Mar 01, 2023     Hospitality and an excellent place to build       Category: Hospitality!

We started our building project just after Thanksgiving, 2003 by fabricating two 8' work tables. Then, in January, 2004 we started building a GlaStar tail kit bought by Brutus in 1997.

As you can see from the photos below, sometimes we got together for holidays. We can't forget Charlie, one of Nancy's cats who was with us for many years. Unfortunately, Charlie has passed on. These scenes are history since we trailered our Sportsman to Hanover County Airport (KOFP) to hangar E8 in 2022.

Many times Nancy and Brutus provided lunch and even supper for the Tailwind Aviation LLC crew. Dee particularly likes to cook, so a number of times he brought chili or soup in a slow cooker. Building the Sportsman in a heated and air-conditioned 3-car garage was so much more comfortable than building in an airport hangar. We added other amenities upon starting this project, including two, twin 8' VHO fluorescent hanging fixtures from Dee's closed Two Wheel Travel bicycle shop, a hanging electric heater, a ceiling fan to circulate the air and a window air conditioner. It was so good to have both heat and air conditioning for what turned out to be a long, long project.

  Mar 08, 2022     First flight from KOFP of N18TA Sportsman - (1.2 hours)       Category: First Flight

HOVA's lineman filled both 15-gallon main tanks. We left the two 10-gallon aux tanks empty. Our carefully selected test pilot, Peter Braswell, a long time friend and previous GlaStar builder, spent time in two previous visits to our Hangar E8 where he inspected and familiar with our Sportsman. Doug Hanson, our avionics and electrical guru introduced Peter to our totally stuffed panel with triple GRT HX EFISs, Garmin GTN-650, Garmin GTX 327 transponder, Vertical Power VP-200, PS Engineering 8000BT audio panel, Trio Pro Pilot and more. As planned, Peter used the EAA Test Flight manual with test cards. A requirement for the first flight from Test Card 1 was not to use flaps! (An interesting fact is that the Sportsman has the same low drag airfoil for its wing as the famous, very fast, Glasair, so flaps make a huge difference for slower flight and landing speeds.) On this third day, Peter said he and the weather were a "Go"! As the DAR required in our Certificate of Airworthiness, the first takeoff must be from Runway 34 due to minimal housing off that end of the runway.

Unfortunately, our forth partner, Stratford Ward, could not be there for this first flight.

Peter took off, climbed very rapidly to 2000 feet and checked to control feel and response before continuing to climb over the airport to 5000'. He stayed at that altitude performing the actions called out on Test Card 1 for some time speaking to the voice recorder his comments. Doug had mounted a Go Pro camera on the BAS dual shoulder harness 1 ⅛" cross tube for a full view of the panel. He also mounted a second Go Pro on the left wing strut, and a voice recorder in the cockpit.

As Peter entered the traffic pattern, three of us builders, Dee Whittington, Brutus Russell and Doug Hanson, positioned themselves near the parallel taxiway to Runway 16-34 and shot videos of our Sportsman descending, entering the pattern and landing. We continued to video with great excitement as Peter taxied back to Hangar E8, shut down and exited the plane.

In a minute or so after shutdown and after stepping out of our Sportsman, we three awaited his report on the flight. Peter's first words were, "You guys built a beautiful airplane!" We were ecstatic! The rest of his report was wonderfully complementary as to how the Sportsman flew. Of special interest was his report that after he got to 5000', he set the throttle to cruise power, trimmed the elevator, then took his hand off the stick and feet off the rudder pedals and...the plane flew straight and level! That was joy to our ears since the fuselage we received had a twisted and leaned-over vertical fin. After much thought and planning we came up with a method to use a Sawsall to split Bulkhead B, pull and straighten the fin as much as we could using a plumb bob and pencil laser for reference, and then re-glassing Bulkhead B. Just in case we didn't get it correct, we chose to install an electric trim tab on the right aileron. Peter reported he did not have to adjust that tab at all!

Here is a hot link to video of the first flight and Peter Braswell's report: https://bit.ly/3sYXDCf

This flight began our 40-hour Phase 1 flight test program. The reason we have to fly 40 hours and not 25 hours, because we bought an 850-hour Lycoming O-360-A1A engine from an RV-6A builder, Rick Solana, Originally Rick bought the engine factory new, and then through the years up graded the engine with dual eMags, a Vetterman tuned exhaust, a remote ADC oil filter and a Reiff engine heating system. As the detailed logs indicated, he had taken superior care of the engine with regular oil changes, compression checks and borescope inspections.

  Jan 05, 2022     DAR Inspection - (4 hours)       Category: At hangar E8

Photos below of our big day. Finally, after 17-years of building, we scheduled our DAR inspection for December 3, 2021. We were ready with a table for his laptop, printer and documents. Plus coffee and donuts and muffins I had baked. (You do know I'm the official cook and baker for our group!) Dave drove down from Maryland, luckily escaping any pileups on I-95.

Dave was pleased with what he saw. He quizzed us on many topics. He asked for our builders logs. Asked about our weight and balance and CG calculations. He carefully checked the Lycoming data plate and our stainless data plate attached on the left rear fuselage under the elevator. All OK. He looked at our splendid multi-screen (we have 3 GRT EFISs/a Garmin 650/Garmin GTR200/ GPS Com/Trio Pro Pilot/VP-200 electrical system control panel/CO Guardian panel mounted CO sensor/Advanced Flight AOA/ and many other electronics items that fill our panel. He checked to be sure our oil pressure and other readouts showed proper limits. Doug answered all his questions about avionics with deep knowledge. In 3.5 hours he was done and handed us our signed Certificate of Airworthiness. You can see the last photo of the happy moment below.

Unfortunately, our 4th Brutus Russell, was not in attendance due to a pre-scheduled trip. But he gets the thanks for being the spark plug that started us on the road to building Sportsman S/N 7032, by buying a GlaStar tail kit way back in 1997. We started building the tail kit in January, 2004 and then found out happy news from Harry Delong when we were ready to buy the wing and fuselage kits. The GlaStar tail kit would work perfectly with Sportsman fuselage and wing kits!

However, our DAR did surprise us with the news we would have to fly 40 minimum test hours since we have the marvelous, but not certified, dual eMags. If they were Slicks, he would have specified 25 hours. But, much to our gratitude, he didn't delineate our test area as a 50-mile circle around Hanover County Airport, but gave us a much larger area enclosed by straight lines connecting 6 airports. He said that large polygon would allow us more airspace to carefully take the multitude of data points which will be required to fill out for the 10 data cards which are part of the EAA Flight Test Kit. He was very pleased we were using that kit.

