Apr 19, 2024     The guts are going in - (10 hours)       Category: Avionics

The Midwest Panel Builders kit makes it pretty easy to install avionics. They are in process now.

  Apr 04, 2024     I'm official now! Category: Inspection

The registration for my plane, N751EH, is now official at the FAA. In case anyone is curious, the 751 is "Leet" (or "1337" - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leet) for TSi, and the EH is just initials for Edward Hefter.

  Mar 15, 2024     It's starting to look like a plane! - (20 hours)       Category: Paint / Decals

Most of the internals are now done, so it is time to paint the plane, install the avionics, and put on (and trim) the wings and empennage.

I am going with a simple design. Mostly silver/grey with a red patch on each wing and across the vertical stabilizer ("stabiliser" for my non-US friends) and tail cone. It is great to see it starting to come to life! I am hoping the painting will be done next week.

I did not use any design companies or software (so none of them are to blame), just a hand sketch, some tape across the wing, and a painter who is on top of his game. Thanks Carlos!

  Jan 26, 2024     More engine plumbing! - (3 hours)       Category: Engine

I got to do some plumbing on the engine. I find it interesting that cooling hoses and heater hoses carry the exact same temperature coolant - it is just a question as to whether it is going to heat the cabin or cool the engine. It also reminds me of how glad I am that I am using a water-cooled Rotax engine so the heat I get in the cabin comes from a heat exchanger rather than pulling air from around the exhaust pipe that I *hope* doesn't have any CO releasing pinholes in it.

I would also like to add that the "wobble extension" for a socket driver is one of the best inventions known to mechanics! And, as a special bonus, I'm uploading a video with engine guru Shawn in it and Sling guru Jean narrating.

I couldn't upload the video, but you can see it here - https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/inkpg5ps2wza6f1ba1fbn/Engine-Heater-Coolant-Hose-Installation-with-captions.mp4?rlkey=j9reqc1io02u9rl8y0rx0cu4x&dl=0

  Jan 22, 2024     Carpeting is mostly done - (2 hours)       Category: Interior Finish

Got the carpeting installed. Not in the pictures, but the side panels are done, too. We'll put those on when the plane is painted and we are getting ready to close everything up.

  Dec 13, 2023     More work on the interior and the windscreen - (12 hours)       Category: Fuselage

Making some good progress on the interior of the plane as well as getting the side panels laid up with carpet and leather (well, vinyl, but we can call it leather...maybe pleather?). Also, the windscreen is trimmed to size. I just made my final payment to Midwest Panel Builders so the avionics should be on their way after the first of the year. I am looking forward to Phase 1 flying - hopefully just a few months!!

  Nov 16, 2023     Woo hoo! Hanging the engine!!! - (3 hours)       Category: Firewall

Finally got to hang the engine. Tons of guidance and help from Shawn. Actually, I was helping him since he knows what he's doing, but we got that thing mounted and torqued up. Great feeling!

  Nov 15, 2023     Prepping for the engine - (2 hours)       Category: Firewall

Spent some time getting the firewall ready so I can mount the engine tomorrow.

  Oct 27, 2023     A little progress on the fuselage, too - (2 hours)       Category: Fuselage

The firewall insulation is in place and getting sliced up for all the components that will go on it. Also got the seatbelts in. We are going to do some more work on the controls to get them as "buttery smooth" as all the ones that go through the build center, too. No complaints from me on that!

  Oct 23, 2023     (Re)Did some work on the ailerons and finished the flaps - (3 hours)       Category: Wings

Turns out that there really isn't a good reason not to fully close up the flaps to match the wings, so I did some work on that. I just needed to put in the last row of rivets that seals the skin together.

On the ailerons, it seems I forgot to dimple the leading edge when I riveted everything together so they needed to be disassembled, dimpled, and reassembled. Luckily, that is pretty easy to do here at The Airplane Factory's build center. Bummed I missed it, though!

  Sep 07, 2023     Getting the heating system up and running - (3 hours)       Category: Interior Finish

Work is happening on the plane! The hoses for the heating system got cleaned up a little. Yes, I feel good about my decision to bring the plane down to get some help.

  Jun 20, 2023     The drive south and unloading the truck - (8 hours)       Category: Overall

It turns out that, while a 26' box truck is relatively easy to drive on the freeway, every time I stopped for fuel (3 times) was a terrifying experience! I got used to having the maneuverability of a car and, while I had a high level of respect for bus and truck drivers before, I now know they are actually incredibly skilled technicians. There are a lot of tight spaces in the world, and they all seem to be around the gas stations!

Once I got everything to The Airplane Factory, it was pretty quick work to unload the truck. I had about 6 people from the Build Assist Center help me pull it into a hangar. Now I just need to wait until we get a chance to work on it.

  Jun 19, 2023     Loading up for a move - (5 hours)       Category: Overall

I had to make a really hard decision. About 3 months ago, I started a new job. I am working at The Airplane Factory. Yes, the same one that sold me the Sling TSi. I am now doing sales for them. Funny how life takes these strange twists and turns, and this has been a great one!

I jumped in with both feet and between all the time I am spending coming up to speed with them and the trips, projects, and other fun things I have in my life, I decided to bring the plane down to the Build Assist Center at TAF in Torrance so that I could work on it down there with them. On the one hand, it feels a bit like cheating because I'll be getting top notch help. On the other hand, my goal with this project to is to work on a plane that I will love flying for years to come, so getting a little "Builder Assist" is not the end of the world.

I rented a 26' long box truck from Budget (I only needed 20', but that wasn't an option) and got some help from my son and some of the local EAA builders to load up the fuselage and wings. Tomorrow, I start the drive down to Torrance.

  May 21, 2023     Happy day - one fuel tank in place! - (2 hours)       Category: Fuselage

I finally got a chance to get down to the hangar to rivet in a fuel tank. Everything went smoothly. I had to flip the wing over on my own, but since the table were carpeted I could slide them to one end, lift it up and rotate it over the leading edge. Afterwards, I was wondering what would have happened if I guessed wrong and the wing got away from me. Next time I will get help! And, I need to do that anyway because I can't get the wing off the tables and the other wing on the tables on my own. As they say, that's just too big a lift!

  Apr 30, 2023     Starting to work on the latch levers in the canopy - (6 hours)       Category: Fuselage

Started working on the latches in the canopy. The first issue I had was that the rivnut puller didn't go all the way against the rivnut for the latch that was NOT attached to the handle (two latches, one handle, one latch operated with a pushrod). In order to pull the rivnut, I had to put a bunch of washers on the pulling shaft (there must be a better word than that!) so that the rivnut stayed in the canopy. Once I did that, it went very smoothly.

Getting the pins in place to hold the latches was also tough. I did a bunch of online research on how to push or drive the pins in place. Ultimately, I did what all mechanical engineers do - I hit it with a hammer. Not hard, but enough to slowly drive it in. That ended up working out well - it was better than trying to use the vice to squeeze the pins in place.

After that, it is just a matter of screwing things into place. Oh yeah, I think I will need to Dremel out the hole for the door handle to go through. I'm not looking forward to that!

  Apr 23, 2023     Gasket Material for the doors - (1 hour)       Category: Fuselage

I kept hearing that there is better gasket material for the door seal than what comes with the Sling (heard from Henry at Midwest Sky Sports and from Edwin at The Airplane Factory build center), so I bought some. It is 93085K485, "Water- and Weather-Resistant Foam Rubber Seal Surface Mount, Hollow, 3M Backing, 0.660" Wide, 0.450" HT, 10 ft. Length" in case you are interested. Who am I kidding? The only one looking at this will be me! In any case, 10' is perfect to make it around the opening, leaving about an inch to cut off.

Very easy to put in, and I let the doors down on it (they have been held up with a strap for the past year) and it fit perfectly. Now it is time to put the latches on the door.

  Apr 22, 2023     Upholstery is here!!!!!! - (2 hours)       Category: Seats

Got the upholstery and had to see what it looks like! It looks very cool. I installed the seat and back on the front seats so I could sit in it, and it is quite comfortable, too. I am glad I'm not a super tall person (I'm *almost* 5'10") because these are some thick and squishy seats! If I were taller, I'd need to cut the foam down some. Lucky for me I'm not.

For the front seats, I cleaned the surfaces with alcohol and then laid the map pocket in place. When I liked where it was sitting, I pulled the tape off of the back of the Velcro-Like Substance (VLS) that will hold the upholstery in place but also let me peel it off. The map pocket was touch because of the elastic, but I got it working. The seat back needed some stretching to get over the seat back, but not much. Once it was on, I reached my hand up under the seat back to pull the paper off the VLS (two strips) and then pushed it hard against the aluminum. For the seat bottoms, it was a similar process. I pulled the white paper off the VLS that goes closest to the seat back, got it lined up, and pushed it down. I then did the same with the three pieces of VLS in the front of the seat, and then I got to sit on the seat and enjoy the luxury of it all.

Pretty easy, and also very rewarding!!

  Apr 11, 2023     Is it leaktight? - (2 hours)       Category: Wings

After more than a year of looking at the fuel tanks, it was finally time to test them before riveting them in place. Yes, I can always unrivet them if there is a leak, but why not check it first?

Fellow builder Yeol discovered a great technique for testing. No balloons, no barometers, no checking whether or not the air temperature changed impacting the other readings. Really simple and easy, which is perfect for me! We used blanking off fittings to seal the fuel inlet and outlet. We put a solid rivet in the end of some tubing and attached that to the vent. Then we put about 2 gallons of fuel into the tank and put the cap on. We put duct tape over the fuel cap to prevent pressure from leaking out there, but it turns out we didn't need to do that, at least not with this caps.

We then rolled the tanks (still cleco'd into the wings) into the sun and shook them a little bit. The idea is to heat it up and shake it up to increase the evaporation of the fuel and build pressure. After we let it warm for a few minutes, we sniffed all over the tank and didn't smell any fuel (liquid or vapor) coming out. Then it was the moment of truth - we ripped the duct tape off of the fuel cap! It was...uneventful. No noise, no smell, no nothing. Just a good seal. Then we opened the fuel tank and heard what sounded like a Coke can being opened, but without the "Ahhhhhhh" that goes with it because it smelled like fuel rather than an icy cold drink. In any case, I am now convinced that the fuel tank is leak tight.

