Wing Root Fairings

Below, I'm test fitting the wing root fairings and the rubber strip that seals them to the fuselage. Everything fits so far and the wings can come off after they're finished.

 

This is the scrap left from trimming the fairings. Thought it was interesting the way it came off in a coil after cutting with my right handed aviation snips.

Received Finish and Firewall Forward Kits

That is one big, heavy box. I was happy that it arrived in great condition. That's going to keep me busy for the next year. The finish kit has items like the cowl and fairings, canopy and frame, engine mount, nose gear and all the wheels and brakes. The firewall forward kit has all the stuff that goes on or around the engine. It's a big list that includes the baffles, the cable brackets, the oil cooler, the cable controls, the exhaust system, the alternator, the solenoids, the air filter plus lots more little items.

Paula liked the pink cowl but said the color was carnation pink and not Pepto Bismol pink as described by the guys at vansairforce. The cowl is the cover for the engine. It's fiberglass mainly because it's too hard to make compound shapes with metal. I don't have a clue why the fiberglass is pink, though. Seems like you'd have to go to extra trouble to make it pink.

Attached Ailerons To The Control Column

I've finished installing the sticks and control column. I've got the new stick grips temporarly attached.

Here's where the aileron pushrod comes in from the wing and attaches to the control column. It's only temporarly held as the wings will come off soon and not be reinstalled until I get to the airport.

Working On Fuel Lines

I've almost finished the fuel lines in the cockpit along with the fuel selector. There are two tanks, one in each wing. The tank that feeds the engine is selected with the valve shown in the picture below. I've temporarily removed the pointer during installation of the lines but you can see the brass valve below the plate and the shaft sticking out above it where the pointer attaches.

The selection of the fuel tank is not automatic for several reasons. If they were interconnected, you couldn't stop a fuel leak from draining both tanks or if one tank had contaminated fuel, it might contaminate both. Also, with lower compression aircraft engines, you can safely burn auto gas which is cheaper but doesn't have the same energy as aviation fuel. Some folks will put auto gas in one tank but only use it during cruise flight and use the aviation fuel for takeoff and landing.

Finished Vent Lines

I've finished the vent lines. Was a little more work than I expected. You can see in the picture below the circuitous route the line takes. The vent system keeps the fuel tank from becoming over or under pressurized with changes in altitude or heat.

Here's where the vent line attaches to the fuel tank at the wing root.

Here's where the vent line exits on the bottom of the fuselage. Shelby had the good idea of gluing tiny screen to the outside of the vent.

 

Finished Control Column

I finished the control column installation. It was more difficult than I expected as it was tight quarters and some of the pieces were really small unlike my hands and fingers. Next, I'll attach and adjust the aileron pushrods.

Stick Grips

Purchased a pair of used stick grips. Ray Allen's with 4 button trim and a press to talk button.

Fresh Air for Painting

I've started assembling things I'll need to paint. Here are the two main items for a supplied air system to save me from breathing some of the hazardous to your health chemicals in modern paint. The mask is surplus fire fighter equipment. It comes with a regulator and hose and belt. I already have a filter and all I need now is the air line.

The air pump is a Gast rotary carbon vane pump commonly used in high dollar supplied air systems.

Finishing Wing Attach

There are several more steps to finish mating the wings to the fuselage. Here's the fuel tank attachment. Paula wasn't thrilled to hear why one of the brackets was slotted instead of there being a hole. It's so the fuel tank can break away if you're crashing and hit something.

I also got the right flap operating. Here's a little video. I made the handheld flap switch so I could lie under the fuselage and move the flap up and down to check for clearance and file the opening for the pushrod. The toggle switch is the one that will go in the airplane but the angle with "FLAPS - UP DN" is just scrap with a hole drilled in it to temporarly mount the switch.

Attached The Wings

Austin came home this weekend and wanted to work on the airplane so we went big! We mounted the wings and set the sweep and incidence and drilled the rear spar. Drilling the rear spar is one of those tasks that many dread because it's important to the flying quality and safety of the airplane and because there's very little margin for error. You can fix a mis-drilled rear spar but it's a lot of work. It came out great and Austin was a huge help.

 

Here's Austin drilling (actually reaming) the rear spar on the left wing. I told him there are very few people I trust to work on the plane and he's at the top of the list.

For drilling the pilot holes prior to the final size, I made a drill guide from the longeron bending jig by drilling guide holes in each end and clamping it to the rear spar.

There's only a very small area that can be drilled to allow for proper edge distances for the rear spar bolt. The picture below shows the area for the center of the hole.
 

It was a long, hot day (high 93°) and just as we finished drilling the spars, Paula called us to meet downtown where she was volunteering at the Wein & Saengerfest. We ate at Friesenhaus and had really good German food and some Hafbräu Hefe Weizer. After we returned home, the plane was in the driveway and the weather forecast didn't have any inclement weather and we'd just had a good meal and some good beer so I considered leaving it there until tomorrow. No, maybe better put it to bed properly in the garage. Good thing we did as we had thunder and lightning and it rained cats and dogs later that night. Just barely fit in the garage.

I haven't blogged in a while but I have been making good progress. The landing gear is completed and you can see it resting on dollys in the picture above.