollar reusable end fittings. I covered it with Thermo-sleeve and torqued the connections. |
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Left shows the fuel pressure hose from the engine fuel pump restrictor fitting to the transducer on the bottom of the manifold.
Right is an overview of the firewall. It's starting to get cluttered and I still have a lot more wires and hoses to install. |
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17 Apr 07 3 Hours Total: 1492
First day of Sun n Fun. How much work do you think we got done today??
The tubing finally arrived from Aivacomp, but it appears there is an error in the order - after waiting 6 weeks. Oh well, things happen. We also got another shipment from ACS with .050 sheet for the skybolt fasteners. ACS is very quick with their shipments. Too bad their prices increase 10% per year.
Okay, we did get some work done. After getting back tired and dusty from SnF, we couldn't resist doing some of the heater hose fittings. We got to work on Evan Johnson's tubing and made very good progress toward getting it done. Perhaps we can finish the heat/air ducting tomorrow.
19 Apr 07 4 Hours Total: 1496
Another day at SnF. Then we worked on the heater control cable. We got it installed and the heater valve adjusted.
20 Apr 07 4 Hours Total: 1500
SnF. Bought tools and hardware. I've done all my Christmas shopping. I hope my wife likes the die grinder and extra deep metric socket set I got her.
Then we made the hard line for the purge return. We'll have a braided hose from the purge valve to the firewall and a hard line from there to the right fuel tank.
Also worked on the heat muff making the hose attachments. They need to go to the welder soon.
Nelson leaves next week and I'd hoped to get the cowlings fitted before he left, but it ain't gonna happen. I'll have to figure out the skybolt fasteners myself.
22 April 07 2 Hours Total: 1502
Picked up the heat muff from the local welder. At the cost of my home made muff, I could have bought one from Robbins Wings. Oh well. I needed one that was a bit shorter than normal and with scat hose fittings at odd angles, so this worked out fine.
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Upper photos show the full open intake air port and the partially blocked exit air port. I've heard from other builders that the goal is to slow down the incoming air so it has time to absorb some heat. So the air will enter at the aft end of the muff, reverse direction, and exit through a smaller port.
There was only enough room along a straight section of exhaust and to insure clearance on the intake pipe for a 7 inch heat muff. The intake air will come from the right engine cooling intake and exit through aeroquip hose that passes under the cylinders and connects to the Aviacomp Worldwide mixing valve under the oil cooler. |
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I'm a bit concerned that I'm restricting the oil cooler exit air too much so I'm trying to have as few and as streamlined objects in the way as possible. I also have a bit of concern about the aeroquip ducting blocking too much of the cooling air coming through the right side cylinders. I really won't know the answer to those two concerns until I fly.
The mixing valve can provide cool or warm air to the right side ducts. In the main battery compartment, I've used 90 degree and T aluminum tubing along with Aeroquip ducting to distribute the warm/cool air to the right side of the cockpit. |
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The idea is to provide either cool or warm air to the right side vents and only cool air to the left side. By using a T, I can split the right side air and direct it to either my feet or aft, or both. Also, it appears the aft facing vent will provide warm air down the right side of the cockpit to the rear seat. Time will tell. Left photo is the left side cool air only and right photo is the combo cool/warm air ducting. |
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The left photos show the cool
air only duct and vent and the right ones show the right side selectable
cool/warm air duct and vents.
I like the appearance of the lower air vents rather than mounted on the panel. They don't use up valuable panel real estate and they will be easier to direct air to the back seat. The black knob to the right is the mixing valve control knob. |
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24 April 07 2 Hours Total: 1504
I made the purge valve hard line for inside the cockpit from the firewall to the fuel tank. The engine compartment flex line was made later but I have all the photos here.
