Apr 07, 2024     Inspected - (2 hours) Category: Inspection

The DAR stopped by yesterday and N68SG was inspected and found to be air worthy with no issues. Guess even a blind squirrel does get a nut now and then. Only thing I regret is that this build is complete cause it was a lot of fun.

  Mar 23, 2024     Registration and AWC Submission - (1 hour)       Category: Inspection

FINALLY got my registration and was able to submit my air worthiness request. Been talking to the DAR and working to get the plane ready for inspection.

  Feb 21, 2024     Hangar!! - (1 hour)       Category: Workshop

Well I guess the planets partially aligned for me. The FAA is still MIA but I got into a hangar at the local airport in Cashmere, WA!! So it was moving day for the plane where it now shares an abode with a Sonex. Nice small, low wing airplane that the Kitfox can fit over. Now I'll be able to do some of the fine tuning that I wanted to do with the wings spread that I couldn't do in the shop without moving outside.

  Jan 17, 2024     Yaw Dampener - (3 hours)       Category: Avionics

So while I am waiting on the FAA, I decided to add in the yaw dampener to my autopilot. I bought the kit sans servo to get things set up and tied into my aircraft wiring. Built up the mounting plate by installing the plate nuts and built up the cable that will run from my pitch servo to the yaw servo. Will actually do the wiring install after my inspection and buy the servo then.

  Jan 01, 2024     Just Waiting - (.1 hour) Category: Research

Happy New Year all! The Builder's Log notified me that it has been 30 days since I have posted on progress. The reason is simple - still waiting on the FAA registration so that I can apply for the airworthiness certificate. I am playing with possible color schemes that I could use on the fuselage as well as thinking I might add the yaw dampener to my autopilot (three axis). But the bottom line is that the plane is ready - just sitting in Winter storage in the shop.

  Nov 28, 2023     Cracked Door Glass Repair - (7 hours)       Category: Fuselage

Completed the repair on my right door window. Had to replace the window and re-install the door latch assembly along with the gasket edge tape..

  Nov 19, 2023     Door Window Repair - (4 hours)       Category: Fuselage

Got my glass ordered from Kitfox and expected it to take a bit before I received it. Guess not. Only took a week and a half from when I ordered it to when I got it. So it was time to take the cracked glass off the door frame and that turned out to be a real bear. That VHB tape really sticks. Uses .030 safety wire to cut through the tape between the frame and the glass. That part was pretty easy. Removing the remaining tape from the frame was the hard part. Rubbed the old mastic really hard with my thumbs and for the most part, it peeled off the frame. Where it didn't, I used acetone to get that off. So now I am ready to fit the new glass to the door frame and the fuselage opening. Think it will be easier to do for the third time?

  Nov 06, 2023     Door Latches - (2 hours)       Category: Fuselage

So to add insult to injury.......... Went down in the shop to stop drill my door glass and take another look at why my latches were so tight. When I did the original fitting, I thought they were just perfect and that when I installed the doors and the rubber gasket, they would be a bit tight but functional. In the manual, Kitfox clearly says that you 'might' have to install a shim between the latch rods and the door frame. Should have taken that note a bit more to heart. My tight spot was where the rear rod pushed over the fuselage frame. Drilled out the rivets holding the bracket. Made a shim out of some .063 aluminum and cleco'd them in. The door latches both close smooth as silk. Not loose at all. Slightly compresses the rubber gasket. If you are putting in the optional latches, learn from my mistake. If I had just taken a bit more time in looking at this I would not be ordering a new door glass. Took me two hours to do the fix.

  Nov 05, 2023     Window Crack - (0.1 hour)       Category: Fuselage

Was working on getting a better fitting on my door latch and was making progress. Until this........... Oh boy.

  Oct 30, 2023     Interior - (6 hours)       Category: Interior Finish

Wanted to put in an entry to continue the saga of the Skybolt fasteners. I emailed the company and sent them pics of the bad fasteners along with the type retaining washers that I had lost when the fasteners failed. They responded the next day by both phone and email. Sent me a return label so that they could look at the actual failed items and shipped me replacement fasteners and washers 2nd day air. Literally three days after I had contacted them, I had replacements here and installed. Great responsive company.

Started on my interior by doing the skin covering on the sides and center of the seat pan. If you are familiar with this step, you will notice that I did not install the skin covering along the front of the seat. With the seat pan installed, the floor carpeting extends up and over that overhanging lip on the seat. A length of the fastening strip for the carpet attaches to that lip and it will adhere to the fiberglass of the lip better than the skin material. Once the carpet and seats are fully installed, you never see that part. Installed the carpet on to the floorboards and as the instructions suggested, used zip ties to help hold the strips to the boards. Carpet and seats are now fully installed.

  Oct 17, 2023     Camera and cowling fasteners - (4 hours)       Category: Fuselage

More little stuff. Installed my forward looking camera on my cowling. Hooked it up and it appears to be working as advertised. I didn't take a cool selfie like others have with their camera cause I didn't want to break it before I got to use it for real. So I settled for the view out my shop. Have also run into a bit of an issue with the cowling fasteners. I have had four of them where the cross pin falls out (which means I lose my retaining washer as well). Gone through all the fasteners on the cowlings and found a couple more where the pin will slide back and forth but doesn't fall out. Yet. My fasteners are not hard to set when installing the cowling so I don't think I am putting them under any real stress. Anyone run into this? Am I doing something wrong? Bad fastener batch? Thoughts?

  Oct 09, 2023     Quarter Windows - (4 hours)       Category: Fuselage

Another of those small things off the list of things left to do. I had already done the fitting work on the quarter windows but hadn't actually done the final install. So now that's done. I used kind of a hybrid of the Kitfox instructions in that I used both the VHB tape to seal and rivets to provide that little extra holding force. I am literally ready for the DAR if I could only get my N Number. That's the one thing I wish I had done a lot earlier if I had known it was going to take this long. Passing through 4 months waiting.

  Sep 26, 2023     Strakes, Interior and wing tips - (4 hours)       Category: Fuselage

More getting ready to weigh the plane. Installed the seat and seat belts as well as temporarily installing the interior parts of the kit. Riveted the turtle deck strakes on and checked the fit installed on the plane. Attached the landing light lenses on the wing tips so they are ready to be reinstalled on the wings.

  Sep 21, 2023     Looks Like a Plane - (10 hours)       Category: Fuselage

Between Fall seeming to come early here with rain and blustery days (20kts gusting to 50) it made it a bit hard to move the airplane out and spread the wings. So have been working on some small stuff. I had one day where it was perfect to paint so I got my VGs, hubcaps, and wing cuffs painted. Been on my list for awhile but just hadn't done it. Got the rubber attached to the cuffs so they are done. Got all my VGs moved to their adhesive pages so they are ready to install whenever I do that. (Probably after getting the first flights under my belt and look at stall speeds). One question I had for those who covered with Oratex and attached the VGs. Did you use the adhesive pages that came with the kit or use another adhesive? I've notices that the Oratex is a bit porous and sometimes things don't stick well to it. Got my cowlings on the plane but had to remove the prop to do it. It just wasn't going otherwise. The piece I put around the naca vent for the radiators and the tailpipe just would not let the lower cowl on with the prop installed. I may do a bit of modification to my piece and see if that won't let me attach the cowl with the prop on. But for right now, I am moving towards getting the plane weighed so that I can do my CG and maybe even have a chat with the DAR and get signed off. Would love to do that before the snow hits.

  Sep 12, 2023     Doors, Nameplate and Alternator - (15 hours)       Category: Fuselage

Mounted my doors and did the final fitting for the latches. They work perfectly and while close, don't hit the wing. Mounted my nameplate below the horizontal stab access panel using a backing plate fixed to the Oratex with adhesive to sandwich the skin between the two plates. Since I have finished the prop balance, I removed the DynaVibe parts and did a final install (read safety wired the bolts) on my external alternator. Did an engine turn after the install and the alternator puts out a nice 14.1 VDC from around 3500 RPM to WOT.

  Aug 25, 2023     Door Hinges and VGs - (3 hours)       Category: Fuselage

I am in the midst of doing little things that need to get done which seem like I am not doing much at all. But rather than program the Garmin, I got to work on hardware a bit today. One of the things on my list was coming up with a way to retain the hinge pins on the door hinges so they don't just slide out. Have read on the forum of many different ways to do this but thought that the set screw method seemed the way I liked most. Drilled and tapped the hinges to accept a 6-32 set screw, filed a very slight flat spot on the hinge pin itself where the set screw hit it and locked all the hinges in. Needed a bottoming tap to make this work and your basic tap and die set or local hardware had none. Hardware store didn't even know what it was; "They all come with that tapered end to get the threads started". Back I went to an old set that was passed down to me from my Dad and there it was - the 6-32 bottoming tap. I just smiled and thought that here I was, a 70 year old man, still being helped out by his Pop. A good thing. Also primed the wing close out cuffs and VGs so they are ready for paint.

  Aug 23, 2023     Baggage Area, Wing Close Out and Cowling Heat Liner - (12 hours)       Category: Fuselage

Still working on getting some of the small stuff done with with programming the Garmin G3X and G5 along with the auto pilot. Got the auto pilot arm limiter installed on the roll servo but still need to do the pitch. Built backing plates for the hold down attachments for the baggage area, installed carpet on the floors and installed the floors back into the fuselage. Fabricated and fit the left wing closeout cuff, installed the attaching nut plates and got it ready for paint. Not as cool as the ones people are making with the carbon fiber but they will do the job. Installed heat reflective material on the base of the lower cowling that is just below the muffler/exhaust of the engine. Hoping to keep the cowling itself a bit protected from the heat.

  Jul 29, 2023     Garmin G3X, Compass Rose and Stuff - (7 hours)       Category: Avionics

Have been working on getting my PFD dialed in. Lots of reading and programming so far. Got my engine instruments all dialed in and displaying (the FADEC on the 912is provides quite the selection of stuff to monitor) Did an engine turn to check my pitch and it still needs to come down some I think but at the same time, got the vibration testing done for the AHARS. The pic of the plane is where I did the compass alignment for the Magnetometer and it was a really nice day to do it. Tomorrow I will change the pitch and if it looks good, I'll probably run through a couple prop balance runs to see how it looks. Also attached my horiz stab brace covers so I am literally getting closer I think.

  Jul 24, 2023     Dynavibe Bracket - (6 hours)       Category: Propeller

Have wrestled with how to mount the sensors for the DynaVibe and finally came up with my solution. The instructions say to mount the transducer as far forward and center as possible and this fits the bill. Built the side brackets out of doubled .06 aluminum and then riveted them together so they are super stiff and hold the quarter inch plate on the top. This should work out I think.

  Jul 18, 2023     Prop, Sills, Controls and Engine Start - (9 hours)       Category: Engine

Installed my prop and set the pitch to 19.6 degrees for an initial look. Worked on getting the flaperons set up properly for the correct deflections. Not sure I was happy with the end result so may go back and check them again. Something there just doesn't seem right. Installed the sills on the door frames so now they are permanently attached. Last but certainly not least, I started the engine for it's first run up. All the pressures were good, no leaks and it appears my static RPM at full throttle was around 5100 so I'll have to do a little pitch adjustment and give it another go.

  Jul 08, 2023     Wind Screen, Glare Shield, Taxi Lights - (14 hours)       Category: Fuselage

Received my new, longer bolts and was able to install and wire in my taxi lights. Covered my glare shield and installed the LED lights I am using to 'flood' the panel should I need it. Have to wait a couple days for the adhesive to totally cure before I can finish fitting the glare shield. Installed the wind screen completely (i.e. all the top, back and front screws). In looking at the screws on the side-front of the wind screen, I thought it might be better to make a long piece with plate nuts to do that attachment. That way, instead of the individual pressure points running down the screen, it would be a more even pressured attachment. Built them up, painted them flat back (no reflection) and installed them. Made that a really easy install and kept my ham hands from dropping the nuts and washers inside the cockpit.

