| Total hrs to Date |
815.95 |
| Date |
Start
Time |
End
Time |
# of
Hrs |
Description of Work Performed |
| 05/17/06 |
4:34
PM |
11:04
PM |
6.50 |
1) cleaned the wings with laquer
thinner as i do with all parts before painting
2) primed the wings with AFS ekoprimer
3) tricia taped up the fuselage for painting...or partially
at least |
| 05/16/06 |
4:00
PM |
12:45
AM |
8.75 |
1) prefit the spinner onto the
flanges...the spinner wasn't quite cut out properly for
the sensenich prop the dealer sent me so it took a lot of
tweaking and fitting the flanges so that everything fit
properly...used a heat gun on the rear flange as it didn't
fit too well... also had to use a unibit to enlarge the
holes on the rear flange to 5/8 so that the prop guides
fit through... riveted anchor nuts to the flanges as necessary
and counter sunk for counter sunk washers
2) made another table out of the wood crate to hold painted
parts
3) moved the primed parts out of the tent
4) moved the wings into the spray tent
5) sanded the rear spinner flange for painting...didn't
realize i needed to do this till now |
| 05/15/06 |
3:00
PM |
11:30
PM |
8.50 |
1) spray painted the flaps... got
a little woozie... so i went and bought a new mask...the
old mask didn't last too long it seem...
2) spray painted (primed) the elevator with the new mask...seems
that the new mask works
3) tried to fit the spinner but it seems i need a 5/8 drill
to enlarge the rear spinner flange
4) tricia helped out with washing wings and fuselage |
| 05/14/06 |
4:00
PM |
10:15
PM |
6.25 |
1)
spray painted the rudder, ailerons and main wheel spats..didn't
get to the flaps but will do that tomorrow...also...i saw
some wood specs on my rudder in one place so i covered the
wood table with plastic... at the end i saw some specs of
dried up paint on the aileron edges as they touched the
table...i think i might have to suspend these like the wood
spats over paper towel rolls
2) cleaned up a bunch inside the tent... |
| 05/13/06 |
4:00
PM |
10:00
PM |
6.00 |
1) made a table outside out of
the crate wood so that i can move painted parts from the
inside of the paint booth to the outside
2) washed a bunch of control surfaces for painting
3) made a spat stand so that i can hang the spats up in
the air and paint all around |
| 05/12/06 |
3:00
PM |
1:00
AM |
10.00 |
1) spray painted lots of miscellaneous
parts (covers) including cowl |
| 05/11/06 |
3:00
PM |
10:00
PM |
7.00 |
1)
a lot has happened since my last log entry... unfortunately
i was a bit busy getting stuff ready for the painting and
so some entries were missed... i'll summarize a bit...
a) i connected the air filter to my compressor... the inlet
on the filter is 3/4 inch and outlet on the compressor is
1/2 inch... another problem was the clearance and so i had
to come up with a water pipe contraption that hooked to
the filter and rested on the compressor handle..
b) i installed a HVAC air filter from home depot on the
tent so that i can have controlled place for air movements
inside and out... this allowed me to use a hairdrier to
exhaust some air to the outside of the tent so that it doesn't
get too humid inside
c) i was bit concerned about dust...especially since some
other builders have had issues... because of this i sprayed
corn syrup (like pancake syrup but clear) onto the tent
inside walls, floor and ceiling using one of those pesticide
sprayers from the gardening department (diluted of course)..
it seemed to cure the problem...the tent was really dusty
after sitting open in the hangar next to all this sanding...this
hangar gets dusty quick because my hangarmates open the
door often... (i now have sprayed my first parts and there's
no hint of dust from what i can tell)
d) after the dust, i had a lighting issue...these incandescent
lights are not strong enough for this hangar.. so i decided
to fix the lighting with 10 flourescent shoplights that
hold 2 40 watt T12 flourescent bulbs... i arranged these
lights much like a car paint booth i've seen online.. it
works quite well.. i also learned that 'residential' flourescent
bulbs emit 'incandescent' type light and daylight bulbs
are the bluish flourescent... didn't like either..i used
the flourescent cool white which are the true white lights
that work well in shops
e) yesterday i intended spraying my first part but that
didn't happen...unfortunately, my hangar mate sold his ultralight
and since he 'put out' his back, i helped the buyer with
disassembling the aircraft and loading it on the trailer...
not sure what their original plan was because i'm not sure
what they would have done if i didn't coincidentally show
up... anyway...since i wasted a lot of time, i decided to
seal the two front seats... i used aeropoxy
and layed glass over the header tank and the pilot
seat... boy it looks like it's ready to fly with these seats
sealed... all i need are some cushions :)
d) talking about cushions, i got a quote of $1200 for custom
made seats... kind of a bummer since this is only the seats
and to do all of the interior would run more like $5-6K...
since the primary reason to build the experimental was cost,
this doesn't sound like a way to save money... so i decided
to do my own upholstry... otherwise, i might as well just
buy a new cessna if i'm going to be forking out loads of
money and this way won't have to build at all... besides,
i really want something light for upholstry and it's something
i can redo easily without taking the aircraft out of service...
besides, i took 'Home Ec' in middle school so I'm good with
fabric ... originally i took home ec so that i could be
a house-husband but that didn't happen ;)
f) so as previously mentioned, i'm doing the paint... (yes
it's that save money thing again or buy a cessna)... anyway
i've decided that the plane is experimental and so the paint
should be too... (but not too experimental)... so i decided
to go with AFS primer and polyurethane...many reasons to
this.. the biggest reason is that it is an 'environmentally
friendly' paint..it is waterborne and so there's no fire
hazard especially since i have lights on the inside of my
tent.. besides, the original paint that i considered which
is Imron sounds like lethal stuff...this way, i'm contributing
to the innovation of safe paints.. yeah.. that sounds good
:) .. who wants to choke on air anyway?! ... i just hope
that this paint isn't bad like the polyfiber waterborne
that was removed from the market... apparently those who
used that had paint chip on them a few months into it seems..real
bummer... so if this one sucks i'll be sure to post it visibly
somewhere... by the way... AFS is at www.aircraftfinishing.com
... hey free advertising for them
g) regarding more painting... spray gun...i had researched
this quite a long time.. i know you pay for what you get...
but that's only sometimes... and i don't want to blow a
chunk on a nice SATA spray gun since it's a one time use
mostly.... so I bought SATA's knockoff which is ASTRO for
$80?.. since i don't know a damn thing about spray painting
i read forums and others had some good results and say it's
as good as the sata for 1/5 the price (or a very close 'almost')...
i have shot it with this AFS primer and I can say that it
looks good... but i don't know jack about painting.. but
it does look good... no runs or any of those funky textures
like orange peal so far..took some pictures so you be the
judge
2) i primed the top strut fairings using the ASTRO mentioned
above and AFS one part primer... i set the gun to 30psi
with the trigger pulled.. just thought of something... since
this is friendly paint, i guess you could use a regular
high pressure spray gun and not feel guilty that you are
overpolluting the air... but the HVLP does save paint as
it transfers more efficiently... and if you haven't guessed,
polyurethane is over $200 a gallon... but if it were necessary
for a nice finish i would have gone high pressure... but
it doesn't sound like it from what i've read
3) washed a bunch of parts to remove any watersoluble stuff...tomorrow
i'll spray them |
| 05/07/06 |
4:00
PM |
11:30
PM |
7.50 |
1) prepared the tent and washed
some parts for painting...bought painting supplies...etc..paint
prep |
| 05/06/06 |
5:00
PM |
1:00
AM |
8.00 |
1) sanded remaining bits with 220
grit by hand were necessary
2) did a major cleaning with tricia and resealled the tent
...getting it ready for painting |
| 05/04/06 |
4:00
PM |
12:30
AM |
8.50 |
1) lots of sanding with 220 grit...sanded
all parts |
| 05/02/06 |
4:05
PM |
8:43
PM |
4.63 |
1) sanded all the filled areas
from yesterday... smoothed out some holes where the fuel
lines enter the cabin... looks like i'm ready to prep for
painting..
2) used fine paper and sanded left wing surface with my
sponged sandpaper made using the random orbital sander.....used
320 grit... will have to go home and research to see if
this is good enough or if it should be coarser or finer |
| 05/01/06 |
3:15
PM |
7:20
PM |
4.08 |
1) finished the cowl... installed
a retaining nut for the cowl hinge pins on both sides..
also installed the hid assembly with large countersunk rivets...
hopefully the HID works since i am going to micro over the
rivets.. also cut the oil door hinge arm so that it clears
the ram duct...it seems that it rubs on it really good unless
i cut the arm ..
2) filled in some more spots on wings, cowl and fuselage...
it should be done and ready for primer after this... |
| 04/30/06 |
3:00
PM |
6:51
PM |
3.85 |
1) finished sanding both wings
and bottom strut fairings... unfortunately i forgot to fill
one edge of the wing at the tip and will have to do that
along with a few other nick nacks
2) so i tried sliding the hinge pin on the cowl from the
outside and it seems to have worked...so i will install
a hinge pin retainer on the outside of the cowl like the
control surfaces use... in a way i'm glad that i didn't
know it was supposed to go through the firewall to the door...i
saw that method on another builder's site and it looks like
a messy setup as you have to cut through the structure in
two places and probably makes it tough for one person to
remove and reinsert... |
| 04/29/06 |
3:00
PM |
8:37
PM |
5.62 |
1) finished sanding the left wing
but there's a few spots that need some more filling such
as around the stall warning...it's mostly done though |
| 04/28/06 |
3:00
PM |
5:48
PM |
2.80 |
1) more wing sanding |
| 04/27/06 |
3:00
PM |
5:48
PM |
2.80 |
1) one of the tricks of applying
micro seems to be to not add too many microballoons to me...
if you get it just right, the surface turns glossy after
5 minutes... i think this seems to work well because it
penetrates pores and cracks a bit better and will leave
a smooth finish... but it all depends... on large holes,
very dry micro might be good because of weight...but on
shallow fills, a bit more runny might be good (and it might
cover more surface since you can spread coats better)
2) filled the remaining parts of both wings... all filled...now
i just have to sand it all |
| 04/26/06 |
4:09
PM |
7:57
PM |
3.80 |
1) trimmed the bottom of the wing
that has been finished to remove extra hard resin from joints
2) filled the bottom of the right wing and the top of the
left wing
3) filled the lower wing fairings on the fuselage |
| 04/23/06 |
4:00
PM |
6:59
PM |
2.98 |
1) sanded the right wing where
i applied the dry micro from a previous day..didn't seem
as bad as i thought it would be... should be done with all
of this sanding within 7 days i hope |
| 04/20/06 |
6:30
PM |
11:18
PM |
4.80 |
1) sanded some more fill and prepared
the wings and the lower strut fairings for filling... hopefully
this will be a one time thing
2) filled in the right wing...all except for 5%...will get
to the remaining tomorrow |
| 04/19/06 |
6:00
PM |
8:35
PM |
2.58 |
1) checked the lower strut fairings...they
look good so it looks like i'm finally able to remove the
wings for filling and then onto painting finally!
