Project: MartinEuroXS   -  
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Builder Name:Christian Martin   -  
Project:   Europa - Europa XS   -   VIEW REPORTS
Total Hours:
Total Flight Time:
Total Expense:N/A
Start/Last Date:Apr 08, 2017 - Dec 31, 2020
Engine:Rotax 912S
 
Friendly URL: https://eaabuilderslog.org?s=MartinEuroXS

Home or Last Project Picture

Feb 12, 2021     Screws on Aft Access Covers       Category: Fuselage
Finally got around to trimming the flanges, preparing the access covers and installing nutplates for the aft access covers.


 
Jan 19, 2021     Putting it together       Category: Fuselage
So now that I have most parts completed wanted to put it all together to see how it looks and taxy around a little. Everything worked pretty good. Took he opportunity to take a few pictures. Putting the wings on takes a little practice.

The ailerons still need paint so not installed yet.


 
Sep 13, 2020     Brakes       Category: Fuselage
The brakes in this kit had been sitting for 16 years. I had already unstuck the master cylinder but the caliper looked very clean. Not so. The piston was solid frozen. I tried with compressed air and noting. Parties penetrant and notifying. Let it overnight and read l other. I discovered a very neat idea where you a grease gun to create pressure. Worked very well. Cleaned the cylinder and piston ama assembled in the airplane. Bled the brakes and they are working great.


 
Sep 07, 2020     Training Wheels       Category: Fuselage
After a successful engine start this weekend today I worked on designing and building the training wheels so I can take the fuselage out of the cradle. I decided to build them out of 2x4s to keep it easy. I think it will work OK.


 
Sep 02, 2020     Panel and Fuel Tank Stuff       Category: Fuselage
First apologies to those who follow this log (Hi Marty) because I've been lazy lately. But progress is happening. I got the panel wired with the essential needed to start the engine. I am also almost ready with the fuel tank (that is a real job BTW).

Note that I wired the panel to 1.- Be simple, 2.- Everything is on connectors so I can remove it from the airplane easily. So far it is working. I did spin the starter yesterday, it was cool to see things moving. My panel is boring but light. No flashy lights to see when the master is turned on.

Some pictures of the fuel tank plumbing. I wont start ranting but boy I wished this whole thing was simpler. And I have the large hole. Can't even start to imagine how you do this with two little holes. I did a combination of aluminum tubes (only to the valve, hoses from that point) and AN fittings with hoses. If you think about it you have fuel feed, fuel return fuel level and drains for two sides. Gets busy and very very difficult to stick your hands in there. I cursed a lot.

For now my goal is to start the engine this weekend. Waiting for some electrical supplies but I think I can do it. That would be a real treat!


 
Aug 16, 2020     Electrical       Category: Fuselage
Started work on electrical items. Got the battery and arranged the stuff that goes on the firewall. I made a little tray for the battery today. It was fun to do layup work again and I'm happy how that tray came out.

Ac ouple fo pictures of panel progress. Put the master, ignition and start switch in place. I also got a USB charger from the aviation section at Amazon. Main reason for it is that it has a small voltmeter in it. Will see.


 
Mar 07, 2020     Firewall       Category: Fuselage
Following Bud Yerly's suggestions on a modification to the mono firewall I proceeded to make templates. I think it came out pretty good, we will see. My plan is to forget making the firewall from stainless steel and will instead build it using galvanized mild steel as it is done in the Maule's, Piper Cubs and probably other aircraft. After hearing about the horror stories of how hard it is to cut and drill stainless why bother. Well, this experiment will show the pros and cons of either material.

This firewall is made from four pieces: two sides which bolt to the foot wells. Then a lower piece and an upper are bolted to these support angles. All pieces are fairly simple to make (mostly flat or with one bend) except for the upper part which requires a space for the bungee. But it's really quite simple.


 
Mar 01, 2020     Filling fuselage joints       Category: Fuselage
Since panting the interior is finished today I finally started to fill the joints in the fuselage exterior. I haven't quite gotten the hang of it but getting there. Initially brushed too much epoxy on the surface to improve adhesion. The problem with that is that the micro filled epoxy will absorb the epoxy on the surface and get too wet. The trick is to apply the coat and then almost remove it with a rag or paper. It will probably take a couple of applications to get the right technique.