And, being especially, worried we just might have missed something in our build, we decided to repeat the super detailed checklist in Section X of the Sportsman Builders Manual. We opened up all the inspection plates and panels on the plane; removed the baggers floor and the seats and seat pans, removed the elevator, rudder and horizontal stabilizer ended up taking 2+ days for the re-inspection. Now we were very satisfied we've done everything Glasair Aviation specified, and much more.

But we are not finished as we continue thinking of "niceties" like sealing the cabin from air leaks, a job which proved to be rather difficult due to the folding wing design. As you should be able to tell from my description, we are and have been, very picky with all parts of our project. We are looking forward to our first flight, for which, following our history, we are hiring a professional test pilot to do. Then he will give us transition training for our new flying machine.

Written by Dee Whittington, official scribe for this project.

  Nov 10, 2021     Pitot/Static tubing to Pro Pilot autopilot - (30 hours)       Category: Plumbing AP

After a free Trio Avionics software upgrade to our Pro Pilot which gives us a huge new capability to track fuel flow with high exactness, we noted we needed to attach both pitot and static lines to the rear of the Pro Pilot. That meant tapping into both positive and negative pressure systems behind the panel. With the windshield already installed, this was not an easy task and required opening several bundles of cabling a tubing behind the panel. But, Doug, our master electrician and electronics guru, managed to use some pneumatic fittings we had left over to hook up into the pressure and vacuum systems. This required using 3-way and 4-way connectors and joining tubing of different ID and ODs.

  Oct 07, 2021     Seat rail mod for easier seat back adjustment - (10 hours)       Category: Seat rails

We added more nylon washers to the seat back assembly to make it easier to adjust the seat back fore and aft. In the Sportsman the seat bottom does not move. Our older Sportsman seat design, required you to lift a pair of spring loaded pins and then push the seat back fore and aft. That was not easy as the back tended to jam on the square steel tubing. Later the Glasair factory updated the design so you could lift both pins with one hand and then coax the seat back to a new position.

To get the extra washers inside the square rail, required trimming them on two sides so they would slide in. This modification definitely helped moving the seat back. Later we will come up with a way to hold both seat back locking pins up, either providing a pin on which to hang them or some other way so all you have to do is move the back, not hold the pins up.

  May 02, 2021     Crack in fuselage under the vertical fin, left side - (25 hours)       Category: Fuse Crack

We noticed an about 2" crack in the fuselage outer skin layer after we moved to our hangar E8 at KOFP. We have no idea what caused it. Stratford consulted with Zach Chase. Then he ground out the damaged top layer of glass stopping at the foam and then epoxied in 4 layers of glass. The final steps were he applied putty and sanded smooth. He used West System epoxy for the job.

Hooray for fiberglass!

  Apr 30, 2021     People were interested in our Sportsman project       Category: Visitors

Through the many years we worked on building our Sportsman 2+2 kitplane, Nancy and Brutus hosted EAA Chapter 231 and many other people who came on their own.Several of these visit were so A&P mechanics could look over our work and give us pointers. They included Ron Vansickle who not only visited us, but many times answered questions when we got in a tough spot or we needed his machining skills to make a special part. Another great helper both in person and vis phone and email was Tom Tyndall. In addition to advice, he lent us tools. Another tool lender, especially in the early years, was Terry Simmons and . We also visited other GlaStar and Sportsman builders such a Tommy Crump, Dick Carden and Alex Rose, also a Sportsman builders.

  Apr 29, 2021     Determine weight & balance for Sportsman - (10 hours)       Category: Weight & Bal

We rented a set of electronic scales, The first step was to level the Sportsman to the waterline with an electronic scale under each wheel. We had previously measured the centerline L to R through the main wheels, the position of the firewall forward of the main wheels and the centerline of the nose wheel. Our datum was the joggle at the front of the fuselage at the intersection with the cowl. From these basic measurements, Stratford, Doug and Brutus jockeyed the Sportsman onto the scales with pieces of wood placed so the plane was level to the waterline which we had marked years earlier during initial construction of our Sportsman 2+2.

Then Doug took the data and used it to create a spreadsheet we can use to insert actually pilot and passenger weights, actual fuel weights and actual baggage weights to keep the CG within the limits specified in our Sportsman Builders Manual being edited by Doug. Of course that data will be used by us for the Foreflight app on our iPhones and iPads.

  Apr 20, 2021     Wheel pants for main and nose wheels - (75 hours)       Category: Wheel Pants

Locating and drilling the "blind" pair of holes for the tow bar to attached to the nose gear. After we got the pants installed, we realized it was going to me impossible to check the tire pressure or inflate them. Looks like what we'll do is remove the "nose" section of the pant which will then give us access to the valve stem. There are only about 10 Torx screws which hold the nose of the pant in place.

  Mar 29, 2021     After 15 mile drive KPTB, much quicker unload of trailer - (2 hours)       Category: At hangar E8

Stratford drove the pick up and trailer with our Sportsman and we all followed. The unloaded was much easier than the head-scratching loading challenge. As the winch released tension on the cable, Doug Hanson and Barry Toole rolled the mains as Stratford steered the nose holding onto the prop. It was dicy, but down she came off the huge trailer, down the fold-out steel ramps onto our added on wooden platforms to the asphalt. At the last moment the tail tie-down hook internal support bent about 10-degrees and cracked the fuselage shell. Well, that is just repair!

  Mar 27, 2021     Loading on trailer for trip to KOFP hangar E8 - (5.0 hours)       Category: To hangar!

Stratford borrowed a friend's massive dual wheel trailer and RAM pickup. This trailer was higher off the ground than previous ones we had used. The loading process proved to be a multi-hour challenge to slowly add on to the trailer ramp with pallet sections and other wood and then pull our Sportsman up with a winch. The crew then strapped our Sportsman down with a multitude of ratcheting tie downs. The extra help from Barry Toole, our EAA Chapter 231 President, was welcome. It was a beautiful late March day thank goodness.

  Feb 28, 2021     Lap belt installation - (3 hours)       Category: BAS Harness

The final job for the installation of the lap belt part of the BAS shoulder harness system was cutting out the Zach Chase seat pans on the inner side to accommodate the lap belt and sleeve. This was a cut-and-try job that took much longer than expected.

