May 04, 2024     Installed th3 prop baby! - (5 hours)       Category: Propeller

I'm calling this 5 hours due to the research involved, but the actual operation didn't take that long.

First, I'm a bit frustrated with Whirlwind (again). Figure 3 of their install manual specifically calls out locktite 262 to hold the spinner backplate bolts on. I documented the challenges of finding that particular flavor of locktite in my last prop entry but I did manage to get it.

When I went to work on this, I discovered that instead of the AN4-4A bolts called out in figure 3, they used bolts with the heads drilled for safety wire.

I emailed Whirlwind and Hector send me back an email saying that Whirlwind now recommends safety wire in that location (just like pretty much everybody else) instead of locktite.

So, today I mounted, torqued to 142 in/lbs and safety wired the backplate. Then Kriya and her brother Josh popped down to the hangar and helped me install the prop.

Due to the way the lugs stick out of the crank flange , it's possible to mount this in two positions that are clocked 180 degrees out from each other. There is no guidance from Whirlwind on this, nor can I find anything from Lycoming other than the traditional guidance that #1 should be at approx TDC compression stroke when you clock it.

It's possible I may have this clocked 180 out, but I wont know until we spin it over a few times, which will happen when I unpickle the engine.

Therefore I just snugged the flange bolts up and won't torque or safely them until I'm sure this is clocked right.

  Apr 18, 2024     prop install logistics - (2 hours)       Category: Propeller

So I seem to recall that on most props, the spinner backplate is bolted onto the hub with drilled head bolts to accommodate safety wire. Turns out the Whirlwind is different. Specifically the installation manual indicated that the bolts in question are just AN5-4A bolts with a washer. Instead of safety wire, the manual specifies that they're held secure via lock-tite 262.

Lock-tite makes dozens of different formula, each with a specific purpose. some are high temp, some are oil resistant, some are low grip, etc. etc. etc. I thought I'd pick this particular one up easily, but it turns out that this particular flavor is evidently made of a mix of unobtanium and unicorn horn.

I checked Ace Hardware, Auto Zone, The regional parts distributors, Airparts, industrial supply places, etc. The only place in Wichita that I could find which actually had it on the shelf was Grainger industrial supply, and they wanted $66.00 plus tax for a 1.5 oz bottle!

Spruce has it for $23 for a 10 mg bottle, which by volume is even more expensive. What the heck is this stuff?

Anyway, I called Airparts back and they found that they could get the same 10 ml bottle from Avial for 14 bucks. So for that plus whatever markup they put on it, I can wait a couple of days vs. paying over $70 (including tax) to get a 1.5 oz bottle today for something I only need for 6 bolts.

All that to say that If you're installing a whirlwind prop, buy this stuff ahead of time.

  Oct 19, 2023     misc stuff - (6 hours)       Category: Propeller

Installed oil cooler Scat today. Fun fact, in the UK they call band clamps "Jubilee clamps". I happened on these surplus at the yard store about a year ago and bought them for I think probably $0.50 each. I'm gonna guess that they're surplus Hawker stock

I also got a discrepancy resolved thats been bothering me for a while. The RV14 plans and the Vans turntable view both show an extra brace between the starter and the alternator. That brace didn't come with my B&C alternator, so I threw it out there on VAF to see if it was really necessary. Somebody else on VAF was questioning the same thing and volunteered to run it to ground.

He ended up calling Vans, Lycoming, plane power and B&C. Long story short, plane power supplies it with their alternator as additional support against vibration etc. B&C says their alternator is balanced right and doesn't need it.

While I was looking up in that general area I went ahead and drilled the #19 weep hole in the low spot of the snorkel per print.

I also drilled, countersunk and installed the fwd cowl baffle strips, and just some general cleanup around the plane and shop. finished off by tidying up the sika edges around teh windscreen in preparation for filling in the gaps where teh spacers were and doing the final fillets tomorrow

  Oct 18, 2023     Prop Cable - (2 hours)       Category: Propeller

I refereed back to the RV14 plans for the hardware stackup at he prop governor, but this instructions are based on the hartzell governor. The bolt was too short, so I had to go a bit longer. The next longer drilled shank bolt I had was 2 sizes longer so I added a thick and thing washer under the head to get everything to line up.