Included are a few pictures of the painted interior. The plan was to cover the sides with panels but since I had the paint in the gun decided to spray the sides anyway. Actually it doesn't look that bad so probably will leave doing panels for last. Yes you can see a few wrinkles in the glass but looks OK and its light.


 
Feb 22, 2020     FWD Interior Paint Finished       Category: Fuselage
Forward section of cockpit is painted and clear coated. Need to finish aft bulkhead and the door frame. Still need side panels, floor carpets, etc. A bit tedious and progress has been slow but its coming out nice.

Included a few pictures of the interior.


 
Feb 16, 2020     Interior Paint       Category: Fuselage
Finally, sprayed Zolatone! Overall, the process went well. The outcome was good although not perfect. One thing is that there is a technique to applying this product. It's actually not as bad as I expected but the instructions on how to apply must be followed. A little practice before applying the product would have been nice but in reality you don't want to waste product and where are you going to find a surface large enough to really get good practice? The second thing that hindered perfection was the use of a cheap Harbor Freight pressure pot spray gun. The gun is not that bad but for some reason the paint would not flow at times. That caused the coverage to be a little uneven. But honestly, unless you are going for a Grand Champion award, to spend $300+ on a good gun was outside of my budget. Anyway, the result was actually quite good except for a couple places were it could have been better.

The pictures don't do much justice to the job but here they are. The areas you see unpainted in the pictures will be covered with upholstered panels. Interestingly, Zolatone hides a lot better than I was told it would. The baggage compartment ceiling was sanded but had a good number of wrinkles in the glass. Although that area was a bit if a challenge to spray, it resulted in the best finish. So yes, you do have to hide big imperfections before spraying Zolatone, but it does a great job of hiding small ones.


 
Feb 10, 2020     Interior Finish Continues Category: Fuselage
Entries to this log have been few. I have been working on the plane but progress seems slow. Mostly filing, sanding and priming the interior. Maybe I am overdoing it but I do wan't it to look good and the surface finish of the interior as it comes in the kit is quite bad. But I have pretty much finished prepping the interior and it's primed. Just need to finish some detail on the aft bulkhead and its ready for final Zolatone spraying. Today I ordered the Zolatone and the pressure pot spray gun needed for application. I am hoping to start applying Zolatone in a couple fo weekends from now. No new pictures today because it all looks just like the previous pictures of the interior priming.
 
Feb 01, 2020     Interior priming       Category: Fuselage
After filling and sanding the CM primer was sprayed. Only the areas that will be sprayed with Zolatone are being primed. At this point, since I can't really paint during the week, I just keep fixing little imperfections on the primed surface. then when the weekend comes I spray the areas that need it.I expect to have the Zolatone and its spraying equipment by next week. It;s looking pretty nice.


 
Jan 26, 2020     Cockpit Module Paint       Category: Fuselage
Some work done this weekend filling imperfections in the cockpit module. Ready for another coat of primer.


 
Jan 20, 2020     Interior       Category: Fuselage
Rolled primer on the CM back seats and headrests. Now comes the filling, sanding repainting phase........Once all primed it will be Zolatone time.


 
Jan 01, 2020     Interior Finishing Continues       Category: Fuselage
More sanding and application of primer on the interior. The front part is starting to look better with only some minor blemishes needing attention. Rolled fresh primer on the baggage area, leaving areas that will have carpet unpainted.

Panel module still needs work but primed the instrument face to continue the finishing process.

Once the priming is finished the application of texture paint will follow. Installation of carpet and side panels will complete this finishing process.


 
Jan 01, 2020     Paint Category: Fuselage
 
Dec 27, 2019     Interior Finish       Category: Fuselage
Although I have not updated the log in some time I have been working on the interior finish. I will post pictures as soon as it starts looking like progress is made. For now it's all filling and sanding and dealing with pinholes so it doesn't look like much progress is being made. I had a big issue with the mix ratio of the filler I was using (polyester) and had to remove the filler and redo the work. Fortunately not much was done before the mistake was caught.

