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Entry #	Created	Title	Category	Hours	Cost	# Pictures

285	Apr 07, 2024	Moving right along	Wings	50	$0.00	17
Lots has been going on. Aileron cables are in, flaps springs installed with the gasket. Pitot tube mast is installed, pitot and AOA plumbing are done. Inspection cover back plates are installed with all the nut plates for the covers to attach. Gas tank cover has all the holes upsized for #6 screws. Curtis drain hole has been cut. Trailing edges of the flaps and ailerons are all lined up and riveted

 

284	Feb 21, 2024	Wingtip trailing edge closeout	Wings	2	$0.00	2
Photo failure as I forgot to take a photo of the wood, but I used wood to create a wingtip trailing edge closeout and did not take a photo of the wood. The wood was shaped to the extended rib and out to the trailing edge of the aileron. I used Hysol epoxy to put it in place then clamped it as you can see in the photo The trailing edge of the wingtip will be the inside edge of the green tape. The wood is in the space between the two green tapes.

 

283	Feb 20, 2024	Wingtip pin hole filling and sanding	Wings	6	$0.00	0
After applying too much filler, I sanded for well over 5 hours. I still need to prime as this really allows you to see the remaining pin holes and they will be filled with 3M bondo.

 

282	Feb 08, 2024	Wing Tip Light Base	Lighting	2	$0.00	1
I used carbon fiber to create a base for the light

 

281	Feb 08, 2024	Right wing tip fitted	Wings	4	$0.00	4
Right wing tip is drilled and cleco'd as well as the wing tip light base mount is glued in place with some kind of fancy Kitfox epoxy

 

280	Feb 06, 2024	Fuel Tank fittings	Wings	2	$0.00	2
Three of the four (one is backordered) were installed and lines were drawn to drill holes in ribs for fuel lines

 

279	Feb 06, 2024	Main Skin Riveted	Wings	4.5	$0.00	2
Today the main wing skin on the right wing was riveted except for the last (trailing edge) row as the stiffener need to go in there and it will likely be painted first. At some point between the age of 5 and 61 peeling plastic off of metal ceased to be fun

 

278	Feb 04, 2024	Right Wing Photo Dump	Wings	100	$0.00	37
I have been super busying doing the right wing and not posting, so here is a big dump. Lots of time was spent figuring things out and going down rabbit holes, the left wing will be a lot quicker and I will do a detailed daily step by step. Lots of time spent on the leading edge light and the conduit for the wiring. Several BH builders expressed concern about the leading edge light as far as compromising the integrity of the D-spar. I used a backing plate (with the anchor nuts, .020 lens, and a .025 lens cap, so there are 4 layers including the wing skin. This bay, 2nd to last, is significantly stiffer than any other bay in the entire wing. Wingtip attach/drilling locations have been marked, but can't do that until after the skin is riveted.

 

277	Nov 03, 2023	PAINT!	Boot Cowl	5.5	$0.00	6
Well, today was a visual day. It was a serious milestone! I filled and sanded the nosebowl about 30 times, all be it at the end with 400 and 600 grit sandpaper. How long does a cycle of filling and sanding take? About 4 hours each time. It was like chasing a GHOST! But today it was all worth it Tomorrow the engine cowl gets riveted to the nose bowl and will all be painted. Happy Days

 

276	Nov 02, 2023	Paint Prep	Boot Cowl	6.5	$0.00	0
Not much visual to show, just sanding and priming getting ready to paint

 

275	Oct 31, 2023	General pre-paint prep	Boot Cowl	6	$0.00	0
I just upsized holes in the boot cowl for #6 screws, installed a bunch of nut plates, did a bit of riveting on doublers

 

274	Oct 30, 2023	Nose bowl is all primed	Engine Cowl	1.5	$0.00	0
Took a ton of time, but the nose bowl is finally ready for phase 1

 

273	Oct 30, 2023	Fixed a faulty Carb Heat sensor reading	Avionics	2	$0.00	0
I had a bad splice that was resulting in no carb heat reading, redid the splice and checked it with the ohm meter this time

 

272	Oct 30, 2023	Boot cowl removal for painting	Boot Cowl	3	$0.00	1
Hey, someone too my plane apart Kidding aside, I am preparing for painting the boot cowl. Both the boot cowl and the firewall are dimpled for flush rivets. Now it is prep for painting time. I took the opportunity to finally trouble shoot my faulty Carb Heat sensor issue, I had a bad splice leading to the D-Sub, so redid that, this time I checked it on the ohm meter to make sure all was good.

 

271	Oct 29, 2023	Fill, sand, prime and repeat	Engine Cowl	5	$0.00	3
It was like Groundhog Day only in hours. I am on my 7th time. Looks like bottom cowl is now at an acceptable level to get it through Phase 1, which after Phase 1 I will paint the engine cowl.

 

270	Oct 29, 2023	Upsized holes for #6, #8 screws and #4 Rivets	Engine Cowl	4	$0.00	4
Final upsizing to finished the engine cowl connections

 

269	Oct 28, 2023	More nose Bowl sanding	Engine Cowl	5	$0.00	3
I was sanding with 400 grit sandpaper prepping for primer and held the nose bowl up to the light and saw more pinholes…. So it was back to filling and sanding again. After sanding all the filler off I found one more area, filled and sanded that then primed. The primed nose bowl will need a bit of sanding then a final coat of priming

 

268	Oct 27, 2023	Installation of Sky Bolt fasteners	Engine Cowl	2	$0.00	6
Installed in the 2 “U”Channels and the nose bowl

 

267	Oct 26, 2023	Baffle Seal	Baffling	6	$0.00	5
It has been a slow process of getting everything cut and lined up, but making progress slowly

 

266	Sep 03, 2023	Drilled the TW Spring for mounting	Empennage	1	$0.00	3
Upsized the hole in the tailwheel spring to a 5/16th's first with the drill press, then using a reamer. It is installed using a close tolerance bolt AN175-15. It is now a super tight fit. Oh yeah, this is a great way to ruin a brand new drill bit

 

265	Sep 03, 2023	95% done with pre-engine start cooling	Baffling	5	$0.00	7
95+% of my baffling/engine cooling prior to engine start are completed, it was a multi month process. �e last part was slicing the rear silicone so slide into the U-supports for a night airtight fit.

 

264	Sep 01, 2023	Silicone sheets installed	Baffling	6	$0.00	6
Installed nearly the last of the silicon sheets for the cooling, I have the under the front ramp to do, but that is super ease. I actually doubled up the “thin” black stuff that cam with the Vans kit so it would be stiffer. I just did not want the red/orange visible below the front ramps Tomorrow starts the trimming

 

263	Aug 31, 2023	Co-Pilot Scat Tube protection	Cabin Air	2.5	$0.00	2
Wrapped the muffler to cabin with anti-chaff tape in case there is any rubbing. Wrapped the front to muffler section with Kevlar heat shield to protect the scat tube from exhaust tubes and did a double standoff to ensure there is no contact. Did a triple safety wire on the Kevlar shield which also has adhesive on the back side

 

262	Aug 31, 2023	Rear seal installation	Baffling	4	$0.00	1
Of course there was more more on the engine cooling

 

261	Aug 30, 2023	Clamped wires	Engine	.5	$0.00	2
​​​​​​​Put an adel clamp on the lower spark plug lines and CHT and EGT probe wires

 

260	Aug 30, 2023	Silicone to baffling	Baffling	5	$0.00	3
Still working on cooling, installed the silicone on the baffling on both sides and applied RTV to seal it up.

 

259	Aug 28, 2023	Final baffle day, except for the silicone	Baffling	8	$0.00	7
Primed all my baffling parts, painted the parts that are visible through the air intake. Installed the front ramps and back sections, support braces are permanently in place. I also riveted the oil cooler plenum to the back baffle and RTV'ed it

 

258	Aug 27, 2023	Air Ducts plumbed	Baffling	6.5	$0.00	3
Cabin heat and carb heat are plumbed. Lots more work on the baffling with support pieces to stabilize everything.

 

257	Aug 26, 2023	Left Front Ramp	Baffling	2.5	$0.00	1
Riveted together, primed and painted

 

256	Aug 25, 2023	Cabin heat, oil cooler, plug lines run	Baffling	6	$0.00	8
Drilled the holes for the spark plug gaskets Drilled and cut hole for the oil cooler plenum that attaches to the back of the baffling Finished the holes, scat tubing and tube fitting for the co-pilot cabin heat

 

255	Aug 23, 2023	Trimmed sides and bracketed front intake area	Baffling	8	$0.00	6
Lots of progress on the baffling today. �got all the side pieces fitted, the front intake area is now fitted and the brackets have been drilled and cleco'd Long Slow process, 8 hours in it today

 

254	Aug 22, 2023	Front Ramp baffling area	Baffling	4.5	$0.00	4
Another day or measuring 20 times, then a few more times, then cutting, drilling, match drilling and cleco'ing parts together. Baffling is a slow process, but cooling is important

 

253	Aug 11, 2023	Baffling	Baffling	6	$0.00	5
I have been chipping away at the baffling, it has been slow going and at times mentally defeating. made some good progress today and got everything match drilled

 

252	Aug 05, 2023	Baffling	Engine	4	$0.00	10
It was a day of measuring 3 times and cutting once… Of course I was sneaking up on the final shape, so there was sometimes 2, but more often 3-4 cuts required to reach the final shape/height.