We did the same thing to the other tank with the same results.

Now I can rivet it in place, put in some control rods, rivet on the winglets, and call it done!

  Mar 11, 2023     Built a center console box, installed a heater - (8 hours)       Category: Fuselage

All of a sudden, I have a lot less time. A couple of weeks ago, I took a job as the Sales and Marketing Manager for The Airplane Factory in Torrance, CA, which of course is the North American distributor for Sling. It has sucked up a lot of my time and I am loving it! My intent with this log, though, is to continue to put in the good, the bad, and the ugly about the build process. So far, mostly good (other than Rivnuts in QB fuselages), and I expect it will stay that way.

With that said, let's talk center console boxes! I felt the need to get something accomplished, and I'm glad I worked on the center console box because I now see where a lot of the rivets for the seat rails end up. I'll need to drill out some, but that won't be a huge problem. There were more rivnuts here, too, but they are super simple to install when they assembly hasn't been built yet. It was also pretty nice to see how it is going to work together with the throttle quadrant.

I also installed the heat exchanger for the heater. I misread the instructions a few times and ended up with one of the heater hoses having a cut in the middle, but putting a union in there with some zebra clamps fixed that no problem. I will need to get more zebra clamps later, but that is a problem for another day!

  Feb 26, 2023     Setting up the heater fan - (2 hours)       Category: Fuselage

I got a replacement heater core and this one came with the duct holes. That'll make it easier. A simple disassembly of the core's shell, drop the duct work in, and we're good. Then put on the brackets, the valve to stop the flow of hot water (thank you, thank you, thank you Rotax and Sling for making it so I don't need to suck air off an exhaust manifold that may be rusted throw in 10-20 years and tossing carbon monoxide (CO) into my face!), and off we go.

Some things to note. The tubes are the same length. They come that way. One tube just goes on, no biggie. The other tube needs to not only be cut, but to have a piece of hose the length of the valve cut out, too. Just RTFM and do EXACTLY like it says in the instructions. Here's what happens if you don't read the instructions:
1) Install the first hose.
2) Install the top (closest to the core) of the second hose, cut it for the top of the valve.
3) Put the entire bottom of the hose on the bottom of the valve.
4) See that it is completely wrong because the second hose is too long, and assume that the wrong hose was used because the two weren't actually checked to start with.
5) Quickly remove the hoses, mount the complete hose up against the valve, cut it, too (assuming it was the shorter hose).
6) Put the two hoses next to each other, see that the one on the valve is somehow too long now.
7) Realize that the builder is an idiot and should have read the instructions.
8) Read the instructions, cut out the correct amount of hose.
9) Get a SharkBite brand (because that's what the hardware store had) brass 3/4" x 3/4" straight coupler and use some Zebra pipe clamps to join the extra cut hose.
10) Write out what can go wrong when not reading the instructions, and realize that most likely no one else will read it. In fact, if you read this, send me an e-mail at edwardhefter@gmail.com and let me k ow where you saw this and I'll Venmo you $10!

Aside from all that, it was pretty simple!

  Feb 22, 2023     Aileron Links and an Elevator Bushing - (1.5 hours) Category: Controls

No exciting pictures this time. I installed the short elevator link pushrods that go from the control stick to the transverse bar. Surprisingly easy!

I also installed the bushing that goes on the link between the long and short elevator pushrod, per Service Bulletin 0021.

  Feb 18, 2023     Thems the brakes.... - (5 hours)       Category: Landing Gear

Time to install the brakes, or at least, the brake lines (the brakes were already mostly installed for the Quickbuild). I needed to somehow push the brake line through the landing gear. I sprayed some silicone spray on it and it went just fine on the right main gear. The left main gear, however, was a royal pain. I pushed from the bottom and pulled from the top at the same time and got nowhere. I sprayed silicone spray into the leg and rubbed it on the tubing and could finally push the tubing up through the leg, though it bent where I was pushing a few times. I grabbed the top when it came out with some vicegrip pliers to try to pull more up and eventually succeeded after a lot of silicone spray, pushing, tugging, and swearing. Part of it got badly kinked about a foot in, so I ended up cutting that part off.

The brake line went through larger tubing inside the plane to protect it from rubbing on sharp sheet metal (the same sharp sheet metal that continues to cut up my hands) and I used some old garden hose and zip ties to make stand-offs at each rib where the tubing went through. Not gorgeous, but hopefully functional!

I installed the aluminum bent tube at the brake lines so I won't have brake heat melting the brake line (I had read that was a problem) and got that tightened up.

I also installed the T under the elevator pushrod. That would have been easier if the pushrod wasn't there yet, but it wasn't a big deal and I am about 90% sure I will need to work on those brake line joints again. Why? Because it is plumbing and plumbing hates me, so I fully expect at least one leak somewhere. In any case, I don't have the protective outer tubing on the brake line going to the console yet because I still need to figure out where that will terminate and how I want to run the brake line.

I also installed the brake fluid reservoir. The instructions said to "Recut the threads using 1/8" x 27 NPT tapered die nut." Luckily, Yeol lent me one to use. Even more luckily, it seems that the 1/8" NPT (Male) to 1/4" Brake Hose adapter was already tapped to 1/8" NPT (as the name suggests), so the die nut really didn't have anything to cut.

LATER EDIT: I really didn't like the loop for the brake lines going into the fuselage, so I got some 1/4" NPT Compression fittings, with the brass inserts to make sure the brake line doesn't collapse. The pictures have the requisite pictures of my bloody knuckles, because it is sheet metal and because the tubing is hard to cut!

  Feb 14, 2023     Built some tables, moved some wings, got a box - (10 hours)       Category: Tools

Several things happened...

I sold my Cherokee, so I got room in my hangar to put the wings. To do that, I had to build more tables. Allison helped me with the build, which was really nice!

So, we loaded up a truck and hauled everything from the house to the hangar. I didn't take a lot of pictures, but the wing weren't too bad to move. They were just bulky. We also moved most of the empennage, the ailerons, the flaps, the wingtips, etc.

And, I got a big box from Sling in South Africa. More parts! Yay!!

  Feb 02, 2023     Inner seat rails installed - (4 hours)       Category: Seats

Got the inner seat rails *mostly* installed. Still need a few of the steel rivets to put them in place. The instructions weren't so great and didn't specify what rivets to use for attaching the non-stick plastic pieces on the rails, but countersink makes sense (otherwise, the seat runs on the rivets, which is not good!) and 3.2mm seems right, since that's the size of the holes! Also needed to countersink the holes that go in the bracket that the seat stop pins go into (the mechanism that keeps the seat from sliding back and forth).

Note added on April 29, 2023 - shouldn't have put those plastic parts on yet. They get riveted through the rails, some inside skins, and some support structures. I'll get to drill those out later...

  Feb 02, 2023     Rear Seat belts installed - (2 hours)       Category: Seats

Got the back seat belts installed, no problem (though they do sort of get in the way while I'm working - they may come out again). The front seat belt extension (the part you click the belt into) went smoothly, but I haven't unrolled the inertial reel to put the rest of the front belt in yet. Shouldn't be hard, though. I'll post pictures when I do them.

  Jan 30, 2023     The control tube locks are in place - (4 hours)       Category: Controls

Sort of anti-climactic, after a few months of working on the control tubes, waiting for parts, drilling the stop bushings and riveting them, checking the overall system for smoothness, putting in the linkages and the autopilots, it was finally time to close it up. That went remarkable fast, though I did need to use the hand rivet puller because of the lack of space. When it was all done, it looked, well, just like it should.

  Jan 26, 2023     Autopilot servos! - (5 hours)       Category: Controls

I got an earl shipment of the GSA-28s autopilot servos from Midwest Panel Builders, so I decided to install them. Installing them was, as with all things in the controls area, something best done by someone with much smaller and more nimble fingers than mine. I admit to losing a washer somewhere between the bottom skin and the spar. I imagine it will be there forever.

Figuring out how to install them was easy, but getting my fingers into where the nuts and bolts went was tough. the pushrod was easy on the GSA-28, but it was once again a pain where it tied into (inside) the alerion bracket. I spent a good 3 hours (ok, honestly? It was a bad 3 hours) trying to get all the washers lined up and installed.

My plan for the next time I need to do this trick is to use some string first and thread everything together in place, then push a rod that is thinner than the bolt from the non-bolt side (call it the nut side, I guess?) to get everything mostly lined up, and then us the bolt to push everything back out to the nut side, pushing the rod out of the way, the string out of the way, and all my troubles out of the way. It sounds good, we'll see how it goes the next time I have some pushrods to install.

  Jan 22, 2023     Happy and sad day - sold my Cherokee       Category: Overall

After many months of trying to sell Rudolf, he finally found a new home. It is back in Florida (which is where he was living when I got him). It was sad to see him go, but I know the new owners will like him. Also, selling him gave me the finances I needed to buy the engine, prop, firewall forward kit, and parachute for Nessie (N35513).

  Jan 18, 2023     Re-did the steering controls - (4 hours)       Category: Controls

The stop brackets for the rudder pedals needed a little more rework (thanks, Yeol, for grinding those down). SInce I had the control rods and everything else with the rudders off to get to the brackets, I figured it would be a good time to put the leather boots in place from the cockpit, I mean flight deck, into the engine compartment.

That was a lot harder than it should have been. The leather, like all the fiberglass, was not pre-punched with the hole locations. Not a problem, I just put an awl through them and we were good to go. But, because of the sides already up in the quickbuild kit where the steering control rods pass through, not only was it hard to get clearance (needed a manual rivet puller), but I had to form the aluminum boot backers (I'm sure they have a better name) under the sides. Not easy when there are Clecos holding the leather in place. But, by pulling some off one at a time and putting them through on the firewall side, I was able to get it held into place using the holes I had already put in the leather. For the record, I did try gluing the leather to the backer, but it didn't hold. {Note added later - with all my great planning, it turns out I installed the boots backwards. The leather should be inside the plane, not inside the engine compartment}

Once the boots and their backers were Cleco'd in place, I needed to rivet them. Most of the holes were relatively clear, but Clecos are smaller in diameter than the rivets and there were some holes that needed to be drilled out. I figure that's a rounder hole in the leather, too, so it was all good.