  Jul 01, 2023     Turtle Deck, Trim Panels, and Glare Shield - (15 hours)       Category: Fuselage

Got the glare shield fitted in between the panel and the boot cowl/windshield. Looking at the possibility of putting in a stiffener in the middle between the panel and the brace tubes. There is a bit of 'oil canning' when I have it screwed down and think that might alleviate that. Finished up the turtle deck after getting the hinge installed. The plans call for a single aluminum brace across the deck at the hing and I thought that a brace on each side of the hinge had some merit so I made another one and installed two braces. Fit the deck to the fuselage and installed all the Dzus fasteners. Last but not least I installed the "whisker' mod on the trim access panels.

  Jun 27, 2023     Flaperons, Turtle Deck and Feed Through - (12 hours)       Category: Wings

After fitting the turtle deck as a single piece on the fuselage and locating the flaperon feed thru holes, I marked out the hinge location and made the required cuts. Sanded the turtle deck edges smooth so there are no sharp edges anywhere on the deck. I had read that actually inserting the turtle deck into the hinge was a royal pain and as promised, it started out that way. My father's words came to me while fighting with the hinge; "A man cannot have enough clamps." So I laid two clamps (in the pic) down on the flat surface lengthwise under the turtle deck and then clamped a couple 2x4s over the top. The 2x4s were not clamped to the turtle deck anywhere so that the deck could slide underneath them but were there to keep the deck from flexing up and the hinge from buckling. Slowly added pressure to squeeze the deck with the lower clamps and the deck is now inserted into the hinge all the way.

Rolled the plane out of the shop, unfolded the wings and installed the flaperons. I had fitted these last winter when I first built them up so the installation had no surprises. I also installed the firewall feed through and filled it off with high temp RTV to seal it. After the RTV set up, I installed the clenching ring and the hose clamp so that is complete.

  Jun 22, 2023     Tail Feathers - (11 hours)       Category: Empennage

Assembled and installed the horizontal stab and elevator on to the fuselage. Connected the trim motor and tested it through the full range of nose up/nose down with no issues. Installed and riveted one side of the flaperon hinges on both wings. I'll do the other side once I install the flaperons themselves just to be sure they are all aligned (they were when I test fit them last year but you never know. Started looking at the glare shield install and saw where one builder suggested making the clips a little longer making it easier to get the glare shield to engage them. I had already built the clips to the specs in the manual but decided that making them a little longer made some sense. So I fabricated them to be a quarter inch longer after the bend.

  Jun 19, 2023     Wing Tips and Flaperon with Taxi Lights - (11 hours)       Category: Wings

Used the broom stick method to locate the hole for the flaperon shaft through the turtle deck. Went ahead and riveted one side of the flaperon brackets to the wing. Will do the other side of the bracket when I actually hang the flaperons. Fabricated brackets to mount taxi lights to the cabane bracket and ran the wiring down there on each side. Am awaiting some longer AN5 bolts to attach the brackets. Painted the ends of the wing tips in trim, installed the landing lights and the navigation lights. Got my helpers to assist and got the right wing attached to the fuselage. Hopefully I won't be taking it off again.

  Jun 11, 2023     Turtle Deck - (9 hours)       Category: Fuselage

Started fitting the turtle deck. Got the cut outs for the cross member done and the upper edge fit into its slot under the rear of the windscreen. First off, anyone reading this that is going to install the hinge option with their deck, I would really recommend finding Harlan Payne's You Tube #42 where he shows installing his. Harlan did not follow the directions as they were laid out in the book (don't mistake this comment to say he did it wrong - he didn't). Instead he used some very common sense changes to the order of things. An example would be not drilling or setting up the lower Dzus fasteners before cutting and fitting the hinge. Just install the upper two fasteners on each side to lock the deck in place but leave wiggle room for fitting after you cut the hinge. Installed the Dzus fastener sockets on the upper section just as Harlan suggested and am now ready to locate my holes for the flapperon control rods. He also had some solid insight on cutting the side cuts at the hinge to keep things from binding up. Made this job a lot easier for me for certain.

  Jun 08, 2023     Lower Cowl and Waiting for Paint to Dry - (7 hours)       Category: Fuselage

I have painted the horiz stab covers, the spinner and the lower boot cowl now. The good news is that I am about done with all but some of the light trim when it comes to paint. Part of the issue I have had is painting outdoors and getting the parts moved back into the shop before it heats up outside and the trees start sending pollen and such to attack my fresh paint. It makes what I can do in the shop a bit limited so I don't raise any dust from sanding, drilling or whatnot. While waiting for paint to dry, I fit the landing light lens on to both of the wing tips. When I did the landing light mounts and did the work on the wing tips, I put in metal mounting plates behind the fiberglass and built the wiring harnesses which means that my tips are ready to mount. I also hooked up the Sony jack that lets me hook up the GoPro to the aircraft audio. Tested that out and it's good to go. Gotta like Garmin making it so easy to get that in.

  Jun 05, 2023     Painting Cowlings and wing tips - (7 hours)       Category: Fuselage

Have started working up the cowlings getting them sanded and such for final paint after primer. Got the upper cowling, boot cowl and wing tips painted now with the final color. The wing tips still have some trim to paint but all in all, pretty happy with the way these first attempts came out. Especially after my initial experience with shooting primer on the wing tips and all the runs I had to sand out and re-prime. Got some good tips from some of the builders on the forum on the process which was a real help. Very happy with the decision to go with the Oratex so I am not facing having to paint the whole plane........ More sanding to get done on the lower cowl but it's getting there.

  May 24, 2023     Windscreen - (10 hours)       Category: Fuselage

Got the rear cross piece installed on the crossover and then started in on fitting the windscreen. Must have installed both the windscreen and boot cowl half a dozen times but the fitting is finally done. I left a quarter inch over lap on the windscreen and butt rib. Got the edges all polished and dialed in. On to actually getting it permanently attached.

  May 13, 2023     Springs, Intake and Flaperons - (12 hours)       Category: Engine

Finished up painting the flaperons this morning. Pretty happy with the way they came out given that I am painting outside. Trying to get painting done before the pollen starts falling from the pine trees. Think I might have only a couple more days and then I'll have to hold short for a bit on paint. While waiting for flash coats and final coats to dry, I did the safety wire on the exhaust springs so that when (not if from what I understand) they break, they don't just fall out the back of the cowling and on to the runway/taxiway or even drop them while flying. Ran a couple beads of high temp RTV on all the springs as well as I understand this dampens the vibration of the springs and hopefully promotes a little longer life. Also finished off the outside of the intake Naca so that debacle is complete now.

  May 08, 2023     Intake Mod, Fuel Gauge and Wing Struts - (9 hours)       Category: Engine

Installed the fuel gauge into the left wing and finished up connecting the fuel lines so the left wing is now plumbed. Was real happy to get my intake installed on the lower cowling and thought it was a thing of beauty. Or not. The instructions say to check the fit before mounting the intake to the cowling and while I did make sure the cowling fit with the intake taped at the spot outlined in the manual, I guess I didn't really take a good look other than to see that it fit. While doing something else, I looked down and was shocked to see that the intake was literally a little less than a quarter inch from the valve cover of the engine. I am certain that engine will flex the motor mounts a bit (Kitfox calls for a half inch of clearance between the exhaust pipe and the cowling due to that). I had to modify my intake with a bit of a cutout to give me my half inch of clearance. The takeaway here is when you check for clearances, do a complete check. The weather started warming up so I thought I would get a little painting done before pollen and bugs make painting outside totally impossible. Repurposed the wing rotisserie to support the wing strut while painting.

  Apr 30, 2023     Intake - (5 hours)       Category: Engine

Never liked the air filter directly connected to the engine taking in hot air inside the cowling. Against all my motorhead experience. When Kitfox introduced the 915is into its stable of engines, they came up with an external intake system to route outside air into the engine. Saw that and ordered one from Kitfox since the 912is uses the same intake system. Heather got it sent out and I now have it installed. Much better in my mind than the inside cowling air and it gives the air sensor for the Rotax injection a great place to be mounted (backside of the air box).

  Apr 26, 2023     Brake Bleeding - (3 hours)       Category: Landing Gear

Today was brake bleeding day for me. My past motorhead life left me with a pressure bleeder for brakes and today was just another day of being happy I had it. Makes life really easy when bleeding. While I did cover my brake lines with shielding, I left small sections at the fittings uncovered so I had an easy look at the hose and fitting. If there was a leak, I could see it easily rather than have it run down the webbing and exit somewhere lower. Also one of the biggest reasons my build is going to have a removable boot cowl is not only to let me access the back of the panel for troubleshooting but also to provide an easy access to the brake manifold on the inside of the firewall. Being able to see the lines going in made it really easy to assess if I still had air in the lines when bleeding. The one pic is of the air coming out the right brake line when I started. It also lets me inspect the brake cylinders down in the footwells easily. Not only to inspect for leaks but also access to repair a leak should I have one.

I know I have read that some think that some of Kitfox's instructions are lacking in some areas and will admit to having some thoughts along those lines. But one thing I have learned after getting this far in the buld is that where some items may be construed as vague might really be a matter of that part doesn't require exacting instructions and however you do it will be fine. In this case, I started doing my brake bleed yesterday and the #$%*$###!! tube kept popping off the nipple on the caliper. The pressure bleeder is the bomb but a downside is that when the tube pops off, the fluid comes out under pressure and fast. So I went back and re-read the instructions and in this case, Brandon and crew said use 1/8" tubing to connect to the nipple. I had some 3/16" laying around and figured "Good enough". It wasn't. The instructions specifically told me 1/8" and this morning my trip to the local hardware store got me the right stuff. Came home, tied it into the pressure bleeder and was literally done bleeding in an hour and half. Nice solid pedals, no air in the sight areas of the lines anywhere. No tube popping off the bleeder.

  Apr 19, 2023     Cowling, Exhaust and Thermostat - (9 hours)       Category: Fuselage

Installed the Dzus fasteners between the upper and lower cowling as well as the ones between the upper and boot cowls. Due to the fit between the lower cowling, the boot cowling and the firewall foot wells, I needed to order some longer fasteners so am awaiting parts on that. I also cut the access hole for the exhaust pipe stinger and have the desired 1/2 inch clearance around it. Finished plumbing in the "Thermobob" thermostat into my cooling with a 180 degree thermostat installed. Should help get my engine temps up when warming up and keeping them stable when flying in colder weather;

  Apr 10, 2023     Cowling, Naca Duct and Seat Brace - (7 hours)       Category: Fuselage

Finished off the oil level access door on the upper cowling with the Dzus fasteners. Decided that I wanted to improve the seal around the cooling radiators so I added a seal strip around them. I have read that some people put a wooden spacer around the flaperon control rod to protect it should the fiberglass seat collapse. Haven't actually heard of this happening but thought it would be a good insurance step so I made and installed a couple spacers.

  Apr 03, 2023     Cowling, Wing and Wiring - (18 hours)       Category: Fuselage

With the help of my wing crew, I attached the port wing so that I could get a bunch of stuff dialed in. My Magnetometer, OAT, Nav/landing lites and the heated pitot tube are all on that wing. I installed a wing root electrical disconnect connector there so if/when I need to take the wing off, I can do it without cutting wires. Happy to report that all those parts worked as advertised and the G3X was all green checks except for the Rotax FADEC. Started troubleshooting what the problem was with that interface and finally found it: me. Didn't quite understand how the interface worked between the Start Power switch and the Lanes. Once I got that straight, Lane A wasn't responsive or at least the light wasn't working. Turns out Lane A was fine (G3X made that easy to determine once I knew what to look for), I had just wired the LED backwards. Got that all dialed in now. Decided it was time to start work on the oil access door on the upper cowling. Made a pattern for the inside dimensions of the opening. Taped that to the rough door and made sure that the door followed the contour of the cowl. Sprayed a little black paint on the door with the pattern attached so I now had a shape to cut to. Cut out the door opening on the cowl and did the final fitting of the door to the opening. Still have to make the cutout for the hinge.

  Mar 26, 2023     Naca Duct, Radiator and Wing Wire - (9 hours)       Category: Fuselage

Finished fairing in the naca duct on the lower cowl and gave it a coat of primer. Fabricated the brackets to mount the oil cooler to the radiator and then mounted the assembly on to the plane. Finally achieved one of the first rites of passage where I took the left wing off of the rotisserie and pulled the wiring and pitot system tubing through. Secured the wiring at the wing tip with Adel clamps and then consolidated all the wiring in the left wing into a single connector so I have a wing wiring disconnect should I need to remove the wing at a later time.

