Apr 16, 2024     Aerospace Systems Fuel boost system       Category: Fuel System

I received my Fuel Pump Control Module (FPCM) from Aerospace Systems and have been working to install it. I have had to make some minor modifications but nothing too drastic. My previously complete fuel lines no longer work so I had to make some new ones but this time around it was a lot easier as the tubes are now longer so they are easier to manipulate. Also one of the feed lines from my long range tank was too long and interfered with the boost pump. To fix it I had to drill out a rib so that I could get the necessary tooling in there to shorter, bend and flare the line.

Another change was that I needed a different power wire (more amps) from the VPX. The previous setup was one pump and now there are two and the FPCM module. All together I needed a 7.5 Amp breaker. The two boost pumps in the wing each require a power wire run but luckily I had an extra wire already run and was able to utilize that wire so that was fortunate. Now I am working to secure wiring from the wing root to the pumps themselves. I had to make a bracket but I think I found an acceptable solution.

I also finally received the correct diameter metal tube for the brake reservoir and made that line. Its almost comical that I had to wait a couple months for the tube to make a 3 inch line.

Lastly, a lot of big things are about to happen: My MT prop and RS flight systems controller should be arriving any day now, I am going to Rotax engine training next week for the servicing and maintenance courses, and my Firewall Forward Kit was just crated and should be shipping soon.

  Apr 09, 2024     Wheel Spats and Fairings       Category: Fuselage

These past couple weeks I worked on getting the wheel spats installed. Nothing to exciting to report on that besides the main spats are kind of hard to determine if they are streamlined as they are not symmetrical. If I put them where I think they are straight the bolt holes will be off from intended mount locations and it looks bad. I opted to put use the stock locations even if I think it is off a little bit.

I also marked and straightened the from upper avionics fairing with the firewall.

I installed the vertical and horizontal stabilizer so I can install the empenage fairing. With that fairing installed I marked/ drilled where the rivnuts need to go. I installed the rivnuts but I ran out of time and haven't reinstalled the fairing to ensure its all good. The only snag I ran into was that the bracket that I had made for me ELT antenna was a bit to big to fit under the fairing to I removed the bracket and trimmed it down a good bit. It not fits with room to spare.

  Mar 23, 2024     Pitot/ VPX/ Wires       Category: Avionics

Not a lot of pictures this time as they all look very similar. So this past week I have programmed the VPX, installed the GMC 507 and G5 and their corresponding connectors. I also ran the wires for the panel lights to the respective dimmers. Oh I also ordered my prop and controller from RS flight systems and I also ordered the boost pump system from midwest panel builders. I also hooked up the pitot and static lines to the G5. Thats all for this update.

  Mar 15, 2024     Doors, Hot air tube, wires       Category: Avionics

I did a little more work on the doors getting the interior handles that help pull the door down when it is fully open. It was straight forward.

Next, I worked on getting some 1" CEET tubing installed in the wing spar that will bring hot air from the center channel to the back seat floor vents. I also cut the holes and mounted the repurposed vents that were on the dash to the rear seat floors. My only concern was making sure the tubing didnt interfere with flight controls. I used some foam blocking and a friction fit to hold the tubing up above the flight control tubes. Also along with the tubing I installed the bowden cable that controls the heat valve. I found the provided cable to be way (about a foot and a half) too long. I cut the tubing and redid the Z bend and hooked it all back up. With the shorted cable and some lithium grease the valve is moved much easier now.

I also decided to remove the heat shield for the firewall. The reason is the factory stuff burns rather easily and i question if it will do anything in a fire. I have decided to used Contego Intumescent paint (https://contegointernational.com/contego-original/). I think this will greatly improve my chances in case of a fire.

I worked a little on the upper avionics fiberglass cover. It didnt have a straight reveal so I marked my line and did an initial cut to make the panel have a more even reveal.

The SteinAir vents that I purchased are just a tad too small for the vent holes that were already cut into the dash. The holes were also just a bit too big for the factory installed vents. I contemplated requesting a new dash but I instead opted to make some aluminum rings what go around the vents and cover the fact that the dash holes are just a bit too big. For making the rings completely by hand I am pretty happy with how they came out.

This week I also tested the dimmers that I received from Midwest Panel Builders. The 10K analog dimmers are nothing special but what I didnt like was that about 90% of the knob movement only dims the lights about 10%. But then the remaining 10% movement dims the lights the last 90%. Not the end of the world but its an easy fix. I bough some mini PWM dimmers that are made for the job. The dimming is now linear and another plus is that the dimmers click in the off position and 100% turn off the lights. The analog dimmers still had the lights on, albeit the were very dim.