2) did a bunch of research today on paint...not that today
was the first day on this... after a long attempt to find
no voc polyurethane paint, it doesn't seem like there's
any out there that has been used on aircraft and lasted...polyfiber
used to have topgloss and apparently it bombed and was removed...that's
a real pain because in the spirit of experimental i wanted
to do a paint that might be water dispersible and still
look good... mmm...it looks like i'm back to imron which
is seems to be like good stuff and a safe bet on finishing
but evil stuff to use from what i hear...
3) did some sanding of the filled parts from yesterday...
4) removed the wings with the help of Tricia...feeling tired
and so i'll continue with the finishing tomorrow...should
be able to fill the wings tomorrow |
| 04/18/06 |
2:24
PM |
6:18
PM |
3.90 |
1) sanded the lower strut fairings
and prepared them for flocking
2) flocked them onto the fuselage and held it with 6g screws
3) did somemore filling...this time on control surfaces
and the belly of the fuselage |
| 04/17/06 |
5:00
PM |
11:09
PM |
6.15 |
1) so i got the lower strut fairings
in the mail today
2) assembled these fairings and prefit them to the lower
strut around the fuselage... sanded the fuselage so that
i can flock these fairings on...will do that tomorrow as
it took a long time to prefit them as it is.. |
| 04/16/06 |
6:00
PM |
10:03
PM |
4.05 |
1) sanded the trailing edges of
the wing where the ailerons rubbed up against the wing
2) also trimmed the trailing edge of the vertical stabilizer
for rudder clearance...both the rudder and the aileron fittings
are really tideous...used a sheet of paper to check for
clearance...should be enough for paint purposes |
| 04/14/06 |
3:45
PM |
6:41
PM |
2.93 |
1)
so i brought a bathroom scale and weighed the plane ...
the 3 wheels came to 561.5lbs but the cowl, elevator, rudder,
and one flap, spinner, and prop, muffler, doors are not
on... just curious to see how much room in weight i have
to play with... so i have 119.5lbs left for a total empty
weight of 682lbs according to the manufacturer... it's gona
be close...might have to chuck some things but we'll see...
if not, all passengers will have to go on a 15 day weight
watchers program before each flight...
i guess there's something good out of weighing the aircraft
now... it seems that the muffler is a bit over 5lbs...the
elevator is about there...and so on... the good part is
that now i definitely know not to worry about filling everything
flat as the pounds will start to add up quickly...so a respectable
but not perfect job is good..and that applies to paint...priming
it all is probably not necessary as the manufacturer suggest...
i guess the instruments are a big weight factor especially
with my touch screen lcd... and such... will see what we
can do about it when i get there...i think the light fabrics
in upholstry is definitelly a must since that will definitely
add up with such an area... a big reason to buy this kit
is that load and running costs and if the load isn't sufficient
for 4 small-medium sized people than that is a problem...
2) did some sanding on the elevator...looks good..but i
need to readd some micro as it seems i missed some spots...whoops...
3) going home...after much loafing and chatting and dinner
time...it's a friday anyway |
| 04/13/06 |
4:00
PM |
9:07
PM |
5.12 |
1) did lots of sanding...the only
thing that is ready to be sanded but didn't finish is the
elevator...i think it needs some filling as i missed a few
places |
| 04/12/06 |
4:00
PM |
8:55
PM |
4.92 |
1) more filling of the cowl, rudder,
horizontal stabilizer, spinner with dry micro of course...filling
can actually be fun...sanding is a pain...but that's for
tomorrow |
| 04/11/06 |
2:00
PM |
5:46
PM |
3.77 |
1) sanded the door windows and
the spat seams...also sanded the quick drain under the copilot
seat |
| 04/10/06 |
4:40
PM |
7:00
PM |
2.33 |
1) more filling ..filled the door
windows and spats |
| 04/09/06 |
4:00
PM |
8:31
PM |
4.52 |
1) more sanding of the tail...i
think i'm done with 95% at the tail now...just need to fill
in a few remaining spots...not that big |
| 04/07/06 |
4:23
PM |
12:23
AM |
8.00 |
1)
back for more of a beating...
2) so it seems that i've been mixing the aeropoxy a bit
off by 5.7%... the label on the resin says "100 PR2032
resin to 27 hardener"... it seems that i originally
calculated at essentially 27% hardener... when the percentage
should be 27/127 = 21.3% and not 27%... sort of a bummer
but at least i haven't used this stuff on the structural
parts and i'm sure i got that resin mix correct... but then
again... with a resolution of a the scale being 0.1 i'm
not sure that it really makes a a whole lot of difference
since the error can be 0.0999 and on small batches of say
1.5oz total epoxy where the hardener should be 0.3 ...0.05
is a sixth in error which is something like 13% of the hardner
or ~4%? total... so is 4% short or 5.7-9% too much better?
it sounds like neither is too good but maybe too much is
the choice since at least it should cure thoroughly..not
sure... at least this is the case for dry micro since
i do these small batches..but then again its aesthetic and
not a real big deal... oh well... the final product seems
fine and is damn hard...
3) anyway..did more scrub work of applying dry micro by
hand to the rear left tail section
4) also wasted a lot of time chatting |
| 04/06/06 |
7:00
PM |
10:19
PM |
3.32 |
1) so it seems that the hand method
of spreading the filler (from the previous day) is the most
accurate... it seems to fill all the holes nicely and leave
a nice finish after sanding that is ready for painting...
it is also somewhat easy to tell where the bumps
and the depressions when doing this method so i will continue...it
seems that the rear right side of the fuselage and tail
is ready for paint... lots of sanding today and it left
a nice smooth surface...certainly respectable but we'll
see when the glossy paint goes on.. |
| 04/05/06 |
7:00
PM |
10:34
PM |
3.57 |
1) more sanding and more filling...
i have a hard time smoothening the micro on so i tried by
hand.... maybe using a commercial filler is the way to go...but
since i started with micro i'd like to stay with it... so
i'll do the best job with the hand method and call it a
day...if it comes out real bad maybe one day down the road
i'll fix it...but as long as it's not a performance problem
or real ugly i'll keep it that way... we'll see.. i hope
it comes out respectable |
| 04/04/06 |
3:00
PM |
10:08
PM |
7.13 |
1) after lots of sanding and filling
i realized that hand sanding is really the best way to smoothen
everything... it seems that theres some ripples in some
seams and to smoothen them out straight would be a bit tough
and probably require a lot of filling..so i'll go lean instead |
| 04/02/06 |
3:30
PM |
9:23
PM |
5.88 |
1) more sanding and filling...
on my second fill...apparently i didn't do it in a way that
one fill did the job apparently… |
| 04/01/06 |
3:14
PM |
8:21
PM |
5.12 |
1) some more filling and sanding...yippy
;( |
| 03/31/06 |
2:06
PM |
6:03
PM |
3.95 |
1) did some more filling with dry
micro...lots of filling in the tail section and fuselage
sides
2) tried sanding the tail side from yesterday... doesn't
seem too tough but some sort of sander would be a lot easier...hmmm
3) did some loafing around the airport as usual... |
| 03/30/06 |
3:10
PM |
6:02
PM |
2.87 |
1) dry micro'd the rear right side
to the tail... dry micro is tough to apply and smoothen… |
| 03/29/06 |
3:08
PM |
6:42
PM |
3.57 |
1) taped up the door windows for
sanding
2) sanded the door window edges
3) finished sanding the tail...including shaping the bullet
at the static pitot...now we're ready for the final dry
micro to smoothen all the surfaces on the fuselage (except
maybe where the wings are since they are still on |
| 03/28/06 |
2:10
PM |
6:30
PM |
4.33 |
1) sanded and smoothened the fuselage
sides and tail...not quite complete...next time i'll dry
micro it and do the final smoothening... sanding is not
as tough as i thought it'd be... still time consuming but
nothing like sanding metal... micro is actually very easy
to sand |
| 03/24/06 |
3:20
PM |
5:22
PM |
2.03 |
1) vacuumed the hangar...quite
dusty everywhere
2) figured i'd try out the hole filling with dry micro so
i filled in all the holes around the fuselage sides where
they joined the top and bottom half...seemed to be done
easily.. didn't think it was all that hard but we'll see
how tough it'll be to sand when it dries |
| 03/23/06 |
2:39
PM |
6:23
PM |
3.73 |
1) another week or so of not much
work getting done...another few snow storms in a row...anyway..
i did get the plastic bushings for the steering links for
nose gear in the mail. i also read up on the ELT installation
and it looks like i will need to make a fiberglass plate
for it to install in the tail horizontally...one other thing...i
bought a 6inch wide aluminum sheet for the ground plane
of the transponder antena
2) cut a 6 inch circle out of the aluminum plate for the
transponder ground plane... siliconed the plate to the fuselage
after sanding the gel coat off
3) trimmed the magnetometer fiberglass bracket made the
previous day
4) glassed about 14 layers of this new eglass from wicks
to make the bracket for the ELT...this bracket needs to
be quite sturdy since the antena must be able to hold on
in an event of a crash...used aeropoxy...current temp about
52F |
| 03/18/06 |
6:07
PM |
8:57
PM |
2.83 |
1)
so i put the eyeball vent in its socket and sat in the plane...
i think they will work great... also.. i realized there
really isn't much building left.. it's going to be mostly
finishing from now on... there are a few things left to
build though... for instance, i need a little magnetometer
(for the bluemountain efis)u bracket in the back to hold
it horizontal in the tail somewhere.. i do still wonder
if i should find a place up front but there really isn't
much room anywhere and it does need to be somewhat isolated
from metal from what i've read
2) drilled a 3/4 inch hole 300 mm to the rear of the nose
wheel for the aircraft transponder... unfortunately i couldn't
find a 6 inch aluminum sheet for the ground plane of this
antena...so will have to try elsewhere tomorrow
3) glassed 6 layers of the same glass used on the HID onto
a plastic sheet... then i layed the glass layers on a mold
for the bluemountain magnetometer...the mold actually included
a piece of plate from the HID plate for support...used about
3oz of aeropoxy...current temp 54F |
| 03/16/06 |
3:30
PM |
10:13
PM |
6.72 |
1) removed the wing root fairings
and smoothened them out by sanding
2) cut the aileron cable holes into the fuselage and routed
the cables to the control stick... yey ;) ... i got full
control of the airplane now
3) cut out the left and right side panels that cover the
vertical fuel lines
4) cut out the left and right panels that cover the break
cylinder
5) cut out and fit the bottom wing root fairings with 6g
s/s screws
6) cut out the holes for the fuel lines in the fuselage
that go out to the wings... these will need smoothening
when the wings are removed
7) 5minute epoxied the eyeball base to the naca ducts for
the 2 front vents... then i glassed 2 strips of e-glass
from wicks with aeropoxy around the joint for strength...