Once that was done, it was relatively straightforward to attach the control rods. Not easy, because getting eyebolts into the slots has been tough for every control rod, but at least there was nothing to figure out. It just took brute force and a little luck.

I noticed that the rudder pedals were bottoming out on each other rather than the stops and was trying to figure out what was going on. Then I remembered there are TWO pushrods for adjusting the way the front wheel points relative to how even the rudder pedals are. I had them both too long, so when I shortened them both the same amount, the orientation stayed the same and the stops were what stopped the pedals rather than the rudder pedal bar stopping the pedals.

  Jan 07, 2023     Finishing the Dzus fittings and working with friends - (.25 hour)       Category: Seats

Since I am now a seasoned pro at Dzus fastener installation, I invited two other sets of builders (Yeol, Chad, Sasha, and Peter) to put the Dzus fasteners in their seats. I now have a total of 9 fasteners under my belt for either installing or supervising, so I may even be a guru! Actually, it is really easy with the right tools.

Both sets of builders got their seat backs done, I installed the springs for the other half of the Dzus fasteners into the back floor of my plane, and we spent a lot of time talking about the build - what to do next, things to watch out for, etc.

Side note - when riveting the springs into the floor, I used the countersunk rivets Sling provided, I countersunk the floor for them, and I used rivet backers on the rivets to make sure that the rivet didn't pull through the spring at some point.

  Dec 26, 2022     The ailerons - glad that's done!!!! - (20 hours)       Category: Controls

First of all, the time is an estimate. It felt like eternity, so I know it was at least 20 hours.

The first thing I got to do was UNdo all of the elevator stuff I did. I thought I would have enough clearance to work on the ailerons with the elevator parts there, but that was not to be. I am sure glad I fastened them with Clecos and not rivets!

Where to start? Well, I've learned my lessons on thru holes for screws. Never trust that they are right, especially when there are rivnuts behind them. So, I checked and sure enough, I had to drill out the M4 thru holes in the Front Controls Top Cover Skin. That is not riveted in, at least on my build and at least at this time, so it would not have been the end of the world if I didn't open them up yet, but I knew it would be a problem later if I didn't.

I riveted the main spar control bracket together and I ended up doing those with a hand riveter since i couldn't get the rivet gun in place. Then I put a few of the M4 screws to hold the bracket in place while I was working on the rest of the joystick.

I had to rivet the locking ring for the bushing in place. It said to use 4 of the 4mmx10mm rivets. I say that's crazy, because I can't reach that far around, so we compromised. I installed one rivet. I was able to do the locking rings closest to the tail of the plane with the joystick assembly off, and then I did the locking ring closest to the joystick once it was in place and the bracket holding the back was in place. I'll whine about installing that bracket in just a moment, but I wanted to be clear that I did clear out the aluminum chips prior to riveting and prior to putting the top cover skin in place.

Then it was back to putting the 4 M4 screws back into place for real, using washers and lock nuts and everything to make it official. I was a little concerned that the M4 screws seemed a little scrawny for holding the bracket in place, but don't worry, they are not! First thing to mention is that there is very little space for my hands in there. I didn't think they were that big, but I guess they are. I ended up doing what I did before on the brackets for the springs for the throttle cables. I taped the nut into the wrench and used that to hold it all together. It was still a challenge. One of the nuts got crossthreaded. Then the head of the screw got stripped, because that's what M4 buttonhead screw heads like to do. I didn't take pictures of the removal process, so I'll try to be descriptive. First I tried to hold the screw head with pliers and vicegrip lock pliers while turning the nut. Nothing. Then I tried to use an oscillating tool with a saw blade to cut through the screw, but it was meant for wood (I didn't have a hacksaw attachment) and the screw is stainless steel and the saw blade didn't have a chance. Then I used a big pair of pliers (18" handles) and tried to just rip the head off the top of the screw, and even after being attached with the saw, the screw held firm. I was eventually able to break the head off, which left a very "scuffed" surface for the screw to attach to. I sanded that smooth (no need for sharp edges), and *carefully* put another screw, washer, washer, and locknut on it. It worked fine, but that's 2 hours of my life I'll never get back.

Then came the hard part. I put the cross control rod for the ailerons in place. This required pushing an AN4 bolt from the difficult side into a bracket, then put in two washers, then the eyebolt from the rod, then two more washers, then the other side of the bracket, then a bushing, then a 5th washer, and then the nut. I lost a lot of blood in the this process. Every time I work with sheet metal for long periods of time working on a single screw or bolt, I end up getting cut up. This was no exception. I finally got wise and pried the bracket apart a little bit, since the bolt was going to squish it all back together. I didn't get wise enough to do that until I had spent about 4 hours on this part of the build, though. After a lot of cussing, it was all finally attached.

Next step was to make the joysticks parallel, at least for the ailerons. I did this with a simple a level, screwing the control rod in and out to get to the perfect length. Then I tightened the jam nuts on both sides to lock it in place. I don't know if it really needs jam nuts on both sides, especially with one being a locking nut, but I am sure that that length is now fixed until I saw otherwise!

I then Cleco'ed the Aileron Control Stops into place and wanted to make sure I had the same amount of travel to the left and right, since I had heard from two other builders that it was a problem. I didn't have an inclinometer, or so I thought. I remembered that my phone had one on it, and as long as it was accurate to the nearest degree, I should be OK. I knew it was precise to the nearest degree, but I didn't know about accurate. So, I first made sure the plane was level (I'd heard stories about getting some plane part perfectly balanced, but only on tilted ground!). Then I measured the the angle of the travel for the joystick in each direction. Since I couldn't vouch for accuracy, I did the next best thing and went for repeatability. I measured each stick on the left and the right a few different times and always came up with 18 to -18 degrees of swing. I guess I was the lucky one who didn't need to modify the control stops!

With that checked, the last thing to do was to install the control stops with rivets. The instructions say to rivet it down from the top of the plane, and I was about to do that and was talking with another builder. He reminded me that rivet heads should be outside the plane and rivet tails should NOT be outside the plane. Excellent reminder! The instructions were wrong, but I riveted up from the bottom and all was good.

That was a lot of work, a lot of frustration, and a little bit of bleeding (which I cleaned off), so it sure does feel good to have it done! Next step is the autopilot, then back to the flaps and elevator.

  Dec 22, 2022     Center Console Throttle Quadrant - looking good! - (2 hours)       Category: Controls

Yesterday, I got the center console top plate back from Midwest Panel Builders, who will powder coat and laser etch it for free when you get a panel from them. The console for the throttle quadrant looks GREAT so I was able to finish up that piece.

The fittings were hard to screw into place, so I am hoping that means they are pressure and leak resistant, not that I broke them by forcing them where they shouldn't go. The only real tough ones were on the parking brake valve. They went on OK on the piston.

The nuts and bolts were also a little bit of a challenge to put in since they were buried so deep in the handles, but I was lucky to have a socket that would fit them.

All the cotter pins are bent, the bolts are tightened and torque stripe is in place, and this is ready to go! Actually, I didn't put the Locktite on all the individual M4 screws because their heads tend to strip easily (to the point where I just went out and bought a lot more stainless steel M4 screws of different lengths), but if those screws somehow vibrate loose, I'll put some Loctite in then.

  Dec 22, 2022     Putting the rear bottom seat back bracket on - (.5 hour)       Category: Seats

Now that the Dzus fasteners are in place and I had a few minutes to spare, I was able to attach the bracket that attaches the rear seat to the plane and hangs on to the hinges that hang on to the seat backs. Nothing exciting, except that I've been waiting for months to get this done and now that the Dzus fasteners are in place, I can do it!

  Dec 10, 2022     FINALLY got the Dzus fasteners installed - (1 hour)       Category: Seats

The Dzus fasteners need to be installed with special dies, one for the grommet and one for the “screw” itself. When I was at Oshkosh, I found this out and found a place ot order the dies from. I was told it was back-ordered and should be shipping in 3 weeks. I was told this every month for the past 5 months. I was starting to get desperate, and I had the good fortune to mention my problems to Henry Rise at Midwest Sky Sports, who lent me his dies and C-clamp (it takes a special C-clamp to use the dies). THANKS HENRY!!!!

The process is pretty simple. First you put the grommet in the hole, making sure it is the correct direction. Then you use the first set of dies to flare the grommet just a little bit, so it doesn't fall out of the hole. It should still jiggle around in there. I found it took about a half turn of the C-clamp once the dies made contact.

After that, the screw goes in and the dies are changed. I found that it took about a 3/4 urn of the C-clamp once the dies made contact to set the grommet the rest of the way in, which means that it was no longer jiggling in the hole and the screw could not come out. The first Dzus connector took me about 10 minutes and the third one (the last one) took all of 2 minutes. Kind of anti-climactic after waiting so long, but I am OK with that!

If you want to see a video that looks like it is from the 1970s (ie, 50 years ago!), this is the one I used. The person in this one used a hammer rather than a clamp, but the process is the same. - https://youtu.be/zlBlAEFcTRA

  Dec 03, 2022     Elevator and flap pushrods - (7 hours)       Category: Controls

Even though I SITLL don't have joystick assemblies, I decided it was time to get going on the pushrods. Now that the long elevator pushrod is in, it was time to put in the short pushrod and the flat control tube and motor.