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The purge line starts at the purge valve as a flex line and will exit the aft baffle and then |
S Turn past the oil cooler to the firewall below the cooler and |
connect to a steel fitting through the firewall. |
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| Inside the fuselage the line is solid aluminum. In order to reposition the line and to give it some adjustability, I made an S bend that will route the line through the large conduit under the battery. | Aft of the battery is a union to the line exiting the fuselage to the fuel tank. | The forward line is the purge line and the aft one is the fuel feed line. |
26 April 07 1 Hour Total: 1505
Fitted adel clamps to the heat muff duct and purge hose and heater control cable.
| The prop bolts needed to be torqued but I didn't have a crows foot wrench, so I trundled on down to Sears and bought a set - I needed them anyway. I also needed a torque wrench capable of foot pounds, so I got that, too. Notice in the photo that the crows foot wrench needs to be 90 degrees to the torque wrench - otherwise you have to do some mental gymnastics to adjust for extra length of the wrench if it's attached directly in line with the torque wrench. If you want to do the calculations, you can find them in AC 43-13. The MT prop bolts are cross torqued gradually to 64 ft-lbs. |  |
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27 April 07 2 Hours Total: 1507
I started to make the .050 supports for the skybolt fasteners for the cowling, but as I read the instructions, the top skin must be riveted in place before the cowlings are fitted. So, that means I have to put aside the cowling work and switch back to the instrument panel and wiring.
I've decided to make a mock panel to trial fit the avionics to make sure everything fits and to ensure a functional panel. I'll make the mockup from .032 for ease of working.
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Photos of the mock panel Left shows the initial cuts and right with the glass installed. The panel is only .032, so it's a bit flimsy. |
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Everything powered up okay and the buttons work, so we're off to a good start. To the right you can see there is plenty of room behind the panel. I think I'll return the high dollar avionics fan and buy several lost cost, light weight 12v computer fans and direct them on the instrument cases. |
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28 Apr 07 2 Hours Total: 1509
Drilled the U-816 to the aft gusset on the nose strut assembly. Deburred all and installed #8 nutplates on the tp side of the gusset. Normally, this step is done after the lower cowl is fitted, but I must have the cowl exit air fairing in place before then, so I have to fit the U-816 now with nutplates. Later, if needed, I'll shim as necessary to make the U-816 fit well to the lower cowl.
22 May 07 12 Hours Total: 1521
May hours spread over several days. Slow progress since Nelson left. I have to motivate myself to get work done. I have got some things done. I made the flex return line from the purge valve and added the needed adel clamps. Also made a mock panel from .032 to test fit instruments and test fit in the cockpit. I plan to have the real panel water jet or laser cut. The three glass panels all fired up as expected. Now I need to add the G meter and mag compass.
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Some time ago I bought dessicant plugs from ACS to help reduce the chance of rust inside the engine. The plugs absorb moisture - and we have plenty of that in Tampa. But, when they become saturated, they change from their normal blue color to clear. To revitalize them, they must be heated to dry them out. Remove the spring clip and empty out the granules and heat them. I heated them in a microwave for two minutes in 20 second intervals. I'm not sure that is enough, but I'll try them and see how they do. Another option is to heat them in an oven at 400 degrees for 5 hours. |
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23 May 07 2 Hours Total: 1523
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I cut holes for the G meter and mag compass and drilled holes for the mounting screws. Also cut openings for the AOA and EFIS Lite controller. |
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Here are photos of what the panel will look like installed.
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Richard Firn came by with his almost finished 1966 MGB. Richard lives near the airport and has been driving by often and checking on my progress for several years. At the same time, he's been rebuilding a 1966 MGB. Fortunately, he's making faster progress than me.
29 May 07 2 Hours Total: 1525
Started with fitting the wingtips to the wings.
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Well, the wings are just about too bulky and heavy for me to handle by myself. I got this one to the garage by myself, but it was a challenge. And I'm obviously out of room in the EAA Chapter garage. Fortunately, I can move into the hangar behind our "new" house in Spruce Creek in August. That will be nice. I'll have plenty of room to keep the wings out all the time. |
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I've begun the wingtip installations. Upper right I marked a line 1/4" from the edge. Left I made a template from scrap for marking off the holes. It made the job quick and easy. I noticed that on the bottom aft skin (and only that skin) the rivets are on 2.5" spacing, so it's easy to use a square along the edge to transfer the rivet center to the edge mark. Van's doesn't give any direction, so I assumed that all measurements for the attachments are based on the skin intersection. By using the skin intersection and putting a hole near the leading edge of the aft skin, the measurements come out right and match the plans. Notice the holes in the forward skin (to right in photo) do not match up with the rivets. |
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I'm learning more than I want to know about MR-16 lights. There are many types - some with IR lenses, some without, some that let the IR out thru the reflector, some that send all IR out the front, some that are blue tinted to give a blue light, 50w, 35w, 75w, spot, flood, wide ... lots of variables. |
I'm going to use MR-16 lights for the taxi-recognition lights - I think. They are light, cheap, easy to install, and adequately bright. But, they get very hot. So, that means I will need to find a means to cool them a bit and also protect the fiberglass wingtip. As of now, I plan on the 65w, 12 degree spot. I will insulate the fiberglass around it with reflective material (maybe thermo-sleeve tape) and maybe even mount a computer fan in the tip to blow air on the bulb. |
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30 May 07 2 Hours Total: 1527
Drilled the holes in the wing skin of one wing for the wingtip attachment. I'm starting with #40 bits and I'll enlarge them to #6 screws. Yeah, I hate #6 screws with a passion - and I'd originally planned to use #8 screws, but there really isn't enough room for the #8 screws, so I'll just go with Van's recommendation. The wingtips will be heavy in comparison to the stock RV, so I may add an internal means to add strength.
