Chip's RV-9A Project

2012-01-16T06:36:00.003-06:00

Here's a couple of pictures of the completed project. Well, complete for now.
These were taken on December 27.

2012-01-15T18:33:00.002-06:00

Jan 14, finally got hold of Vance Henize and gave him and Cori a ride in the plane. Cori was nervous, she's afraid of commercial flights. But she seemed to enjoy the flight.

2012-01-15T18:22:00.003-06:00

Jan 7
Flew up to McGregor, south of Waco to attend the EAA Chapter 59 pancake breakfast.
I met Seth, and we sat at the table inside where the Falcon Flight formation team was briefing their air show act. Many of the well know RV'ers where there, some who I had met just the previous week at Hicks. I got there late and there was no more sausage, but the pancakes were good.

After breakfast I was about to depart, but Falcon Flight was doing their show practice. I watched for a while, then tried to time my departure. I annonunced departure, but Stu asked me to wait, they were about to do a bomb burst. I held, and then lit the candles. About that time the bomb burst turned back and I was now a hazard. I apologized to Stu and turn out to the west low and early, staying well under the height of the formation. I should have paid more attention to the briefing!

Back at home, Wayne is getting his wings on, helped here by John Reinschmidt. Wayne had a much easier time with the bolts, the secret being to clean out the holes in the spar and carry through box so that there is no crud getting in the way.

2012-01-15T18:08:00.002-06:00

On December 28, I flew up to Hicks (T67) and became a Friend of the RV-1. The RV-1 is the plane that started Van's RV series. It is currently being rebuilt in Jay Pratt's shop.

Jay's "Borrowed Horse"

While there I met many of the Van's Airforce regulars, and Cav had a front row seat along with many famous aircraft.
While on the ground at Hicks I visited Avery Tools, and saw a few more airplanes that flash past on my monitor at work.

Paul Dye and Louise Hose

Danny King's "Beautiful Doll", and Walt Arranow's RV-7A.

The gang, working as only pilots can!

2012-01-15T17:50:00.002-06:00

Also on December 18, Lynne and I went down to the park at Mansfield Dam to go hike on Sometimes Island. This is small bit of land that appears in Lake Travis when the water goes down a little. Except that the water is down A LOT, and it is now Sometimes Peninsula! The normal level of the lake is about 684 feet above sea level, it's at about 640 in these pictures.

These large blocks of concrete are normally in 20 feet of water. But when the lake is down a little, they're lurking just below the surface, waiting to ruin someone's day!

It's a long walk out to this point.

The Austin Aquatics Open Water Swim was in this cove. Water level was a bit higher than the camera's postion in this shot.

2012-01-15T17:48:00.001-06:00

December 18, 2011
Lynne got a new car!

2012-01-15T17:36:00.002-06:00

On November 5th, we flew to the coast for the second time.
We stopped at Calhoun County again, this time with no crowd. Our destination was a private airport on the barrier islands very close to KPKV. It was an old naval air base and was very cool in a post-apocolyptic way.

2012-01-15T17:23:00.002-06:00

A few quick posts to fill in some pictures.
Here is Halloween. Katrin drives the carriages in downtown Austin. She gets lots of attention!

2011-12-18T08:13:00.004-06:00

Wow, more than a month since I posted. Cav now has 65 hours and really likes to fly.
I will need to do an oil change in about 10 more hours, and I'll take her out of service for a little to inspect carefully and do a few other maintenance items.

Yesterday I took up a few of my construction helpers, Jim Robillard, Ed Rupp, and Jim Darrah. We mainly just flew around the area. Ed flew out to Enchanted Rock for some pictures. With Jim R. we managed to find Hamilton Pool from the air. It's easy to find when you know how.

I'm trying out Google calendar as a scheduling tool for Cav. Thanks to Brian for the idea!

Here is another link that you could save as a bookmark.

Cav's Calender

I think that people will need to email or call me and I'll enter the appointment time.

I've also taken up a few of the airport guys, Jeff Klaas and Tom Lange. I'm chomping at the bit for more airport fly outs. Sun n' Fun is not too far away and it's time to make reservations for that.

Squawks: Still a heavy left wing, but I think I know what to do about that now. The engine has sagged about a quarter inch, I'll have to shim it back up when I take the cowl off for an oil change.
I will also do some minor avionics changes. The Skyview is now capable of driving the autopilot, so I want to add a switch to select between Skyview and 430W as the source.

2011-10-29T19:14:00.005-05:00

Today marked a very special milestone. Today we used the plane for it's intended purpose - a run to the beach! Back on my first posts in the build log I explained that a grueling trip to SanDestin FLA rekindled the idea of someday getting a pilot's license.

