Department of the Interior.

November 26, 2012 / posted in Fuselage / No Comments

7 hours.

Yesterday saw some finishing up of little things firewall forward and I got started on the interior. When I say “started,” I mean started messing things up. I drilled the stiffeners to the center section (why I didn’t do this before I have no idea) and began riveting them on. I got through the majority of my LP4-3 rivets when I realized I hadn’t yet deburred the center section holes. Jackass. So I drilled off the rivets and started deburring holes. I did remember to deburr the stiffeners, so there’s that. Today I tacked on the stiffeners and ordered more LP4-3 rivets. After that, I did some cleanup. With the shop and the ship cleaned out, I figured I could work on the other interior parts that I got from Classic Aero.

The only thing I was worried about was the seat hinges, but the instructions were very clear and well written, or would have been if they were all there. The “see separate instructions for rivnut installation” part just didn’t materialize anywhere in any of the boxes, but after a bit of fumbling, I figured it out.

I got the side panels set up, then the left seat measured for center, drilled, and riveted. Easy. I’ll do the other seat tomorrow or Tuesday. We’re about to start demolition on the downstairs remodel, so who knows when I’ll get back into it.

But the interior is actually a pretty sweat-free affair. Big velcro strips hold the panels to the metal, so all I have to do is stick them on when it’s ready to rock.

Control, I’m Here

November 24, 2012 / posted in Firewall Forward / No Comments

7 hours.

Yes, I’m using a Nitzer Ebb track as a title. Yesterday before the grand face-stuffing of Thanksgiving, I fabricated the bracket for the purge valve. I don’t work with steel much, but 14ga hot-rolled sheet steel isn’t too bad. My bandsaw blade would disagree, I think it’s just about shot. I also killed my grinding wheel. Now that I’ve used it on steel, it’s useless for aluminum. But that little exercise has taught me not to fear steelwork. Not too much at any rate.


Here’s the bracket. The cable goes across the engine to work the purge valve arm.

So today was all about measuring for control cables. Van’s has a 60″ push-pull quadrant cable that should work for throttle, mix, and prop governor control, and ACS has a button-lock cable that should do for the fuel purge. I needed a 65″ cable for the purge, but ACS doesn’t sell one less than 6 feet, and I don’t feel like having a custom cable made for that stupid thing. I’ll make a 72″ cable work.

I also went into a mad panic thinking I’d forgotten to write down the wiring map for the AP servos. I looked for the Trio/MGL wiring instructions for about two hours, because I seem to remember writing the servo-to-cable-to-DB9 colors and positions down on it. I couldn’t find it. After looking everywhere, and thinking I was going to have to reverse-engineer the wiring from what I could see in the clear-shrink-wrapped bundle on the pitch servo.


But no. I tacked it to the wall above the workbench and didn’t think to look there.

With cables measured, I measured the lengths for the remaining hoses I need. I need one for oil and three for fuel. I put in a quote request to PHT, hopefully they’ll be able to turn them around fast.

More bits and bobs

November 18, 2012 / posted in Electrical, Firewall Forward, Panel / No Comments

5 hours.

Since we’re now undertaking a remodel of the downstairs (as if it’s not crazy enough around here) the pressure is on to get the plane done and get it out of the guest house. I’ve been finding all the fiddly things to do and doing them, per last week’s list.

The alt air cable adventures continue. The bracket’s done, and now there’s a hole in the firewall. Suck part is that I have the wrong eyeball, I need the .188 and I have the .210, so it doesn’t actually seal much of anything. New one is on order. I reinstalled the flap brace and drilled the horizontal stabilizer to the the fuse. I had to do this because I replaced the HS-710 bracket a while back because it was crap and I never got around to it.

The panel is also labeled! This is quite nice, but I still need to put the N number on it, as well as the placard that says, “I built this plane, so don’t go looking for certification.”

Cooling blast tube for the alternator is installed, but only halfway, it needs to be secured in such a way that it blows on the alternator. Other blast tubes need to be installed for the magnetos, and then I have to get serious about hoses and control cables.

To Do: FWF

October 29, 2012 / posted in To Do / No Comments

There are a LOT of fiddly things firewall-forward. I’m going to attempt to list all the things I can think of that need to be done here, but I’m sure I’ll miss a lot.

