Lower cowl and gear leg fairings

I have been working on the lower cowl and gear leg fairings over the last couple weeks.   Finally got them to a point where I am happy with how things are working/flying.   At first the gear leg fairings affected my trim a bit and the Slip/Skid ball was about ½ off.   I simplify adjusted the gear leg fairings and after two flights of adjustment by trim was dead on.   Not sure why people are so concerned about these, or why they add tabs to their rudder.  A simple minor adjustment on the gear leg fairings straightens things out perfectly.   Anyway, I will probably do some more minor tweaking and fiberglass work/priming then call these done for the summer.

Finished Panel and Interior

So I am getting everything back in the plane to get it ready for the big weigh in and I am really hoping for under 1100 lbs empty weight.  I tried to build light, but the proof will be shown pretty soon.   Here you can see my panel and all its components back in place for the final time, the seats and most of the aluminum covers are in too, but of  course they might come back out at some point.   Just a bit more work on the interior and some finishing touches on the exterior and everything will be on-board the plane and she'll be ready for to get on the scales..  Oh, and I got my EXPERIMENTAL placard installed on the back wall too !

20,000th Rivet !

Today was another pretty big milestone on the RV.  Bekah came out to the hangar and we finished shooting all the rivets on the plane and got the last top skin riveted on for good.   I don't think anyone really knows how many rivets are in an RV, but I can tell you over the last 4 years I got them all and 20K seems about right.  Its well known that there are at least 18,000 rivets anyway.

Before Bekah got up to the airport and since I had pulled out the panel, I had great access through the sub-panel where the map box goes.  With the wide open hole, I was almost able to shoot and buck all rivets on the right side skin by myself.   Just a few remaining for when Bekah arrived.

After lunch I put the panel back in and Bekah and I started shooting all the rivets on the left side of the skin.  I climbed deep under the RV Panel and bucked while Bekah shot from outside.  We got them all and the plane looks really good now.   Time to finish getting the panel back in place and then onto the final stages before the first engine start.  ;-)

Continued Finishing touches

It has been a while since I have posted, but in that time I have been working through and torquing all the control surfaces and control columns etc.   I had an issue with the autopilot servo arm where it started to bind with the Elevator push rod when given full “UP” elevator.  I lengthened the servo push rod arm about 3/16 inch to where it now avoids binding.   With that corrected, I will now validate all my torques and verify secured wiring in the tail cone and under the seats before I put all the covers and seats back in place.   Next steps after that are to finish the panel, rivet on the top forward skin, then prep for the first engine start.  Oh, and then there is that pesky empennage fairing which has been avoiding me for the last few weeks.   Weather might be getting warm enough to do something about that too.   Not much left after that.. 

I got my Transition Training scheduled with Mike Seager down in Oregon in the middle of March.  After that I will hopefully having nothing more to do on this thing except fly it..  J

Oh, I also have been working on final touches with tips and lighting.   Here is a video I shot last time I was at the hangar.

Two wings on !

Mid last week, my brother in-law and his wife met Bekah and I for dinner up by Paine field.  Of course I had to get some work on in the plane, so we quickly ran to the hangar and they helped us pin the wing into place.  Took about 15 minutes, and we were out of there..  That set me up for this weekend to get the NAS bolts in place and torqued down so that I officially have two wings on the plane.  It looks great and finally people really understand what it is I am building.  ;-)   The weather here has been really cold so I haven’t got as much done on it as I would like, but I did finish all the tubing and installed the Pitot tube in the left wing.  Also, did a bit of wiring, but left the rest for a warmer day.  The list of things to do is winding down, but I still have a few hard core months of work ahead of me.  Putting the pressure on myself so I don’t miss any good flying days as spring arrives..   ;-)

One wing on !