With a cold front two days in the past, today was a great day to fly. Light surface winds, but a bit of bumpiness below 5000 ft. Lynne and I had lunch at TerryP's and then about 1:30 launched to just fly south. We set the Dynon for KPKV, Calhoun County, on the bay near Port Lavaca. I had read good reviews about the FBO. We taxied into parking and there was some sort of event. It turned out to be a Young Eagles event. We stopped and did the watering stop business, then talked with Blaine of Houston Hobby's tower museum. They were raffling a '59 172, in awesome condition. The important part was that Lynne learned about the 40's flight museum at Hobby, and now she wants to go! Score!

We left Port Lavaca and headed southwest along the coast.

We ended up landing at Mustang Beach, KRAS, in Port Aransas. This will be where we will spend Thanksgiving.

And then we walked to the beach. And it sank in what the airplane can do - allow us to spend a day at the beach without the nasty drive!

I put in a bit a fuel, which wasn't necessary but made me feel better. Then we loaded up and headed back home. We enjoyed smooth air at 6500 ft, 145 knot ground speeds the whole way. In less than an hour, we were on the ground back at home.

Lynne is now fully excited about the possibilities! Mission accomplished.

I almost forgot, but this was the first time the plane left the phase 1 test area.

Squawks. The 430W has decided to not see the GPS antenna anymore. NEED to fix that. I think I figured out why the right aileron is out of whack. It is raised up at the outboard hinge. I think this is fixable.

On the side I'm making a set of control locks, gathering tie downs and a tool kit, and getting other sundry items required for overnight stays away from home. A canopy cover from Van's is on the way, and I'll get a canopy lock from Seth.

2011-10-26T20:38:00.004-05:00

An update is long overdue. And I just got off the phone with Ed Rupp who requested more posts! Also talked with Jim R. The grandbaby is doing well, but Orion may not be able to take a break from Dad duty to go flying with me. Just teasing!

Looking at my blog, I haven't posted about any of my passengers. So here we go.
First passenger was Wayne Wagner. Thanks to Wayne, my airplane has a home. He was also able to simulate flying with my Dad, so that part of the flight testing is complete! We just finished Wayne's electrical system and panel, and then we spent three evenings riveting on the forward top skin on his 7A project. Wayne is doing a fantastic job on the detail. He's going to have really nice airplane, lot's of power and a very capable panel.

Second passenger was Jim Darrah. Saturday we flew down to San Marcos and visited with Mike Collier at the Commemorative Air Force Hanger. Mike is a fellow Lakeway Airpark board member, and he's one of the pilots for the warbirds the CAF has. He own's a BirdDog, and a T6 Texan. He was showing off the P63 King Cobra that is very close to flying. We got to sit in the B25 and ask lots of questions.

Jim was wearing his B-29 Fifi tshirt that day - what else do you wear when spending a day geeking out on airplanes? So Jim is driving to Lakeway to meet me when Fifi, the worlds only flying B-29, flies right over him! The B-29 and a B-17 happened to be at Bergstrom that day. They made multiple flights using 3R9 as a waypoint. I was able to see the B-17 later in the day. Verrry Cool!

On Sunday I took Lynne up for her first flight. We started about 10, and it was already a bit bumpy by then, but she did fine. We toured the lakes, and then had brunch at the T82 Airport Diner.
After leaving we did a flight over Enchanted Rock. She enjoyed the flight, and we're starting to plan the next real trip.

Monday morning I took up my boss, David Huebel, during our regularly scheduled meeting time. He brought his camera and took a bunch of pictures. I'll have to post some when David sorts them out. Waiting for David I did one lap around the pattern. It was a perfect morning, cool, calm wind, great visibility. The plane rolled out on downwind at pattern altitude, on speed, with the right power setting, smooth as silk, followed by a great landing (with a wary eye out for deer). It made me look like I knew what I was doing!

Tonight I went for a short spin, .7, practicing turns, slow flight, a 45 degree spiraling descent. Reasonably smooth, all in all a good evening to fly.

Phase 2

2011-10-17T12:22:00.003-05:00

I took advantage of nice weather this weekend and finished flying the 40 hours of Phase 1 flight testing. That included redoing climb performance data at a lighter weight with the wheel fairings installed. This allowed me to establish the Vx and Vy speeds for the new configuration. I also repeated stall testing. Then I loaded the passenger seat back up and flew again, doing stability checks, more climb data and descent data.
I also ran climb to altitude tests over several flights to measure fuel consumption, time to climb, and distance from departure point for +3000, +6000, and +9000 foot departures. The climb to 4000 feet only burns .8 gallons, and that includes starting the engine, taxiing, runup, takeoff, and the climb (starting from 900ft). The climb to 10000 took only 2.8 gallons, and got the plane 27 nautical miles toward the destination.

Somewhere in all that testing I landed at Fredricksburg and had lunch at the airport diner.