1. Secure spark plug wires at cylinders This is actually done. I’m listing it because it might change.

2. Secure probe wires. Not sure how to handle this Done

3. Wire engine sensors Done. Still need to do MAP tube, but that’s not a wire, so nyah.

4. Finish running alt air control cable.

5. Install breather tube

6. Finish securing main wire bundle

7. Seal airbox/filter interface

8. Get proper governor nuts/lock washers

9. Get governor spring.

10. RTV baffles.

Some of this might be post-airport. The pre-airport list is on a corkboard in the living room.

FWF Sensor Wiring DONE!

October 29, 2012 / posted in Electrical, Firewall Forward / No Comments

10 hours.

This is yesterday and today. Yesterday started with an epic shop cleaning. I have those every so often, and it’s helpful, extremely good to have a workbench devoid of clutter, if only for a little while. Stuff got put away, stuff got tossed out, floors got swept and vacuumed.

The fiddling with the FWF stuff has been progressing as well as I can make it, and the wiring has been a bit of a challenge, especially since the K-Type wires on 2 of the sensors were too short to make it all the way to the RDAC engine monitor module. Then there’s the business of where to actually run things so they don’t rub on other bits or get roasted alive by the exhaust pipes. I got the current sensor done, although I suspect I’ll have to flip it over, I got all the temperature sensor wires run, wrapped, and grounded. About the only thing that didn’t happen is the MAP sensor, which needs a 1/8″ to 1/8″ barbed elbow fitting. Searches have turned up no such animal so far. But technically, that’s not wiring, so legally speaking my FWF sensor wiring is done.


Here’s the beginning of the attachment process. The overbraid K-type wires are a ratbastard to work with. They’re a little like shielded cable, but they’ve got an extra woven sheath below the braid that absolutely sucks to try to get off. Maybe there’s a trick to it, but this was by far the worst suckage of this task.


A slightly different angle. On the RDAC (the grey box), the first 4 pairs are exhaust gas temperature thermocouple inputs. Can’t change them, which kind of sucks, because then I wouldn’t have had to extend a couple of TC wires to make them reach the proper input. Oh yeah, splicing TC wire sucks too. The ty-wrapped snarl at the bottom is the FloScan fuel flow sensor wiring. I installed the FloScan months ago, but never got around to properly wiring it until today.


Still a rat’s nest, but there is progress there. This is right after grounding all the things that needed grounding, being the FloScan, the tach sensor, and the RDAC itself. The EGT and CHT probe wires haven’t been cut to length yet, nor have they been secured by Adel clamps to the firewall.


Ahhh, that’s better. Still some wrapping to be done, but all the wiring is secured and attached.


This shows the oil pressure sensor hooked up and run into the bundle. This will benefit from a couple of Adel clamps attaching the main bundle to the engine mount, but we’re in a pretty good place.

Even more fun: Once I got everything wired, I fired up the EFIS and decided to test out whether or not I’d actually inserted the right wires into the right terminals on the RDAC. This was done by means of a heat gun and a blowtorch. The heat gun raised the temperature of the actual cylinder itself so I could check the reading on the EFIS. The blowtorch was for the EGT probes. Suffice it to say that the method of testing was a great success: I found I had miswired the 1 and 3 cylinders for EGT, and the 2 and 4 cylinders for CHT. It is now all fixed.

Some sensor wiring.

October 4, 2012 / posted in Firewall Forward / No Comments

1.5 hours

Tonight I was able to do a little more work on the engine sensor wiring. Mostly it was about figuring out routing and wrapping hi-temp spiral wrap around probe wires, which is such a chore. Not as bad as Adel clamps though. I have to figure out the technique for those, because they’re killing my fingers. Anyway, the major visual effect achieved tonight is now the plug wires don’t hang out the bottom like sword-slashed entrails. I also got started on wrapping/routing the probe wires, but the wrap will have to come off because I forgot about the MGL current sensor that’s supposed to go on the alternator wire. Grmp. I also had to splice one of the EGT wires, because it was too short to make it all the way to the RDAC. I’m a little concerned about that. Oh, and I have no idea what wire goes to which cylinder. Yep. Awesome, that’s me.

I’m sick of this airplane. My wife is REALLY sick of this airplane. I need to get it done, and soon.

Cabin heat done.

September 24, 2012 / posted in Fuselage / No Comments

6 hours.

