Apr 04, 2022     Front Seat Belts - (6 hours)       Category: Interior Finish

I bought six 4-point harnesses at Oshkosh 2019 and had to figure out their installation. The front harnesses will be attached to the rear spar tube. I originally welded in an attach point for a three point harness, so I had to fabricate a bolt-on attach loint for the center points of the shower harnesses. The pictures show the result. Also, there was not quite enough strap material foe me to bend down to the flap handle, so i used steel strap to make 9" extensions for the shoulder harnesses. Otherwise, the harnesses bolted into the as-designed mounting points. The lap straps will need an extension if I gain much weight though.

  Apr 03, 2022     Main gear and toe - (8 hours)       Category: Landing Gear

This time represents work on the main gear, culminating in the adjustment of strut length and measurement of toe. Using 8 ft pieces of aluminum channel held flush to the tires, I measured the toe to be 1 degree in.

  Mar 31, 2022     Elevator Control Cables and misc things - (3 hours)       Category: Controls

I installed and pinned the castle nuts at the elevator bell crank and control arms and safety-wired the turnbuckles after tensioning the wires to 30 lbs. The tension increased when the stick was back and decreased with the stick forward. The elevators are nicely balanced, so I believe this is a function of the cable routing and the differences of geometry at the extremes.

I also installed some labels on the panel, installed the OAT probe, installed the ELT battery, and installed some of the inspection panels in anticipation of W&B day.

  Mar 30, 2022     Fuel Flow Test - (3 hours)       Category: Fuel System

The fuel flow check for N27AZ was performed on 30 March, 2022. The aircraft's main fuel tanks were drained until approximately three gallons remained in both right and left main tanks. Then, the aircraft was parked on the side of the taxiway with the tailwheel downhill, providing a deck angle of 19 degrees as recommended by users on the Bearhawk Forums. Flight testing will verify this angle.

The fuel supply line was disconnected from the carb and secured to an exhaust pipe nearby with the outlet at the same level as the carb inlet. A small table was configured to hold cans to catch gas as it ran through the fuel system.

To test the fuel flow, the fuel valve was placed in the desired position and the fuel was caught in a bucket until flow stabilized. Then, a timer was started and fuel was caught in an oil bottle for exactly 15 seconds. Four samples were taken at a time, then fuel flow was shut off and samples were weighed. All samples were very similar in weight. The sample shown in the picture contained 13.868 oz of fuel. This was converted to lbs per hour:

13.868 oz/(15 sec) x 4 / 16 (oz/lb) x 60 (min/hr) = 208 lb/hr

Fuel flow at max power is estimated using a 0.55 lb/hr/hp specific fuel consumption (this will be flight tested):

0.55 (lb/hr/hp) x 250 hp = 137.5 lb/hr

The final results of the fuel flow test in this configuration were"

208 lb/hr / 137.5 lb/hr = 1.51

Thus, the fuel system provides 151% of the fuel required at full power in this configuration.

The same test was conducted with the fuel selector in the Left and Right position. In each of these tests, fuel flow was 121% of the fuel required at max power. Thus, the aircraft will be placarded to takeoff, climb, and land with the fuel selector on BOTH.

The flow test was repeated with the fuel selector on BOTH until inadequate flow was measured at the outlet of the fuel line. At this point, there was 1.5 gal of fuel remaining in each tank. Therefore, each tank has an unusable fuel quantity of 1.5 gallons

  Mar 26, 2022     Wing Tip Landing Lights - (6 hours) Category: Wings Misc

Drilled another nose rib into the wing tips to help maintain proper profile and also act as a bracket for the landing light fixture. Then made brackets to hold the light bulbs and cut out a hole in the leading edge of the tip skin.

  Mar 25, 2022     Wing wiring - (6 hours) Category: Electrical

Installed the following wiring in wings. Used Molex connections wing root and at each appliance. Local grounds

Nav light power
Strobe light power
Strobe sync
Landing Light
Aux pump
Pitot heat (left wing only)
OAT gage (left wing only)

  Mar 24, 2022     Fuel leak check - (5 hours) Category: Fuel System

Bought 25 gal of gas and used two 5 gal containers and a siphon line to systematically move it from tank to tank. For each tank, I let it sit over night and used an inspection mirror to examine the surrounding fuselage structure for leaking gas. Fortunately, I found no leaks in the system.

  Mar 21, 2022     Stabilizer & Elevator troubleshoot - (12 hours) Category: Controls

When first assembled, I don't remember much resistance in the elevators. However, I didn't have the flying wires installed (or purchased) at the time, nor did I really tighten down the bolts in the elevator hinges. When fully assembled and with the appropriate amount of tension in the flying wires and control cables, it took 8 lbs of force to move the stick forward and back. I first used a syringe to inject valve grinding compound into the hinges through the grease holes. This did not provide significant improvement, possibly because the hinges rotate less than a quarter of rotation around the spar tube. Then I had to push a ton of grease through the hinges to clean out the valve grinding compound. After putting it back together, I lubed with Mouse Milk since that has seeping properties. Got the force down to 3-4 lbs. Undecided whether that is appropriate for flight. I add lube each day and wiggle the elevator in hopes that it will continue to loosen over time.

  Mar 18, 2022     Wing to fuselage gap parts - (10 hours) Category: Wings Misc

There are four pieces per side which bridge the gap between the wing and the fuselage. The top piece begins just aft of the skylight and ends at the forward end of the skylight. This is simply a strip that is drilled to both the wing and the fuselage, and also functions to hold the edge of the skylight lexan down. The forward pieces were very hard to build, and I ended up buying a sheet metal shrinker to make them presentable. They extend from the skylight, around the leading edge of the wing, and back to about the main spar on the bottom. The bottom pieces extend from here to the aft edge of the wing skin and have a small angled inboard edge. lastly, I made extensions for the flaps that miss the fuselage by about 1/4" when the flaps are down. They have some irregular inboard edges due to the flap pulleys and cable fairleads that populate that area.