 

251	Aug 05, 2023	Brakes	Landing Gear	.5	$0.00	2
After monitoring the tire pressure for three days, I decided to reattach the brake pads. NOT my favorite activity! All safety wired and ready to go. One of the new tubes for the GY 26's had a valve leak and I replaced the valve 3 days ago

 

250	Aug 05, 2023	Control Cables	Engine	1.5	$0.00	1
Yesterday I cut the firewall pass through for the Carb Heat cable, today I reattached the Throttle and Mixture, I measured and cut the Carb Heat cable, attached it. The carb heat cable needed a stand off on the bracket for the adel clamp.

 

249	Aug 05, 2023	Control	Engine		$0.00	0

 

248	Aug 04, 2023	Odds and Ends	Engine	5	$0.00	3
Re-attached a hose on cylinder #1 Grounded the engine block to the firewall negative stud Started the Baffling process which is a bit baffling Drilled the hole in the firewall for the carb heat control cable and set the cable in the pass through

 

247	Aug 03, 2023	Nose Bowl Sanding is finished	Engine Cowl	6	$0.00	1
I don't want to do that again!!! But it turned out great. Thousands of pinholes filled and sanded super smooth

 

246	Aug 02, 2023	More Nose Bowl sanding	Engine Cowl	9	$0.00	0
Perfection is the enemy of completion Sanded the nose bowl for 9 hours

 

245	Aug 01, 2023	Changed tires	Landing Gear	2	$0.00	1
I installed Goodyear 26's as they are a lot more durable than the 26” ABW's I had planned on using. The smaller GY's are super durable and have a smaller profile so should help with a few mph speed

 

244	Aug 01, 2023	Sanding Nose Bowl	Engine Cowl	5.5	$0.00	1
This is what 5 1/2 hours of sanding looks like after yesterday's application of the pinhole filler. The blue spots are superfill in a few areas that needed filling

 

243	Jul 31, 2023	Sanding the Nose Bowl	Engine Cowl	6	$0.00	3
Sanding and filling, rinse and repeat. Had to fill at least 4 times to get it to my satisfaction. Of course you sand in between each filling. Then I painted on pinhole filler as all fiberglass has pinholes. It was a long and dirty day

 

242	Jul 31, 2023	Air Box Fiberglass	Engine Cowl	1.5	$0.00	1
Layed up fiberglass from the front top of the airflow system. This had to be fiberglass as the engine cowl is rounded and the top of the airflow box.

 

241	Jun 26, 2023	Finished the Low Pressure lip and..	Engine Cowl	7	$0.00	3
I finished the low pressure lip and it looks amazing. It is primed and cleco'd in. I also final sanded the air scoop lower frame and it is now ready for pin hole priming

 

240	Jun 25, 2023	Air Scoop Frame	Engine Cowl	1.5	$0.00	0
Final fit of the lower frame that fits on the bottom of the air scoop. There was a bit of trimming and sanding to get the top of the frame to fit up against the scoop

 

239	Jun 25, 2023	Low Pressure Lip 2	Engine Cowl	2	$0.00	3
Final sanded and then applied paint on pin hole filler I also drilled and cleco'ed in place for the final fitting prior to applying the pin hole filler

 

238	Jun 24, 2023	Prepped and primmed lower door skins	Doors	2	$0.00	4
Sanded edges, prepped skins and applied two coats of primer

 

237	Jun 24, 2023	Lower Air Scoop cover	Engine Cowl	1	$0.00	0
Looks like it is finally sanded to an acceptable smoothness

 

236	Jun 24, 2023	Lower Lip Continued	Engine Cowl	3	$0.00	0
Still sanding and filling to get the look just right. Slow process

 

235	Jun 23, 2023	Final Installed Wing Root Panels	Interior Finish	4.5	$0.00	2
After two coats of primer and two coats of flat black paint I installed the wing root panels. Headset jacks and sight gauges also installed in the panel

 

234	Jun 23, 2023	Drilled and cleco'ed NACA Ducts	Boot Cowl	2	$0.00	2
Fitted and drilled in the NACA ducts for cooling in the cockpit

 

233	Jun 23, 2023	Sanding low Pressure lip	Engine Cowl	1.5	$0.00	4
Used a belt sander to get the low pressure lip smoothed out. Then filled in the low spots with more SuperFill

 

232	Jun 22, 2023	Air scoop frame	Engine Cowl	3	$0.00	3
Lots of sanding after filling in depressions and imperfections with SuperFill. Of course then there were more to fill, so lots more sanding tomrrow

 

231	Jun 22, 2023	Low Pressure Lip	Engine Cowl	2	$0.00	5
Popped the low pressure lip out of the mold, measured and cut it to my desired sizing, then of course I added a BUNCH of SuperFill just because I love sanding. For the record, I hate sanding. But SuperFill and sanding will allow for the best/smoothest end result

 

230	Jun 21, 2023	Low Pressure Lip fabrication	Engine Cowl	8	$0.00	11
First I had to create a mold to put on the bottom of the cowl to allow for the glassing. The mold too 5 hours alone as it had many complex curves that joined in the two corners. Then the mold was mounted via packing tape to the cowl and then glassed with 5 layers of fiberglass

 

229	Jun 18, 2023	SkyBolt installation	Engine Cowl	3	$0.00	5
All holes drilled and cleaned up for both the receptacles and fasteners on the cowl doors

 

228	Jun 18, 2023	Sight Gauges	Fuel System	2.5	$0.00	1
Fabricated exactly from the Bearhawk manual 90 degree bulkhead an fitting, Univair float ball, 5052 tubing

 

227	Jun 15, 2023	Riveting the piano hinges to the top cowl	Engine Cowl	3	$0.00	5
Riveted the top cowl to the piano hinges and the cowl doors to the piano hinges. �wn the middle is a line of rivets that is a “U” channel stiffener for the top cowl. I did screw up in a big way…. I had the top cowl all perfectly flush riveted to the piano hinges and then ding… ding… ding I realized I forgot to attach the “U” channel to the bottom of the piano hinge. � I had to drill out the rivets and redo the riveting. �uff happens

 

226	Jun 13, 2023	Air Scoop re-engineering	Engine Cowl	2.5	$0.00	10
I mentally engineered this while I was away working as I felt the fiberglass one I built was too heavy.

 

225	May 12, 2023	Trimmed and installed carb airscoop	Engine Cowl	3.5	$0.00	3
Lots of measuring and marking as I had to make sure this was cut properly. The factory made part comes too long and is trimmed to length based on your engine setup. Once cut to length, I drilled holes in the scoop then transfer drilled to the cowl and cleco'd in

 

224	May 12, 2023	Installed Balance Tubes in Ailerons	Wings	1.5	$0.00	2
Installed the balance tubes and riveted them in

 

223	May 11, 2023	Aileron Balance tubes	Wings	5	$0.00	4
Filled the aileron counterbalance tubes with #9 shot, I got them to within 0.2 oz of one another, I think that is good enough. �ne came out a bit heavy, I think using larger shot would make for a lighter weight. �pounds 6 ounces was my weight. I also countersunk and primed the rivet holes where the tube attaches to the aileron

 

222	May 11, 2023	Bottom Cowl cut out for exhaust	Engine Cowl	2	$0.00	3
Cur out the relief for the exhaust and started on a template for the cowl lip

 

221	May 11, 2023	AirBox	Engine Cowl	9	$0.00	10
Been working on the Companion since I got home from work Monday. �Mainly working on the bottom cowl and the carb airbox with a few other goodies thrown in. It was with much trepidation that I started cutting into the bottom cowl that took so long to get perfect, but it needed a big hole so it got a big hole. �viously it is a start small and enlarge as needed. �arted by tracing the carb for positioning, then took the cowl off set the airbox on it and then started tracing the outline once again starting a bit small allowing for cutting more to fit. With the airbox on, I can now install the Carb Heat control cable, so I did that as well.

 

220	Apr 12, 2023	Finished the bottom cowl, and completed the cowl doors	Engine Cowl	7	$0.00	11
Today was a great day, very visual as I continued yesterday's engine cowl work This is a cool trick a fellow builder showed me, use 2-3” tape using the “inner edge” where you want to final trim your cowl. The install the cowl use more tape and line up the outside edges of the tape and the inside edge will be EXACTLY where you want to trim to. Very simple and effective Then just trim, in the photo it would be a case of trimming the right edge So I finished the left bottom cowl today and drilled and cleco'd it to the U Channel Next was the cowl doors. I held the doors up while lining up the front leading edge to the top cowl and marked the piano hinge on the door both front and back. The I removed the hinge from the top cowl and sandwiched the door between the side hinges and clamped it to the work table. The point of this is to have perfectly matched attach holes on the top and door. Using the top holes to drill through the door skin and other side of the piano hinge Next was to figure out how to match drill the holes for the bottom cowl, U channel and the door skin. The 5 holes drilled will be where the SkyBolt fastener attaches the door to the U Channel and bottom cowl. I used a flush pull rivet on holes 1, 3 and 5, then strap/match drilled holes 2 and 4, then drilled out the 3 rivets and cleco'd in the door on holes 2 and 4 then match drilled hole 3, 5 and 1 The green tape is where I need to make minor trims to make it perfect, then I will sand the edges to take and sharp spot off and finally roll the edges Repeat for the other side and boom you have doors Full photo to show where things are to date

 

219	Apr 12, 2023	From sheet metal to bottom cowl	Engine Cowl	8	$0.00	8
It was a day of measuring, cutting, fitting, measuring, deep breaths, more cutting and fitting and then some drilling. Go slow, you can always take more off, but you can't add on

 

218	Apr 04, 2023	Finished the top cowl with the piano hinges installed	Engine Cowl	6.5	$0.00	9
Engine cowl is fitted and cleco'ed to both the nose bowl and the boot cowl/fuselage. Piano hinges are sandwiched between the “U” channel and skin. I also got started on the bottom cowl, the top attach point (U Channel) installed and they are 0.5�o and 0.4�evel to the reference point which is the top of the door frame

 

217	Apr 03, 2023	Top Section cut and cleco'ed to the nose bowl	Engine Cowl	5	$0.00	8
There was a lot of measuring prior to cutting. Initially I cut it slightly oversized to get a better idea of the fit, then cut it down to the desired size I drilled the holes in the front edge of the top then match drilled and cleco'ed into the nose bowl.

