First Engine Start !

After being so quiet for so long, my engine finally was able to make some NOISE !    The first engine start was a success, but it didn't go without a couple hitches..   First the plan was to see all the fuel line junctions by removing all the fairings that I had to install for the weigh in.  That didn't take to long, then I had to verify all my fuel lines were torqued and looked good.  Also I had to upgrade my Dynon to 5.1 which includes data logging which is perfect timing for me because I can track multiple times a second all the temps and pressures of my engine during start up and break in.

To prep the engine I had to turn the prop several times to get oil up the oil pressure hose.  This also pushed oil all around in the engine so it was good to do prior to the first start.  Vans indicates you pull the top plugs and hit the starter to do this.  I found turning by hand several times pushed oil up the hose and primed the pressure line just fine.  So I replaced the plugs including anti seize and torqued them.  Things were looking good at this point.  

Now it was time to start working with the Blue 100LL Avgas, it sure was pretty in the sunshine.  I put a gallon or so through each tank and sloshed it around, then fully drained each tank.   I am almost 100% confident that the tanks were pristine to begin with, but just in case, it is a good idea to rinse them out. 

First glitch came up when I tried to run fuel to prime the fuel pump.   Turning the pump on didn't do anything.  I had disconnected the fuel line at the spider and nothing would happen.   I had to get fuel to the pump so used a siphon technique to get fuel to the pump which worked fine and from that point forward fuel pump was able to pull from both tanks with adequate pressure.

All was looking good, pulled the plane out of the hangar, tied it to the car and set up a few cameras..  Confirmed that all the assistants there were looking for the same stuff and communication was working OK.  Went over everything a final time and then jumped in the plane, full of stress ready to fire it up.   Sure I had a checklist and knew exactly what I was going to do, I even read it and double checked it but sure enough the first couple attempts at starting I had forgot to turn the mags on..   No way would it fire without the ignition on, so once that problem was corrected it fired right up..   Man was I stressed..

BEKAH TOOK A PERFECT HD VIDEO :       Click here for the Video    

Then I noticed that my RPMs were reading as double due to the Electric ignition sending two pules per revolution vs just one.  I have since corrected this, but during the engine run I just idled it at an indicated 2000 rpm (which really was 1000).   The engine ran great, but was rich at idle causing a bit of roughness which I will need to look at over time.  I ran it up and cycled the prop, tested each ignition and then back to idle.   I then leaned it out quite a bit at idle and it started to run much smoother.  Did a quick idle lean test and noticed it raise a few hundred RPM, which is consistent with being too rich..  Then shut her down.  You really don’t want to run the engine much on the ground when you need to break it in.  The only way to break in an airplane engine is to run it at high power in the air for several hours.

I will never forget the slight smell of burning as the new engine came to life.  It really smelled brand new, sort of like a new car, but it was a new airplane.   It was wonderful ! 

Firewall Passthroughs, oil filler tube

The last few days I have continued to work on some of the final touches of the firewall forward.   I was able to torque down and safety tie the oil filler tube, which sure seems easier than it turned out to be.  Since you can't get a 1 and 1/8th inch size wrench down in that area I had to use a rubber/nylon strap to wrap around the base of the tube several times until it got tight then torqued it manually until I got it in just the right spot to put a wrench on it.  In the end it worked out well and I got the safety wire on it nice and tight.  Oh, I also put some permatex in the threads to help avoid leaks in the future.

I also started closing off the firwall passthroughs with the firesleave wrapped around the wiring.  This was difficult as well since I had to get the wire to move forward about an inch to wrap it, then slide it back into the passthrough tube.  I got the right side done last night and will work on the left side tonight..

Radio Check ! also laced and torqued the firewall forward

Don’t ever key your mic without an antenna connected !  Lesson learned..   At least with some newer radios, it doesn't destroy the radio, but it sure gives you a scare..  After learning that lesson and with the antennas connected I had Rebekah run across the street with a handheld tuned to "air to air" frequency (122.75) and we completed a double com check from each seat.  Worked perfectly.

I also was able to remove all the zip ties that were holding the wire bundles in the Firewall forward compartment..  There are a few heat resistant ones that are holding some hoses and tubes etc.. that will remain..  But for the most part I replaced everything firewall forward by tieing up all the bundles with waxed lacing cord.

Since I was back to working on the firewall forward I torqued all the remaining items an started riveting in the baffle rubber material.  It went in easier than I thought since I had already pre-drilled it with the baffles before final assembly.  For the most part except for some odds and ends I am finished with the firewall forward.
 