  Feb 28, 2021     Replacing SL40 with Garmin GTR200 COMM - (4 hours)       Category: Avionics

Our Garmin (Apollo) SL40 #2 COMM died while it was sitting in the panel waiting several years for us to finish the Sportsman. Finally, in January 2021 when Doug was trying the transmit and receive functions of the SL40, he found it dead! After pulling the radio from the panel, he smelled something had burned. We have no idea what happened, but we were out of radio since the warranty had long ago expired. So, Doug suggested we replace it with the much more capable Garmin GTR200, for about $1200. This radio has all sorts of neat new features as well as being shorter and lighter than the SL40. But, the tray that came with the new radio had holes for the attaching screws about half a hole displaced from the SL40. What a pain! So, as you can see in the photos, using a long, somewhat flexible #30 drill, Doug, with Brutus's help, managed to drill new holes which worked!

Doug studied the instructions from Garmin and programmed our new #2 COMM radio. The good part of this unexpected expense is we have a #2 COMM with updated features. The GTR200 has a 2-place intercom which we don't need since we have a PS Engineering audio panel with a four-place intercom and Bluetooth in the panel.

  Feb 28, 2021     Drilling main wheel axles for castle nuts - (3 hours)       Category: Main Gear

After jacking the Sportsman using a recently purchased old Porche aluminum scissors jack, Stratford removed each wheel so it could drill holes through the hollow axle for the cotter to lock the large castle nut holding the wheel bearings and wheel in place. He taped the axle nut which has a "bow" welded on it for gear fairing support, so it would not turn while he was drilling. Using new cobalt 1/8" drill bits, he drilled downward for the top of the axle, and upward for the bottom. This was NOT easy. One of the drills pretty much died, but the second has some life left after drilling four holes.

Stratford deserves special credit for finding and modifying the Porche aluminum scissors jack. it was covered with grease and grime. So he soaked in solvent, cleaned it thoroughly, sprayed the whole jack with CorrosionX, and finally lubed the pivot points and screw threads. He drilled a hole in the center of the jack locator and inserted a bolt extending vertically so it would fit into the jack tab we had installed next to each brake assembly. That bolt fits into a hole in the jack tab to make a secure attachment during jacking.

  Jan 31, 2021     Front tunnel mount for parking brake, heat and defrost - (30 hours)       Category: Front tunnel

This area turned out to be one in which we did more than one design. This one was during the time we had the Subaru engine installed.

  Oct 20, 2020     Oil door installation - (2 hours)       Category: Cowl

The oil door on the top right rear of the cowl had been carefully fitted by Zach Chase. He attached ribs to the underside to force the door to curve to fit the curvature of the cowl at that location. Stratford in these photos rivets the door hinge to the cowl and then the hinge to the door using a rivet squeezer. After drilling the holes for the #40 rivets, he used a countersink tool so the flush head rivets sank into the fiberglass.

  Sep 25, 2020     Removed the float bowl again for a careful recheck - (4 hours)       Category: Engine

After not being able to shut down the engine with the mixture control, Dee and Doug worked with Stratford to carefully remove the float bowl and, check the mixture spring/barrel assembly, and the needle valve assembly. Dee had purchased the new composite float and needle valve assembly and two bowl gaskets. Everything looked OK...no discrepancies we could see at all in the carburetor since Stratford had not loosened or removed anything else. We had the Marvel Schebler parts manual, service manual, and overhaul manual plus the float and needle valve assembly were shipped with multi-page instruction sheets printed in color!

  Sep 13, 2020     First engine start - (4 hours)       Category: Engine

After proving the fuel flow to be adequate, we pulled the Sportsman back from the road, up Brutus and Nancy's driveway pulling it with Barry Toole's tractor, we tied the plane to the tractor, Stratford got in the pilot's seat, Dee in the co-pilot's seat, and with Doug manning two fire extinguishers, we went through the detailed engine start checklist. When Stratford pushed the START button, it took only one revolution of the prop and the eMags had our O-360-A1A running!.

We ran the engine only at idle and up to 1000rpm. for a couple of minutes. We tried cycling the Hartzell Constant Speed propeller. Nothing! And pulled a second time...no response from the prop. Then Stratford pulled the mixture control full out to Idle Cutoff...and, nothing! That is the engine did not stop running! As you might imagine, we were shocked! So Dee tried pulling the mixture again...and again, nothing. So Stratford switched the power off to the eMags and the engine stopped. (eMags don't produce enough power at under about 900rpm to keep the engine running..)

We started the engine again, and again repeated the same process of cycling the prop and pulling the mixture to idle cutoff. Still nothing. So we folded the wings and pushed the Sportsman back into Brutus's three-bay garage. After swinging the wings back out we left for the day.

  Sep 13, 2020     Fuel Flow Testing - (50 hours)       Category: Fuel Flow

We consulted with Glasair Aviation to find what the nose-up angle they used to test fuel flow to our Lycoming O-360-A1A carbureted engine. Our engine requires 14.8 gph at 2700 rpm full power. With the boost pump on, we had to measure 125% of that fuel flow to meet the requirement. We were told we must have the nose up 18 degrees with minimum fuel in the 15 gallon main tanks. My partners accomplished that by using a small tractor with a front end loader to lift the nose wheel while the tail of our Sportsman was over a ditch allowing the Sportsman to reach 18+ degrees. (Note: in the photo below you see our digital level taped to a 4-foot bubble level taped exactly on the waterline marks we scribed on the fuselage years ago in the building process.) The test was successful with the boost pump running. Our engine has Lycoming's engine-driven pump and now has a boost pump installed in the 3/8" aluminum fuel line between the Newton V1-3P-C FAA Conforming 4-position fuel valve and the firewall in the cabin. As an extra precaution in case the boost pump fails, Stratford installed a Facet 48108 electronic pump in the fuel line under the tunnel cover. That pump has flared fittings, so the job was particularly difficult. Hooray for Stratford and my two other partners who helped. I was at home working on uploading photos like the ones you see in this building report.

  Sep 10, 2020     Tensioning the front alternator belt - (1 hour)       Category: Electric Sys

Using a torque wrench, Doug and Stratford tightened the alternator belt until the required torque showed up on the torque wrench.

  Sep 07, 2020     Serial and part numbers of items on our Sportsman       Category: ID Numbers

These photos show various serial numbers and part numbers of parts we have installed on our Sportsman. This should help us in the future look up this data even if we are not at our home hangar and need to order parts or get advice on repairs we might have to make.

