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Entry #	Created	Title	Category	Hours	# Pictures

406	Mar 17, 2024	This and that.	Various		1
Finished installing the wooden "shims" that put the Aveo nav/strobe lights at the tight angle. Updated the Dynon SkyView software and database. Configuring the Garmin data link for ADSB Out has been harder. The engine hasn't run in months, so I pulled the plugs and ran it with the starter but no compression till the oil pressure came up into the green arc. Reinstalled the plugs. Verified the timing marks so I can shoot them with a timing light to adjust the ignition timing.

 

405	Feb 16, 2024	Pitot Static and Mode C check	Avionics		1
Had James from Direct Avionics come over to do my required checks to operate in the Mode C veil. There were some leaks at the Air Data Computer, which tightening the fittings cured. Also pulled the wing tip lights to allow installation of the shims. James let me know the Garmin ADSB Out unit will need to be programmed via a laptop and a USB connection to reflect my N-number and ownership. I have no idea whether the USB port is accessible or if I need to pull the panel apart, AGAIN.

 

404	Feb 12, 2024	Fettling	Ignition		3
I've been working on the SDS electronic ignition. I had to splice in some extra length to the coil trigger leads to enable me to pull the control module off the port fuselage side to adjust and program it. I marked the flywheel with some timing marks so I don't have to get so close to the prop to time it. Also fabricated some shims for the LED strobe/nav lights so the vertical sectors are correct. Registered the ELT. Adjusted the Peter Anson flap stop for the right hand flap. Secured the last few fasteners on the windscreen and puttied it up.

 

403	Jan 19, 2024	Riding the struggle bus	Various		10
I broke the windshield, replaced it with some detail improvements to reduce stress concentrations, and finished wiring up the SDS ignition.

 

402	Nov 19, 2023	The last 3 weeks...	Various		0
...have involved an EPIC struggle with the panel and the fuel gauge. The newly installed brand new fuel level measuring probe leaked, quite a lot. This meant draining the fuel, pulling the probe, taking extreme measures to seal the new probe and the OLD probe I thought I had killed by mistakenly disassembling it when removing it. After taking measures to seal EVERY POSSIBLE LEAK PATH on both probes, I installed, set the Zero at the Princeton/RED electronics box, and performed the calibration procedure for the Third time at the Dynon. Two days later, the probe sense wire is still bone dry. So I've started putting the front of the airplane back together.

 

401	Oct 29, 2023	Reassemble the panel	Instrument Panel		0
With the fuel gauge fixed, I reassembled the panel. The extension is now secure with a mix of soft aluminum rivets, easier to drill out next time, and 4-40 machine screws into the previously installed itty-bitty nut plates.

 

400	Oct 28, 2023	Third Time's A Charm	Fuel System		0
After reviewing both the manuals for the fuel probe and for the Dynon, I have the gremlins at bay. A few points: tri gear Sonex sitting level are hard pressed to take more than about 14 gallons of fuel. To get 16 in I had to put a chick under the nose wheel. The dip tube for manually checking the fuel level didn't work very well, and is going to be replaced with a wood dowel painted flat black. The actual fuel calibration routine in the Dynon SkyView is not like the manual - you tell it how big the tank is and it will tell you the size of the Pours.. For the last Pour in the sequence you press Add, then Full. The key was calibrating the Princeton/RED box to zero before starting in with the Dynon calibration.

 

399	Oct 16, 2023	Replace fuel probe, etc	Fuel System		2
Replaced the fuel probe, but it clearly needs to be recalibrated, so I drained the fuel tank. Developed a pattern for a "bib" around the fuel filler, per Jeff Schultz, to keep fuel spills out of the cockpit. Also worked on the timing indicator for calibrating the electronic ignition.

 

398	Oct 01, 2023	Nut plates	Instrument Panel		10
I wasn't happy with the accuracy I was able to achieve using these tee-ninesy 4-40 nut plates as there own drill jig, so I fabricated a drill jig using idea from Tony Bingelis, using a chunk of mild steel and a section of brass tubing located in place. Also finished fabrication of the fuel dip stick, and pulled the malfunctioning fuel sensor probe.

 

397	Sep 04, 2023	Windshield off, glare shield extension off	Instrument Panel		3
With my son's help, removed the last windscreen fasteners. Later in the day, drilled the last rivets in the glare shield extension to access the back of the panel and disconnected the fuel level probe, which needs to be replaced. Also worked on the fuel tank dip stick, clear fuel tubing with an aluminum spine. Dip, hold your thumb over the tube, pull, read the level.

 

396	Sep 03, 2023	Ailerons connected	Controls		0
Since Lee, Bill and I already checked the rigging, they are flight ready. Messed around securing stuff at the wing roots, wires, pitot static plumbing, etc.

 

395	Sep 02, 2023	Pushing	Various		2
I've resolved to remove the added glare shield extension and reattach it with nut plates so I can access the back of the panel. So I drilled as many of the rivets as I could reach, and started to remove the windscreen which is a two man job. I also bought some hole plugs and filled some unused holes in the turtledeck. I installed the Peter Anson flap up-stop on the right wing. I cleaned up some more of the firewall forward wiring. I drained the fuel tank so I can replace the fuel level probe that I ruined. And I connected the flaps to their torque tube.

 

394	Aug 27, 2023	"Hero" wing spar pin in Starboard side	Wings		0
I don't like threaded fasteners in these tight holes, as it can be very tough to get the alignment dead solid perfect, and if it's not, the threads can "broach" the holes oversize. The factory planes use pins. It took a few tries, but I custom fabricated pins with a long, gradual taper to help with alignment, the proper grip length, and positive locking via a clevis clip. Starboard side is in and secured.

 

393	Aug 27, 2023	"Hero" wing spar pin in Starboard side	Wings		0
I don't like threaded fasteners in these tight holes, as it can be very tough to get the alignment dead solid perfect, and if it's not, the threads can "broach" the holes oversize. The factory planes use pins. It took a few tries, but I custom fabricated pins with a long, gradual taper to help with alignment, the proper grip length, and positive locking via a clevis clip. Starboard side is in and secured.

 

392	Aug 19, 2023	Details	Ignition		6
I've been struggling to replace the Alignment, heavily tapered wing pins with the "hero" pins for flight for the last few work days. I finally got the adt spar pins in. Today I worked on finishing up the firewall penetration for the ignition and rounded off the brackets for the cowling fasteners.

 

391	Aug 06, 2023	Weekend work	Various		2
The heat slowed work this weekend plus I flew with an airport buddy. Pealed the last (?) Of the 20 year old protective film off the fwd side of the flaps and built a towbar from an old crutch and some scraps to make it easier to move the airplane.

 

390	Aug 01, 2023	Cleaning up the install	Ignition		1
Sealed the bracket to the case and safetied the bolts. Installed stand offs for the plug and sensor wires.

 

389	Jul 30, 2023	A little progress in the last few weeks	Various		0
The fuel gauge is on the fritz. I have calls in to try and troubleshoot it. Work on wiring up the SDS ignition proceeds slowly. I discovered an error in the wing walk installation. Somehow, I managed to miss a rib when I riveted it up. Corrected that today. Drilling SS rivets is a PITA, and the ATS pop rivet tool makes it only slightly easier - the teeth that are supposed to hold the rivet head have a hard time getting traction on the SS dome heads.

 

388	Jul 10, 2023	Weighed the airplane	Documentation		3
Also found the lost gear leg fairings! I'm a little disappointed it didn't come out lighter. No paint. Where did 60 lbs come from? I wonder if the advertised 620lbs included fiberglass tips, wheel pants, gear fairings, radios, elt, antennas, interior. I used a floor jack to lift each wheel off the ground, then shove a scale under it. Shimmed the wheels to get it dead level.

 

387	Jul 07, 2023	Dings, fairing strips	Wings		6
Cleaned up the filler in the wingtip dings, pulled more rivets on the trim strips and stop drilled a few more cracks in the canopy.

 

386	Jul 06, 2023	Wing walk, wing tips, etc	Wings		3
Finished the wing walk, most of the right wing trim strip rivets, blew some more paint on the wheel pants, and patched some nicks in the fiberglass wing tips.

 

385	Jul 05, 2023	Trim, wing walks	Wings		5
The left wing root trim/wing walks is just about riveted on, the right piece is cleco'd. I primed the undersides before installing them to slow down faying surface corrosion. Lee and Bill had drilled and trimmed these pieces earlier. In other news, I rattle canned the wheel pants and they are now Ten Footers. And placarded the flaps.

 

384	Jul 04, 2023	Wings on and pinned	Wings		0
After 3 days of struggle, the wings are on and pinned. But not with the "Hero" pins...in the days that follow, I'll have to replace the long taper pins we used today with the "Hero" pins from McMaster Carr that have cotters and keepers. We had to jack the rear spar of the left wing up with a floor jack to get it lined up. The right wing was NOT budging, until I wiggled it JUST right, and it clunked into place with the sense of relief one gets from popping a zit. The wife says "popping a zit is too easy, this was more like cracking a safe." It is definitely harshing my turn on for EVER TAKING THE WINGS OFF AGAIN. So First Flight might be out of this airport. In other news, I cut out the pattern for the gear leg fairings that seemingly got left in the rental van when we moved the airplane. And bought the wing walk non-skid and cut it out, and started a stencil for "NO STEP" for the flaps.

 

383	Jul 02, 2023	Wings on, sort of	Wings		1
My wife and I managed to get the left wing in, but couldn't get he right one rammed home. It was too bloody hot to continue the struggle so we quit for the day. Plus, the plug for the left wingtip light was outiside the wing, so the LEFT wing needs to be pulled and replaced again.

 

382	Jul 01, 2023	Ignition and housekeeping	Ignition		2
Working on the ignition wiring and moved my hangar mates car out so we can put the wings on and weigh the airplane.

 

381	Jun 11, 2023	More ignition details, also wheel pants	Ignition		4
I brought the wheel pants for the mains home to fill the gap between the halves. Using Smiths Fill-It epoxy wood filler, as it's both stronger and tougher than brittle Bondo. System 3 also makes a nice pre mixed filler. I wasn't in the mood to formulate my own "bog" out of microballons and fumed silica. http://www.smithandcompany.org/Fillit/ or http://www.systemthree.com/products/silvertip-quikfair-epoxy-fairing-putty There are other ways to do this. The halves are glassed together on the inside with a single layer of glass cloth tape, leaving a gap on the outside of the gelcoated shells. I used a chain saw file to open up the gap and eliminate any possible voids. I COULD have used a very narrow strip of glass mat and polyester resin to fill the resulting gap, and that would have been stronger, but again, I pressed the Easy button and just filled it, albeit with a better grade of filler. Sunday I made it out to the hangar in the late afternoon and finished the last plug wire, installed the manifold pressure port, and started work on installing the firewall pass- thrus. I had also ordered a hall effect sensor with a longer "pigtail" from Ross at Simple Digital Systems/Racetech and cut it down to fit my installation per the previous version. The longer pigtail will enable me to mount the control box closer to the pilot. Ross is great, and gives excellent service.

 

380	Jun 05, 2023	Ignition wires	Ignition		1
Making up the ignition wires was surprisingly hard. Working the boots was the tough part. Stripping the wires way back to get the boots on by grabbing the white insulation layer and pulling the well lubricated wire through worked. I rode the Struggle Bus and got 3 of them done. Also dry fit the sensor bracket to the final configuration, setting the clearance of the sensor to the magnets.

 

379	Jun 03, 2023	Still Igniting	Ignition		5
Mounted coil pack, started to rough in the electrical, drilled the intake manifold for the manifold pressure tap, tightened up the fittings on the oil pressure sensor, pulled the switch that grounded the old magnetron ignition to re-purpose it for the coil pack ignition.

 

378	May 29, 2023	Still with the ignition	Ignition		7
At home, glued the trigger and synch magnets into the shaft collar. Fabricated firewall pass through grommets (per Tony Bingelis) for the manifold pressure sense hose and the new electrical connections between the coil pack and the controller. The "orbit" of the "flying magnets" was too close to the surface of the prop hub, so I clearanced the sensor mount so that it would clear. I emailed Ross Farnam of SDS bout how to tap into the intake manifold to sense manifold pressure. On a built, installed, tightly cowled engine, it's HARD. See the sketch. Ross says the tap should be on the plenum before the runners split, else you get a sine wave(s) from the intake pulse of each cylinder. We'll see if that's possible, the join is buried pretty deep. I might be able to drill with a right angle drill, but can I get the riv-nut tool in there? ID of the MAP sensor hose is about .1".

 

377	May 28, 2023	More ignition progress	Ignition		1
My skinny, limber nephew helped me deburr the interior side of the firewall and rivet in the nut plates to mount the coil pack. We also snaked the bottom magnetron out of the accessory case. It MIGHT be possible to change the lower magnetron with the engine mounted but I don't see how. Once I got home, I put the pattern I'd developed on the shaft collar and drilled it for the magnets.

 

376	May 28, 2023	Ignition bracket is mostly done	Ignition		3
Draft Two. Did some fab at home during the week. Rock solid. Need to drill for the Hall Effect sensors.

 

375	May 21, 2023	Ignition bracket	Engine		7
More fettling in the ignition. First Draft was ALMOST good enough. Learned there is a minimum flange depth of about 1/2 inch for the press brake. Decided the AeroVee distributor block off plate could go.

 

374	May 20, 2023	Cleanup, starting ignition bracket fab	Various		4
Lots of parts and materials arrived this week. Plugged some holes in the panel. Figured out the fastener for the threaded hole by the prop bearing I'll use to secure the lower end of the ignition bracket. Did a test bend with my new press brake, after dulling the sharp edge of the punch, put a little radius on it. Chewed the flat blank out of 14 gauge Stainless, overkill, but it needs to be stiff.

 

373	May 13, 2023	Engine run, starting on brackets for Ignition	Engine		3
Ran engine to set idle, 1000 RPM. Pulled mixture to shut down, and adjusted the idle stop on the carb itself. The shaft collar I ordered from McMaster Carr fits on the prop hub. I started on a pasteboard pattern for the bracket needed to hold the Hall Effect sensors. Ordered some 14 gauge Stainless Steel to fabricate it. The aluminum spacers I bought to mount the coil pack are too long, new ones on order.

 

372	May 08, 2023	More trials	Engine		2
Fuel gauge is DEFINITELY not working, which is a drag, since accessing the box means pulling the windscreen and the glare shield again. Templated the Subaru coil pack and drilled pilot holes to mount to the firewall. Ran some more, first start up engine quit after a few seconds. Long story short the 20 year old Curtis valve on the gascolater was leaking so badly it was starving the engine of fuel. Replaced temporarily with a pipe plug and carried on. EGT 1 and 4 are inoperative. Ran down to about 900 RPM, but idle is rather rough. Ran it up above the 2000 RPM of yesterday after leaning the needle some more, but it feels scary to run any faster with the cowling open. Took the hood off and removed the top magnetron. Bottom magnetron looks hard to remove, intake manifold in the way. Tightened some fittings weeping a little oil. Labeled valve covers, and numbered the cylinders in a more visible manner.