I spent a little bit of time installing a little air conditioner in the window, the one we’d previously taken out of the guest house bedroom and put in the dining room window while Shelley makes a wedding dress for a friend of ours.

Putting it in the shop window was brilliant… Nice and cool and comfy, in what passes for a heat wave here near the L.A. beaches.

Once that was done I worked on the alternate air for the snorkel. They have you glopping up the interface between the galvanized steel opening hardware and the fiberglass snorkel with a mix of flox and resin. I guess this makes sense, but it seems kind of half-assed. Once that cures, I can sand it smooth and call it done. The snorkel won’t be done-done until I get the air filter opening pro-sealed in, but then it’s another thing I don’t have to worry about again.

With the goop on the snorkel setting up, I wanted an easy win, so I worked on the cabin heat cable. The plans for this thing aren’t real clear about how you’re supposed to route the cable through the cabin, but I worked it out. The knob sits to the right of the throttle quadrant, so the passenger can easily get at it. I also wanted to do this so I’d have an inkling of what I’d be looking at when installing the alt air cable, which is another Bowden-type cable like the cabin heat. This type of cable is similar to a bicycle brake cable, or if you’re old enough to remember, a choke cable.

Mostly a non-issue. Cabin heat door opens and closes with push-pull. Sounds done to me.

Cowl surfacing, part 2.

September 10, 2012 / posted in Firewall Forward / No Comments

6 hours.

Before I knew anything about fiberglass, I figured the pepto-pink Van’s cowl was pretty much the norm. It’s not. The Van’s cowl is shite. You’re supposed to fill in all the pinholes (and the whole thing is mostly pinholes) by rolling on straight epoxy, then squeegeeing it off. 3 coats go on like that and theoretically, the pinholes are filled in.

The reality is far from theory. What I’ll have to do now, if I want this thing to be even remotely smooth, is to squidge on a layer of micro slurry. Not the paste used for building up a shape, but enough to fill in all the divots. Once that’s done, I’ll be able to sand it smooth, then seal it with another layer of resin.

Or, I could take it to a body shop and have them do it. I need to be very careful not to bust the 51% rule, though, since I got the quickbuild kit to start with.

So the third coat of resin is curing right now, and should be ready for sanding tomorrow.

Since I was in fiberglass mode, I finished the cutout I had to make in the snorkel to allow it to clear the alternator. This is also curing, and should be done enough to permanently install tomorrow.

Aside from that, I reworked the fuel feed line so it makes a little more sense and doesn’t bend at such an extreme angle on the input.

More fiberglass fun – Cowl and baffles.

September 4, 2012 / posted in Firewall Forward / No Comments

4 hours.

Not a complete balls-up, no, but close enough. Yesterday I finished the lower cowl inlet baffles. Almost. I still need to cut away some extra airseal that blocks a portion of the snorkel intake, but other than that, I’m done with airseal. I hope. That’s the good news.

The not so good news is that I decided to move on to filling the pinholes in the pepto-pink lower cowl. Of course I cocked it up, because I failed to remember one simple thing: The resin mix is supposed to be applied to the surface with a squeegee, not just slathered on with a brush. I should also have cleaned the surface with acetone, then soap and water before applying. So now I get to sand off a bunch of resin and redo it. Fortunately, I didn’t do the whole thing, just the front third, but it’s still a pain and a lesson in attending to detail.

Since that was going to have to wait for another solid block of time, I decided to finish the heat muff install. When I received the heat muff, one of the lock nuts on the through-rods didn’t have threads in it. I got some replacements from the manufacturer, and that is now installed. I also cut and attached the SCAT tubing to the muff, the heater box, and the baffle vent. OK, that last part still needs to have the hose clamp tightened, but it’s pretty much done.

Cowl and foam

July 29, 2012 / posted in Firewall Forward / No Comments

4 hours.

Yesterday I glued the sub-ramp I made the day before to the cowl. Today, I shot my marine foam into the space underneath the ramps in preparation for glassing in the sides and blocking travel of high pressure air through the spaces underneath the ramps to the low-pressure area to the sides and below the baffles.

I may have used too much foam. It just keeps growing.

Tomorrow I’ll carve out the excess foam and glass in the tunnels.

I also took a crack at filling the area around the oil door. This might turn out badly, but it’s just resin and micro, so I can always sand it off and start over.

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