31 May 07 3 Hours Total: 1530
Finished fitting the wingtips to the wings.
Had to move the wings back into the garage and that was a task by myself. Just took my time and got 'er done.
The tips take quite a bit of preparation before attaching to the the wings. The molded in recessed area where the wing skin is supposed to overlap the fiberglass is not right. First, you have to remove about 3/16" from the inboard edges of the tips. Then when you look carefully at the leading edge of the tips, you'll notice the recessed area isn't recessed at all. So, an hours worth of careful file work is required to prep the tips for fitting to the wing. Can't speak to the sheared tip as mine are the old style - which I prefer anyway.
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Some rearranging allowed me to bring the wings back to the garage. To right shows how the leading edge of the tips needs to be filed back to fit well on the wings. I took more off the inboard edge and that made the tips fit nicer. |
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Left - To hold the shape of the glass tip while you fit and drill it, press a sheet of 1" insulation foam against the end of the metal wing to make an impression and then cut out and sand to fit inside the edge of the wingtip. It provides some stiffness to drill against. Right shows the left tip fitted. |
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At the end of the day, both tips were fitted. Next I will drill then out to #6 screw size and add the 1/2" wide strip of sheet aluminum to the inside of the fiberglass so the rivets have something to pull against instead of the glass. Then I'll add the #6 nutplates, dimple the skins, and machine countersink the glass to accept the dimples. |
1 Jun 07 3 Hours Total: 1533
The wingtips needed a bit more fine tuning on the fit and then I started drilling the nutplate holes. Next time at the shop I'll install the nutplates.
6 Jun 07 6 Hours Total: 1539
Working on wingtip nutplates.
7 Jun 07 3 Hours Total: 1542
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Finished the wingtip nutplates and attached the wingtips to the wings. Everything fit as it was supposed to and the nutplates are in surprisingly good alignment. Now I can start working on the wingtip lights again. |
8 Jun 07 2 Hours Total: 1544
I'm only counting part of today's work time toward the total because most of the time was spent on making a bench testing device. I got an order from All Electronics which included some computer fans I want to test for use behind the panel and in the wingtips and some ammeters and voltmeter for the bench tester. I made a little device to hold the gauges so I can bench test things for voltage and amperage. I did a little testing today and they function as advertised.
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Left and right shows the bench tester I made. I got two ammeters - one to 30A that requires a shunt and the other to 15A. Also voltmeter gauge. I'm using a Samplex 12v power supply that produces 13.6 volts and 23 amps. The left photo shows a auto fog light reading 5.5 amps through the shunt on the upper gauge. |
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Left is the same light reading on the 0-15 ammeter. The voltage is right on 13.6.
Right shows all of the flat panels being powered through the bench and using 4 amps. I also checked each display individually. |
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Here are three computer fans I bought for testing. They're ball bearing fans and run quiet on little power. I bought an Ameri-King avionics fan, but it is heavy, bulky and expensive, so I'm looking for an alternative. I'm also considering putting fans in the wingtips to blow air on the recognition/taxi lights. I'm planning a MR-16 light like those to the right and they get very hot. So, I may put a fan in series so it's on when the light is on. I guess it will then wig wag when the lights wig wag. |
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13 Jun 07 7 Hours Total: 1551
Over several days, made bus bars for the CB tray and tested several electrical devices. With the bench tester, I'm able to experiment a little and learn more about how the electrical system works. I've tested the amperage on the following items - MR-16 lights - 4.5 to 7 amps each, fans - .12 to .72 amps, Flaps - .5 amps, EFIS Lite - 2.4 amps, EFIS One - 2.5 amps, AF3400 - 2.3 amps, compass light - 0 .1 amp, and battery contactor - 1.0 amp.