 

371	May 06, 2023	Another engine run	Engine		1
Mixed results. Just a very slight drip from one valve cover. Magnetron ignition is DEAD, in spite of ANOTHER new magnetron. It's coming off, to be replaced by a Simple Digital Systems CIP. I have the Subaru coil pack in hand already, and I have ideas about mounting the "flying magnet" for timing pick off. I had this possibility in the back of my mind since I bought this project, I decided to give the stock AeroVee system one more try before adding weight and electrical load to the airplane. No Joy.... In other news, installed a ground power plug so I can connect a charger (solar or otherwise) to the airplane with the cowling on. Ran engine for about .2 tach hours. CHTs all stayed within range. Oil pressure good. Oil temperature pretty slow to rise. #1 and #4 EGTs seem to be dead. And I need to double check if the fuel gauge is actually working. I had tweaked the mixture about 1/4 turn Lean since last week, but it still takes almost full pull on the mixture to kill the engine. I want it to kill at about 1/2 pull. Tweaking the needle is somewhat of a PITA - the stainless set screw that locks the needle carrier can go walk about in the carb body, and it's only mildly magnetic so it's a bee-yatch to fish it out. I'll put some grease on the allen key before I tweak it again, but it clearly can go leaner.

 

370	Apr 30, 2023	Engine Start	Engine		2
Started the engine and ran it up to 2000 RPM, tied to the HHR, with the cooling hood in place. Ran good, clearly a little rich. But the valve covers leaked a lot, in spite of silicone gaskets from AirCooled.Net. Pulled the covers off, started over with new cork gaskets, hylomar, and heavy grease. This weekend will tell if I fixed this problem or not.

 

369	Apr 24, 2023	More engine start preps	Various		3
Built wheel chocks, added an extension to the oil breather, pulled the plane out and secured it, ran the starter till it showed about 35 lbs oil pressure. Flecks in oil drained earlier turned out to be Lubriplate assembly lube from about 20 years ago.

 

368	Apr 22, 2023	Preparing for engine start	Various		1
Changed the oil, replaced the battery which I'd flattened by leaving the Master on, tailored the cooling hood to fit.

 

367	Apr 16, 2023	Back on	Windscreen		2
Museum wax was the magic for getting this done. I glued the washer to the nylok then used the sticky wax to grab the back of the lexan.

 

366	Apr 11, 2023	Glare Shield secured	Glare Shield		1
The plans call for stainless rivets. Previous builders used threaded fasteners to the Longerons. And several on/off cycles meant some of the firewall holes were wallowed out, so I used a mix of stainless machine screws with medium loctite, and 5/32 "oops" pulled rivets. Not pretty, but it's airworthy and done.

 

365	Apr 09, 2023	More progress	Various		1
Brakes still clear of air, so removed the temporary reservoir. Reconnected fuel lines.figured out a minor Dynon glitch. Put the glare shield back on, but haven't riveted it in.

 

364	Apr 08, 2023	Brakes finally bled?	Various		2
Reverse bled from the bottom up, using a syringe and a temporary reservoir.

 

363	Mar 25, 2023	Brakes, heat shielding	Various		2
Another frustrating session trying to bleed the brakes. I have concluded the pressure bleeder I borrowed introduces air bubbles into the line, so I'm going to try a different setup tomorrow. I wanted to have some success so I used the last of my small roll of header wrap to insulate one cylinder exhaust, and I fabricated a heat shield for the Starboard side slip joint which is close to the fuel line inlet to the carb.

 

362	Mar 19, 2023	Brakes, carb and controls	Various		7
Finished the revisions to the braking system by mounting the new master cylinder, plumbing the lines, and the parking brake valve, bleeding. I like the new setup and it's much more maintenance friendly than the toe brakes. Also changed the carb needle to a 2.5 and the air filter to a K&N at Jeff Schultz's suggestion, and reconnected the mixture and throttle controls, and cleaned up some cable routings ahead of the firewall. I love stainless steel ty wraps! Oh, and wired the carb to the intake manifold in case the rubber boot fails. Somehow the kill switch wire from the lower mag got disconnected and it was a Bee-yatch getting it back on.

 

361	Feb 11, 2023	New Brake Master Cylinder	Controls		0
After receiving the needed angle from Sonex, I fabricated the mounting brackets in my home shop and took them to the hangar to start the install. I needed to drill out 4 existing rivets on the Port lower Longeron, and 2 were easy, the other two took a 40 minute ride on the Struggle Bus. And I had to modify the brackets to clear the dust boot on the master. The dimensions on the drawings for the holes in the brackets that the AN5 bolts pass through are wrong, as are the holes that attach the outboard bracket to the Longeron.

 

360	Feb 05, 2023	Rocker Shaft Upgrade	Engine		2
I bit the bullet and replaced the stock VW rocker shafts with CB Performance bolt together shafts. It took some fiddling with the spacers to get the proper clearances.

 

359	Jan 16, 2023	Labeling, cleanup, skins	Avionics		2
Replaced temporary labels on blue tape with proper Klein wire labels. Vacuumed up swarf from fuselage nooks and crannies. With fear and trembling, tested SANDING the residue of the 20 year old protective film from the flaps and ailerons. Started with 320 - yes, it leaves swirls, but it cuts the crud, and leaves a nice matte finish, that 600 grit further refines. I'm going to use this on the TOP of the control surfaces before First Flight.

 

358	Jan 15, 2023	Rigged "pigtail" for future aux fuel	Fuel System		1
Plumbed up a fuel inlet per Jeff Schultz's schema. http://www.sonex604.com/aux_fuel.html Also finished removing the toe brakes, and cleaned up the wet, cold shop.

 

357	Jan 08, 2023	Nose wheel pant, more baffling refinement, removing the toe brakes	Landing Gear		5
I never liked the look of the nose wheel pant, so I removed it. I don't see an easy way to modify it to suit me, so Someday I'll fabricate one out of sheet aluminum. Removal involved jacking up the front of the airplane and pulling the nose wheel strut. I spied a leak in the baffling so I installed another little sheet stock patch. Then I wrapped the other exhaust pipe with header wrap, secured with stainless steel ty-raps. Then I started pulling off the toe brakes. Found some odd details. Parts are on order to replace them with a single master.

 

356	Jan 08, 2023	Brakes, Canopy hold open	Controls		3
After picking up the pressure bleeder from Lee @ KCCR, I surveyed the brake situation and decided even if I bleed the existing toe brakes, they will NEVER be easy to service, so I ordered a new dual master cylinder and associated handle and mounting bracket from Sonex. Then turned my attention to installing the Sea Dog hatch spring as a canopy hold open. I wish the spring was a little longer, but it works really well, and does not distort the canopy when closed the way the gas strut did.

 

355	Jan 02, 2023	More work on mixture and throttle relocation	Controls		3
Cut bracket down some more and riveted it to bottom of panel, re-routed cables. Discovered bubbles in brake lines. Revised engine baffles.

 

354	Jan 01, 2023	More work on engine controls	Controls		0
Got the tank loose and finished pulling back the controls. Painted bracket, and started to install, but realized it interfered with full stick movement. Cut it down and repainted it.

 

353	Dec 20, 2022	Auditing carb, relocating controls	Fuel System		3
Pulling the throttle and mixture controls to move them from the center to the left hand fuselage side. Access to everything is extraordinarily difficult. Checked the free motion of the throttle slide while I'm at it. I'll have to pull the tank to re-route the cables, so I drained it.

 

352	Dec 19, 2022	Fuel flow test	Fuel System		2
Used a farm jack to put the nose up as high as possible, over 20 gph achieved for an engine that burns 6 gph at full throttle.

 

351	Dec 02, 2022	Like peeing on the fence post....	Paint / Decals		2
Added MY tail number, data plate and other placards. No leaks in the fuel system.

 

350	Nov 29, 2022	Calibrate fuel sensor	Fuel System		3
With the help of my lovely wife, we calibrated at the Dynon the capacitive fuel probe. The tank WILL NOT accept the advertised 16.5 gallons as a tri-gear with the upper Longeron level, about 14.5 was all you could get in before it dribbles out the filler neck. We propped up the nose wheel and got 16 in it, we could have likely got a little more but as a practical matter I think "full" is 14.5 gallons.

 

349	Nov 22, 2022	Finish new latch	Canopy		2
Took off the gas strut and suddenly the canopy fits! The strut seems to tweak the frame slightly. Finished installing the new latch, recharged the battery (left Master on) and peeled off the "DB" suffix on the tail number as the reservation has expired and someone else has snagged it.

 

348	Nov 06, 2022	Fitting Peter Anson latch	Canopy		1
Worked on fitting the Australian made canopy latch, and decided I could not live with the mis-match between the fuselage and the canopy. The canopy/frame is slightly too wide. Fix pends.

 

347	Nov 05, 2022	Registration received	Documentation		1
Someone snatched the tail number Lee T had reserved that combined Eaa chapter 393 and the original builder, Don Baldwin, so I used my initials and the chapter number. Having this makes it feel real.

 

346	Oct 14, 2022	Fuel cap, tank, door	Fuel System		1
The over center lever fuel cap would not fit under the fuel door, so I built a hot knife to shave down the neck of the tank without putting any debris in the tank. Also filed down the handle a bit.

 

345	Sep 05, 2022	Baffling lily gilding	Engine		3
Plugging every hole. ALL the air that comes in the nostrils WILL flow THROUGH the heads, and NOWHERE else!

 

344	Sep 03, 2022	Mailed in the registration application	Documentation		0
FAA's backup is pretty fierce (5 months?) and the plane needs to be registered before certification.

 

343	Aug 31, 2022	Vent, fuel door	Fuel System		1
Put the Port cowl on, bent the Peter Anson vent assembly to fit, and cut the fuel door to suit.

 

342	Aug 31, 2022	More with the baffles	Engine		2
I liked the Starboard side so much I did the Port side too. And refined the Stbd inlet.

 

341	Aug 30, 2022	Baffling	Engine		5
After buttoning up the stbd intake, I realized I'd forgotten the "Cool Tin" which clips under the barrels before the pushrod tubes and the heads gi on. Rather than dismantle that side of the engine, I elected to fabricate and install some Remaster style head and cylinder shrouds. Once I installed them, I finished reinstalling the exhaust and the Stbd side baffles.

 

340	Aug 28, 2022	Details	Cowl		3
Installed a Tinnerman to secure the lips of the cowl outlet flaps together, and added retaining washers to the Cam-Locks

 

339	Aug 28, 2022	Finished remote fuel shutoff	Fuel System		3
Completed the "rod" (actually some channel stock I had on hand) and the bracket to remotely actuate the fuel tank outlet valve.

 

338	Aug 21, 2022	Installed fuel tank vent	Fuel System		1
I ordered one of Peter Anson's fuel tank vents, complete with check valve to keep fuel in the tank in an overturn. Pete Fernel had an external vent on his airplane and it's a handy attitude reference. Pin the vent on the horizon and you are approximately level. Beautiful part. I have his canopy latch and flap up-stop as well, yet to be installed.

 

337	Aug 21, 2022	Finished tie down	Wings		1
Installed tie down in the right wing

 

336	Aug 10, 2022	New magnetron is in	Engine		2
Changing the top magnetron on an assembled engine is bloody hard. It takes a long hemostat or nut starter and patience. Put your shim against the flywheel magnet before you drop the magnetron in. The magnetron has slotted holes for the attach screws, but mine were bottoming out with the shim in place. Also changed the wire canopy limiter to Paracord to back up the gas strut. The wire had no give and it had the wrong swage fittings. Still working on the remote fuel shutoff. Finished one tie down fitting, but could not find the other eye bolt, ordered some more. Sealed a gap between the canopy and the turtle deck

 

335	Jul 24, 2022	Mod for top vent	Firewall		1
I've decided to go with the top exit for the fuel tank vent, which requires a bite out of the firewall flange.

 

334	Jul 18, 2022	Planning the last mile	Documentation		1
I've managed a lot of projects over my work career, and one of the things you ALWAYS want is an Integrated Master Schedule. There are several tools for doing this, GANNT Charts, CPM, PERT, etc, but I hadn't used ANY of them, until now. Using Google Calendar, I brainstormed all the tasks I could think of needed to get me in the air, broke some of them down into sub-tasks, and started putting them on the calendar. The good news is that even with my limited time available to work on the project, I can get it done this calendar year.

 

333	Jul 18, 2022	Cockpit Work Platform	Fuselage		1
The temporary seat I made is good, but I needed something WITHOUT the back so I can crawl under the panel to work on the fuel system. This is the result, it has legs underneath it so it sits close to level and bears on the SEAT cross-member, NOT on the relatively flimsy rear spar carry through. I can stick my legs down the tailcone and get well under the panel. I wish I was younger sometimes.

 

332	Jul 18, 2022	Stop drilling the cracks in the canopy.	Canopy		2
As previously described, pulling STAINLESS rivets on the Port and Starboard canopy sides in tight holes cracked the canopy all along both sides. I modified a 3/32 or so drill bit per Bingelis "The Sportplane Builder" to a needle like point, and flattened the cutting edges so it scraps rather than carves. I drilled MOST of the cracks, just beyond the tip of the visible crack, IF they had run up far enough to be visible above the aluminum trim. Next I'll fill the holes with clear silicone caulk.

 

331	Jul 10, 2022	Do it like the plans	Fuel System		1
The plans show an aluminum fuel line running through the firewall via a grommet. My airplane has a bulkhead fitting on the firewall. It adds weigh, expense, two points for leakage, and forces you into fabricating a short line with complex geometry you have to tighten up in two places. It took me ALL DAY to make this line, and to install it I have to crawl under the panel. Which I can only barely do with the seat out and my legs down the tail cone and a temporary plywood platform spanning the spar carry throughs.

 

330	Jul 05, 2022	Breather mods for a cleaner belly	Engine		4
Various external devices have been fabricated and sold to keep the breather mung off the belly of VW powered airplanes. SONEX sells one. My VW Engine Sensei (R.S. Hoover, "Veeduber") taught me to keep all that crap inside the engine. The cam gear sprays a lot of droplets toward the breather. The stock VW has a little louvered plate that fits between the top of the case and the generator/alternator tower to knock that down, and the surface area of the tower itself cools down the vapors so it condenses, and by the time it exits the engine, it's relatively clean, just exhaust gases, water, etc. None of this happens with the stock Aerovee breather. Veeduber would stuff as much stainless steel scrubbing pad, trussed up with safety wire, as would fit in the void at the top of the case, below the block off plate. Due to the rubber novelty, sourced from a late 1960's Camaro, used to connect the AeroVee plate to the breather tube, the stock baffle won't fit. So I fabricated one. It acts as an inertial separator, by changing the flow direction, any droplets that get past the pot scrubber (think stainless steel breathable foam) fall out of "solution" when they can't make the corners to get past the baffle. My rubber novelty is ozone checked, and it took some digging to find a replacement (Dorman 47052, available everywhere).