  Sep 06, 2020     Jack pad attached to brake - (6 hours)       Category: Accessories

There was no good place to jack our Sportsman is we needed to change a tire or repair a flat. A person on GlaStarNet forum group came up with an idea and sold us a pair of this right-angle aluminum part. Although it sits very close to the ground, with a proper jack we can raise the wheel and tire.

  Jun 12, 2020     Hartzell constant speed prop installation - (2 hours)       Category: Propeller

After we sent our 850-hour prop to East Coast Propeller Service in Lititz, PA for resealing and repainting, we felt a great sense of accomplishment lifting it into place and carefully engaging each of the special hex bolts into the engine prop flange. Carefully torquing each bolt and then safetying wiring them finished the job. But what a pain getting the .041 safety wire around the nuts in such tight spaces.

Installing the propeller was made far easier because we purchased an Ultimate Prop Wrench from www.antisplataero.com. If you are not familiar with this slick tool, do take a look at Allan Nemmo's web site. He's primarily focused on tools for RV builders, but many of his creations are useful to any builder.

  May 05, 2020     Heat/Defrost - (30 hours)       Category: Heat/Defrost

We decided not to buy and install the heating/defrost air control offered by Glasair Aviation. Our custom heating and defrost system involved designing a sheet aluminum heating/defrost control box. After initial design sketches, engaging construction by a sheet metal expert, followed by tedious and extensive modification, and finally fitting and installation on the cabin firewall just to the left of the "dog bowl" projecting aft in the firewall. The control box fastens with screws and hi-heat self-locking nuts through the firewall. We applied a red silicone seal to prevent air leakage at all seams of the control box. The pivoted flapper valve connects to a push-pull Belden cable control mounted to a bracket on top of the front center tunnel for easy reach by the pilot or copilot. Pulling the control out feeds the increasing flow of defrost air to two 10" wide plenums on the pilot and copilot sides of the glare shield. This will offer so much more defogging and defrosting capability than many GA aircraft. The control box also directs heated air down to a metal 2" Y fitting which feeds air down.

Stratford designed a heater control mounted on the firewall in the engine compartment using aluminum control boxes similar to what is common in RVs. The heat for our Sportsman is produced by two muffs which are part of the dual, left-right Vetterman tuned exhaust system we were lucky to get with the 850-hour engine we bought from an RV-6A builder. We chose to not buy the Glasair factory 1 1/2" diameter heater duct/control system which would have been much simpler to install. Stratford's design using 2" SCAT ducting will produce a larger volume of heat for the pilot and copilot defrost/defog use as well as extra flow aimed at Stratford's cold feet! We will control the heat/defrost system with two push-pull controls, one for heated air volume and the other directing heated air to the two, long lovers in the glareshield or, in varying flow, or downward to. the floor area.

  Jun 16, 2019     Plenum for oil cooler - (15 hours)       Category: Engine

This carbon fiber 45-degree plenum for our Airflow Systems 7000X oil cooler was designed and built by Zach Chase. It was an amazing creative effort. It is fed by 4" SCAT ducting from Zach's custom-designed inlet on the right lower front of our cowl about the place a right-hand landing light is often installed by some builders.

  Feb 07, 2019     ADC Oil Filter - (3 hours)       Category: Engine

Our 850-hour engine came with ADC remote oil filter bracket. We located it on the right side of the firewall which allowed us to use the excellent quality oil hoses provided. After the initial engine start and checkout, we will switch to a higher quality Tempest oil filter,

  Oct 18, 2018     Installing Airflow Systems 2007X oil cooler - (10 hours)       Category: Engine

We choose an Airflow Systems oil cooler that we were told would give us better oil cooling and lighter weight. We chose the model 2007X oil cooler on the advice of the owner of Airflow Systems. This cooler was somewhat smaller than we probably would have selected (e.g., a Niagra) but he advised us that with a proper feed from the right front of the cowl and through 4" SCAT into a 45-degree. plenum, we should have less drag and more efficient cooling. The problematic part of this choice was that Airflow Systems did not have a computer-designed, 45-degree plenum we could buy for this cooler. Much later we paid Zach Chase to design and build a beautiful plenum from carbon fiber. We'll see about the cooling performance once we fly.

  Sep 18, 2018     Prop governor control cable bracket and arm - (20 hours)       Category: Propeller

Installed new prop governor control bracket on the aft of O-360. The arm that we received with the engine provided the wrong angle to route the prop control cable since we were switching to a very different aircraft. Even then, routing the governor control cable was tricky.

  Apr 27, 2017     Trio autopilot gold smart servos for aileron and elevator - (40 hours)       Category: Autopilot

We installed a Trio Pro Pilot autopilot, a modern digital autopilot. One of the amazing features of the Trio Pro Pilot are the two Gold Servos, which are smart servos with a Pentium computer chip inside. They do not have a pin to lock the actuating arm to the shaft, but a slip clutch. So, if the autopilot must in an emergency be overpowered, the clutch slips and does not shear a pin.

We did a lot of measuring, designing, cutting aluminum angle, and drilling holes for Adel clamps to attach the servos to the cage tubes. They had to be mounted at an angle that allowed the servo control arms to be clamped to the appropriate cable and be able to move the elevator or ailerons through their full angular deflection. We are very proud of the installation we designed and executed. In fact, Trio, i.e., Chuck Busch, the chief engineer, was very impressed with our ingenuity and said it was the best installation he had seen.

We were forced to make a custom stop for the roll servo arm so it would not go "over-center" in the full excursion. I've included a photo of this aluminum part with dimensions.

Another problem we ran into was the pitch servo push "rod" (actually a rectangular piece of an aluminum bar) ended up so placed that it pressed against the pilot's seat pan. So, we cut an elongated hole in the right side of the seat pan, formed a piece of blue foam, sanding it to shape, and then covering it with glass and vinyl ester. This worked out just fine. The "bulge" inward did not interfere with the pilot's seat se=e????

  Sep 17, 2014     Floor boards up front - (35 hours)       Category: Fuselage

Cutting and fitting the front floorboards was a pain. One small device made it a bit easier. Namely "locating" pin, pointed on one end and cylindrical on the other. Those pins fitted in the holes where clip nuts would fit. That allowed us to mark the "blind" side in order to drill the holes for the hold-down screws accurately

  Oct 13, 2013     Nose pant and strut fairing installation - (30 hours)       Category: Nose fairings

Installing the nose pant was a lot of work. It is made of two pre-manufactured halves that fitted together. But first Dee mounted brackets on the nose fork. Then, the tricky part was using a laser to drill holes for the wheel axle at exactly the same location on the left and right.