I also reworked the fuel X-fer pump switches. The parts that midwest sent didnt work for how I intended to wire things up. While I am sure Midwest's way works fine I felt it was needlessly complicated (circuit boards, WiFi enabled timers, no instructions) and I therefore made it much more simple but I did have to get some different latching push button switches. My process involves an 'Arm' switch that provides ground the the push button switches. Those push button switches provide ground to the VPX. One the VPX provides power to the pumps, it also provides power the the LED indicator light within the push button switch. That light in the switch will be on when the pump is getting power regardless of anything else.

With all that fun out of the way, on to the main even, while it may not look like much wire work has been done I got a lot more wiring done and have worked on the IBBS battery backup, some RS-232 connections and the main connector on the Garmin display unit. This has been more time consuming as I have to go thru more details but its also good because I have been learning about features that I didnt know Garmin had and als how to wire them up. I am about ready to start powering things on and testing but I had to buy a Windows laptop to program the VPX. The computer is currently in the mail so hopefully I can start powering things on next week.

  Feb 27, 2024     Ground Bus, Door latches, Control stick connectors       Category: Fuselage

I finished running all of the grounds that I currently have installed to the ground bus. I have a few more but id say about 90-95% of the grounds are run. Out of an abundance of caution I ran everything back to a single ground.

I decided to use 15 pin Dsub connectors at the control stick base. I have two 5 wire each bundles running to each stick. I havent decided what I want one the stick yet so I really hope I dont run out of wires on the stick. What I figured I need at the stick so far is: ground, trim up/down, flaps maybe as there is already a switch on the dash, PTT, CWS disconnect, comm flip flop.

I have also started working on the canopy doors again. I filled in the elongated holes for the canopy doors with JB weld steel epoxy. I also finished up the canopy latches. The front ones were already done but now I finished up the aft latches. The delay was I had to wait a few months for longer latches from the factory. I needed 2mm longer on the left aft latch and 6mm longer on the right rear hatch. Everything now works as it should but the right lock is a little harder than I wish it was. One change I did make two the latches was there is a connecting rod between the front and aft latch. The factory has a plastic P clip to help hold the connecting rod. The P clip isnt long enough and you have to force the rod down to make it so you can use the flimsy P clip. Also there is a tendency for the rod to flex or bow down during unlocking. If not supported I could see this leading to the aft latch not unlocking due to the flex. So instead of the P clip that didnt really fit in the first place I used an aluminum standoff and an adel clamp around the standoff. I also greased up the rod where it contacts the connecting rod. The adel clamp and stand off are much more sturdy and it gives me a lot more confidence that the doors will unlock when I need them to.

Also, I figured out the door locks take key Y11. Thats important because I went to Lowes and bought a cabinet lock that also takes key Y11. The lock also came with longer locking latches and is just a hair longer than stock. So now that all the locks take key Y11 I had a locksmith rekey the lock so one key works on all the doors. Also with the lock itself being just a tad longer the locking latch fits perfectly behind the longeron, and as an added bonus the longer locking latch fully engages the longeron so it is a lot more secure that the factory solution where just the tip of the latch was engaged.

Lastly, I have been talking with sling to price there new throttle quadrant with a manual constant speed prop lever. I havent got the price yet but this will go into my decision of what prop I want.

  Feb 19, 2024     VPX wiring       Category: Avionics

I have been continuing wiring up the VPX and the avionics but mostly the VPX. In an effort to help with wire lengths and routing of wire I mocked up where the panel was going to sit and I made some mounts for it out of 4x4 so I could hang the panel without the dash to give me extra working room. With that done I have been pulling more and more wiring and I have now finished pulling all of the wire for the VPX. A lot of the wires are hooked up on both ends but I have a few more to be fully done connecting the power wires from the VPX. I also need to go back and lace all the wires where I am confident I am done pulling wire.

Another milestone is I finally decided where and how I am going to have all of my ground wires terminate. I haven't seen much on this topic on the forums and I even posted some questions with no answers. I went with a forest of tabs from Stein Air and mounted it in a mostly central location on the inside of the firewall. My son also help with mounting it by helping me remove the primer on the firewall where the tabs were going to be. After we cleaned the exposed steel I applied some No-Ox electrically conductive grease and bolted and riveted the tab plate in place. Now I can start terminating all those grounds.

I figured out where the 1.5K and 600k resistors go that I received from Midwest Panel Builders. They go to the Rotax lane lights. I soldiered them together as indicated by the Sling electrical manual. I dont know why I put two resistors per light the way that I did but I am just trusting in the instructions. I did test the lights with a 9 volt battery and they do still work.