  Jan 12, 2022     Wing Struts installation - (2 hours)       Category: Wings Misc

  Dec 27, 2021     Mounting the wings & control surfaces - (6 hours)       Category: Wings Misc

  Dec 19, 2021     Instrument panel and forward, final details - (6 hours)       Category: Instrument Panel

  Dec 16, 2021     Prep for paint - (3 hours)       Category: Paint / Decals

  Dec 08, 2021     Cowl final details - (3 hours)       Category: FWF

  Oct 30, 2021     Windscreen fairing - (6 hours)       Category: Doors/Window

  Oct 08, 2021     Final boot cowl and avionics before cowl paint - (6 hours)       Category: Fuselage

  Oct 06, 2021     Interior lights - (3 hours)       Category: Electrical

  Sep 24, 2021     Avionics work       Category: Electrical

  Feb 11, 2021     Panel fabrication       Category: Instrument Panel

  Jan 27, 2021     Brake line connections and oil drain       Category: Landing Gear

  Jan 22, 2021     Avionics tray and EMS planning - (4 hours) Category: FWF

It feels like progress has slowed down and head scratching has sped up as I confront avionics. I built an avionics tray to mount behind the instrument panel. Everything on it will be accessible by removing a panel on top of the dash. Now I'm sorting through wiring diagrams to figure out what attaches to what. On the bright side, I did a practice crimp and--while the EAA tutorial says to give it a 5 lb tug to test it--I pulled with a good portion of my strength and it was solid. And that's with a very old and cheap crimp tool.

  Jan 20, 2021     EGT, CHT probe installations - (1.5 hours) Category: FWF

After installing a few adel clamps to secure the parking brake and cabin heat cables, I marked and drilled the exhaust stack for the EGT probes and installed them so they angle aft as they exit the exhaust. I then installed the CHT probes

  Jan 19, 2021     Brake lines - (2.5 hours) Category: FWF

I assembled the polyflow brake lines between the reservoir and pilot-side brake cylinders. It proved to be very difficult to push the plastic line onto the metal fitting, either because of the excessively tight fit or perhaps the cold temps. I deburred the inside opening of the plastic line with the deburring tool and used a slow drill bit that was exactly the inside diameter of the line to clean out the inside, then it was possible, but very difficult, to assemble the fittings.

After discovering I'm short on nipples to screw into the brake cylinders and parking brake valve, I moved on to attaching the parking brake valve. I used mounting tabs under the forward fuselage floor (that were originally meant for a fuel valve) to attach a bracket for the parking brake valve and also a clamp to hold the end of the control cable.

  Jan 18, 2021     Firewall completion, engine re-installation and hookups - (12 hours)       Category: FWF

Jan 18: I drilled out the engine control cable mounting holes in the instrument panel to the required 3/4" diameter (except that my unibit got dull and simply wouldn't go the last step--need a new one), then strung the mixture cable through its hole and used it as a mockup for both the mixture and throttle to build the control plate that will mount to the bottom of the oil pan and hold the cables. I am making it out of 6061-T6 0.063" material which has an angle bent into it from when it was cut from the material used to make the fuselage door sills. I also re-mounted the exhaust support that had to be moved to make room for the oil cooler.

Jan 17: I spray-primed the oil cooler spacer tubes and installed the oil cooler. It fits just barely in the chosen location, but the 4" hose runs nicely up to its baffle inlet. I also finished running the magneto harness wires for the top spark plugs and behind the engine.

Jan 16: I played around with mag harness routing, and finally started bolting things down. I got as far as to bolt the harness wires for the lower spark plugs to the cylinders, with two thick washers underneath each on to allow for the lip of the valve cover.

Jan 15: Completed the rear heat control cable mounting, then re-mounted the engine and started hooking up hoses.

Jan 14: Completed firewall penetrations, then installed the control cable for the front heat box.

Jan 13: Screwed the cowl tunnel to the firewall. Because I left so little room on top of the bottom firewall flange, I had to use countersunk screws installed flush on the inside to clear the lower front fuselage tube. Unfortunately, their ends are sticking out into the cowl exit air, but nothing can be done about that now.

  Jan 11, 2021     Firewall completion - (8.7 hours)       Category: FWF

9 Jan: I removed the engine mount bolts and removed the firewall to begin cutting the holes for all the penetrations. This took some time, as had to figure out how much pressure to hoist the engine with to minimize the friction of the bolts. Once off, I drilled and riveted nutplates around the perimeter for cowl fasteners. I am only dimpling the holes where the cowl doors go and a few holes in between cowl fasteners and will be installing countersunk screws and nuts in those areas to hold the boot cowl to firewall. I also installed the camloc receptacles (two per side) to hold the cowl doors shut.

10 Jan: With the firewall laying on a sheet of plywood, I drilled the brake master cylinder in place (one fastening bolt will pass through a tab welded to the fuselage tube), the oil cooler mount, two cabin heat boxes, and the other pass throughs.

11 Jan: To cut the large holes for cabin heat boxes, I tried a hole saw but the stainless laughed at it. After scratching my head overnight, I decided to try a hammer and chisel, with the chisel held at an angle so a sharp point was penetrate the firewall and the blade would shear a little ways from the point. It worked great, but left a very rough edge. I cleaned up the edge with a grinding stone attachment in the dremmel, finishing it off with sandpaper, and it came out great. I also drilled the battery box to the firewall, and fabricated a backing plate that will go behind the firewall and fasten to the fuselage tubes so that the battery box is not only held in place by .016 stainless. Finally, I drilled for the master solenoid and B&C ground block.

12 Jan: I experimented with bundling the various wires and control cables that will be traveling to the engine to determine how large to drill the penetrations. I determined that my engine control hole (throttle, mixture, prop, carb heat, primer tube) will fit inside a 3/4" fire sleeve, so I modified a AN931-6-16 grommet to accommodate. The engine gauge wires will pass through an unmodified 6-16, and I will use a stainless pass-through that came with the heat boxes for the electrical system and ignition wires. The AN-931s will have a stainless shield over them for protection. I had to widen out one to 3/4" with a uni-bit, which required cleanup with a grinding stone in a dremmel. Finally, I riveted the oil cooler pieces and nutplates together so that tomorrow I am ready to start assembly.

  Jan 08, 2021     Cowl deburring, camloc backplates, and engine removal - (1.8 hours) Category: FWF

I deburred the nutplate holes on the lower cowl where the scoop will attach but realized I was short several nutplates so will rivet those on later. I then fabricated aluminum backplates that will go between the fiberglass nose bowl and camloc receptacle for the cowl doors to fasten to. Lastly, I removed the boot cowl and got the crane in place to remove the engine for some final firewall work before bolting it on for the last time.

