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.
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