What I am finding is that the interior molded surface is so rough that my original plan to use texture paint throughout the interior, as in my LongEZ, will be very difficult and time consuming. So I will change the plan and use more upholstery fabric to finish the interior. Certainly not my preference but necessary given how bad the interior surface really is. Don't know how other molded composite airplane kits look like inside but this one is pretty wrinkly and not very attractive.


 
Dec 16, 2019     Started painting       Category: Fuselage
Progress is now a bit slower than in the past. I am starting the process of preparing the fuselage for painting and working on the interior paint. Pictures show some of the progress.


 
Dec 07, 2019     STBD wing spar pin latch       Category: Fuselage
Completed the installation of the starboard pin latch base. Still need to come out with a way to keep the pin in the base. Unfortunately, the dimensions given in the manual to construct the base make it too short to make a latch the way indicated in the manual. I'll have to come up with something different.


 
Dec 07, 2019     Getting ready for finishing       Category: Fuselage
Removed all components from cockpit (controls, rudder pedals, etc) and closed holes to start cleaning and sanding the fuselage.


 
Nov 22, 2019     Glassing Latch Base       Category: Fuselage
In the process of glassing the starboard latch base.


 
Nov 16, 2019     Door latch bushings Category: Fuselage
For those following my build will have noticed I haven't made much progress in the last week or so. Work and health challenges kept me away from working as much as I used to.

However, I have opened up the holes for the door latch bushings and slowly finished bonding the door latch bushings to the fuselage one at a time. I am happy with the end result on the doors. They fit quite nice considering they where already built for another plane.

Also finished clecoing the cowling in place. On the cowling my feeling is that it came out so-so. Not too bad but the fit is not as perfect as I would have liked. I do think at this point that the issue has to do with slight mismatch between top and bottom cowling moldings. Oh well, I may do something about it when I am in the finishing phase. No pictures this time around (not much to see anyway)
 
Nov 07, 2019     Door Latches       Category: Fuselage
Today reinforced the door frame and made the holes for the door latches to latch the door to the frame. Came out good but now I need to enlarge the holes to install the bushings. We will see how that goes.


 
Oct 26, 2019     Finished Baggage Compartment Aft Bulkhead       Category: Fuselage
Today I did a build marathon and finished the aft baggage compartment bulkhead. I was really concerned about this job since it seemed pretty much impossible. Reality is that the tapes at the floor ribs and sides were a bit hard, but the aft side of the bulkhead was not too bad and relatively easy to do (despite how tight that bulkhead hole is). Yes, my ribs are probably going to hurt for a week but this is now done. Big milestone, the airplane is pretty much structurally complete (yes, you survive the aircraft building process by setting all these little milestones, then you realize how much you still have to go). But hey, lets keep ""Drinking the Kool-Aid""! But seriously, I am very happy to be at this point.

I guess every Europa builder out there had to take a selfie of how it looks like when working on this bulkhead. I'm still amazed its done.


 
Oct 25, 2019     The "Layup from Hell" Continues.       Category: Fuselage
So the saga of the ""Layup from Hell"" continues, but at least now I know that it is possible to do. But painful it is. For those who haven't built an Europa and are reading this, this layup consists of reinforcement tapes around the edges and ribs of the aft baggage bay bulkhead. The manual calls for taping both sides of the joint. Now, the side facing the cockpit is easy. Those areas reachable through access holes are OK. But then there is all the corners that face inward into the fuselage and are almost impossible to get to. I was told I needed to grom foot long fingers to do this. Anyway, today I did one of the most difficult edges. With the use of a stick I was able to position the tape in place. It was OK but my ribs hurt from doing gymnastics to reach thorugh the bulkhead's aft opening. Well, the good news is that I am getting this done. I consider this the last painful structural job in this build. Much more to do but mostly finishing and systems.