  Jan 07, 2021     Cowl final things - (2.5 hours)       Category: FWF

I deburred and riveted the cowl exit lip and inner scoop piece to the bottom cowl, and then drilled the bottom cowl for CAMLOC receptacles. To do this, I widened the original hole out to a T-sized bit, then stuck the shaft of the bit through the hole to hold the CAMLOC receptacle in place while drilling the first leg. Then I cleco'd that leg and drilled the second leg, then removed the cleco and drill bit, deburred, and it's ready to rivet.

  Jan 06, 2021     Cowl air scoop and removal - (2 hours)       Category: FWF

Not a lot of physical progress today. The cowl air scoop forms a tunnel with the air filter inside it. Some sort of baffling needs to stop the air from flowing all the way through the tunnel past the air filter, and I attempted a few different iterations of that, but each one had its own problems. Finally, I decided to handle the problem with a new piece of fabric baffling that will have a circle cut in it exactly the size of the air filter, and fill the gap between the filter and the tunnel. It's on order.

I trimmed the exit lip and finished up the inside piece that goes above the cowl air scoop to close in the cowl there. Then, I removed the cowl from the plane and trimmed the doors to length and deburred the edge.

  Jan 05, 2021     Bottom cowl scoop and inside fairing - (3 hours) Category: FWF

I completed drilling the scoop to the bottom cowl. Not very scientific--I just ensured it was centered and square. I then trimmed an angle into the leading edge of the scoop. After this was drilled I used a posterboard template to trace out a piece for the cowl exit lip. I then cut the piece and fashioned the curve by drilling every 1.125" and making the appropriate bend. Lastly, I made the inside fairing to close in the area above the air filter using the same method. While I originally thought the extra area of the air entrance vs standard kit air boxes would be an advantage, a brief calculation of the airflow through a 540 cu in engine at 2400 RPM revealed it would only need between approx 5 - 15 sq in depending on speed.

  Jan 04, 2021     Cowl fabrication - (11 hours)       Category: FWF

This entry represents 31 Dec - 4 Jan.

I decided to change course and finish up the cowl. I used paper templates to cut out oversized door pieces and drilled them and the hinges to the upper cowl. I then used ratchet straps to tighten the doors down and reached inside to trace the line of the firewall on the aft door edges, and carefully trimmed the forward edge until it fit into the nose bowl seat. I then measured out where the camlocs will attach and drilled the doors to the nose bowl, firewall, and finally the lower cowl while ensuring the ratchet straps were very tight.

I also took Justice and Asa to Greene County Airport to use their 4 ft roller and brake to fabricate the rounded air scoop for the bottom of the cowl and the rounded lip that will go on the corner between the firewall and cowl tunnel.

There were times that I simply stopped working and sat in the cockpit for quite a while to visualize the instrument panel and make airplane noises.

  Dec 30, 2020     Cowl and firewall - (2 hours)       Category: FWF

I installed the cowl just enough to measure how large of aluminum pieces I need to cut for the doors, then removed everything and focused on the firewall. My aim was to tape all the firewall accessories in place and mark the holes where penetrations will be drilled, then remove the firewall and cut all the openings. The following is a list of all the components that I'm considering and what factors play into their location on the firewall.

- Note, there will be a cooling lip above the cowl tunnel so I'm saving a bit of real estate there
- For all components, ensure adequate clearance to access oil filter, oil screen (practice an oil change before drilling anything, including torque wrench access)
- Oil cooler: need to locate the bracket where it will fit with the cooler on it between the engine mount tubes, and were a 4" hose can travel to the baffle orifice
- Crankcase breather: I will have a large aluminum tube traveling down the firewall from a flexible crankcase breather hose and terminating over an exhaust pipe
- Battery box: Need space above the box to slide the battery out (~6.5" in the case of my large EarthX). Also want it to be close to...
- Battery master solenoid: close to battery, out of the way of everything else. Prefer to use bolt attaching through the firewall to fuselage structure.
- Brake reservoir: Near parking brake, out of the way of everything else, near edge of firewall for easy filling.
- Cabin heat box x2: Ensure heat outlets are at suitable places on rear side of firewall (above rudder pedals) and ensure hoses have clearance to attach
- Power Wire penetrations: grouped near battery, preferably near engine mount attach point to use that structure as wire supports
- EMS wires: preferably near engine mount attach point to use that structure as wire supports
- Cable penetrations: Throttle, mixture, carb heat, prop, primer tube: all should allow reasonably straight passage through the firewall to their destinations
- Cable penetrations: Cabin heat: allow for easy access to control cabin heat valves

  Dec 29, 2020     Primer and Mag Harness - (2 hours) Category: FWF

I learned that the magneto harness--while appearing to be symmetrical around the cap contact points--can only be installed in one orientation--the correct one. As I have taken one of the caps on and off several times, I never realized this and in retrospect I always accidentally installed it correctly. Now, they are both screwed on and I'm waiting on more high temp adel-style clamps to finalize the harness installation.

I also fiddled with the primer tubing. I couldn't determine for sure how the original primer tubes were installed, I am able to recycle most of them to build a 5 cylinder priming system while saving loads of time off building it from scratch. I will keep cyl #5 open to install the manifold pressure gauge. More to build still here.

  Dec 28, 2020     Oil door, Mag harness, Primer lines - (3 hours)       Category: FWF

I installed the camlocs in the oil door one at a time using the following steps:
1) Drill through the door and substrate, widening to a D-size bit which is the right size for a very tight fit to a 2600 series camloc stud
2) Drill the substrate hole out to S-size bit.
3) Use the back end of the S bit to hold the camloc backing plate in place while drilling and clecoing the two #40 holes.
4) Debur and countersink as required, and rivet the backing plate in place.
5) Install the camloc stud with the retaining washer.

I then installed the mag harnesses, not knowing at the time that they can only be oriented one way. Turns out, I installed both in the correct orientation on the first try completely by accident. Lastly, I squirted the red Permatex around the baffles wherever sealing was required. I also did considerable had scratching to figure out how the bent-up primer lines I had were supposed to be assembled and realized that I'm short on hardware. ACS here I come.

Later, I riveted nutplates around the bottom side of the nose bowl where the bottom cowl attaches and also along the nose bowl split.