  Aug 02, 2013     Polishing wings and tail surfaces - (40 hours)       Category: Polish Skin

Instead of paint, we decided to polish most of the aluminum skin. That is all of the wings, rudder, and horizontal stabilizer. The paint color scheme we decide on later will probably sweep across the rudder. Much of the polishing was done by Stratford and his brother, Lewis, with professional buffers and pads.

  Jul 13, 2013     Braking system by Matco and Grove on our Sportsman - (50 hours)       Category: Brakes

The Sportsman braking system uses four Matco master cylinders. Each brake pedal, when tilted forward, applies the brake on left or right Grove brake calipers. The pilot and co-pilot brake pedals are connected to each other so either pilot or both can apply even or differential braking. Since the nose wheel freely swivels through a wide arc and is not directly connected to the brake pedals, using the brakes is necessary to help steer the plane when taxiing.

We ran into several trouble spots during the installation of the 4 master cylinders. The left co-pilot master cylinder had the brake line connections facing inward. In that position, they interfered with installing the center tunnel cover. So we reversed that cylinder and gained the clearance we needed. We mounted the reservoir for the brake fluid on the co-pilot's side to a bracket attached to the cage tubing. That position allows the viewing of the reservoir during the process of bleeding the brakes and making sure sufficient fluid is in the reservoir.

  Jul 08, 2013     Wing installation       Category: Wings

We invited the members of EAA Chapter 231 from Richmond, VA, to come to Brutus and Nancy's house to help us install the wings on the fuselage for the first time.

  May 15, 2013     Brake bleeding using pump oil can - (2 hours)       Category: Brakes

Bleeding of the left and right brakes independent systems is best done with two people. We bought a pump oil can on which we attached vinyl tubing which fit over the brake caliper bleeder nipple. The reservoir for the 5606 brake fluid we mounted on the right side of the cockpit under the instrument panel and attached to one of the cage tubes. The bleeding process entails pumping brake fluid back up from the wheel cylinder to the master cylinders, one attached to each brake pedal assembly, and up into the reservoir. We pump until we end up with the reservoir about 3/4 full to allow for fluid expansion.

  Mar 12, 2013     Cove skin fabrication and installation - (50 hours)       Category: Wings

Cutting, trimming, priming, and fitting the cove skins turned out to be quite a job. The big problem was getting them to fit up tightly enough so the ailerons leading edges did not drag on the cove skins. After hours of. work we got them to clear at all points, but in some areas not by much.

  Jan 29, 2013     Upholstery done at Montrose Upholstery - a custom car shop (unfortunately) - (5 hours)       Category: Upholstry

Montrose Upholstery, a shop close to Richmond International Airport, had a good reputation for automobiles, but, we found out later, had done few, if any, full interiors for airplanes. While their quality was good, their attention to keeping upholstery light, which is so important for an airplane, was not something they thought about. Much of the blame falls on us since we didn't fully explain the difference between planes and cars when we left our Sportsman with them.

You will see photos of the shop as well as photos of the various parts of the cabin and as they are now finished. I must say, although the quality of this shop's work was high, we failed to make it abundantly clear that this was an airplane! Therefore weight was a critical factor. Although this shop was recommended by an aviation friend of ours, the shop 99% of the time worked on automobiles of all makes and models where weight was not a significant factor As it turned out one of the heaviest items, was a "carpet" that almost completely covered the area below the 3 3/4 gallon header fuel tank the width of the cabin as well a wrapping around the floor areas. We have removed much of that carpet since we switched from the Eggenfellner 3.5L Subaru engine to a Lycoming as well as the large header tank completely. (We still have two 1 quart header tanks on either side of the cabin as required by Glasair.)

  Aug 18, 2012     Stainless firewall with lip riveted in place - (30 hours)       Category: Firewall

We cut the firewall out of sheet stainless steel, very thin. Then cut strips of the same stainless with notched tabs which we bent in an riveted to the firewall using monel rivets. Doug has started installing electrical connectors as well as a fuse block. The vertical slots we cut to allow the nose gear supports to sllip through when we pushed the firewall into the shell and against the tubular CrMo cage structure.

  Jul 27, 2012     Wing spar misaligned with cage receptacle - (2 hours)       Category: Wings

We filed the inner edge of the wing spar so it would slide together when the wing was swung forward to locking pin could be inserted.

  Apr 17, 2012     Montrose Upholstrey shop move - (30 hours)       Category: Upholstry

These photos show us removing the wings and loading our Sportsman's fuselage into an enclosed trailer to deliver it to Montrose Upholstery and Glass, a local upholstery shop. You will see photos of the shop as well as photos of the various parts of the cabin and as they are now finished. I must say, although the quality of this shop's work was high, we failed to make it abundantly clear that this was an airplane! Therefore weight was a critical factor. Although this shop was recommended by an aviation friend of ours, the shop 99% of the time worked on automobiles of all makes and models where weight was not a significant factor in the work they did. As it turned out one of the heaviest items, almost completely covered the 3 3/4 gallon header fuel tank, we have removed since we switched from the Eggenfellner 3.5L Subaru engine to a Lycoming.

  Mar 03, 2012     Swaging and running control cables - (3 hours)       Category: Cntrl Cables

We ran the control cables to the ailerons, rudder, and elevator. This photo shows us swaging the turnbuckles for the elevator cables with a Nicopress tool.

  Feb 22, 2012     Here is home for Sportsman S/N 7034       Category: Workshop

Our building group, which started as two, Brutus and Dee, within two weeks grew to three with the addition of Stratford, a fellow pilot Dee knew from the Wingnuts Flying Cub LLC based at KFCI. As you can see from the photos, luckily, we are building in Brutus and Nancy Russell's 3-car garage. One of the first things we did was buy an electric heater and hang it from the ceiling with steel angles. Later, the next summer we installed a window air conditioner. In addition to this, we sometimes enjoy a tasty lunch courtesy of Nancy! Wow! In good weather, Brutus breaks out the grill.

Maybe four years after we commenced building, Doug Hanson showed up and began helping. After some months it was obvious this retired Navy man was just what we needed, a whiz in electrics and electronics. So we invited him to join our LLC, which he did.