 

329	Jul 04, 2022	Temporary Seat	Fuselage		1
The Sonex seat is very light, very clever, and very much a PITA to install and remove. I need the wings on and off and on this airplane before it flies, so I have no desire to put the seat in at this time, but it's also a PITA to try and work in the cockpit without one. This temporary version is 1/2" ply bottom and 1/4" back, with a Hardware Store piano hinge at the junction. The foam "tractor seat" makes it bearable to sit on.

 

328	Jul 04, 2022	Mods to make it easier to get wings on and off	Wings		2
I had a chance earlier this year to examine and fly a built airplane with some neat mods, some of which I'm adopting. One of the hardest parts of getting the wings on and off is hooking up the flaps. The dropped fasteners I fished out of the leading edges of the wings once they were off attest to that. John Monnet used pins and clips on the prototypes, see the videos, for both the front and rear spars and the flaps, and I'm doing the same. The built airplane I looked out had the two front lightening holes joined into one, to make access from the fuselage into the wing much easier, and I've done the same. There is ANOTHER rib VERY close outboard of the root rib, and I flanged the openings I enlarged to keep the local stiffness needed to maintain the airfoil shape and the structural stiffness in this area for flight loads.

 

327	Jul 04, 2022	Stress cracks	Canopy		3
It's been over a year since the canopy was finished - it was glued on the frame with Sikaflex, per many RV builders. But the lower trim pieces on either side of the canopy at the upper longerons were riveted on, with STAINLESS rivets, and they have stress cracked pretty badly. I'm not sure whether to leave them, in hopes they've relieved themselves, or stop drill every single one of them. ALUMINUM rivets should have been used in my view, as they take far less force to "pop", preferably in oversize holes. This would lead to less compressive stress, and allow the acrylic to move a little. Threaded fasteners, LOOSELY torqued, with nylocks, would have been another good choice. Keep Loctite away from acrylic, it will craze and crack it.

 

326	Jul 04, 2022	From finger strainer to firewall	Fuel System		4
Several hands have worked on the fuel system, and it no longer made sense to me. The plans have the line (aluminum tubing with flare fittings) running straight forward, along the airplane's centerline, to a grommet in the firewall. MANY people consider the grommet to be cheesy, and use a bulkhead fitting, but this forces the line slightly off centerline, and creates a possible interference with the rudder pedals. On THIS airplane, the original builder turned the line 90 degrees with an elbow, and modified the original handle for some form of remote actuation, now lost, when EAA 393 completely re-did the panel. The handle was replaced (see previous log entries), but it was still tough to reach to actuate - not what you want in an emergency. Also, the new handle did not fit the valve properly, and was only held on the stem with a few threads of a shear nut. I didn't like any of it. So I took it all out, and now have to re-fabricate the line in the image of the plans, and rig a remote actuator, using the various examples on Sonex Builders. The pictures show the fuel valve and handle as I found them, the handle side view after modification, the valve full open (note the little aluminum shim super glued in place to take up some slop between the handle and the stem), and the valve full open.

 

325	Jul 04, 2022	Top of the engine	Engine		3
I don't like the AeroVee valve covers. They don't actually cool as well as the thin steel stock covers, and they leak. BUT the stock units won't clear the valve train with the Elephant Foot adjusters, and the high lift cam in the Aerovee. I don't necessarily recommend anyone do as I have done, but I: 1) ground down the rocker arms to get more clearance for adjustment and articulation - those Elephant Foot adjusters are TALL between the rocker and the valve stem. This step in NOT necessary with the "Courier" or "Captive Ball" adjusters currently provided with the AeroVee kits. 2) cut down the adjusters till the slot in the end just about disappeared, cut a new slot, and dressed the ends. 3) Pounded precision dents in the tin valve covers to clear the tips of the adjusters. 4) Cleaned up the chipped paint, painted them inside and out with rattle can black, and baked the dried parts in my toaster oven for an hour at 200 deg F. Convection. 5) Bought the best silicone valve cover gaskets I could find. Buttoned it all back together. Notice my rocker arms use the "clips and wavy washers". Current AeroVee kits use "bolt together" rocker arm shafts. For the moderate lift and low RPM of our engines, I think this is fine, but there is no question the "bolt together" rocker arms are more secure. Everything is assembled with Red Line Synthetic Assembly Lube, which the GearHeads at my local NAPA swear by. I found caked up Lubriplate in several places in this engine, which was first assembled over 20 years ago. The rocker arms and adjusters on this engine are from CB Performance, and use 3/8" x 24 tpi threads, which is NOT the same as stock, and is no longer the aftermarket standard. They were used on AeroVees up until 2006. I'm trying to track down some replacement adjusters, SCAT seems to still make that size. If I can't find any, I'll have to replace the rocker arms as well as the adjusters.

 

324	Jul 04, 2022	Cleared some interferences	Controls		2
I discovered some interferences between the controls and other structure. The first problem was between the aileron stops on the control sticks (this will ONLY ever be an issue on DUAL controls and TRI-GEAR) and the attach bolts for the tri-gear mains. At extreme forward elevator and extreme aileron, they interfered. I shortened BOTH the aileron stops (not enough to diminish their function in any way) AND the second bolt end DOWN from the top of the spar to eliminate it. The second problem was that pushrod for the aileron servo for the autopilot was chafing on the elevator pushrod, again, at the extreme (full back elevator) of the range. I put a very slight bow in the aileron servo pushrod to fix this one.

 

323	Jul 03, 2022	Push rod tubes	Engine		1
Pushrod tubes - the tubes on the engine as I received it had a thick coat of silver paint, and were dented. These are new, and have a THIN coat of BLACK paint, for better heat transfer. Rattle can enamel, baked when dry in my thrift store toaster oven, 200 deg F convection for an hour. Almost as hard as powder coat.

 

322	May 01, 2022	Heads	Engine		2
Got a new head from Sonex, and got the OLD head, that I accidentally punched a hole in the exhaust port of when cleaning up the abundant casting flash, back from a professional welder, so an interesting comparison of the Circa 2001 CB Performance based heads to the 2020 Empi based heads. The Empi (current) heads are on the bottom of picture from the intake ports, and the top of the picture from the chambers, and have much less casting flash, and a higher surface finish. They are the nicest aftermarket VW heads I've ever seen.

 

321	May 01, 2022	Belly Skin is on	Fuselage		0
Finished riveting up the belly skin last month. Spent the day today updating the plans, with the revisions from circa 2001 until now.

 

320	Mar 20, 2022	Still on the belly skin	Fuselage		2
Riveted most of the belly after about 2 hours of struggle getting the machine screws in the tail where the cross tie joins the lower longerons. The picture shows the ONLY access. The screwdriver is at the head of the screw.

 

319	Mar 06, 2022	Aft fuselage belly skin	Fuselage		0
I started about 2 weeks ago fitting the aft fuselage belly skin, after finishing the repairs to the dent in the turtledeck. The pre-drilled skin did not match up 100% with the structure, and I needed some hardware. Today i used some long bar clamps to tweak the fuselage a little bit to get the pilot holes for the machine screws at the forward end line up, and drilled and reamed them to the finished size, and installed the fasteners. I fabricated the needed spacers for that end, and drilled them to suit, and riveted them in place. It was getting cold and I was tired, so I quit before finishing, and there are still some pesky fit up issues.

 

318	Jan 23, 2022	Pulling dents	Fuselage		1
The turtledeck got a little banged up in moving the airplane, as the clamp we improvised to keep the rolling door up was not 100% effective. This afternoon I worked on the skin. As you can see, I drilled the rivets that join the port and starboard skins, and tie them into the C-channel that forms the "spine". Since the Bottom Aft fuselage skin in not on yet, I can (barely) access the underside to "sister" the buckled "spine" - today was about persuading the skin back into alignment using a "Pops-A-Dent" glue pulling tool. It's taking some careful hammer and dolly work as well as this tool, but I'm getting there, without having to re-skin the aft fuselage or fabricate a complex insert. The hot melt glued "dolly" literally pops off the panel when you screw the center knob to the limit. ALSO installed another inspection port cover plate.

 

317	Jan 22, 2022	Shadow Board and Plans stand	Workshop		2
A place to lay out the plans and hang tools, plus it protects my hangar mate's car.

 

316	Jan 22, 2022	Insulating the exhaust	Engine		1
I'm generally not a fan of header wrap. Corrosion Under Insulation is a Thing. But the exhaust runs SO close the fuel line on this installation, it seemed prudent, along with fire sleeving the fuel lines as seen in another entry.

 

315	Jan 22, 2022	More recent completions - Fire Sleeve	Fuel System		3
Fire sleeved all the fuel lines from the firewall forward.

 

314	Jan 07, 2022	Work Continues	Cowl		10
Ryan Young here, the new owner of this project. I've moved it to San Rafael airport, CA35, established my "shop" in half of a leaky Port A Port, and I'm pecking away at the details, mostly firewall forward, sealing up the baffling, improving air flow through the heads, working on the battery box, and putting the lips on the cowl outlets to create a low pressure zone to suck hot air out even in a climb, fabricating inspection port covers, and HOURS of knocking off the 20+ year old protective coating off the flaps and ailerons, not pictured.

 

313	Aug 21, 2021	Moving Day	Project Sale	12	9
I am pleased to report that the EAA Chapter 393 Don Baldwin Sonex project has been purchased by fellow chapter member Ryan Young. Today the wings were removed and the project was loaded into a Uhaul truck and moved to its new home.

 

312	Aug 14, 2021	fabricate Tools To Drive Out Wing Temporary Retaining Pins	Tools	3	1
Lee Teicheira secured bolts and fabricated tools to drive out pins temporarily retaining wings to fuselage.

 

311	Jul 31, 2021	Continue Assembling Hardware For New Owner To Be Able To Finish Assembling Aircraft	Workshop	8	4
Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence continued referencing the plans to determine additional hardware needed to complete the project build, assembling the necessary pieces, bagging and labeling such and sorting the bags for rapid transfer to the new project owner. In addition, we sorted and organized some additional hardware for the shop.

 

310	Jul 28, 2021	Continue Assembling Hardware For New Owner To Be Able To Finish Assembling Aircraft	Workshop	3.8	1
Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence continued checking the plans for hardware requirements necessary for new owner to finish assembling the aircraft, collecting and labeling that hardware that is in inventory and gathering together for new owner.

 

309	Jul 27, 2021	Begin Gathering Materials To Go With The Project When It Is Sold	Workshop	4	2
Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence began gathering materials and pieces that have not yet been installed on the aircraft due to awaiting transfer to new location by new owner and inspection for airworthiness certification.

 

308	Jul 27, 2021	Windscreen Crack Repair Complete	Windscreen	2	1
Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence removed the windscreen from its place on the fuselage, removed all the tape and protective film and inspected the crack repair on the windscreen. The repaired surface area looks solid. Appears to be successful.

 

307	Jul 21, 2021	Repair Crack IN Windscreen	Windscreen	6	4
Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence, after discovering a crack at the screw hole in the left hand lower front corner of the windscreen, drilled a stop hole at the tip of the crack to prevent additional cracking, roughed up the surface on both sides of the windscreen at the site of the crack, mixed up epoxy, cut two strips of fiberglass cloth, laid up the fiberglass and epoxy on both sides of the windscreen, covered both sides with plastic film, taped the plastic in place and put the windscreen in place on the fuselage so that it could set up in its proper position. Will check on the next work day to assess result.

 

306	Jul 20, 2021	Recently Acquired Early Builder's Log Entries And Photos	Documentation	2	17
As Lee Teicheira was going through some documentation received with the Sonex project it was discovered that some previously unknown builder's log entries and photos existed. Those builder's log entries and photos from January 30, 2003 through September 16, 2003 are presented in this entry.

 

305	Jul 20, 2021	Present Project For Sale	Presentation	6	8
Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence put glare shield, cowling and windscreen in place and pulled project outside the hangar for photos in preparation for placing the project up for sale.

 

304	Jul 20, 2021	Modified Elevator Trim Control Cable	Controls	2	1
Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence discovered that the elevator trim control cable was scraping the hole as it passed through a hole in one of the fuselage cross members. After removing the cable fairing for access we installed a grommet where it passed through the hole and applied anti chaffing tape where it exited the fairing and reinstalled the fairing.

 

303	Jul 17, 2021	Technical Counselor Inspection And Repairs	Inspection	14	5
Technical Counselor Rick Stockton from Dixon, CA inspected our project today and found a few items that needed attention. Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence addressed those issues and made the necessary corrections. Item 1: A rear fuselage cross-member had a rivet missing. Found that the rivet hole was misdrilled and the hole was moved and a rivet was installed. Item 2: A bolt connecting the left hand longeron and and a rear crossmember was too long. Long bolt was replaced with the correct length. Item 3: A screw holding a clip for the elevator trim cable was loose. Screw was tightened. Item 4: A screw holding the canopy rear bow was not secure. The screw was too long and bent preventing the nut from tightening properly. The screw was removed, straightened, shortened, and replaced properly. Item 5: The right hand aileron control rod end was misaligned preventing the bearing from moving freely. The jam nut was loosened, the end was realigned and the jam nut re-tightened.

 

302	Jul 10, 2021	Test Alternator Output	Engine	6	1
Suspecting that the alternator output was less than adequate, Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence checked the voltage at several locations in the system then isolated the alternator, started the engine and took a reading directly from the alternator. A reading of 12.2 volts was obtained, which agreed with the reading on the EFIS. Not as much as was anticipated but adequate to keep the battery fully charged. Rechecked for oil leaks at the valve covers and none were observed.

 

301	Jul 10, 2021	Fabricate New Valve Cover Screw Seals	Engine	1.5	1
Bill Lawrence fabricated new seals for the screws that attach the valve covers to the cylinder heads.

 

300	Jul 07, 2021	Apply Additional Coat Of Paint To Glare Shield	Glare Shield	1	1
Bill Lawrence Applied an additional coat of paint to the glare shield.

 

299	Jul 07, 2021	Re-install The Fuel Tank	Fuel System	1	2
Bill Lawrence re-installed the fuel tank and re-connected the fuel line and fuel probe wires.

 

298	Jul 07, 2021	Bleed Right Hand Landing Gear Brake One More Time.	Landing Gear	2	1
Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence bled the right hand brake one more time to remove an air bubble that developed overnight. All seems to be good now and the brake pedal linkage was reinstalled.