  Dec 19, 2020     Bottom cowl and nose bowl - (4 hours) Category: FWF

For both the 19th and 20th, I finalized the size of the carb hole in the bottom cowl and riveted the entire bottom cowl together. I also started on the nose bowl, cutting backing straps to go around the inside where the bottom cowl attaches and along the nose bowl split.

  Dec 18, 2020     Bottom cowl - (2 hours) Category: FWF

I fabricated the four steel fittings for the lower cowl attachment at the corners. The forward steel fittings had a joggle in them--along with the c-channel--to go underneath the nose bowl for a more flush finish. The rear fittings will simply go over the firewall and boot cowl flange. I made the fittings the full inside width of the c-channel so there would be plenty of room to install the camloc hardware.

I also drilled additional holes between the firewall flange and boot cowl. These will have a flat head screw to hold the two pieces together firmly whenever the cowl is removed.

  Dec 17, 2020     Bottom Cowl - (2 hours) Category: FWF

This morning I drilled all around the firewall flange to a #21 size hole which will open up to fit a #8 screw when dimpled. Then i went around the areas that will not be dimpled (everywhere thats not under the cowl door) and opened them up to #19.

I removed the bottom cowl and cut out the cowl exit hole to be approx 100 square inches, and also opened up the airbox hole as required for the carb heat hose and control cable.

Finally, I cut some .032 steel for the attach point reinforcements. I'm making these larger than the Beartracks suggests, because I want the Dzus fasteners to penetrate these and have a large diameter.

  Dec 16, 2020     Nose bowl, misc - (3 hours) Category: FWF

I used poster board paper to make templates for the reinforcing strap that goes inside the lower nose bowl and drilled through both for #8 nut plates. Bearteacks suggests -4 rivets here, but I want the option of easily disassembling it if needed.

  Dec 15, 2020     Nose bowl - (2 hours) Category: FWF

I drilled out the top cowl to nose bowl interface for #8 screws. I wanted a hefty backing under the top nose bowl flange, because with the top cowl installed the forward part of the skin has a lot of flex. So I bent an 0.032 aluminum angle and fluted the flange to match the slight curve of the top nose bowl, then drilled it into place being sure there was plenty of clearance from the baffles. The flange and nose bowl were drilled for nutplates, then epoxied together and the nutplates were riveted in.

  Dec 14, 2020     Baffling: tension wires - (2.5 hours) Category: FWF

It took more time than expected to install these, mainly because of the difficulty of threading the protective tubing onto the wires. The kit came with plastic tubing to install on the wires wherever they touched the engine. Because of the bends at the ends of the wires, I basically had to thread each piece on, and some of the wires had 4 pieces on it. It's installed though. I also installed the bolts that plug the spark plug holes in the baffling. The last hour was spent fiddling with the lower cowl and planning for it's installation along with planning for the air box scoop.

  Dec 14, 2020     Top cowl riveting - (1.5 hours)       Category: FWF

I did some final deburring and riveted the top cowl piece except for the steel fittings at the corners (paint is still drying). I also applied antiseize to the spark plugs and torqued them.

  Dec 13, 2020     Top cowl fittings, dimpling, deburring - (3 hours) Category: FWF

I cut out steel fittings for the top cowl. I put a joggle in them so that they will go underneath the nose bowl flange. In the evening, I deburred and dimpled the top cowl pieces to prep for riveting.

  Dec 12, 2020     Baffle seals done - (2 hours)       Category: FWF

I did some final trimming and riveting of the baffle seals in the first hour and a half. After that, I removed the spark plug hole plugs to let any preservation oil drip out and checked the gap on the spark plugs. I threaded them into the cylinders just to close the holes until my anti seize arrives.

Finally, I tried out the Vans hose that is supposed to be for the crankcase breather. Its short, so will require a 1" aluminum tube to vent out the bottom of the cowl. I found one in the corner of the shop that was previously used to make a tool that was supposed to turn on the city water to the house we bought in 2015 so that we could have indoor plumbing for Thanksgiving. It didn't work for that, but if it cleans up nicely it will be a great breather tube.

  Dec 11, 2020     Baffle seals - (1 hour) Category: FWF

Using poster board as a template, I made seal pieces for the baffle area around the prop flange and cut vertical slits in the fabric seals for the upper cowl c-channels.

  Dec 10, 2020     Baffle fabric seal - (2 hours)       Category: FWF

The fabric has a curve to it that I hope will come out with heat. Otherwise, its fair easy to install this stuff. I'm mainly using 4" strips that extend 2.5" above the baffle, and the rivet hole is about 0.5" below the baffle edge. I arrived at these numbers using the TLAR ("that looks about right ") method. I still need to do the forward area.

  Dec 09, 2020     Alternator, baffles final install, and fabric - (2 hours) Category: FWF

I figured it would be easiest to torque and safety wire the alternator bolts prior to permanently installing the baffles (first hour). Then I attached the baffling for the last time hopefully. I then drilled and deburred the rivet holes for the fabric using the 1.5" to 2" spacing recommend in the Vans instructions.

  Dec 08, 2020     Baffles and engine bolt - (2 hours) Category: FWF

The first hour was spent riveting the final pieces to the baffle, and they are now ready for permanent installation and fabric seal treatment.

Then, I replaced the bolts holding the engine to the mount. I originally overtorqued them by accident and decided I would feel best if I replaced them. Will do the same for the bolts hiding the mount to the fuselage.

  Dec 07, 2020     Oil door and baffles - (5 hours)       Category: FWF

I ended up rebuilding the oil door to where the hinge attaches to an angle rather than to the cowl skin itself. It didn't eliminate the gap, but it got smaller. Now I see why many people don't build their oil doors this way.

Then, I fabricated the conical baffle piece and the tension wires that hold the baffles under the cylinders, and a few other final baffle details.

  Dec 07, 2020     Oil door - (2 hours) Category: FWF

I cut the hinge for the oil dip stick door and drilled it to the cowl such that the bulge of the hinge is inside. I might do it different on the cowl doors, however, because there is still quite a gap required between the door skins and the cowl skin along the hinge line to allow full motion of the hinge. I probably should have attached the cowl side if the hinge to an angle piece rather than to the cowl skin itself.

  Dec 06, 2020     Baffles and upper cowl - (3 hours) Category: FWF

I drilled the remainder of the upper cowl to the c channels and cut out a door for the oil dip stick. There is enough flexibility in the upper cowl that I decided to add a stiffener at the forward edge of the oil door.