Wings in Hangar, Tail Wheel Endorsement achieved, continued odds and ends

I haven’t posted for a while because things lately have been crazy in my life..  Won’t go into that boring stuff, just talking about planes here...  I have made lots of progress on external non-building items related to my flying though.  I have been training for the last few weeks in a Aeronca Champ to get my tail wheel endorsement.   Last night I got signed off on both my endorsement and my bi-annual flight review.  I am now current and good to go but will continue flying every couple weeks until early spring when I go down to Oregon and take a crash course (pun not intended) on RV.   It’s good to be back in the air again.  Here is a pic of the plane I have been training in.  Needless to say I am ready to graduate to my RV..

Also, My wings have been in a friends hangar for the last 6 months.  Over the weekend we rolled them across a few hangar rows at Paine field from his hangar into mine.  It was kind of like their first “taxi”, and it was fun to roll them past some 787 Dreamliners along the way.    Then I started getting my hangar (er.. man cave) set up nicely.   It’s going to take a while, but so far I have a few racks, the tail section my American Flag and a few other items to make it a nice manly place to hang out.   I’ll try to grab a photo this weekend of my hangar set up and post with this blog entry.

 Also, I have made some additional progress on my project.  I torqued and safety wired the prop, connected the light speed electronic ignition and fabricated a support for the plug wires above the engine.  Getting close to being complete with the firewall forward.

Fuel Senders and Lower Baffle Ties

I went ahead and set up my fuel senders, leaving a bit of extra room to ensure they can connect to the tanks appropriately.   These guys will eventually be tied to the fuel line vents as they exit the cabin in front of the main spar.  I ended up cutting a ¼ inch hole with a bushing through right next to where the tank vent penetrates.  The senders require power for which I used an open terminal on the VP-X and the grounds were ganged at the ground block.    I did the connections with D-Sub pins in line and a loop with some heat shrink to ensure they don’t separate. 

Also, I found some extra brake line and using safety wire around washers so that it wouldn’t cut into the aluminum, I tied together the lower baffle flanges.  Van’s indicates to use some rod then tap it to be secured with a nut, but this method is used by most all builders and works really well, if not better.  The problem is you have oil return lines under the cylendars that can interfere with the solid rod, having a flexible solution is perfect in this case.  I plan to take an additional small loop of safety wire through both washers, just in case the main wire breaks, I don’t want the washers loose in the engine compartment. 

Also, I continue to fine tune and torque fittings firewall forward.   Things are really coming together now.

Misc Firewall Forward

With the baffles in place more or less permanently I slipped the oil dipstick in place and started connecting the CHT and EGT sensors.  I guess Dynon indicates you can cut them as necessary, but they aren’t very friendly wires to work with once cut, so learning pretty quickly I ended up only cutting a couple of them that would have been way to long.  The Dynon fasteners that are provided are fairly large, but they are secure and they keep a good electrical insulation between the two wires.  I am learning that just heat shrink around wires, doesn’t always guarantee a good layer of insulation.

I also quickly secured my engine alternate air cable.  This is only to be used in emergencies, if for example the air filter ices up or something.  This allows for air inside the cowling to be routed directly to the engine.  Probably will never be used, but will be checked each annual for proper operation.  Right now it is quite smooth, and I did exactly what the plans called for with the cable and got the length right on the money.

I also got some RG-400 and ran a couple more lengths to just behind the baggage compartment.  I decided to go with both my transponder antenna and my ADS-B antenna under the plane on the outside about 2 feet apart right along the edges.  I think it will both look and function good.  Pics shortly.

Final Paint on the Baffles

Some builders leave the baffles withouth paint, others go all the way and have them powdercoated.  I decided I wanted to do down the middle wtih a more finished look to my plane but not the weight and complexity of powdercoat.   The SW Genesis paint I have been using is so rock hard I decided to use it on the baffles and am I excited about how it turned out.   The black looks really good against the yellow at least from my perspective. 

After the paint dried, I was able to start putting some things together for the last time, which is always exciting.  My baffles will hopefully never be removed again.  The air filter won't stay in though just put it there to see how it looked.  I also did some re-routing of the plug wires and sensor wires to separate them and secure them in a final state.  Oil cooler has been remounted as well.  The bummer is that I destroyed my paint gun..  For some reason the black paint was so thick it dried in the middle of the gun and I couldn't get it out.  Gun is beyond repair and I only have a few more items to paint so not looking forward to paying for a new gun.  Oh well, off to harbor freight to buy another HVLP gun..  