  Mar 22, 2023     Cowling, Radiator and Naca Duct - (22 hours)       Category: Fuselage

Been working getting the interface between the upper and lower cowlings faired in. Fabricated the brackets for installing the radiator. Instructions said to hot glue or strap tape the radiator into position on the lower cowling but that didn't work for me. The strap tape just kept pulling away from the fiberglass and let the radiator move out of position. So I taped a piece of plywood across the cowling to keep the radiator in its fore/aft position and spacers to provide the correct height off the cowling. That worked perfectly. Mounted the radiator and then fabricated the third support bracket. Got that all installed and verified that both the radiator did not touch the cowling and it was still in the proper position to mount the naca duct. Got the naca duct positioned, drilled/cleco'd the guide holes, did the rough cut out and finally Hysol'd the duct into the cowling. Now it's on to body working the duct and installing the oil cooler.

  Mar 12, 2023     Cowling, Pitot System and a little Avionics - (15 hours)       Category: Fuselage

Started working on fitting the upper and lower cowling. Worked very slowly and got some good advice/suggestions from Brandon on how to proceed. I have read on the forum about how unhappy some were about the initial fit of their fiberglass cowlings they received from Kitfox. I had also heard that Kitfox had undertaken an effort to improve those molds and think my cowling, while still having some issues, was better than some of the pics I had seen. I got the cowling fitted to the nose and then drilled and cleco'd together. Will start on some basic body work on the leading edge of the cowling and once that is roughed in, will install the Dzus fittings. I also installed the pitot tubing from the wing root area to the avionics so now both the G3x and the G5 are plumbed. The 'little avionics' comes from an issue I had with the VHF radio not powering up when installed. Did the requisite troubleshooting and found that the radio was bad. Contacted Garmin who was great in getting me a replacement. Installed the replacement radio and it all checks out.

  Mar 03, 2023     No Smoke and Troubleshooting - (35 hours)       Category: Avionics

Reached the point to put power to the avionics. Everything powered up correctly but I had an issue with the communication bus with the Garmin G3x. Doing the system checks, sometimes the individual LRUs would start to log on correctly but then they would not. Only thing that would show as online was the primary flight display. Pretty much for the last week I have been troubleshooting the system and narrowed it down to the CANBUS high channel was sometimes shorting to ground. Normally this wouldn't be too big a deal to find. Just split the bus in to two sections and see which one was grounding. Split that section into two and so forth till you narrow it down. But in my case, the short was there, then it wasn't, then it was. Literally took every connector apart and checked the wiring for the short. About the time I would think I had it, the short would show up again. Took the bus apart three times and I guess the old adage of "Third time is a charm" was right on. On the third disassembly, I found one hair wire that had slipped outside the pin as I slid it on. That one hair was moving around and mostly shorting against the connector frame. Clipped the hair and the Garmin system logged on all its LRUs Finished tying up all the wiring that I had taken apart in my trouble shooting, I installed the external alternator and the associated wiring to get the main electrical bus hooked up. I also installed the pitot system and AOA tubing that will run from the wing root to the panel.

  Feb 14, 2023     ECU and Grounds - (12 hours)       Category: Engine

Started populating the engine sub-systems like the ECU and fuse box. My first "Dang it" moment came when I looked at where Kitfox suggested mounting the ECU. Right where I had already mounted my battery backup on the left equipment rack. An alternate was to mount it on the right equipment rack but my VPX was mounted there. The solution was to bend up a mounting rack where I could place my ECU over the top of the battery back up. Got one bent up on the brake, fitted it on the left side and then got it painted. Once it has had time to dry, I'll get it installed. Installed the fuse box on the fire wall which went well. Wiring in the X3 power connector has some pretty healthy Molex pins and my first look at a tool to work the Molex pins with 10 AWG wire was going to be a $500 bite. Luckily I found a set of jaws that work in my crimping tool and worked perfectly with the pins. I installed the clipping diodes on my master and starter relays which will go a long way to extending the operational life of those relays. Have been wrestling with where to mount my ground forests. I wanted separate ones for the avionics and for the lights/shields/switches. Finally came to a decision, mounted them and then began populating the lights and shields grounds.

  Feb 01, 2023     Engine Mount and Stuff - (10 hours)       Category: Engine

Mounted the fuel filter assembly, the filter capacitor and the motor mount getting ready to mount the engine. Reading some of the other members of the forum who had a real go of it getting the bolts between the mount and the fuselage to line up (including ratchet straps to pull thing in), I was ready for a real 'fun' time of getting the mount on. Decided to do the mount to the fuselage first before the engine to the mount. Imagine my amazement when literally I got all five bolts on the mount attached. Even the 5/16th one at the bottom. They all lined up with only two needed a light love tap from a small hammer to get them through. Today the wife and I went out and used an engine hoist to raise the engine up and bolted it to the mount. The only surprise for me was that I had to remove the muffler to get the upper bolts through. Once I did that, it was pretty smooth sailing. Used clamps to compress the rubber motor mounts so that I could start the nuts on the bolts but that was really the extent of it. I am including the FAA mandated selfie showing that I was really doing the work. Wearing my jacket cause I had to have the doors open to use the hoist and it's 31 degrees outside. At least I picked the warmest part of the day.

  Jan 27, 2023     Brake Lines - (4 hours)       Category: Fuselage

Still waiting for a couple parts to proceed with the boot cowl/firewall so working on a few things that I either needed to get done or sub-assemblies for later. One of the major things to get done was finish up the brake lines to the calipers from the parking brake valve. Wanted a bit more of a robust brake line down the struts to the calipers than the stock Nyloflow lines. So I changed over to 3/16" stainless braided PFTE lines. Bought an extended length bolt for the caliper where I mounted the Adel clamp to account for the thickness of the clamp. Fitted in the seat pan to insure that the upper adapters from 3AN to nylon fittings didn't interfere with each other. Was pretty happy with the way they turned out.

  Jan 25, 2023     NACA Vent and Console - (10 hours)       Category: Fuselage

Started work on the two NACA side vents for cockpit air vents. Located them according to the directions but had to make my own cutout template since the one in the instructions must have been an older one that was not the same size. Made the cutout on both sides and Hysol'd the vent into place. Let that dry for a day and then used the filler to smooth in the sides of the vents into the boot cowl and fill the Cleco holes. After it dried and I could sand it smooth, I primed the vents so they are now complete. While waiting for things to dry, I worked on a little more wiring (couple grounds I forgot to account for) and decided to mount the Parking Brake/Pedal Adjust placard. My locking tail wheel control was encroaching on the space that placard would normally take so I modified it a bit (gotta love a table saw) and mounted them as shown.

  Jan 20, 2023     Boot Cowl and Firewall - (8 hours)       Category: Fuselage

Wiring is almost complete behind the panel so I thought I would move on to installing the boot cowl. Fitting it took some time and a very cautious approach before I started drilling holes in the fuselage and firewall. After wrestling with the cowl a few times, I realized that I couldn't get a real good fit where the bottom of the cowl wraps under the fuselage. The area below the front of the door was pushing out on the cowl so I figured I needed to relieve that interference first and then fit the rest of the cowl. Worked out great and I was able to get a good line on where to cut the cowl forward of the door. Drilled all the holes in both the fuselage and the firewall. I am planning on screwing in the boot cowl to make it easier to remove for any future maintenance should I need to. It's an airplane - what can go wrong? I also fitted the side panels on the firewall and riveted them into place. Added a little Hysol in that joint just for fun.

  Jan 15, 2023     Wiring - (35 hours)       Category: Avionics

Have been pretty much focused on wiring in the panel/Garmin boxes and preparing for wiring in the firewall forward engine bay requirements this whole time. Still need to wire in the VPX power out connectors which is on the list for this coming week. Ran into one hiccup wiring in the Lane A/B LED lights. Left my soldering iron heat turned up a bit too hot when connecting the Lane A LED. It opened up the connection inside the LED itself so now that LED is inop. Heather is taking care of my mistake as we speak. Rookie mistake on my part. The LEDs themselves looked like they were ones that had the current resistor integrated so I asked Brandon if the factory was installing the resistors called out in the instructions. He said they weren't so obviously the current resistors are already there. The LED polarization also isn't marked directly or in any of the other ways LEDs are done (i.e. long/short leads). So the other question for Brandon was which lead was hot. For others reading this, the gold lead is hot and the silver lead is ground. Just for fun I hooked a 9V battery up to see how bright those lights were and they were definitely bright. So I went ahead and put the resistors into the circuit. It did dim them down somewhat but certainly will still be able to see them in direct sunlight.

  Dec 31, 2022     Wiring - (18 hours)       Category: Avionics

Finally got to start wiring on the Garmin system. One of the things I learned about wiring D Sub connectors back in my working days (daze?) was to put a black mark on both sides of the connector to ID pin 1. No matter how the connector is oriented or if it's the male or female side, it's easier to place pins with that visual reference. I wired in the mount and power supply for the iPad display. I also got the autopilot wired in as well. Since I have a G5 in the mix as a back up attitude indicator, it has its own GPS antenna to connect. I saw an install (maybe at the Kitfox factory during the fly in) where this antenna was mounted on a bracket attached to the panel support rod. Thought that was a pretty clean way so I bent up my version of the bracket and match drilled it to the support rod so that I can rivet it on when I'm ready.

  Dec 19, 2022     Panel and stuff - (14 hours)       Category: Avionics

Got my panel back from Stein who did an excellent job on the engraving so I figured I should start populating the panel and installing it. I also used the trusty label maker and made labels for all the switches and such that I could put on the back so I am sure what is going where. I also put connector designator labels on the boxes so I would be sure of which connector I was really running a wire to when I get into full on wiring. Since I am using the VPX to control the electronics, I was able to easily wire in the switches on the right side of the panel along with the ELT as well. Installed the GPS unit on its plate behind the seat, installed the control sticks and the ran the wiring to the respective boxes for the switches on the stick.

  Dec 08, 2022     Wiring, Wheels and Panel - (14 hours)       Category: Fuselage

Received my panel back getting it labled from Stein and am really happy with it. They did a nice job and were great to work with. Looking forward to populating it with the avionics and start the wiring. I finally secured all the wiring coming up from the back of the fuselage and the wiring from the wings (Magnetometer, nav lights, landing lights and pitot heat). Built a cross beam to secure the wiring to which will keep it clear of the tension rollers for the rudder cables as well as away from the two fuel lines going to the firewall feed through. Attached the trim tab to the rudder. Might have to make this a bit larger but decided this is my starting point. Will zero on on the size once we start flying. Last but not least, I mounted the brakes and tires to the struts. All these little things I wanted done before I actually start wiring.

  Nov 28, 2022     Sticks, Capacitor, Heater and Tail Light - (22 hours)       Category: Controls

Been working some of the things I needed to complete in order to continue with putting the firewall on full time and starting with the firewall forward stuff. I finished installing the tail light and successfully tested it with a battery and the wires that run to the front. I started the heater installation but decided to do it a little different and not use the Adel clamps but rather built some aluminum cross mounts. The good news is that the install looks like it will be just fine but the bad news is that I am waiting for a couple longer bolts to mount the fans since my way makes the bolts Kitfox supplied about a half inch too short. I liked the idea where Dustin put a valve on the water line to the heater so you can shut it off in summer so I got that installed as well. I bought the 40Amp external alternator for my install and figured I would also put in the 22,000uf capacitor to make life a little easier on the voltage regulators. Built a mount for the cap and plan to put it on the firewall. Got my stick grips mounted to the control sticks and wired them into a Y cable which will allow me to run a single set of wires up to the instrument panel for the different buttons on the stick.