 

297	Jul 06, 2021	Bleeding Landing Gear Brakes Again To Remove Air Bubbles	Landing Gear	6	2
Lee Teicheira, Bill Lawrence and Ryan Young bled brake lines again to remove bubbles that formed since last brake bleeding procedure. Letting system sit overnight to check for bubbles the next day.

 

296	Jul 06, 2021	Continue Modifications to Glare Shield and Fit Shield to Fuel Tank and Longerons	Glare Shield	6	3
Lee Teicheira, Ryan Young and Bill Lawrence riveted fuel tank rear positioning brackets to the glare shield and fit glare shield to longerons and fuel tank.

 

295	Jul 03, 2021	Modify Glare Shield To Fit Over Fuel Tank	Glare Shield	5	1
Lee Teicheira, Ryan Young and Bill Lawrence Found that the glare shield would not fit over fuel tank properly due to improper placement of fuel tank rear limiting brackets and began modifications. Original bracket mounting rivets were drilled out to remove old brackets. New Brackets were fabricated, proper mounting hole placements were determined and mounting holes were drilled. Old mounting holes were filled with solid rivets. Now new brackets need to be riveted to glare shield in new proper locations.

 

294	Jul 03, 2021	Rework Fuel Tank Mounting Straps	Fuel System	9	4
Lee Teicheira, Ryan Young and Bill Lawrence measured positions on longerons for proper fuel tank lower support strap locations, drilled new strap mounting holes, re-contoured straps to properly fit tank and installed straps on longerons. Afterwards, placed tank in position to check for glare shield proper fit.

 

293	Jun 30, 2021	Clean Oil Breather Tube	Engine	2	1
Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence removed, cleaned and smoothed Breather tube surface and reinstalled tube.

 

292	Jun 30, 2021	Completed Connecting All Control Linkage	Controls	8	3
Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence finished connecting all of the control linkage. Adjustments and rigging appear to be very good. Moving on to installing fuel tank and glare shield. It is going to require some modifications and adjustments to make them fit properly.

 

291	Jun 29, 2021	Complete Hinge Pin Installation on Ailerons and Flaps	Wings	10	5
Lee Teicheira, Ryan Young and Bill Lawrence completed measuring, cutting, installing and pinning the hinge pins on the ailerons and flaps. Aileron actuating rods were adjusted to proper length to permit proper rigging.

 

290	Jun 29, 2021	Install missing Rivets	Fuselage	2	1
Ryan Young found several locations on the fuselage, wings and control surfaces where rivets were missing and drilled necessary holes, deburred holes and installed rivets.

 

289	Jun 24, 2021	Complete Hinge Pin Installation on Rudder and Elevator	Controls	9	4
Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence found that the hinge pin installation was not completed on the rudder and elevator. They measured and cut three hinge pins, drilled holes in the ends of the hinges for the cotter pins and installed the cotter pins in each end of the hinges to capture the hinge pins.

 

288	Jun 22, 2021	Continue Connecting Aileron Linkage and Rigging Ailerons	Controls	8	2
Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence continue connecting and rigging the aileron linkage. Linkage from the control sticks to the bellcranks are completed. Left hand aileron is installed but not rigged.

 

287	Jun 12, 2021	Continue Connecting Aileron Linkage and Rigging Ailerons	Controls	8	0
Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence continued connecting linkage and rigging ailerons.

 

286	Jun 12, 2021	Finish Deburring Rivet Holes For Wing Root Doublers	Wings	1	1
Bill Lawrence finished deburring the rivet holes and edges of the wing root doublers and wing walk panel.

 

285	Jun 09, 2021	Finish Drilling and Deburring Rivet Holes For Wing Root Doublers	Wings	9	3
Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence finished drilling and deburring the rivet holes for the wing root doublers.

 

284	Jun 08, 2021	Add End Rivets And A Latch Knob To The Canopy Left Hand Lower Rail	Canopy	4	4
Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence added end rivets and a latch knob to the left hand canopy lower rail. RRY 2023 notes: riveting this lower trim piece in place caused the canopy to crack. If you must rivet this, use soft aluminum poppers with aluminum stems

 

283	Jun 08, 2021	Drill And Cleco Left Wing Doubler And Wing Walk	Wings	4	3
Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence completed drilling and clecoing the right hand wing doubler and partially drilling and clecoing the left hand wing doubler and wing walk.

 

282	Jun 05, 2021	Connect Aileron linkage	Wings	13	3
Lee Teicheira, Ryan Young and Bill Lawrence connected the aileron linkage.

 

281	Jun 02, 2021	Compete Flap Rigging and Connect Ailerons	Wings	9	0
Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence completed the flap rigging, installed the ailerons and connected most of the aileron linkage.

 

280	Jun 01, 2021	Rig Wing Flaps	Wings	8	0
Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence rigged the wing flaps.

 

279	May 29, 2021	Complete Engine Wiring	Engine	8	4
Marc Ausman and John Koehler completed securing and tidying up the engine wiring.

 

278	May 26, 2021	Install Flaps and Fabricate Flap Fairings	Controls	9	2
Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence installed the flaps and fabricated the flap fairings.

 

277	May 25, 2021	Install Ailerons and Linkage Control Linkage For Flaps	Controls	13.5	3
Lee Teicheira, Bill Lawrence and Ryan Young installed the ailerons and connected the control linkage for the flaps.

 

276	May 22, 2021	Continue Work On Engine and Avionics Wiring and Connections	Avionics	6	3
Mark Ausman and John Koehler worked on completing the engine and avionics wiring and connections.

 

275	May 22, 2021	Retrieve Flaps and Ailerons from Storage	Wings	2	1
Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence retrieved the ailerons and flaps from storage and sorted the control rods and hardware in preparation for installation.

 

274	May 22, 2021	Reinstall Engine Cooling Baffles	Engine	1	0
Bill Lawrence reinstalled the engine cooling baffles.

 

273	May 19, 2021	Further Evaluate Magnetron Ignition Coils	Ignition	8	0
Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence used an ignition spark tester to fully evaluate all six of the Magnetron ignition coils and found two that presented the expected proper characteristics. The engine was then started and run, doing a mag check. Again, the primary Magnetron ignition system failed.

 

272	May 18, 2021	Test New Magnet For Magnetron Ignition	Ignition	7	1
Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence continued reassembling the engine by installing the intake manifold, the rear cooling baffle and reconnecting all the wires and tubes. Test running the engine revealed that the Magnetron would still not work and there was no change from before. Stumped!!

 

271	May 15, 2021	Replace Magnet for Magnetron Ignition System	Ignition	9	1
The new trigger magnet for the Magnetron ignition system arrived. Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence disconnected all the wires and tubes to the engine and pulled it from its mount. The new magnet had more square corners where the old one had rounded corners so some hand milling was required on the shoes to properly seat the new magnet. The engine is rehung on its mount, ready to reconnect all the wires and tubes.

 

270	May 12, 2021	Trim L/H Wing Doubler and Wing Walk	Wings	8	2
Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence finished sanding and fitting the R/H wing doubler and marked, trimmed, sanded, and fit the L/H wing doubler and wing walk.

 

269	May 12, 2021	Trim Wing Doubler	Wings	6	2
Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence marked, trimmed, sanded and fit the R/H wing doubler.

 

268	May 08, 2021	Fit Wings to Fuselage	Wings	6	8
Lee Teicheira, Ryan Young and Bill Lawrence managed to fit wings to the fuselage and install pins through holes in spar tunnel and spars. A GOOD day!

 

267	May 08, 2021	Test For Spark At Spark Plugs	Ignition	6	0
Lee Teicheira, Ryan Young and Bill Lawrence tested for spark at spark plugs, installed plugs and torqued, reconnected wires and ran engine. Mag check revealed that Magnetron ignition still not working.

 

266	May 05, 2021	Add Ground Wire From Magnetron Ignition Coils to Engine Block	Ignition	6	2
Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence added direct ground wires from the Magnetron ignition coils to the engine block. Ran engine and checked mags. Still will not run on primary Magnetron ignition system. Running out of ideas for solving problem.

 

265	May 04, 2021	Engine Oil Filler Cap	Engine	1	1
Lee Teicheira secured and installed the specified oil filler cap.

 

264	Apr 28, 2021	Finish Reassembly of the Ancillary Parts of the Engine and Check the Magnetron Ignition.	Ignition	6	0
Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence regapped the Magnetron coils, cleaned and regapped the spark plugs and reattached all the wires to the engine in preparation for a Mag check. There was no rubbing between the flywheel magnet and the Magnetron coils now but the Magnetron Ignition system STILL will not fire! A BIG disappointment! Back to the drawing board!

 

263	Apr 27, 2021	Pull Engine to Inspect Magnetron Ignition Magnet on Flywheel	Ignition	8	3
Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence pulled engine, inspected, cleaned and realigned magnet on flywheel for Magnetron Ignition system. Reinstalled engine on mount.

 

262	Apr 21, 2021	Check Piston Positions and Plugs for Magnetron Ignition Firing	Ignition	2	0
Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence pulled Magnetron fired plugs for cylinders 1 and 2 and found that plug for cylinder 2, upper Magnetron fired, was not firing but plug 1, lower Magnetron fired, appeared to be firing. Confirms suspicions that magnet rubbing on upper Magnetron coil is probably the problem. Clearance issues will be addressed. Piston positions appeared to be correct for Magnetron firing timing.

 

261	Apr 21, 2021	Work On Securing Proper Clearance To Install Wings Through Spar Tunnel Continues	Wings	4	0
Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence continued to file and dress spar bolt blocks to secure adequate clearance. Will attempt to install wings again on Saturday.

 

260	Apr 20, 2021	Work On Securing Proper Clearance To Install Wings Through Spar Tunnel Continues	Wings	8	0
Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence continued to make progress on filing the wing mounting bolt blocks to make sufficient clearance for the wing spars to pass through the spar tunnel. Getting closer but not there yet.

 

259	Apr 19, 2021	Continue Work On Securing Proper Clearance To Install Wings Through Spar Tunnel	Wings	6	0
Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence continued work on securing proper clearance to install wing spars through spar tunnel. Filed block for bolt that is thicker than required to permit passage through spar tunnel.

 

258	Apr 14, 2021	Work On Securing Proper Clearance To Install Wings Through Spar Tunnel	Wings	6	0
Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence worked on wing spars to create enough clearance for them to pass each other inside the spar tunnel. Closer but not there yet.

 

257	Apr 14, 2021	Complete Replacing Short Rivets Securing Fuselage Rear Skin To Longerons	Fuselage	2	0
Bill Lawrence completed replacing short rivets securing fuselage skin to longerons.

 

256	Apr 13, 2021	Continue Drilling Out and Replacing Short Rivets In Fuselage Skin	Fuselage	6	1
Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence continued drilling out and replacing rivets securing the fuselage skin to the longerons that were too short. Did about 70 today. About 25 left to finish tomorrow.

 

255	Apr 10, 2021	Continue Replacing Fuselage Skin To Longeron Rivets That Are Too Short.	Fuselage	5	0
Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence continued the process of replacing the fuselage rear skin to longeron rivets that were too short. The bottom row of CCP42 rivets were replaced with CCP43s on both sides. About 60 rivets were drilled out today, the holes deburred and new longer rivets were installed.The upper row with the overlapping skins will require CCP44s, which are on order.

 

254	Apr 06, 2021	Replace Rivets Securing Fuselage Skin That Are Too Short	Fuselage	4	1
Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence identified about 220 rivets securing the fuselage rear skin to longerons that are too short. Began drilling out about 60 original rivets and replaceing them with proper length rivets. Will continue process when ordered additional rivets arrive.

 

253	Apr 06, 2021	Wing Flap Piano Hinge Rivet Irregularity	Wings	2	3
Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence identified an improper rivet installation on the wing flap piano hinge and drilled out that rivet and both adjacent rivets to properly correct the improper installation.

 

252	Apr 03, 2021	Take Measurements Of Spar Thicknesses and Spar Tunnel Opening	Wings	4	1
Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence measured the thicknesses of the spars at the points where the bolts pass through the spar tunnel and the spars as well as the width of the tunnel and found that the thickness of the spars is too great to pass through the tunnel. Now determining the amount of the discrepancy and the best solution to remedy the problem.

 

251	Apr 03, 2021	Third Set of Magnetron Ignition Coils Unsuccessful	Ignition	4	1
Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence completed installing the third set of Magnetron ignition coils, confirmed that the gap was correct and adequate and test started the engine. Again, the engine will ran only on the secondary electronic ignition. Convinced that the problem is not with the coils, back to the drawing board for a solution.

 

250	Mar 31, 2021	Replace Motor Mount Bushings and Bolts and Magnetron Ignition Coils	Engine	6	2
Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence lifted the engine with an engine hoist and replaced the engine motor mount bushings and bolts with new bushings and the proper length bolts. Additionally, the newly received Magnetron ignition coils were installed and clearance with the flywheeel magnet was checked.

 

249	Mar 31, 2021	Continue Effort to Install Wings	Wings	8	1
Lee Teicheira, Bob Rudolph and Bill Lawrence continued the effort to make the left and right wing spars fit into the spar tunnel with no success. It was discovered that there is insufficient clearance and that issue will need to be further addressed. Wings were removed and clearances will need to be checked and corrected accordingly.

 

248	Mar 30, 2021	Aligning Bolt Holes In Wing Spars and Spar Tunnel	Wings	8	2
Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence spent the day aligning the bolt holes in the spar and spar tunnel for the right wing. Still working on the left wing. Spars are very tight in the tunnel.

 

247	Mar 27, 2021	Install Wing Spars in Spar Box In Fuselage	Wings	4	5
Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence inserted wing spars into wing spar boxes in fuselage in preparation for rigging and bolting in place.

 

246	Mar 27, 2021	Ream Wing Anchor Bolt Holes to Proper Size	Wings	2	2
Lee Teicheira reamed wing anchor bolt holes to proper size to accept anchor bolts.

 

245	Mar 27, 2021	Install Seat Belt Shoulder Belts	Interior Finish	2	2
Bill Lawrence enlarged shoulder harness mounting bolt holes to proper size, assembled anchor bolts, washers, nuts and shoulder straps and torqued nuts to specs. Routed shoulder straps to seat belts and connected.

 

244	Mar 25, 2021	Installed Seat Belts	Interior Finish	4	2
Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence installed seat belts per plans.

 

243	Mar 20, 2021	Rearrange Workshop In Preparation For Installing Wings	Workshop	4	2
Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence rearranged the workshop to accommodate the installation of the wings.

 

242	Mar 20, 2021	Fill Extraneous Holes In Fuselage Skin	Fuselage	3	2
Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence filled extraneous unneeded holes in the fuselage skin with solid rivets.

 

241	Mar 20, 2021	Tack Cockpit Upholstery In Place	Interior Finish	3	0
Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence completed tacking in cockpit upholstery, putting it in place for final complete installation later.