We have had a deposit on a hangar at KOFP, Hanover County Airport for a number of years (there is always hope!). Once or twice a year Dee gets a call saying a hangar is coming open...but so far we are not yet ready to move to the airport. Our plan is to finish building at the Russell's, have the DAR inspect our plane there, and then trailer N18TA to either Hanover Airport, if there is an empty hangar at that time (not likely) or to KFCI, Chesterfield County Airport where there seems always to be hangar space open.

We are proud to be very, very careful builders with high standards. That is one of the (many) reasons our Sportsman is not flying as of July 2020. But when we are ready for the DAR and pass his inspection, the plan is to hire Dan Dudley, a professional test pilot from Michigan, to make the first flight and then teach us how to fly her safely. And then we will do out extensive test flying following the guidance of the EAA Test Flight Kit which we have purchased.

  Feb 18, 2012     Interior lighting of critical areas of cabin - (4 hours)       Category: Lighting

Using LEDs, we mounted one next to each wing root fuel gage.

  Dec 01, 2011     Cable covers and control covers - (20 hours)       Category: Interior Finish

These photos show the cover forming the front and rear tunnels. In the rear, the tunnel covers cables for the elevator and rudder as well as electriclal items in the tail cone such as the elevator trim, rear battery, coax to the magnetometers, wiring to the ADS-B equipment and control and test wiring for the 104MHz ELT.

  Nov 29, 2011     Control sticks - mockup and CrMo actual sticks - (6 hours)       Category: CNTRL sticks

After designing our own seat cushions, and choosing to use a multi-switch Tosten grips on the sticks, the control sticks that Glasair shipped with the kit would not work. The curve was wrong so the grip would strike the bottom of the instrument panel and the stick would bottom out on the seat cushion when pulled back fully. Therefore, we heated PVC tubing with a heat gun and bent it to a shape that worked to make a stick mockup. It turned out to be a huge problem to find a shop that could bend the 1" CrMo tubing to form the two sticks. Dee visited 4 shops before finding one who had the tubing bender and was willing to do the job.

On top of that, Kevin Williamson, former owner of CH Products and designer of the most popular control stick grip for computer flight simulators, designed and manufactured a Tosten grip for our Sportsman. Kevin worked with Dee and custom cut the bottom of the grip off as much as he could to gain clearance from the bottom of the instrument panel. Our talented friend, and for 23 years President of EAA Chapter 231, Ron VanSickle, made a plug to fit in the top of each stick on which to fasten the grip with his massive Bridgeport milling machine. Boy, did this whole process take a long time, lots of phone calls and miles of driving. and the wonderful help from Ron VanSickle.

  Nov 24, 2011     Avionics and instruments in panel in N18TA, Sportsman 2+2 - (100 hours)       Category: Instrument Panel

We decided to hire the basic installation and wiring of our instrument panel to a professional. So, John Starke in Georgia installed the avionics and switches in the panel we had cut to fit. We also bought through him most of the three GRT HX EFIS units, the GRT engine monitor, a Garmin. 430W Nav/Com, a Garmin 330 transponder, a Vertical Power VP-200 solid-state electrical control system, a Garmin Com, a Trio Pro Pilot autopilot, a second non-WAAS GRT GPS unit.

  Nov 24, 2011     VP-200 Vertical Power electronic circuit breaker and control installation - (60 hours)       Category: Avionics

We installed a then "State of the Art" electronic circuit breaker and programmable electrical control system introduced by Vertical Power. Our VP-200 was the first version which included a panel-mounted screen plus a switch panel just beneath that. Those controls were wired to a box behind the panel which housed the electronics to perform the wizardry of resettable circuit breakers, measuring current flow in any circuit, activating alarms for out-of-spec parameters, and programming a number of functions which would then perform "normal" cockpit duties for the pilot automatically depending on speed and altitude of the aircraft. Totally amazing.

  Nov 21, 2011     Trim panels inside the cabin - (40 hours)       Category: Interior Finish

Under the back of the front seats, we initially installed carefully crafted aluminum left and right kick panels for rear-seat passengers or baggage that might interfere with cables and wires. (We do have an optional rear seat with belts that is designed to accommodate two people maximum 5'2" tall.)

Kick panels in front fit to the left of the pilot and to the right of the copilot. Each has a fresh air swivel ball vent for outside air brought in through left and right NACA ducts. ho

  Nov 02, 2011     ELT E-04 406 Mhz and 121.5 by ACK - (10 hours)       Category: Avionics

We mounted our ACK E-04 406 MHz elt under the "arch" support for the rear lithium battery, solenoid, and fuse "platform". The remote Doug mounted on the right top of the instrument panel. By removing the glare shield, the lithium battery for the remote is easy to replace.

On the right top of the instrument panel, we mounted the remote ELT control panel with a TEST button, LED which flashes when ELT is activated. On the backside is a rectangular box housing an audio alarm when the ELT trips, either during a test or when the G-switch in the main unit in the back is tripped.

  Oct 27, 2011     VOR-LOC antenna by AAE fed with RG-400 cable - (2 hours)       Category: Avionics

This is not a Bob Archer VOR-LOC antenna but one designed and manufactured by AAE. it is a thin, flexible dipole with the pick-off of the signal in the center. Again, this is connected to the instrument panel with RG-400 cable.

  Oct 27, 2011     Marker beacon antenna by Bob Archer - (1 hour)       Category: Avionics

The simple copper foil marker beacon antenna is a Bob Archer design. We epoxied it to the bottom of the fuselage shell and attached an RG-400 cable that runs forward to the instrument panel.

  Oct 27, 2011     VOR-LOC antenna by AAE fed with RG-400 cable - (3 hours)       Category: Avionics

The VOR-LOC antenna we bought from AAE. It is connected to our COMM radios using RG-400 coax.

  Oct 20, 2011     Control stick custom bent and fitted - (40 hours)       Category: Controls

Because of our upholstery, the control sticks that Glasair provided with the kit, would not work because they hit the seats when pulled back, and the Tosten grips would strike the bottom of the instrument panel when pushed forward. So, after approaching several racing car shops Dee finally found a shop which could bend the 1" CrMo tubing to match the PVC pipe mocukup.

  Sep 02, 2011     Laying up inner wing hose cover in fiberglass - (10 hours)       Category: Wings

The inner wing hose cover was one of many fiberglass parts it was necessary to fabricate as part of the total building process of the Sportsman. We used both vinyl ester and West System epoxy with glass mat and woven glass cloth. We were trained by the Master of Glass, Zach Chase, who through the years has answered questions and has given us invaluable suggestions.