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These show top and bottom of the CB tray with the middle row of CBs missing. I don't know if these bus bar meet convention, but they work. The Klixon CBs don't care which side the load is on, so I alternated them to make fabricating the busses easier. The yellow labeling is temporary. The switches are for the P Mags and to disable the starter button. |
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The mags will get power from the standby bus so those CBs are connected to the next two rows to create the standby bus. Right shows how the starter enable switch can disable the starter unless you know the location of this hidden switch. With the enable switch off, the starter button cannot ground the contactor (standby battery contactor in this example). |
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24 Jun 07 2 Hours Total: 1553
Received the custom prop governor cable from ACS and made the initial fitting and cut the pass-through hole in the firewall.
28 Jun 07 2 Hours Total: 1555
More install of the prop cable. It's a bit longer than I'd planned so I need to do a little work with S turns. Should be no problem, but I'll need to drill a new attachment hole in the prop lever because I'm not getting full throw at the engine end. It's reaching the high RPM stop but about 1/4" short of the low RPM stop.
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The cable bracket that Nelson made appears to be correct. I'll attach to the inboard side of the lever arm and I'm thinking about making a fairing to fit around the governor. I'll have to devise a slit rubber pass through for the cable to go through the intake cooling air ramps. I saw one on a RV-10 at SnF that should work. |
Closer shot of the bracket. One spot of the bracket is touching the oil return line so I'll have to make an adjustment to that. |
I'm not getting full throw at the engine end of the cable, so I'll need to drill a new attachment hole above the current one in the prop lever. |
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Also a little work on the front stick grip. Drilled the exit hole for the grip wire bundle. The grip requires a 7/64" allen wrench to open it up for installation. I've got so many allen wrenches I could never use them all - but no 7/64" size! Too bad Infinity Aerospace doesn't supply one with the grip. I suppose I'll go buy one tomorrow. |
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5 Jul 07 1 Hour Total: 1556
A bit of work on the front stick drilling the grip mounting hole and cutting the slot for the wires.
6 Jul 07 3 Hours Total: 1559
With the new allen wrench opened up the stick grip. Lots of wires to keep under control. As I put it back together, I must use caution to avoid pinching a wire.
Fitting the front stick 1" adapter was a chore. I had to remove all paint and powdercoating from the top 2.125 inches of the stick. Then the adapter still fit very tight - too tight to force on using a rubber mallet and wood block. After many iterations of filing, sanding and fitting, I realized the problem was at the top end of the adapter and not at the bottom. After figuring that out, bringing down to fitting size was quick and easy. So, if you're installing an Infinity Aerospace grip, it appears the top 1.8 inches of the adapter was squeezed during their machining of the attachment hole (29/64") and the wire slot on the back. So, if you have to coax the adapter into fitting on the stick, do your initial metal removal on the top portion of the adapter.
The rear stick is a 1 inch diameter and requires no adapter.
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12 Jul 07
Well, it looks like we may have bought a Piper Pacer. My son, Kevin, is going to fly the F-22 in Alaska and wanted a float-capable aircraft to fly up there. He rather quickly found what appears to be a good aircraft at a reasonable price and it comes with floats. We agreed to each buy half of the plane, so we've committed to buying the aircraft pending a pre-buy inspection. It should be fun. I'm tailwheel qualified and he's seaplane rated, so between us maybe we can figure out how to operate it. It reminds me of the Tripacer I bought for $2500 in 1976. |
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12 Jul 07 2 Hours Total: 1561
One of the drawbacks to using the Infinity Grips is the inability to determine in advance how much of the stick needs to be cut off so the grip will fit under the instrument panel. I have mine fitted to the front stick and installed the stick today only to discover the stick must be cut off 1.25 inches for the grip to clear the panel. So, I'll get that cut tomorrow and redo all of the grip fitting work. I also need to research how well the rear stick fits and whether or not it needs to be shortened.
I made an adjustment on the prop governor, but I need to fine tune it a bit more.
8 Aug 07 4 Hours Total: 1564
Unfortunately, this represents the sum total of work since 12 July. We've been looking for an airplane (didn't buy the one above - too much corrosion) and trying to get ready for closing on our "new" Spruce Creek fly-in community home. The mortgage industry is in turmoil so finalizing financing is challenging. Oh, and a little work thrown in, too.