 

240	Mar 17, 2021	Disassemble and Inspect Control Stick Pivots	Controls	3	0
Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence, looking for the cause of stiffness in the control stick aileron movement, disconnected the auto pilot servo rod and found the resistance to be in the servo itself. Being an inherent characteristic, the linkage was reassembled.

 

239	Mar 17, 2021	Remove Lower Magnetron Coil	Ignition	2	1
Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence removed the lower Magnetron ignition coil in anticipation of the arrival of new coils to be installed hopefully on Saturday.

 

238	Mar 16, 2021	Attach Snaps For Seat Backrest	Interior Finish	4	2
Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence measured, center punched for holes, drilled, deburred and secured snaps for the seat backrest.

 

237	Mar 16, 2021	The Magnetron Ignition Dilema Continues	Ignition	4	2
Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence remove the upper engine cooling baffles to access the upper Magnetron ignition coil in preparation for replacement. Unfortunately, the genuine Briggs and Stratton coil was replaced by an updated part and it is physically different and will not fit the rear engine adapter plate. Back to the drawing board for another attempt at a solution.

 

236	Mar 10, 2021	Rivet Seat Sling Piano Hinge	Fuselage	2	2
Bill Lawrence riveted the upper seat sling piano hinge to the fuselage. Left the lower front hinge loose for access to the area beneath the seat for now. The wiring crew may not be completely finished with the autopilot servo.

 

235	Mar 10, 2021	Continue Testing and Research Into Magnetron Ignition Concern	Ignition	4	0
Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence continued testing the Magnetron ignition system and researching the concern. Everything seems to be pointing to the ignition coils being defective or too weak to generate sufficient spark.

 

234	Mar 09, 2021	Finished Installing Tail Cone Rivets	Fuselage	5	2
While Lee Teicheira researched the Magnetron ignition concern, Bill Lawrence finished riveting the L/H side of the fuselage tail cone.

 

233	Mar 09, 2021	Another Attempt to Run Engine On Magnetron Ignition	Ignition	5	0
Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence secured NGK spark plugs, gapped and installed plugs, added some 100LL fuel and started engine. Again, runs very well on electronic ignition but will not run on Magnetron ignitiion. Back to the drawing board! Of good consequence, no oil leaks from newly installed oil cooler or valve covers.

 

232	Mar 07, 2021	Rivet A Portion of the Tail Cone Sheet Metal	Fuselage	4	2
Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence drilled, deburred and clecoed remaining holes to size. Riveted a portion of the fuselage tail cone. More to be riveted on next work day.

 

231	Mar 07, 2021	Still Researching No Spark From Magnetron Ignition	Ignition	4	2
Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence removed the side engine cooling baffles to access upper spark plugs, removed upper spark plugs and again tested for spark from the Magnetron ignition using a spark plug tester. Still no spark. Still continuing to research the problem.

 

230	Mar 03, 2021	Cleco Fuselage Tail Cone, Order Specified Rivets	Fuselage	5	2
Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence clecoed the fuselage tail cone and researched the plans to determine rivet requirements and ordered needed rivets.

 

229	Mar 03, 2021	Install New Oil Cooler on Engine	Engine	2	1
Bill Lawrence installed new oil cooler on engine. Lee Teicheira continued researching why the Magnatron coil ignition will not fire the upper spark plugs.

 

228	Mar 02, 2021	Successful Engine Run	Engine	5	2
Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence prepared the plane for an engine test run by adding fuel to tank, disconnect battery tender and connecting negative cable, replaced seals on valve cover retaining bolts, replacing and torquing lower spark plugs and pulling plane out of hangar and tying it to Lee's pickup to anchor. Having made adjustments to the carburetor, the engine started readily, ran well and idled smoothly after warming up! A very successful attempt. The only negative, it would not run on the magnatron ignition alone. More research and testing to find the problem.

 

227	Feb 28, 2021	Install New Throttle Cable	Engine	9	3
Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence enlarged hole in instrumental panel to accommodate new throttle cable, installed new cable, reinstalled carburetor and adjusted both the throttle cable and mixture cable, reinstalled fuel tank and aligned fuel tube to fuel valve to properly connect.

 

226	Feb 24, 2021	Recheck Oil Pressure and Short Engine Run	Engine	10	6
Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence pulled lower spark plugs and cranked engine to verify that oil pressure was now normal. All good. Pulled plane from hangar and started engine. Engine ran but very roughly. Now appears to be a fuel concern. After researching carburetor, it appears that engine is running lean. Checked Needle valve adjustment and found it to be incorrect. Adjusted needle valve and reinstalled carburetor. Found Throttle cable to have rough operation and sticking. Drained fuel tank and removed tank for access to cable routing through firewall. Removed cable. Ordered new cable.

 

225	Feb 23, 2021	Remove, Inspect, Clean and Replace Oil Pressure Relief Valves	Engine	7	3
In the pursuit to resolve the excess oil pressure concern, Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence researched the concern, located the location of the oil pressure relief valves on the underside of the engine case, fabricated a tool to remove the relief valve caps, removed the caps and the pressure valve springs and determined that the relief valve pistons were stuck in the bore. Lee used a 12 mm thread tap to engage the open end of the piston and, with significant effort, was able to free both pistons. After cleaning and polishing both pistons and determining that they moved freely in the bore, they were, according to the engine assembly instructions, lubed and reinserted along with the springs and caps. All set to go forward with rechecking for proper oil pressure.

 

224	Feb 21, 2021	Start Engine Check Systems	Engine	2	2
Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence pulled plane from hangar, secured to anchor and started engine. Unfortunately, new oil cooler also leaked and necessitated engine shut down. Must now determine why engine appears to be developing too much oil pressure.

 

223	Feb 21, 2021	Install New Oil Cooler on Engine	Engine	2.5	1
Bill Lawrence installed new oil cooler on engine, reattached carburetor and checked systems prior to engine start.

 

222	Feb 21, 2021	Paint Glare Shield	Fuselage	1	1
Lee Teicheira applied second coat of flat black texture paint to glare shield.

 

221	Feb 18, 2021	Remove Oil Cooler	Engine	4	1
Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence disconnected oil cooler lines and, removed oil cooler, researched sources for replacement oil cooler and ordered new part.

 

220	Feb 18, 2021	Continue Engine First Start Attempt	Engine	6	1
Lee Teicheira, Harvard Holmes and Bill Lawrence finished reassembling engine cooling baffles and checking all connections prior to another engine first start attempt. This time the engine had spark but the timing was still off as signified by the backfiring. After pulling spark plugs to determine TDC and check timing marks and then again setting secondary electronic ignition timing, the engine did start momentarily but was shut down immediately due to a leak in the oil cooler itself.

 

219	Feb 17, 2021	Install New Magnatron Ignition Coils	Ignition	7	1
Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence installed new both upper and lower Magnatron ignition coils and began re-installation of all pieces previously removed for access.

 

218	Feb 14, 2021	Re-set Secondary Ignition Timing	Ignition	4	0
After consulting with technical advisor at Sonex and researching proper secondary ignition timing procedure, Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence checked secondary ignition timing and found it to be far advanced of specs. They then proceeded to adjust timing to the specified setting of 28 degrees BTDC.

 

217	Feb 14, 2021	Adjust Wheel Bearings	Landing Gear	3	0
After awaiting the arrival of the correct size cotter pins, Bill Lawrence jacked up plane, adjusted wheel bearings and installed correct size cotter pins.

 

216	Feb 10, 2021	Bleeding Landing Gear Brakes	Landing Gear	6	4
Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence disconnected line to fuel tank and relocated tank for access to brake master cylinders, shimmed right hand brake master cylinder rod for proper motion, bled both brakes and reinstalled fuel tank. Lee improvised a hand sprayer tank to use for a pressure brake bleeder. It worked well!

 

215	Feb 09, 2021	Diagnose And Remove Magnatron Coils	Engine	10	1
Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence diagnose Magnatron coils to be defective and proceed to remove them for replacement.

 

214	Feb 06, 2021	Continue Engine First Start Attempt	Engine	10	2
Lee Teicheira, Marc Ausman, John Koehler, Eric Schuldt and Bill Lawrence pulled plane out of hangar, Tied to pick-up for anchoring and attempted to start engine. After several attempts, engine would not start. Had fuel and compression but no spark. Put it back in hangar and will further investigate reason for no spark.

 

213	Feb 03, 2021	Research Fitting Wings To Fuselage	Research	4	1
Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence researched plans for instructions to fit wings to fuselage and searched hardware to assemble bolts, washers, caste nuts and cotter pins necessary for operation.

 

212	Feb 03, 2021	Shorten Oil Cooler Inlet Line	Engine	2	6
Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence removed oil cooler inlet line, removed fittings on one end, cut 1 inch from hose, reassembled hose and reinstalled line. Cranked engine to check for leaks and fit cowl to check clearance. All is good.

 

211	Feb 02, 2021	Made and Installed Shorter Oil Cooler Lines	Engine	5	3
Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence installed cowl to check for oil cooler line clearance and found oil cooler lines to be too long and hitting cowl. Removed cowl, oil cooler lines, shortened lines and reinstalled, cranked engine to check for oil leaks and reinstalled cowl to again check clearance. Right Hand oil cooler line is still too long and will have to be shortened a little more for proper clearance.

 

210	Feb 02, 2021	Install Brake Line Fittings On Wheels, Reassemble Wheel Assembies And Form Brake Line Tubes	Landing Gear	5	2
Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence modified one brake line fitting to fit properly, installed fittings on wheel cylinders, reassembled wheel assemblies and fabricated brake lines at wheels.

 

209	Jan 31, 2021	Continue Work On Replacing Brake Line At Wheel Cylinder	Landing Gear	9	1
Lee Teicheira, Tracy Peters and Bill Lawrence removed both wheels and brake assemblies to access angled fitting at wheel cylinder to replace with correct aviation fitting. Repacked wheel bearing prior to reassembly.

 

208	Jan 31, 2021	Made and Installed New Oil Cooler Lines	Engine	4	3
Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence made and installed new oil cooler lines.

 

207	Jan 30, 2021	Replace Handle On Fuel Valve	Fuel System	.5	1
Bill Lawrence replaced fuel valve handle with a longer, easier to operate handle. RRY Note: what's shown here is not to plans, and I revised it later.

 

206	Jan 30, 2021	Make New Fuel Line and Install	Fuel System	3	1
Lee Teicheira made new fuel line, Bill Lawrence installed line and repositioned throttle cable to eliminate interference.

 

205	Jan 30, 2021	Remove Oil Cooler Lines And Fuel Line	Engine	1.5	1
Bill Lawrence removed oil cooler lines and fuel line in preparation for making new lines.

 

204	Jan 30, 2021	Static Time Engine	Ignition	6	1
Eric Schuldt and Tracy Peters pulled lower spark plugs, positioned spark plug wires for number 1 and number 3 cylinder near valve covers so as to be able to check for spark and rocked prop to set timing for electronic ignition.

 

203	Jan 26, 2021	Rearrange Shop	Workshop	4	1
At a standstill waiting for parts and pieces to arrive, Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence rearranged the shop to make it more work friendly and did some cleaning up.

 

202	Jan 26, 2021	Improve Engine Breather Tube Routing and Fit	Engine	4	3
Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence removed forward section of engine breather tube, shortened forward end of rear tube, reinstalled front section of tube pulling rear section forward away from firewall and added adel clamp at lower end to stabilize and move that end away form firewall.

 

201	Jan 23, 2021	Engine Oil Pressure Check	Engine	20	4
Lee Teicheira, Bill Lawrence, Marc Ausman, John Koehler and Eric Schuldt moved aircraft outside, secured tail, pulled lower spark plugs and turned engine over using starter to check for oil pressure. Found that engine has good oil pressure but has a leak at hose from oil pump to oil cooler. Will need new hose to repair leak. Discovered also that engine timing issues will need to be addressed.

 

200	Jan 20, 2021	Added Fuel To Fuel Tank	Fuel System	2	1
Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence added fuel to fuel tank and checked for leaks. Identified a leak in line form gascolator to carburetor and tightened loose fittings.

 

199	Jan 20, 2021	Fill Engine Crankcase With Oill	Engine	4	2
Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence secured proper engine break-in oil, located proper engine oil fill location, removed stuck plug at distributor hole, added proper amount of oil and marked dipstick for LOW engine oil level, added additional oil to bring to proper FULL engine oil level and marked dipstick.

 

198	Jan 20, 2021	Continue Work On Brake Lines	Landing Gear	6	2
Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence, after securing necessary fitting for R/H brake line connector, completed connecting brake lines for both sides, relocated fuel tank to access brake master cylinders and began brake line bleeding process.

 

197	Jan 19, 2021	Safety Wire Carbureter to Intake Manifold	Engine	1	1
Bill Lawrence safety wired carburetor to intake manifold. Ryan 2023 note: at some point the carb got removed, and I had to do this again.

 

196	Jan 19, 2021	Propeller Onto Hub and Torque Temporary Bolts.	Propeller	7	6
Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence secured sufficient temporary bolts, nuts and washers to pull propeller onto hub, torqued bolts and checked propeller tracking. Prop fit well and tracking was excellent. Awaiting arrival of correct bolts and nuts to finish installation completely.

 

195	Jan 17, 2021	Prep Propeller for Installation	Propeller	2	2
Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence researched propeller installation instruction, fitted prop to hub and determined necessary hardware requirements for completion of installation.

 

194	Jan 17, 2021	Reinstall Exhaust Manifolds and Install EGT Sensors	Engine	3	3
Bill Lawrence reinstalled exhaust Manifolds and installed EGT sensors in manifolds.

 

193	Jan 17, 2021	Weld Stainess Steel Nuts To Exhaust Manifolds	Engine	6	1
Eric Shuldte welded stainless steel nuts to previously drilled holes in exhaust manifolds to accommodate the EGT sensors and returned manifolds to hangar.

 

192	Jan 17, 2021	Complete One Brake Line	Landing Gear	1	1
Lee Teicheira flared the necessary brake line for the L/H brake assembly and completed the installation on that side. Progress on the R/H side was delayed due to lack of a necessary fitting.

 

191	Jan 13, 2021	Begin Work On Adding Metal Brake Line At Brake Wheel Cylinder	Landing Gear	6	2
Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence began work on adding metal brake lines at brake wheel cylinders to isolate plastic brake line from heat generated by braking. Fittings, line and flaring tools were procured and both practiced flaring tubing in advance of fabricating final product. Upon removing previous plastic line connection it was discovered the connection was missing the inner metal tube inside plastic line used for reinforcement. Progress halted until metal tube can be procured prior to next work day.

 

190	Jan 13, 2021	Drill Holes and Rivet Quarter Turn Retainer onto Cowl	Cowl	2	1
Bill Lawrence drilled holes, countersunk for rivets and riveted quarter turn retainer onto cowl to replace the one removed in order to reinforce the area around the tube added to guide the hinge pin into the cowl lower hinge.

