Nov 15, 2022     Farings & finishing - (8 hours)       Category: Fuselage

Now that the wings are on it is time to get some of the finishing work done. Since my paint job is dark grey I opted for black oxide steel button heads for the finishing look. The plain steel is for the light grey

  Oct 24, 2022     Install the wings - (16 hours)       Category: Fuselage

After mounting the ailerons and flaps, attaching the control rods, the wings were ready to put on the aircraft.

A little light reaming was required as the spar plates were not perfectly aligned. A consult with my neighbor IA confirmed that this was needed to not damage the bolts if they hung up on any offset plates during install. 4 total persons (brother, wife, hangar neighbor, and myself) made it easy to manage the wings and get the required alignment. The spar and bolt fit was very tight and the IA gave it his ok.

16 hours is a total of 'man-hours' (person-hours? installer-hours?) :)

  Oct 18, 2022     Doors- Making it Rain! - (6 hours)       Category: Fuselage

Even thought the aircraft will be in a hangar at home there will be times it may be parked and flown in the rain. I really wanted to make sure the seals were good. Three times I had my wife 'make it rain' on the aircraft as I sat inside looking for leaks. Finally got it right with the sealant and weather strip.

  Jun 03, 2022     Some QB fixing to do - (5 hours)       Category: Fuselage

The fuselage was a QB that had a few things to fix over this build. The latest was removal of the rivets that will hold the steps on each side of the aircraft. Also, I had to drill out rivets and place rivnuts on the aft section.

Luckily, I notice the need to make these changes before I started painting the lower half of the fuselage

  Oct 31, 2021     WIndsheild - (14 hours)       Category: Fuselage

Measure 6 times... cut/grind once!

The advice was to work with the plexiglass and not against it. Compound curves on both the aircraft with even the slightest variations of the surfaces made this a tedious process. Remembering that you can not put back what was ground away I took my sweet time. Shaving and fitting to see how the plexiglass reacted to the last bit of cutting.

I used a carbide cutter that also had not only an edge but a face that allowed fine shaving. I combined this with a hand file and a precision motor grinder. I intentionally used low grit so as to not accidentally take away to much material at any one time.

Sika and straps with soft insulation blocks to hold in place as the adhesive cured.

  Aug 16, 2021     Passenger strut Bracket. Reshape the wrong Part - (7 hours)       Category: Fuselage

Once again, I received the wrong bracket part. Right and Left are defined (at least in the USA) as if one is sitting in the aircraft. I have requested the right (passenger side) several times now and I just received another LEFT. So, fed up, I decide to modify the part into a RIGHT (passenger). So digging onto the metal shop brain and consulting an IA, the process is this, Carbonize the Aluminum part, this establishes a heat point for softening the metal. Next, using a metal brake, reshape the part 180 degrees and the hammer into the proper shape.

  Aug 16, 2021     Vertical Stab Fairing - (13 hours)       Category: Fuselage

Fitted the fairing for the vertical stab. As usual with the composite pieces, sanding, heating, shaping was the order of the day to make it fit.

  Jun 08, 2021     Fitting the Doors and Latches - (26 hours)       Category: Fuselage

The fitting of the doors and latches has been more of a challenge than expected. After mounting of the hook latching to the doors ot became evident that the latches won't clear the fuselage lip. The passenger door was significantly ill fitting. After looking carefully at the door and canopy it became evident the canopy center portion where the doors bolt was slightly askew. Add to to how the door fits in the fuselage made things problem. I took a lot of measurements and sent them to the TAF. They came back with the advice of of bending the latches to fit however, that much bend would not allow the latch to properly retract. TAF said they would get back to me but I haven't heard back.

After some consultation with an IA I came up with a plan.

1) Treat the door installation as a new install.
2) Fill the TAF drilled bolt holes where the hinges attach with epoxy
3) Re-align the hinges with the best fit possible.
4) find the high spots and sand door and fuselage edges, in general, a bit of reshaping the door to fit.

Finally, I extended the passenger door rear latch hook out a couple of mm with a new spacer. I used 5/16 bar stock and made a new handle center post that is slightly longer than the supplied and tapped a new screw mount to hold the forward latch hook.

Today I put everything together and got the passenger door mounted. Not going to lie... It's ugly but it will now open/close/lock.

  Apr 19, 2021     Forward canopy Composite - (16 hours)       Category: Fuselage

The composites that came with the kit have been quite a challenge. Miss-shaped and and some times a little damaged (see my post on a wing tip)
I have become accustomed to heating and shaping along with some filing to get the proper fit. I sent a lot of time fitting, removing, heating, (repeat) to get a fitment I could use to final rivet.