Anyway, most work has been on the control sticks and attaching the Infinity Grips. JD at Infinity Grips has been fantastic about returning calls and explaining things on the phone. Their instructions could use an overall revamping, but their product is good.
After many iterations, I have the stick grips fitted and have tested them in the airplane. I wanted to retain as much length on the front stick as possible so as to have greater leverage and finer movements. However, I overdid it. The instrument panel is not yet mounted in place, but the stick grip is touching the bottom of the panel. So, after final installation of the panel, I may have to make another tiny adjustment to the grip position.
13 Sep 07
A lot has been done - and nothing has been done.
Unfortunately, very little work on the RV. I've been buying the hangar home at Spruce Creek, repairing rental properties, buying and picking up the "new" 1959 Piper Pacer, packing airplane parts and moving part of the RV to Spruce Creek.
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There's nothing quite like having a hangar in your backyard with a taxiway right up to the hangar. You pay a premium for it, but what a great way to live! The people here in Spruce Creek are fabulous. They are friendly and helpful. Now, when I want to work on the RV for 30 minutes, I don't have to drive an hour roundtrip to do it. Nice! |
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The bi-fold doors work great. Later, I'll add an office in the aft rear corner that incorporates the existing window. |
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We finally found a suitable Pacer - in Salt Lake City! So, Kevin and I flew out there on Southwest and checked out the plane and bought it and started flying it home that day. Right photo shows us winding our way through the mountains east of SLC following I-80. |
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The mountains were higher than us and we were only climbing at about 100 fpm. But, it was not an issue since we had I-80 right below us. We flew SLC to Cheyenne to Liberal, KS to Oklahoma City. There my brother picked us up at 2230, took us to the hotel, and got us again at 0700 the next morning. What a trooper! The next morning, we both happened to wear the exact shirt and shorts! Great minds think alike. : ) |
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On the second day we flew OKC to Greenville, MS to Dothan, AL to Spruce Creek. They were long days (98 knots) and sometimes we were challenged to outclimb the building cumulus nimbus and the final landings were at night. The airplane did fine - burned no oil and only 8 gph. We climbed as high as 14,500, but most was flown at about 9500. We tucked it in the hangar where it waits until going off to Alaska to have floats installed. |
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Moving day for the RV was an adventure. It turns out I will have to make a second move in order to get everything. The only major pieces this time were the fuselage and canopy. I built ramps from 2x10x120 planks with 1x4x96 sideboards and a handy ramp kit from Home Depot that bolts on to each end of the boards. The truck ramp was perfect for the nosewheel and the plane rolled in with relative ease. Had to ramp it up on the wheel wells inside and then move the ramps to the front side to roll it down. I strapped it down from all directions and it still bounced and moved some during the trip. |
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17 Oct 07
I wish I could say I've accomplished a lot on my RV in the past month - but, I can't. The moving process and renovation of the "new" house is taking all of my time. But I have to say that living in an fly-in community like Spruce Creek is phenomenal. I recommend it. Here are a few photos to prove my point.
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Each Saturday morning there is a gaggle flight. Anyone who wants to shows up at the old oak tree by the runway. Most leave in a formation (of sorts) fly out to another airport for breakfast. The type aircraft is varied and makes for interesting airplane watching. Seems like a lot of these guys race their planes because many of them have race numbers on them. The people here in Spruce Creek are amongst the nicest people I've met anywhere. They range from the very wealthy such as Lorrance of GPS fame to the middle income like me. Yet, there is no sense of class warfare. It's very refreshing. |
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My next door neighbor owns one of only nineteen Johnson Rockets ever built - very cool. The planes taxi out and all depart within a few minutes. It's quite a sight to see and hear them all depart.
Dart night is a nice time to drink a few beers and toss some wobbly darts. Keith Phillips hosts dart night in his hangar. |
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It's very cool when a beautiful, rumbling SNJ taxis right behind your house. Steve Clegg is the owner and a FAA Designated Examiner for all ratings and all aircraft. He's a 767 Captain at US Airways. |
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My hangar is crammed with "stuff" right now. The Pacer is using part of the room along with the golf cart. Also the pool solar is temporarily stored here. I got a new tool box and my wife bought me a beer refrigerator, so I'll slowly get the hangar in building configuration again. |
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Okay, now back to building. Well - as soon as the Pacer annual is done ... and the new roof is on the house ... and the new pool enclosure is done ... and the new kitchen cabinets are done ... and ...
