Nov 02, 2023     FAA Category: Inspection

John Jensen from Fresno FAA was contacted and an inspection date/time were arranged for his team's inspection. They arrived on Wednesday, August 23, 2023. A Special Airworthiness Certificate was subsequently issued with map boundaries and allowed airports for take-off and landings.

  Aug 22, 2023     Cockpit openning Category: Fuselage

Two sets of tubing were applied to the edge of the exposed aluminum. The base tubing is a 1/4" diameter nylon tube. Vertical holes were drilled along its length and a polyethelene sealant was applied to adhere the nylon tubing to the aluminum edge. After this was allowed to set, a 1/2" diameter water hose was fitted on top of the nylon tubing and adhered with the same sealant.

  Aug 22, 2023     Seat belts Category: Fuselage

A four point seat belt arrangement was purchased with the hardware bolts. The bolts were installed in new holes drilled through existing truss plates of the fuselage frame. The top belts were routed on top of the half round seat bulkhead. The removeable cowling over the fuel tank was modified to allow the seat belts to pass into the cockpit area, over the pilot's shoulders.

  Aug 22, 2023     ID plate Category: Inspection

A brass plate was stamped with the proper identification: builder's name; model, serial no. It was mounted on the fuselage, left side, near the rear of the cockpit openning.

  Aug 22, 2023     bungee1 Category: Landing Gear

Inspection of the landing gear system revealed a pinched bungee cord. That cord was removed and new cords were purchased. It was decided to increase the size of the vertical bolt for brake stabilization and install a preventive clip for the bungee to ride on.

  Aug 22, 2023     N numbers       Category: Paint / Decals

One of our team members had applied the N numbers onto the rudder surface. Recent correspondence with the FAA, Fresno office, indicated that the numbers should not be on the rudder, but rather on the vertical stablizer. The originals were removed and new numbers were placed on the vertical stablizer. We used 3"+ hign letters with a "Times Roman" font.

  Mar 23, 2023     engine start/taxi Category: Testing

Initial engine start has been completed. Oil and fuel systems seem to be operating properly. Engine seems to be running slightly rich, but needs to be primed to start.
Thrust was measured by a fish scale tied to the rear of the fuselage and then attached to a car hitch. A maximum thrust of 170 lbs was measured at full throttle. Full throttle only produced 1900 RPMs, manual says the max. could be 2500 with cruise at 2200 rpm. We have a digital tachometer, but no secondary instrumentation to validate the tach in the panel - we tried a hand held rpm meter from Amazon.com, but the bright sunlight seemed to interfere with the readings.
Initial taxi tests were successful. Main gear seems to roll nicely - the tail wheel is not allowing a sharp turning radius - a modification of the cable/plate connection at the tailwheel location has been installed - will test this during the next taxi event.

Weight & Balance completed on 21Jun23: 5 cases completed as required by the FAA with following results:
1. Empty Weight: 448 lbs; c.g. @ 0.41
2. Gross Weight: Pilot: Lee, full fuel, no baggage:684. lbs.; c.g. = 0.26
3. Most Forward: same as #2 above
4. Most Rearward: Pilot: Willis Ramsdell, zero fuel, no baggage: c.g. = 0.27
5. 1st Flight conditions: Pilot: Willis Ramsdell, 5.5 gal of fuel, no baggage, hand held radio: c.g. = 0.27

  Feb 16, 2023     foam & fabric       Category: Interior Finish

Decided to fabricate our own seat cushion and back. My wife Carol is good with a sewing machine. Brought her the pressboard seat and back along with the foam which was cut with a band saw.

  Feb 16, 2023     Oil Temperature gauge Category: Engine

Initial engine start showed this gauge pegged at full span. We replaced our existing auto wires and connection block with a single run of aircraft grade wire in a shielded conduit from the temperature sensor to the instrument panel a run of about 8 feet. Gauge is now operating properly.