 

216	Apr 03, 2023	Redoing part of the boot cowl	Boot Cowl	4	$0.00	6
I really dislike redoing things, but a part of my boot cowl had been bothering me and being I am starting to work on the engine cowl I decided to redo the top front part of the boot cowl. Yep, it was time to use some poster board to add a bit to the previous piece as rather than being overlapped by the side cowl, this new piece is going to overlap for a cleaner and smoother transition

 

215	Mar 31, 2023	Tool tray	Tools	.5	$0.00	1
Put together this rolling tool tray. WOW I wish I had this from the beginning. It is the new hot “thing” in our building community. It is really nice just rolling everything around with you.

 

214	Mar 31, 2023	Finished the nose bowl backing	Engine Cowl	7	$0.00	8
Lots of poster board templates as the edges of the nose bowl don't allow for straight lines. Really happy how this will allow for extremely sturdy/rugged attach hardware

 

213	Mar 31, 2023	Upper Nose Bowl	Engine Cowl	1	$0.00	1
Installed a metal strip to reinforce the fiberglass nose bowl for attachment purposes

 

212	Mar 31, 2023	Removable Center Section of Glare Shield	Boot Cowl	10	$0.00	3
This was a long process that had several redesigns through the process. In the end I went with doublers on the two sides and front and will attach with flathead screws via nutplates. Very happy with the outcome

 

211	Mar 31, 2023	Removable	Boot Cowl		$0.00	0

 

210	Mar 27, 2023	Removable Top Section	Boot Cowl	1.5	$0.00	1
Cut to size, drilled holes and cleco'ed in place. The holes to attach to the other cowl parts will be drilled tomorrow

 

209	Mar 27, 2023	Naca Duct	Boot Cowl	2.5	$0.00	2
Placed the duct in the boot cowl cut out and got the correct angle for the hose fitting. Then had to drill a large hole (step drill) which was not big enough, so a lot of dremeling and the hose fitting slide into position and was JB Welded in place

 

208	Mar 26, 2023	3rd time was the charm	Boot Cowl	5.5	$0.00	4
Yesterday I set out to make front-middle section for the glare shield and then a removable center section so I have access to the avionics in the future. I made two yesterday and neither were correct, so today was the 3rd iteration and it came out nice. Tomorrow I will finalize the already “rough cut” removable part.

 

207	Mar 23, 2023	Boot Cowl avionics access	Boot Cowl	3	$0.00	0
While working on an avionics box this morning I realized I would potentially have a huge problem at some point in the future with a lack of access under the glare shield. I reinstalled the boot cowl, set the windshield on and made a plan to reconfigure the glare shield. Should not be overly difficult

 

206	Mar 22, 2023	Cotter Pins and Safety Wiring	Landing Gear	1.5	$0.00	6
Just buttoning things up as I finish up the Fuselage and get ready for wings Put cotter pins on the upper gear legs and the lower gear leg. Put safety wire on the brake pads

 

205	Mar 22, 2023	ELT Gremlin fixed	Avionics	3	$0.00	2
Could not work on the nose bowl today, the superfill did not dry overnight as it was too cold in the hanger, so…. I had to get the ELT working, it took: Several trips crawling back into the tail playing with switches 2 trips to Walgreens 2 trips to ACE 2 phone calls Who would have known the system needed two different odd sized batteries to make the system work. But the remote horn and panel remote are all working now.

 

204	Mar 21, 2023	Nose Bowl	Engine	1	$0.00	0
Sanding and filling imperfections.

 

203	Mar 21, 2023	Flying Wires	Tail Feathers	2	$0.00	4
Flying wires are on and tail is set. Both H-Stabs are within 0.1�f the datum point on the fuselage. I'll call that good

 

202	Mar 20, 2023	Nose Bowl	Engine	3	$0.00	0
Sanded and filled more holes with superfill. Filled two connection points with JB Weld for extra strength

 

201	Mar 20, 2023	Cotter Pins	Tail Feathers	2	$0.00	0
Installed all the cotter pins on the tail feather connections.

 

200	Mar 19, 2023	General Stuff	Controls	7	$0.00	7
Over two days I had to UN-F^ck some things. 1) had to remove the fuel selector, gascolator and fuel lines so I could re-clock the 45�N fitting for my fuel line attachment 2) day two of messing with trim tabs to get them right, of course the left trim tube that bolts into the horn was not in the bolt hole, so had to UNDO that and then get it lined up and re-bolted 3) my elevator trim horn was just barely rubbing on the left longeron, so had to file a bit off. This was very time consuming doing it without disassembling which would have taken MORE time most likely. I kept filing and testing for contact. Eventually I got it so it did not cut or leave any mark when I put a piece of paper between the longeron and horn. I also had to bend my bar that attaches to the trim tab arm to clear the elevator/horizontal in the full up elevator position. Used a tube bender to get the job done I also gave my fuel caps the New Zealand treatment, this entails drilling a hole in both the upper and lower parts of the fuel cap for a diameter to squeeze fit a roll pin, then enlarge the bottom section to all for the roll pin to easily fit through. Knipex pliers are a must for roll pins

 

199	Mar 16, 2023	Breather system completed	Engine	1	$0.00	0
Also installed the over-pressure “T” for the Anti-Splat breather system.

 

198	Mar 16, 2023	Radio PTT	Avionics	2	$0.00	0
PTT gremlin was found and eliminated, it was a ground issue in the pilot side from the stick to the Deutsch connector. �th stick PTT were perfectly with a positive confirmation as “loud and clear” from inside the hanger.

 

197	Mar 08, 2023	Remote Oil Filter, Oil Hoses, Breather tube	Engine	5	$0.00	9
Installed the AirWolf remote oil reservoir and all of the oil system hoses. Installed the breather tube and terminated it into the exhaust to burn off any excess oil.

 

196	Mar 07, 2023	Fired Up the Panel	Avionics	13	$0.00	2
Two days of work to pull everything together, get the wiring all service looped and secured. This included remounting the ACM (red box), hooking up all the D-Subs. I had to untangle and reposition the harness wires many times to try to make it the most clean and efficient. Both avionics trays are now permanently secured. Wires are looped and secured via standoffs from a bar between the two fuselage bars that the avionics trays are adel clamped to.

 

195	Mar 01, 2023	Sanded nose bowl	Engine	3	$0.00	1
Sanded the edges smooth to the touch, will need to fill some holes with superfill Searched for flat steel stock 12 gauge for a brace to fit into the channel which the top cowl fits onto Put hub caps on

 

194	Feb 28, 2023	Nosebowl	Engine	2	$0.00	4
Mounted and initial fit of the nosebowl. Leveled and centered. Positioning of the nosebowl made it obvious I needed a 1 3/4” prop hub spacer

 

193	Feb 28, 2023	Cable Control Bracket	Engine	3	$0.00	1
This is version 5, and the final version. I extended the mixture clamp to better serve the angle of the mixture arm movement

 

192	Feb 27, 2023	Installed engine pre-heater	Engine	.5	$0.00	1
Pretty easy, screw in and safety wire

 

191	Feb 26, 2023	Oil Sump Plug Removal	Engine	.5	$0.00	1
Unsuccessfully!!! The plug must have sealant, will need to use heat to remove it. Reason for removing is to install the Anti-Splat oil heater

 

190	Feb 26, 2023	Data plate installation	Fuselage	1	$0.00	1
Made backing for the data plate, glued it to the inside of the fabric under the left horizontal, drilled holes for data plate

 

189	Feb 26, 2023	Clean up and protect aft wiring	Avionics	2.5	$0.00	2
Aft wires got a hose sleeve and spiral wrap to protect them from abrasion. Installed a zip tie wrap holder on the firewall to secure wires. Made a diode jumper for the starter solenoid

 

188	Feb 25, 2023	Added Alternator Shunt and changed Fuse Location	Avionics	2.5	$0.00	2
I had to splice in connectors for the shunt in the alternator wiring. I also moved the alternator fuse closer to the power source to be more efficient

 

187	Feb 23, 2023	Ignition Key Power	Avionics	.5	$0.00	1
Attached the key switch power to the main power buss

 

186	Feb 23, 2023	Alternate USB Plugs	Avionics	1	$0.00	0
Mounted and wired the behind the panel USB plug. Grounds are attached to the buss and the power is attached to the D-Sub

 

185	Feb 23, 2023	Alternator / Voltage Regulator	Avionics	3	$0.00	3
Mounted the regulator on the firewall and ran all the wires to their respective locations both to and from the regulator. Installed the 2amp inline fuse on the wire that attaches to the main power buss

 

184	Feb 23, 2023	Torqued Engine Mount	Engine	1	$0.00	1
I finally got around to torquing the engine mounts to the desired 37 ft.lbs. I had to add some washers to have the castle nuts in the correct orientation.