  Nov 18, 2022     Rudder Install GPS Antenna and Tail Light - (8 hours)       Category: Tail Feathers

I installed the GPS antenna in its bracket under the side of the baggage bag. Went in just like it was made for it. Oh. It was. Big news is that I have been inducted into the "Grind The Heck Out Of A 3/8 Wrench" club to install the rudder. I had read that getting the bolts in and the nuts on/tightened is a pain. I can confirm this. Max lesson in patience to not throw tools when you have two bolts in and drop the third one inside the rudder so you have to take it all apart to retrieve the bolt. I also rigged the rudder pedals and cables which meant I swedged the nicopress on both sides and was really happy with the results. The pedals don't hit the firewall when fully pressed and the pilot/copilot pedals all line up when the rudder is neutral. I also started the install of the tail light on the rudder. REALLY did not like cutting the hole for the wire to exit the inside of the rudder but it worked out. I did have to open up the inside of the fairing with a Dremmel so that should I ever have to do maintenance back there and remove the rudder, the connector for the light will slide by and clear the fairing as the rudder comes off. The connector would not clear the fairing otherwise. I'll permanently fasten the fairing to the rudder tomorrow and install the light itself into the fairing.

  Nov 13, 2022     Landing Gear, Firewall, Heater, Headset Panel - (18 hours)       Category: Firewall

Been busy doing a bunch of small stuff getting ready for bigger stuff. Made a support for the return fuel line check valve under the console. Utilized the tailwheel locking bracket to mount an Adel clamp. Now that the baggage sack was in, I installed the headset panels for both the copilot and the pilot. Pretty happy with the way they turned out. I finally received my 22 inch tundra tires that don't wear out quite so fast on paved runways and got them mounted on the wheels. These don't wear quite as fast as the Alaskan 29 inch that are so expensive. Plan is to fly with these till I am flying the Kitfox on something other than paved runways and then swap the the larger tires. Built some attachments points and Hysol'd them to the bottom of the fuselage that will allow me to attach the bottom rear of the firewall. These will hold the firewall tight and flush to the bottom of the plane. Also started on the heater install. Got the brackets riveted to the heater itself and installed the heater pass thru in the firewall.

  Nov 02, 2022     Baggage, Main Gear and Vertical - (9 hours)       Category: Fuselage

I got my baggage sack back from the seamstress who sewed in my zippers and modified my Velcro so I can fold down the opening but the back sides of the sack are still supported. Really happy with the way this came out. Makes access to my transponder, trim control and auto pilot servo pretty easy. I also completed the covering of the vertical stab to fuselage finishing tape as well so that's all complete now. While waiting for the glue to dry on that part, I installed the Monster Shock Cabane main landing gear struts. Set the camber at 4 degrees but didn't attach the axles yet. I know the pic makes the plane look like it's not sitting level but that's the camera angle. It really does sit perfectly level.

  Oct 28, 2022     Covering - (5 hours)       Category: Fuselage

My fuselage is finally fully covered. The last top section is done and for all who read this and are thinking about using Oratex, that curved transition to the vertical stab has been the hardest part of all to cover for me. Getting the material to lay over that curve was a bear. I needed to use the heat gun to do it with the wife pulling on the material to get it. I had to cut small strips to relieve much of the stress and then we did each small section one at a time. I still have to do the finish tapes along the top center there and know that there is a trick to that as well but don't think it will be as much of an issue as this was. My panel layout, cutting and fitting is complete. I decided to send the panel to Stein Aircraft to do the engraving and labels. My experience getting this set up was the same as my experience buying the avionics: great. They estimate 3 to 5 weeks to get the panel back to me.

  Oct 17, 2022     Panel and ELT - (14 hours)       Category: Fuselage

Installed the ELT antenna on the mounting tab that Kifox has on the airframe. Used the coax cable that is supplied by the manufacturer which is a requirement from them to insure proper operation of the ELT. Started cutting out the panel and took it very slow to get the openings correct. Completed that and installed the panel (temporarily) in the fuselage. I installed the Garmin panel, the G5 attitude indicator (my back up if the main panel fails), the autopilot and the radio to get an assessment of where I might want to put the other Garmin G3 system boxes once I start wiring. While the radio sticks back from the panel a bit, the autopilot and the G5 don't so there is quite a bit of space there. Decided to add in a shelf behind the autopilot that will hold my engine monitor which is also a short box. Plenty of room for the autopilot electrical connectors and makes the wiring that comes from the engine to the monitor also very easy to access and wire. The shelf structure also provides a support brace for the rear end of the radio mounting rack. Not quite done with the shelf yet so that's still a work in progress. I also modified my baggage sack with two zippers on the back which will allow me to access the transponder and autopilot servo that are mounted back behind the baggage area. Once I get this shelf done, I am planning on installing the baggage sack and floor.

  Oct 08, 2022     Brakes and Instrument Panel - (8 hours)       Category: Fuselage

Have been working on some painting before the weather turns cold but have been somewhat hampered by smoke from our fires up here in the PNW. The smoke is getting old. I also went back and looked at how I might possibly do the brake lines differently since I wasn't really happy with the way my original attempt turned out. The two big changes were routing three of the lines through the holes in the rudder pedal assembly mounts (think maybe that's what Brandon put them in there for to start with) and putting loops in three of the lines to let them flex better with full deflection of the pedals. Much happier with the way they work now and keeping them away from moving parts. I also started laying out my panel. Haven't started cutting anything yet. Wanted to ponder this design a bit and see if there isn't something I might like better after thinking about it.

  Oct 03, 2022     Static Ports, Fuel and Brake Lines, Tail Wheel - (16 hours)       Category: Fuselage

Laid in two of the fuel lines from the header tank to the main fuel valve and the return line check valve. Made sure they cleared the seat and the floorboards. Started putting in the brake lines from the master cylinders to the parking brake. Not sure I am happy with those but actually putting them in gave me a real look at what's there and maybe some other options. Also installed my static ports. I installed two of them, one on each side, in the suggested Kitfox locations. Should help me with my airspeed indications while slipping. I know many have just terminated the static input within the cabin and if I don't like what I see with what I have, I can always revert to that. I cut the tail wheel locking cable to length, tinned the cable per the instructions and attached the tail wheel to the T3 suspension. The pic of the channel locks in the vise is how I tinned the cable. I used a copper plumbing termination, heated it using a Mapp gas torch, loaded it with solder and it worked perfectly.

  Sep 24, 2022     Vertical Stab and Rudder - (14 hours)       Category: Fuselage

Finished both sides of the vertical stab (except for the finish tapes) and also completed covering the rudder. I used the envelope method on the rudder just to try it out and while it's a bit more cumbersome to work on the piece with that full second half of fabric hanging out there, it does make for a nice leading edge without a seam. I also painted all the flaperon brackets so they are all ready to install later this Winter. Painted the cover I made for the bottom of the rudder as well. While I was painting, I thought I would paint my inspection panels as well. Was really happy with the way they came out and thought I had picked the perfect day for it (no paint booth - outside on a table). Left them to dry out in the sun and came back to find that the wind had come up and blown the plastic covering the table (that I thought I had secured) up and on to the panels. So it's back to the sandpaper and paint them again.

  Sep 17, 2022     Vert Stab and Misc - (11 hours)       Category: Fuselage

Got the right side of the vertical stab covered but have to wait 24 hours before I can shrink the skin. I refit the rudder to the vertical just to verify the separation between the two items so that the rudder swings clean but not a large gap. In attaching the rudder, I decided I liked the opening on the bottom of the rudder to put that first lower bolt in but I didn't like the thought of leaving it open to the elements. Think it's normally closed up by the skin. So I built a cover that I will place over the opening that will allow me access but keep stuff out of there. I also installed the tailwheel locking cable out the rear of the fuselage. Didn't like the idea of just running the cable out like that so I took a piece of carbon fiber (shaft for an arrow) and slid into the fuselage and then ran the cable through that. The black bracket in the pic is the rear mount for the T3 tailwheel spring.

  Sep 13, 2022     More Covering - (16 hours)       Category: Fuselage

Been busy working on the right side of the fuselage and the horiz stab. The right side of the fuselage is done. I made some doublers to go around the fitting where the rudder cable exits the fuselage. They will support the Oratex there so I don't have any issues later on. The plan is to make a fairing that will go over the exit point and nicely cover this spot. The doubler will provide me some support for the fairing as well. I completed the horiz stab covering so that part is ready for finishing tapes along with all the rest of the parts. I did put finishing tapes on the fuselage so that's complete. Since I am getting ready to close off the right top of the fuselage, I installed the transponder so it is good to go.

  Sep 04, 2022     Left Side, Horiz Stab and Strut Cover - (17 hours)       Category: Fuselage

I completed covering the left side and left half of the top of the fuselage along with the right landing gear strut and the bottom of the horiz stab. I think I am about half way done now. I have read other logs where builders are happy when done with the covering. You may count me as being among that group. With the left side done, I will be installing the static ports since it will be easier to put the left one in and fit/cut the tube for the right side without the right skin installed. Also going to install the baggage sack and mark off where I want to install the zippers in the back of it to gain easy access behind. My transponder and trim controls are back behind it so I want it to be easy access.

  Aug 28, 2022     More Skin - (18 hours)       Category: Fuselage

Rolled the fuselage over on its side to begin doing the side as well as setting the rudder deflection. Just easier when it's on its side. With Oratex you have to put a coat of glue on, let it dry three hours and put another coat of glue on so that both the skin and the frame have two coats. So while one is drying, I am either tacking on the skin or shrinking skin on another part. Right now I have the elevator done, the horiz stab is half done, left strut is done and I've gotten started on the fuselage. I would agree with Harlan (Farm Fox) that the side is a LOT harder than it looks. I also had quite the mistake. I thought the way to go was bottom, sides and then top. So I cut my pieces of Oratex to length for the sides and the top. Cut the first side to size, marked where the framework hit it so I could glue, and then laid out the piece for the top. It was real obvious to me that the top piece was never going to go on as one piece and I had not cut it large enough to split it in to two pieces. Went back to some of the builders logs on the forum and some videos on You Tube only to find out that you did the side and half the top as one section. The piece I had cut was now too small and I didn't have enough left to cut another. So my haste to get going cost me another 5 meters of Oratex. Not a cheap lesson for certain but that's what happens when you get in a hurry and don't listen to your own advice to check before you cut.

  Aug 20, 2022     Taillight Wiring, Landing Gear Fairings and Fuel Sights - (14 hours)       Category: Tail Feathers

Have decided that where I placed my wingtip lights on the wingtip edge fence (STi) was not going to let me get away from not having a taillight on the rudder. My only concern was how to wire it where if I had to pull the light out of its fixture or remove the rudder for some king of maintenance, there was no way to access the connector/wiring in the rudder other than cutting it and splicing it later. So I decided to build an access panel of sorts that let me do all the above. Took a piece of left-over Laker leading edge fiberglass and reformed it to the curve of the rudder leading edge fairing using a heat gun. Added in a couple stainless steel reinforcements on the edge, some nut plates and a grommet to pass the wire through. While waiting for parts to dry (Hysol and paint) I installed the fuel quantity sight tubes and primed the fairings I had installed on the landing gear struts. Lots of small stuff while I am getting ready to cover the sides of the fuselage. My son, Randall Victor Phenning (who wanted credit for his assistance) and I rolled the fuselage over on its side. Once my covering assistant gets home from flying lessons, I'll start that process.

  Aug 16, 2022     Elevator and Gear Fairings - (10 hours)       Category: Tail Feathers

My elevator is covered. Still need to do the finishing tapes but the major part is done. While waiting for the glue to dry on the Oratex, I started fitting the fairings on the landing gear struts. You cut the fairing part lengthwise to wind up with a front and rear fairing. The table saw made short work of that. Gotta like a good carbide blade for that kind of stuff. Got the fairings pretty much dialed in and started Hysoling the fitted fairings to the struts. This will be one of those things that when I get to that part in the instructions, the parts will be ready to go. I had made a bunch of stuff like that over the Winter so when I got to them this summer, it was really nice to just go to the box and get the part - all good to go.

  Aug 12, 2022     Bottom skin and Elevatoor - (14 hours)       Category: Fuselage

Got the fuselage bottom skin glued and tightened. With Oratex you need to glue the skin pretty much all the way around the tubes (where possible). I flipped the fuselage back over (with some help from my son) and did the trimming of the excess and got it glued to the tubes. Pretty happy with the whole process and alot of the consternation I had about doing the covering is easing up a bit. You watch enough videos and read the instructions enough times and it seems to work. Had to order a bit more glue to finish off the fuselage so I started on the elevator. Got the right side glued but have to wait a day for the glue to set before I can fully tighten it. Certainly not as easy as the wings or what I've done on the fuselage but not crazy hard either. Made good use of the hold downs on the table saw outfeed table which made controlling the elevator while pulling on the Oratex much easier. If I hadn't had them, I would have had to wait for someone else to come hold the elevator while I did the pulling. Will start the left side tomorrow since it doesn't seem to use much glue at all to get them set up.