I also made a new left forward top baffle and installed nutplates where required on the baffles.

  Dec 05, 2020     Baffles and upper cowl - (2 hours)       Category: FWF

I finished riveting together the forward baffle assemblies except for a single piece that I wanted to re-make. I'm so low on 0.032 material that I needed to make the upper cowl section first to ensure I had enough, so I cut it out and didnt quite finish drilling it to the C channel.

  Dec 04, 2020     Front baffles, misc - (5 hours) Category: FWF

Over the last few days, I intermittently worked on the front baffles. The RV-10 baffle kit is too short in the front, so I fabricated an extension for each side which is riveted to the native material on the right side, and will be screwed to the native material on the left side. The left side will encircle the governor, so it must be removable to remove the governor. The extensions are trimmed to the nose bowl contour, but require final deburring and riveting before completion. Some of these mornings were spent with family in the garage, occasionally sitting in the airplane just for fun.

  Dec 01, 2020     Baffling and misc - (2 hours)       Category: FWF

For the first hour, I examined the throttle and mixture cable bracket from Dan's PA32-260 (pictured below) thinking I could copy it exactly, but turns out the engine mount lower tube is in the way. I also want to procure the mixture cable and end hardware before progressing there. The Vans cable bracket definitely won't work. I then started replacing an oil drain plug with the quick drain plug i bought. The aft plug wouldn't budge, and I'm not entirely sure it was meant to be a drain plug, do I cut the safety wire on the right plug only to find the quick drain plug wouldn't go in because of interference from the exhaust. So I set that aside for now.

The second hour was spent doing the final trimming and deburring if the lower front baffles. Now we're on to the upper front baffles, which will take some extra special attention since I already had to do the lower baffles different fromnthe plans.

  Nov 29, 2020     Removing an engine from a PA-32 - (8 hours)       Category: FWF

This is a picture log of removing an engine from a PA-32-260. The primary purpose of these pics is to aid in reinstallation.

  Nov 29, 2020     Rear Baffles - (2.5 hours) Category: FWF

I did the final trimming, filing, and deburring of the rear baffles and the support bracket. They are complete minus the fabric seal. I trimmed the forward baffles and studied the plans to understand their interface with the nose bowl.

  Nov 28, 2020     Rear Baffles - (2.5 hours)       Category: FWF

I spent way too much time looking at the carb Iron box from different angles, imagining how to build a scoop for it. Then started working on the rear baffles again, installing the oil cooler hose flange and the carb heat and cabin heat hose flanges. I also traced final trim lines on the rear baffles and shortened the center support bracket.

  Nov 27, 2020     Bottom Cowl - (3 hours)       Category: FWF

I match drilled some holes for a new left side cowl skin, then cleco'd the skin in place and drilled the nose bowl using the same technique as the right side with the same good results. I then pushed up on the bottom seam until it was flush and clamped the back end toward the firewall. Then I removed both skins and drilled a double row of rivets along the seam. Finally, I cleco'd the top parts of the skins on and installed the carburetor. I then pulled each side skin up over the carb and traced the required cutout. Once the cutout was made, I installed all the clecos, carburetor, and air box.

  Nov 26, 2020     Bottom Cowl       Category: FWF

I marked and drilled the nose bowl between the two bottom c-channels on 3" centers with a double row of rivets in the bottom middle to join the two halves. Then I experimented on the left side bottom cowl piece to figure out the best way to tightly drill it to the nose bowl. On my first attempt, I wrapped ratchet straps around it and back drilled it using. 90 degree attachment in the drill. This worked ok until I trimmed the forward edge to nest inside the nose bowl flange. This decreased the radius around which the skin was wrapped, which caused some small but noticeable waves between rivet holes. I tried to fix this by rolling the edge but didn't like the result.

With this lesson learned, I trimmed the forward edge of the right side piece before drilling. I then wrapped it in ratchet straps, and used another ratchet strap on the bottom to pull it tight from a point on the wall of the shop. This held it tight, but I still found a need to press in on the bottom nose bowl before drilling to get perfectly flush. I found an accommodating piece of plywood to do the job while I back drilled from inside. The right side piece came out perfect. I then cut another piece of aluminum for the left side. I barely have enough material left to make the cowl doors so no more mistakes.

  Nov 25, 2020     Bottom cowl - (2.3 hours)       Category: FWF

This morning I cut out two pieces for the bottom cowl using the posterboard template I made yesterday and started by drilling them to the lower C-channels. I wrapped ratchet straps around the cowl to hold them flush and went down the firewall end with my homemade strap duplicator and drilled the lower cowl to the firewall on both sides.

  Nov 24, 2020     Exhaust hangers and lower cowl - (1.5 hours)       Category: FWF

The Vetterman exhaust comes with four hangers which are supposed to suspend the two exhaust exit pipes from three motor mounts. As the Bearhawk has only two motor mounts in that area, some improvisation is required. My first try resulted in suspending the each exit tube from an area of the engine mount above it, then tie them together with a third hanger. Once I get confirmation from Clint that this is ok, I'll trim everything to fit and tighten up the hardware.

After that, I used poster board to make templates to cut out aluminum for the lower cowl. I'm down to a single sheet of 4x12 .025 so want to ensure I use it sparingly as I still have doors and gap fairings to make.

Finally, I took these pics of the accessory case to solicit aid in identifying these ports.

  Nov 23, 2020     C-channels and misc - (4 hours)       Category: FWF

I completed the C-channels for the cowling and attached the carb and air box to check the length required for engine controls. Beyond that, I spent a lot of time test fitting different accessories and tracing locations onto the firewall, and figuring out exactly what I need to finish up. Which means an Aircraft Spruce order is in order.

  Nov 22, 2020     C-channels - (4 hours) Category: FWF

I trimmed the c-channels to length and started fitting them in place. I scratched my head for a while determining the best way to figure out the center of the nose bowl as a reference point. Finally, I eyeballed from the center of the engine up to the nose bowl and made a mark, then measured from that mark around the top half of the nose bowl to the seam on each side and it matched perfectly, so I called that center. I then spaced the top channels apart just enough to get the oil dip stick out, and drilled them in place. If I would have made this a solid .032 piece like Bob spec'd, I could have made it narrower, but it ended about 13.5" wide.