 

183	Feb 22, 2023	Wire Routing/Planning	Avionics	4	$0.00	6
I decided it would be dangerous to start cutting wires and connecting/splicing wires before I had a solid plan for how the wires would be routed so as to have known wire lengths to deal with. So today I put fasteners on the firewall, mocked up standoffs for the engine mount and ran the wires through sleeves to make everything very clean. I have attached a photo showing how my mentor used hose and high temp zit ties for routing wires I will use this method to make standoffs from the engine mount, here are my temporary attach points to get create my wire routing. Attached are photos of the routing and sleeves I am using to keep thing clean looking. The above (last photo) will have the red/white/black wires spliced to the yellow/black/red wires and the sleeve will be slid to the left through the zip tie location. All zip ties will be high temp zip ties, the ones you see are GripTies that are easily removable. I am trying to be as creative as possible to make things as clean looking as possible.

 

182	Feb 21, 2023	Left Wing wiring.	Lighting	4	$0.00	5
Left wing wires are all plugged into the D-Subs Ignition key switch ground and power were added EMS wire routing laid out and ready to me connected

 

181	Feb 20, 2023	Right wing/Fuselage end wiring	Lighting	6	$0.00	9
Measured and fished the right wing wires down the sleeve in front of the right door frame. All were 18 ga. shielded wires, the landing lights and wingtip lights were 4 conduit, GoPro power supply was a single shielded 18 gauge. My pins that load into my D-Subs only allow for 20-22ga. so I had to splice in 22 ga. wire using solder splices, all connections were finished in heat shrink tube for a nice clean look. Grounds were made using the shielding and a solder spliced pigtail. Final routing for the EMS wires was made, right side will be routed from the left to right along the firewall using adel clamps. EMS wires for EGT's and CHT's will be routed down the engine mount to avoid clutter and create working space in the future

 

180	Feb 16, 2023	Electrical Cables	Avionics	1.5	$0.00	0
Made the electrical cables for: Alternator to 60amp fuse 60amp fuse to master Starter solenoid to starter Main battery negative to firewall passthrough stud

 

179	Feb 15, 2023	Control cable installation and passthrough	Controls	8.5	$0.00	8
Throttle and mixture are vernier assist, so the panel holes had to be upsized to fit. Throttle cable diameter is larger so I used a sphere passthrough, all others used a grip no slip passthrough Installed the fuel firewall passthrough and installed the EI Gold Cube for fuel flow meter

 

178	Feb 06, 2023	Magnetos	Engine	3	$0.00	0
Ok, 2 hours of the three hours was spent scratching my head and researching the P-Leads to the magnetos. Planned out the ignition switch wiring and the digital feed from the magnetos to the tachometer.

 

177	Feb 06, 2023	Sky Light	Fuselage	2	$0.00	0
Bolted down the left sky light

 

176	Feb 06, 2023	Ground Bus	Avionics	2	$0.00	0
Installed the ground bus and a brass 5/16” brass bolt with the head cut off to run negative through the firewall. The brass bolt allows the engine and battery to be grounded

 

175	Feb 04, 2023	Wiring and EMS Progress	Engine	5	$0.00	11
Drilled holes in the exhaust and mounted the EGT probes Installed circuit breaker from the alternator to the master solenoid. Made up the wiring from alternator to the master. Cut hole in firewall for the EMS wires, installed the Avery FW pass through and fished the wires through

 

174	Feb 02, 2023	Installed Solenoids	Engine	1	$0.00	2
Installed the master and starter solenoid on the firewall

 

173	Feb 02, 2023	Control Cable Bracket	Engine	3	$0.00	5
I re-did the control cable bracket with stiffer .080” T-3 2024 sheet metal. I put in 3/4” aluminum angle for the adel clamps to hold the cable sleeves

 

172	Feb 01, 2023	Oil cooler fittings	Engine	2.5	$0.00	0
Took a lot of time clock the an fittings for the oil system hoses.

 

171	Jan 15, 2023	Installed screws on the right center and skylight overhead	Fuselage	3	$0.00	3
Took hours to install about 25 screws. I used nylon washers, crush washer and acorn nuts

 

170	Jan 13, 2023	Wiring Day, hooking up network harnesses and building D-Subs	Avionics	5	$0.00	10
Installed Comm and GPS antennas. Installed D-Sub for the gps to connect to the network system Control Stick PTT, spliced the two grounds into one for the D-Sub. After the spliced used shrink wrap and installed the D-Sub. All plugged into the ACM Temporarily installed the pilot side headset jacks Hooked up all the network harnesses creating a huge mess that will be cleaned up and secured with service loops.

 

169	Jan 12, 2023	Metal Center Overhead IN Placde	Fuselage	2.5	$0.00	8
Installed (with clecos) the metal center overhead. All weatherstripped and fitted for final screws to be installed

 

168	Jan 11, 2023	Terminated coaxial cable end	Avionics	1	$0.00	0
ADBS, Comms and Transponder coaxial cable ends were installed on the cables and attached to the appropriate avionics

 

167	Jan 11, 2023	Installed Skylights	Fuselage	4	$0.00	3
I applied weatherstripping on the three sides that fit into the channels, weatherstripping under outside section more for cushion than weather. Had to tap them in with a rubber mallet as the fit was very tight. I used I/16th” nylon washers under the glass and inside the channel to put upward pressure on the glass so the weatherstripping would press against the channel. They will bolted in when the center metal section is installed

 

166	Jan 11, 2023	Painted the overhead middle section and inspection covers	Paint / Decals	2	$0.00	3
Repainted the middle overhead section which is metal, also painted the plastic inspection covers. Color as identical but look different due to lighting

 

165	Jan 08, 2023	Alternator Installation	Engine	3	$0.00	2
Should not have taken 3 hours but it did. Drilled safety wire holes on the support arm, deburred and primed the drilled area.

 

164	Jan 07, 2023	Measuring for cables	Engine	.5	$0.00	1
Measured the cable lengths so I can order them

 

163	Jan 07, 2023	Throttle/Mixture bracket	Engine	2	$0.00	5
The Vans bracket did not fit my carb setup, so it was time to fabricate

 

162	Jan 05, 2023	Reinforcement patch on handle area	Fuselage	2	$0.00	2
Added reinforcement patch by using a 3” tape to bolster the durability of the handle area on both sides

 

161	Jan 05, 2023	Battery Box and Cabin Heat	Firewall	3.5	$0.00	3
Battery box had to be slightly adjusted as it was angled in and a bit too tight for the battery. Cabin heat pass through are all installed.

 

160	Jan 04, 2023	Holes in Firewall	Firewall	4	$0.00	5
Mounted the brake fluid reservoir, battery box and drilled holes for the 2 cabin heat pass through.

 

159	Jan 03, 2023	Door Windows and Skins	Fuselage	5	$0.00	1
Finally finished upsizing the holes in the Lexan windows to 3/16”s, upsized the door skins to 11/64”s. Had to redo a door skin panel as I upsized the WRONG row of holes. Be careful and drill the correct holes.

 

158	Dec 31, 2022	Upsizing window frame and glass holes	Fuselage	2.5	$0.00	1
Upsized the holes in 4 stages on the window frames from 1/16th to 11/64th, upsized to 11/64th on both upper windows, need to go one more size up to 3/16th Door skins will be next to match the frames for the #8 screws

 

157	Dec 30, 2022	Window Framing	Fuselage	6	$0.00	4
Measured all the window framing pieces, marked and punched the hole locations. Drilled holes 1/16”, will upsize tomorrow. Holes in the window will be oversized for the possible changes due to temperature variation. Lots of measuring and math to get the holes evenly spaces for each framing piece

 

156	Dec 28, 2022	Door window frames	Fuselage	3	$0.00	6
Used flat aluminum 1/16” to create a window frame to sandwich the window. Top swing up doors were fairly easy, bottom door was much more difficult with lots of angles. I did the top two and the bottom left door

 

155	Dec 28, 2022	Finished AP Servo Harness	Avionics	3	$0.00	6
Wired the D-Sub plugs at the servos, secured the wires and connected. Shrink tubing goes into the D-Sub plug and has another layer that terminates at the plug housing.

 

154	Dec 27, 2022	Installed Connectors for the Control Sticks	Avionics	2.5	$0.00	4
Laid out the PTT wire routing, installed a grip tie tie down to secure the wires/tubes to the deutsch connector. Installed the male deutsch connector to the pilot and co-pilot PTT wiring. Triple shrink wrapped the wires leading to the deutsch connector. Secured the roll servo harness wire to the tie down. Safety wired the connection to the roll servo

 

153	Dec 27, 2022	Trim Actuator covers	Tail Feathers	2	$0.00	5
Made two covers with the slot for the trim actuating lever

 

152	Dec 26, 2022	PPT and AP Harness	Avionics	3.5	$0.00	6
Cut hole in floorboard under right seat to all the routing of the PTT wires from the control stick to pass down and forward as well as the AP Servo wires to pass up to the servos. Installed the Servos in the brackets and secured with safety wire.