  Aug 06, 2022     Bottom Skin and Stuff - (7 hours)       Category: Fuselage

Flipped over the fuselage to start the prep and covering of the bottom. Funny how when you do something like and and change the perspective of how you are looking at stuff you find more to do while it's flipped. I installed the avionic trays that go behind the panel, the header tank drain, the transponder ground plane and then, finally got to lay the skin over the bottom. Traced out all the fuselage points that I will glue the skin to and have started brushing on the glue.

  Jul 31, 2022     Left Wing and Trim Boose - (9 hours)       Category: Controls

As usual, work has managed to get in the way to any real meaningful progress on the Kitfox but finally got back to the shop. Finished all the plumbing and wiring in the left wing and got it fully covered. So now the left and right wing are completely covered. I am still on the fence about stitching the fabric to the ribs. I have read where the Oratex adhesive is more than sufficient and other places where it's just a good idea. Doing a bit more research and have a call into Lars (Mr. Oratex himself) to discuss that. I also installed the trim booster brackets between the elevator pushrod and the flaps. Added in the kit hose clamps after Hysoling the bracket and safety wired the screws. This mod helps with the back pressure on the stick during landing/approach. There is a spring to be installed between the bracket and the fitting on the flap control. Right now I am leaving that off as words of wisdom from the factory suggest that it's better to wait till after the final rigging of the controls to where you want them in flight test before adding in the spring.

  Jul 15, 2022     Port Wing Plumbing - (10 hours)       Category: Wings

Covered the lower half of the port wing, let it sit for 24 hours and then this morning I tightened it up. Then came the part of plumbing and installing the wiring in the wing. I installed the mast as well as the pitot tube/AOA itself. Ran the tubing to the outboard edge of the wing where I will route it down the aft spar later. Installed the Outside Air Temp (OAT) sensor and ran the wiring for that to the outboard edge of the wing. Installed the magnetometer and its wiring cable. At the outside edge of the wing, I combined the OAT, Magnetometer and the Landing/Navigation light wiring all into one covered cable that will route down the aft spar along with the pitot tubing. Next up will be to go back and check/test all the wiring so I am certain it's all good. Once that's done, I'll cover the top of the port wing.

  Jul 09, 2022     Finished Stbd Wing Cover and Started Port Wiring - (12 hours)       Category: Wings

Finished shrinking the starboard wing Oratex and attached the wing tip mounting strips. I remember back when I fabricated the strips where I read on the forum that care needed to be taken placing the rearmost nutplates so that they do not interfere with each other. As I was attaching the strips, I was thankful to whomever posted that because they are close and could easily cause issues. I am really happy with the way the wing turned out and felt much better starting on the port wing. That one is a bit more complicated since the pitot system, OAT probe and the GMU11 are located on that wing and need to be installed before closing the wing up. Needed to run the wiring for the heated pitot tube down behind the gas tank before covering the lower half of the wing. The rest of the stuff gets installed before the upper half gets installed.

  Jul 07, 2022     Covering - (12 hours)       Category: Wings

Put it off long enough. Ran out of excuses to hold short on covering. Started on the right wing (no real plumbing like pitot tube etc.) on the bottom panel. I covered the whole Laker leading edge and with the help of my wife, we pulled and stretched the Oratex to get it glued on to the frame. Then we did the same for the top panel. So now it's all covered but hasn't been tightened. Oratex wants you to wait 24 hours at least for the glue to fully cure before you go back with the heat gun and tighten up the skin. You got to know it's tempting cause you really want to see it done. The wife did come up with the major rule for this - Don't hurry. So maybe on Saturday I'll get to fire up the heat gun and tighten it all up.

  Jun 30, 2022     Wing n Stuff - (9 hours)       Category: Wings

I finally got to start on skinning. Cut my first piece of Oratex, marked off where the glue need to go, laid down the glue and let it dry three hours. Then I applied the second coat of glue which also got to dry. Going to lay down the glue on the right wing and once that has two coats that have dried, I will get to attach my first piece. While waiting for the glue to dry, I attached the clips to my tail inspection panel opening that will allow me to use 6-32 screws to hold the panel. They attached pretty securely but I did put a dab of Hysol on them just for insurance. I also assembled my battery box just cause I could. Last but not least, I attended the Kitfox Factory Fly In last weekend and was able to take a very close look at an almost assembled factory build aircraft. That let me see some of the little tricks Brandon and crew use when building those. One of the takeaways was a small opening up of the forward floorboard that allows you access to the nut when you attach the landing gear. So you know I took max pics and today I did the same to mine.

  Jun 20, 2022     Paint, ELT and Skin - (6 hours)       Category: Wings

Finally got home and was able to work on the plane again. Still working things that get me ready to start the skinning. I wired and installed the bracket for the ELT, painted the inboard section of my wings and tail section inspection panels silver to match the skin. I also mortgaged my house to buy two sheets of plywood to set up a table to layout and cut my larger pieces of Oratex. I unpacked the roll of Oratex so the actual start of skinning is now truly in sight.

  Jun 09, 2022     Horizontal Stab and Transponder - (7 hours)       Category: Empennage

Finishing up some stuff today that I had started on but didn't totally complete. I had installed the rack for the transponder, built the ground plane for the antenna and then never installed the antenna and the antenna cable. So that was first on today's list. I had built some close outs for the horizontal stab braces using an older Kitfox version as a model. (I liked it better than the current one) Installed the bracket on the stab and made the plates to close them out but never opened up the plate to allow the brace itself to clear. That hole has to clear the brace during the whole trim range of motion. So that was second on the list and got both sides completed and ran the trim through the full range to verify the clearance. The third thing on the list required beer. I successfully completed that as well.

  Jun 08, 2022     Inspection Panels - (15 hours)       Category: Fuselage

I have heard that fitting the tail inspection panels is a pain - there is truth to that rumor. Took two days to get them in the way I like them and fit. Lots of putting them in, checking the fit of the horizontal stab and elevator in the full trim range, seeing where the panels interfered with the stab and elevator, removing the panel, trimming and re-installing. Just to do it again when it still wasn't right. It's not a flat surface to this panel so that complicates it a bit. I found that once I had it pretty close, I started making reference lines on the panel and the fuselage so that I could come back after trimming and place the panel exactly where it was when I pulled it out. Lots of clamps and clecos but they are fitted to the fuselage now.

  Jun 01, 2022     Elevator Rig - (7 hours)       Category: Controls

Rigged the elevator today. Book called for 20 degrees down elevator and 39 degrees up. I set mine up for 18 degrees down and 41 degrees up since reports from other pilots indicate that the Kitfox STi runs out of nose up authority on landing. Figured 18 down was more than enough to get the nose down on takeoff and 41 was just a little more I might like on landing. Set the control stick as required by the instructions at 80 degrees with the elevator in a neutral state. Installed the stop on the pitch servo for the autopilot so that at full elevator deflection, the arm just misses touching the stop by maybe 1/32nd of an inch.

  May 30, 2022     Clean Up and Fix Stuff - (4 hours)       Category: Fuselage

It's amazing how your perspective changes when you get a different view of something. I had pulled my fuselage off my roll around cart and flipped it over to gain access to the bottom of my wiring channels so I could Hysol them. Looking at my wiring from the bottom up, I really didn't like how the wires exited the channel and crossed under the control column crossover. In a bundle like they were, they were rubbing more than I thought was a good thing. I was lucky enough to travel down to Homedale and pick up my firewall forward kit which allowed me to see Brandon and pick his brain on how they addressed this part of the wiring on a factory build. Brandon indicated that they "fan" the wires out so they go under the column spread out rather than in a bundle. Made sense but when I looked at how my channel was positioned right next to the column I realized there wasn't going to be any kind of fanning. The wires were held into a bundle. Only solution was to pull the channel out (heat gun and remove the Hysol), cut the channel back and then re-install the channel so that the mouth was about 3 inches or so back from the control column crossover. Now I can fan the wires out a bit and it's a lot better. Second thing I saw with the fuselage upside down was that the rivets holding my roll autopilot servo stuck up and looked like they would hit the skin of the aircraft once I shrunk the skin down. I put a straight edge on that area and while it didn't hit, it was less than 1/32" away. So I laid a layer of Hysol down and then on top of that I laid a layer of fill. I sanded that all down so that I could just see the very edges of the rivets, and primed it with 2K primer. Now the rivets won't run against the skin. That last pic is for Eddie - I took your advice and got rid of the safety wire around the fuselage frame. Hysol holds the channel just fine.

  May 28, 2022     Fuel Quantity Site Gauge and Wire Trough - (7 hours)       Category: Fuel System

I changed up the design of the fuel site gauge from the Kitfox version. Kitfox has you split the plate into two separate parts to get them to combine around the site tubing. One of the forum members came up with this alternate version which allows you to just slip it on and screw it to the rib. Just seemed easier and cleaner to me so I did it that way. I also safety wired and Hysol'd my wiring troughs to the frame while I had the fuselage off the roll around cart.

  May 03, 2022     GTX-45R Mount - (6 hours)       Category: Avionics

My GTX-45R transponder is on back order until mid July or so. My plan is to mount the unit just behind the baggage sack on a plate I fabricated back there. I have been slowly getting things together to start skinning the fuselage and that got me to thinking what a pain that was going to be to install the transponder with the skin on. I asked Stein (who I bought all my avionics from) if I could possibly get the accessories kit for the transponder now so I could get it all ready to go. Stein could not have been easier to work with and sent my kit that day. I fabricated the brackets to hold the mount and made sure that the unit points directly towards the cockpit. The Bluetooth antenna is located on the front of the transponder and communicates the ADSB In information to my IPad that way.

  May 03, 2022     Trim and Elev Rig - (3 hours)       Category: Fuselage

Did the trim motor screw adjustment. Used the battery from my Jeep to run the trim motor full nose up and setting the distance between the horizontal stab and the fuselage frame using a block I had cut that it was 7/16 of an inch. Ran the trim full down to verify full motion. Disconnected the trim motor from the horizontal stab and used another block to set the distance from the stab to the fuselage from at 1 and 5/16 inch. With that clamped in place, I rigged the elevator controls to spec. With that done, I was able to center my autopilot servo and install the servo arm stop.

  Apr 20, 2022     Trim Tab, Panel and Engine - (2 hours)       Category: Fuselage

Not a lot of work done and the real reason for this is to note that I received my 912is yesterday!! Yahoo! I am also starting to layout my panel. Slowly. Last but not least - I added a mount for a trim tab on the rudder. The wood in the pic is to make sure the mount is flush with the skin when I do my covering.

  Apr 14, 2022     Header Tank Install - (3 hours)       Category: Fuselage

Not a lot of visible progress. Doing a lot of prep work on metal parts and getting the aluminum stuff primed with 2K primer. Did the final fabrication on the spacers for the header tank. The three 1/8 inch and one 1/4 inch spacer worked perfectly. Hysol'd the spacers to the tank mounting tabs, primer and painted the tank, installed the fittings and mounted it into the fuselage. Holds the tank away from the fuselage structure about 1/8 inch all the way around. Now I can mount the drain hose and skin reinforcement for when I start my covering.