First things first, I put all the eyebolts and jam nuts on the pushrods. I got normal but thin left hand threaded nuts, but the thin right hand thread (aka “normal thread”) nuts were nylon locknuts. They go on pretty easily when the nylon is the last part to go on, but when they are acting as jam nuts, I wanted the non-nylon part of the nut up against the pushrod, which meant that I had to thread the eye bolts into the nuts from the nylon side. This sounded hard to me, and it turned out to be harder than I expected. I ran the eye bolt through the nut the “correct way” a few times to thread the nylon a little bit, then put the nut into a vise to hold it, then pushed hard and turned the eyebolt into the nut the wrong way. That was about an hour or so of work to do the 6 pushrods.

Then I had to figure out how to get the long and short elevator pushrod “axel” (my description, don't blame Sling for that!) bushings into place. This was hard because the thick brackets were already riveted to the thin metal that holds the bushings. It took some bending (but not creasing!) of the thin metal, and I was eventually able to get the bushings in. Those should never come out!

Putting the rivnuts into the top clamps that go over the bushings was easy (thanks for small blessings) and I decided to just cleco them in place. I have this bad feeling that at some point, I will need to move them to put something else in. I can already see that I will need to use the hand riveter to get at most of the rivets, so I don't want to have to drill any out.

At first, the elevator tube was hard to move back and forth and the flap tube was VERY hard to move. I was thinking about shaving down the bushing and then I remembered that I used grease to slide the long elevator tube through a bushing, so I put some grease in and around these bushings, too. They are now incredibly smooth and easy to operate, and I didn't need to take anything apart. I will make a note to clean and re-grease the bushings during condition inspections.

Putting in the flap motor was easy enough, especially since I could rotate the flap tube easily. In order to test it out, I just needed to put 12V on the Red and Black wire (reversing polarity reverses direction, just like a DC motor which, I guess, it is). Thanks to Adam at Midwest Panel Builders for the “how to” on testing the motor.

The last thing I was told on these assemblies was that I needed to rivet the rings in place (see picture with blue arrow). It makes sense because I don't want the axels sliding back and forth, but I put this in the same category as the rest of the riveting - I don't *really* believe that it is ready to go yet, so I am going to hold off on putting in the rivet.

  Nov 22, 2022     Long elevator pushrod - (1 hour)       Category: Controls

Now that the pushrods are ready for use, it was time to put the long elevator one the tail and into place. Well, first I had to move the plane out of the garage so I could get enough room to put the pushrod in the back. I got some help from David and Rosie to move the plane out and chock the wheels.

I put some weight on the front (the tail is supported in the garage so I don't need it, but rolling the plane out, the support was gone), put the pushrod in, saw it get jammed in the central bushing on the rivets, so I pulled it out and used a steel file to knock down the tops of the rivets a little bit. I did another test run, saw I needed to file a little more off, and did that a few times until the pushrod went *almost* through the bushing. Then I used some grease and put it all over the inside of the bushing. I held the front of the plane while David pushed on the pushrod until it popped through. Success!! And, frankly, not that hard to do. The hard part was moving the plane, handling the long rod, and moving the plane back, so I was glad to get that done while David was here.

  Nov 22, 2022     Ay-ay-eyebolts, they're screwed - (2 hours)       Category: Controls

I was feeling pretty uninspired to work on the plane since I still don't have joystick assemblies. When I was down at Livermore airport for an EAA meeting, I went to see Yeol, another Sling builder, and his build. I am *so* glad I did! While I was there, I saw a bunch of other things I could work on without the joystick assemblies. There is a lot I could do with the rest of the control rods and ventilation system.

Acting on a tip from Yeol, I chose a couple of sacrificial right handed and left handed eyebolts for the pushrods and tried to screw them all the way in and out. It was not easy! I guess in the manufacturing process, either the alodine or the riveting, the threads in the pushrods got messed up. I ended up spending about 2 hours with some screwdrivers in the eyebolt for leverage and WD-40 on the threads to try to help "cut" through. I also discovered that putting a jam nut on the thread helped get the screw's thread back in somewhat reasonable shape. I put the nut all the way towards the "eye" part of the eyebolt, then unscrewed it over the damaged screw threads to undamage them.

OK, nothing exciting, but it was forward progress, and that is exciting in and of itself!

  Nov 07, 2022     Just a quick counterbalance - (1 hour)       Category: Tools

At some point, I am going to want to take the tail of the plane off of the big box it is resting on, and since I don't have an engine on the plane, the plane will probably tip back, hit the tail, and cause me lots of consternation. I saw on Facebook that someone else had put a pole on the front of their plane to hold weight plates, and I had some free time and extra plywood, so I decided to do the same. At the time I am writing this, I don't have any weights to put on the pole and I have no idea if it will be strong enough to hold the weights that I need, so there may be another entry later on that says this was a waste of $27 and an hour....

First I got some 3/8" bolt hardware because, well, it looked beefy enough. I had some 1/2" plywood laying around, so I cut it into a piece big enough for the front and some extra pieces to spread out the load from the washers and the pipe flange in the back. As it turns out, the engine mount frame is angled as it comes away from the mount holes, so the lower backing pieces of wood should have been smaller, or had notches cut in them, or something. I opted to just put the hole closer to the corner and it seems to work, but I would do it differently next time.

For the 1" pipe flange that is in the middle holding everything, I used large wood screws that were about an inch long. As you may recall, that is about twice the thickness of the plywood, so I put another piece of plywood on the back to increase the area that the load is on and to keep myself from scratching myself later on on screws sticking out.

When I get some weight plates (I'm looking at you, Craigslist and Nextdoor!), I'll get to see if this crazy idea works!

  Aug 31, 2022     Had some time to kill so I worked on the center console - (8 hours)       Category: Controls

I don't know if it should be the "center" console or the "centre" console but since I am feeling American today, I'll call it "center."

This was pretty simple on the surface of it. Not a lot to put together, everything was packaged together, there were moving parts with castle nuts and cotter pins, it was all good. But those rivnuts... I ended up stripping two of them, which in my case means that the screw got stuck in them. I ended up using a hacksaw on the front of the screw and bolt cutters on the backside to remove the screw from the rivnut so I could drill it out and start again. That's why this project, which should have been about 2 hours, took 8. But, it all got done.

I needed to adjust the amount of thread in the piston for the brake. For some reason, it wasn't obvious that I needed to cut off some thread. I think that's because it was not in the printed manual, but it was in the online manual.

Then I took it apart again to get the top panel free and I mailed it to Midwest Panel Builders so they could powdercoat it and laser etch the insignia and labeling on it.

  Aug 23, 2022     FInally finished the rudder pedals! - (10 hours)       Category: Fuselage

Last time I worked on this was June 6, then it took me a while to find someone with a grinder I could use to cut down some brackets, then I had to tie it all together. While I was at it, I put in the short pushrods for the front wheel. Those are hard to get in there, with the spacers that in there tight on the AN bolts. In any case, I figured I did all this work, so I might as well get to sit in the plane and move the rudder pedals and watch the steering steer. I know I will need to disassemble it later, but for now, let's let it look like progress!

A problem I ran into was that the brackets that get rivets to the floor to hold the pedals didn't stay fluish against each other, which means that the thinner aluminum pieces that go over the top to capture the bearings didn't slide in easily. In fact, it was a royal pain! I used vice grip pliers to hold things in place while I pressed the locks down, and on a few I had to "tap" them with a little bit of force, but they all got in.

  Aug 16, 2022     I *think* I am finally done with the rear seat backs... - (2 hours)       Category: Fuselage

So much fixing...

After I got all 7 rivnuts put in the inside back corner of each rear seat back, I went to get the plates that hold the bar across the back. Turns out that you can't install those small rectangular plates in either direction - they have to be the right way so the larger plates can be the right way.

I decided to add more rivnuts rather than to drill more holes in the large plate. I'm not 100% sure that was the right choice to make, but it seems to work. And, as always, it is a good reminder to plan the entire thing before drilling the first hole or pulling the first rivet.

  Aug 13, 2022     Oops - forgot to put in a nutplate... - (3 hours)       Category: Fuselage

I knew I needed to put some more plates on the back, but those went on with rivnuts and I could do it after the fact. That's what I thought. Turns out I was wrong. First of all, one of the rivets I put in actually needed to be a rivnut, so that rivet needed to get drilled out. Then, the holes for the top row of rivnuts was in the wrong place, so I needed to drill those (that was a Sling problem, not mine, but I had plenty of my own on this!!!). That top row was NOT symmetrical - look at August 16 for more on that.

Finally, I needed to disassemble one of the backs, at least enough to get inside it, and put the nutplate in. In the process of doing that, I proved once again that a sharp drill bit is night-and-day different than a dull one. In trying to drill out the rivets to get inside, using a dull drill bit, I mangled the holes. So, that rear seatback now has some 3.2mm rivets, per design, and some 4.0mm rivets, because the holes were no longer 3.2mm or even round. Sigh. I didn't take pictures of that, but I should have. I pulled off the curved part of the outer edge of the seat back and ended up riveting it back on.

I did put the nutplate in, and opening the side did give me the opportunity to take all the rivet shards out, and when I did the other seat back I had a sharp drill bit, so that was all good. And, it was a good example of why I should dry fit *everything* before starting to pull rivets, not just "close enough." So, it was a happy ending. Well, mostly. Take a look at the August 16 entry...

  Aug 08, 2022     Rear Seat Backs - (5 hours)       Category: Fuselage

NOTE: Nothing good ever comes of a poorly planned assembly. See the entries for August 13, and then again for August 16...

I was just going to do the fit up to make sure everything was right with it, and the next thing I knew, they were done! I still need to put the Rivnuts in for the brackets that hold the seats together, but this went together fast and easy and no problems. There were close to 300 rivets to put in, and as I was plowing through them in a couple of hours, I was thinking of those folks who not only work with solid rivets but actually prefer them. Assuming they could actually put them in a seat bottom or back (a lot of blind holes), it would take them days or weeks to do what can be done in a matter of hours with the pulled rivets...

  Jul 07, 2022     Powder coat the front seats       Category: Fuselage

Since the back of the front seats will be visible with the upholstery on, Yeol suggested getting them powder coated. Looking fantastic! Seats are, too.