current temp is about 54F |
| 03/15/06 |
4:44
PM |
10:02
PM |
5.30 |
1) cut the keyhole in the doors
and installed the door locks... i also made slots in the
door frames and jams to allow the doorlock to lock
2) bent and riveted the top door latch to all doors
3) filed all the slots and cutouts for the door latches
for a nicer look |
| 03/14/06 |
1:36
PM |
10:02
PM |
8.43 |
1) peeled the door seal and stuck
it to all 3 doors
2) hot gunned the pvc jam into all 3 doorframes...used 8g
s/s screws to hold it in place to door jam... used hot gun
to warm the screws and drove them into pvs instead of countersinking...looks
much nicer than it would with countersinking |
| 03/13/06 |
4:31
PM |
6:59
PM |
2.47 |
1) decided that i need to tackle
the steering links... 2 options... bend the rod or put them
on the outside of the pedals...since i don't think it'll
require much more hole elongation, i decided to elongate
it first for the outside of the pedals
2) so i elongated the holes and put the steering links on
the outside of the pedals... seems to work just fine this
way...no need to bend them... i don't think the holes are
too big...the missing white bushings should cover 98% of
the hole i think..we'll see
3) installed the plunger plate on all 3 door frames
4) cleaned the door edges and split the door seals in order
to stick them to the door... will do that tomorrow instead |
| 03/07/06 |
4:10
PM |
10:56
PM |
6.77 |
1) so i attacked the flaps again...
decided to get them to flatten out with the rest of the
wing... it seems that with a straight flap push rod above
the wing there's just no way to straighten out the flaps
completely even after removing the wing skin above the rear
wing attachment bolt...so since i didn't want to risk cutting
into the fiberglass spars i decided to bend the flap push
rods a bit in the vise... should work fine because with
a bent push rod i can lock the rod in the appropriate position
with the locking nuts... after bending it worked like a
charm and the flaps come up all the way flat and possibly
more if needed
2) fit the top wing root fairings and trimmed the flap root
to match the fairings... took quite a bit of trial and error
to get them to align properly with the flap movement...
used 6g s/s screws to hold fairings in place |
| 03/03/06 |
5:53
PM |
1:35
AM |
7.70 |
1) so the wings are on... the wings
were put on a few days ago with the help of Mark and Tricia...i
didn't really bother logging the hours but it was a few
hours...
2) fit the flaps to the wings and attached the flap push
rods...flaps still need some adjusting...it doesn't seem
that they go all the way up...the push rods are too long?
3) prefit the top strut fairings... then i epoxied the rear
top fairing to the wing and screwed the front fairing with
6g 1/4 s/s screws...used about 3 oz of aeropoxy for both
sides...current temp 54F |
| 02/28/06 |
3:50
PM |
10:19
PM |
6.48 |
1) removed everything from the
wings so that i can hang them on the fuselage
2) drilled and fitted the pitot tube to the right strut
as instructed
3) on moving the wings i decided to check the aileron movement
... i took a picture of the factory marking for the aileron
cable vs the real position... good thing i didn't just start
cutting
4) since i couldn't get a hold of anyone to help me with
hanging the wings i fixed the threading on the rear door
handle machine screws... seems good as new...
5) was going to do the door latches but seems that i need
to install the jams which i don't have a heat gun that is
needed...nothing is working out today... ok |
| 02/26/06 |
4:40
PM |
10:20
PM |
5.67 |
1) thought about the nose gear
spat overnight... moving the axle hole back shouldn't cause
any problems in operation... so i've fitted and drilled
all holes for spat... looks good..the 2nd point was done
with a backwards retaining nut on the outside of the yoke
riveted with countersunk 3-3 rivets...looks good and holds
real well
2) bolted the flange extension for the prop onto the engine
...used loctite 262 on the threads...torqued to 30 ft-lbs
3) cleaned up the tent floor and pulled the fuselage out
to attach wings...wipee! |
| 02/25/06 |
2:50
PM |
10:51
PM |
8.02 |
1) trimmed the edges off of the
spats... fit the left and right spats on the main gear using
retained nuts... drilled the hole for the tire inflation
grommet but then found out that it's really a 1 inch hole
saw and so i need to go and get the 1 1/8"
2) got the 1 1/8" hole saw and resized the holes...
both main wheel spats were installed successfully
3) the nose wheel seems to be giving me trouble... the wheel
is up in the air and it does not see that the spat fits
this way...which is a concern because this wheel does come up off
the ground in flight of course... so why is this the case?
it seems the spat isn't long enough? it could be that the
premarked axles holes are not in the correct place? it seems
to be 2 inches short? i guess i could move it 2 inches back...
but i'd have to retreat the bottom rear edge of the spat
and lift it at the same time on the mount...not sure if
this is right...it's late anyway so i'll call it a day and
do some research |
| 02/24/06 |
5:05
PM |
10:29
PM |
5.40 |
1) since i noticed the other day
that brakes on the backside of the landing gear would mean
that the brake line would either have to be crossed or in
an inconvenient place in the backseat foot area, i removed
the wheels and switch left to right and vice versa
2) installed the brake lines to the master cylinder, filled
with dot 4 fluid and then bled the brakes |
| 02/23/06 |
4:45
PM |
6:04
PM |
1.32 |
1) took the 2 front wheel spat
halves apart and removed the leftover masking tape from
a previous flocked join...sanded the edges a bit for a smoother
even finish
2) feeling lazy..going home :) |
| 02/22/06 |
4:09
PM |
9:44
PM |
5.58 |
1) checked the work from last time...
all things look good
2) cut the naca scoop pattern out of the cowl that will
serve as the cabin heat intake
3) put the stall warning funnel for the left wing together...used
5 minute epoxy... then i cut the wing and threaded the clear
tube through to the wing root...once everything prefit ok,
i 5 minute epoxied the stall warning to the wing...a bit
tricky and messy to align properly...i think the tube had
some torsion on it that i couldn't get rid of and so it
made it hard to align properly while it dried... but i think
i got it ok in the end... |
| 02/20/06 |
3:43
PM |
6:45
PM |
3.03 |
1)
been working at home on the instrument panel however it's
not too far along...sourcing the instruments and especially
the lcd has been challenging....actually...the lcd is the
challenging one
2) i'm pretty sure the dealer initially said that the eyeball
air vents were included over the phone... anyway... recently
called and they said no.. but they sent me 3 naca ducts...1
for the cabin heater which was missing in the cabin heat
kit and 2 for the air vents... not sure why they included
the naca ducts and not the eyeballs if none were included...but
whatever it's not a big deal as i can get them myself and
they're small items... anyway... i still used the mouse
ears looking scoop on the outside as i didnt want to cut
such a large naca hole next to the door....
3) cut the 1 3/4 holes for the air scoops and flocked the
outside scoops and naca scoops (inside) on both sides...used
aeropoxy...
4) another problem is that they sent me all 2inch naca scoops...
when the heat muff they originally sent was for a zenith
which apparently has it's own scoop at 2.25"... anyways...
i flocked the 2 inch scoop to the cowl and will deal with
it later... probably will have to either build it up to
2.25 or just remove the steel wire from the 2.25" duct
to clamp it down to 2" naca scoop...aeropoxy also used
here... or maybe i can find a fitting from 2 to 2.25" |
| 02/08/06 |
5:40
PM |
6:00
PM |
0.33 |
1) removed the extra tape off of
the nav lights and checked ...looks sturdy...one thing i
noticed is that the angle is a bit hard to determin..and
of course i should have put this thought in at the beginning...
do you level the nav light with the bottom of the wing?
probably not...should probably be aligned with the chord?
anyways..too late cause it's already there but it does look
inline quite well with the chord instead of flat bottom
of the wing and i presume this is good enough and probably
the way to go...it makes it trickier because this has a
bit of a downward winglet (is this what it's called?) kind
of like a cessna 172 |
| 02/06/06 |
6:50
PM |
9:55
PM |
3.08 |
1) removed the tape and wood template
from the nav lights base...took some scraping to get all
the tape off
2) cut the holes for the nuts and the electric cable
3) flocked and siliconed the nav light housing to the wing...used
aeropoxy |
| 02/03/06 |
4:18
PM |
11:09
PM |
6.85 |
1) so...the project for today was
to get the nav/strobes on the wings... i guess this is a
creative type of project.. so i've made a template of the
base of the nav lights out of wood to serve as a base against
the wing that i can use to flock in between to form a solid
support roughly shaped like the nav light
2) the wood nav light templates were cut
3) the wing was sanded to remove the gel coat
4) to put the templates into the correct alignment tape
didn't work...so i had to use 5 minute which worked well
5) taped around the template and filled with aeropoxy...used
1.5oz of epoxy... |
| 01/31/06 |
4:45
PM |
10:13
PM |
5.47 |
1) pulled the aileron cables and
the nav/strobe light electrical cables through the wings...
i though it was going to be tougher but turns out that it
wasn't all that bad
2) cut the aileron cable holes at the wing tip and pulled
the cables through... attached cables to aileron horns and
then drilled and installed aileron brackets into place using
bolts
3) installed throttle idle stoppers according to the photos...since
there's no instructions i had to guesstimate here on what
parts to use...
4) so i reworked the rudder cable anchor at the tail...it
turns out that there were retaining nuts for the rudder
cable on the parts card that was not mentioned on the manual...much
better idea and easier to work with... now it's easy to
tighten the bolts |
| 01/28/06 |
5:47
PM |
10:16
PM |
4.48 |
1) after a lot of lazying around
I installed the fuel fitting to the firewall and attached
the fuel line between the firewall and fuel pump on the
engine... didn't attach the cabin side of the
fitting because the engine instrument I purchased
came with fuel flow and fuel pressure meters...i think these
go on that side
2) drilled and siliconed the belly strobe with taxi light
under the pilot side... once the silicone dries I will epoxy
the nuts on the inside to make sure it stays firmly attached |
| 01/26/06 |
5:11
PM |
10:41
PM |
5.50 |
1) checked the patched glasswork
in the header tank area...looks good and it's ready to refit
the header tank correctly
2) redrilled all the header tank fitting holes including
the quick drain... it seems that the header tank now fits
properly and the fitting does not rub up against the brake
pushrod... the grommets were reinserted into the the center
console.
3) installed all fuel lines through the sides of the fuselage
all the way to the fuel pump including through the header
tank...