The bottom channels were more challenging because they have to be level with the door sills, clear the muffler off the #6 cylinder by at least 1/2", and provide for access to the bottom spark plug on the #1 and #2 cylinders. I measured a billion times so I could cut/drill once, and it worked. The spark plug access is tricky as I will have to put the socket on the spark plug before inserting the ratchet, and the ratchet has to be nested in the C-channel to get on the socket, but I tested it on both sides and it's comfortably doable. I then used the digital level to ensure they were level with the door frames and drilled.

  Nov 21, 2020     Nose bowl, baffles, exhaust - (2.5 hours)       Category: FWF

I used a level with some blocks on it to get the nose bowl perfectly level before fixing it in place. I then used a contraption made with aluminum angle to trace cut lines on the baffles. I will cut 5/8" below these lines. Next i wanted to fix the nose bowl in place by attaching the four c-channels but to locate those i needed to have the exhaust bolted on to ensure proper clearance. So I assembled the exhaust except for the hanger hardware.

  Nov 20, 2020     Prop install and removal, wood backplate, misc - (5 hours)       Category: FWF

Late yesterday Amber helped me bolt the prop on. This allowed me to measure where the nose bowl needed to be and build a wood plate to clamp it to. This morning, I removed the prop and drilled the nose bowl halves together, among several other random things. Later in the day I made the wood piece and clamped the nose bowl into position.

  Nov 19, 2020     Front baffles and accessories - (3 hours) Category: FWF

I did most of the assembly work on the front baffles, but haven't riveted them together completely until I can get the nose bowl in position to test their angle. To do this, I first had to bolt on the alternator to check the belt length so that I could install the starter ring gear and prop with the option of not removing it again. I also played with the governor and starter installation a little, realizing I didn't have any tech data on that. Finally, I bolted and torqued the spinner back plate onto the prop hub so now the prop is ready to install.

  Nov 18, 2020     Right side baffles - (3.5 hours) Category: FWF

I assembled the baffles that go behind cylinder #5 and also the ones that go on the side of the engine. Next step was to remove bolts from the engine case to install brackets to support the baffles. I finally temporarily installed all completed baffles (everything but in front of the engine) to check for fit and to prepare for the front baffles.

  Nov 17, 2020     Baffles - (2.5 hours) Category: FWF

I will endeavor to keep accurate records on the time it takes me to complete the baffles, as I've struggled to find any objective data thus far. I'm not including the ~1 hour I took last night to open the box, unpack everything, and look over the documentation. This could have taken 5 minutes, but the kids were watching a movie so I took longer. At first glance, I realized that I needed to get my deburring wheel operational again because deburring was going to take a huge amount of time with all the small pieces with a large amount of cumulative edge length. I managed to drill, deburr, and rivet the first three major baffle pieces and the stiffener angle near the #6 cylinder.

  Nov 16, 2020     Engine Mounting - (1.5 hours)       Category: FWF

The engine is mounted! I started by applying Tef-Gel to the engine mount bolts to 1) protect them from corrosion, and 2) make it easier to remove them if necessary. I'm anticipating needed to remove the engine/mount one more time to complete firewall penetrations. Once bolts were inserted in the engine mount, I hoisted the engine and used hand pressure to hole it at the correct angle while getting the bolts to slide in one at a time, with the help of a rubber mallet. From there, the nuts were installed, torqued, then I very slowly lowered the engine to see what would happen to the tail of the airplane. Sure enough, the tail lifted off its pedestal and required a few pounds of force to keep her down. So I hung a 5 gal bucket full of scrap steel and lead from the other tail handle. Finally, I cut a black garbage bag to act as an engine cover by day.

  Nov 15, 2020     Engine mounting prep - (2 hours)       Category: FWF

Part Numbers:
Barry 94110-01
AN7-27 bolt w/castle nut, various washers

I finished some rearranging of the garage, then rolled the engine and hoist into position. At this point, I have not prepared the firewall at all beyond screwing it to the mounting tabs, so plenty more work in that department is required.

I then began the delicate process of bolting the engine mount to the ears on the engine case. This proved to be more difficult then anticipated, as the holes are only aligned when the Barry mounts are compressed somewhat, so after the first three bolts were inserted, the fourth hole was out of alignment by more then half the bolt's diameter. I used my trusty channel lock pliers (the jaws wrapped in plenty of protective duct tape) to pry the motor mount ear and engine mount flange toward each other in shearing motion until I could get the bolt slid in, then it was mostly downhill from there as I tried different washer combinations to see ensure the nut was clamping down on the Barry assembly and the pin hole aligned with the castle nut when the proper torque was applied.

The instructions with the Barry mounts were vague, and there was a small hole drilled just offset from the metal faces of the mounts. I assumed this hole could partly function as a moisture vent if nothing else, so I ensured all mounts were oriented so that hole was below the bolt. Once everything was together, I torqued the bolts.

  Nov 14, 2020     Prep for engine installation - (3 hours)       Category: FWF

I am well overdue for a shop cleaning, and now that it's engine hanging time and I need to pull the fuselage out anyway, it is time for a good cleaning. I started in the morning, and finished up in an afternoon session with Bliss as my helper. I dragged the fuselage outside to swap it's orientation in the garage so that I will be doing the engine work near the entry door and not near the dirty garage door. Bliss helped by placing a board wherever I wanted to put down the tail. I deflated the tires to clear the garage door frame, but am not certain it's actually necessary. Makes me feel better though. Finally, I covered the fuselage in a new plastic paint tarp to protect it from my garage.

  Nov 13, 2020     Rear heat outlet - (2 hours) Category: Interior Finish

I re-made the rear heat outlet (just aft of rear seats) from a fancy box to just a flange that is screwed to the floor. I also built a plate and backing plate to fill in the hole left from the box. Finally, I deburred and re-installed the firewall, so nearly ready for the engine installation.

  Nov 12, 2020     Fuselage access covers - (2 hours) Category: Fabric Cover

I finished fabricating, trimming, deburring, prepping, and priming the six access covers for the aft fuselage (one for each side of the forward stab tube, then an upper and lower on each side for the rear tube). I plan to cover these in the yellow Oratex just so they blend in as well as possible.

Following that, I began installing the rear heat box outlet under the floor, but realized that I fabricated it before installing the stringers, and now it interferes with the stringers. My backup plan is to just have the SCEET tube bend 90 deg to a flange screwed to the floor. This method will be lighter and a cleaner installation, but I will have some work to do filling in the existing hole in the floor.