  Jul 02, 2022     Rear Seat Bottom - (10 hours)       Category: Fuselage

Got some help from my son, David, in doing the first assembly. We saw there were some holes that were in the wrong place, so we drilled them. Unfortunately, some of the wrong holes were right next to the right holes, so I ended up using Aluminum Backing Rings (aka washers) to reinforce the area. Also, the side was missing the holes where the bracket attached. The bottom had the needed holes, but not the side. Weird. This was the first part I've seen that has missing holes or the holes in the wrong place. Some were off by a hair on other parts, but none this bad.

After prepping the parts, Allison's brother-in-law Jeff riveted the entire thing together. Fast and easy, just the way assembly should be!

  Jun 06, 2022     Rudder pedals - (6 hours)       Category: Fuselage

The rudder pedals are taking a surprising amount of time. It is hard to work on because it is in the assembled fuselage and access isn't great. Still need to grind down the brackets that are supposed to pass each other, but not by too much.

  May 25, 2022     Another 80 rivnuts - (5 hours)       Category: Fuselage

I am definitely in the Rivnut section of this build! I found a section with bad instructions that I notified Sling about, and I went through and drilled the holes and pulled the rivnuts. I am wondering if it is faster to use the drill and puller, or just the hand puller. You'd think it be faster with the power tools, and it is easier, but the clearance is a real issue in some of these places and the hand puller fits much better. Anyway, enough chatter, look at the pix below.

Another interesting note - with this entry, my time on the build now exceeds my pilot time as PIC. Can't wait to reverse that again!

  May 17, 2022     Much easier time with rivnuts - (2 hours)       Category: Fuselage

More rivnuts to pull in the fuselage of the plane. I still needed to drill each one out a little for the M4 rivnuts, and it took me a while to make sure I was getting them all (needed to count the rivnuts in each part and how many parts - it would have been easier if I was doing them a piece at a time, but these were all already installed).

I'm not sure why the quickbuild kit doesn't have the rivnuts already installed, or why it has some installed but not others, but at least this set of 30 were easy. I only needed to use the hand rivnut puller for the two edges over the main landing gear.

I used some Loctite 277 to help keep the Rivnuts from spinning. That's the red stuff you see in the pictures. The paper towel looks like I bled all over the place and, working with sheet metal, it's not a bad assumption to think I did, but it is just from me wiping excess Loctite off of the rivnuts and off of the rivnut pullers.

Also, it is a good time for me to reflect that it took about 2 hours to pull the 30 rivnuts. Sure, I could have done the same number of pulled rivets in about 15 minutes. But, if I were using solid rivets, that probably would have been all day. Thanks, Sling, for not making us use solid rivets!!!

  May 07, 2022     Finished the rudder cable springs - (3 hours)       Category: Fuselage

Three hours of work to put in two bolts and nuts? Yup. There *should* have been a Rivnut underneath the hole so I wouldn't have to worry about it, but that was not the case. Problem with the Quickbuild that I am hoping is resolved for future builders.

I was able to get the bolt through one hole and needed to use a step drill to open up the other hold. For that one, the hole in the bracket and the hole in the rib were both the right size, but they weren't lined up, and since the bolt is just going to hold a spring and not need any kind of alignment, I didn't mind making the bracket hole a little bigger.

Getting the nut up into position so I could tighten the bolt down onto it was an absolutely pain in the...finger. There was barely enough room for that finger, and the elevator torque tube junction (I know there is a better name, and maybe someday I'll come back and edit this to reflect the correct name) got in the way too. I tried a couple of hours of different things to get the nut into place. One idea, since I couldn't pinch the nut in my index finger and thumb like people normally do, was to put some tape on my finger to hold it in place. That didn't work because the tape got stuck on the sides of the ribs. Then inspiration hit, and I taped the nut into the box (closed) end of a wrench. I could smush that into the rib and get it in about the right place to start the bolt into it. Once I was 80% sure the bolt was in it, I wiggled and jiggled the wrench to break it loose from the nut and pulled it out. Then I used the front facing camera of the phone as a bore scope (no, I don't have one of those, but I should!) to make sure the nut was in place. After that, I squished the open end of the wrench in to grab the nut and tightened everything down. That first bolt and nut took about 2 hours.

The other one, without the torque tube in the way, took about half an hour. Learning curve! And, lack of impediments.

I learned some tricks on this one and will be sure to tell my friends to put the Rivnut in the rib BEFORE putting the rib in the plane. It doesn't need to go through the bracket and the rib, just the rib, but it absolutely needs to be there early!

  May 05, 2022     Parachute Rocket Cover Skin - Quickbuild problem 2 - (3 hours)       Category: Fuselage

The second problem I ran into with the Quickbuild doing some parts but not others (for example, riveting things together but not putting in the rivnuts) is on the cover that goes over the parachute rocket. The Sling factory made beautiful holes for the rivnuts so I didn't need to drill them out, but there is no room to get any kind of rivnut puller in there. After talking with the Sling factory, I ended up with the choice of de-riveting everything and putting in the rivnuts, or just putting new holes in for the rivnuts a little lower. I opted to drill more holes. It is just a cover, after all.

The lower 8 rivnuts were easy, the top 2 were a little harder (even with the lower holes), but they all got in. It is hard to see where the screws are vs. where they should be, so I've included pictures and a marked up drawing.

Time to move on to next steps of this build!

  May 03, 2022     Burned by the Quickbuild... - (4 hours)       Category: Fuselage

I was trying to install the rudder cable brackets and the springs, but I needed to put in some rivnuts, and I needed to make the holes big enough for the rivnuts. Unfortunately, the luggage compartment floor was already installed, so I couldn't get a drill in there. I bought a right angle drill head and was able to drill the holes for the 6 rivnuts holding the brackets, and those are the ones I was most worried about. The ones holding the springs don't get adjusted, but the brackets look like they do.

I was able to put the rivnuts in and hope they never need to get drilled out!

The holes for the M5 bolt for the springs is another problem, though. I couldn't get the right angle head and drill bit in there. So, I took an old drill and cut it off. As it turns out, the flutes make it really hard (OK, impossible) to get the bit in place without a lot of runout. Like, a 30 degree angle of runout. Like, well, look at the picture.to see. I even tried wrapping a bunch of tape around the drill to make it rounder, but that was a no-go, too. I would just put the M5 bolts in with a nylock nut on the back, but the hole is too small for an M5 bolt, too, so I guess it is back to Sling to ask what to do now. Sigh. The QuickBuild is supposed to make it easier and faster!

  May 02, 2022     Right angle drill head       Category: Tools

I needed this right angle drill head to get into some areas that SHOULD have already had rivnuts, or at least been drilled to the correct size for Rivnuts...

https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B01HHN52OG

  Apr 27, 2022     First pass at the front seats - (20 hours)       Category: Seats

This ended up taking a while. I started working on them because I wanted something that was distinct - I could start it and see the finished part at the end. As it turns out, that is what Sasha and Peter did with their build not too long ago, and what Yeol and Chad did as well. I guess we hit the same point at about the same time - we wanted to score a win that was visible!

This was not as straightforward as it could have been. First of all, I was missing the pin assembly, so I couldn't actually finish the seat bottom. That's OK, because I was able to do the entire front seat back and the base, but not the locking mechanism. I did do enough of the locking mechanism to see how it all went together, though. Not bad, but some tough parts due to tight tolerance fits.

The instructions were not clear on a line of rivets on the headrest. It is the line that attaches the front of the headrest skin, where your head would go if there were no upholstery, to the thick metal back. All the other rivets go into the hidden spacers, but for this, I needed to make a decision as to where the smooth heads of the rivets would go and where the bulgy tails of the rivets would go. Since there will be upholstery on the front and not on the back, I opted to put the smooth rivet heads on the back. You can see that in the pictures.

There is an AN bolt that holds the round plastic pieces that will eventually pull the wire of the locking mechanism. The AN bolt has a nylock nut on it, so I decided to torque it correctly and even put Torquestripe on it. Once it is sealed up, I expect that no one will ever see that again, but I wanted the stripe on it just to be thorough. And, in case I need to open it up at some point, to have a reminder that I did do it right to start with!

Yeol suggested getting the seat backs powdercoated, since the back side of the backs do not get covered with the standard Sling upholstery. I found a place that we used at my previous job and got pricing from them, and since there is a bit of a "lot charge," it is much les expensive to do it (per piece) with larger numbers. So, I talked with Yeol, Sasha, and Peter, and we decided to get all 6 seat backs powder coated. That'll show up in a later post, when we actually do it and see the results.

The electronic instructions had an update that wasn't in the paper ones that Yeol was kind enough to point out. When I go get the locking pins, I now know that I need to use the washer and cotter pins for them. Also, the instructions say to use the 8mm long 3.2mm rivets all around on the locking mechanism, but I see that I need to use the 12mm long rivets for the very front, to hold the plastic in place. Luckily, Sling supplied the rivets. They just didn't update the instructions to say to use them. C'st la vie.

Aside from all that, these were pretty straightforward to build. It was exactly what I hoped for - relatively fast build with very clear results at the end. An easy win!

  Apr 18, 2022     Putting the Al rims on the plastic lenses - (3 hours)       Category: Wings

Nothing with curved parts is ever easy, and this was no exception. The goal is to form the Al rings and rivet them to the inside of the lens. It took a while to figure out which way the ring was supposed to bend, and then to attach, but I got there. Also, in the manual, it pretty clearly states that the plastic lens holes should be drilled oversize to make room for the countersink of the wing. I did that - on the second one I made. Then I had to de-rivet (i.e., drill out) the first one and do it all over again. When the lens is drilled oversize, you can no longer rely on using the 3/32 silver Clecos to line everything up, so the process was:

1) Bend the Al ring, then rebend it the right way, then put it in the lens and hold it tight with the 3/32 Clecos.
2) Drill holes for the 3.2mm countersunk rivets to hold the Al to the plastic lens. The manual suggests 6, but with the springyness and all the different "corners," I opted for about 10.
3) Countersink the 3.2mm rivet holes in the plastic.
4) Disassemble everything, deburr the Al, and drill the bigger holes in the plastic lens.
5) Peel the plastic from the lens away from where it will get stuck under the Al ring or under a rivet, re-assemble, using the new 3.2mm c'snk rivet holes to initially line things up, then the 3/32 Clecos through the lens and into the Al to hold things a little more firmly, especially when taking out the 3.2mm Clecos..
6) Take out one 3.2mm Cleco at a time and put in a 3.2mm countersunk rivet.
7) Repeat step 6 nine more times.
8) Redo the first one when realizing that the drilling of holes was forgotten in step 6.
9) Wonder how to hold the lenses when the time comes to screw them into the wing, then assume it will all be taken care of when the time comes.
10) Post pictures in the log and then move on.