30 Nov 07 4 Hours Total: 1568
My brother, Nelson, has returned to Florida and we have been working to get the hangar in order. We are finally getting reasonably organized in the hangar and have begun to work on the RV again. The horizontal stab and vertical stab are installed and the empennage fairings are going on. I bought the Fairings, Etc empennage fairing and we're deciding exactly how it should fit. It seems as though the leading edge of the upper fairing should overlap the leading edge of the lower fairing, but I'm still contemplating. It could be that Bob Snedaker intended them to butt joint together. I need to call him to be sure. We also got the ELT "rubber duckie" antenna installed under the fairing and the inspection covers nutplated and installed.
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HS mounting was straightforward. Since it was fitted several years ago we had to just bolt it on. |
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Left shows placement of the ELT antenna. Mounting the antenna in this location requires careful measurement to insure it clears the HS, VS and fairing. Right shows the VS mounting bolts. |
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The Fairings, Etc fairing is shown to the left. A very nice product. I recommend them. |
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The lower fairings have been fitted by tapping into the longeron for #6 Stainless Screws. I decided to use round head screws because very little glass material would remain if I countersunk and used flat head screws. The left fairing has a few ripples in it, but we'll remove those with a heat gun. |
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Nelson had a great idea for tapping the fairing holes. The plans call for drilling into the longeron below the HS and tapping for #6 screws. But, in order to fit the upper and lower fairings, you need the HS installed. So, there is little room to get to the holes for tapping. Nelson put a nut on the tap and we used a ratchet to drive the tap. |  |
5 Dec 07 4 Hours Total: 1572
Retorqued engine mounting bolts to ensure proper torque. Torqued to range of 37.5 to 41.5 foot-pounds. Safety wired prop bolts.
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6 Dec 07 4 Hours Total: 1576
Sanded empennage fairing. Marked cutouts on instrument panel.
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7 Dec 07 4 Hours Total: 1580
| Sanded inside of empennage fairing so it will fit flush on the tail. Made cut in instrument panel for EFIS One. |  |
9 Dec 07 4 Hours Total: 1584
Nelson got the stab tips fitted along with the elevator tips.
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For some reason, Blue Mountain provides a relatively heavy steel frame that fits behind the panel and is supposed to be riveted to the panel to provide attachment screw holes for the EFIS One display. I can think of no reason to put in that heavy piece and replaced it with six lightweight nutplates. The entire display can easily be removed for access in behind the panel. |  |
10 Dec 07 7 Hours Total: 1591
Good progress on several things. Made good headway on the empennage fairing. It has to be sanded inside as much as outside in order to get a good fit. Got it attached to the fuselage in two locations - front and rear - and will finish up next time. More work on the HS tips plus finished filing the EFIS One opening in the panel and got it mounted.
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This shot shows how the upper fairing fits over the leading edge of the lower one. I talked to Bob Snedeker and his original concept was to butt joint the fairings (which you can still do) but someone suggested overlapping them. Works fine - you have to sand the inside of the upper fairing and outside of the lower fairing where they overlap. |
This shows the upper aft attachments. To pull the fairing up tight, I added two screws along the top edge using nutplates. At the lower edge, I decided to put a screw through the trailing edge of the lower fairing and the leading edge of the inspection cover. The plans call for four screws in the top of the inspection cover, but that is overkill so I used two. One of those screws hold the leading edge of the lower portion of the upper fairing. |
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A minor mistake was to attach these nutplates too close to the trailing edge of the HS. I could have attached them about 1/8" farther forward - and I should have. Even using #6x3/8 screws, the screw sticks out the bottom. |
This shows the problem - the screw touches the elevator at full nose up travel. So, I had to cut the screws to 1/4" and will have to file the aft edge of the nutplate a tiny bit to ensure clearance. I could have saved this aggravation by simply moving the nutplates forward a bit. |
11 Dec 07 8 Hours Total: 1599
The empennage fairing is mostly finished and it fits very nice. There are a few spots where I will "tighten" up the fit by laying a thin layer of fiberglass inside and fasten the fairing to a taped fuselage to get a perfect fit. Also got the openings completed for the glass displays for the panel.