  Apr 10, 2022     Various Stuff and Header Tank - (5 hours)       Category: Fuselage

Have been neglecting my airplane work due to real work (the kind that pays for the airplane work) and Winter clean up on the property. But today the weather gods cooperated (meaning it snowed this morning and rained all afternoon) so I was able to go play in the shop. My goal is to finish off stuff in the fuselage so that I can start doing the covering. I ordered and received my Oratex glue so now I am on the clock so to speak. I installed the rear equipment tray for the trim boost and (later on) the transponder. I have the wiring there so was able to get that set up. Just need to put the pins in the connector for the transponder - all marked and ready - just need the connector. I also ran the static line from the back where the static ports are going, up to the front where they connect into the Garmin. Guess I really didn't realize how much stuff is at the rear of the plane that needs to go up to the front. My coil of wire, coax and other stuff is getting bigger and bigger all the time. I also started installing the header tank for the fuel system. There is a drain on the bottom of the tank that has a fixture that attaches to the skin of the aircraft so I need that installed before I can cover. In getting the tank ready to install, I didn't like the way it mounted with respect to parts of the fuselage. I initially thought a 1/4 inch spacer between the fuselage and the tank would do the trick but once I fabricated one up, I thought a 1/8 inch spacer would be better. As it turned out, three of the four attachment points got the 1/8 inch spacer and one got a 1/4 inch spacer to make up for a little more of a gap between the tank and the one mounting tab. Just made the tank set better and now the fuselage structure won't vibrate against the tank because it doesn't touch it. The bonus is that it appears tomorrow might actually be a shop day as well!!!

  Apr 10, 2022     Various Category: Fuselage

  Mar 29, 2022     Two Point Door Latchs - (15 hours)       Category: Fuselage

I opted for the two point door latches and what a pain to get installed. Almost wish I had just gone with the single point latch. Had to cut an access in my bubble door windows which was certainly not my favorite thing to do. Getting the fore/aft rods dialed in took a lot of time and patience. One of the issues was installing the spring on the forward rod. Turns out the washer that the spring pushes up against the guide bracket does not sit straight. It hits the bracket which makes it sit at an angle to the shaft and causes it to drag. The fix was to file a notch in the washer to clear the bracket and let it sit flat to the bracket and straight on the shaft. Back to doing fun stuff.

  Mar 21, 2022     GPS Antenna Mount - (8 hours)       Category: Avionics

Been a bit busy with those household things that have to be done after being closed up all Winter but did manage to at least get some work done mounting my GPS antenna for the GPS 20. The mount was a bit more fun to build since where I was putting it had no right angles that I could reference (hence the ruler clamped down the center of the opening). Got the basic shape dialed in with paper and then moved on to cardboard to get the sides right. Finally cut it out and bent it up in a pan brake. I made this mount out of .032 6061-T6 since the antenna isn't exactly a heavyweight and the loads were distributed on three of the four sides (OK fine..... it was easier to make and fit using the thinner material) I decided however to add a doubler for the actual antenna mount out of .063. I patterned it after the doubler that Garmin spec'd for externally skin mounting the antenna to aircraft. Got the doubler riveted in and mounted the antenna. The antenna will be covered by the baggage sack but should not have any impact on the ability to receive L Band GPS signals.

  Mar 14, 2022     Headset Wiring - (4 hours)       Category: Avionics

Installed the cables for the pilot and copilot headsets, tie wrapped them to the fuselage down to the wiring channel. Ran them through the wiring channel to the front of the fuselage so once I install the avionics, they will be ready to connect. The baggage sack will get the holes cut in it to clear the jacks. Then the jacks are installed into the upper plate which will cover the holes in the sack and hold the jacks securely. The empty hole on the plate is for my 3.5mm recording jack that I can connect a GoPro to and record intercom and radio. I put a jack on each side since I think the GoPro mount can move around some.

  Mar 05, 2022     Comms and Roll Servo - (10 hours)       Category: Avionics

Took another good look at the mounts I had made for my headset connections and realized that they weren't going to work with the baggage bag and they were about a half inch away from the flaperon control rod that runs through that section. So I came up with a different bracket. This bracket fits much lower in the same area by the rear windows but is cut to allow the baggage bag attachment and clear the connectors. So the bag will fit over the plate that gets Hysol'd on to the frame and I'll just cut the holes in the bag for the connectors. On top of the bag after it's installed, I have a second plate that is drilled to mount the connectors themselves; normal headset and mic jacks, a LEMO connector and a 3.5mm jack that I can connect GoPros to and record the intercom and radio. This plate will also hold the bag in place and keep it from fraying. I also managed to get the roll servo wired up as well. Tomorrow it will probably be the GPS 20 that gets some wiring done to it.

  Mar 01, 2022     Mounts and Wiring - (6 hours)       Category: Avionics

Installed the GPS-20 mount behind the pilot's seat and also did a final fitting on the headset mounts. All that's left there is to drill the holes for the jacks and the USB power I am going to put on the pilot's side. One of my issues in setting up the wiring is figuring out how long the various wire runs should be without having a lot of the stuff actually mounted (like the panel and the left/right avionics trays). I saw this idea on You Tube (where else) and thought it might have some merit so I gave it a go. Ran paracord from the various places that I know things are going to be mounted and how the wires will be routed forward to the panel/trays. You run a main line from the farthest aft item to the front and then tie on offshoots from that main to the other items moving forward. For example I ran the cord from the trim power/transponder all the way up to the panel area just like I expect to run the actual wire. Then I moved forward and tied a piece of cord from that main cord over to the GPS-20. Did the same for the control stick wiring, head sets, etc. Once you have all that done, you remove the cord and what you have is a "tree" that lets you figure how long the wire needs to be to get from the panel/avionics trays to the various items and hopefully not have a lot of extra wire you just cut off or worse, wire not quite long enough. I did all that and it seems to be a pretty easy method of getting the wire lengths dialed in.

  Feb 27, 2022     Avionic Mounts and Installation - (10 hours)       Category: Avionics

I have been fabricating various mounting brackets for the avionics and getting a better handle on how I will be running the wiring up to the front of the fuselage. Completed the mount for the GPS-20 unit behind the pilot seat and built up the two plates where I will mount the headset sockets for both the pilot and copilot. Still have to drill the holes for the connections but at least have the brackets built. I also ran some aluminum channels that will go under the seat and support the wiring going forward. I had fully installed the center console and the seat to make sure the wiring channels would work out when my daughter (Navy pilot) and wife (pilot under training) decided I needed to install pilots as well. Think they are having as much fun as I am. Almost.

  Feb 16, 2022     IFF Location - (3 hours)       Category: Avionics

Mounted the Safety Trim Boost unit on the rack. The other unit that I want to mount on this rack is the IFF. The piece of plywood is cut out to the same footprint as the GTX-45R that I am installing. The antenna for the IFF is farther forward, just behind the passenger seat so it is not close to the autopilot servos. I am looking into other's experiences as to possible interference with the autopilot from the IFF unit itself before I actually mount it.

  Feb 12, 2022     Trim Servo Install, Rear Mounting Plate and Access - (9 hours)       Category: Avionics

Started some work on the tail access covers by making the small brackets and riveting them in place on the covers. Shot them with a coat of 2K primer and will start fitting them to the fuselage here soon. My mounts for the trim servos all cured so I installed the servos themselves and connected them up to the flight controls. Also started wiring them in slowly. Since the pitch servo is farthest back I started there. I am using the Garmin G3X which has the auto trim function but with the electrical current needed to run the trim motor, needed to install a TCW Trim Boost into the system. Decided to build a rear mounting tray for some of the electronics like the Trim Boost and the transponder (the antenna is farther forward on the starboard side away from the roll servo so shouldn't have any interference). Got the tray bent up so the next steps will be to install it on to the fuselage and start mounting components.

  Feb 06, 2022     Auto Pilot Servos - (5 hours)       Category: Avionics

I fit and installed the autopilot control servo brackets. Installed the servo on each bracket and located them so that the connection rod for the servo to the controls was at a right angle to its connection at the control link. Pushes and pulls nice and straight on. John McBean had posted on the Kitfox Forum about how the servo arm pass through hole in the bracket for the pitch servo was a bit tight due to the powder coating and could possibly bind up the servo arm. I made sure to open that hole up a bit and verified that the servo arm was free and clear. Hysol'd and riveted the roll bracket (yeah I know it doesn't call for Hysol but just seemed like the thing to do and didn't hurt anything). Hysol'd and used the hose clamps to install the pitch bracket. Just for a bit of extra I safety wired the hose clamps to preclude them loosening up later on from vibration.

  Feb 03, 2022     Wiring and Baggage Bag - (5 hours)       Category: Fuselage

Installed the baggage sack and baggage area floor boards. The floor boards are set into rivnuts which made getting it located and attached really easy. The plan is for my son (who sews climbing accessories and such) to install a zipper in the back section so later on I can easily access the back of the plane during inspections and such. I also installed the horizontal stab and elevator so that I could insure that my VHF antenna was clear of all the moving parts and start running the antenna cable. It also allowed me to figure out how I wanted to run my trim wiring from the motor towards the front of the plane. Got both to a point where I can now look how I want to run the wires along with some other items that I am installing (autopilot servos, transponder, trim booster and such). Where I spot tied the cables to the frame, I wrapped the frame at that point with silicone tape. Started working on the roll trim servo install by fabricating the bracket and getting the aluminum parts primed.

  Feb 01, 2022     Horizontal Stab Close Out and Console - (9 hours)       Category: Empennage

There isn't really a plan for closing out the horizontal stab where the brace attaches on the Kitfox 7. Didn't want to leave just a hole there for the brace so I fabricated a close out using one from the Kitfox 5 as a model. Picture "HS Close Out 9" pretty much reflects how the Kitfox 5 close out would look. I added one more attachment point than the original just to hold the cover just a bit better. Also fabricated the actual cover but did not cut the hole for the brace yet as the horizontal stab moves from trimming and I have not assessed how much movement will occur at the brace points. I also covered the side panels for the center console with the same material as I used on the console and am happy with the look.

  Jan 24, 2022     Door and Closeout - (6 hours)       Category: Fuselage

Having read the instructions for mounting the doors to the fuselage, I decided I didn't like the fact that I was doing it using the real bubble glass for the doors. Mess it up and that's a bunch of money to replace that glass. So I had a bunch of the glass left as a result of fitting the glass to the door frames so I made a piece that I could substitute for the real thing. I added a small piece of the tape that goes between the door frame and the window as well as a piece of the gasket material that goes between the window and the fuselage frame. I still had the door frame set into the fuselage in the same position that I had it in when I did the window fitting so I clamped my fake window on to the door frame and fuselage and also clamped a couple pieces of wood to make sure the door didn't move in or out of its frame. Part of the instructions that I didn't give myself a solid chance of getting right was to drill the hole for the hinge into the door frame and make it as centered in the door frame as possible. So early on I had marked on the door frame where the hinge was going to locate, centered between those marks on the door frame where the hole should be and drilled it on a drill press before I set the door into the frame to do the original fitting of the window. That hole was straight and in the center of the door frame as it was supposed to be. Added a couple more clamps that held the hinge in place. I was able to drill the lower hinge hole through the all ready drilled hole in the door frame, through my glass spacer and through the hinge. I installed a screw and nut through that hole that was just like it would be when the window was installed and then drilled the two holes up through the butt rib flange. Kind of the opposite order the instructions called for. But the bottom line is that the door opens perfectly and is still aligned with the frame as it was when I did the glass fitting. Now all I need is to drill the through the window for the hinge when I do the final mount the window on to the door frame. I also started the fitting of the close out between the butt rib and the fuselage. Got both sides fitted and in paint but won't do the final install until I am ready to do the final install on the butt rib itself since the close out gets riveted to the lower cap strip of the butt rib.

  Jan 21, 2022     Doors - (15 hours)       Category: Fuselage

Installed my covered center console and am happy with the way it looks. Installed the left side stainless steel threshold so now both sides are done. I decided on using rivnuts to attach my door glass to the doors. I am aware of the issues with rivnuts spinning in their mounting holes after a while but I have successfully used them many times without an issue. I did however take some Hysol and coat the inner edge of the hole for the rivnut before doing the install. When you squeeze the rivnut during installation, you cause the rivnut to expand a ring that goes all the way around the hole. When I did the squeeze, that ring got set into the Hysol so I am now certain I won't have any issues. I set the both door frames into the fuselage and 'adjusted' them so that they are the shape as the fuselage opening. I shimmed the door frames into the openings so that they have a pretty even space all the way around between the door and the opening. Once I had that dialed in, I did the fitting for the glass on both sides. I rough sanded out the cutting wheel marks on the edge of the glass and once that was done, polished the edges so I won't have any cracking issues later on.