  Apr 11, 2022     Finished the left flap - (4 hours)       Category: Wings

There is definitely a steep learning curve. It took me 8 hours to do the first flap and only 4 to do the second one. To be fair, when I did the first flap, I also put together some of the brackets for the second one, but that was only about 30 minutes, so not much effort. This flap went together pretty easily, and I remembered again to leave the edge up against the wing non-riveted so I'll be able to straighten them if I need to. Also, present-me gave future-me a present and wrote down what size rivets to use, since the countersunk ones are 4.0mm and the domed ones are 3.2mm. I also left a note that I needed to pre-drill the 4.0mm rivets, since they were originally 3.2m and expanded a little when I dimpled them, but didn't expand all the way to 4.0mm. Present-me left that note for future-me, too. When I get this ready to go, then-present-me is going to thank then-past-me...I hope!

  Mar 15, 2022     Match drilling the wingtips - (4 hours)       Category: Wings

You'd think it would be easy.... Just put the wingtips in place, make sure they are in line with the bottom of the wing, match drill, and done. But.... they didn't really line up the same way twice when I marked it with a Sharpie, so I ended up using the strap to hold the wingtips tightly in place, then drilled a hole, then put in a Cleco, then drilled another hole, then put in another Cleco, etc. That worked fine when the wingtips were inside the aluminum skin. For the trailing edge of the wingtips, though, the aluminum is on the OUTSIDE, so I borrowed a "strap duplicator," aka a hole finder, to locate the holes and drill them. Then back with the Clecos. I was planning on mounting them now, but I wasn't sure if I'd need to get in there for access to the landing and taxi lights. The decision was made easier, though, when I realized that I couldn't put both wings on the wing stands with the wingtips and, more important, the winglets at the end of them, in place. They run into each other. So, the wingtips and winglets stay off until the end.

  Mar 11, 2022     Attaching the wingtip position lights - (8 hours)       Category: Wings

This one was a challenge - how to align the wingtip position / strobe lights when there are no orthogonal surfaces on the winglets. I tried measuring, but without a straight edge, there was nothing to measure from. I set up a horizontal laser and aligned it on the edge of the wingtip. It was definitely NOT a precision job, but I think it is close enough that, at 2 miles away and at 145Kts, it should look OK.

That gave me the line under the winglet. I used a carpenter's combination square to put some dots on the winglet an inch above the wing edge by keeping the laser on the edge of the square. Then I drew a line across the dots. It was all good, but not the right height, so I offset from that line a little bit more and drew another line. I put the gasket from the light on the line to make sure it would fit, and then crossed my fingers that the M5 rivnut was going to fit, too. Luckily, the stars aligned and so did the light, so I set up to do the same on the other wing tip. My goal was to get close to symmetrical, even though no one was ever going to see both sides at once (except at a distance). I ended up hitting my goal and getting close...

I used the rubber gasket as a template, lined up the two holes on the line I drew, tried to get it a repeatable distance from the edge (lack of orthogonals hits me again...), drilled my #10 holes for the M3 rivnuts, crossed my fingers that I didn't strip it out again, and installed them (the rivnuts, not my fingers). I think it turned out OK.

A suggestion to Sling would be to set up a jig in their factory for the wingtips and scribe a horizontal line across the winglet to make it easier for us builders. It will take some time to set up the jig for them, longer than it took me to set up the laser, but once it is set up, they should be able to mark each wingtip in just a few minutes rather than the 4 hours it took me!

The wires from the lights weren't long enough to go all the way through the wing tip and to the wing, and I didn't want to be forced to try to make connections with my big hands inside the little wingtip, so I spliced in about 18" of wire using the super-cool heat shrink splices I used on the rudder strobe light. The hold for the wires was not big enough to cram all 4 connections through at once, so I shoved them through two at a time. If you're worried (and I know I was), I tested the connections for the lights both before and after I crammed the wire through the hole, and the lights worked fine once all was said and done.

Just for fun, I put one of the wingtips on the end of the wing and lit it up. Yeah, I think it's gonna look good!

  Feb 27, 2022     Time to make some hatches... - (4 hours)       Category: Wings

Nothing really exciting here, just put together the 5 inspection hatches for the wings.

  Feb 24, 2022     Fixed the Rivnut, kinda - (2 hours)       Category: Wings

I put in the rivnuts in this entry (https://eaabuilderslog.org/?blprojentry&proj=7kreuJROA&e=7tHQzsUap) and had a problem with one of them. I spent a lot of time trying to figure out cutting, doublers, making it perfect, etc. Then I talked with some folks who reminded me that this was a coverplate, had no stress on it, and is not providing any support to the wing skin. So, I cut off the back of the rivnut, worked on drilling it some more, and got it out. Then, I used a big aluminum washer as a backer, filed the sharp/rough edges, and put the rivnut in with the washer. There is still some space between one edge of the rivnut and the skin, but the Al washer is firmly locked in place and holding the rivnut. I do need to remember that this rivnut is more likely to spin, even with the superglue, but aside from that it works great!

  Feb 15, 2022     Half Flaps - (8 hours)       Category: Wings

Got some more time to work on the plane and I built some flaps. Well, I was going to build some flaps, but I am missing one bracket that goes on one rib in one flap, so I was only able to build the other flap. Still, it went pretty easily, so I have no complaints. But, I am reminded that I need to get back in touch with Torrance and ask about my back ordered parts!

  Jan 23, 2022     Rivnuts for some inspection plates (what could go wrong?) - (2 hours)       Category: Wings

This is the first time I was using the Astro Pneumatic Tool ADN14 Rivet Nut Drill Adapter Kit to put in some Rivnuts. Once I figured it out, it went pretty well. The Rivnuts have a little superglue as well to try to give them more shear strength. It was all good until the clutch on the drill got changed and I pulled out threads on one of the rivnuts. I wasn't sure there was a problem, so I put a screw in and tried to use it to clear the threads. Then it got stuck. Then I tried to take out the screw and it broke off. Then I tried to drill out the rivnut with the screw in it, and then the real problem started. I've sent an e-mail with a picture to Sling for suggestions on how to repair the hole. I am guessing it will be a doubler, but we'll see.

  Jan 08, 2022     Last bit of work before the new dog arrives - alerions! - (7 hours)       Category: Wings

I had about a day to get the alerions done before I plan to take a few weeks off to take care of our new Goldendoodle puppy Oro. The alerions went together really easily, though "sliding" that weight in and out wasn't as easy as I thought it would be. It took some muscle, some twisting, and the lovely sound of vibrating metal (think of playing an old handsaw with a fiddle bow string and you get the idea). In any case, they are done and flaps are next.

The instructions for the alerions (and the flaps) say to dimple the part that goes up against the wing, but it doesn't call out countersunk rivets. After asking the factory and several other people who've built the plane, the answer I get is "Well, there might be a clearance issue, so some people have dimpled them and some don't." So, I dimpled the flaps and made the alerions with regular domed rivets. Fingers crossed that it works out!

  Jan 04, 2022     Finally finished counting the parts! - (15 hours)       Category: Overall

WOW! That was a lot harder than I thought it would be. We had to verify the inventory for the entire plane. Luckily, I had some help from my son David and luckily, it was a Quick Build so a lot of it was already assembled, but that was still a lot harder than I thought it would be. There were only one or two items we couldn't find that were not listed as back ordered, and there were only a few back ordered parts.

I am glad to have put the shelves together so I'd have a place to put everything after taking it out of the box (I left the big parts, like the windscreen, in the big box). I am betting that in 6 or 7 months, I'll look back on today and wish I put the parts on the shelves, and hung the smaller parts on the wood, in some kind of order to make things easier to find. Of course, as I assemble, there will be fewer and fewer parts left on the shelves and the board. At least, that's what I am telling myself.

  Dec 27, 2021     Build the Sling wing slings - (5 hours)       Category: Tools

Since I couldn't leave the wings in the frames they came in, I built the EAA wing slings. It doesn't look like it would take a lot of screws but there are over 200 in there because of all the gussets. That being said, this thing is as sturdy as they come and the wheels make the system very nice. I was able to put the wings in with the space for the aileron and flap area exposed, which should make it easier to assemble once those parts are made.

Based on some pictures I saw on Facebook, I am going to try to hang the rudder and the vertical stabilizer (stabiliser?) inside the frame between the wings.

  Dec 21, 2021     Got my tail number - N35513 - (.2 hour)       Category: Inspection

I got confirmation that the tail number I reserved can be mine. It is N35513. Why, with all the possible combinations out there, would I choose just a number? Great question, glad I asked! I fly a great airplane now. It is blue and white, and it has a red nose, so we call it Rudolf. When looking for another fictional animal that can carry people around, we came up with Nessie, the Loch Ness "Monster" (really a monster? doubt it...). So, when you use Leet, NESSIE becomes N35513. So, that is how Nessie got her tail number.

  Dec 20, 2021     Big day today - got the QB kit!! - (6 hours)       Category: Overall

Finally got the Quickbuild kit today. It took 16 weeks going from South Africa to Hamburg, switching boats, then coming to Oakland. I estimate that it was on the water for about 7 or 8 of those 16 weeks. It got through customs at Oakland just as I was going on vacation, so it had to sit another week. It was quite the challenge getting it out of the shipping container. Many of the screws broke off, so we ended up using pry bars and hammers in addition to screw guns to get everything out.