  Nov 11, 2020     Fuselage access covers - (1.5 hours) Category: Fabric Cover

I started fabricating the covers for the aft fuselage access holes.

  Nov 10, 2020     Rudder cable exits - (1.5 hours) Category: Fabric Cover

I finished up gluing the rudder cable exit backing plates on each side, and also needed to adjust the rudder cable by shortening the 4130 tabs that set the distance between the rudder pedal horn and the cable shackle to achieve a full 30 degrees of travel. On the left side, I need to glue a .032 washer on the stop bolt to get the distance right. I also removed the firewall and deburred many of the holes prior to permanent installation.

  Nov 09, 2020     Rudder cable exit backplate fab and misc tasks - (7 hours) Category: Fabric Cover

Between the 6th and 9th, I made some back plates for where the cable exits the fuselage, and mounted the rudder so I could get the exit points just right. I also determined that the rudder travel was not reaching a full 30 deg so that will require adjustment. I also experimented with various means of filling in gaps between the fabric and fuselage members in the interior, but ended up removing the patches because it looked worse with them on. I went around the fuselage with a soldering iron to make holes for screws, bolts, cable exits, drain holes, pulleys, etc.

  Nov 05, 2020     Under Door Fabric and float patches - (1 hour) Category: Fabric Cover

I finished the right side under door fabric and cut out a patch to put over the float fitting area. Even so, It's hard to make that area look perfect. I might solicit advice from Lars.

  Nov 04, 2020     Under door fabric - (2.2 hours) Category: Fabric Cover

I glued the left side under door fabric with no issues. I was hoping to wrap it up around the door sill as a contiguous piece, but unfortunately I had to slice it at the bend in the door sill. Doesn't look terrible, especially if I install a door sill plate at a later date. I did the same on the right side, but didn't quite finish gluing all around.

  Nov 03, 2020     Under main door fabric areas - (2 hours) Category: Fabric Cover

Happy birthday Ella, and happy election day! I examined the remaining pieces of fabric and determined there is barely enough to do under the main doors, along with the back and bottom of the rear seat and the bottom of the main seats. So I started work on the fuselage side panels by trimming and tracing them followed by two coats of glue in the basement. The garage was too cold to apply glue this morning, but I will start on that tomorrow and hopefully get the fuselage gluing completed this week.

  Nov 02, 2020     Final shrinking part 2 - (2 hours) Category: Fabric Cover

I finished the final shrinking. Unfortunately, I experienced a runaway temperature condition on the heat gun while trying to even out the fabric attachment over the bottom longeron, and I burned a hole in the Oratex. So cleaned the area very well and glued a patch over the hole. It's great how easy repairs are, but I was hoping to to have repairs on my brand new airplane! This is the third time I've burned a hole in the fabric due to runaway heat (where I'm humming along at 450 deg, then suddenly a hole opens up on the fabric and I realize the heat gun is climbing through 800 deg F). There is one other on the fuselage in a very discreet location and another on the bottom of a control surface. The most significant repair to date is on an aileron where molten lead came out a unnoticed hole and burned away some fabric.

  Oct 27, 2020     Final shrinking - (2 hours) Category: Fabric Cover

I got part way through the final exterior fabric shrinking, including applying the heat gun to any edges where the fabric was glued a little too far around a curve. Then, we went on vacation.

  Oct 26, 2020     Fuselage top - (1.5 hours) Category: Fabric Cover

I spot glued, trimmed, and finished the top fuselage fabric and also organized my leftover Oratex pieces to figure out what to keep and what not to keep.

  Oct 26, 2020     Fuselage Tapes - (3.5 hours) Category: Fabric Cover

I glued down the 2" tapes along the vertical stabilizer ribs, and laid a 3" tape on top of the vertical stab. Then I ran two 3" tapes down the top stringers to the base of the vertical stab, and another 3" tape up the vertical stab. Because there were two tapes converging on one at the base of the stab, I decided to use a separate tape for the stab rather than trying the technique suggested in the manual where a single tape was used with a complex process of cleaning the glue off, gluing both surfaces, and shrinking the middle.

  Oct 25, 2020     Reinforcing tape and rib/stringer lacing - (3 hours) Category: Fabric Cover

I applied reinforcing tape over the vertical stab ribs, and also along the first few feet of top fuselage stringers behind the skylight. I then rib laced all of those areas. and applied a couple coats of glue

  Oct 23, 2020     Top Fabric - (1.5 hours) Category: Fabric Cover

After looking at it in better light, the top stringer to stabilizer transition is actually symmetrical. The garage lighting originally cast a shadow on one side that made it look lopsided. So I pulled out the piece of fabric I cut for the top, and marked it for gluing, then taped the top fuselage for gluing, and applied the first coat of glue to both.

  Oct 22, 2020     Left Side Fabric - (2 hours) Category: Fabric Cover

I spent all morning just trying to get the transition from the top stringer to vertical stab to lay flat and shrink the surrounding fabric. Two challenges remain with no clear way forward yet. The first challenge is the contour of the fabric is different on the left side vs right, likely because of a difference in how I pulled on the fabric before gluing. I had no idea it would be so different. Challenge two, somewhat related to the first one, is that there was too much loose material next to the transition area, so shrinking at high temperatures did not fully pull the fabric tight. I mitigated heating the glue holding the fabric to the top longeron and pulling it down over the longeron and re-gluing it, then shrinking the loose fabric that is now below the longeron. It not looks tight, but isn't as tight as I would like, and is still not symmetrical on either side of the vertical stab.

  Oct 21, 2020     Left side fabric - (3 hours) Category: Fabric Cover

I glued and shrunk the fabric at the forward end of the left side, and trimmed/glued the fabric down the stringer toward the vertical stab. Later in the day, I glued the fabric on the rudder post and vertical stab except for about 2 feet in the area around the stringer-to-stabilizer transition area which will require some special application of heat.

  Oct 20, 2020     Let side fabric Category: Fabric Cover

Using the same apparatus as I used on the right side, I stretched the fabric at the forward end of the lift side and marked it for glue application. I also marked and applied glue to the fabric and structure in the vertical stab area.