 

151	Dec 24, 2022	Engine Monitors and CHT's	Avionics	5.0	$0.00	5
Cut a hole in my left avionics tray to allow the EGT/CHT and Engine Thermo wires down for the firewall pass-through on the left side. Final mounted the Backup Battery and Engine monitor box on the tray as well as the ACM. ACM might need to come off as it is blocking access to one of the adel clamps needed to secure it to the tubing. AP harness wires are all laid out, just waiting to decide on the final/exact routing then cut to length and install the D-Sub. Installed the CHT probes

 

150	Dec 23, 2022	More Wiring	Avionics	2.5	$0.00	3
Working on control stick and AP servo wiring

 

149	Dec 21, 2022	Wiring	Avionics	4	$0.00	9
The control PTT wiring with disconnect modules and the wires from the disconnect to the COM harness which is spiral wrapped. The AP servos are now wired and the D-Sub attached to both servos.

 

148	Dec 16, 2022	Final mounting of the Oil Cooler	Engine	2.5	$0.00	3
Brackets made with nutplates using flush rivets so the oil cooler sits flush to the angle support Need to remake the bottom support as the final fitting lifted the outside edge of the oil cooler about 1/4”.

 

147	Dec 15, 2022	Wire routing	Avionics	2	$0.00	2
Worked out the wiring layout from the forward station up to the right avionics tray. Ordered spiral wrap to secure the wires together. More to come

 

146	Dec 15, 2022	Oil Filter	Engine	3	$0.00	4
Using angle and fuel lines I secured (temporarily) oil cooler to the firewall.

 

145	Dec 13, 2022	Nutplates and trays	Avionics	5	$0.00	4
Fitted boxes on the top and the ACM on the bottom. I used 1” nylon spacers on the bottom to give relief from bolt heads and the fuselage tubing for the ACM. Everything is still loose fit in regard to the bolts as there will be more on and off to cut holes in the tray for wires to pass through and install grommets

 

144	Dec 11, 2022	Avionics Trays	Avionics	3	$0.00	4
Final Cut the trays after installing the fresh air scat tubing so I see the clearance needed. Drilled holes for the nutplates, then primed and installed the nutplates

 

143	Dec 11, 2022	Windows	Fuselage	7	$0.00	2
Yesterday I picked up a lower door to begin the framing process of securing the windows in place only to notice one was cracked. Lower doors have a difficult shape and this took a good 4 hours to fit a new one. Luckily I had leftover .125 glass Then I sanded and sanded and then sanded some more, so all windows all have super smooth edges

 

142	Dec 08, 2022	Hanging the engine	Engine	5	$0.00	5
YEP, took five hours to get the engine mounted. Not fun but it is done. Lots of adjustments with the hoist, lots of drift pins, lots of crushing. I did use a ratchet strap to squeeze the lower engine mount holes to line up with the engine case holes.

 

141	Dec 07, 2022	Trimmed Avionics Tray	Avionics	1	$0.00	1
Trimmed the avionics tray so there is very little overhang in the middle to eliminate the tray edge form possibly chaffing wires/harnesses

 

140	Dec 07, 2022	Cover Plates	Controls	3	$0.00	3
I had re-make the rectangular cover plates for the rear horizontal stabilizer. The original cover was made and holes drilled when layer flat, but the fuselage has a curve and the holes no longer lined up. So it was a redo

 

139	Dec 06, 2022	Wire conduit and Running wires	Avionics	2.5	$0.00	6
Cut the conduit and then ran the headset jacks so they can be mounted on the wing root panel. Ran the Comms coaxial cable through the conduit to the right avionics tray Started attaching the wiring harnesses to check for proper lengths reach. Checked several mounting locations for the ACM.

 

138	Dec 06, 2022	Avionics Box Trays	Avionics	1.5	$0.00	4
Used the template to mark up and then cut the trays for the remote avionics. One for each side.

 

137	Dec 05, 2022	NACA Cuts	Boot Cowl	2	$0.00	1
Took a few tools and a lot of patience, but the NACA cuts are in for the “air conditioning”

 

136	Dec 04, 2022	Exhaust Suspension	Engine	2	$0.00	1
Had to do a bit of bending to the exhaust attach ring to match the angle of the supports. The support tubes that attach to the engine mount had to be shortened.

 

135	Dec 02, 2022	Mounted the Prop	Propeller	1.5	$0.00	2
The prop was mounted temporarily so I can get the magnetos timed. No need to have the prop on at this time. The hub will stay on though.

 

134	Dec 02, 2022	Mounting the Exhaust	Engine	3	$0.00	4
I ordered a Vetterman exhaust based on great recommendations. I have had it for a couple of months, but only opened the box today. It looked like a jigsaw puzzle. But a look at the directions and it became clear what needed to be done. Except you can't tighten down the top pieces that mount to the cylinder because you then can't fit the next part. Ask me how I know. So there was a bit of putting one, taking off, loosening etc. I am very impressed by the exhaust. I measured from two points to two to have the dual pipes to have the same angle.

 

133	Dec 02, 2022	Hung the engine	Engine	1.5	$0.00	6
I removed a magneto, used lot of duct tape to protect the engine mount from scratches. In the end it was pretty easy by following a “how to” posted to the internet but some Vans builders

 

132	Dec 01, 2022	Inspection covers	Fuselage	1.5	$0.00	2
Due to a less than idea fit, I redid the forward horizontal stabilizer inspection covers

 

131	Nov 12, 2022	Prep for primer	Boot Cowl	4	$0.00	1
Removed the plastic, touched up the edges to remove any sharpness. Next was to use scotch bright to prepare for self etching primer. Each piece for two coats of primer per side

 

130	Nov 11, 2022	Installed the Panel	Avionics	2	$0.00	6
Hung the panel for the initial fitting, it will need to be removed to drill holes for the throttle and mixture

 

129	Nov 11, 2022	Installed eats and finalized Seatbelts	Interior Finish	2.5	$0.00	3
Seats are in and the seatbelts are all set. LAst step was to add the bungee to the front of the seat as a retainer for the crotch strap

 

128	Nov 10, 2022	Firewall and Engine Mount reinstall action	Engine	3	$0.00	3
Reinstalled the firewall and engine mount in preparation for the engine to be mounted.

 

127	Nov 10, 2022	Prepped, Primed and reinstalled the boot cowl	Boot Cowl	6.5	$0.00	3
Removed the plaster from the fitted boot cowl, used scotch bright as prep for the priming. Primed and then wet sanded with 600 grit to finish the priming process and prepare for the final painting. This was all about getting set for the panel installation.

 

126	Nov 09, 2022	Back on the Gear	Landing Gear	6	$0.00	3
Had to remove the bushwheels from one set of wheels, install them on the ones for my brakes, then go through the long process of installing everything

 

125	Nov 06, 2022	Seat Belt attach points	Fuselage	1	$0.00	2
Had to tap drill the two outside seatbelt attach points and install helicoils for the AN4 bolt as it is not possible to do a pass through

 

124	Nov 06, 2022	Seat Belt attach points	Fuselage	1	$0.00	2
Had to tap drill the two outside seatbelt attach points and install helicoils for the AN4 bolt as it is not possible to do a pass through

 

123	Nov 06, 2022	Covering is done	Fuselage	9	$0.00	9
Finished all the seam tapes today. The top of the empennage to vertical to a lot of work, but that is not a surprise with the compound curves

 

122	Nov 03, 2022	Left and Right side covering finished	Fuselage	6.5	$0.00	7
Finalized the left and right sides which were troublesome due to a compound curve. Cut the final piece and taped off the top for the glue lines

 

121	Nov 02, 2022	Left side finished	Fuselage	6	$0.00	3
Left side covering is finished, only thing left is taping the seams which will be all done at the very end

 

120	Oct 31, 2022	Covering the Vertical Stabilizer	Fuselage	7	$0.00	6
Finally finished the Vertical. I used separate pieces of fabric for both right and left sides to be able to get the fabric to lay down so I could rib stitch the lowest rib.

 

119	Oct 27, 2022	Prepped for Left Side Covering	Fuselage	3	$0.00	7
Static, AOA and Pitot lines were plumbed, ADSB and Transponder antennas were installed and hooked up to the coaxial cables

 

118	Oct 21, 2022	Right side Fabric	Fuselage	6	$0.00	6
Made a lot of progress today with tacking and shrinking. I got the window and both inspection holes cut out as well

 

117	Oct 20, 2022	Cut both right and left fabric and attached left	Fuselage	8	$0.00	3
Both right and left were cut to size and lined for glue. Right side fabric was glued as was the right side fuselage. Tacked the fabric on the side stringers

 

116	Oct 19, 2022	Prep for covering	Fuselage	4.5	$0.00	4
Riveted in the outer window frames and permanently set the inspection cover backing plates

 

115	Oct 18, 2022	Inspection Covers	Fuselage	1	$0.00	3
Made the backing and covers for the tail feather attachements, made the covers for the forward horizontal attach location

 

114	Oct 18, 2022	Bottom Covering Complete	Fuselage	15	$0.00	4
Two days and 15 hours later and the bottom of the fuselage is covered. It was pretty easy, I did need a second pair of hands for an hour or so moving the large fabric piece back and forth several times from the fuselage to the table

 

113	Oct 17, 2022	Prepped for Covering	Fuselage	2	$0.00	2
Attached 2x4's to the fuselage engine mount holes to be able to rotate for covering. Removed the gear (gear since covered). Inverted to start on the bottom

 

112	Oct 17, 2022	Gear Covered	Landing Gear	18	$0.00	10
Covered the gear, only tricky thing was trying to make the brake line coming out of the coving to look as clean as possible.