It probably would have been easier to have it delivered directly to my house, but since I didn't know how big the container would be or what equipment would be needed to unload it, I had it go to my former place of work, Unique Elevator Interiors. The folks there helped me unload it, put it on a flatbed stake truck, and bring it to my house (it took two trips). So now, I have a fuselage in my garage, two wings in storage, and a bunch of really big boxes. The plane is taking a lot more space than I thought, and the wings are less-than-easy to work with. They are up on an upside-down "u" shaped stand that is not stable, so I had to tie them to the ceiling. Next step is to build a wing stand, then do the inventory check....

I gotta say, it is pretty inspiring to step into my garage and see the plane sitting there. Now I am really looking forward to getting it going!

  Dec 03, 2021     Finally done! - (2 hours)       Category: Empennage

The washers were hard to keep in place on the fiberglass rudder tip, but masking tape finally did the job. The rudder is now done! So is the rest of the empennage kit. Just in time, too, since the ship with the rest of the Quickbuild kit just docked in Oakland. Only a week or so now until I get it!

  Dec 01, 2021     The rest of the kit is close!       Category: Overall

After the ship holding the rest of my kit left South Africa on August 11, it finally made it to the Port of Oakland. It did have a stop in Hamburg, so that took a while. Still, it is still going to be some time before it is offloaded and clears customs. That is 16 weeks so far, almost 4 months.

For when I look back at this years later and try to remember why it took so long, we are currently in year 2 of the COVID pandemic and having massive supply chain issues, including a lack of shipping containers and a lack of labor to process the containers at the different ports.

  Nov 24, 2021     Finished the elevator! - (1 hour)       Category: Empennage

Finally! It's not that it took a lot of hours, it's just that there have been a lot of distractions. I finally finished the elevator, got the torque stripe on it, and hung it up in the storage room. I have about an hour left to rivet the top of the rudder in place, and then the empennage kit will be done. Just in time...

  Nov 15, 2021     First call with Midwest Panel Builders - (2 hours) Category: Avionics

Had some great discussions with Scott and Steve at Midwest Panel Builders (www.midwestpanels.com). I think I will be going with their Advanced 1 screen IFR setup. I'll use an iPad for navigation and whatever else I need on the right side, but it is rare that I will be flying with another pilot who needs the instrumentation on their side. Once I figure out for sure what I want, I'll put down the $5,000 deposit to hold my place in the queue. They say they have already done 15 Sling TSi panels and have another 30 on order. Wow, this is a popular plane!

  Oct 21, 2021     Got some help with the rudder position light and strobe - (3 hours)       Category: Empennage

I got some help from Tom Irion (not pictured) building out the top of the rudder to hold the strobe / position light. Now that this is done, I can rivet it to the top of the rudder and that piece will be done!

  Oct 12, 2021     Putting the nutplates on the trim motor, finishing up the elevator - (5 hours)       Category: Empennage

Nothing too exciting on this one, I just got some screws to hold nut plates in place for the trim motor and then riveted them on to the trim motor. This is part of a service bulletin that Sling put out. I don't know what the old way to hold the motor in place was, but apparently it wasn't strong enough.

Then I lined up the elevator with the rest of the horizontal stabilizer to make sure everything was where it should be. It was. This is a nice kit to put together!

Also, I had my first tool break. I used it to help peel the plastic off the aluminum, and to hold things in place while I got ready to rivet them, and for many other things. We had such good times together! I'll miss it, but for now I need to get a replacement airplane tool...

  Oct 10, 2021     More help riveting - (5 hours)       Category: Empennage

I got some more help putting the elevator together, this time from Matt, Maria, Mike, and Virginia (we needed *someone* without an "M" name). Every time I see someone pick up the rivet gun and pull 5, 10, or 20 rivets without any difficulty, I am reminded of how glad I am to be putting together a plane with pulled rivets rather than the traditional "bash it with an air hammer" rivets! To be fair, Maria grew up with a glider being built in her living room, so this was not an entirely new experience for her.

  Sep 13, 2021     First test fit of the skins - (2 hours)       Category: Empennage

This was a fun day, because it is always good to see a shape go from a skeleton of brackets, ribs, and spars to looking like an actual plane part. Now that the skins are cleco'd on to the elevator, I can work on drilling and countersinking the tips.

  Sep 12, 2021     Elevator Trim Tab - (10 hours)       Category: Empennage

I realize it has been a while since I put in any information into the log, and then realized it was because I hadn't done a lot of work recently. Working on the light for the rudder tip, trip to Hawaii, son visiting before going to college, etc. What got me really motivated is that my QB kit is now on the second ship (of two) on its way to get here, so I need to wrap up this empennage.

I worked on the trim tab. It is pretty easy. Just need to get the plastic off, adjust the piano hinge so it has safety wire on both sides, and rivet it together. The instructions said I needed to shorten the rivets but as shown in the side view, the 3.2mm x 8mm rivets fit just fine. I did need to shorten some rivets for the bracket that the electric trim motor attaches too, though.

I hope to work some more on the skin this week and give my son a chance to drive a lot of rivets, then it will go back to Rosie the Riveter doing most of the skins...

  Sep 12, 2021     Shortening the Rivets - (1 hour)       Category: Tools

In order to rivet the bracket on to the elevator trim tab, I needed to shorten some of the 3.2mm x 8mm rivets to be about 3.2mm x 5.5mm. The instructions said that I needed to shorten ALL of the rivets that join the trim tab to the piano hinge, but luckily for me, there was plenty of space with the 8mm long rivets.

I used the dimpling press, with the dies taken out of it, to push the mandrel down and out of the rivet itself. I then turned the mandrel around and shoved it back into the rivet so the rivet didn't deform when I was cutting it. I cut the rivet with a hack saw (the mini-bolt cutter I was using deformed the rivet too much). One time, I cut through the rivet and mandrel and the other two times, I just kept rotating the rivet around the mandrel (I only did 3 rivets...so far). I don't know which way I like best, but it seemed easier to rotate the rivet. Once the rivet was cut, I pulled the mandrel out, slid it back in the right way, and tapped it back into place with a hammer. I put the head of the rivet down on a vise that was partially opened to allow the mandrel to slide through.

It didn't occur to me to get pictures until after the fact, but hopefully the description will help future me (or someone else). In any case, it seemed to work - the rivets still fit in the 3.2mm hole and they are holding tight to the bracket that the trim tab motor will eventually be pulling on.

  Aug 04, 2021     Future me will thank present me - (1 hour)       Category: Empennage

I put some of the rivet backing plates (yeah, they look like aluminum washers to me, too) on the inside of the rudder tip. I am holding them in place with the Clecos and putting a dab of superglue on them to hold them in place. It doesn't need to be strong, just strong enough to hold them until the rivet is in place. I am hoping that I didn't also glue the Cleco into the rivet, but if I did, it should be a brittle enough joint I can just twist it off and reglue the washer, I mean backing plate, if I need to.

This should make sure that the rivets don't pull through the fiberglass, which is why future me will thank present me in a few days.

  Aug 02, 2021     Starting work on the elevator skeleton - (6 hours)       Category: Empennage

I am getting close to the end of the empennage. Once the elevator is done, and once I put the strobe light on the top of the rudder and rivet that together, I will be done. Then it is a 3 month wait for the rest of the Quick Build kit. The only difficulty with the elevator skeleton is just how big it is. It is longer than the table. I put the skins on the left and right side separately, so I don't think that will be a problem, but we'll see. I may need to rig something together for a longer flat surface.

Also, per Evan Brunye's video suggestion, I am NOT attaching the counterweights yet, but I am going to leave those Clecos in place for the hinge. I see why they didn't want the other AN3 bolt tightened, because it will be in the way.

  Aug 02, 2021     Difference between Nitrile and Vinyl gloves - (0.2 hour)       Category: Tools

In case you were curious about the difference between Nitrile gloves and Vinyl gloves (and let's face it, who isn't?), it turns out that Nitrile resists Acetone pretty well. Vinyl, not so much. Good thing I didn't have any nail polish on, or it would have been gone!

  Aug 01, 2021     Finally broke down and did it - (1 hour)       Category: Tools

I had been trying to just keep the rivets in bags. I was cutting, taping, untaping, and retaping the bags as I needed to get rivets and I was dropping some out of the bag when it wasn't taped well and having trouble opening the bag with gloves on (the clecos get my hands dirty, so I wear gloves). I have a set of drawers with a lot of empties, so I finally decided to just put the rivets in the drawers. Some sizes took more than one drawer. I should have done this at the beginning!

  Jul 30, 2021     Bought some lights Category: Empennage

I just bought the LED strobe/position light for the rudder and the two position/strobe lights for the wingtips. I got a bit of the OshKosh EAA Airventure discount from Spruce. There will be pictures of mounting the rudder light soon.

AVEO POWERBURST DAYLITE GRN-RED-WHITE STROBE KIT - https://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/elpages/aveopowerburst.php
AVEO - POSISTROBE JP DAYLITE SERIES WHITE REAR POSITION LIGHT - EXPERIMENTAL - https://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/elpages/posistrobed01led.php

  Jul 11, 2021     (Almost) Finishing the Rudder with some help - (20 hours)       Category: Empennage

I got the skeleton put together pretty easily, but then got into the serious research on how to handle the position strobe. I decided to use the Aveo Ultra Daylight strobes (https://www.aveoengineering.com/lsa-experimental-ul-kits-and-gliders/ultra-daylite/) based on the write ups from several other SlingTSI builders. I have a friend going to EAA's AIrventure, so I'll ask him to see if he can find a deal.

The video from Evan Brunye (https://youtu.be/GJ4mQQ8bThk) was incredibly helpful in how to match drill the tip and using the washers, I mean, Aluminum Rivet Backers, to support the rivets in the fiberglass tip.

The skeleton was pretty uneventful once I figured out how I was going to put everything together including the tip and the lights. I didn't finish the very top where the position LED goes because I don't have it yet, and I don't want to seal it up until the light is installed.

