While I was thinking about the aileron control cables, I realized that my previous location for headset jacks wasn’t going to work. I cut the old bracket off and this is what was left: I used the die grinder and files to clean off the weld bead. It’s always frustrating when I end up making…
Category: Fuselage
Fuselage work, excepting firewall forward and cabin/cockpit
Back Seat Seatbelt Tabs
With the lower cowl in place I started preparing the outer fiberglass scoop that will cover the FAB and direct the intake air to the inlet. I found an RV builder who had a scrap scoop, which was quite affordable. I only needed a very small piece of the original, so any defects or mistakes…
Initial Prop Install
Today I connected the blue LED that will become the parking brake annunciator. Since the parking brake valve is just a check valve, it could be especially troublesome to land with it in the closed position. The brakes would apply normally, but they wouldn’t release! I’m planning to make this blue light come on any…
Antenna Mounting
6/21 1015 ground shields, drill left com antenna, add tab to tail post 1235 2.4 hours This morning I connected the rest of the audio shields to each other. I didn’t have any of the one-ended crimp-on terminals so I just used one half of a yellow crimp-on splice. I found a good spot for…
Window Re-design
This evening Tabitha came out and we worked more on the left rear window design. We are making a cardboard template that will be the same size as the final lexan piece. This will give me something around which to fabricate a steel structure. The new window will be much larger than the original, on…
Powering Up the GPS
Today I brought out the Garmin 430 unit so that I could test my wiring. This is a bit of a stressful moment, since the unit is very expensive and I ran all of the wires by hand. I powered the circuit with fuses and used my meter to re-verify every single pin to be…
Intercom Testing
It has been a couple of weeks since I’ve been able to get back to work. I installed the rear audio jacks and created the d-sub connection that I wrote about last month. Since the three non-pilot jacks all share a common audio source, I had to find a way to connect several small wires…
HS34 Installation
Today was a long productive day in the hangar. I started by installing the HS34 to make sure that the bracket was in a good spot. Here’s how the instrument panel looks as of today: I finished the audio wiring for the front two jacks, and went home to escape the mid-day heat. Our windshield…
Wiring and Covering
Tabitha came out today to help with the covering. She drew the pencil lines for the right aileron tapes while I worked on more wiring stuff. I installed the bracket for the HS34, which was far more difficult than it should have been. For some reason Dynon pre-drilled the mounting holes. This means that I…
Audio Jacks
I spent a few hours heat smoothing this morning. I’ve been using the 21st Century model airplane covering iron that I’ve had for many years, but today the handle broke. I find myself applying fairly heavy pressure during the process, and it’s probably not designed for that kind of use. I mixed up a batch…
Audio Wiring Continued
One of the problems that I’ve encountered with the audio system wiring is the high number of connections. Since it is a stereo system, there are even more wires than usual. The Flightcom 403 wiring instructions show several wires that are connected before they make it to the plug that goes into the back of…
Audio Wiring
Today I took a break from covering and finished the wiring for the audio isolation amp. I took the cover off of the intercom to adjust the dip switches, which control how the intercom handles music. I prefer for it to mute the audio for incoming vhf transmissions, but not for passenger discussion. Without disabling…
Covering Ailerons
The weather is starting to get warmer, so I’m starting earlier and finishing later. Today I recoated the tapes on the right flap. Now it is ready for smoothing I added the rest of the fabric to the left aileron: And used the iron to shrink the fabric: Then applied the first coat of poly-brush…
Electrical Distribution Panel
I deburred the lightening holes in the electrical panel, and removed all of the sharpie ink from layout planning. Next it was time to get to work populating that panel. I started with the diode bridge for the SD8 circuit. First up is the resistor: Here’s the resistor for the capacitor: Here are most of…
More Electrical Infrastructure