 

111	Aug 23, 2022	Right side Cargo enclosure	Fuselage	3	$0.00	7
Installed the right side cargo wall and started taping for the window installation.

 

110	Aug 15, 2022	Left side cargo covering	Fuselage	4	$0.00	5
I had planned to do both the left cargo wall and left window, but life got in the way. Left cargo wall is now in.

 

109	Aug 12, 2022	Fitting of the skylights	Fuselage	2.5	$0.00	7
I measured, measured, and measured, then….. Yep today was skylight day. Right wide was perfect for width, but needed one trimming cut after the initial cut. Left side required two length trims, but both are fitted. It was surprisingly easier than I thought, I was expecting the worst with the compound curve.

 

108	Aug 11, 2022	Finished covering Tail Feathers	Tail Feathers	50	$0.00	17
Tail Feathers are completely covered and stored. It was a long arduous process, but with the Oratex it is nice when you get the covering on it is finished, no pointed and such.

 

107	Aug 11, 2022	Cargo wall window covering	Paint / Decals	1	$0.00	4
I have been trying to get my head around the covering/lining of the cargo area sides. I have a plan now, so brought home the outside half of the left window frame to attach the fabric to the frame. I am happy how this turned out, just note it is not shrunk/final fitted so it looks a bit messy at this time.

 

106	Jun 19, 2022	Trim Tabs, Elevators and Horizontals covered	Paint / Decals	25	$0.00	9
It was a long slog but all tailfeathers but the rudder are covered.

 

105	Jun 16, 2022	Horizontal Stab Covering	Paint / Decals	8	$0.00	19
Making progress, but it is very slow to get it right

 

104	Jun 16, 2022	Horizontal Stab Covering	Paint / Decals	8	$0.00	18
Making progress, but it is very slow to get it right

 

103	Jun 09, 2022	Covering Elevators and Trim Tabs	Paint / Decals	31.5	$0.00	13
After my original diabolical with covering, I got a two day lesson on covering with Oratex. I finished up at home today after 27.5 hours the past two days. I learned when you think you are going slow, like REALLY SLOW….. you are still going too fast. The edges required attaching about 1 inch at a time. I was pretty frightened about rid stitching, but it was not that bad. Everything came out really well.

 

102	Jun 07, 2022	Covering tailfeathers	Paint / Decals	14	$0.00	1
Covering the elevators and trim tabs.

 

101	Jun 06, 2022	Covering issues	Paint / Decals	18	$0.00	3
Had to strip the fabric of of both elevators. The first one (right) was just really poor quality do to me being a beginner, the left elevator was about 95% quality, only problem was one of the hinge brackets was just not aligned properly. Removing the fabric not terrible, just used the heat gun and it came off. The glue was NOT so easy. Oratex glue was near impossible to remove.

 

100	May 20, 2022	Inspection holes/plates	Empennage	8	$0.00	13
Templates, transfer, cut trim, de-burr, sand, prime, attached the nutplates with Clickbond…. Yes it was quite the process. Then the inner ring was fitted to be flush to the tubing under the fabric. I used a nearly 90* angle to attach the rings to the stringer.

 

99	May 17, 2022	Drilled and set the clamps to hold the brake lines	Landing Gear	.5	$0.00	1
Just aligned the clamps to create the correct location to drill the hole.

 

98	May 17, 2022	Finished Wing Root Panels	Interior Finish	4	$0.00	8
Used Click-Bond adhesive to attach the “tabs” with the rivet nuts for the attachment of the actual panel. I used a rigid straight edge to make sure the alignment was correct for the tabs. I drills pilot holes from the back of the rivet nut then removed the panel and upsized the holes to fit.

 

97	May 12, 2022	Installed seat bottom cushions	Interior Finish	1.5	$0.00	2
I had to have my seat bottoms redone as the first ones were too tall, meaning the cushions were too thick. Daniel at Sport Aircraft Seats was amazing and these are perfect

 

96	May 12, 2022	Wing Root Panel	Fuselage	4	$0.00	6
Cardboard, scissors, sharpie and it was template time. They it was transferring to .025 sheet metal, then the cutouts and fitting.

 

95	Apr 06, 2022	Wire retention and wires	Avionics	2	$0.00	3
Installed the wire retention devices to hold the wires for the run up to the panel area. Also installed ADSB, Transponder and ELT wires and ran them to the panel area

 

94	Apr 06, 2022	Floor boards and cargo area	Fuselage	2	$0.00	1
Used Scotch Bright to remove scratches and prepare for the carbon fiber wrap. Also re-installed the underfoot floorboard as well the fuel selector. Also brought al the floor boards and cargo closeouts home in preparation for covering

 

93	Apr 05, 2022	Middle section of the roof/sky light	Fuselage	3	$0.00	5
Drilled the wholes for the GPS and Comm antennas in the metal center section of the roof over the seats. Used scotch bright to prepare the metal for paint/wrap. Upsized the drilled holes for final rivet size.

 

92	Apr 05, 2022	Floor Boards	Interior Finish	2	$0.00	3
Final fit of the autopilot servo mounting brackets on the floor boards. Applied the carbon fiber wrap to floor boards

 

91	Apr 04, 2022	Center roof section	Fuselage	3	$0.00	3
Cut and fit the .040 2024 T3 middle section of the roof/skylight area. Taped and drilled then upsized the holes in the support rails. Measured to get the metal fit to have equal overhangs on both the right and left, then match drilled from the middle fore and aft alternating left and right to keep everything even

 

90	Apr 04, 2022	ADAHARS Tray	Avionics	3	$0.00	1
Had to fabricate a tray for the ADAHARS so it is +/- 1.0 degree of level to the fuselage's level datum. I got it to 0.1 degree of level. The tray has three bends to attain the correct orientation.

 

89	Apr 01, 2022	Brake lines	Landing Gear	2	$0.00	3
Bought pre-made brake lines from Pegasus and they look great.

 

88	Apr 01, 2022	Securing Lines	Fuel System	2	$0.00	6
Took care of any possible rub/friction areas with 8 to 1 shrink tubing as well as using adel clamps to secure the lines to the back of the door former

 

87	Mar 28, 2022	Brake Line mock up	Controls	2.0	$0.00	1
Mocked up the brake lines so I am good to go on marketing the permanent lines

 

86	Mar 28, 2022	Flap Cable Rub Block	Fuselage	.5	$0.00	2
My left and right flap cables were rubbing on the upper longeron, so I installed rub blocks

 

85	Mar 24, 2022	Right seat bottom webbing installed	Fuselage	3	$0.00	4
Attached the right seat bottom webbing to the frame, started fitting the right seat bottom cushion

 

84	Mar 23, 2022	Right Rear Window	Fuselage	2.5	$0.00	3
Used the template to trace out, then rough cut and finally sanded and filed to fit into the window frame,

 

83	Mar 23, 2022	Seat Back webbing	Interior Finish	2	$0.00	4
Used Poly-Tak to attach the Sport Aircraft seat backs to the seat frames.

 

82	Mar 22, 2022	Rear Windows	Fuselage	1	$0.00	2
Finished the rear window template and transferred the outline to the “glass”

 

81	Mar 22, 2022	Secured fuel lines	Fuel System	1	$0.00	0
Used adel clamps to secure the fuel lines to the fuselage

 

80	Mar 22, 2022	Completed Cargo extension/box	Fuselage	3	$0.00	3
Final fit and attached in 3 places

 

79	Mar 22, 2022	Antenna trays	Avionics	4	$0.00	2
Completed and installed the Transponder and ADSB antenna trays/mounts

 

78	Mar 09, 2022	GPS and Comm antenna shield	Avionics	6.5	$0.00	9
Who would have thought it would take six and a half hours to make/fit/install two mounting plates. The stringers are not parallel so that added time. I used angle aluminum at the front and back of each shield to make them extremely stiff. I ran out of time, so the GPS plate/shield still needs to be riveted to the stringers.

 

77	Feb 20, 2022	Cargo Closeout and Baggage Door	Fuselage	15	$0.00	7
Finished the cargo tube, it is all connected via nutplates to the cargo closeout. Cargo closeout baggage door fitted and attached

 

76	Feb 20, 2022	Static Port tubing	Avionics	.5	$0.00	0
I plumbed the static ports up to the firewall area. The “T” still needs to be secured to the brace, I am waiting on the proper bolt size to arrive

 

75	Feb 16, 2022	Static Port location finalized	Avionics	.5	$0.00	3
Upsized the holes for pull rivets and then riveted in the mounting plates

 

74	Feb 16, 2022	Back wall of cargo area	Interior Finish	6	$0.00	6
Lots of measuring and fitting of a cardboard on the top edge and bottom, then used poster board for the template before tracing over on the sheet metal. I purposely over cut the sheet metal and then slowly fitted it to a perfect fit. The poster board when in and out at least 15 times, the sheet metal was in and out at least 10 times to get the fit just right.