Lots of progress this weekend.  Started with a plan to have a friend meet Bekah and I at the hangar to help get the wing on.  I thought through as much as I could ahead of time and with the 3 of us and a 4^th that showed up last minute we got the wing pined on with drift pins really easily.   I then rubbed some Boe Lube all over the NAS bolts and while Bekah lifted the wing tip to unload the bolts, I drove the first (an upper) one in with a rubber mallet and no issues at all.  Then I tried to drive a lower bolt and it was so close to the floor that I hesitated, plus it wasn’t going in so well..  Then I was loaned a short rivet gun.  Bekah again unloaded the wing by lifting the tip and the rivet gun helped slide the bolt right in.  Was crazy how smooth it went in by smacking it with a rivet gun.

Then I spend the rest of the day working the wiring in the wing root and hooking up the fuel lines etc.  At this point, the right wing is pretty well in place now.. Time to move to the left.

A New Look

I installed the rudder got in the cockpit and worked the pedals.  Everything was great, the rudder swung from stop to stop and all was good.  Then I got ambitious and started hooking up the tail wheel chains and cut them too short, so will need to make another order from Vans.  After that I took a look at the blue protective cover, knowing that with the plane at the airport it will have to come off pretty soon.  So I test pulled a piece off the rudder and underneath there was a bunch of residue on the metal..  I kind of freaked out and started yanking blue off the entire fuse.  Lucky for me the only real place where residue existed was on the rudder, so I cleaned it up good with acetone and a microfiber cloth, then gave the whole plane a onceover.   Now the plane has a very shiney new look.

The Empennage goes back on

Now that I am at the hangar and have been able to get it somewhat set up, I started working on the plane again.   I installed the Vertical and Horizontal stabilizer for the last time !   Since I had already fit them previously, all I had to do was torque the bolts down and make sure everything went into place.   I haven’t completely finished the empennage tips, but am assuming I can do them after the fact..  Will do a little research on that before I go too far down the road.

I also swapped my flag because I had it backwards.   Who would have known there is a specific way to hang a flag on a vertical wall, but I definitely want to make sure its hanging correctly.

Don’t mind the clutter in the hangar, I haven’t got it fully fitted out yet.  ;-)

Moved the plane to the Hangar

This weekend was a big weekend on the project and I couldn't have done it without the help of guys from my EAA chapter.  I was able to borrow the perfect trailer for the job and also a great truck to make the move.  I did have to prep the trailer and get everything ready so the trailer sat in my driveway overnight.  Saturday morning started early and it ended up being soo easy to load the plane in the trailer.  It fit perfectly and tie downs were in the perfect spots.  I had built some blocks for the spar slot, but ended up not needing to use them.  We hooked up the trailer and off to the airport stressing about every imperfection in the road on the way up.

Once we got to the airport, the trailer is so low that we were able to roll the plane right out and right into the hangar.  It wasn't the best weather rain, snow, wind..   but no worries with the enclosed trailer the RV was safe.

 

 

Canopy fitting complete - Ready for the Move

I spent the last couple nights working on final fitting the canopy and the rear window.  The canopy lugs went in without much issue, but the passenger side did hit the longeron cover that it has to transition through to get captured by the retaining mechanism.  To correct, had to grind of a small amount of the rear flange on the lug.  No problem, looks good, in fact I did the same on the right just so it looks the same.   Other than that I have them positioned pretty much perfectly. 
 
Then it was onto getting the final fit of the rear window to Canopy.  During construction I left both about 1/32 too long so that I could really nail the final fit after I riveted the front skin, which effects canopy forward aft location.  Now that I am reasonably sure the canopy won’t move much, or at least that I can control its movement (with my forward stop mod I built in about a year ago) it was time to final fit this thing.   Lots of sanding and the rear window was in and out about 6 times, but I finally zeroed in on it and got the canopy to close.   I used a long straight sanding bar and am really surprised how accurate I got the fit between the canopy  and window.   Looking at it, the seam is extremely straight and uniform.  I am a little shy of 1/16 inch gap so I might open it up a small bit more to allow for expansion etc..    Right now,  I don’t even think water would drip through due to surface tension.

At this point with the lugs done and canopy/rear window fit,  the plane is ready to head to the airport !