4) installed the quick drain fittings into the wings...
then flocked the quick drain covers into place on the wing
and the belly cover for the header tank... used 3 oz of
aeropoxy...current temp is 63F |
| 01/24/06 |
5:21
PM |
10:14
PM |
4.88 |
1) removed the masking tape off
of the front wheel spat
2) attached all the fittings to the wing tanks..such as
the finger filters... used liquid thread sealer from loctite...also
removed the teflon from header tank fittings and used the
loctite thread sealer on them
3) re-fitted the header tank into the passenger seat...it
seems that the header tank was fitted to close to the center
console and so the fittings went through the console and
rubbed up against the hand break pushrod...therefore the
tank had to be refitted...also, since the three fitting
holes in the center console were too big from a previous
error, i reglassed those holes and will redo the holes with
grommets when the glass dries... used aeropoxy...center
console holes have about 6 layers of wicks glass S type... |
| 01/20/06 |
2:22
PM |
11:47
PM |
9.42 |
1)
took a look at the HID bracket that was glassed... looks
fine.. put the HID lamp tot he bracket and it's starting
to look real good...some sanding to take the edges of and
it should be quite nice
2) made some cuts on the HID bracket in order to clear the
engine and the exhaust pipes... also drilled and used 6-1.5"
stainless steel screws with washers to hold HID in bracket...
no rubber gasket was used but probably will need to find
one... i've read HIDs aren't sensitive to vibration because
they don't have filaments...either way, i have time to find
some sort of rubber for a gasket... looks sharp... also
made a heat shield for the rear side of the HID... not sure
if it needs it but since the exhaust pipe is about one inch
away, i've decided to make one... the HID is actually in
a place where it'll get lots of air stream past it since
it's nearly under one of the air ducts... i think that's
it for the HID
3) finished out the front wheel spat by attaching the top
part to the bottom with aeropoxy flox... made 1.5 oz amount...current
temp is 60F |
| 01/18/06 |
7:20
PM |
12:20
AM |
5.00 |
1) removed the peel-ply from the
fiberglass plate made for the hid bracket..measured the
plate... 14 layers turned out to be about 1/4 inch thick
plate using wicks glass and aeropoxy
2) marked the pattern for the HID bracket on the glass plate
and cut the patters out of it... trimmed them..and sanded...
3) glassed the HID bracket to the HID housing on the cowl
with a mixture of 1.5oz aeropoxy... current temp about 60F |
| 01/15/06 |
7:00
PM |
10:36
PM |
3.60 |
1) removed the peel-cloth off of
my HID bracket glass plate... it seems the plate with 8
layers was less than 1/8 inch and i thought i'd fatten it
up with 6 more layers... so i glassed the 6 more layers
with another 3oz of aeropoxy pr2032...getting the hang of
this glassing thing..
2) bought a 250w heat lamp to heat up the area i'm working
in quicker... not sure its what it's cracked up to be...
will probably return it and get another type of heater
3) riveted the throttle bracket to the main console after
fitting both ends properly... cut the throttle stop as indicated
and then cut and flocked with aeropoxy.... i'm trying to
save the LC3600 for structural applications since i don't
have much left... not sure that i will need any though |
| 01/13/06 |
5:06
PM |
11:11
PM |
6.08 |
1) cut up 8 layers of glass to
make the HID brackets that will hold the actual HID light...
used Aeropoxy for the epoxy...took a 3 oz and 1.5 mixture
to do all layers... peel-clothed it and set some books on
it to cure flat
2) got the new rivets in the mail... the 5/32 rivets worked
great on the trim tabs on the elevator with the washers...
the 1/8 are definitely too small
3) threaded the throtle cable through the center console
4) bolted the front rudder cable mount into place
5) attached throttle cable to throttle lever |
| 01/11/06 |
5:50
PM |
10:12
PM |
4.37 |
1) bolted the rudder cable at the
tail in order to find the correct position to bolt at the
front...however, i decided to put in the steering link assembly
before doing the final bolting at the front
2) drilled and fitted the steering link assembly...since
there's practicly no instructions, i had to refer to the
photos provided...however, i'm not sure if i should have
routed the links on the outside of the pedals instead of
the inside... the clearance between the steering link and
the nose wheel rear bars is practicly nil.. in the picture
it looks like they are using an old version of the nosegear
assembly... it seems to work... but doesn't seem to travel
far enough... will have to play with it the next time i'm
here so that i can attach the front rudder cable |
| 01/10/06 |
4:30
PM |
10:21
PM |
5.85 |
1) started triming the HID light
enclosure on the cowl... it seems that the dimmension came
out well and the light should fit about where expected...
the many layers of fiberglass resulted in nearly a 1/4 inch
shell (thinner in certain parts) which is way thicker than
needed but since it was my first official custom part, it
wasn't bad at all... now i have an idea of how many layers
correlate to thickness more or less... it looks nice and
that's the bottom line at this point... tried the trimmed
cowl on and it may need some more trimming for engine clearance
2) trimmed the rubber off of the rudder pedals were necessary...reattached
pedals to fuselage and attached rudder cable to pedals |
| 01/09/06 |
6:09
PM |
10:15
PM |
4.10 |
1) rubberized the rudder pedals
one last time... it's to make it smooth but it's more a
functional role than an aesthetic one...i think it looks
fine
2) removed my HID light and the cone shaped form that i
used to glass over... the aluminum didn't stick to the glass
but it didn't leave a very smooth surface anyway...so it
will need some smoothing.. but it looks like it's the right
shape and size for the HID light.. will have to trim it
and finish off with the remaining construction... i will
need to order more glass however since i used up nearly
the whole yard for the cone so far...
3) trimmed the flap handle assembly so that the handle locks
into each of the 3 positions securely...wouldn't want to
be on final with 3rd notch of flaps and have the handle
come off its notch... wouldn't be pretty
4) drilled the firewall and fit the throttle cable through |
| 01/07/06 |
7:40
PM |
1:34
AM |
5.90 |
1) got the HID light today... light
seems a bit bigger than i expected and so it'll be trickier
to fit it in the cowl without rubbing up against the engine
exhaust... so i found a place on the passenger side bottom
cowl... see pictures to see how i did it.. essentially it
took a lot of layers ...not sure how many i need nor do
i know if it's enough... but I used nearly a yard of fiberglass
on it.. current temp is 64F used 3 batches of 3oz Aeropoxy
(didn't want to use the LC3600 since i only have a bit left)...also...the
glass was not AF303...if i'm going to guess there may be
about 10 layers of fiberglass on this cone for the hid..hope
it comes out nice! |
| 01/06/06 |
9:13
PM |
12:52
AM |
3.65 |
1) tricia is in the shop today...
so i put her to work.. she painted the rudder pedals with
this plastic dip thing... this rubber coating should be
quite nice on the feet
2) didn't like where the carb muff was so i moved it back
on the muffler...had to cut the rear side of it so that
the exhaust pipes are partially cut into the muff
3) finished out the hand brake control and the trim... they
look good |
| 01/05/06 |
6:08
PM |
10:10
PM |
4.03 |
1) trimmed and sanded the cowl
NACA duct and air dam for the oil cooler...tried the bottom
cowl in place and the oil cooler air dam seems to be well
aligned with oil cooler
2) installed scat hose from naca duct to air box... also
installed the cabin heater air box and riveted to firewall...
firewall metal is tough to cut but a dremel works... siliconed
the cabin heat air box on the cabin side...
3) plugged the spark plugs cables through the air ram ducts
and plugged them into the plugs... assembled the air ram
ducts into place...i think i'll have to remove the air ram
ducts one last time to remove the oil from the cylinders
before running engine... but i think it's good for now |
| 01/03/06 |
3:40
PM |
11:48
PM |
8.13 |
1)
fitted the ram air air pipes that bleed air to the coils...
i had to cut them to shape and the air ram duct to fit through....
once fitted, 5 minute epoxied them in place... since there's
no instructions, i have no idea if this is good enough or
if it needs LC3600...it looks strong enough though
2) installed the muffler.. at least temporarily.. no spring
was attached.. not sure how far back it should go...
3) installed the cabin heat muff and the
carb heat muff on the muffler... of course it's a
new style muffler and so neither manual is correct on where
to position either muff... this cabin heat kit is actually
provided/designed by USjabiru ... anyway... carb heat muff
is under the muffler and i'm not so sure that's a good idea..
maybe i should swap positions... also... carb muff slots
for clamp don't work because it's a new muffler.. had to
elongate the slots on the carb heat muff.. found out that
the dremel bits that work well on aluminum don't seem to
work well on the carb muff which i think is some sort of
steel or such.. and
vice versa... |
| 01/02/06 |
7:45
PM |
9:50
PM |
2.08 |
1) removed the cowl and glassed/flocked
the NACA scoop, oil cooler air dam, and one of the tinnerman
holes on the cowl that was slightly damaged on a previous
cowl removal (cowl sprung abround hanging on one tinnerman
and screw)... used one batch of 2oz epoxy and 0.8 batch
to finish up |
| 01/01/06 |
4:18
PM |
11:31
PM |
7.22 |
1)
wow... 2006 already?... so much for completion by December
05... work really bogged me down the last two months so
i didn't get to work as much as the first two months...
so the new target is sometime 2/2006...hmmm
2) removed the lower cowl and drilled and riveted the correct
location for the oil cooler bracket..turns out the back
rear previously made drill is the correct location for the
front hole on the bracket...had to redo the oil drain safety
wire and drill two holes through the bracket for it
3) drilled the oil cooler holes through the brackets and
attached cooler using bolts and fireproof nuts provided
(tinnerman washers and such were specified in the manual
however)... used the bundy tube and inserted tube through
the grommets holding oil cooler before attaching.. i presume
this is what it's for (bundy provided on oil cooler card)..
4) installed both oil filter attachments and installed all
oil hoses with clamps
5) 5 minute epoxied the oil cooler air dam into place
6) 5 minute epoxied the NACA duct on the bottom left hand
side of the cowl... cut the cowl to the NACA ducts shape...
7) will have to glass and/or flock (LC3600) both NACA and
air damn the next time i'm here |
| 12/31/05 |
4:30
PM |
10:34
PM |
6.07 |
1) retried the cowl fit... after
many fine adjustments with a sander, the cowl seems to sit
ok against the fuselage... the oil cooler brackets will
defenitely have to me moved... the instructions say to fit
the cooler first but it doesn't seem to work well as the
cowl really determins where the oil cooler should sit...afterall
you probably shouldn't have large gaps at the cowl join
with the fuselage
2) drilled and attached all camlocks (3 on top) and countersunk
tinnerman washers with stainless steel screws to the bottom
(3 each side on bottom)... cowl sits nicely
3) removed top cowl and tried the oil cooler at the bottom...
looks like i will have to move the brackets pretty much
all the way to the back of the oil block to have a nice
fit with the bottom duct... the pictures in the manual doesn't
see to really work well with this new cowl/oil cooler...
very misleading |
| 12/30/05 |
4:10
PM |
10:47
PM |
6.62 |
1) tried the cowl in place over
the engine... doesn't seem that bad of a fit as it seemed
at first... the top edge may need some sanding and then
it may sit nice and flush...
2) removed the air ram ducts and epoxied the 1mm rubber
strips at the edge as instructed
3) drilled and riveted the oil cooler brackets into place...
of course the manual doesn't quite match up so i had to
estimate where the brackets go...