 

73	Feb 12, 2022	Rear Windows	Fuselage	3	$0.00	3
Drilled out the factory rivets of the window frames as they were on the wrong way. Drilled and match drilled the frames to the door former. Cut the angle to cover the window frame. Angle is only clamped in at this point

 

72	Feb 12, 2022	Re-did the left side boot cowl	Fuselage	2	$0.00	2
I was unhappy with the fit of the original, so I re-made the left side

 

71	Feb 12, 2022	Installed the Static Ports	Avionics	1.5	$0.00	2
Fabricated the plates, put in a 90 degree bend to mount on the stringer. Cut a 1/2” hole via step up drill process for the static port. Used Clickbond glue to attach the port to the plate. Drilled, the plate and match drilled the stringer for permanent rivets.

 

70	Feb 12, 2022	Fabricated plates for covering	Tail Feathers	4	$0.00	7
I fabricated several plates in order to stop fabric shrinkage during the heating process.

 

69	Feb 06, 2022	Right Lower Door Window	Fuselage	2	$0.00	3
Cut and fitted the right window for the lower door. Also trimmed the front door skin to clear the boot cowl when fully open

 

68	Feb 05, 2022	Rudder Pedal Spring	Fuselage	.5	$0.00	1
Changed out the rudder pedal springs to a stronger spring

 

67	Feb 05, 2022	Left Lower Door	Fuselage	3	$0.00	1
Cut and fitted the acrylic for the lower door. Also trimmed the front of the door skin for clearance on the boot cowl when fully open

 

66	Feb 03, 2022	Rudder Cables	Fuselage	2	$0.00	3
Finished the cables connecting the rudder pedals to the rudder cable horn

 

65	Jan 13, 2022	Upper and Lower Door	Fuselage	7	$0.00	13
After an epic fail as cutting acrylic yesterday, today I managed to get the acrylic cut and fitted to the upper doors. I copied a friends BH and cut the skins on the lower doors for a much bigger window.

 

64	Jan 11, 2022	Upper Side Stringer	Fuselage	1	$0.00	0
Fabricated an angle bend of sheet metal to attach the front of the upper side stringer to the rear door former

 

63	Jan 11, 2022	Skylight	Fuselage	1.5	$0.00	2
Permanently riveted the skylight to the fuselage

 

62	Jan 08, 2022	Golf Club cargo tube	Fuselage	3.5	$0.00	2
I used kydex for the container, and 2024 T-3 for the base of the “tube” to hold it secure to the fuselage.

 

61	Jan 08, 2022	Mouse Trap doors	Fuselage	5	$0.00	6
Lots of trial and error fitting the piano hinges, took a few attempts to get each one correct. The actual trap doors each took two attempts to get the right fit.

 

60	Jan 05, 2022	Upper Doors	Fuselage	7.5	$0.00	11
Fitted, drilled and cleco'ed both right and left upper doors. Outside front and rear were cut/mitered to match the top and bottom. Drilling and match drilled to match the inside window brace.

 

59	Jan 05, 2022	Upper D	Fuselage		$0.00	0

 

58	Jan 03, 2022	Upper Door Window Frame	Fuselage	3	$0.00	5
Cut and fit the frame that holds the acrylic window against the outer frame covering.

 

57	Dec 28, 2021	Lower doors	Fuselage	3	$0.00	9
Drilled and cut the patroller window on the right lower door as well as trimmed the top of the side skin at the front and back for both the right and the left doors so allow the doors to fully shut. Drilled the door latch holes in the door frame for both left and right doors.

 

56	Dec 24, 2021	Lower door	Fuselage	9.0	$0.00	17
Drilled holes in the door frame, match drilled in the skins, drilled and set the top angle for the door. Cut the hole for the patroller window and was then trimmed and all edges smoothed. I rolled the skin to fit on the window. Window frames were glued together and the acrylic was set into the frame

 

55	Dec 22, 2021	Lower Door top fitting	Fuselage	.5	$0.00	2
Cut aluminum angle to fit on top of the lower door

 

54	Dec 22, 2021	Lower Door Windows	Fuselage	6.5	$0.00	5
Cut frame for window/acrylic. Cut and fitted the acrylic to fit inside the frame, then cut and fitted the backing to hold the acrylic in the frame and to the door skin.

 

53	Dec 16, 2021	Rear Window frames	Fuselage	.5	$0.00	1
Re-installed the window frames and started to bend the supports to make a clean line to work with the covering.

 

52	Dec 16, 2021	Door Skin	Fuselage	3.5	$0.00	5
Mounted the skins on each door, this took some cutting and filing to get the proper clearance for the door hinges. Spent a good 2 hours exploring a way to have a patroller window in the door.

 

51	Dec 16, 2021	Mounted the landing gear, wheels and tires	Landing Gear	2	$0.00	4
Finally got the AN6-6 bolts to attach the brake torque plate to the gear legs. This allowed me to then put on the brakes, wheels and tires for the first time. Torque plates are each attached with two AN-5 bolts using bushings (due to clearance on the bolts) and two AN6-6 bolts

 

50	Dec 15, 2021	Measured Elevator for Deflection	Controls	.5	$0.00	0
Elevator is perfect for deflection up and down Down elevator – 21.3 degrees Up elevator – 29.0 degrees

 

49	Dec 15, 2021	Final assembly of control sticks	Controls	1.5	$0.00	4
Took out the temporary bolts and did the permanent bolts, castle nuts and cotter pins

 

48	Dec 15, 2021	Cut Stick Down and Installed Grips	Controls	2	$0.00	1
Control Sticks were too long for the grips, so had to trim 1.75” off the top for clearance of the panel

 

47	Dec 15, 2021	Hung Doors and Windows	Fuselage	1.5	$0.00	2
Had to ream the holes and then flatten one side of the pin head for clearance

 

46	Dec 14, 2021	Sky Light and Window Former Painting	Fuselage	2.5	$0.00	1
Had to drill out the rivets on the front window retainer to remove. Used two coats of etching primer and then two coats of black satin paint on the sky light and front window former.

 

45	Dec 14, 2021	Stringers	Fuselage	1.5	$0.00	1
Riveted in the left and right side stringers, all stringers are now riveted in. Required some upsized drilling to fit the pull rivets.

 

44	Dec 14, 2021	Flap Rigging to the 1-2 plate	Controls	1	$0.00	2
I could only go that far as I am waiting on a bushing for the flap pulleys. Had to upsize the holes in the 1-2 plate to accept the AN3 bolt

 

43	Dec 13, 2021	Rigging the Elevator	Controls	3	$0.00	4
Rigging is a slow process, lots of checks and rechecks on cable length. But got the elevator all done and perfectly tensioned. Doing it solo was extra slow as I had to continuously monitor the control stick angle (90* to the fuselage) and the elevator being squared to the horizontal stabilizer.

 

42	Dec 13, 2021	Trim Rigging	Controls	3	$0.00	3
Rigged the trim (lost one of the sleeves/clamps and will do the last of the 6 in a few days) system, used one clip lock turnbuckle in the closed loop system to allow for fine turning

 

41	Dec 12, 2021	Ski/Golf Club compartment	Fuselage	1	$0.00	3
Got started on the specialized baggage compartment for skis and golf clubs. I am using Kydex and forming it with a heat gun.

 

40	Dec 12, 2021	Axle	Landing Gear	1.5	$0.00	0
Drilled the cotter pin holes in the axles. I put the tires/wheels on the axle and hand tightened the castle nut, test spun the wheel to confirm it was not binding. Next was setting up the drill press to make sure the drill was dead center for the cotter pin. I started with a pilot hole all the way through then went with a 1/8th” drill for the cotter pin.

 

39	Dec 10, 2021	Wheels and Tires	Landing Gear	2	$0.00	2
Cleaned the temporary bearing grease and then repacked the bearings the wheels. Mounted the tires on the wheels

 

38	Dec 10, 2021	Brake Torque Plates	Landing Gear	1.5	$0.00	2
Match drilled and set the torque plates on the landing gear. Waiting on the AN6-5 bolts to arrive for the final two holes on each gear leg

 

37	Dec 09, 2021	Torque Plate Installation	Landing Gear	2.5	$0.00	0
Clamped and marked holes to be drilled for the torque plate on the right landing gear. Had to remove the landing gear to do this.

 

36	Dec 08, 2021	Bottom Cowl extension re-do	Boot Cowl	.5	$0.00	0
Used the old messed up piece to trace the shape for the new bottom cowl extension

 

35	Dec 08, 2021	Tires	Landing Gear	.5	$0.00	0
Used powder to form a protective coating for inserting the tube inside the tires

 

34	Dec 03, 2021	Trim Tabs	Tail Feathers	4	$0.00	6
I used a hacksaw to remove the trim tabs from the elevators and then they required a lot of filing and sanding to get rid of welding residue. The elevator was the same, needed lots of sanding and filing. Once both were sanded to shape I primed the bare metal with two coats for corrosion protection.

 

33	Dec 02, 2021	Counter Sinking holes	Instrument Panel	1	$0.00	2
This was easy, just used the countersink tool on the drill to size for #6 screws

 

32	Dec 02, 2021	8 days of Boot Cowl Work	Boot Cowl	55	$0.00	41
I had a deadline to hit on the boot cowl as I needed to finish it so I could send the panel to Dynon. It was all day everyday for 8 days. There were some minor mistakes, and one major that will be corrected when I return from my work trip. In one photo you can see several holes in the boot side cowl. Luckily I had extra to be trimmed off and it was not an issue. Getting the side cowl to really have a perfect shape was a lot of work, in the end I used straps to hold it in place so I could drill the holes. I had never done sheet metal work, so this was very frustrating at times, and occasionally rewarding. I messed up the bottom cowl extension, and will get that fixed soon. I had to order a piece of sheet metal and will have to copy and trace from the messed up piece to make the new one. Overall this has been the most challenging part of the build to date. Doing this will the help of someone else would be a lot easier. Tons of templates were created to prepare for cutouts and trimming to fit around the both the glare shield cabane and the landing gear struts.