  Jan 17, 2022     Door Frame, Window and Center Console - (5 hours)       Category: Fuselage

I have finished sanding the door frame and window moldings. I was so sad - NOT!! Today I sprayed primer and got them all dialed in. Really happy with the way they turned out. I had purchased carbon fiber vinyl covering for my center console so for a change of pace after all that flipping sanding and waiting for the primer to dry, I did the covering. I used the 3M 2080 vinyl that is 3.5mil thick so I think it will wear well. If not, it comes off and I can do something else. I was also getting fired up to start fitting doors until I realized that I had bought the stainless steel door channels to keep from beating the heck out of my door frames while getting my empennage in and out of the plane. I need to get them installed before I can work the doors. So a little more fitting in my future I guess.

  Jan 15, 2022     Stringers - (3 hours)       Category: Fuselage

Worked on installing the bottom stringer to the fuselage today. Got it fitted, safety wired and Hysol'd in place. Yeah I know the pic of the front connection doesn't have the safety wire installed. I liked the idea of setting it up with Hysol and clamping it in place for a secure bond. Right after I took the pic I slipped a piece of safety wire through the holes and once the Hysol sets up, I will safety wire the joint.

  Jan 12, 2022     VHF Antenna, Door frames and Wiring - (9 hours)       Category: Fuselage

Sanding the door frame joints which is messy and a pain but almost complete. In between sanding and re-applying the bondo I have been finishing up the VHF antenna mounts in the vertical stab. Mounted the center mount that supports the antenna cable BNC connection as well as the lower mount. Once the Hysol had set, I installed the antenna and am happy with the results. Others who have mounted this dipole antenna in the stab have reported good results so am happy with this. I also started building the electrical cable for the trim motor and antenna cables that will run back to the far rear of the fuselage. Need to do the cable for the position light in the tail but am looking at how to run the cable from the fuselage into the rudder.

  Jan 05, 2022     Left Window, Baggage Floor and VHF Antenna - (5 hours)       Category: Fuselage

Hysol'd in the left window frame parts today. Happy with the way these are turning out. One thing I learned from Brandon at the factory was if you dimple the rivet holes for the rivets, they sit a lot closer in to the frame (read less work fairing them in later). So I tried it on the left side and it's really an improvement. The rivets are very close to being really flush. I also Hysol'd in the upper VHF antenna mount. Once it gets set up I can proceed with installing the antenna into the vertical stab. I need to build a support for the RF connector to the antenna but want to do that with the antenna supported by the upper mount. While I was waiting for all this Hysol to dry, I fit the baggage floor, drilled the mounting holes in the boards and installed the rivnuts to secure the baggage floor. Big fan of rivnuts after using them on a couple old cars I have rebuilt and my Jeep. Never had one spin on me but I also use the same Loctite bearing lock (580 I think) when I press them. Doesn't take much and it seems to really let them take a bit of torque when I tighten in the screw/bolt.

  Jan 03, 2022     Seat Pan and Window - (3 hours)       Category: Fuselage

I was having a problem figuring out how to layout the slots for the seat belts on the seat pan. One guy from the forum came up with the idea to draw radial arcs from the starting point of the two location measurements from the drawing and then find the point where the length of the slot intersected the two arcs. Gave that go and it got me a location that looked right - so I went with it. Got the slots cut and smoothed so they are done and ready for seat belts when the seat is finally installed. I also Hysol'd the right window frame so that tomorrow I can permanently install the right side stringer.

  Jan 01, 2022     Small Stuff - (7 hours)       Category: Fuselage

Worked on some small stuff today. I am mounting my dipole VHF antenna in the vertical stab so I need to fabricate mounts that won't interfere with the antenna. Built the upper mount and glued it up as well as figured out how I think I want to support the antenna cable connection. The lower mount should be a walk in the park once I get the other two mounts dialed in and attached. Fabricated the door hinges, backing plates and the gas shock mount so they are ready once I reach the point of installing the doors. Before I get there, I need to install the door and window moldings. I started with the right side door molding and got that Hysol'd and clamped along with riveting the joint. Liked the idea of getting these two set solid before I went ahead and did the rest of the window moldings. Just taking this part slow and easy since I want it to be right. Besides I ran out of clamps!!

  Dec 29, 2021     Seat, Stringer, Door Jamb and Windows - (13 hours)       Category: Fuselage

Have been working through doing preparations on parts while it snows and VERY cold outside. Cutout the required notches on the seat pan so that the seat set in the fuselage nicely. Back drilled the six attachment points, installed the nut plates on the fuselage brackets and verified that the screws all lined up. Still need to locate and cut the holes for the seat belts but have some location questions that I am working out before I do that. Have begun doing the prep work on the floor boards for the baggage area. Multiple coats of exterior poly on those. Installed the parking brake mounting bracket on the center console. Flush riveted and Hysol'd that. Cut the stringers to the correct length for installation to the fuselage. Drilled and cleco'd the stringer to the mounting brackets, filed in the notch required to fit the stringer past a fuselage structural member and notched the ends. Had to hold short from the full install till the window frames are all installed. Speaking of windows as we were ....... Fitted both left and right window frame pieces as well as the lower parts of the doors. Once done, I painted them with some 2K primer along with the stringers. Once they have dried, will complete the installs on the window frames and the stringer. As usual, doing all the prep work on this doesn't really look like much progress but once that is done and I get to really install those parts - it will look more like an airplane!

  Dec 20, 2021     Center Console and Rudder Cables - (14 hours)       Category: Controls

Got the top of the console cleaned up and painted. Really like the clean look of the solid rivets over the pop rivets. Installed the sides to the console but used rivet nuts along the top rather than the sheet metal screws. Seemed to work out just right. Once I had that in, I started on installing the rudder cables using the nicopress swedges which was a new experience for me. Never done that. The cable install itself went well. Used two different colors of shrink tubing so I can tell quickly which cable I have hold of (red-port/black-stbd) (didn't have green tubing for the stbd). Installed the cotter pins around the pulleys to preclude derailing of the cable as well.

  Dec 13, 2021     Rudder Pedals - (11 hours)       Category: Controls

Floorboards are in so it was time to install the rudder pedals. Got the position dialed in on the fuselage by centering the center pivot/bearing and then working on the ends where I found the least resistance to the pedal movement. Clamped that down and then checked the overall assembly to see if it was straight across or a bit cattywompus (technical term). Turns out it was fine - maybe a 1/16" out of line which I attributed to the bearings on the center and end brackets. Drilled the holes for the end brackets and then clamped in the forward floorboard and match drilled it up from the bottom. Temporarily installed the pedal assembly and then shimmed using 3/4" dia fender washers under the brackets to improve the pedal movement. The right side took no shims, the center took 1 shim and the left took 3. Finalized installing the bearing brackets and then located and installed the two brackets for the master brake cylinders using a 1/8" drill to get the proper separation between the bracket and the rudder tubes. Ended up with some very smooth rudder pedals which is great. Lots of putting in and taking out of the assembly to get it dialed in.

  Dec 10, 2021     Floorboards and Rudder Pedals - (16 hours)       Category: Fuselage

Have been working but a little slack on the documenting....... Finished multiple coats of poly on the floorboards and got them installed. I put a piece of aluminum sheet on the floor boards where my heels will hit. In my whole life I think I have only flown one plane that didn't have major wear marks from the pilot's heels and that plane I got to pick up from the factory. Moved ahead with the rudder pedal install and was moving right along until I got to fabricating the clip that goes over the wheel on the pedals. Not sure what the deal was with me but I think those were the UGLIEST clips ever made by man. There was no way I was going to install them. They were either too high or too wide at the top. So I went to the Kitfox Help Line (Debra, Heather and Nicky) and ordered another set of the stainless steel sheet to do it again. While I was waiting for the new stock, I decided to build a jig to help make these clips. Took a piece of plywood and cut two grooves the same width and depth as the stainless steel stock. Glued another piece of wood over the top of the grooves so that the stock would slide in. Measured and drilled where the holes in the clips should be when the clip was installed in the jig. I got the stainless from Kitfox today and made all four clips using the jig and am really happy with the fit and finish when installed on the rudder pedal brackets.

  Dec 04, 2021     Center Console and Flap Lever - (12 hours)       Category: Fuselage

Assembled the detent brackets for both the flaps and the adjustable rudder pedals. Located and installed the center console on to the aircraft frame. Once done, I installed the flap lever detent bracket by match drilling the bracket to the console with a #40 drill and once the install was tested to insure that the flap handle operated as it should (full range of motion and the lever locked correctly into each of the bracket detents), opened the rivet holes up using a #30 drill. I chose to use flat head vice pop rivets to attach the bracket because my current plan is to cover the console and didn't want the heads of the pop rivets to show up under the covering. I am also not using the trim switch location as defined by the kit so I fabricated and filled the hole with an insert. My trim will be controlled by a switch on the control sticks.

  Nov 30, 2021     Controls, Flap Detent and Floor Boards - (10 hours)       Category: Controls

Been working the control linkages for the elevator and ailerons and am happy to say the controls feel smooth as silk. Completed fitting the floorboards so they are ready to be coated. I am using a water-based poly on them that is pretty hardy as far as wear, easy to clean up and most importantly - doesn't stink up the shop!! Am ready to start on the center console and my first step was assembling the flap detents. Again reading the forum, many have added two additional flap positions to their detent and that seemed like a good thing. (C'mon you can never have too many positions - right?) So I added the two and assembled it ready to install on the console.

  Nov 22, 2021     Controls and Things - (18 hours)       Category: Controls

Been away at work and time on the plane has been scattered some. I got the top cap on the vertical and stab/rudder coated with Hysol, sanded and primed. Finished fitting the control shaft bearing and pressed in the second shaft to help with the distorting of the bearing when you torque it down (which worked really well) and started assembling the other control assemblies. Made quite a dent in the box of powder coated parts!!.

  Nov 11, 2021     Control Shaft Bearing - (3 hours)       Category: Controls

One of the royal pains in dialing in the controls is getting the control shaft bearing to work correctly on the control shaft. The issue is that the kit has you drill a 3/16" hole through the bearing and then run a bolt through that and torque it. When you torque it, the bearing has a propensity to deform and that in turn screws up the smoothness of the controls. One guy on the Kitfox forum had a suggestion and I really like it so that's what I did. It involves installing a metal tube into the bearing on both sides with the tube sized to the bearing height (I did mine to 0.002" of the bearing height), drilling out the ID of the tube to accept the bolt and then torque down the bolt when installing. While I haven't installed it into the fuselage yet, I did fit the first side per the instructions and built the second tube so that when I do install the bearing, it will be all set. Yeah I know - doesn't seem like much but it was a good day to build an experimental aircraft where you can do stuff like this.

  Nov 10, 2021     Rudder Fairing and Top Caps - (14 hours)       Category: Empennage

Got the fiberglass rudder fairing Hysol'd on to the rudder before having to leave for a week for work. Came home and was able to do some final trimming on the fairing so that it fit on the vertical stab with with no interference in it's movement. One thing I did before gluing the fairing to the rudder was go back and make it so that the bolts through the vertical stab bearings went in without having to tweak the rudder some. That was time well spent since once you secure the fairing to the rudder and then install it on the vertical stab, it's harder to get the bolts in cause you have to go through the access holes in the fairing. Having it fitted with a good alignment made it much easier.

Earlier I had done some rough cutting out of balsa for the top caps on the vertical stab and rudder but when I looked at them again, I didn't like the way they looked. So I made a new set, did some rough shaping and then Hysol'd them. Tomorrow I should be able to do work on dialing in the shape and possibly start the Hysol coating.

  Oct 28, 2021     Vertical Stab Ribs and Fairing - (7 hours)       Category: Empennage

Got the ribs on both the vertical stab and rudder lacquered with two coats so that fun part is done. As I said before, I didn't exactly follow the instructions when it came time to epoxy in some of the ribs. One of those places was the top of the vertical assembly. The instructions call for epoxying in the rib to the rudder tube structure. That would be fine but the bottom of that rib didn't line up with the bottom of the top rib on the vertical stab. So I lowered it a bit, installed a spacer between the rib and the tube so that they line up. I roughed out the top caps for the vertical and rudder out of balsa and the bottoms now line up perfectly so when I cover the tail it will look straight. I fitted the trailing edge fairing to the vertical and epoxied the fairing to the rear 'spine' so that I know the fairing is straight. I'll do the edges of the fairing to the ribs tomorrow after the spine epoxy sets up. You can see that I adhere to one of my father's adages for working in the shop; "A man cannot have too many clamps".