Today I picked up where I left off yesterday, adding a few more parts to the power distribution panel. Next I started making a few parts to mount the audio amp and the low voltage warning. The next challenge was to cut a hole with the odd shape of the d-sub. The crowbar overvoltage module…
Electrical Parts & Weight
Today I started with an inventory of parts for the electrical system. I’m using several d-sub connectors for the avionics, so I set them all out and wrote notes about which one needs to go where. Now it’s time to put some of those new parts to work! First, I installed the switches. The switches…
Position Lights and Brakes
It was too humid this morning to spray the next coat of polybrush, so I worked on the wingtip instead. I mixed up a batch of epoxy and used it to attach the position light mount and the wingtip aluminum strip. I also made a short brake line for the left side and hung up…
Brass Grounding Tabs
Today I started making the brass grounding blocks. My orders from Stein and All Electrics came in- great fun! The brass terminal strips were available from Stein for $1 each, so a few minutes of soldering and a $3 piece of brass from the hobby shop saved me $50 or so from B&C. The flux…
Aligning Tail Pieces
On a recent trip to Harbor freight I picked up another pair of adjustable height support stands to help figure out why the tail doesn’t seem to be lining up right. I leveled the fuselage left-right with a water level at the wing attach points. From there I levelled each stab half with a bubble…
Installing Fuel Lines
Today was a full day of making fuel lines. I’ve remade a couple, and need to remake a couple more. There are a few noteworthy points that I’ll pass along about the process. First, bending the 5052 is a one-time operation. Since it work hardens after bending, if you bend it to 90 degrees when…
Reinventing the Window
Another suitable title for this post would be “Defenestrating the Stock Window Design.” Tabitha and I have been discussing windows ever since our cookout and during our visit to Oshkosh. She says that the existing stock windows aft of the front doors are too small and too few, while I contend that they are completed…
Starting Fuel Lines
Since I’ll be on the way to Oshkosh shortly, I wanted to spend some time figuring out the fuel and brake systems again. This will allow me to buy the few remaining parts that I don’t have. I have had some 3/8″ .035 5052-0 line for a while, but I figured I should try bending…
Welding and Priming
The only parts that didn’t survive the move when we purchased the project were the tail struts. I haven’t been able to find them anywhere, and neither has Richard. This is unfortunate, since they are fairly expensive. I was able to buy another set from Mark, though he cautioned that they may need a length…
Rudder Pedal Springs
Sometimes building an airplane involves taking three steps forward, sometimes it means taking a couple of steps back. Today I spent a little while adapting some springs for the rudder pedals, but I don’t really like them. I also spent a while making the third version of the boot cowl panel, and also made it…
Test Fit Engine
Today was a busy day at the hangar. I started by drilling the holes in my new rudder pedal-cable straps. I wanted to be sure that the four straps were match-drilled, so I used a scrap piece of aluminum angle and some c-clamps to hold the straps stacked in place. After the first hole I…
Rudder Pedal Geometry
In our last episode, I was moving the rudder pedals forward to address the potential over-center problem that Mark at Avipro brought to our attention. Back when Richard was building, the consensus was to locate the rudder pedals for ergonomics. Subsequent experience led to a new recommendation to locate the rudder pedals exactly as depicted…
Cable Guard Nutplates
Today Tabitha came to help. She installed nutplates in the floorboards for the rudder cable guards while I took care of a few loose ends. I was recently reading through the Beartracks newsletters and came up with a few things to check on. The first was the flat plate of steel that joins the two…
Elevator Patch and Cable Guards
Today’s efforts include a morning session of fabric work and an evening session of sheet metal work. Richard had started the taping process on the tail pieces, but some are still in the works. Since one side still had exposed rib laces, I figured that I would check to be sure that they were spaced…
Boot Cowl and Tail Examination