 

31	Dec 02, 2021	Panel Attach fabricated	Instrument Panel	3	$0.00	5
I got a 3/4 x 3/4 aluminum angle, but it to length then with the help of a friend shrunk it to fit the shape of the panel. It turned out beautifully and will be perfect for the panel and glare shield attach points

 

30	Dec 02, 2021	Insulation and sound proofing	Firewall	8	$0.00	7
This was a long task, I had to make templates for both the front and back of the firewall. I put Newton Z-Flex aluminum with fiberglass glass backing on the front and KookMat on the cabin side of the firewall. The templates took a lot of trial and error. Once the template was done I cut a bit oversize and them trimmed down to a perfect fit. I used 3M adhesive spray to attach both. I let did each at the end of a day so they could cure overnight with a lot of clamps to hold in place.

 

29	Dec 02, 2021	Drilling and fitting to Fuselage	Firewall		$0.00	0
I was very concerned about making sure I drilled the holes perfectly so the firewall was centered. There was lots of clamping and adjusting, lots of testing with the drill prior to actually drilling out the holes. There was a lot of epoxy paint and welding crud that had to be clean/reamed/drilled out prior to the drilling of the firewall. I used a dab of white paint on the tip of the drill to finally confirm that the firewall was perfectly centered. It was a nervous moment, but it went smoothly.

 

28	Dec 02, 2021	Installed the Landing Gear	Landing Gear	6	$0.00	7
This was an exercise in frustration. For the life of me I could not get things to fit. There was a lot of messing about and a bit of trimming attach point surfaces. In the end I had to attach the strut to the landing gear legs, THEN attach the strut to the fuselage. This took and entire workday

 

27	Dec 02, 2021	ELT Mount	Avionics	3	$0.00	1
Fabricated and installed using adel clamps, I later added a bend to the front edge to add stability

 

26	Dec 02, 2021	Sky Light and windshield attach area	Fuselage		$0.00	1
Had to drill out the temporary rivets for the skylight frame and the windshield attach at the front. Everything was then drilled to size, match drilled and the skylight frame cleco'ed back in. I did rivet in the top windshield attach area, but it will be coming back out as I decided to paint all of these pieces black

 

25	Dec 02, 2021	Floorboards	Interior Finish	9	$0.00	8
Tabs were drilled to size and the floorboards were then match drilled. I am using ClickBonds in place of tinnerman clips as they are much stronger and will not fall off. Floorboards were fit very well from the factory and required only a bit of trimming to be fit into place. The floorboards under the seats requiring some trimming and bending to allow for the elevator cables to pass through. I highly recommend ClickBonds. The plate to cover the exposed area around the flap area was not overly difficult, took about 1.5 hours. The hole for the fuel sector was a bit of a challenge to get the right spot for the initial hole and then lots of time to slowly get it to size.

 

24	Dec 02, 2021	Mock Cable lines	Controls	3	$0.00	6
Fairleads were installed. Springs were installed on the Rudders. Parachute cord was put in to mock up the cable runs to all surfaces except the ailerons.

 

23	Dec 02, 2021	Fuel lines finished and leak tested	Fuel System	6	$0.00	23
A lot of time was spent fitting the lines through the forward floorboards and getting everything bent just right so as not to have any low spots. Rubber grommets were used to secure the lines going through door formers. Adel clamps were used to secure the lines. Leak test was good with a measured line on the ballon for 4-5 hours with no shrinkage

 

22	Dec 02, 2021	Fuel Lines	Fuel System	7	$0.00	8
Fuel lines were all run and ready for final trim and flaring

 

21	Dec 02, 2021	Rudder installation	Tail Feathers	3	$0.00	0
The rudder to a bit of sanding and as you can see some primer to protect the sanded areas. I had to sand in order to get the top attach point to slide up to mate the the vertical stabilizer

 

20	Dec 02, 2021	Rudder Pedal Installation	Controls	3	$0.00	1
There was a lot or measuring and clamping and then repeating the measuring and clamping prior to drilling. One concern was that I do not have my toe brake cylinders for the fitting. In the end I was very happy with the result.

 

19	Dec 02, 2021	Right rear line	Fuel System	4	$0.00	5
I am using the 5052 lines, so a lot to do to bend them. I was very nervous about the fuel lines and kept putting it off and working on other things. It was not that difficult the bending was done only after lots of measuring and remeasuring. In the end it was pretty easy.

 

18	Dec 02, 2021	Tube for Rudder Cables	Controls	1	$0.00	1
I installed a clear tube for the rudder cables in the baggage area so baggage will never bind the cable movement

 

17	Dec 02, 2021	Correcting mistakes	Fuel System	4	$0.00	4
So after realizing my mistake, it was all about drilling out rivets and then installing a system for the fuel selector and stand so it is removable and serviceable.

 

16	Dec 02, 2021	Fuel Selector and Gascolator	Fuel System	5	$0.00	0
Total mess up that had to be corrected. It was really nicely done and engineered… Except the stand for the fuel selector can't be riveted in, and it needs the floor under it.

 

15	Dec 02, 2021	Door Formers	Fuselage	5	$0.00	5
Drilled out the temporary rivets and removed the door formers. Drilled the tabs and them match drilled the tab holes to the formers. Countersunk the holes for flush riveting. Installed the formers with clecos and then riveted them in. There were some tight fits for the bucking bar, but I managed to get them all in. There were some that were drilled out and re-riveted to make them perfectly flush

 

14	Dec 02, 2021	Bottom Stringers	Fuselage	4	$0.00	2
The bottom stringers require bending so as to allow the fabric to transition to the tail without an edge.

 

13	Dec 02, 2021	Trim system	Controls	8	$0.00	6
The installation of the trim system was a slow process and there was a lot of fitting to do after cutting the trim tabs out of the horizontal stabilizer. The torque tube fitting (cutting to length) and installation was a slow process as the left and right horizontal stabilizers had to go on and off many times, too many to count. Then the torque tube bushings had to be measured, cut, trimmed, filed, debarred, fit, filed, deburred and so on. It was a really long process, but in the end it was a perfect fit with the trim horn offset to the left perfectly to allow for clearance of the elevator cables.

 

12	Dec 02, 2021	Trim Wheel	Controls	1	$0.00	0
Very straight forward and easy installation

 

11	Dec 02, 2021	Stringers Pt. 1	Fuselage	4	$0.00	3
Rough cut to lengths then fit and trimmed to perfect length. Lots of filing and sanding of the ends to make sure nothing has a chart edge. No holes drilled yet, just all fitting and then clamping in place

 

10	Dec 02, 2021	Setting the Angle of the Horizontal	Tail Feathers	7	$0.00	4
OK, this took me days, I would work on it and get frustrated then comeback to it after working on other things. In the end it was a combination of a water level, two digital levels and a LOT of trigonometry. NOTE: Trig works

 

9	Dec 02, 2021	Leveling the fuselage	Tail Feathers	2	$0.00	4
This was initially a massive task. Do not do what I did and try to level the fuselage with digital levels. After some frustration I called Mark and he educated me on a water level. WOW what a difference. Fuselage all leveled so I can start working on the horizontal stabilizer

 

8	Dec 02, 2021	Control Stick assembly and installation	Controls	4	$0.00	2
Control stick was clamped into place several times and lined up with the aileron cable pulley to try to have the straightest and most efficient line. I am using parachute cord to mock up my cable lines

 

7	Dec 02, 2021	Flap Controls	Controls	4	$0.00	2
The flap north has guide required a fair amount of work so the flap handle locked in each notch fully and securely. It was slow going as I did not want to go beyond a perfect fit for each notch. The actual flap handle installation was not difficult

 

6	Dec 02, 2021	Seat Adjustment mechanism	Fuselage	5	$0.00	3
This was a long arduous process of drilling the holes for the seat adjustment. There was a lot of measuring and re-measuring in the seat frame bottoms. The actuating arm which holds the seats required a bit of fitting as well

 

5	Dec 02, 2021	Window	Fuselage	3	$0.00	1
The window frames came nicely drilled for the attach points, Drilled the tabs and cleco'ed in the windows temporarily. October 1

 

4	Dec 02, 2021	Strut Assembly	Landing Gear	2	$0.00	1
Strut required a fair amount of cleaning on the inside prior to the spring installation. The process of compressing the spring to allow the installation of the snap ring was a challenge, should be easier for the 2nd one. Have to wait for the 2nd spring to arrive as it is backordered

 

3	Dec 02, 2021	Built workbench and arranged drill and grinding wheel	Workshop	2	$0.00	1

 

2	Dec 02, 2021	Delivery	Fuselage	5	$0.00	2
Taking delivery required a few people out offload things and get everything Stowe din the hanger. Fuselage was put on sawhorses to protect the bottom stringer attach points. Several hours were spent removing plastic and bubble wrap

 

1	Dec 02, 2021	TailWheel	Landing Gear	1	$0.00	1
Installation of the tailwheel, fairly easy, put the fuselage on sawhorses are it was pretty much a bolt on

  ------------ -------------- ------------- Totals1317.5    $0.00    1142