 

189	Jan 12, 2021	Trim and Dress Cowl Fibreglass Reinforcement.	Cowl	1.5	2
Bill Lawrence trimmed and dressed the previously layed fibreglass reinforcement for the guide tube to help locate the lower front cowl hinge pin.

 

188	Jan 12, 2021	Make Spark Plug Wires for the Lower Spark Plugs	Ignition	6	4
Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence secured materials and made spark plug wires for the lower spark plugs, routed and installed wires and secured wires to spark plugs and ignition coils.

 

187	Jan 10, 2021	Locate and Mark TDC and Timing Mark on Propeller Hub and Adjust Valves	Engine	3	3
Eric Schuldt removed engine valve covers, located TDC and timing mark and marked them on the propeller hub, adjusted valves and replaced valve covers.

 

186	Jan 10, 2021	Shorten Hinge Pin Tube in Lower Cowl and Lay Up Fibreglass for Reinforcement	Cowl	4	3
Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence cut hinge pin guide tube in lower cowl to proper length, dressed cut surface and layed up fibreglass over area for reinforcement.

 

185	Jan 10, 2021	Plug Spark Plug Wire Hole in Rear Engine Baffle	Engine	1	1
Bill Lawrence modified rubber plug to fit around spark plug wires and plugged grommet hole in rear engine cooling baffle.

 

184	Jan 09, 2021	Continue Engine Wiring and Drill Holes for EGT Sensors	Engine	12	2
Marc Ausman, John Koehler and Lee Teicheira continued work on the wiring for the engine and drilled holes in the intake manifolds for the EGT sensors. They also installed, plumbed and wired the fuel tank. All sensors were providing readings on the EFIS.

 

183	Jan 06, 2021	Reposition CHT sensor on R/H Bank Spark Plugs	Engine	2	1
Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence removed R/H engine cooling baffle to access R/H bank spark plugs, loosen plugs, reposition CHT sensors, torque spark plugs and reinstall cooling baffle.

 

182	Jan 06, 2021	Secure Cylinder Head Baffle With Safety Wire.	Engine	2	2
Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence secured cylinder head baffle with safety wire to prevent interference with pushrod tubes.

 

181	Jan 06, 2021	Fabricate and Epoxy Hinge Pine Guide Tube for Cowl and Cut hole in Cowl to Access Gascolator.	Cowl	1	4
Lee Teicheira fabricated and epoxyed hinge pin guide tube in place on cowl to ease installation of piano hinge pin. Cut hole in cowl for access to gascolator valve for securing fuel sample.

 

180	Jan 06, 2021	Shorten Oil Cooler Lines	Engine	1.5	4
Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence remove, disassemble, cut, reassemble and reinstall oil cooler lines to provide clearance between cowl and lines.

 

179	Jan 05, 2021	Engine and Oil Cooler Cooling Baffles Complete!	Engine	9	14
Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence reached a milestone in the project today! the engine and oil cooler cooling baffles were completed. Today we finished drilling and deburring the rivet holes for the oil cooler baffles, cut and fit the seals and riveted all the pieces together. ALL OF THE ENGINE BAFFLE WORK IS DONE!

 

178	Jan 03, 2021	Continue Engine Oil Cooler Baffle Work	Engine	10	3
Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence continue work on the engine oil cooler baffles and related seals. We finalized the seal retainers, cut the seals to length and clecoed all pieces in place on the upper baffle. On the lower baffle we trimmed the baffle to better fit the cowl and provide the proper gap for the seal.

 

177	Dec 30, 2020	Continue Engine Cooling Baffle Work - Left Front Lower	Engine	9	4
Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence continue to fit left side upper engine oil cooler baffle to cowl for proper seal spacing spacing and begin fabricating seal retainers. Tedious work requiring removing cowl and baffle for baffle trimming many times to creep in on proper fit.

 

176	Dec 29, 2020	Continue Engine Oil Cooler Baffle Work	Engine	9	4
Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence fabricated and installed a L-bracket to support the center of the upper engine oil cooler baffle and trimmed right side of the upper engine oil cooler baffle to provide proper spacing between baffle and engine cowl.

 

175	Dec 27, 2020	Continue Engine Cooling Baffle Work - Left Front Lower	Engine	9	6
Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence continued work on the left front lower engine cooling baffles seals. The previously drilled holes in the seal retainers were deburred, the seals were cut and rivet holes punched, the seals, retainers and baffles were assembled and clecoed and then riveted as the clecos were removed one by one. Attention was then turned to the oil cooler baffles. They were fitted and trimmed to fit the cowl leaving proper space for the seals.

 

174	Dec 20, 2020	Continue Engine Baffle Work - Left Front Lower	Engine	9	2
Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence continued work on left front lower engine cooling baffles trimming baffles to give proper clearance between baffles and cowl for seals, trim seal retainers to fit newly trimmed baffles and drill holes to secure seal retainers to baffles.

 

173	Dec 16, 2020	Continue Engine Baffle Work - Left Front Lower	Engine	8	1
Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence trimmed left front lower engine cooling baffles to create proper gap with cowling for baffle seals.

 

172	Dec 15, 2020	Continue Engine Baffle Work - Right Front Lower	Engine	9	5
Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence trim R/H front engine cooling baffles to fit cowl, cut "P" seal to fit baffles, trim seal retainers to fit revised baffles, drill holes for rivets, punch holes in seals, cleco all three pieces together and check fit under cowl.

 

171	Dec 13, 2020	Complete and Install Rear and Both Side Engine Cooling Baffles	Engine	9	7
Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence riveted engine cooling baffle seals to the rear and both side engine cooling baffles, placed on engine, ran spark plug wires, CHT sensor wires and engine breather tube through grommets in baffles and secured all.

 

170	Dec 10, 2020	Cut Seals for Rear and Side Engine Cooling Baffles and Drill Holes for Mounting Seals to Baffles	Engine	3	11
Lee Teicheira cut seals for rear and side engine cooling baffles and drilled holes for mounting seals and retainers to baffles. RRY 2023 note: black seal material should have curved IN, not out. I renewed it with red silicon, curled the proper way. Plus, this is NOT to plans, and while it makes the trimming of the baffles easier, I'm skeptical it's superior. The plans schema when properly executed is probably a little lighter, although it MIGHT not seal quite as well.

 

169	Dec 10, 2020	Fabricate Bracket to Position Rear Engine Cooling Baffle Center in Place.	Engine	3	2
Lee Teicheira fabricated Z bracket to support and hold engine rear cooling baffle in place, drill holes for attaching to baffle and deburr holes.

 

168	Dec 10, 2020	Engine Oil Cooler Upper Baffle Installation	Engine	4.5	2
Bill Lawrence finished fabricating engine oil cooler upper baffle and fabricated side brackets for mounting, drilled holes for rivets, deburred all pieces, riveted mounting brackets to baffle, drilled and deburred holes for bolts and assembled all pieces.

 

167	Dec 08, 2020	Begin Cutting and Attaching Engine Cooling Baffle Seals	Engine	8	3
Lee Teicheira and Frank Kelly began cutting and attaching seals for the engine cooling baffles and also cut holes in the rear engine cooling baffle for the CHT sensor wires to pass through.

 

166	Dec 08, 2020	Elininate Interference Between Cylinder head Baffle and Exhaust Manifold	Engine	4	1
Bill Lawrence trimmed "cool tin" under cylinder baffles to eliminate interference with exhaust manifold and create 1/16 inch gap.

 

165	Dec 06, 2020	Temporarily Store Windscreen	Windscreen	1	2
Harvard and Sara Holmes and Bill Lawrence prepared and temporarily stored windscreen for safe keeping after all mounting holes had been drilled.

 

164	Dec 06, 2020	Reassemble Engine Cooling Bafffles	Engine	18	9
Lee Teicheira, Harvard Holmes, Frank Kelly Sara Holmes and Bill Lawrence reassemble engine cooling baffles after drilling necessary holes, installing grommets and passing through spark plug wires, engine crankcase breather tube and intake manifold tubes.

 

163	Dec 02, 2020	Form and Install Engine Crankcase Vent Tube	Engine	4	8
Lee Teicheira, Harvard Holmes and Bill Lawrence formed and installed engine crankcase vent tube through engine rear cooling baffle and secured to engine mount and firewall.

 

162	Dec 02, 2020	Fabricate Starter Bendix Intrusiion Hole Cover Fore Rear Engine Cooling Baffle	Engine	4	1
Frank Kelly fabricated starter bendix intrusion hole cover for rear engine cooling baffle.

 

161	Dec 02, 2020	Cutting Access Holes in Rear Engine Cooling Baffle	Engine	13	6
Lee Teicheira, Harvard Holmes, Frank Kelly and Bill Lawrence removed rear engine cooling baffle and cut access holes for crankcase breather tube and spark plug wires.

 

160	Dec 01, 2020	Continue Drilling Screw Holes to Secure Windscreen	Windscreen	8	6
Lee Teicheira, Harvard Holmes and Pete Mitchell continued drilling screw holes in windscreen to secure it to the fuselage.

 

159	Dec 01, 2020	Fabricate and Install Heat Shields for Oil Cooler	Engine	7	4
Harvard Holmes and Bill Lawrence fabricated and installed stainless steel heat shields between the oil cooler and exhaust pipes. RRY note 2023: these pieces help keep the air from short circuiting out the sides of the cooler before passing through the plates.

 

158	Dec 01, 2020	Continue Fabrication of Engine Cooling Baffle Seal Retainers	Engine	4.5	2
Frank Kelly continued fabrication of engine cooling baffle seal retainers.

 

157	Dec 01, 2020	Install Carburetor Mixture Cable	Engine	2	1
Harvard Holmes and Bill Lawrence reroute, cut and adjust carburetor mixture cable.

 

156	Nov 29, 2020	Install Oil Cooler and Baffle Assembly to Lower Engine Case	Engine	9	6
Frank Kelly and Bill Lawrence, after determining that the new narrower and thicker oil cooler did not provide adequate clearance with lower engine case, reverted to using original wider and thinner oil cooler, attached it to the oil cooler baffle and installed it on the lower engine case. Harvard worked on the windscreen bow.

 

155	Nov 29, 2020	Rivet Seat Sling Piano Hinge Fasteners	Interior Finish	4	3
Pete Mitchell riveted piano hinge fasteners to seat sling.

 

154	Nov 29, 2020	Continue Drilling Holes to Secure Windscreen	Windscreen	12	6
Lee Teicheira and Harvard Holmes continue drilling holes in the windscreen and countersink in order to secure windscreen to fuselage.

 

153	Nov 24, 2020	Drill Holes For Screws In Windscreen	Windscreen	20	6
Lee Teicheira, Harvard Holmes, Pete Mitchell, Frank Kelly and Bill Lawrence drilled holes in plexiglass windscreen and countersunk for screws and tinnerman washers. Drilled holes in firewall top flange and riveted nut plates for windscreen screws. Task of securing windscreen partially completed.

 

152	Nov 22, 2020	Winsdscreen Fitting Completed	Windscreen	20	10
Lee Teicheira, Harvard Holmes, Frank Kelly, Pete Mitchell and Bill Lawrence sanded extensively with the DA sander and long sanding block to procure proper gap on all edges of the new windscreen.

 

151	Nov 18, 2020	Engine Cooling Baffle Seal Retainers (Continuing Work)	Engine	2	1
Frank Kelly completed fabricating the engine cooling baffle seal retainers.

 

150	Nov 18, 2020	Mount Oill Cooler to Lower Engine Case Cooling Baffle	Engine	6	7
Harvard Holmes, Frank Kelly and Bill Lawrence completed mounting the oil cooler to the engine lower case cooling baffle.

 

149	Nov 17, 2020	Fit Newly Cut Plexiglass Windscreen to Fuselage (Continued)	Windscreen	9	4
Lee Teicheira and Pete Mitchell continued work on fitting newly cut windscreen to fuselage.

 

148	Nov 17, 2020	Lower Engine Case Baffle Fabrication (Continued)	Engine	10	1
Harvard Holmes and Bill Lawrence continued to fabricate the lower engine cooling baffle and brackets to mount the oil cooler to same.

 

147	Nov 17, 2020	Engine Cooling Baffle Seals (Continuing Work)	Engine	4	3
Frank Kelly continues work on fabricating the retainers for the engine cooling baffles to cowl seals.

 

146	Nov 15, 2020	Cut and Begin Fitting New Windscreen	Windscreen	6	11
Lee Teicheira, Pete Mitchell and Harvard Holmes cut new plexiglass windscreen and begin fitting to fuselage.

 

145	Nov 15, 2020	Replacement of Pitot Static Line Tube	Avionics	4.5	4
Lee Teicheira, Harvard and Sara Holmes work on replacing pitot static line tube with correct tube material.

 

144	Nov 15, 2020	Continue Fabrication of Engine Cooling Baffle Seal Retainers	Engine	4.5	1
Frank Kelly continued fabrication of engine cooling baffle seal retainers.

 

143	Nov 15, 2020	Continue Engine Lower Case Cooling Baffle Fabrication	Baffling	9	5
Harvard Holmes and Bill Lawrence continue fabrication of engine lower case cooling baffle.

 

142	Nov 11, 2020	Fabricate Lower Engine Case Cooling Baffle (continued)	Baffling	6	5
Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence finished laying out lower engine case cooling baffle, cut out and bent to shape.

 

141	Nov 10, 2020	Continued Progress on Engine Cooling Baffles	Baffling	2	2
Frank Kelly continues progress on fabricating engine cooling baffle to cowl seal retainer strips.

 

140	Nov 10, 2020	Lower Engine Case Baffle Fabrication	Baffling	6	5
Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence Checked fit on old under sump baffle and found it to be poor. Measured, laid out and cut metal for replacement.

 

139	Nov 10, 2020	Throttle Cable Installation Complete	Engine	2	2
Bill Lawrence completed installation of the throttle cable. RRY note 2023: this is the older AeroCARB, which PUSHES the slide open. SOME installations experienced binding, which lead to the development of the AeroINJECTOR, which PULLS the slide open, and requires different throttle control in the cockpit, and different routing.

 

138	Nov 09, 2020	Throttle and Mixture Cables Installation Continues, Baffle to Cowl Seals Fabrication	Engine	13.5	4
Lee Teicheira, Bill Lawrence and Frank Kelly installed Bowden cable firewall pass through nuts on the mixture and throttle cables requiring pulling both cables, installing nuts and rerouting both cables. Frank worked on fabricating flashing for engine cooling to cowl seals.

 

137	Nov 04, 2020	Shorten Intake Manifold Spigot	Engine	4	1
Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence cut two inches from intake manifold spigot, dressed surfaces inside and out and installed carburetor to facilitate clearance for cowl.