Today I cut out a new piece of aluminum to replace the one that I made wrong (and that I would make wrong again) while Tabitha dimpled the stainless exhaust tunnel and installed nutplates on the appropriate sections. I also calibrated the iron in preparation for covering and started to evaluate the tail pieces to…
Drill, Debur, Dimple, Nutplates
Today was a day with lots of hours and not a lot of pictures. I finished the work on the left air intake, which included dimpling the boot cowl and cutting countersinks into the plastic vent. I also dimpled all of the holes in the boot cowl skins that will get rivets, except for the…
Engine Mounts and NACA Scoops
I’ve been watching the price of the engine mount rubbers for the past few months, and the trend seems alarming. In the 2008 Vans Accessory catalog, they were $40 per lug (for a total of $160). Today Vans sells them for $125 per lug, or $500 plus shipping! Yikes! I was surprised to see the…
Headset Jacks and Door Sill
I started out today by finishing something from last week. While I had the torch out, I also added a few more parts to the skylight area. First up were some plates for the headset jacks. This plate goes on the spanwise mini-bulkhead that I’m creating at the aft side of the skylight. This is…
Repositioning Door Area Flange
Today was a two-part day. In the first session, I used a dremel tool to remove the weld on the vertical portion of the door threshold at the forward end. This was to allow for repositioning that piece so that it would attach properly to the aluminum piece that goes there. This also involved cutting…
Seats and Engine Mount
Today Tabitha came out again to finish squeezing some more wingtip rivets. We also tested the glue on the foams to make sure that it wasn’t going to dissolve them. The glue checked out OK, so we glued one of the bottom cushion combinations. Tabitha marked it for cutting and spent some time thinking about…
Nutplates on Panels
Today was a short day, but I was able to spend some time on the nutplates that will hold on the “optional” aluminum panel under the door. I learned about a few complications. First, the nutplates won’t work well on the top unless I bend out the steel piece at the bottom of the door….
Tailwheel Spring and Wingtip
Tabitha came out today too and we made some good progress. I was at a stopping point with the tailwheel spring because I didn’t have a drill that would handle larger bits. It had a temporary bolt in place of the AN-7 that is supposed to go in there. With the new drill I was…
Welding, Casting, Covering
asting complete on 1, elt brscket on, control sticks done, cast 2, cover front seat bottoms and backs 1800 lunch? With one aileron balance tube done, the second was easy. I’ll elaborate more on the process this time. I used tire weights that were really dirty. I would tilt the pan, and direct the torch…
Back from Sun-N-Fun
It’s been a while since the last building entry, but I’ve been out of town more than usual. I just got back from Sun-N-Fun with a new list of ideas and a few new parts. One of my SNF finds was these LED position lights. If I didn’t already have the aeroflash lights, I would…
ELT Antenna Bracket
Today I was in the mood for some welding. First, I noticed back when I primed the headrests that I had missed a problem with one of them. I had started to cut one of the horizontal tubes, then realized that I was cutting in the wrong place. This left a scored line around the…
Cable Guards and More Parts
Today I spent some time going through a big order of parts and hardware. This order included lots of stuff, including the rest of the screws for the wing inspection panels. Dad was in town, so he cut out some new strips of aluminum for the aft section of the rudder cable guards. I also…
New Goodies
Today I spent an additional 1.5 hours on the wingtip, but the more exciting news is that an order came in from Wicks. I ordered some 5052 Aluminum to make fuel lines out of, along with some foam for the seats. My plan for the seats is to use tempur foam for the bottom layer…
Wrapping up the Belly Piece
Today I finished the aluminum belly piece, at least for now. I wanted to further test my wingtip strip technique, so I put in a few rivets.
Aluminum Fabrication
I only had half an hour to work today, but I made up another aluminum attach/stiffener for the belly panels to join with. When I drilled the holes, it turns out that the angle piece wasn’t wide enough, and thus the edge distance from the rivets was way too small. See pictures in the next…
Aluminum Belly Panel, Left Side
Today I worked on installing the left side belly panel. It is the same as yesterday’s entry, but just on the other side of the airplane.