4) held the oil cooler on the brackets with clamps and tried
the cowl on... hmmm... not a perfect fit...in fact unless
i reverse the cooler so that the hoses are at the rear it
doesn't really seem to fit quite right...might need more
tweaking... looks like it's going to be a pain in the ass
to get it right ;) |
| 12/29/05 |
5:31
PM |
9:34
PM |
4.05 |
1) bought the loctite 262 and some
hex sockets so I can now install the prop flange extension
2) removed the original prop flange and trial fitted the
new extension flange... cleaned out the old loctite off
of the cap screws as instructed
3) made a 90 mm hole in the cowl for the prop flange
4) trial fitted the cowl over the engine... might need some
adjusting to fit well at the joints
5) installed the oil overflow bottle as instructed and riveted...
since there really aren't much instructions i used the photos
mostly for guidance... attached the fuel pump vent tubing...attached
the air box vent to the carby as instructed... installed
the oil overflow tube aligned to vent overboard with bracket
6) trimmed air ram fiberglass joins from a previous day's
work |
| 12/19/05 |
8:11
PM |
12:06
AM |
3.92 |
1) haven't gotten much done on
the plane... the holiday season has kept me busy at work
which is a bummer..
2) fitted the cylinder cooling ducts as instructed... drilled
the holes for tappet cap screws... then wired the gull wings
between cylinders as instructed with spring...wasn't sure
which spring to use so i used the smaller of the two...once
done with that, i wired the spring to cylinder 3 and 4 as
instructed and riveted the elbow into the cooling ducts
3) 5 minute epoxied the slits on the cowls and joined with
AF303 as instructed |
| 12/11/05 |
4:47
PM |
6:27
PM |
1.67 |
1)
installed the solenoid and the regulator as instructed...
the regulator was mounted slighty towards the center and
higher on the firewall... don't like that the regulator
is so close to the solenoid in the directions... the regulator
would be in the way of the solenoid when removing or connecting
cables |
| 12/10/05 |
3:44
PM |
11:54
PM |
8.17 |
1) fitted the air box mixer to
the firewall.. installed the angled flange that goes to
the carb...used 5 minute epoxy and trimed the inside of
the box as instructed
2) then siliconed and riveted the air box to the firewall
3) installed the cobra head to the carb and scat tubing
to the air box...the cobra head isn't a perfect fit on the
carb and so it cracked...i guess it's not unexpected since
the cobra is inflexible... it was hard inserting the scat
hose to the cobra too since the scat has steel wire inside
which doesn't flex on the larger cobra.... i think it's
good though... so we'll see |
| 12/08/05 |
7:20
PM |
11:03
PM |
3.72 |
12/8/2005
7:20-11:03pm
1) i came up with the idea of making a clamp using 4 nuts
4 washers 2 threaded rods and 2 steel flat bars...this should
clear the tight areas too... since this is made the next
step is to use it to compress the engine mount... took about
15 mins to make this clamp with air tools
2) so the clamp with 2 flat bars flopped...the steel wasn't
strong enough so it bent...there's a pic of it... so i had
to bring out the big guns... i cut 4 inch steel L forms
and used those instead... the L worked like a charm..in
fact it works real well since u can put the L's upside down
relative to each other so that the clamp has no chance of
sliding off
3) all bolts were tightened to 8ftlbs... also..note that
one of the diagrams was depicted wrong with both top and
bottom have the male rubbers inserted first... i put the
female first on the top as instructed...i think it makes
more sense that way anyway...
4) one thing i notices is that the tail is so much taller
that it was before...i didn't quite remember it being this
much taller on the demo.. but i could be wrong |
| 12/07/05 |
7:40
PM |
11:57
PM |
4.28 |
1) so the engine was brought into
the hangar yesterday...didn't really log the time or such
but i did open the crate and look through it...
2) a bit nippy at the hangar... 50F with the heater in the
tent...not too bad considering it's 5F out there due to
the winter storm... it'll warm up now that the flood lights
are on
3) a friend and i mounted the engine on the engine mount
with 2 sawhorses and a 2x6 across holding the front edge...
didn't quite have the right rubber compressors to compress
the rubbers together and get enough thread to tighten bolt
and unfortunately all the shops are closed at this time
so I just secured the engine into place and closed shop
for tonight...oh well.. but at least i won't need help tomorrow |
| 12/02/05 |
7:15
PM |
10:12
PM |
2.95 |
1) checked the flocked backseat
and looks fine...ready to glass the strips onto the backseat
2) sanded the backseat joints for glassing
3) 2 layers of AF303 were glassed to the backseat with 4.4
oz of epoxy (3.3/1.1)... current temperature is 65F
4) drilled 1/4 inch holes into seat pan and filled the seat
with Great Stuff Big Gap expanding foam
5) drilled anchor points for rudder anchor at the fin |
| 11/27/05 |
4:03
PM |
8:04
PM |
4.02 |
1) tacked the rudder stops at the
tail into place and then flocked them... the should be just
inside 98mm to allow for some wear and tear/sanding down
2) refitted the back seat backrest and flocked it into place
as instruced with self tapping screws..
3) flocked and glassed the vhf bottom antena |
| 11/26/05 |
4:54
PM |
11:13
PM |
6.32 |
1) well...third time on the oil
door is charm it seems ... unfortunately i have many countersunk
holes to fill but it seems that the 3rd and final fit is
excellent so the door has been riveted to the hinge to the
fuselage
2) the oil door latch needed a shim which i made of a piece
of aluminum... the oil latch seems to work well... might
need some polishing so that it opens smoother but works
and sits correctly so wear and tear might be enough to smoothen
it
3) trimmed the right side of the vertical stabilizer to
allow 98 mm of rudder deflection |
| 11/25/05 |
5:58
PM |
2:03
AM |
8.08 |
1) used the approximate measurements
sent by the factory to drill the engine mount holes... removed
the remaining rivets from the drilled rivets of the firewall
and re-riveted the firewall into place with some fresh silicone
in the affected areas
2) drilled and bolted all engine mount bolts into place
3) re-attached all rudder pedal stoppers by riveting
4) cut the oil door and sanded the door to fit... all parts
were mostly assembled but unfortunately the hinge wasn't
positioned properly and so I removed the hinge while i still
could... will have to redrill and rivet the hinge into place...bummer
because it looked so good too...will have to patch it
but I think it'll be good in the end... i think this
is really the advantage of fiberglass...try fixing that
on a sheet metal aircraft easily |
| 11/20/05 |
4:50
PM |
12:19
AM |
7.48 |
1) so after some thinking and some
looking at previous photos without the firewall on it seems
that the reinforcements are there and unfortunately i will
have to remove several firewall rivets to locate them...
but the predrilled holes aren't there and hence my problem...i'm
guesstimating that the factory stopped predrilling the engine
mount because as I've learned from an earlier builder that
the holes didn't align properly... it's very possible..
but of course giving us some measuerments would have been
a good idea
2) called Jabiru and spoke with Mark who said he will send
a drawing of where the mount should go
3) installed the battery box per instructions
4) installed the cowl hinges per instructions with tapk3-3
rivets
5) installed the front 2 camloc screws per instructions |
| 11/18/05 |
5:14
PM |
9:11
PM |
3.95 |
1) finished the assembly of the
elevator trim assembly
2) was about to install the engine mount but don't really
see any holes as instructed especially since the firewall
is already on... will have to find out from the dealer or
so as to were specifically it goes |
| 11/16/05 |
4:00
PM |
10:15
PM |
6.25 |
1) the stainless M4 screws arrived
for the windows... they look nicer of course since they
are stainless but the head is a bit smaller... i started
removing the factory M4 screws from the windows and it seems
that they are weak and breaking at the head because of the
epoxy.... so that slowed down things for sure...i had to
drill or break the head on nearly 100% of the screws holding
the windows...
2) countersunk the windows for the new stainless M4 screws
and installed M4 stainless... looks real nice |
| 11/12/05 |
3:32
PM |
6:48
PM |
3.27 |
1) drilled and riveted all hinge
pins, nuts, bolts together on the elevator, rudder, and
ailerons… |
| 11/10/05 |
7:50
PM |
2:17
AM |
6.45 |
1) checked the aileron hinges and
the window that has been flocked to the fuselage... the
masking tape seemed to have worked great...it didn't stick
to the epoxu except for a few small bits that took some
fingernail work...nothing too bad... it left a nice smooth
joint surface actually... also, the soapy water on micro
cloth seemed to have worked with too..no epoxy of any trace
left on the windows... of course the painters tape is partially
to credit too since it prevented much epoxy onto the window
in the first place
2) epoxied and bolted all the remaining windows and the
windshield to the fuselage... used 2 batches of 4 oz plus
one 1.2 oz mixture...current temp 70F |
| 11/08/05 |
5:45
PM |
12:36
AM |
6.85 |
1)
stopped by home depot to see if they have the 4-6 rivets
for the trim on the elevator... i got the closest to it
but it's not countersunk...probably will just use those
and then drill them later if i get my hands on them.. also
got about 20 6-6 rivets from the dealer yesterday as requested...actually
i had requested 4-6 rivets too but they weren't in the box...
so anyway, i may rivet the aileron hinges today if i get
around to it
2) drilled the rivet holes on the wing and aileron where
the hinges attach... i had to bend the hinges on the wing
side because they ran into fiberglass reinforcements...see
the photo
3) sanded the hinges and the wing and aileron hinge areas
for flocking
4) flocked and riveted all aileron hinges into place
5) flocked and riveted the
elevator trims into place with home depot aluminum
rivets
6) flocked one rear right window into place and bolted it...
also used masking tape to hold window at the edges...if
it works well i will use masking tape on all windows...i
know the clear plastic tape doesn't stick but it leaves
too much glue behind and so i'm trying out masking tape
instead...peeled the painters tape from the inside and wiped
the window down with a microfiber cloth and soapy water...seems
to have worked well....all the flocking was from a 4oz batch |
| 11/07/05 |
3:22
PM |
1:00
AM |
9.63 |
1) sanded the fuselage window joints
to flock the windows on
2) trimmed andfitted all windows including windshield...
it seems that the windows on the doors might have problems
having all holes drilled... the flange where the windows
sit on the doors it too narrow for bolts and nuts in many
places... it's also a bit confusing that the windows have
drill marks every 3 inches or so and the manual says only
one bolt in each corner... mmm...?