 
Oct 23, 2019     More Bulkhead Tapes       Category: Fuselage


 
Oct 19, 2019     Starting Da Tapes From Hell !!!!!!       Category: Fuselage
Started installation of the tapes from hell: the tapes in the aft bulkhead. Scratching my head as to how you really do it. I did the easy ones today (accesible). We will see how it goes with the non accessible ones. I decided to go slow on this so as to not hate this airplane. One at a time.

I also did the small cutout on top of the rudder.


 
Sep 29, 2019     Boding Aft Bulkhead       Category: Fuselage
Today bonded the aft bulkhead to the fuselage. Now need to apply the countless tapes to reinforce the bonded joints. Some avid Europa builders may notice that the perimeter of the bulkhead is bonded using a white epoxy. This is Aeropoxy 6240. This is a toughened epoxy recommended by them and it is equivalent to the one Cirrus buys to manufacture their aircraft. Since Redux is so hard to get and expensive I save it for the structural items (wings, fuselage joining) and use the Aeropoxy for many other less demanding areas in the Europa.


 
Sep 28, 2019     Aft Bulkhead       Category: Fuselage
Taped ribs to bulkhead floor. Bulkhead is now ready to be installed in the fuselage.


 
Sep 28, 2019     Aileron Quick Connects       Category: Fuselage
Installed the aileron quick connects.


 
Aug 28, 2019     Aft Baggage Bulkhead       Category: Fuselage
After a week of in/out, in/out, in/out ......... I finally got the aft baggage bulkhead trimmed and in place. Fits really well. I had to do this job twice. I found out when I finished fitting the first time around, but luckily before I bonded everything, that my cradle was deforming the fuselage in the aft part where the bulkhead fits. When I discovered that and moved the fuselage to relieve the pressure on the bottom all the rib measurements and trimming I did was wrong. No problem, the beauty of composites is that anything is fixable which I did and all is good now. If you look at the bottom of the ribs up close in the picture you will notice I had to extend the rib a little (about 10mm). I learned this lesson, the fuselage bottom is very flexible aft of the cockpit module so it can't be supported at all in the empennage. So I modified the cradle (once again) to ensure all support is only in areas where CM bulkheads are located. I also increased the area and placed more cushion to spread the pressure.

BTW, a bad hurricane is coming this way and I don't feel like doing any building until the thing decides where it wants to go. I am really hoping to still have a project next week....


 
Aug 04, 2019     Rudder Hinges and Baggage compartment       Category: Fuselage
This weekend worked on permanently attaching the rudder hinges (bonded and riveted) and on repairing, trimming and fitting the aft baggage compartment bulkhead. The bulkhead needed repair because the access holes were cut too large and the flanges were gone. With this repair the flanges are repaired. The bulkhead access holes were then opened up with a proper flange and the entire bulkhead was trimmed to fit in the fuselage.

Next the ribs that support the floor of the baggage compartment need to be built and the entire bulkhead needs to be bonded and taped in place.


 
Jul 31, 2019     Door Hinges and Gas Sturts       Category: Fuselage
Yesterday worked on the doors and finished fitting the hinges and struts. Still need to finish the shoot bolt holes. But now the thing looks a little more like an airplane :)


 
Jul 28, 2019     Progress this Weekend       Category: Fuselage
Work completed this weekend: tailwheel and door installation


 
Jul 26, 2019     Progress to date       Category: Fuselage
I'm starting a phase where I am catching up to a bunch of tasks that I didn't complete in previous chapters. My goal was to complete the larger structural items and then get back to these. In the pictures here I installed the rudder cables including the rubbing blocks to protect the engine mount and part of the nylaflow tubing routing.


 
Jul 20, 2019     Seat pans       Category: Fuselage
Seat pans


 
Jul 14, 2019     Flap Drive Tube       Category: Fuselage
Installed the flap drive tube in the fuselage. The bedding for the tube hinge brackets was done using regular flow with release tape on the brackets. Now that all the components are installed and aligned properly I am going to pop loose the brackets and bond them to the floor using Redux.


 
Jul 12, 2019     Flap Drive Tube Slots       Category: Fuselage
Marked and partially opened the flap tube slots in the fuselage.