12 Dec 07 8 Hours Total: 1607
We fit the glass displays in the panel and turned on the Blue Mountain EFIS One and EFIS Lite. I didn't like the looks of the EFIS Lite because it wouldn't erect to wings level. I went to the setup page and used the "set level" selection and that solved the problem. Both EFIS's look great now. We decided to mount the G meter and mag compass to the far right of the panel rather than next to the EFIS display. When the EFIS is on and the mag compass is within about four inches, the compass is affected. So, moving it farther to the right was a suitable solution.
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Left is the display before using set level. You can see the table was within one tenth of a degree of level yet the EFIS Lite was askew. To right shows it after "set level." |  |
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Left is an overview of the panel showing placement of the mag compass and G meter. This photo was taken a couple of days later and the EFIS Lite controller and AOA display are already installed. I'll order the Garmin SL30, Becker Transponder, intercom, and collision avoidance before long and get them installed. Unlike most RV-8s, mine still has lots of empty space behind the panel. I'll see if I can fill it up with wires. |  |
13 Dec 07 6 Hours Total: 1613
Mounted the EFIS Lite controller on the left side of panel. Nelson worked on the stab tips and elevator tips.
15 Dec 07 5 Hours Total: 1618
More work on the stab and elevator tips. Finished cutting holes for the mag compass and G meter and began cutting hole for the AOA indicator. Mounted the Comant 122 comm antenna.
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16 Dec 07 7 Hours Total: 1625
Working on the stab and elevator tips. They require a lot of work to make them fit. Drilled holes for comm antenna and mounted it. Also, finished fitting the AOA indicator to the panel. It just barely fit and only after removing part of the mounting bracket.
19 Dec 07 6 Hours Total: 1631
Trim tab is not fitting right so we drilled off the hinge and put on a new one. Also, more glass work on the tips and elevators. The builders manual says the trim tab should move +25 and -35 degrees. Sounds like a lot to me. The Ray Allen trim servo gives a maximum of 42 degrees of movement in the trim tab. Called Vans and they said to go with whatever the servo gives and adjust so that more of the movement goes in the nose up direction. I checked with other local RV-8 owners and they said very little movement of the trim tab is required. We also measured the trim tab movement on their elevators and found it to be about 40 degrees.
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20 Dec 07 6 Hours Total: 1637
The trim tab still was not fitting right so we had to add a shim to bring it to flush with the elevator. More work on the tips. There are several small dents and low areas on the elevators that have to be filled and sanded back down to flat. Because of those and the desire to glass in the tips, we've decided to fill everything on the elevators and make it all smooth like I've seen some RVs. I really like the slick look when everything is filled, so I don't mind the criticism that comes from some saying one shouldn't fill in the rivets. We're going to make it look like glass.
21 Dec 07 6 Hours Total: 1643
Sanded on yesterday's repairs and did more work on the elevator tips. Also, investigative work to start wiring behind the panel.
23 Dec 07 5 Hours Total: 1648
Nelson did more work on the elevator tips and added a epoxy resin/microlite slurry over one tip and we'll bring it back down to size later.
| I ordered one of Bob Newman's Safety Trim devices (http://www.tcwtech.com) which permits a two speed elevator trim based on airspeed. It also cuts out the trim motor if it runs for 3 seconds. Helps prevent runaway trim and allows ability to reverse the trim if desired. There is an airspeed sensor that switches the device between high and low speed trim at a user defined airspeed. Pilots tell me the RV trim is too fast when flying at high speed but okay when at traffic pattern speeds. The Safety Trim permits slow trim at high speed and normal (faster) trim at slower speeds. A great concept. We'll see how well it works. |  |
24, 25, 26 Dec 07 12 Hours Total: 1660
Work on elevators adding fiberglass and resin filler and sanding back down to shape. Also, added filler to the flap fairings and sanded them down.
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27 Dec 07 3 Hours Total: 1663
It's time to get serious about wiring. The behind the panel wiring needs to be virtually complete before the top skin is attached, so we're going to wires strung and wire bundles clamped. The most time, though, is spent figuring out which wire is which. We cut the hole for the EGT-CHT wire bundle. The EGT-CHT wires are going out the left side of the firewall and all others are using the right side.
28 Dec 07 3 Hours Total: 1666
Nelson worked on the elevator and stab fiberglass tips.