3) used painters tape to mark the edge of the fuselage flange
on the windows... see the pictures...seems to work well..
sanded the windows on the outside of the tape |
| 11/02/05 |
9:39
PM |
10:45
PM |
1.10 |
1)
so i took a look at the next step which is to epoxy and
screw the windows into place... on a small rear window it
is marked for 17 bolts and nuts of the M4 kind that I have
been using all along to hold hinges into place... of course
when you epoxy those hinges in previous chapters epoxy gets
on them and since I didn't have acetone I didn't clean them...
unfortunately these M4s are used to hold the windows permanantly...the
problem is that I'm short yet again..but the worst part
is that I would be short anyway regardless of whether i
cleaned them or not... the kit comes with 83 of these M3s
but since there's 7 windows (including windshield) there's
no way i'd have enough... you figure 17 * 7 = 119 and that's
if the bigger windows take 17 like the small windows... you'd think that including
enough to use for hinges (as instructed in manual) and all
windows would be the ideal solution and so the extra 200-300
M4s may cost another $15-20 wouldn't be a big deal for the
manufacturer?! ... i just don't see why not include enough
for all..first it was the tapk 4-6 rivets that were short...
and the tapk 6-6 ...now it's M4s... how much more do we
need to pay to get all required hardware? I would have gladly
payed $50 or $100 more on the kit cost for them to include
enough and extras so that I don't have to go and find them...
a real pain in the ass |
| 10/30/05 |
3:55
PM |
11:36
PM |
7.68 |
1)
removed the elevator and trimmed the glasswork between elevator
and elevator end cap
2) elevator has free movement with all 6 hinges on and travels
the full length up and down per deflection templates
3) removed the wood board off of the aileron stips... right
wing strip looks better than left strip which is not quite
flush behind the aileron cable access hole... i guess some
smoothing and filling may fix the problem...it's mostly
cosmetic from what I can see
4) fitted the hinges to the ailerons as instructed... but
it seems that I'm short about 17 TAPK 6-6 rivets?... i know
i drilled about 3-4 since they weren't flush but how come
am I short so many?... according to the paper sheet on the
rivet box there were a total 120 6-6 rivets... but there's
15 hinges at 8 rivets each which is at least 120?...so...mmm..
why?... now i will have to figure out what a TAPK rivet
really is and what it is equivelant to since the aircraft
shops online such as aircraft spruce don't carry TAPK...
what a pain in the ass.. at minimum it should come with
at least the amount needed to finish the job...a few extra
would be nice too
5) to fit the aileron hinges and get full aileron travel,
I had to cut the top and bottom edge of the wing as instructed...not
able to epoxy the hinges since i'm short on rivets...will
wait till i get the remaining |
| 10/28/05 |
9:17
PM |
1:45
AM |
4.47 |
1) checked the work from last night.still
looks good
2) flocked the last 2 hinges to the elevator and horizontal
stabilizer and then riveted them..
3) with the leftover epoxy, Tricia and i glassed the joint
between the elevator and the elevator end cap and then peel-ply'd
it... this isn't required in the manual but i think it'll
be stronger and look nicer... the end plugs didn't quite
fit inside the elevator well because of the end cap on the
horizontal stabilizer ...total 4oz of epoxy...current temp
71F |
| 10/27/05 |
3:40
PM |
4:05
AM |
12.42 |
1) checked the flap arm work from
the other day... peeled the peelply and it all seems...
flaps didn't stick to the wing much with the use of the
sheet of paper and tape at the end in between... movement
is smooth
2) prepared the aileron area for flocking and glassing the
the aileron glass plate
3) used double sided tape to hold the glass plate onto a
fiber board...double sided tape seems easier to use than
the 5minute epoxy
4) glassed the reinforcements to the wing and wing glass
plate as instructed ... current temp is 72F...took 8oz,
8oz, 6oz, 2oz of epoxy to glass and flock to finish...overnight
the temp was 65-72F |
| 10/25/05 |
4:08
PM |
1:13
AM |
9.08 |
1) continued the prep for glassing
the flaps on the wing
2) cut the premarked glass cloth into the pieces that will
hold the arms against the wing
3) glassed all the pieces onto the flap handles into place...
3 layers of the cloth on each flap arm and then peel ply
on top.. made a batch of 8oz of epoxy and came close to
enough but was just short so i made another 2oz of epoxy
in the end.... current temp is 67F
4) since the back seat seatbelt hardware arrived last week,
Tricia and i installed the anchors... 3-10a bolts didn't
work for the bottom anchors so I had to dig for others...
since she's small she can squeeze in the tail behind the
backseat to hold the wrench |
| 10/23/05 |
5:05
PM |
1:04
AM |
7.98 |
1)
picked up where i left off yesterday..
2) sanded the wing trailing edges to a point (well...almost
a point)
3) broke my Dremel pen shaft while i was cutting the flap
arms so I had to go buy another and then sanded the edges
for a nice flat surface
4) so another problem with confusion in the manual... manual
says 8 spacers for the flap arms...there's only 6 total
so I presume it's old version.. but then it says the width
of the spacer is determined by the flap arm... and the spacer
should be 1/8 wider on each side than the flap steel collar...
it doesn't seem possible with the width of the arms... so
do they mean the spacer goes through the flap arm? going
through would prevent overtightening for sure... or does
it just fit between the walls of the arm on the inside?
the later might work too but I wonder if it is too susceptible
to overtightening as the spacer may dig into the arm on
both sides (inside)?... so i decided to do the spacer that
fits on the inside of the arm only against the walls...if
this doesn't work well i can still drill through and cut
out longer spacer
5) the flap arms where attached to the flaps and sanded
to match the wing contour...all surfaces have been prepared
and are ready for flocking and glassing |
| 10/22/05 |
5:45
PM |
12:58
AM |
7.22 |
1)
flocked the prefitted end plugs (elevator and horizontal
stabilizer) into place
2) glassed the inside of the elevator end plug to the elevator
with 3 layers of AF303... there was actually only 2 layers
of AF303 in the bag precut so I had to cut another layer
of AF303 off of the extras for each side... the biggest
complaint i have of this project yet is that it seems that
just about on every chapter there is something that doesn't
really match the actual kit ... this could be a serious
problem I think and definitely one the manufacturer should
work on... the wording of the manual itself also needs a
lot of work... it's almost as if this manual has been worked
on over and over and remnants from older versions were left
off here and there.. sometimes a part drawing will call
for one size rivet or bolt while the line wording says another...
which do you believe? do you call them every time this comes
up? on the flip side, I'm sure that this kit is like software
where you find a 'bug' and then you need to fix it in future
versions so I'm sure there's probably a lot of tweeking...
but maybe a 'version update' sheet that tells you all the
changes that have been made recently might help supplement
the manual since it hasn't been updated properly.. this
way you can read the update sheet and look out for any changes
made that may be a bit confusing... service bulletins apparently
don't cover all the discrepencies in the manual... btw,
4oz total epoxy was used... current temp is 67F
3) i prepared the wings as instructed.. removed the peel
cloth... i think the manufacturer needs to use thicker cloth...
i had no problem with tears in the peel cloth on previous
chapters however on the wings it was a royal pain.. i took
a picture of it...it's almost like chiseling paint... took
a long time too
4) i cut the inspection hole and the 38mm hole as instructed...
not sure what it is with wings and me but it seems that
i nicked the rib or at least part of it... it seems that
the manufacturer didn't measure the marks properly this
time... luckily i felt it with the dremel and didn't force
it... will take a look at it but it doesn't look serious...it
seems to be the glassword for the plate that I'll be working
on actually... a little strip of cloth and some flock should
do the trick...probably doesn't even need it but will think
about it... a tip for those who are using a hand saw like
the manual illustrates... a dremel with the right burr with
cut through fiberglass like butter... i've been using this
all along and it makes it a snap and can be very detailed... |
| 10/21/05 |
5:02
PM |
1:08
AM |
8.10 |
1) worked on refitting the rudder...a
real pain in the ass since it doesn't really fit well...
it may work better if one side of the bottom hinge is actually
flipped
2) i sanded the rudder in a few key spots that allowed me
to squeeze the rudder in there with decent movement but
the bottom hinge will definitely need flipping or a shim
3) so i went with 3 thin shims for the bottom hinge and
the top two didn't need any... there's a small amount of
friction in the movement but nothing too serious...some
more fine sanding and the problem should be resolved hopefully...
with 2 oz of flock all hinges were riveted to the vertical
stabilizer and rudder...current temp is 65F
4) prefit the horizontal stabilizer end caps and the elevator
end caps with self tapping screws |
| 10/19/05 |
7:29
PM |
10:12
PM |
2.72 |
1) checked the elevator for free
movement... after a brief stick it moves just fine
2) cleaned up the glas edges from the vertical fin so that
I can fit the rudder
3) fitted the hinges to the rudder...it seems that the hinge
side of the rudder isn't flush with the vertical stabilizer
so i will need to shim it as the instructions indicate...the
question is where is this shim? i don't have anything quite
this thickness that would work well? |
| 10/17/05 |
7:09
PM |
12:46
AM |
5.62 |
1) continued fitting the elevator...
with 4 most-inner hinges it seems to swing fine
2) riveted/flocked 4 most inner hinges into place.. elevator
is quite smooth in movement with 2oz of flock...
3) was going to flock and rivet the elevator trim tabs but
seem to be missing the tapk 4-6 rivets... |
| 10/16/05 |
4:30
PM |
12:15
AM |
7.75 |
1) checked glassed tail work from
yesterday...looks ok ...temp overnight 65F-72F
2) started the elevator fit... drilled the stainless steel
hinges... what a pain to drill..broke three small Skill
bits and then decided to try the Black & Decker bits...B&D
are tough bits and drilled like it was butter!...
i got the elevator to travel up and down the specified
amount of degrees without a problem... the gap between the
elevator and the horizontal stabilizer is 1.5 the width
of the hinge pin according to the caliper... it's probably
not a problem...i could force it closer but then i would
have to sand the elevator edge in some places such as where
the tail glassing over the styrofoam bent around and inside
the channel... probably won't look good this way and i could
always tape the edges but i don't think it's a problem anyway...
the top surfaces are flush and i think this is most important |
| 10/15/05 |
2:45
PM |
9:54
PM |
7.15 |
1) finished sanding the vertical
fin and ready for glassing
2) glassed the vertical stabilizer in all places indicated...
current temp is 72F 33% humidity... AT313 tape missing for
vertical fin...not sure if the manual is old..used AF303
from extra cloth...also there seems to be 3 AF303 by 1.5m
for each side of the fin instead of two..so there's 3 AF303
1.5m plus the 2 layers of AF303 replacing the AF313 requested
at the rear..tricia actually did one side of the fin while
i did the other.. good job Tricia! :)
3) glassed the back part of the fin to the horizontal stabilizer
as indicated... |
| 10/14/05 |
4:22
PM |
6:00
PM |
1.63 |
1) checked the rudder...looks ok
2) peeled off the peelply on all sides and sanded all surfaces
where necessary for glass work |
| 10/13/05 |
4:52
PM |
10:30
PM |
5.63 |
1) checked the horizontal stabilizer
work from yesterday...looks fine
2) also checked the bullet shaped flocked part on the static
tube on the vertical stabilizer...also looks good...some
sanding to round off some parts might be required though
3) prepared the vertical stabilizer for flocking
4) flocked vertical stabilizer with 6oz of epoxy mixture
and used aluminum channel to hold vertical stab flanges
against the fuselage... used plastic tape to hold stab in
place and used level and measuring tape to tips of horizontal
stabilizer to check for squareness...looks good...overnight
temp 66-72F 40% humidity
5) with a tube of silicone, i sealed the paint booth further... |
| 10/12/05 |
3:08
PM |
12:29
AM |
9.35 |
1) tested out the heat/paint booth...seems
to heat nicely...there's a 5 degree difference (digital
thermometer) in just 10 minutes and the doors aren't sealed
yet...will seal the layers of plastic with some silicone
too
2) sanded and prepared the horizontal stabilizer for glassing...