  Oct 21, 2021     Vertical Stab and Rudder Ribs - (8 hours)       Category: Empennage

Started working the ribs for the vertical stab and rudder. I also jumped ahead a bit with the instructions to fit and drill the half inch aluminum edge that is used to attach the rear inspection panel. I read somewhere where one builder thought it would be easier to do the fitting and drilling of those before the rib was Hysol'd on to the frame. That sure made sense to me so I followed suit by doing the fabrication, drilling and fitting of the pieces. Got them primed and painted so they are ready to install once I get all the ribs installed permanently. Pressed on with fitting the rest of the ribs on both the vertical and the rudder making sure they were lined up with each other (so they look cool when I cover them). I built the stiffeners for the ribs, removed the ribs from the airframe and Hysol'd the stiffeners to the ribs so that I can move on to giving them a coat of lacquer tomorrow.

  Oct 17, 2021     Horiz Stab and Trim Motor - (6 hours)       Category: Empennage

Did all the adjustments on the left and right horiz stab braces to place the stab perpendicular to the vertical stab. Had to be one of the easiest things I have done on the build Measured from the top of the vertical to both tips of the stab as well as to where the brace mount was located on the stab. All the measurements were right on. Proceeded to mount the trim motor and ran into a bit of a wicket with the lower mount. The instructions call for the bolt to go through the mount, then a AN960-10 washer (going to call it a -10 washer from now on), a nylon washer, through the trim motor mount, a nylon washer, a -10 washer, through the other side of the mount, a -10 washer and the self locking nut (nothing between the collar and the mount). There was no way in God's green earth that was going to work and even look right. I even bent the mounts out a bit and those washers between the mount and the motor would not fit (and besides bending the mount just looked wrong!!). After playing with that for over an hour, I substituted the -10 washers for the thin version of the same washer (an AN960-10L that I will call -10L). So in the picture you can see that the mounts are not bent, the bolt goes through the mount, a -10L washer, a nylon washer, through the trim motor mount, a nylon washer, a -10L washer, through the other side of the mount, a -10 washer between the mount and the collar, through the collar, a -10L washer and the self locking nut. I torqued the nut to the 15 in/lb requirement and just have two thread showing through the top of the nut. Hence the -10L washer between the nut and collar. So now that the trim motor is installed, I removed the horiz stab and am looks like the next item on the fun list are the ribs for the rudder.

  Oct 15, 2021     Horiz Stab and Rudder - (8 hours)       Category: Empennage

Worked on mounting the horizontal stab and the rudder today. Got the stab on the fuselage, attached the supports but haven't done the adjusting to verify the horizontal is perpendicular to the vertical stab. Fitted and drilled the front slide blocks. Attached the rudder and adjusted the attachment points so that the proper gap clearances of 1 1/2 inches on the top and 2 5/16 inches at the bottom between the rudder and the vertical stab. Most definitely had to run a tap through the threaded attachment points on the vertical stab to get the bearings to thread in far enough to set the proper gap.

  Oct 10, 2021     Horizontal stab and Elevator - (20 hours)       Category: Empennage

Busy week between getting the house ready for Winter and working on the plane. I got the bushings for the elevator all fitted into the bearings on the horizontal stab. I used an older file (read not real aggressive in removing metal) and took the bushings down to a diameter of 0.312. Then used the suggested sand paper method to fine fit them. This took almost a day to complete. Started on coating the end caps with Hysol and giving them the final shape. My elevator was actually about 1/8 inch wider than the stab on one end so I made that end cap just a bit thicker to make them both the same width. If you measure the progress on the plane by how much Hysol you use - I finished my first cans!! While I was working the end caps I also varnished the ribs except for the ends where I would be applying the Hysol to glue them in. Hysol and varnish I understand don't make the best bond. Transferred the rib placement dimensions from the instructions to the assembly and then adjusted the ribs a bit to take advantage of the metal structure where it was available. I made sure the ribs were fitted perpendicular to the tubes with the hinges. Once I had them all dry fit I used my trusty aluminum angle pieces and CA glue to insure that the ribs were lined up on the stab and elevator and holding them in position to get the Hysol. Also by checking the distance between the two aluminum angles, I was able to be sure that the ribs were parallel with each other (checked my dry fitting job). Finally got the ribs Hysol'd on the upper side of the assembly. Will do the bottom side tomorrow.

  Oct 04, 2021     More Horiz Stab Work - (12 hours)       Category: Empennage

Working on both the end caps for the horizontal stab/elevator and pressing the elevator bearings into the horiz stab. I got the end caps formed and Hysol'd on to the horizontal stab and elevator. I used balsa wood rather than the foam that came with the kit. Little more robust once all is finished. I got the bearings for the elevator hinge all fitted into the horiz stab. Definitely learned a lesson on using Loctite 680 bearing retention fluid. That stuff sets up really quick and it's strong as can be. Almost didn't get the first bearing pushed in because it set up so quick. The shear strength on it is rated at 4000psi and I believe it. The last 1/8 inch of that first bearing required me to get a longer ratchet handle to finish pressing it. It was so hard to finish that when I got it done and went to remove the bolt I was using as a press, I found that the threads of the bolt were horribly galled. I literally had to use a cutting wheel to cut the bolt off to get it out. The bearing was fine and I am sure that after getting all the bearing pressed in, the will never come out.

  Sep 29, 2021     Horizontal Stab and Elevator - (10 hours)       Category: Empennage

Spent the last couple days fitting the ribs for the horizontal stab and elevator. I read over the directions for this part and changed the order on some of the steps. The directions call to Hysol the ribs onto the stab and elevator and then add stiffeners where required. I thought adding the stiffeners before actually installing the ribs would be easier and cleaner all around. There was also a 1/2" hole called out to be drilled into two of the ribs after they were installed. I marked where the hole would be while fitting those ribs and drilled it now. Hysol is in the process of drying on the stiffeners right now. I am thinking I will also do the lacquer on the ribs but leave the areas that get the Hysol when installing the ribs to the structure. I'll finish the lacquer over all the ribs once they are installed but that should be a quick job. Also going to do the fitting of the bearings on the elevator before I install the ribs. That way I won't run the chance of breaking a rib if I get careless.

  Sep 27, 2021     Storage and Tail - (4 hours)       Category: Wings

Not exactly aircraft but progress in my mind anyway. The goal was to get the flaperons and wing tips primed and stored out of the way before Winter. Done deal. Built some shelves to do just that. Flaperons are high up on the shop wall where I won't bash, dent, or otherwise screw them up. The wing tips went up on the wall in the garage. While certainly not Mil-Spec Class A storage, the tips are covered up and should survive well up there. Now I can safely work on other things in the shop and not worry about those parts.

I did do some aircraft work in that I finished sanding all the ribs for the horizontal stab and the elevator.

  Sep 23, 2021     Primer Done and Reaming - (6 hours)       Category: Wings

Banner day in that my flaperons and wing tips now have a primer coat of paint on them that isn't a bunch of runs. Finished painting the left flaperon this morning. Tomorrow I will put both of the flaperons into storage for the Winter knowing they are protected. Same with the wing tips. This afternoon I started on the horizontal stab and the elevator by doing the reaming of the pivot points. I built an out feed table for my table saw many moons ago and put hold down tracks in it to allow me to use the table as an assembly base as well. Used the hold downs to secure the HS and Elev while reaming and that made it pretty easy. All in all it was a good day of progress.

  Sep 20, 2021     Tips and Flaperons - (8 hours)       Category: Wings

A friend of mine asked me the other day how the plane was coming. Thought about that for a bit and came up with a one word answer; stagnated. I have a really nice HVLP paint system that is pretty high quality. That's the good news. The bad news (and the reason for the stagnation answer) is that the HVLP paint sprayer operator (me) isn't good at all. My last week of effort has been pretty much sand, spray, sand, repeat. I am so good at running that I should have been in the Olympics. I am very good at sanding out the runs. Maxed myself out on You Tube vids on how to and just keep winding up with runs. Today I tried again on both the wing tips and one of the flaperons. The good news is that while there are still some minor runs on the tips, I took what I learned there and applied it to the flaperon. No runs there. It actually came out pretty nice. So maybe my days of stagnation are behind me. God I hope so.

  Sep 03, 2021     Electrical Cables - (12 hours)       Category: Wings

Have been building the electrical cables that go into the wings. Now have the magnetrometer, pitot heat and both port and stbd cables for lights (landing and nav lights) completed. The light cables are set up with connectors where the wing tips attach as well as at the wing root. I haven't attached those wing root connectors just to make routing them down the wing spars easier. The magnetrometer is also going to be routed down the rear spar while the OAT cable will route behind the fuel tank to keep the length of the cable in spec. The magnetrometer, lights and OAT will all be incorporated into the one wing root connector for the port wing. Stbd wing is easy with only the lights coming out to the root.

  Aug 21, 2021     Wing Tips - (2 hours)       Category: Wings

Getting ready to go off on travel again for work so didn't want to get into anything major. Thought I would do a bit of fit and finish work. The flaperon hinges are punched out of flat sheet during manufacturing so the edges are sharp with some square corners as well. Just like a good punch will do. So I smoothed the edges and rounded the corners to make them look a bit more finished. I had run a fillet of Hysol along the edge of the wing tip and the fence just to give a touch more support. Started going over the Hysol with the filler to smooth out that fillet and give it a better look when I paint the tip.

  Aug 18, 2021     Flaperons Mounted - (4 hours)       Category: Wings

Got both the left and right flaperons mated up to the wings. Not sure why but I never took a pic once they were mounted. (OK - turns out I did take some - just didn't forward them to the computer) More pics of the hinges cleco'd to the wing - this time it's the right wing that got it done but the bottom line is that they are mounted and back off. According to the instruction manual I have finished building the structure of the wings which was my goal for this summer. I still have to do the wiring for the nav and landing lights as well as primer the wing tip assemblies. Then there is the covering but will hold short on that till I am ready to do the fuselage as well since the glue has a shorter shelf life.

  Aug 15, 2021     More Flaperons - (5 hours)       Category: Wings

I really didn't like the prefab tips for the flaperon just cause they felt really thin and would self destruct without much effort. But I did like the way they looked when they were installed. So I took some Hysol and lined the inside of the tip. Not pretty but it really made them feel solid when they were installed. Finished the control arm install on the left flaperon so that part was done. I started on mounting the hinge mounts on the left wing. I sandwiched a piece of aluminum between the two hinge pieces (literally a couple thousandths thinner than the washers the instructions say to mount between the mounts. Marked a line on it for the 1/8 inch space between the trailing edge and the mount and pressed it up against the washer so I could see my spacing. I clamped a three foot aluminum L to the ribs so that the back of the mount pressed against the L when the 1/8 spacing was right. That way I was certain the mount would not slip back and I would loose my space. Got both my inboard and outboard hinge mounts drilled and cleco'd with the proper spacing I measured between the hinges on the flaperon. Now I am ready to mount the flaperon to the wing and install the remaining hinge mounts.

  Aug 14, 2021     Left Flaperon - (6 hours)       Category: Wings

Got the left flaperon counterbalances mounted and the end caps all Hysol'd and riveted. Got the control arm installed correctly on the right flaperon and will do the left one tomorrow along with some wiring in the left wing. No real pics of the left side since it looks just like the right.

  Aug 12, 2021     Right Counterbalance - (5 hours)       Category: Wings

Worked on getting the counterbalances installed on the right flaperon. Got all the counterbalances drilled and got the two for the right flaperon riveted and Hysol'd on. Not a lot done there but for whatever reason working on the flaperons makes me overly careful. Must be that they are so thin and so fragile when they aren't all connected to their pivots.

  Aug 11, 2021     Flaperons - (6 hours)       Category: Wings

Started working on the flaperons. Fabricated the support blocks used to align the control arms for the flaperons. Did the rivets along the trailing edge of the flaperon using 3/32 flat head solid rivets and completed the fitting and installation of the inboard edge. I bought the parts to close out the outboard of the flaperon but am not sure I am going to use them. Still trying to figure a way to make them fit 'nicely'. May require the elixir of all creative thought........bourbon.