Dec 16, 2021     Middle aileron balance cable fairlead - (1.5 hours) Category: Fuselage

laid out, cut and drilled the plastic fairlead material, and riveted it to the angle. Installed the angle and fairlead to the rear of the seatback. The three rivets on the top were accessible from the front side and were easy. The three on the bottom half had to be drilled from behind, so I crawled through the bottom hatch into the fuselage cone and drilled, deburred, and riveted it in place - not fun, but I don't have to do that again! :-)

  Dec 15, 2021     Brake line fairing fabrication - (0.5 hour) Category: Landing Gear

Today, over my lunch hour, I laid out, sheared and bent up the brake line fairing pieces for the aft side of the landing gear legs. I used a piece of scrap aluminum sheet i had left over from another project, and I will clean them up a bit, prime them, and install them - probably using JBWeld as I saw in a post on the Zenith builder's site.

  Dec 12, 2021     Elevator cables - (2.0 hours)       Category: Controls

Fabricated and installed elevator control cables - I installed the rear and Dennis installed the front. It really helps having one short guy (me ) and one tall guy (Dennis). I crawl into the fuselage to run cables, and Dennis can reach the stick. :-) Also, I bought the Zenith hat and "Cleared Direct" t-shirt at the EAA Museum Gift Shop as further motivation for me to finish and wear these when I fly this airplane to OSHKOSH 2022!

  Dec 10, 2021     Facet fuel pump - (1.5 hours)       Category: Fuselage

Dennis temporarily installed the firewall, attached the nose wheel steering rods, and finished installing the Facet fuel pump - installed nutplates and bolted pump down - attached ground wire and fuel hose, will connect to power later.

  Dec 07, 2021     Rudder Cable installation - (3.0 hours)       Category: Controls

Fabricated and installed rudder cables - those 5 words took three hours, but it went well, considering all the parts and steps needed. EASY way to cut the cable is with a thin cut-off wheel on an air-powered die grinder - fast, and clean cut every time. Otherwise, a sharp chisel works well too.

  Dec 04, 2021     Riveted aileron fairleads and rear spar support bracket - (.5 hour) Category: Fuselage

I had previously drilled and clecoed the aileron fairleads on the sides of the fuselage and had the rear spar bracket drilled and clecoed as well, so it was an easy and quick task to rivet them all in. Very satisfying as well!

  Dec 04, 2021     Brake lines installation - (3.0 hours)       Category: Fuselage

I had to temporarily install the center control stick to make sure that I wasn't creating an interference problem, since i decided to route the brake lines through the existing center hole of the main spar. Installed compression fittings on brakes, drilled holes in the fairlead material used for the rudder cables, and re-installed fairleads. Dennis and I drilled holes on sides of the fuselage just forward of the main gear for the brake lines and installed grommets. Routed lines through fairleads and out side walls of fuselage to brakes. Temporarily secured lines at rear of main gear with electrical tape until I make the aluminum sleeves to fair the line in on the gear. Will complete installation by cutting brake line to final length later, when ready to install the fairings and bleed the brakes. Also, will use spiral plastic wire wrap to clean up the installation between pedals and spar.

  Dec 03, 2021     Prop length - (0.5 hour) Category: Research

I searched the Zenith Aircraft Builders and Flyers forum to get a consensus about prop diameter when using the Continental 0-200. It looks like 68" is most common, so I contacted Ed Sterba and he said that he could build a wood prop for about $550. I wused on on my Sonerai II that Dennis and I built, so I am sending him a check for $275 tomorrow (that's the way he does business - balance due on delivery - great guy to work with).

  Dec 03, 2021     Viking Steel Bungee       Category: Fuselage

I'm not really a fan of Bungee suspension, so today I ordered the Steel Bungee from Viking Aircraft Engines: https://www.vikingaircraftengines.com/new-products/steelbungee These are pics from the Viking website.

  Dec 03, 2021     Routing brake lines       Category: Fuselage

Dennis started to route the brake lines