prepared a 6oz mixture of resin.. 4.5oz of resin and 1.5
oz of hardner... this mixture wasn't enough so i made another
6oz mixture followed by a 4.4 oz mixture (3.3 resin and
1.1 hardner).. the horizontal stabilizer was completely
glassed including the styrofoam tail end...current temp
65F and 40% humidity...heater set to 68F
3) touched up the static tube 'bullet' on the vertical stabilizer
and peelclothed it too
4) injected the remaining flock mixture into the inside
radius of the fuselage at the horizontal stabilizer |
| 10/11/05 |
3:22
PM |
12:09
AM |
8.78 |
1) removed the peel ply off of
the 'bullet' shaped flocked static tube...peel ply did a
nice job but will need some more flock at the tip...it sort
of left a volcano looking tip and needs to be filled in
with some more flock on the next batch
2) assembled the trim control assembly
3) finished the paint-booth assembly which will also serve
as a warm room to work in...might have to duct tape along
the sides for a better seal |
| 10/08/05 |
3:47
PM |
1:32
AM |
9.75 |
1) designed a paint-booth/ sanding-booth
which will also serve as my heated room during the colder
days already here...furthermore it is a heated room for
the fuselage for glasswork to be above the 15C recommended...
didn't quite finish covering it... will do so next time |
| 10/07/05 |
3:29
PM |
1:20
AM |
9.85 |
1) installed compression nuts on
fuel vent aluminum tube
2) fed the vhf coax cable through the logitudinal beam to
the cockpit
3) moved the tail end of the rudder cable to it's final
position... it was a real bitch to bend it enough to get
it between the two layers at the tail..
4) fit the static air assembly and hose through the vertical
stabilizer and flocked it into a 'bullet' shape as instructed...
current temp is 65F... total of 3.2 oz epoxy...0.8 hardner
and 2.4oz resin |
| 10/06/05 |
2:52
PM |
10:57
PM |
8.08 |
1) inspected and remeasured the
horizontal stabilizer...looks good and the measurement is
the same as last night
2) fit the vertical stabilizer... cut the rudder cable hole...still
need to cut the 1" hole which will probably wait till
tomorrow when I can get the 1" hole saw
3) assembled and fit the complete fuel tap... attached the
complete assembly to the center console...
4) going home to do more research on cockpit painting, hapolstry,
and fuel line vents (a bit confused with the manual...will
need to re-read it) |
| 10/05/05 |
5:22
PM |
1:31
AM |
8.15 |
1)
tried out the template instrument panel to see if it is
laid out well... still debating on the instruments and such...
there's really a lot of research being done on it not logged
in the builder log... am leaning towards a bluemountain
sport/ dynon engine combination with maybe a touch screen
lcd run off of a laptop for internet, prepflight, weather,
etc.... there seems to be
an 8-10 week waiting period for any of the efis out
there... so deciding it now may prevent delays later.....
decisions decisions
2) drilled and bolted the front upper seat belt gussets
3) installed the pitot and the static lines
4) fitted the horizontal stabilizer as instructed with 4.3
oz of epoxy...3.2 oz of resin and 1.1 oz of hardner... stabilizer
may be off by 1mm from cockpit... kind of tricky to measure
and fiberglass parts aren't necessarily exact anyway...
current temp 66F and 33% humidity... temp overnight
68F max and 57F min
5) assembled the filler cap and attached it to the filler
body...also attached the vent tube to filler body however
it doesn't seem to tighten enough to prevent the vent tube
from sliding?... |
| 10/03/05 |
6:10
PM |
12:25
AM |
6.25 |
1) checked the fuel tank filler
bodies... both look good but the botched up left wing filler
looks better because of the peelply... peelply does do a
great job at smoothening things out... definitely looks
nicer aesthetically.. had i known this, i'd use it on both
tanks
2) took the tape off of the doors and checked movement...after
a bit of sanding they swung fully and smoothly and fit flush..
3) fed the trim cable through the trim cable hole in the
tail...i should have checked to see if the hole was big
enough for the cable to go through in the beginning...was
a bit tricky to enlarge the hole but with the dremel it
wasn't too bad
4) fed the elevator cable and anchored it to the fuselage...
good thing i remembered before glassing the horizontal stabilizer
on... tricky tricky...hope i didn't forget anything in this
area...
5) drilled the fuselage base of where the rudder attaches
and fed the rudder through the fuselage as instructed |
| 10/02/05 |
3:56
PM |
10:04
PM |
6.13 |
1) bought some plasti grip which
is a liquid used to dip things such as tools into to give
a rubber handle for example...plan on using it on the door
latches...they seem a bit rough to handle..the spring seems
too strong
2) fixed the botched fuel tank fill body & spar... because
the nick on the spar was 1mm or less, i decided not to rip
up the skin on top of the spar and risk more damage... instead
I applied 4 layers (2 strips of 4 inch length folded over)
of 22oz/yd unidirection glass tape to the edge and under
the spar... the whole cavity between the spar and gas tank
was filled with glass, flock, and epoxy... the tank was
also glassed,flocked... current temperature 76F, two batches
of epoxy made... the first was 2.4oz total, the second was
0.8oz (needed some more for the outside layers covering
the coremat... peel cloth was used on top for a smooth surface |
| 10/01/05 |
2:16
PM |
12:58
AM |
10.70 |
1) continued fitting the doors
to the fuselage... doors actually go inside the frame..
a dremel with a fiberglass bit really makes this job a lot
easier... i guess a grinder as recommended in the manual
would work too but probably not as accurate or as quick...maybe...
2) attached the doors to the hinges and found out that some
hinges don't rotate all the way (open the door wide)...
so i had to reshape the hinges a bit...nothing too drastic...also
found out that some of the 1/4 cap screws were too long
and also prevented opening the door wide as the screws rubbed
against the door frame...had to cut the screws shorter so
that they sit flush against the backside of the hinge...
also, back door had space between hinge and door so i used
a bit leftover from the gussets (made spacer from it)
3) taped the doors to the frame and flocked the hinges per
directions... tightened cap screws a bit... total of 2.4oz...
1.8 resin, 0.6 hardener..current temp 74F and 31% humidity |
| 09/30/05 |
12:41
PM |
11:38
PM |
10.95 |
1)
because the 3 holes in the center console for the header
tank didn't quite line up properly with the header tank
in place, I drilled the holes to 1 1/8 which left nice circles
with space around the header tank fittings. I'm not sure
what the grommets are for but i'm guessing it's to prevent
rubbing the fuel lines against the fiberglass hole cuts...
since the cuts are significantly large, I don't think there
will be any rubbing problems... maybe I'll get some larger
grommets that fit these holes or place some sort of rubber/silicone
around the holes. I think the tough part is that it's not
easy centering those holes because the tank is in the way...there's
practically no space there to align all 4 holes (including
the drain sump)
2) with new holes, tank fits in there nicely... actually,
i think it'll also be easier to remove the header tank with
these larger holes
3) fit the instrument panel base to fuselage...went in ok..no
problems and seems mostly straight
4) fit the door hinges to the fuselage..not sure if there's
supposed to be 3 machines screws as there are 3 holes on
it... however, manual indicates only 2 machine screws...hmmmm
5) cut the door latches and fit them to doors... |
| 09/27/05 |
4:11
PM |
10:12
PM |
6.02 |
1) continued with the flap fit...
the 3rd notch on the flaps won't engage because of the door
frame... so i made a small notch in the door frame and will
re-glass the plate at this notch on the next epoxy run
2) drilled fuel drain sumps into wings, sanded, and flocked
them to wings as indicated.. current temp is 72F and 46%
humidity
3) with remaining flock and epoxy i glassed a few strip
to the flap handle door frame. I also stuck some flock behind
the gussets to prevent any inward collapse
4) fitted and drilled the header tank into the passenger
seat..also sanded the header drain area of the fuselage
5) fitted the header tank with drain valve, hosetails, and
finger filter |
| 09/26/05 |
1:50
PM |
11:06
PM |
9.27 |
1)
after thinking about the errant cut on the left wing from
last night and speaking with Doug at Jabiru in Australia,
I'm not sure that this is too serious of a problem... the
most important part seems to be that the spar was not cut.
After examining the area, it seems like it may have only
been nicked... measuring the nick is a bit tough but it's
not even 1mm deep from what i can tell...my best estimate
this that it may be 0.75mm deep.
2) cut the fueling hole on the right wing without a problem.
I managed to include the errant pilot hole within the 2
inch hole...the 2 inch plug however did have a 1 inch circle
without sloshing compound which makes me think that both
wings are probably not 'perfectly' sloshed...
3) spoke to Doug again... he was on the cautious side and
said i should fix it... i'm really not fond of the idea
of cutting it up as i could possibly just errantly cut the
spar further.. i would much rather fix it as is... according
to him i need a 4inch by 30mm strip along the spar forward
(towards leading edge) of the cut.. one layer should do
according to him... btw Unitape 1000 is 1000g/m2 according
to him...not sure where i'd find this but i'll look online
somewhere
... i'm still leaning on fixing it in place... seeing the
cut i really don't think it's serious and if that little
nick is serious than i think there's other things to worry
about...i understand erring on the safe side is good...and
i will fix it somehow but not sure that i'm going to cut
up the wing further... i have some samples of kevlar, carbon
fiber, and glass at home.. i guess i'll do some research
and find out which will provide the most strength
4) trimmed the edges on the door gussets, flap plate, and
flap handle...made it as smooth as possible without cutting
much
5) cut the left wing fuel fill hole.. i cut it in a way
that will minimize any need to cap the fuel tank with a
3 layer plate before glassing... there's only 2 narrow gouges
in it that will need to be glassed over with 3 layers of
glass
6) drilled holes in flap handle as indicated and fitted
the the flap handle and metal plate to fiberglass plate
on fuselage..