  Aug 11, 2011     Avionics wiring in the cabin and panel - (40 hours)       Category: Avionics

We spent some time discussing where the jacks for our headsets should be placed. As shown by these photos we ended up installing them overhead, center, just forward of the tray.

We chose Honeywell rocker switches for most functions, except heady duty toggle swiches for the originial Subaru engine.

  Jul 16, 2011     Subaru 3.6L by Eggenfellner - later removed for reliability reasons - (100 hours)       Category: Engine

Because of the hype from Jan Eggenfellner, and the hope that we would have a reliable, modern electronically controlled engine, we chose his at that time the latest offering of a 3.6L Subaru with a Quinti/Sensenic electric constant speed propeller. We found out, unfortunately, a step at a time, that the engine had many problems. Almost all of those we fixed (lots of time and $$), with the guidance of members of the online Subenews Yahoo Group. But not soon enough to stop us from spending a huge amount of money and time trying to make the engine work reliably. We were about to hire a local professional racing engine builder to install a set of new, forged pistons from a racing shop in California, when I received a call fro another Sportsman builder who lives in Alberta, Canada. He and I had corresponded before about our two Sportsman projects, both of us using a 3.6L Eggenfellner Subaru. Unfortunately, he waited until two years after his engine burned three pistons and quit on him at 900 feet during takeoff to call me about the failure. He had removed the failed engine and immediately purchased a Lycoming IO-540, installed it, and continued flying.

So, after his belated phone call, we four had a serious discussion and decided that this report, and some other we knew of where various failures had occurred, we decided to cut our losses, sell the Subaru, and buy a Lycoming. Very luckily Brutus found a local RV-10 builder who had his Lycoming O-360-A1A with Hartzel prop for sale. It had 850 hours, had been maintained absolutely by the book, and was upgraded in many ways. It took us no time to purchase this engine.

  Jun 16, 2011     GPS antennas and #2 GRT GPS non-RAIM modulel - (10 hours)       Category: Avionics

This GPS antenna is supported by an aluminum bracket we made and attached to the inside of the fuselage shell behind Bulkhead A. This feeds our GTN650 certified VOR/LOC/GPS in the panel. We also have a second GPS module from GRT Avionics which a backup and not WAAS certified, i.e., no RAIM.

  Jun 11, 2011     Grand Rapids EFIS HXs       Category: GRT Avionics

After seriously considering mounting the GRT magnetometers at the wingtip, we decided to mount the dual magnetometers behind Bulkhead A. We fabricated a bracket to hold the two units exactly in line with the centerline of the fuselage and level with the waterline. The screws and locknuts at each corner allowed us to tilt the magnetometers as needed to align them accurately. This was a rather complex installation since we knew other builders had mounted their magnetometers in many locations successfully.l

  May 20, 2011     Magnetometers, dual GRT, in tail cone right rear on shelf       Category: Avionics

Where to mount the dual magnetometers for the GRT Horizon HX's was a head-scratcher. We thought of installing the magnetometers in the tips of the wings under the fiberglass wingtips. You can see a photo below of us trying to see if it would fit. Plus that location was too close to the heavy lead aileron counterweight and the long, square steel tube on which the lead was mounted. Not a good idea.

We next tried putting the two magnetometers though an inspection hole inside a wing. Again, that was a very difficult location, especially trying to get them accurately aligned and leveled. We finally decided to construct a fiberglass shelf on the right side of the tail cone and mount both units there. The really tricky part was getting the shelf level and in line with the longitudinal axis of the fuselage. To do this we built an aluminum support plate for both stacked magnetometers, and then used screws and nuts to support the plate on 4 corners. That allowed precise leveling of the plate and therefore the magnetometers. That was a win!

  May 08, 2011     Nav lights and strobes - (20 hours)       Category: Lighting

Our Sportsman uses wingtip strobes and LED Nav lights.

  Feb 01, 2011     Aileron cable rigging a difficult task - (30 hours)       Category: Cable riggin

Rigging the aileron cables turned out to be difficult. The aileron deflection up and down had to be in the specified arc from the Glasair manual. Plus, that had to occur when the control sticks were centered. We devised plywood wedges to lock the aileron cross tube in position. This became a back and forth job of adjusting turnbuckles and measuring the up and down deflection of the ailerons using our digital angle gauge. And also we found that when the ailerons were properly rigged, they did not exactly line up with the flaps.

  Aug 15, 2010     Angle of Attack Indicator installation - (10 hours)       Category: Avionics

The Sport angle of attack system we installed ran from the left wing where utilizing two tiny holes, one on top and the other on the bottom of the wing, differential pressures would feed down to the floor, and up to the glare shield through red and blue vinyl tubes. These tubes attached to a small computer which uses the pressure differentials to then feed signals to a 9-LED indicator mounted on center of the glare shield. We mounted the indicator rather far forward so both the pilot and copilot could easily see the LED lights. We also mounted a switch micro switch next to the flap handle so when the flap handle is pulled up to the first 10-degrees of flaps, the AOA "brain" knows the coefficient of lift has changed because of the lowered flaps.

  Aug 11, 2010     Tosten modified grips for the custom bent sticks - (15 hours)       Category: At hangar E8

We selected Tosten grips which Kevin Williamson, the owner of the company, custom shortened for us. That was necessary because we had custom sticks of 1" CrMo tubing bent to accommodate our non-standard seat cushions. The biggest problem was making sure the grips did not strike the bottom of the instrument panel or hit the engine controls mounted in the center under the panel. After much work, we got it them installed so they work well. Ron VanSickle, a wonderful friend and master machinist, made a steel socket and welded it on the end of each stick to accept the grips. Marvelous! Thank you Ron.

  May 30, 2010     Panel wiring and non-avionics construction - (100 hours)       Category: Instrument Panel

The instrument panel holds much more than the avionics. All sorts of switches, warning lights, heater vents, have to be fitted. Also, behind the panel we designed and constructed aluminum angle supports to stabilize the rear of the avionics boxes. In addition to wiring static pressure tubing, manifold pressure tubing, defrost and defog CAT ducting, and much more had to be designed, fabricated, and installed. It's been a long row to hoe!

  May 30, 2010     Parking brake system - (30 hours)       Category: Brakes

The parking brake system on a Sportsman is not mechanical but utilizes dual valves which "lock" the fluid pressure after both left and right brakes are held in the applied position. While pressing on the top of the rudder pedals, thus applying the brakes, the pilot pulls the Parking Brake knob out thus keeping the brake fluid from backing out of the wheel cylinders.