I also went to mount my autopilot panel and was a little surprised when it went right thru the panel. It turns out I need the optional mounting bracket. I would have assumed the panel would have been cut to just mount the A/P right to the panel as it was designed. I can only guess Midwest was trying to keep the cut out in the panel uniform for aesthetics. Its not a big deal just another "oh I need to buy something else" moment.

lastly, I am trying to decide on a propeller, I was going to go with MT and the RS flight system but #1 they are expensive and #2 I have been hearing that they MT prop used with RS and the Sling has been having some problems. I have reached out to DUC propellers and am going to explore possibly using on of their props.

  Feb 11, 2024     Cleaning up some wires and the dash       Category: Avionics

This week I spent most of my time tidying up and bundling wires and installing more adel clamps. The main wire bundle going aft along with coax and pitot and brake tubes are secured all the way up the the instrument panel. It still looks like a hot mess but it is better. I also started wiring up some more avionics. The only avionics im doing so far are the ones that i know there final location. To help with that I am going to temp install the instrument panel but with out the dashboard so its easier to work. With just the instrument panel hanging in position ill be able to work the G3x display and the G5 as well.

I also heard back from sling technical about the closeout skins not being 100% correct. There answer unfortunately didnt make anysense. In short they said the panel is short to account for the thickness of the finish carpeting. But if the carpeting pushes the panel over as they suggest then the side holes might fit but the bottom holes will then be off. Its a problem ill deal with down the road.

As I get further along in the avionics I have to make some final decisions and also figure out how im going to do some things. For example the pieces I received from Midwest Panel Builders for the long range fuel tank pumps uses times and extra circuit boards. While I'm sure it works fine I am planning to go with a simpler option where the pilot just turns on and off those pumps as appropriate. What this means is not everything i bought from them im going to use and not everything I need.

Lastly I started trimming the dashboard to fit the instrument panel and its probably about 90% done. One of the other decisions I was trying to figure out was how to secure nuts on the backside of the dash so I can just screw in the instrument panel. After awhile I realized I dont need to secure nuts, nut clips or install rivnuts. With the displays out of the instrument panel there is plenty of room to just install regular nuts and tighten them with a wrench. There is no need to make this more complicated. Once again I am telling myself, 'keep it simple stupid'.

  Feb 02, 2024     Center console, rear seat fix       Category: Fuselage

Last week I noted the rear seats didnt fit correctly. It turns out there are two different ways they could have been installed (also not specified in the plans) and I choose poorly. I drilled the hinge out and reinstalled. The rear seats now fit as they should. I also finished up the rear cargo floor by installing the inspection covers and also fabricating a cover plate for what would have been a rocket exhaust port if I had installed the ballistic chute.

I also temp installed the center console so that I could figure out how i wanted to secure wires inside of the center console but to also make and install the audio and mic jacks for both front seats and I also installed a USB charge port for the back seat. Its a tight fit between the flap motor and the USB charge port but I am comfortable with how I secured it.

After that I started to finish up the covers for the front of the wing spar. I found that some of the factory locations for riv nuts dont line up so I had to rework a few things.

Lastly I ordered CEET tubing so I can run hot air lines for the back seats.

  Jan 27, 2024     Floor rib fixed, floors installed, rear seat doesnt fit       Category: Fuselage

Last post I showed the cracked floor rib. I sent my proposed fix the Sling technical and they approved the fix. The patch is now on and to prevent further stress or damage on the floor I final installed the rear floors and then also put plywood on top of the floors. Before I final installed the floors I had to finish securing some loose wires and I installed some edge protectors.

I also finished my rear seat by riveting the backrests to the seats and tried to install the seat. But, the spacing of the backrests are off and they contact the air frame structure before hitting the backrest stop. The spacing was factory drilled so I am not sure how the spacing is off but I am a little annoyed. I'll contact technical just to make sure I didnt do anything stupid.

With the rear floors on and the wire underneath it done I am starting to finalize wiring and am working back to front. Next on the list is to install the front seat audio jacks, the rear seat power plug and an audio in jack on the center console.

  Jan 19, 2024     wing root CPC repinned       Category: Fuselage

So its been pretty cold outside and my shop is neither insulated nor heated so I have not been out there to much. But with the minimal time I have spent I managed to repin the fuselage side wing root CPC. I also finished the wing side CPC connectors.

After that I started to finish up the wire routing and the clamping of wire bundles with the goal of finishing up everything aft of the main wing spar so that I can put the rear floors in. While doing that I noticed a crack in the rear floor rib. I stop drilled the crack and am going to put a patch over the rib. I have taken some pictures and will send them to technical to see if they concur with my fix. If I need to replace the rib it wont be that bad. But the worst part will be reruning the wires, cables, and tubes that go thru it.