The final flight of the 40 hours was a trip to KAUS (Bergstrom) with 200 lbs in the right seat, and 80 1bs in the baggage compartment. I wanted to check the operation of the localizer and glide slope information on the ILS approach to 17L. Unfortunately it didn't work. I guess I should rule out the ILS being out of service before I declare my equipment not working.

All this weight was in the airplane!

So with 40 hours, Vx, Vy, and Vso (stall speed with full flaps) and all the important testing and data collection done, I made the aircraft log book entry to officially end Phase 1. So my operating limitations are relaxed. I can now take a passenger, fly at night, fly over populated areas and in congested airways during cruise (which I'll tend to avoid anyway), and file an instrument flight plan.

Another interesting thing happened. I had been burning about a quart every 6 hours. When doing climb testing, it was much more, like 1 quart every 2 hours, which might mean it was going out the breather tube. With the wheel fairing on, I can fly about 10 knots faster, which allows the prop to finally turn at full RPM. In fact I can now redline the engine at 2700, which I couldn't do without the wheel fairings. With the faster cruise and high RPM/manifold pressure, I am able to really push the engine hard in cruise. So after about an hour of that, the oil consumption has dropped so that I've probably only burned 1/8 quart in the last 3 hours. Which hopefully means that the rings are seated and the engine is broken in. We'll see how the next 10 hours go.

And finally, on the same day, I went over 300 hours and 500 landings, and my repairmans certificate came in the mail. What a weekend!

2011-10-12T19:30:00.003-05:00

Flew today with the wheel fairings on. They survived the trip and seem to be sturdy enough to trust for more flights.

Started with a climb to 4000 to measure fuel consumption, but realized that having the plane sit for a week throws off any measurements. During preflight I opened the right tank and fuel gushed out, it had expanded since filling it up. I'll have to repeat the experiment right after filling up. The climb took me 7nm from the airport. CHTs were OK, but I did reduce power and flatten the climb a little to make sure they stayed OK.
I was seeing 1300 fpm when climbing at 80 knots, no pax weight, 15 lbs in the back, but I wasn't too focused on that.
An 80 kt descent only lost 600 ft in 1 minute. The prop was turning 1000, and I think all the power was out.
I did a few speed points, at 3800 ft, setting manifold pressure to an even number.
At WOT I can now redline the engine. I couldn't do that before. In fact I have to back the throttle off quite a bit to stay below redline. I briefly saw 140 knots indicated, but it was slightly bumpy and the airspeed is the first thing to start jumping around if the air isn't perfectly smooth. But the plane is clearly faster with the fairings, at least 8 knots faster.

2011-10-11T22:20:00.003-05:00

Stopped by the hangar and put the seats back in, so the cabin is ready to fly. Also got the upper cowl in place, but it still needs to be fastened.

Removed the main gear fairings and brought them home.

After dinner, mixed up some epoxy and flox and bonded the intersection fairings to the wheel fairings. I expect this to work very well, and I may even be able to fly tomorrow.

The nose wheel fairing has cured nicely. I slopped on the epoxy, and it is really hard to sand off. It's going to take a while to get it ready for painting. Because of this, I was much more careful with the main gear fairings.

2011-10-10T20:52:00.003-05:00

Spent the weekend working on the gear leg fairings and wheel fairings. Installed 30 nutplates yesterday between the upper intersection fairings and the wheel fairing halves.
Saturday I fit a small intersection fairing to the front of the nosewheel fairing. Not overly happy with the work I did on the nosewheel gear leg fairing, which needed trimming to clear the intersection fairing. Tonight I got the main wheel fairings in place with screws and then fit the lower intersection fairings and got them trimmed and clecoed into place. Next step is to bond the intersection fairings into place.

I need to hurry, the next few days will be really nice for flying

2011-10-09T21:42:00.004-05:00

60 rivets today, installing nutplates for the gear leg intersection fairings and for the wheel fairing halves. As far as I can remember, these are the last rivet I have to set. My spreadsheet gives the total as 17111. About 2700 hours, but I stopped tracking hours accurately at 2650.

Got the interior mostly put back together, should have the plane flight ready by the end of tomorrow evening, this time with wheel fairings installed. Still need to glass on all the lower intersection fairings.

IFR conditions all day. We got almost 2 inches of rain last night. It was desperately needed.

Wayne is essentially finished with his panel wiring. We are shifting gears on his project, and got the brakes charged. Top skin riveting will happen soon.

2011-10-06T20:58:00.003-05:00

Confidence is growing that I resolved the stray fuel smell problem by tightening up that right vent line fitting. I ran a test card Wednesday night (150+45) and did not smell any fuel during the steep attitudes. As the CG shifts aft, the plane definitely gets more squirrely. It has almost neutral stability in the slip test that the card performs. This might have been due to a less than smooth ride. All the other tests were fine, although stall behaviour is incrementally less polite.