 
Jul 07, 2019     Retract Lever Safety Latch       Category: Fuselage
Installed the retract lever safety latch. At the end worked out OK but it turned into another one of those little projects that should take one hours but ends up taking the whole afternoon.

BTW, I think that the lever sits a little low for my taste. If you follow the instructions, they tell you to have a height of 3/4"" clearance under handle. But this is at a stage where the aluminum gate plate is not installed. Bu the time you add the plate and the safety latch not much space is left for your fingers. It will be OK though but I would have given it just a tad more space since the lever doesn't go into the instrument panel recess too deep right now.

One last thing, follow the instructions in the manual on how to install the safety latch at your own peril. They are awful in that no dimensions are given. You are led to believe the bottom edge of the latch should be almost touching the gate plate (per the picture in the manual) but don't do that! If you don't leave some tolerance under the latch at the pivot bolt area then the lever won't come out of the gate. I had to grind material off the latch after installing it when I discovered this clearance is a must. Very annoying indeed.


 
Jul 07, 2019     Flap/Gear Lever       Category: Fuselage
Installed flap/retract lever today. Showing retract and extended positions.


 
Jul 06, 2019     Wing Pin Bushing Reinforcement       Category: Fuselage
Got around to competing the pin bushing reinforcement


 
Apr 12, 2019     Finished Vertical Fin, Rudder Install       Category: Fuselage
A couple of weekends ago the vertical fin was finished (ribs, radio antenna and tip), rudder was installed and wings trial fitted to the fuselage. The following pictures show the progress.
Pictures:
Radio antenna installed. Connection shown below lower rib:
One side of the antenna dipole goes up into the fin through slots in the ribs. The antenna is bonded with epoxy:
Wings fitted for trial. The spar pins are in place but the torsion pins are not hence the need to support the wings with cradles still. The sternpost and rudder installed in this picture:
Another view of the plane. All major components together for the first time. It's starting to look like an airplane:


 
Mar 24, 2019     Fin Assembly       Category: Fuselage
Bonded the three ribs in the inside of the vertical fin. Not shown in the picture is the completed installation on the COM antenna which was installed on the inside of the fin. Preparing the assembly to install the sternpost.


 
Oct 21, 2018     Finished Fuselage Chapter       Category: Fuselage
Milestone achieved! This weekend I taped the firewall aft face to the upper fuselage, finished the lower corner straps and bonded the landing gear engine mount frame to the lower fuselage. I still have a few minor things here and there to complete from previous chapters but now need to go ahead and work on the wings.

The challenge is how to rearrange things in my hangar to gain the space to work on the wings. That is the reason I went ahead with the fuselage before the wings :)

Pictures:
1.- Upper mass balance stop
2.- My dear patient wife with the fuselage
3.- The fuselage with stabilators


 
Oct 14, 2018     Bonding Fuselage Top       Category: Fuselage
This weekend the top of the fuselage was bonded to the bottom fuselage. Now that the top is on, I needed to make a platform to crawl into the tail of the airplane. I then proceeded to install the mass balance column upper brackets. Despite seeming like a really difficult job it was not that bad. Here are some pictures:


Pictures:
1.- Trimmed the reinforcement layup around the spar opening
2.- Mass balance top brackets
3.- Stuck inside the roomy tail
4.- Bonding at aft bulkhead. Interesting but doable
5.- Daughter Michelle pulling rivets
6.- Top bonded


 
Oct 01, 2018     Fuselage Progress       Category: Fuselage
Again, more time spent working on plane (and family) and less on keeping this diary up to date. I have pretty much completed all tasks required to bond the top. The following pictures show some of the progress to date:

Pictures:
1.- Torque tube installation:
2.- Rudder cable guide at rear bulkhead:
3.- Rudder cable guides at mass balance column. Composite with Nylaflow tube inside. I will regret this design if I need to remove the column one day :):
4.- Stiffener rib behind aft bulkhead at torque tubes bearing level. This was done to reduce flexing of the skin that leads to the torque tube bearings and minimize binding:
5.- Stiffener rib behind aft bulkhead at bonding flange level:


 


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