7) connect the flap push rod to the installed crossbar and
then connected rod to flap handle.. flap handle seems smooth
on plate but the 3rd notch doesn't engage...will have to
make a small cut on the door frame so that flap handle engages
to 3rd notch..otherwise it looks good |
| 09/25/05 |
4:00
PM |
9:00
PM |
5.00 |
1) walked around the airport looking
at other plane's upholstry jobs
2) talked about the instrument panel layout... looking to
install an efis maybe from GRTAvionics and possibly a very
large lcd touchscreen panel run off of a laptop for real
vfr and weather maps from flightprep and/or teletype
3) instpected the gussets on the doors... they look ok...but
i did remember that i forgot to flock the inside joints
of the gussets...probably not a bad idea to do that...the
manual is a bit confusing as it uses the word 'either'...instead
of 'both'... kind of odd that it would be a bit vague like
that
4) measured and drilled the 2 inch fuel tank filling hole
in the wrong place apparently.. cutting this day short to
call Jabiru in Australia...big bummer! |
| 09/23/05 |
3:33
PM |
10:22
PM |
6.82 |
1) inspected the flocked and glassed
parts from yesterday...they all look fine
2) cut the door compression gussetts using the 15 layer
plate, 5 minute epoxied them into place
3) fiberglassed 3 layers on the compression gussetts with
LC3600...epoxy mixture of 2.4oz total... 1.8oz epoxy and
0.6oz hardner...current temperature is 73F at 41% humidity |
| 09/22/05 |
12:36
PM |
10:59
PM |
10.38 |
1)
continued assembling and installing flap plate and handle
2) 5 minute epoxied the plate into position... made 4oz
total of epoxy...3oz resin, 1oz hardener...current temp
72F at 41% humitidy
3) with two seperate batches of 5 minute flock, i flocked
the handle together... could use a bit more in some gaps
between the handle plate and handle shell...will get it
filled on the next batch of 5minute flock
4) drilled holes and mount plate for the flap bar at the
back seat... sanded the fuselage surfaces and am ready to
flock mount plates into position. Tinnerman washers where
countersunk on fuselage
5) located the position for the front seat belts and drilled
holes
6) fitted the reinforcement plates behind the seats. sanded
surface areas and drilled holes for self-tapping screws
to hold plates in place after flocking
7) mixed 4.5 oz of resin and 1.5 oz of hardener for a total
of 6 oz for flocking seatbelt reinforcements and flap crossbar
holding bush
8) flocked the seat belt reinforcement plates and tapped
with screws to hold in position
9) flocked the flap crossbar bushes into position.. current
temperature is 72F and 43% humidity |
| 09/20/05 |
3:51
PM |
8:28
PM |
4.62 |
1) checked the flock on the one
undercarriage plate that was reflocked last night...looks
ok
2) drilled nose wheel plate to fuselage and installed nosewheel...
used loctite 242 on nosewheel bushes that hold the shaft
to the ball bearings
3) drilled and riveted the rudder peddal stops
4) prefitted the flap handle ...still wondering whether
to go with manual flaps or electric...both have their advantages...the
handle does seem solid so it may work well and has an local
builder pointed out it is instant unlike the electric...
of course it's also lighter and less electrical power draw...will
call it a night and do some research on it at home to decide |
| 09/19/05 |
1:25
PM |
12:04
AM |
10.65 |
1) checked the flocked throttle
seat reinforcement...looks ok
2) fitted the rudder pedals into the fuselage
3) building at the airport has its distractions...most are
quite pleasant though...went up for a ride on a kitfox by
the builder...quite a nifty little plane... it's good to
fly again after nearly 3 years...
4) drilled one hole for the nose gear plate to be attached
to the fuselage...couldn't quite determined what was level
so i decided to bolt the main landing gear first so that
i can level it and drill the remaining holes at the nose
gear
5) bolted the main landing gear to the fuselage... the rear
outer right side undercarriage plate came off with the impact
of the bolt coming in from the underside...had to reflock
it to the fuselage and then bolt it on... looks good...
mixture may have been a bit dry though... current temp is
73F and 33% humidity |
| 09/18/05 |
5:06
PM |
8:02
PM |
2.93 |
1) continued throttle assembly...cut
3 inch hole in seat pan to install throttle backing plate...
2) 5 minute epoxied the throttle reinforcement and will
LC3600 flock it now
3) tricia sanded some of the edges of the fuselage with
sand sponge |
| 09/17/05 |
12:36
PM |
6:02
PM |
5.43 |
1) checked the flocked parts from
yesterday... they look fine..continuing onto other parts
of the construction
2) fit the aileron control stops and the aileron cable anchors
to the backseats... also riveted the anchors with TLRs and
5 minute epoxied it
3) prefit the throttle and will continue the remaining tomorrow |
| 09/16/05 |
12:50
PM |
11:10
PM |
10.33 |
1) continued fitting the trim system
by flocking the parts... 5 minute on the washers, trim lever
stop, and trim cable holder... will flock with LC3600 all
parts other than washers
2) fitted the control stick and flocked the 2 the two white
bushes into place...
3) with the remaining LC3600 i flocked the brake lever stop,
trim lever stops, and the control stick elevator control
stop
4) current temperature in hangar is 74F and 30% humidity |
| 09/15/05 |
1:21
PM |
4:30
PM |
3.15 |
1) i realized last night that i
used 5 minute flock instead of LC3600 on the brake lever
stop...not sure if this is a problem or not but will have
to route some of the 5 minute and flock with LC3600 on the
next batch... checked all the flocked parts and they look
good though
2) routed some of the 5minute off of the brake lever stop...ready
to flock with LC3600 when available
3) fitted the trim control lever....sanded all the parts
and cut the aluminum center console spacer to fit...ready
to flock washer parts into place and trim lever stops... |
| 09/14/05 |
6:05
PM |
12:04
AM |
5.98 |
1) checked the glassed backseat
work from yesterday...also checked the flocked nosegear
bushes and both look good...
2) worked on the braking system... the cylinder has been
assembled and riveted to the center console... also.. the
brake lever has been assembled, fitted, and flocked behind
the spacer...also..the brake lever stop has been flocked...
5 minute flock used in both cases...boy that stuff sets
quick! |
| 09/13/05 |
4:50
PM |
1:15
AM |
8.42 |
1) continued assembly of the nosewheel
2) spoke to Ben at US Jabiru regarding a few things...turns
out that the backseat belts are missing including the hardware...also..
will have to buy expanding foam for the seat. the 2inch
tape called for in the backseat is actually 2inch strips
of fiberglass from the extras pile
3) finished assembling the nosewheel including the shock
absorber.... also flocked the white bushes as indicated...now
waiting to dry and then will install the leg to the fuselage
4) glassed two layers of 2 inch fiberglass to the lower
backseat as instructed...current temp is 72F about 30% humidity |
| 09/12/05 |
1:50
PM |
11:57
PM |
10.12 |
1) checked the flocked undercarriage
plates and backseat from yesterday...also checked the firewall...all
looks good... temperature inside hangar was 79F initially
2) continued assembling the main wheels... pressed bearings...etc.
3) completely assembled main landing gear with breaks onto
the landing legs
4) started assembling the nose gear... the nose wheel and
hub are assembled... need loctite so will finish up for
today and continue tomorrow |
| 09/11/05 |
1:30
PM |
11:35
PM |
10.08 |
1)
found out accidentally on Jaba Chat that the undercarriage
bolts have been switched from 5/16 to 3/8 and hence i got
3/8 but the manual reflects 5/16 still... the newsletter
actually redirected me to the service bulletin on Jabiru
that has the details and it seems that the plates and the
fuselage need to be drilled to 3/8... so off i go to buy
a 3/8 drill since i don't have that size at the moment
2) drilled the undercarriage plates and fuselage to 3/8
3) hand sanded the bottom backseat for flock...will flock
both the undercarriage plates and bottom seat together
4) flocked the undercarriage plates and the bottom backseat..
mixted a flock mixture of 6oz for the first batch and then
about 1.33oz for the second... it was short on the backseat...the
sides of the seat didn't quite touch the fuselage and had
to be filled in... temperature is 81 F and dropping slowly
(hangar door open)
5) fitted, sealed with silicone and riveted the firewall...
pneumatic riveter definitelly made it possible for one person
to do it...its hard to reach the washers on the back and
hold in place
6) started pulling main wheel parts to assemble |
| 09/09/05 |
4:00
PM |
1:52
AM |
9.87 |
1) worked on fitting plates for
undercarriage... 5/16 x 2 bolts are missing...i seem to
have 3/8 bolts? home depot was out of grade 8 bolts too?..bummer...bought
some replacement ones and will use them till i get the right
ones...
2) fitted the back seat and seat back... sanded all joints
and now ready to flock the undercarriage plates and the
back seats at the same time... just wondering if i should
do the bottom part of the seat first and then do the seat
belts so that i can reach around the back and bottom on
the other side for belt nuts? |
| 09/08/05 |
7:00
PM |
12:00
AM |
5.00 |
1) picked up where i left off yesterday
2) drilled and riveted the lugs for the other spat so now
both have lugs with removable screws to take the pieces
appart for servicing
3) drilled and riveted the lugs for the front wheel spat...there's
2 new pieces that go on top of the front spat but the manual
doesn't have any directions...not sure if it's lugs and
flock or just lugs all the way around |
| 09/07/05 |
9:20
PM |
1:13
AM |
3.88 |
1) Bought some more tools such
as air riveter, torque wrench, etc. and now back in hangar
2) continuing the work from yesterday... riveting the lugs
to the fuselage where the rear ventral fin part attaches
3) checked thermometer history... temp range 73-79F since
yesterday... glass work from yesterday looks good
4) started drilling and riveting lugs to wheel spats...
manual is very different and doesn't make any sense since
the spats i got where flocked together already... spat pattern
does not match manual at the strut either |
| 09/06/05 |
5:30
PM |
4:20
AM |
10.83 |
1) Bought masking, electrical,
clear tape, various sandpapers, laser level
2) riveted lug nuts on ventral fin from yesterday's work
3) tacked trim horn to fuselage with 5 min epoxy
4) made a batch of epoxy... 4.5 oz resin/1.5 hardner.. took
2/3 of this and added flock
5) flocked trim horn on both sides then glassed trim horn
with 3 layers of glass on either side
6) flocked front ventral fin to fuselage with self-tapping
screws
7) temperature in hangar at 4:20am is 76F and 40% humidity |
| 09/05/05 |
6:00
PM |
12:30
AM |
6.50 |
1) Cut Static hose, trim, elevator
cable holes with dremel
2) Pre-fit ventral fin and and drilled holes for lug nut
and rivets
3) Pre-fit trim horn. Sanded on angle so that it sits vertical
on off-center fuselage
4) bought a ton of stuff such as digital thermometer with
hygrometer, chisels, drills, vise, hand riveter |
| 09/04/05 |
2:30
PM |
8:00
PM |
5.50 |
1) Inventory - it's a 2 person
task! I can see why this process can take up to 11 hrs!
Checked to make sure everything listed in the inventory
checklist is received, made sure that the backordered items
checklist is accurate. Found out that we are missing the
fairings for the bottom strut even though the inventory
sheet claims that we should have it. Found some minor inconsistencies
in the inventory checklist which took some deciphering. |
| 09/03/05 |
1:00
PM |
4:00
PM |
3.00 |
1) Unpacking - Tricia and I removed
everything from wooden crate and set them aside for inventory
checking, enlisted the help of John, our hanger mate, to
help remove the fuselage from wooden crate on truck |
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