The canopy composite seems to come with pilot holes..... Do Not Use them. I thought they were a guide but it turns out not to be the case. Fit with straps and use the fuselage rivets and center measurements as your guides. The newer manuals have more photos to help with alignment. The rivet hole finder is your best friend in this procedure.

I found it easier to epoxy the spacing strap, firewall, and cowling attachment together so that there was not metal straps flopping around. After aligning the metal pieces the holes were up-sized to 4.0 mm (5/32) with a reaming bit. These bits are really nice because of how smooth they leave the hole.

I had one particularity badly shaped corner that I managed to get into reasonable fit. Holes were counter sunk and generous amounts of Sika was applied

  Feb 28, 2021     SERVICE BULLETIN #0002 - (4.0 hours)       Category: Fuselage

2/28/21

Got the email response and it is clear the pattern and fix I have to do. Not to bad to make this SB complete. The "??" pointing at the odd rivet is what came from the factory in that position (oops?).. Engineering said to leave it alone.

I really feel for the guys that have to this to a painted aircraft



2/18/2021

A Service Bulletin came out about the attachment of the the two halves of the fuselage and the rivet pattern that connects them. The rivet pattern is not symmetrical on each side so careful counting is in order

My pattern looks different from the 'before/after' descriptions so I marked the the area and have sent an email to technical with what I think the fixed should be for my aircraft.

We have been moving to another town (5 minutes from the hangar!) so work on the plane has slowed to a crawl for a while.

  Jan 30, 2021     Fabricate wire shelves - (4 hours)       Category: Fuselage

The center console is where all things go forward and aft. Brake lines, fuel lines, rudder cables, pitot-static lines, and wiring.The channel soon gets stuffed with these items and it can be a challenge to keeps things from getting in the way of other things. I saw another builder had the observation that there is a lot of unused vertical space in the center console and place two small shelves to run wiring bundles.

I only learned a few things in Engineering school.:

1) I can't study after a kegger..
2) Don't reinvent the wheel
3) If someone has a good idea, use it

So I am fabricating these same shelves to make using the center console easier for running the wire bundles. Here is 1 of 2 I made.

  Jan 30, 2021     Seat Belts - (8 hours)       Category: Fuselage

Installed the 3 point front seat belts. The center latching will not be installed until the rear portion of the center console is complete.

The shoulder attachment point needed both sides to be reamed with a Dremel tool for the bolt to fit. I found the bolt to put too much pressure on the composite so I made a spacer to prevent seating pressure on the composite..

The inertial reel had to have the belt removed so as to feed the belt through the side longerons. The trick is to make sure the inertial reel doesn't spin back to the retract position.

  Dec 09, 2020     Seat Rails - (2 hours)       Category: Fuselage

Since I am again waiting for parts I am trying to get things done on the kit wherever I can.

I fitted the front seat rails with the nylon guards. The rails also double to hold the flap motor bracket into a solid position. The kit specifies counter sunk rivets but there is no mention of counter sinking the the rails. I measures the different size rivets and began to counter sink the rivet holes.

  Sep 02, 2020     Canopy - (4.0 hours)       Category: Fuselage

9/23/2020

My canopy lift strut assembly was different from the plans so another email to TAF for information. They sent me an update but it still lacks informations

9/02/2020

Removed the doors/window to have better access to the internal fuselage. I will also start on the latching mechanisms and the gas struts. Other builders have alerted that some latching parts may be for an older version of the door. I will soon find out.

I will start the wiring of the overhead lights.

  Jul 22, 2020     Starting AIr System - (6.0 hours)       Category: Fuselage

7/24/2020 Counter sunk the NACA ducts . I wanted to seal it but I want to do both sides of the intakes as well as the side ducting to the rear seats all at once. I wasn't sure I had enough SIKA so I am ordering more.


7/22/20
Starting the duct work. The NACA ducts will have to be counter sunk and sealed with SIKA. The forward part of the ducting to the rear seats has been fitted and I will seal with SIKA as well

The kit came with standard aluminum "clothes dryer hose" but I have some CEET on order instead

  Jun 30, 2020     Setting Control tubes - (5.0 hours)       Category: Fuselage

Setting the control tubes in the cockpit in place. There are 2 elevator tubes. The rear tube is missing parts to rivet in place. Also, a Service Bulletin came out today (6/30/20) for a control tube stop to replace rivets. Much time spent figuring out exactly where the factory is referencing.

(7/1/20) Figures out the service bulletin with a military aircraft mechanic buddy and we complied with SB#12.