Finished Fuel Line Routing

Taking a tip from a fellow builder’s site I ordered some fuel line from Bonaco to allow for a short final run of my fuel line from the Fuel Injection servo to the Spider on the top of the engine.  I had to remove and cut a hole in the inner cylinder baffle and install a grommet, to go around the fire sleeved fuel line, but everything went together really well.  Inline I included the "red cube" fuel flow transducer, which measures my fuel burn.  I feel pretty good about this set up.  I had removed the baffles to allow for easier access, so am also taking the time to prep them and final paint them before re-installing them.  Bekah snapped a photo of me out on the deck doing RV work.  Living in Seattle is great, as I was out there two RVs flew overhead.   With the motivation above, I started scrubbing the metal really fast after that.  ;-)

Control Cables

In the last week or so I have been working on odds and ends..  Nothing very glamorous, but  still making progress.   I received a braided ground strap, that fits great between the engine and the battery terminal.  This is needed to ground the engine since the starter grounds directly through the engine case. (sorry for sideways photo)  Also, I did some final paint, including the FAB (induction box) and engine controls bracket.  With the engine control bracket painted I installed the prop and mixture controls and hopefully won’t have to remove them ever again.  I need to wait on installing the throttle control, since it has to go through the center tunnel cover which hasn't been drilled yet.

I chose to run both Prop and Mixture through the center pedal support which worked out great.   A grommet with a  large hole fit both cables and holds them secure.  Also ran the Alt Engine Air cable through the bracket.

Finally I installed and cut the parking brake cable.  Fits nicely and functions very smooth.  I am really glad I did the parking brake.  It was easy to install and will be super useful down the road.  Also note my location is such that I can reach in while standing outside the plane to release the parking brake !  It always bothers me on planes where you have to jump in side or climb on the wing to release the brake.

Various electrical and firewall forward

I started off by making sure I avoid one of the worse things that could happen in the garage..  J   Not only did I disconnect the starter lead, but I taped it up so that there is no way that contact could be made during any testing of the electrical system.  To have the starter fire off in the garage would be a regrettable event for sure.  After that I temporarily connected the battery and fired the master switch, clunk went the solenoid, then on came the lights on the VP-X.   I hooked it up to my computer and did a quick download of my config file.  I was surprised that it didn’t need a firmware update, but at this point all seems current.  The VP-X is now ready to start running my electrical as I connect.

After that I did some organizing of the wiring, trying to figure out the best way to keep this clean and secure, I think I got it pretty good so far, but lots more wire to come.  All my components are still just clamped in place, except for the SkyView Backup battery and the main battery bus..  I have committed to these locations, but I still may shift or flip the battery bus down the road.  It is key to be able to secure the power coming straight from the battery at a location close to where it connects to the bus.  I am really nervous when it comes to committing to locations for these components, but sooner or later I will just have to.

I also finished up the Magneto blast tube and using some AWG 20 shielded wiring, separated the shield and ground then attached to the appropriate locations on the Mag.  I ran this to the left side of the panel where the majority of switches is going to be.  I have ran other various wire to that location as well, so am starting to get some pretty good wire bundles going at this point.

Front Ramps and Sniffle Valve

I wanted to show a couple pics of the front ramp on the passenger side of the plane.   Per plans I created a conical bend that gets mounted to help shape the baffles like the inlet area on the cowl.  On the pilot side I will most likely put nothing because I have such a snug fit of the air filter and side baffle as it stands.   The rubber material will create a slight bend and will fit in just fine.

I also placed the sniffle valve which is a one way valve designed to let extra fuel and water escape that might have been inducted.  This allows it to “leak” when on the ground, through a tube and out by the exhaust.  When the engine is running this valve is sealed up and everything even water goes through the engine with no problems.  I did put a bend in the tube as I will eventually put in an oil quick drain that will come right down the middle of the sniffle valve.   I am holding it in place in this pic.  Also, due to my exhaust set up I drilled a hole to support the sniffle tube in the exhaust hanger, vs the firewall flange.   My tube has to go below the hanger since it can’t fit between the exhaust and the flange.  You can kind of see it in this picture, right now it is just zip tied but I will replace with adel clamp when I get more in. 

Also, visible in this pic, I put a heat shield on the exhaust that will help deflect heat from the throttle cable.

Alternator blast tube and continued baffle seals

Updated:  After some advice from a fellow builder, I contacted Plane Power and got clarification on the blast tube.  They do indicate that it should be either across the back, or from the back.  I will modify my set up a bit to change the blast tube as initially I have it blowing on where air comes out from the internal fans.  The directions aren't very clear here so I am glad I asked, but my new blast tube will take a but of a "U" shape to bring the air more towards the back of the allternator.  New pics to come..