 

136	Nov 04, 2020	Install Missing Engine Mount Bushing	Engine	.5	1
Bill Lawrence installed missing engine mount bushing.

 

135	Nov 04, 2020	Re-route Mixture Cable	Engine	6	3
Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence drilled new hole in firewall, moved clamp, re-routed mixture cable and manufactured b-clamp to attache cable to mixture lever on carburetor.

 

134	Nov 04, 2020	Cut Patterns For Engine Cooling Baffle Seals	Engine	4	3
Frank Kelly measured and cut patterns for engine cooling baffle seals.

 

133	Nov 03, 2020	Trim Cooling Baffles to Fit Cowl	Baffling	9	4
Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence trim engine cooling baffles to fit cowl and dress cut edges.

 

132	Nov 01, 2020	Install Fuel Line and Intake Manifold	Fuel System	9	7
Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence routed and connected the fuel line from the gascolator to the carburetor. Re-routed the throttle cable to eliminate interference. Cut holes in the rear cooling baffle for the intake manifold to pass through, deburred holes and installed rubber grommets and installed intake manifold on engine.

 

131	Oct 31, 2020	Continue Wiring and Testing of Avionics	Avionics	6	2
Marc Ausman, John Koehler and Harvard Holmes continue connecting wiring and testing avionics.

 

130	Oct 31, 2020	Throttle and Mixture Cables	Fuel System	6	3
Harvard Holmes, Marc Ausman and John Koehler routed and connected the throttle cable and mixture cable to the carburetor.

 

129	Oct 28, 2020	Fuel Delivery	Fuel System	10	8
Harvard Holmes and Bill Lawrence check the inflated latex glove for overnight leakage of air. No leaks in fuel tank! Placed tank in position and checked output connection for proper location and connection to fuel tube that goes through firewall to gascolator. Positioned carburetor on intake manifold and properly routed throttle cable and mixture cable. Worked on connecting fuel line from gascolator to carburetor. Need to procure one fitting to make it work.

 

128	Oct 27, 2020	Make Pattern From Old Windscreen In Preparation for Cutting New Windscreen	Windscreen	6	2
Check final fit of old windscreen for pattern in preparation of making new windscreen from plexiglass sheet.

 

127	Oct 27, 2020	Pressure Test Tank	Fuel System	4	2
Harvard Holmes and Bill Lawrence attach all fittings and valves to fuel tank and pressurize for overnight leakage check.

 

126	Oct 25, 2020	Work on Fuel Valve Control Cable	Fuel System	4	4
Harvard Holmes and Lee Teicheira worked on control cable connecting cable to valve,checked for proper operation and fit tank in plane to check valve location relative cable location.

 

125	Oct 25, 2020	Prepare To Cut Holes In Rear Fence Baffle For Intake Manifolds	Engine	2	5
Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence removed the rear fence baffle, installed dummy manifold tubes in Intake, reinstalled rear fence baffle and marked circles to cut for tubes to pass through baffle. While fence baffle was off, excess on edge of exhaust gasket was filed for better clearance for baffle.

 

124	Oct 25, 2020	Fabricate Front Lower Engine Cooling Baffle	Baffling	4	4
Bill Lawrence fabricated lower front engine cooling baffle, drilled for rivets, de-burr holes and rivet in place.

 

123	Oct 21, 2020	Prepare For Fuel Tank Pressure Test	Fuel System	2	1
Harvard and Sara Holmes attach fittings to fuel tank and begin preparations to pressure test fuel tank.

 

122	Oct 21, 2020	Install Canopy Latch Return Spring	Canopy	3	2
Harvard and Sara Holmes install canopy latch return spring. RRY 2023 note: removed later when Peter Anson canopy latch installed.

 

121	Oct 21, 2020	Continued Progress on Engine Cooling Baffles	Engine	9	10
Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence continue to fabricate, fit, deburr, drill for rivets and nut plates, rivet and secure engine cooling baffles.

 

120	Oct 20, 2020	Continued Progress on Engine Cooling Baffles	Engine	15	3
Lee Teicheira, Harvard Holmes and Bill Lawrence continue to fabricate and assemble baffling for the engine cooling. RRY Notes 2023: I found the documentation of this area of the airplane weaker than the excellent plans

 

119	Oct 18, 2020	Finish Gluing Canopy to Frame	Canopy	5	5
Lee Teicheira, Harvard Holmes and Bill Lawrence tape the canopy seal edge lines and Lee applies the seal to complete gluing the canopy to the canopy frame. Remove the edge line tape and close the canopy to let the sealer cure with the canopy in place.

 

118	Oct 18, 2020	Sonex Progress Video	Dialogue	3	2
Tracy Peters produced a video featuring Lee Teicheira, Sonex project manager, on the Sonex progress to be presented to EAA Chapter 393 at the October 28th ZOOM meeting.

 

117	Oct 14, 2020	Replace Canopy Limit Wire	Canopy	1	1
Harvard Holmes replaced canopy open limit wire with shorter proper wire. RRY 2023 note: it was to the plans, but the plans are wrong, the fittings they use don't allow the wire to lead fair. I replaced it later with paracord, which has some give.

 

116	Oct 14, 2020	Make Final Canopy Fit Adjustments and Glue to Frame	Canopy	8	5
Lee Ticheira, Harvard Holmes and Bill Lawrence make final fit adjustment to canopy and frame and glue canopy to frame.

 

115	Oct 14, 2020	to Secure Right and Left Canopy Frame With Screws and Rivets	Canopy	3	3
Harvard Holmes and Bill Lawrence screw right canopy hinge to fuselage and rivet hinge to right canopy frame. Rivet left canopy frame together with latch.

 

114	Oct 14, 2020	Continue Engine Baffle Work	Baffling	5	5
Lee Teicheira continues work on engine cooling baffles. Install some nut plates to hold baffle pieces together.

 

113	Oct 13, 2020	Glue Canopy Right and Left Sides to Canopy Frame	Canopy	10	3
Lee Teicheira, Harvard Holmes and Bill Lawrence check size of rivet holes for proper size and de-burr all holes. Remove Canopy for cleaning and prepping for primer. Prime Canopy and after drying, install canopy frame back on fuselage and glue right and left sides of canopy to frame.

 

112	Oct 13, 2020	Continue Engine Baffle Work	Baffling	5	4
Lee Teicheira continues to make progress on the engine cooling baffles with Harvard's help

 

111	Oct 11, 2020	Fabricate Cooling Baffles for Engine (continued)	Baffling	4	4
Lee Teicheira continues work on fabrication of cooling baffles for engine. Contemplate using upper versus lower engine oil cooler. RRY 2023: Someday, I may switch to a top cooler. I have all the parts. The lower cowl inlet pressurizes the lower cowl plenum, which impedes airflow through the barrels and heads. It also complicates the plumbing, and requires the use of an aluminum pump cover, which wears out a lot faster than the stock cast iron cover.

 

110	Oct 11, 2020	Adjust Spacing Between Canopy Bow and Canopy	Canopy	4	1
Lee Teicheira, Harvard Holmes, Sara Holmes and Bill Lawrence adjust spacing between canopy bows and canopy.

 

109	Oct 11, 2020	Cut Notch in Plexiglass Canopy For Latch Handle.	Canopy	4	4
Harvard Holmes, Bill Lawrence and Lee Teicheira cut notch in plexiglass canopy for latch handle and adjusted latch to slide smoothly.

 

108	Oct 11, 2020	Drill Rivet Holes In Canopy Hinge for Rivets	Canopy	2	2
Bill Lawrence drilled holes in canopy hinge for rivets. Drilled #40 holes and clecoed followed by #30 holes and clecoed.

 

107	Oct 07, 2020	Work on Engine Baffles and Oil Cooler installation	Baffling	5	3
Lee Teicheira worked on fitting engine baffles and the securing and location for fitting engine oil cooler.

 

106	Oct 07, 2020	Fit Latch for Canopy and Drill Holes for rivets in Lower Canopy Frame and Hinge	Canopy	10	4
Harvard Holmes and Bill Lawrence cut slot in left lower canopy frame for latch handle and drilled holes for rivets in left and right lower canopy frame.

 

105	Oct 06, 2020	Continue Fitting Canopy Front and Rear and Cut Righr Side	Canopy	11	0
Lee Teicheira, Harvard Holmes and Bill Lawrence continue sanding and fitting canopy and cut right side. Continue Sanding and fitting after cutting.

 

104	Oct 04, 2020	Continue Fitting Canopy Front and Rear and Cut Left Side	Canopy	14	8
Lee Teicheira, Harvard Holmes and Bill Lawrence continue to sand and fit the front and rear of the canopy and cut the left side.

 

103	Oct 04, 2020	Engine Cooling Baffle Work Begins	Baffling	4	2
Ryan Young begins fitting pieces for the engine cooling baffles.

 

102	Oct 04, 2020	Engine Wiring and Starter Ground Strap	Engine	6	4
Marc Ausman and John Koehler work on engine wiring, Ignition wiring and starter ground strap installation.

 

101	Sep 30, 2020	Cut Rear Edge of Canopy (continued)	Canopy	2	2
Video of Lee Teicheira cutting canopy.

 

100	Sep 30, 2020	Cut Rear Edge of Canopy	Canopy	14	7
Lee Teicheira, Harvard Holmes, Bill Lawrence and Johan Verhoek sand recently cut front edge of canopy for better fit. Remark and cut rear edge of canopy. Sand rear edge of canopy to remove rough edges. Check rear edge of canopy for accuracy of rough cut. Attach stiffeners to sides of canopy and let sit in sun to attempt to remove some excess bow.

 

99	Sep 29, 2020	Begin Fitting New Canopy	Canopy	14	8
Lee Teicheira, Harvard Holmes Bill Lawrence and John Koehler fit old canopy to new canopy frame to check for alignment. After confirming that new frame aligns properly, placed new canopy over frame and marked cut lines for front and back. After cutting front of canopy, rechecked front for proper alignment. Will need some additional sanding to fit properly.

 

98	Sep 27, 2020	Install empennage controls access covers	Empennage	1	3
Ryan Young installs covers for access to empennage controls.

 

97	Sep 27, 2020	Reposition Fuel Tank Insulation	Fuel System	2	4
Bill Lawrence transferred cork insulation from fuel tank to tank support strips and secured loose strips on tank.

 

96	Sep 27, 2020	Continue Canopy Fit Adjustments	Canopy	8	7
Harvard, Lee, Ryan, John, Sarah and Bill continue to make adjustments to canopy frame.

 

95	Sep 27, 2020	Programming Dynon	Instrument Panel	3	4
John Koehler working on programming Dynon in instrument panel.

 

94	Sep 27, 2020	Prepare fuel filler door for paint	Cowl	2	3
Sand smooth fuel filler door and prime in preparation for painting.

 

93	Sep 26, 2020	Connect Engine Wiring	Avionics	6	4
Marc Ausman and John Koehler connect engine wiring for EFIS and reconnect wingtip position and strobe lights.

 

92	Sep 23, 2020	Adjust Canopy Frame Base Tubes Shorter	Canopy	6	5
Harvard Holmes adjusting canopy base tubes shorter to fit canopy for clearance.

 

91	Sep 23, 2020	Fit Canopy to Windscreen and Canopy Frame	Windscreen	3	3
Fit canopy to to previously fitted windscreen and newly reworked canopy frame.

 

90	Sep 23, 2020	Refit Windscreen after fitting fuel tank and glare shield.	Windscreen	5	4
Lee Teicheira, Harvard Holmes, Bill Lawrence and Johan Verhoek refit windscreen after fitting fuel tank and glare shield.

 

89	Sep 23, 2020	Filling Gap On Fuel Filler Door (continued)	Cowl	2	2
Reapply filler to fuel filler door gap to fill additional low spots.

 

88	Sep 23, 2020	Replace pulled rivets with solid countersunk rivets	Windscreen	2	2
Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence drill out pulled rivets and replace them with solid countersunk rivets on windscreen front mounting surface.

 

87	Sep 22, 2020	Fit Fuel Tank (continued)	Fuel System	12	6
Lee Teicheira, Harvard Holmes and Bill Lawrence remove lower fuel tank straps and re-bend to better fit contour of tank. Reinstall straps and finish fitting tank and windscreen.

 

86	Sep 20, 2020	Test Fit Of Fuel Tank	Fuel System	2	3
Lee Teidheira and Bill Lawrence test fit fuel tank and fuel cap.

 

85	Sep 20, 2020	Cleaning Up Fuselage Rough Edge	Fuselage	1	1
Ryan Young sanding and dressing rough edge on fuselage r/h front edge.

 

84	Sep 20, 2020	Canopy Outside Latch Handle	Canopy	2	2
Harvard Holmes fabricating canopy outside latch handle. RRY Note: Pater Anson latch replaced this.

 

83	Sep 20, 2020	Bleeding Landing Gear Brakes	Landing Gear	3	5
Lee Teicheira, Ryan Young and Bill Lawrence bleed landing gear brake system. Ryan here in 2023 - if I had it to do over, I would NOT use hydraulic toe brakes. Bleeding them is a NIGHTMARE. The master cylinder is way up under the tank, and the glare shield and the windscreen. Here we are bleeding them without any of that in place, and it still took 4 tries and 2-3 people each time to get them bubble free, and they did not stay that way. If you MUST have hydraulic brakes, go with a single master, pull to brake system, as I eventually did, this is standard on the B models. The original Azusa mechanicals were NEVER INTENDED to hold the Airplane on a full power runup, but they do slow the plane up to make the next taxiway, and work fine at walking speed. John M. was always about simple, cheap, and light.

 

82	Sep 20, 2020	Canopy Latch Return Spring Tabs	Canopy	2	2
Ryan Young making tabs for canopy latch return spring.

 

81	Sep 20, 2020	Fuel Filler Door Gap	Cowl	2	4
Bill Lawrence filling low spots in fuel door gap filler from previous attempt.

 

80	Sep 16, 2020	Bend Rear Windscreen Bow To Fit	Windscreen	3	2
Lee Teicheira and Harvard Holmes bend rear windscreen bow to match canopy front bow.

 

79	Sep 16, 2020	Fit and Bond Gap in Cowl Fuel Door	Cowl	4	3
Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence trim and fit fuel door to fit opening in cowl as well as fill gap in fuel door with bonding material.

 

78	Sep 16, 2020	Fitting Canopy Latch To Canopy Frame	Canopy	6	5
Harvard and Sara Holmes enlarging canopy latch opening and fitting latch.

 

77	Sep 16, 2020	Aligning Canopy Frame Members	Canopy	4	2
Harvard Holmes and Bill Lawrence aligning frame members for R/H lower canopy frame.

 

76	Sep 15, 2020	Trim Fuel Door Flange	Cowl	1	2
Bill Lawrence marked, trimmed and dressed flange for fuel door opening.

 

75	Sep 15, 2020	Canopy Fuel Filler Door Fabrication	Cowl	10	3
Reinstall cowl and windscreen to finalize fit. Remove both and Bill Lawrence sanded and dressed cowl rear top edge. Lee Teicheira, Bill Lawrence and Ryan Young riveted fuel door hinge to door and cowl. Laid up fiberglass to join two halves of fuel door and positioned to cowl to fit prior to setting up.