  Apr 05, 2010     BAS Shoulder Harness Installation - (50 hours)       Category: Harness-Seat

We engineered a very solid installation for dual BAS inertia reel shoulder harnesses. That included moving the seat belt inside anchor points for pilot and copilot aft to a functionally better location. The cross tube which supports the inertia reels is a 1 1/4" CrMo tube with custom brackets welded by Charlie Collier, Master Welder. He brought his oxy-acetylene welding equipment to us so he could get the position of the backets exactly correct. These photos span about 2 years for this complicated installation. We were lucky to have counsel and other machining help from Ron VanSickle, Master Machinist with is Bridgeport.

  Apr 17, 2009     Underwing courtesy lights       Category: Courtesy Lts

We decided to install underwing courtesy lights on both wings. This was Stratford's special project, so he found squares each with multiple LEDs and mounted them in two inspection covers.

  Jan 11, 2009     Balancing the elevator to neutral with lead weights - (10 hours)       Category: Balance Elev

After we built the elevator, our next job was to add two lead weights to be hung on the left and right end ribs. Before attaching the weights, we reinforced the ribs so they would not twist. We then used several rivet sets to get an idea how much weight we needed. And finally used bottles of water for balancing which were easy to weigh with an electronic scale. We used those weights to tell us how heavy the permanent lead weights had to be. To make the lead weight, we melted lead with a MAPP gas torch and poured it into a mould sent to us by another Sportsman builder, Wayne Milbauer of Fuquay-Varina, North Carolina. In a couple of photos you can see it was not easy to get the lead out of the mould! We achieved final balance by trimming the lead carefully.

We used a pair of 20P nails driven into wood blocks to form the equivalent of a knife edge on which to initially balance the elevator. In order to have an idea of how much weight we needed, we used a pair of jugs with water in them. Then we poured two lead weights using Wayne Milbauer's steel molds. Unfortunately, years later, we found one of the weights had developed what appeared to be a good bit of corrosion dimples in the lead. So, we had to rebalance the elevator with a repoured and trimmed weight.

  Jan 06, 2009     Landing lights - Duckworks HID just inside wingtips - (80 hours)       Category: Lighting

We decided to install Duckworks HID landing lights in the leading edge of each wing just inside the wingtips. We chose the Duckworks system although they never had anyone install their system in a GlaStar or Sportsman, only RVs. So we had to fit the Duckworks unit to the unique shape of our leading edge. Additionally, we had an interesting engineering problem of how to get the left and right power packs mounted. We think we came up with an ingenious way to accomplish this as you see below. In addition to the mounting bracket which we fitted inside the wing, we had to custom make the outside lens. We bent this using clear acrylic plastic in the same shape as the aluminum nose skin. By the way, we hope the heat produced by the HID bulbs will not damage the lens.

Another idea we picked up from the Glasair-Onners.org online forum was to insert an HD polyethylene 1/2" tube through each wing as a conduit to carry wiring out to the nav, strobe and landing lights.

  Oct 28, 2008     Tail cone fairing and very back end of fuselage - (10 hours)       Category: Fuselage

The tail cone which we fitted to the aft end of the Sportsman fuselage. The elevator pushrod extends into this area and attached to the elevator horn.

  Sep 16, 2008     Wings arrive at Brutus and Nancy Russell's house at night       Category: Wings

The wings came by motor freight on a full-sized tractor-trailer. Luckily Stratford had a loading dock at his Little Oil Company business. The next movement came a good bit later after rook the wings out of this heavy. crate. For that move, Lewis Ward, Stratford's brother, helped us. We preprepared two sets of wing cradles for the wings since they were partially built.

  Aug 08, 2008     Front seat cushions - (1 hour)       Category: Seat Cushion

Instead of buying the factory seat cushions, we chose to buy very high quality set from Oregon Aero. Here Stratford sits in the pilot's seat to check the view through the windshield.

  May 14, 2008     Main gear fairings foam and cloth buildup multi-step process - (40 hours)       Category: Main Gear

Creating a properly aligned with the airstream pair of main landing gear leg fairings was a massive job. Zach Chase was the master teacher. He had tips for this construction that were truly amazing. Among others, he used a laser to project a red line on the back of each gear leg and then subsequently used the red laser line to align the foam and glass fairing. Amazing. The Glasair Sportsman builder's manual shows how to build a sheet aluminum fairing, but this one is far superior.

  May 04, 2008     Main landing gear fairing construction of BID and vinyl ester - (10 hours)       Category: Main Gear

On the tapered, hollow, spring steel landing gear legs we used BID, vinyl ester to provide a base to later attach tapered foam blocks to build a streamlined fairing cut and sanded to a low drag aerodynamic shape. The process was quite an extensive job of many steps.

  May 04, 2008     Fuses vs circuit breakers       Category: Electric Sys

We decided to go with fuses in fuse blocks rather than install circuit breakers. The fuses are the automotive type and easy to obtain.

  May 02, 2008     Aileron cables rigging over pulleys and through guides - (40 hours)       Category: Cntrl Cables

The aileron cables run through a series of phenolic pulleys with ball bearing to allow them to rotate freely. At some points, we installed cable guides to make sure the cables did not rub against each other. One particular guide called the finger guide, we mounted in the ceiling of the cabin. They keep the aileron cables apart as they run from wing to wing, The top aileron crossover cable runs through the hole in the guide. Adjusting these cables so the ailerons deflect the specified number of degrees up and down in response to a full throw of the control sticks proved to be challenging. But we got it done to the specification in the manual!

  Mar 09, 2008     #2 COMM antenna in tail cone left side - (4 hours)       Category: Avionics

This interior #2 COMM antenna by Bob Archer we attached to the left side of the tailcone. As you can see it had to curve around the fuselage, but Bob told us that would be OK. The antenna is held in place with strips of fiberglass cloth soaked with epoxy. As is the RG-400 coax feeding forward to the instrument panel.

  Feb 07, 2008     Transponder antenna by Bob Archer installation in tail cone - (8 hours)       Category: Avionics

This transponder antenna was one of several antennas we bought from Bob Archer, an antenna guru. We were trying to get all of our antennas to be inside the fiberglass fuselage. This transponder antenna we installed just forward of Bulkhead B fairly far back in the tail cone and under the vertical fin. Instead of buying this directly from Bob, we bought this antenna from Aircraft Spruce.