Oil Access Door

I made good progress on the oil access door on the cowl. It was a busy weekend with not much time to build so this was done Sunday afternoon. Most of the day Saturday was spent at the AOPA San Marcos Fly-In. It was a great success but they had me at "Free BBQ" for lunch from Hays County BBQ. Friends also came to visit with the boys meeting me at the Fly-In and the girls going shopping in Gruene. Dan and Beth brought Franklin's BBQ for dinner and Paula baked an apple pie. Mark and Wendy from Pennsylvania were visiting Dan and Beth and also came. They have a booth at Airventure Oshkosh and let Dan and me have entrance wristbands and rest in the shade during our week in Oshkosh. We also had a visit from a VAF friend, Dan, and family to look at the interior seats and trim as they are considering the same for their RV-9A. What a great day! Friends, airplanes and BBQ from two of the top joints in Texas.

Preparing To Paint

I've started my prep for paint by building a paint booth. Austin was home for Easter and helped me assemble it. We bragged on ourselves as the instructions said it takes two people two hours to assemble but we did it in less than half an hour.

I've been making good progress on the build but haven't been posting as much as I've been taking care of Paula. She should be back in her Gruene Hall dancing shoes soon.

Finishing Lower Cowl

I'm almost finished with the lower cowl. I've attached the hinges and put two coats of thinned epoxy on the inside. The epoxy helps keep it clean by sealing the surface so oil and stains don't soak in. I'll paint the inside with white paint soon.

I also finished the lower cowl support bracket. It was a fun challenge as the only instructions were the blueprints and there was a complicated order of fabrication to avoid violating edge distances for rivets and holes. It turned out well as five years of building experience must be good for something. The red wire is just there to temporarily hold the exhaust pipe out of the way. The two pins sticking out the bottom are how the hinge pins for the bottom cowl attachment are secured.

Portable Oxygen System

I got a good eBay deal on an Aerox portable oxygen system for the airplane. The RV series of airplanes can easily climb to and cruise well above 10,000 feet which gets you away from most small airplane traffic plus you can get above weather, turbulence, birds and the heat all while getting better gas mileage. To fly that high in an unpressurized airplane legally requires oxygen anytime you're between 12,500 feet and 14,000 feet for more than 30 minutes and all the time you're above 14,000 feet. Those are the minimums but most use it more often to arrive refreshed after a long cross country at high altitude and especially at night as night vision is affected early with just a little oxygen debt. Later, I'll get a small battery operated pulse oximeter to monitor actual oxygen content. They're the kind that clip onto your finger like you see in the hospital.

Skyview EFIS Major Update

Dynon had a major update that added a bunch of great features to my EFIS system. Skyview is now available in touch screen and current screens like mine can be upgraded for a reasonable cost. There are two big software improvements that I really like. Now all US maps and charts and procedures and airport diagrams are displayed on the screen and they're georeferenced. The chart subscription only costs $99 per year. That replaces several thousand dollars worth of paper charts not to mention the hours I used to spend doing the paper swap when I flew with the airlines. Also, Skyview now links to my Garmin IFR GPS and displays and can automatically follow the flight plan.

More Cowl Work

I'm making good progress and the end is in sight for the cowl. I think doing the hinges and pins is harder than camlocs but the look is a smooth cowl. All the hinges are sill clecoed as I've got to do some minor fiberglass work including sealing and painting the inside before I rivet them permanently.