I got some help on the skins from my dad and brother who were out visiting. They were so fast riveting the skin on that I didn't get any pictures other than the Clecos. After that, they were pulling rivets, pulling Clecos, and pulling ahead of my ability to manage the process AND take pictures. Oh well, I get the feeling that, at least on the skins, I am going to have very few of my own rivets. When people come over to help, that seems to be the part they help with. That's OK, I am sure I will have plenty to do over the next year or so!

  Jun 15, 2021     Finished up the vertical stabilizer - (6 hours)       Category: Empennage

I got some help from soon-to-be Sling TSi builder Yeol Grant as well as ongoing support from Rosie (who did not want to be photographed for this riveting spree). On this part, I needed to be really careful of the Rivnuts. In addition to one in the corner of the skin that goes on the spar that needed to be opened up for the M4 bolt (screw?), there are two other M4 rivnuts that needed to be put into the bottom rib. That would have been good to see on the page that was showing the other rivnuts! At least I saw it before riveting the skin on. I also opened up the skin so the head of the rivnut didn't keep it from laying flat.

  Jun 13, 2021     Vertical stabilizer, almost ready for rivets! - (5 hours)       Category: Empennage

Got the skin lined up, cut a hole through it for the antenna, and used a step drill for the first time. LOVE that thing! Clean holes, no burr, no problem. I ended up putting an angle on the holes because the antenna was going in at an angle, so I used a slightly larger grommet and will let it smush out oval shaped. There is a countersunk hole to attach the skin to the rib right next to the rivet that I can't use because the "puck" from the antenna is in the way. I don't think it will be a problem because of the other rivets and the antenna itself, though.

Got everything attached and cleco'd. I still need to check alignment, then I can let the riveting begin!

  Jun 10, 2021     Build the vertical stabilizer skeleton and set up the VOR - (8 hours)       Category: Empennage

Got the spars and the ribs put together and riveted and spent a lot of time figuring out the VOR antenna. I decided to do a "screw in" antenna so I can work around the skin easier and also so I can take them out to make storage easier. I'm not sure that was the best idea, but it is where I am. I was able to cut a hole in the skin rather than cutting a chunk out, meaning that there is skin all the way around the antenna hole. That's a good thing. The antenna screws in, and then there are set screws to hold it in place. There is no way for me to get at the set screws, so I will probably end up with a little Locktite holding it in. It is pretty tight in the gromet, too, so I don't think there will be a problem.

Other than the antenna, I just needed to run the two wires (one for the strobe/position light, one for the VOR). Just a note for later, the VOR antenna has an integrated balun, so I won't need a separate one.

The directions called out one set of rivets as part 999, which is actually a 3.2mm countersunk rivet in other parts of the build manual, and these are 4mm holes. I decided that they probably mean the same 4mm x 10mm rivets as the rest of the skeleton uses, and it worked out OK.

  Jun 03, 2021     Started building the Vertical Stabilizer and Dodged some Gotchas - (4 hours)       Category: Empennage

I put together the long spar for the vertical stabilizer and was fortunate enough to have read ahead to avoid some problems. The first one was that the M4 rivnuts did not fit in their holes, so those needed to be drilled out. No problem there. There are two layers of rivnuts, though, and if there are no clearance holes, the multiple layers of the spar don't lay flat. That was one of the tips I saw - make the clearance holes for the edges of the rivnuts. There is a picture showing the gap, then another one showing the layup without the gap because of the clearance holes.I also included some pictures of the clearance holes.

Oh, but wait! The goal is to put M4 bolts (screws?) into the rivnuts eventually, which means that there needs to be clearance holes for the bolts to go through. Luckily, that was also a warning I read, because if I didn't predrill clearance for the M4, I couldn't do it after it was riveted together. The rivnut in the back would be in the way. There is a picture showing the other part of the spar with clearance holes for two rivnuts (in red) and the seven rivnuts (in green) on the innermost piece.

There was also a "be careful" in that the brack that goes on the spar needs only 4, not 8, rivets. That would have been easy to miss.

And, for the sake of completeness, here's what the "skeleton" looks like. Next step is figuring out how to put in the wiring for the strobe and the VOR antenna, and actually getting that done.

  Jun 01, 2021     Just bought a VOR antenna - (0.5 hour) Category: Empennage

I didn't realize that I needed to buy my own VOR antenna for the build. I will want to be able to use VORs in case the GPS network goes down some day, plus I enjoy using them currently in my Piper Cherokee when I don't want to just follow the magenta line. I bought a RAMI AV-520 so I can install the base station, then go back and install the antenna leads a little more easily. That was the plan, anyway. Now that I've received it, I see that there are set screws to hold the antennae in place. I just need to make sure that I can access them after the skin is in place. Either that, or Locktite will be my friend!

  May 29, 2021     Finished the horisontal stabalizer!! - (10 hours)       Category: Empennage

Finally finished the horizontal stabilizer (except for one 4mm countersunk rivet I need to fill in a hole I accidentally made too big). I got the correct trim motor wire installed, I marked what kind of rivets go in which hole, lined up the skins, made sure that everything was aligned, and got ready to rivet. Then, just as I was getting started, Rosie decided she wanted to do it. She ended up riveting about 90% of the skin. She is a master of the rivet gun!

  May 24, 2021     Started work on the Vertical Stabalizer - (5 hours)       Category: Empennage

Got started on the vertical stabilizer. I think it will go much faster since I've already done work on the horizontal (horisontal?) stabilizer, but since I haven't finished that one yet, I don't know what problems I'll run into yet. What could possibly go wrong? :-)

  May 22, 2021     Tried to close up the horizontal stabilizer - (4 hours) Category: Empennage

I deburred all the holes, lined everything up, and went to install the wire for the trim servo. No wire. It was called out on the exploded view, but was not on the parts list. I sent an E-Mail to the factory and, while I'm waiting, I asked the Facebook group. They said the wire should be there. Guess I move on to the vertical stabilizer while I wait for wire…

Update I received from the factory on May 25:
We have changed the part numbers recently. We used a 6 core wire in the past with wire unconnected. We now supply a 5 core wire for the trim servo EC-WIR-522-X-X-0, 22AWG 5-Core Screen Wire. It was also referred to as HS-WIR or EL-WIR but this was only for CAD and construction manual purposes.

If you have a 6 core or a 5 core wire in the kit then you have the correct wiring for the trim servo.

  May 21, 2021     Bought a Sling (partially) Category: Overall

Made the decision to go forward with this thing and. Signed the contract for a Quickbuild TSi, with the parachute cables, split rear seat, and set up for IFR (heated pitot, wiring, antennas, etc.).

  May 19, 2021     EAA TA visit - (2 hours) Category: Research

Had a visit from Jim Aqua, the Technical Advisor (TA) from the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA). Jim is a member of Concord's EAA 393.

What did I learn from his visit?
1. I need to deburring the inside of the skin, at least the holes that aren't dimpled, since there is a burr on the inside. I didn't notice that before, but now I know what to look for.
2. I need to read up on “prevailing torque,” which is the driving torque required to overcome friction in a threaded fastening application, which produces no clamp load, or bolt stretch. Or, in plain (plane?) English, it is the torque required to turn the lock nut before I even start tensioning the bolt. If the bolt needs 18 in-lbs of torque, and the locknut needs 5 in-lbs of torque to turn it, then I need to have 23 in-lbs of torque to get it right.
3. If I am planning to spray Corrosion-X into the closed areas for corrosion resistance (that's my current plan), I should do it after it is painted since it will impede the painting as it leaks out.
4. We talked about where to store the empennage as I wait for the rest of the plane to be done. Probably in a semi-controlled environment, like my hangar or hanging from the joists in the storage area or the garage.

  May 10, 2021     Getting closer on the horizontal stabilizer - (5 hours)       Category: Empennage

Rivet gun - turns out that I needed to disassemble the head, clean all the oil off the jaws, and re-lubricate the mechanism (but NOT the inside of the jaws!) and it works fine. Excellent customer support from Stanley tools on this thing.

With the rivet gun working, it was relatively quick work to assemble the "skeleton" for the horizontal stabilizer. I also did a test fit of the skin. I tried doing one side (top of the stabilizer, from the leading edge to the trailing edge) then the bottom. Next, I tried doing it from the leading edge down both sides evenly. Doing it from the leading edge seems to work best. I may try working from the trailing edge of one side up and over the leading edge down to the trailing edge of the other side next. One thing is certain, though. It is time for me to figure out if and how I want to put corrosion proofing on the inside, line it all up, and rivet it all in place. Then I can move on to the rudder, vertical stabilizer, and elevator.

  May 01, 2021     Starting to assemble the HS frame - (6 hours)       Category: Empennage

We are finally putting rivets to spars and ribs! I got Isabel in the act and she loved the rivet gun. I had to slow her down a little so she didn't end up putting a bunch of rivets in we didn't need (or want!) yet. We got both spars assembled and all the ribs Cleco'd in.

Ran into a problem with the rivet gun, though. While it works great for the 4mm rivets, it seems to be slipping off the mandrel for the 3.2mm rivets. I have an e-maiul into Stanley about their Proset XT2 to see if I need to replace the jaws, lubricate them better, or something else. The 3.2mm rivets are easier to pull by hand than the 4mm ones are, but my goal is to pull NONE of them by hand!

  Apr 30, 2021     Got some back-ordered parts - (1 hour) Category: Empennage

I got a large box from The Airplane Factory that had "back ordered parts." Allison and I opened it up, did an inventory check, and found that about 90% of the back-ordered parts were in there, but not the weights or bracket that were missing from the initial shipment. I don't need those until close to the very end of the empennage, so it shouldn't slow me down.

  Apr 27, 2021     Dimpling the Horizontal (Horisontal?) Stabilizer (Stabiliser?) skins - (2 hours)       Category: Empennage

This went pretty easily once I got Allison's help holding the material. There were 240 holes that got dimpled and all went well. No misses. I learned my lesson with the rib!

Peeling the plastic off the aluminum was a challenge, but I found that pulling it slowly was actually much faster than trying to pull it quickly. I am sure there is a life lesson in there....somewhere.