 

74	Sep 15, 2020	Canoy Latch Fitment (continued)	Canopy	4.5	5
Harvard continues to fabricate and fit latch components in preparation for riveting.

 

73	Sep 15, 2020	Fit and Dress Windscreen	Windscreen	3	2
Ryan Young fits windscreen to cowl and dresses edges.

 

72	Sep 09, 2020	Trim Upper Rear of Cowl	Cowl	3	5
Using trim lines previously established by mating to windscreen, Lee Teicheria, Bill Lawrence and Johan Verhoek trimed the upper rear cowl and made ready for finishing the edge.

 

71	Sep 09, 2020	Aligning Latch Pin Holes Prior to Drilling	Canopy	2	1
Harvard Holmes making pin holes in latch for alignment prior to drilling and riveting in place.

 

70	Sep 09, 2020	Riveting Piano Hinges to Cowl	Cowl	2	4
Bill Lawrence and Johan Verhoek rivet each position (every inch) on piano hinge as you pull clecos. Five hinges total.

 

69	Sep 09, 2020	Remove Fillet on Canopy Latch	Canopy	4	2
Using table saw and guide Lee Teicheira and Harvard Holmes cut fillet out off inside corner of canopy latch so that it would slide smoothly on square tube of canopy lower frame. Harvard also dressed rough surface to smooth.

 

68	Sep 09, 2020	Fuel Filler Door Camlock Receiver	Cowl	2	2
Drill out rivets on old receiver. Match holes for new receiver. Rivet new receiver in place.

 

67	Sep 08, 2020	Fit Windscreen to Cowl	Cowl	6	3
Lee Teicheira, Harvard Holmes and Bill Lawrence secured cowl to fuselage and fit windscreen to frame in order to mark cowl for trimming on upper rear where it meets windscreen.

 

66	Sep 08, 2020	Attach Camlocks to Lower Front of Cowl	Cowl	0.8	1
Lee Teicheira attached camlocks to lower front of cowl with retainer rings using special tool for that purpose.

 

65	Sep 08, 2020	Rivet Cowl Camlock Receivers	Cowl	4	3
Harvard Holmes and Bill Lawrence rivet camlock receivers for upper rear of cowl to firewall upper flange.

 

64	Sep 08, 2020	Dress Rear Canopy Bow Brace Brackets	Canopy	1	3
Harvard Holmes and Bil Lawrence dressed brackets for rear canopy bow brace.

 

63	Sep 06, 2020	Canopy Frame Fabrication (continued)	Canopy	8	10
Harvard and Sara fitting, gluing, and riveting canopy frame corners. Lee cutting canopy latch spacer. Harvard fitting and riveting brace for rear canopy bow. Harvard fitting spacer for canopy latch.

 

62	Sep 06, 2020	Firewall top flange for mounting cowl	Cowl	4	3
Match holes in cowl to top of firewall and rivet flange to firewall.

 

61	Sep 06, 2020	Cowl side retainer brackets	Cowl	6	5
Drill, de-burr and rivet cowl side retainer brackets firewall

 

60	Sep 02, 2020	Angle Brackets for Cowl Side Camlocks (continued)	Cowl	9	2
Rivet angle brackets for cowl side 1/4 turn camlocks to firewall. Drill holes fore camlock receivers.

 

59	Sep 01, 2020	Angle Brackets for Cowl Side Camlocks	Cowl	3	3
Drill depressions for rivet heads on firewall. Drill No. 40 holes for clecos. De-burr holes and dress edges in preparation for riveting. Rivet upper R/H bracket into place.

 

58	Aug 25, 2020	Fit Canopy Frame and Drill Holes for Rivets (continued)	Canopy	8	5
Harvard Holmes and Frank Kelly continue to fine tune fit of bows and frame for canopy drilling in preparation for rivets.

 

57	Aug 25, 2020	Trim Flange For Fuel Filler Door - Make Angle Brackets For Cowl Side	Cowl	9	4
Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence trim and dress flange for fuel filler door camlock. Measure, cut and dress angle brackets for camlocks that will secure cowl sides to fuselage. Fit, drill and cleco first bracket to fuselage.

 

56	Aug 23, 2020	Fit and Secure Check Oil Door and Add Camlocks to Cowl	Cowl	9	5
Lee Teicheira, Bill Lawrence and Frank Kelly cut opening in flange for oil check door, fit door to opening and secure to cowl with camlocks. Also add camlocks to lower front of cowl.

 

55	Aug 23, 2020	Fit Canopy Rear Bow Brace and Fit Hinge and Latch Hardware	Canopy	9	2
Harvard Holmes and Frank Kelly continue to fit the brace for the rear canopy bow and fit and dress hardware for hinge and latch rails.

 

54	Aug 19, 2020	Engine Oil Dipstick Access Door	Cowl	8	3
Locate and cut engine oil dipstick access door and lay fiberglass for flange to support door.

 

53	Aug 18, 2020	Fit Fuel Door to Cowl	Cowl	7	6
Sand to shape engine cooling openings. Reassemble cowl to assure continued proper fit and rework opening for hinge pin access on lower front of cowl. File, sand, fit and attach hinge to fuel door and cowl. Lay up fiberglass to make flange to support R/H side of fuel door on cowl.

 

52	Aug 18, 2020	Fabrication of Canopy Channel Hinge Side and Slots in Longeron for Latch	Canopy	10	6
Harvard Holmes and Frank Kelly fabricating the channel on the hinge side of the canopy to retain it to the hinge. Frank and Harvard strengthening and fabricating the slots in the L/H longeron for the canopy latch.

 

51	Aug 17, 2020	Canopy Bow Brace	Canopy	4	2
Harvard Holmes fabricating canopy bow brace

 

50	Aug 16, 2020	Cowl Fastener Flange and Cooling Vent Work	Cowl	10	7
Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence split canopy, cut and shape fastener flange, make final cut on engine cooling vent holes and oil cooler vent hole and sand to shape.

 

49	Aug 16, 2020	Fitting Canopy Bows (continued)	Canopy	9.8	2
Harvard Holmes, Frank Kelly, and Lee Teicheira continue to fine tune fit on canopy bows.

 

48	Aug 12, 2020	Canopy Longeron Reinforcement	Canopy	4	3
Lee Teicheira fabricating the canopy longeron reinforcement with assistance from Harvard Holmes.

 

47	Aug 12, 2020	flange for quarter-turn camlocks	Cowl	3	4
Laying up fiberglass for flange for quarter-turn camlocks.

 

46	Aug 12, 2020	Harvard Holmes taking on completion of canopy	Canopy	12	6
Measuring, cutting and fitting bows for new canopy by Harvard Holmes and Lee Teicheira.

 

45	Aug 11, 2020	Cutout for fuel door	Cowl	1	1
Tape, measure and cut opening in cowl for fuel door.

 

44	Aug 09, 2020	Cowl Work Continues	Cowl	24	4
After partially cutting openings in cowl for oil cooler ventilation, fuel door and exhaust pipes to exit cowl, Lee Teicheira, Pete Mitchell, Frank Kelly and Bill Lawrence drill holes and cleco piano hinges in place. RRY notes 2023: none of the cowl pieces are truly hinged. Piano hinges with removable pins are used to "zipper" sections together. Lee elected to use a mix of the plans scheme, which is almost exclusively piano hinge "zippers", and quarter turn cam locks. I prefer Southco fasteners, me, and I would NOT have used camlocks on the sides of the cowl at the firewall, but You Do You.

 

43	Aug 06, 2020	Piano Hinge Installation	Cowl	14	4
After measuring, cutting and fitting the cowl the piano hinges are being installed so that it can be secured to the fuselage.

 

42	Aug 02, 2020	Cowl Preliminary Fit	Cowl	10	2
Frank Kelly and Bill Lawrence rough cut and rough fit newly acquired cowl to propeller hub and fuselage.

 

41	Jun 24, 2020	Samson Sonex Procurement	Dialogue	12	1
Procurement, transporting, sorting and storing of donated parts from Samson Sonex project.

 

40	Jun 17, 2020	Fabrication of upper flange on firewall	Firewall	2	1
Measure, cut, fit and attach upper flange for securing cowl and windscreen.

 

39	Jun 14, 2020	Reorganize Shop	Workshop	9	1
Reorganize shop to accommodate additional Kitfox and Bearhawk projects.

 

38	Jun 11, 2020	Hub Spacer	Engine	5	2
Bill Lawrence fabricated and installed hub spacer locating cowl around propeller hub.

 

37	Feb 26, 2020	Exhaust System	Engine	9	6
Frank, Bill and Elliott install new exhaust system on recently returned and installed engine.

 

36	Feb 16, 2020	Install 20 AMP Alternator	Engine	5	1
Replace 10 AMP alternator with 20 AMP. RRY note 2023: Required removing the engine again to get at the accessory case.

 

35	Feb 09, 2020	Install Wing Rib	Wings	5.9	1
Install replacement inner wing rib.

 

34	Feb 09, 2020	Engine Returns	Engine	3	1
Engine returns from tear-down, case repair and reassembly.

 

33	Feb 08, 2020	Engine work complete.	Engine	50	18
Eric Schuldt completes engine tear-down for inspection, case repair and engine reassembly. (details to follow)

 

32	Dec 09, 2019	Wing Rib	Wings	0	1
Replacement inner wing rib for mutilated old rib arrived.

 

31	Dec 04, 2019	Canopy Latch	Canopy	3	2
Remove non-standard canopy latch in preparation for going back to plans latch.

 

30	Oct 06, 2019	Remove Wing Inner Rib	Wings	3	2
Remove inner wing rib that is in need of being replaced.

 

29	Oct 05, 2019	Installation of Avionics (continued)	Avionics	30	28
. Marc and John continue work on installing avionics and autopilot servo. Progress continues.

 

28	Sep 25, 2019	Install Auto Pilot Servo in Aircraft	Avionics	3	1

 

27	Sep 25, 2019	Test Instrument Panel In Aircraft	Instrument Panel	3	1

 

26	Sep 22, 2019	Install Control Stick grips	Instrument Panel	5	1

 

25	Sep 15, 2019	New Instrument Panel	Instrument Panel	8	2
New Instrument fit to fuselage.and secured.

 

24	Sep 14, 2019	Installing New Panel in Aircraft	Instrument Panel	15	3

 

23	Sep 12, 2019	Powering and Testing New Panel	Instrument Panel	4	4

 

22	Sep 01, 2019	Wing Tips	Wings	10	5
Lee Teicheira Installing nut plates to wing tips for securing navigation lights.

 

21	Aug 27, 2019	New Instrument Panel Photos	Instrument Panel		6
Photos of new instrument panel that Marc Ausman built for Sonex project.

 

20	Aug 25, 2019	Building New Panel (continued)	Instrument Panel	30	3

 

19	Aug 21, 2019	Adjusting elevator control linkage.	Controls	4	3
Turn and shorten bushings in linkage to achieve proper resistance, properly lubricate, and torque and pin nuts to specs. Apply stops to cushion and limit travel of elevator control horn.

 

18	Aug 17, 2019	Building New Panel	Instrument Panel	25	4

 

17	Jun 20, 2019	ELT and Wing Tips	Fuselage	9	4
Secure ELT, rivet glare shield extension and fit and cleco wingtips in place.

 

16	Jun 10, 2019	N393DB	Dialogue	1	1
June 6, 2019 applied for and subsequently received reservation for N-number N393DB for Sonex. Significance of N-number is 393 represents EAA Chapter Number completing the project and DB represents original builder, Don Baldwin, who started project build from plans and bequeathed it to the chapter upon his passing.

 

15	May 30, 2019	New Instrument Panel Fabrication	Instrument Panel	10	2
Lee Teicheira, Frank Kelly, Marc Ausman and Bill Lawrence work on installation of new instrument panel and glare shield extension.

 

14	May 23, 2019	Install instrument panel glare shield extension	Instrument Panel	8	6
Lee Teicheira, Jon Koehler, Frank Kelly and Bill Lawrence install instrument panel glare shield extension to accommodate new panel.

 

13	May 02, 2019	Glare Shield Extension	Glare Shield	6	1
Marc Ausman and Frank Kelly fabricate glare shield extension in preparation for new instrument panel.

 

12	Apr 25, 2019	Remove Old Lower Panel and Auto Pilot Servo	Instrument Panel	9	5

 

11	Mar 28, 2019	Engine work begins	Engine		0
Eric Schuldt begins engine tear-down for inspection, case repair and engine reassembly. (Details to follow)

 

10	Mar 27, 2019	Transport Engine	Engine	3	3
Load and transport engine to Eric for disassembly, inspection and repair case.

 

9	Mar 19, 2019	Remove Old Avionics	Instrument Panel	12	16

 

8	Mar 12, 2019	Remove Engine	Engine	4	6
Remove engine in preparation for transport to Eric Schuldt for disassembly, case repair, inspection and reassembly.

 

7	Mar 09, 2019	Removing Old Instrument Panel and Exhaust System	Engine	16	11
Remove old outdated instrument panel and exhaust system in preparation for installation of new updated equipment.

 

6	Mar 09, 2019	Inspect Oil Cooler	Baffling	1	2
Inspect Oil Cooler for feasibility of use due to size and proximity to exhaust.

 

5	Mar 09, 2019	Remove Old Lower Panel	Instrument Panel	7	4

 

4	Feb 17, 2019	Instrument Panel Progress	Instrument Panel	5	11
Inventory parts and plan for installation.

 

3	Feb 07, 2019	Organizing the Sonex workshop	Workshop	10	7
Organizing the Sonex workshop and inspecting the project after the project arrives. The original builder had some novel ideas and features, like SDS EFI, a four into one exhaust, that the Chapter 393 brain trust felt brought too much risk to the project, both from a flight safety and a marketing standpoint. Back to the Plans was the operative philosophy during the Chapter's stewardship of this project.

 

2	Feb 02, 2019	Transporting project to workshop	Workshop	6	8
Transported Don Baldwin Sonex project from Tracy Peters hangar to Sonex hangar. RRY note: look at how the cowling had to be chopped up to accommodate the fuel injection plumbing! The chapter bought a new cowling (or one came with another Sonex project that was donated, not sure which it was).

 

1	Feb 01, 2019	The Don Baldwin Sonex Project	Introduction		0
In the approximately 2000 Don Baldwin, a charter member of EAA Chapter 393, began building this Sonex project from plans. After years of diligent building, Don unfortunately passed before completion. The project was then graciously donated to the chapter in hopes that it would be completed and subsequently be flown. With honoring Don in mind, members interested in building, led by project manager Lee Teicheira, are picking up where he left off and are working toward its completion.

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