I took a couple minutes to think about how to secure the alternator blast tube.   Many times on experimental aircraft people over engineer the solution as I know I have done in the past..  In this case its always better to keep it as simple as possible.  Here I simply took some safety wire and a few loops secured the tube to the alternator strut.  It will hold it secure forever and is targeting the rear part of the alternator and regulator.   Seems good to me.

UPDATE:  I understand now that the blast tube is supposed to blow on the back of the alternator, so I have now created a reverse loop on the blast tube bringing air in directly from the back.   I'll try to get photos soon.

Also, I started messing around with the rubber seals again on the baffles.   I’m making progress, but not sure I am comfortable with it yet.  I’ll keep plugging away this weekend.

Misc FWF and Avionics

Over the last few days I have been trying to figure out what to do next.   I am pretty much beyond the instructions/plans now so am basically on my own with some help from other internet sites.  There are many ways to do things, but for me I decided to try test fit all my compnents behind the panel before I drill anything or run any permanent wiring.  The attached pic is what this looks like..   Crazy busy, but its good to be able to try to figure wire runs and make sure I have everything in a reasonable place before I start drilling and fitting.

I did take the plunge and drill an additional hole in the firewall for the alternate engine air cable.  The spot I picked is out of the way on the engine side, but yet gives me lots of options on the cockpit side for the cable run.   I think I will be happy with this location.  Oh, and anywhere you see zip ties, is most likely temporary.  These will be replaced with appropriate fasteners down the road.

I also am hoping to get some final steps completed on the Baffles, hoping to get to paint at least the rear baffles this weekend.  For now I am drilling some blast tube holes and locating runs for the electric ignition and plug wires etc.  Also starting to work on the rubber air seal material, which is a completely different experience.

Oil Breather Tube

I had houseguests this weekend, so didn’t get as far as I had hoped, but I did find a unique solution for the oil breather tube.  Problem with the 90 degree spin on oil filter is that you can’t use the Van’s recommended breather tube solution because the oil filter is in the way.   I was able to reach a solution by purchasing some 5/8 inch rubber fuel tube.  Since the exit on the engine is ¾ and the flared end of the provided aluminum tube is ¾ I used the vans rubber tube for the first connection.  Then cut the aluminum tube a couple inches below where the flare ended so that I could transition the ¾ tube down to the 5/8 inch tube.  So a few extra hose clamps, but a tight and effective solution that doesn’t touch the oil filter or the engine mount, and is solid using the same lower half of the Van’s solution.

Here are some pics.  Note than on the last pic, the exhaust hanger tube is going to be replaced.  Just not comfortable with that set up.  But in the pic you should be looking at the oil breather tube anyway, so no harm done. :-)

Oil Cooler Cross Brace

I didn’t have much time in the shop last night, but I did pick up some aluminum from the Aircraft Isle at Home Depot to make a cross brace on the oil cooler.  This will help reduce impact of vibration and hopefully eliminate any cracking of the baffles over time.  Again I am not worried about the extra weight with this type of reinforcement since I have the composite prop which has saved several pounds by itself.  With this aside from priming and painting, also some changing out bolts/washers for more appropriate support I am pretty much wrapped up with the oil cooler.   Very clean install and I am glad that I can pretty much call this done.

Oil Cooler !

I have been struggling for a long time with what to do about the oil cooler.  For the IO-375 you need a bigger cooler than what Vans provides, but how big and how to mount it?  Vans offers a 7 tube cooler, Aerosport says you can go as large as a 13 tube cooler for this engine..  But there is no way that big a cooler can fit where I need it to.   So in the end I went with a 9 tube cooler mounted per the plans on the firewall.  It’s bigger than the 7 but still small enough to mount per plans.  Others have gotten pretty creative about mounting bigger coolers in the engine mount, or along the firewall, but in my case I wanted to go with the simple baffles installation.  Simple.. Even though, it took all weekend to complete.  :-)

 

Since a 9 tube is larger than plans, there will be more oil weight in the cooler so vibration is a greater concern as it will be mounted out near the cylinder head.   I reinforced the mount pretty significantly as you can see so am not worried about baffles cracking etc.  I am not worried about adding extra weight with the reinforcement since I saved so much weight by going with the composite prop.  I still plan to mount an angle across the front of the cooler for extra torsional strength, but for the most part, this will be my final install of the cooler.   Rather than saying how I did it I will just post tons of photos.  Looks good and I am glad it is done !