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!!

  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!

  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.

  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!

  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!