 

 

Canopy Final Fit

A friend came over yesterday and helped me put the canopy on for what might be the last time ?  ?   It will definitely be the last time before I head to the airport that is for certain.  It went on well and looks good.  It’s weird to think it has been over a year since I had it on the plane.  Anyway, the leading edge had to be filed down a bit as it kept wanting to catch when I opened the canopy.  Also, the passenger side is about 1/16^th inch wide (overhang) which I will need to work on somehow, but other than that it fits great.  These canopies are so difficult to fit because of so many moving parts during construction that builders often don’t end up with perfect fits.  But with a few tweaks mine will be just great.  Next step is to work on the canopy lugs and fit the rear windscreen.  That will require quite a bit of plexi sanding which shouldn't be a problem.   I’ll be finished before Friday which is a good thing…..  BIG MOVE THIS WEEKEND !

I have coordinated help with Trucks and Trailers to make the big move this weekend !   Taking the RV up to her permanent home at Paine Field !   Then it’s a lot of cold weather work to get her ready for the summer.  ;-)

Canopy Fairing Continued, Continued, Complete !

One more round of epoxy and micro balloons followed by lots of sanding.  Then a coat of high build primer also sanded smooth.  No low spots, looks good, so I shot on a coat of two part epoxy primer.   Looks great and is now sealed and will fly that way until final paint.

Time to call it good.

Canopy Fairing Continued, Continued

Another day of work on the canopy fairing.  I sanded again for an hour and things are looking really good.  Some minor low spots so it needs one or two more sessions before I can put some primer on it and call it good.  Here is a shot of it after the sanding session, then another pic with another coating of dyed epoxy with Microballoons.  I probably don't need to be using black dye anymore, but it looks good and I think it makes it easier to see low spots.   Also, with the microbaloons I don't need to use the peel ply which also makes it easier to see low spots since they stay shiney.  Each coat I am completely recoating the entire surface, as it seems to work better.  Finallly I was really nervous about getting close to the tape, but its stronger than you think and I peal off the yellow each time leaving on the PVC tape which is underneath the yellow (the PVC tape is extreamly tough).

Canopy Fairing Continued

After the 7 layers cured from the first session, I took some #40 grit sandpaper on the backside of a rubber sanding block and started shaping the sloped curve in the front.   About an hour of sanding and it started looking pretty good.  There was a lower spot through the length of the curve, which will be filled with additional coats of epoxy.   I also made sure at this point to scuff up the entire forward metal surface.  Then after cleaning the entire forward canopy fairing and skin, I mixed some additional dyed epoxy with micro-balloons to coat the entire area with a thick layer.  This process will be replicated several times.   Once this dries its back to sanding but it should be easier with the micro-balloons in the epoxy.  Covering the entire front section will hide all the rivets and make it look very smooth when complete.  I also buried the exposed screw heads that hold the strut block on the inside.   Hope I don’t ever need to get to those in the future.

Canopy windscreen fairing

Tonight I dug deep into the canopy fairing.  I started by sanding down the filet until it was smooth and ready for the layers of fiberglass to come.  Then I cut 7 pieces of glass fiber every 1/4 inch from ¾ all the way to 2 ¼.  I made each one progressively longer starting from about 38 inches all the way up to 52, since on the outside edges you don’t need as much curve in the fairing.   Basically these got layered with the thinnest one first gradually thickening up to make a smooth transition for the curve of the windscreen.  I started by mixing some epoxy with flox and black dye and painted the full surface so I had a smooth black surface from the inside.  Then as you can see I started with the first layer which was followed by 6 more all with black dye.   When finished to where I had a fairly smooth transition I removed the yellow electric tape (but still had my PVC Pipe tape in place) to make clean edge and then applied peel ply to help stop runs and give a better finish once dried.   This was pretty stressful part of the project and I will only see tomorrow what I came up with.  From what I can tell it looks pretty good. 

From this point forward I have days and days of sanding/filling/sanding/filling/sanding/filling..  Until it looks amazing.  ;-)