  Oct 19, 2020     Left side fabric - (2 hours) Category: Fabric Cover

I glued the fabric along the top longeron, the window and door frames, and the rear inspection frame. Then gave it an initial shrinking with the iron and heat gun. I feel better about this side regarding the upper stringer to vertical stab transition as I allowed for more material to make the fold over the top longeron. I recommend ensuring you have enough fabric at that transition before gluing any of the rudder post or anything else above the lower longeron.

  Oct 18, 2020     Left Side fabric - (1.5 hours)       Category: Fabric Cover

I used the magnets to set the left side fabric in place and started ironing along the bottom longeron. After the initial tack, I creased the excess along the tape line and cut it before gluing it all down. I followed with the heat gun and felt blade along the bottom. The second picture below shows the fabric in the area of the float mount. I plan to make another patch to go over this area to ensure it's weather tight before calling the fabric complete.

  Oct 17, 2020     Left side fabric - (1 hour)       Category: Fabric Cover

Last night and this morning I used magnets to preliminarily attach the left side fabric, then traced and trimmed it before removal. I then spread it out on the living room floor to clean and brush on the glue.

  Oct 16, 2020     Avionics arrived - (.5 hour)       Category: Instrument Panel

I opened the boxes that came in a shipment from GRT and inventoried everything. I bought the Horizon 10.1 with a remote magnetometer and remote mounted EMS. It includes the AOA and IFR approach options and also their SafeFly GPS.

  Oct 16, 2020     Left Side Fabric - (1.5 hours)       Category: Fabric Cover

This morning I filed down some high spots on the fuselage and spot-painted them, and also riveted the round window frame on. I finished up the right side fabric by ironing down some loose edges, and finally riveted the lower forward aluminum backings using a combination of CCC-42 pop rivets and -4 solid rivets. I'm really glad that I re-made those.

  Oct 15, 2020     Misc fabric tasks - (1.5 hours)       Category: Fabric Cover

I painted the aluminum that backs the fabric around the gear legs, and also brushed glue in all the grooves along the sides both in the baggage compartment and between the right lower longeron and right side fabric. I also used JB Weld to attach the left side access frame at the tail and ironed on the right side round forward access frame for the tail's forward spar. I located it to be somewhat centered between the upper stringer and upper longeron so that the spar carry-through will be somewhat centered in the hole. This allows an opening big enough to get my hand in when the carry-through is not in place so that I can connect the trim cables when needed.

  Oct 14, 2020     Misc fabric tasks - (2 hours) Category: FWF

I originally made aluminum pieces to go under the fabric in the area of the landing gear legs and aileron cable pulley so that there would be no loose edges in the fabric. When I pulled those out, I was dissatisfied in how much space I cut out around those features. Without fairings on top of the gear, there would be a lot of daylight coming through there. So I re-made them to be smaller. Once the paint dries, I'll rivet them on and start on the fabric in that area.

  Oct 13, 2020     Right Side Fabric - (2 hours)       Category: Fabric Cover

I visually completed the right side fabric piece by gluing all around the vertical stabilizer and shrinking with the heat gun and iron. I went over all the fabric with the iron at 130 C and will later do it again at 160 C. I still need to finish gluing around the top stringer and forward stringer, but will need to re-apply some glue in that area as I believe I already activated the existing glue with the shrinking.

  Oct 12, 2020     Right side fabric - stringer to tail transition - (1 hour)       Category: Fabric Cover

Using lots of stretching and tugging, and aided by strategic cuts in the fabric, I was able to attach the fabric to the stringer-stabilizer transition area. I was worried there would be difficulty here as it required a lot of stretching to avoid having large wrinkles in the area at the base of the stabilizer. Later in the day, I traced the stabilizer onto the remaining fabric and applied glue to the remainder of the stabilizer and fabric.

  Oct 09, 2020     Right side fabric - (0.5 hour) Category: Fabric Cover

I stretched and glued the fabric at the forward end of the right side to the stringers and top former, then did some shrinking to verify eventual satisfactory tightness. I think after shrinking at 160 C it will be amazing.

  Oct 08, 2020     Right Side Fabric - (2.5 hours)       Category: Fabric Cover

Hopefully the left side goes faster! I glued the fabric to the stringer above the first bay aft of the baggage door, then started working on the forward part. As it sat, there was a large longitudinal wrinkle in the fabric because of the shape of the forward fuselage. After pulling and heating a lot, my plan evolved to using large clamps to hold the fabric tight in multiple directions (forward and in), then use the heat gun on the fabric until the wrinkles were out. I had to stretch a little, heat a little, stretch a little, heat a little, etc., but eventually I got the fabric to lay nicely on the forward fuselage area, so I marked and brushed glue onto the fabric and fuselage stringer and forward former.

Then I moved to the back, which has proven to be more challenging. It's very difficult to stretch the fabric to contact the concave arch where the stringers meet the fuselage. The challenge is slightly abated by tilting the fabric over the stabilizer forward a little, but this causes a large crease all across the stabilizer and an even larger one between the stabilizer and top longeron. But I think I can avoid doing this by simply applying loads of heat wherever the fabric is taught while stretching it to contact the arch. So I brushed glue on the fabric, stringer, and arch to prep for this challenge.

  Oct 07, 2020     Right side fabric - (2.5 hours)       Category: Fabric Cover

I finished and somewhat shrunk the fabric on the right side up to the top longeron. I have been tacking it in place with the iron and going back with the heat gun and felt blade to heat it up again. On the door formers, the heat really dissipates so it's hard to judge how much heat to pump in there. Everything below the top longeron came out great. On top, it's going to get tricky and I'll need to use heat to stretch the fabric in some places. I'm going to start buy attaching the fabric to the stringer in the area over my baggage compartment (one bay aft of normal baggage compartment) and stretching from there.

  Oct 06, 2020     Right side fabric - (2 hours) Category: Fabric Cover

Yesterday I brushed the glue onto the fuselage and right side fabric piece. Notably, I only went as high as the top longeron on all surfaces as I wanted to ensure a tight fit there before proceeding to wrap it over to the top stringer. I also allowed small wrinkle at the top longeron near the vertical stabilizer forward spar so that there would be extra material to wrap over the curve from the fuselage to the stringers. I used the heat gun to shrink this wrinkle on the upper longeron so that there was no actual wrinkle in the fabric.

The shape of the forward fuselage is interesting to when it comes to wrapping, as the top longeron has a slight concave curve near the forward fabric termination. As it turns out, it was not simple, but definitely manageable.