Right Front Belly AL Panel
Today I was working on the new aluminum piece that goes on the belly just aft of the exhaust tunnel. I decided to remake these pieces because of some mismatched holes, and so that I could make the panel in two pieces. By making the left and right halves separate, I feel like I can…
Trim and Debur Right AL Panel
Today I spent some time trimming the panel for the right side. The file seems to be quite effective, especially when I follow it with some 150 Aluminum Oxide emery cloth.
Welding Practice
I wanted to get in a little more welding practice and I needed to make a gift for our dirty santa gift exchange, so I made this guy out of some scrap materials: It was the most evil-looking creature that I could create.
The Other Side
Welding the other side of the fuselage went much faster, and it turned out better. I used a little rattle-can primer to keep the metal from rusting. I’ll replace that with some epoxy primer when the weather warms up, so that I can be sure that the covering process won’t lift the paint.
Steel Instead
I decided that I didn’t like the idea of using aluminum angle as the aft support for the panel that goes under the door. This was mostly because I couldn’t think of a way to attach the aluminum angle very cleanly, so I figured I’d try to make one out of steel. I would be…
Optional Aluminum Panel
I had a surprise morning off from work due to some cancellations, so I spent a couple of hours working on a trailing edge support for the optional aluminum panel that goes under the door. I like the idea of using this panel for two main reasons. One is to make for a place to…
Door Latches and Boot Cowl
I wanted to work on something other than the boot cowl for a little while, so I put together one of the door latches. I’m planning to use Bob’s design for the latch and will add some locks. I found some very compact cylinders at Home Depot for under $5 each. I got 3 that…
Exhaust Tunnel and Barts RV
I only had a few minutes to work today, but I got the exhaust tunnel attached and the little pieces clecoed. Last night we went to visit Bart’s RV-8 Project. He had the whole EAA chapter over and cooked some burgers. Bart’s project is coming along nicely and he’s going to put the engine on…
Boot Cowl Head Scratching
I was fairly proud of the way the firewall turned out, so I started working on the boot cowl. Richard built the instrument panel top with a removable triangle panel so that the joint is on the inside of the windshield. Bob’s prototype is just the opposite, with the hole for the cabane struts cut…
Quality Control and Pushrods
Today I spent most of the day working in the hangar and it was great fun. I spent about an hour sorting out the dumped pile of hardware, and this was a good experience. I got to be pretty fast with identifying the #6 and #8 nutplates. I also started going through the wing counting…
Firewall Trimming Continued
Here is a bit more time with working on the firewall, with no substantial content beyond the last post. I just got back into town from a nice weekend of fishing, and while I was gone the firewall didn’t trim itself.
Fuel Systems and Brakes
Today I finished welding the elevator trim pushrods: I also took an inventory of the fuel system and brakes to figure up which fittings I’ll need and how much line to use. I went back to read the Beartracks and realized that Bob recommended 5052 Aluminum lines instead of the softer and much cheaper 3003….
Counting Bolts Again
Today I spent half an hour or so going through my list of bolts to buy again, this time with regard for the possibility of drilling our own solid bolts. It’s not very much time, but it’s all we could fit into the schedule today. I did manage to dump out a little tackle box…
Answering Questions
I called Bob today and asked him about the AN210-3A vs -3B pulleys. He said either would work just fine. I also asked him about the braided fuel line, which is something I’ve been waffling about for a while. The issue is that the current fuel lines are braided stainless lines instead of solid 3003…
Hardware Patrol
Today I continued my hardware patrol. I have been through the entire fuselage and the control stick and have replaced and/or noted what I’ll need to get to continue. I can definitely justify the expense of a drilling guide since I have lots of bolts that are good candidates for drilling for cotter keys. I…
Nuts and Bolts
Sorting out which bolt goes to which nut and where the hardware is suposed to be.
Organizing and Inventory
Making a list and checking it twice!
Putting the Fuselage on the Landing Gear
Putting the fuselage on the landing gear so that it will be easier to move from the trailer!