The RV14 instructions have you install this bolt with the head inboard, but with the Jihistroj governor there's interference with the face of the governor and the only way to get it to fit that way would be to take the arm off the governor and put a bolt in, then re-install the governor.

I could have done that, but it seem like that bolt orientation is just a bad idea. If some how the nut cam off, the bolt could back out enough to get hung up against the face of the governor at stick the pitch at some random RPM setting. In this instance I'd rather have a failure mode where the bolt just falls out and the governor spring does its thing and goes to flat pitch.

Where the cable goes through the aft baffle, the hole is 1/2" so that the cable end can fit through it. The RV14 plans call for a -8 snap bushing to go in that hole, but that leaves a pretty big gap between the snap bushing and the 1/4" cable diameter. I split the -8 bushing and snapped it into place, then split and installed a -6 inside that one.

I then used a handy piece of scrap weed eater string th help keep the cable centered in the remaining gap and squirted it full of RTV. Once the RTV dried, I the pulled the weed eater string out. eezee peezee.

I butterflied a couple of adel clamps together where the cable crosses the engine mount tube to prevent rubbing there, while ensuring a bit of slack to account for the engine wiggling around.

At this point, I'm calling this task done.

  May 05, 2023     Prop Governor cable - (4 hours)       Category: Propeller

Installed the showplanes bracket and temporarily rigged the prop cable. It took a bit of trial and error to find a routing for this cable that weaves through everything and still had the proper geometry by the time it gets to the governor. but ultimately I got something that works well.

I did have to reclock both the arm and the faceplate of the governor to get a geometry that works with no interference through its full range of motion.

I don't have. manual for that specific governor, so in taking the faceplate off, I broke the screws loose with a screwdriver bit in a socket in my torque wrench. They broke loose between 13-17"/lb so when I reassembled everything, I torqued them all to 15.

Governor is all done and safetied, with the stops set at approx the original throw positions, although I suspect they might have to change during engine runs.

The cable is trial fit, but not permanently attached to the governor because it will have to thread through a hole in the engine baffles one they're done.

  Apr 22, 2023     Installed prop governor - (6 hours)       Category: Propeller

I ordered a whirlwind prop and Jihostroj governor a while back and asked for the governor to be sent ahead of the prop so I could install it and confirm that the cable routing was going to work.

Couple of gotchas here; Whirlwind doesn't sent a gasket with the governor, so I had to source one separately & the bracket that attached the cable to they governor is part of the FWF kit which I didn't order from vans.

Rather than the vans part, I elected to go with the governor bracket sold by Showplanes because they specifically sell one for the PCU5000 governor. The Jihostroj is a clone of the PCU5000, so that seemed to make sense, and sure enough, it bolted right up.

One of the stop screws on the governor was in the way of backing out a screw utilized for the mounting bracket, so I measured where it was originally set with my micrometer, then screwed it in enough to get the bracket on, reset it to the original height and re-safetied everything.

I also had to slightly bend the fuel line from the spider to cylinder 2 so that it wouldn't rub on the bracket. This is right out of Vans installation instructions and isn't specific to this particular installation.

I have a sneaking suspicion that when I flip the governor control arm over to connect the cable that maybe one of the stop screws will be in the way of the cable travel and I may have to take this all apart again to reclock the faceplate, but for now it's on.

The result of all this was to discover that the prop cable was about 1/2" too short. Drat.

I messed with this for way to long experimenting with snaking that cable this way and that trying to squeak out another 1/2 inch, but ultimately just bit the bullet and relocated so that in now comes through the firewall above the recess. I hate to have an extra hole in the firewall, but it's not the end of the world and now I have a routing with nice gentle bends and lots of room for adjustment when it comes time to rig the cable throw. The cable isn't hooked up to the governor yet but it's operation with this routing appears butter smooth.