On returning I refueled. This took care of one of the test items. Climb to 3000 feet (from 900 feet), including startup, short taxi, runup and takeoff: .8 gallons. Call it 1. Another data point for the Pilots Operating Handbook. And I think I have the fuel flow adjusted pretty close to correct. It's registers a slight bit more than I actually use, but that's better than the other way around. I need to check this more, but I also need to look closely at the fuel tank levels to make sure they are reasonable.

That flight got me to 33 hours, 7 to go.

We have cloudy weather for the next few days, so I decided to take the plane out of service and get the gear fairings installed. The first part of this is removing the seat pans so I can install nutplates.s
So tonight I took out the seat pans, and inspected the wiring runs. It all looks OK after 30 hours. I also took out the aileron trim and brought it home. I cut an ample notch for clamping pressure and now I should be able to use the aileron trim.

2011-10-05T06:20:00.002-05:00

Got in another hour yesterday, flying test card 12d, 125 in the right seat and 25 in the baggage. Next up is 150 + 45.
Found problem that's been nagging me. When ever I had a steep attitude, during climbs or stalls, I would get a smell of fuel. And occasionally on the ground. I had somewhat suspected the vents, but I kept looking at the fuel selector with greater suspicion.
Yesterday I refueled after the morning flight, so the fuel was cool. I pushed out of the hangar in the afternoon and the warmer air made the fuel expand. I was noticing a fuel smell when I saw it: A drip of fuel from the lower right fuel vent fittings. These are routed inside the cockpit. It was actually dripping!
I put a wrench on it. I appeared it had never been tightened. After all the inspections, nobody caught it, especially me. These vent lines blend in to the background and don't get much attention. We'll see if this fixes the fuel smell during flight.

2011-10-03T21:10:00.004-05:00

Put in about 4 hours over the weekend. Started by changing oil on Friday. That was at 20 tach hours. About 28 on the hobbs. Also took out the #2 bottom plug and cleaned it up real good. It ran very well for a while. Saturday, flew to Georgetown to meet Seth and pickup a new spark plug and a spare wire harness. Next time the lower cowl is off I'll trade out the harness to see if it makes any difference. When routing wires for the bottom left side (#2 and #4), I used Adel clamps that may have been a bit too small. If the new harness fixes the issues, that may be the actual cause. If not, then it may just be a break in issue.

Back to Georgetown, I got to meet the local RV dignitaries that had just done an overhead break arrival. Stu, the Card's, R.W., and Bobby L. (who I had met a year earlier at Seth's shop). I wanna be able to be part of a four ship overhead break! It looks cool!
I had planned on zipping down to San Marcos to visit Mike who has a T6 at the warbird hangars. But a mag check showed that #4 bottom plug was not firing. Dang. The engine was running OK on both mags, so I scrubbed San Marcos and returned to Lakeway to fix the problem. That plug was firing fine by the time I got back and pulling it showed it wasn't too bad. I think my leaning habits on the ground need to be improved. These engines are bit finicky.

With that problem resolved, Sunday I flew a planned circle around Austin. The route was 3R9, KERV, KSSF, T20, 3TG, KRWV, KPWG, KMNZ (these last two about two miles out of my 75nm circle, so I didn't actually overfly them), and then 81R, T92, then back to Lakeway.

I flew the first half on plan. Picked up flight following around San Antonio, verified altitude with the controllers, and stopped at Fayette Regional for a break. What a treat. I walked in and fell in love with the place. No one else there. This great little airport embodies what I love about small airports. I took a bunch of pictures with the iphone, but only one turned out acceptable.

Finally coming over the north side of the Hood MOA (which was not active) I was getting unnecessarily nervous about fuel, so I stopped in Lampassas. I had been cruising at 6500, where it was glass smooth. On the descent, at about 5000, it started getting rough. The days heating had kicked in.
Refueled and then just returned to Lakeway. I was hungry, and didn't feel like getting beat up by thermals.

Skyview in action.

Finished the weekend at 30.9, only 9 hours to go!

2011-09-29T20:19:00.003-05:00

Snuck in .8 this morning, ran test card 12a, which puts 80 lbs of weight in the right seat and then checks stalls, climbs, descents, stability, turns, etc.. It was a perfect morning, glass smooth, relatively cool, so it was almost cheating. The 1260 fpm 90 knot climb rate was better than the rate with no weight, which probably means I'm just getting better at flying the plane. The 80 knot idle power descent rate was around 800 fpm, right at what earlier tests showed with no extra weight.

Still fighting a fouled plug on #2 cylinder, will try trading out plugs one more time. I will change the oil tomorrow, 24 hours is enough for the breakin oil.

Oil consumption was running about 1 quart in about 6 hours. It seems like it jumped up a little recently.

I took the upper cowl off earlier this week and we found a small oil leak from the sender manifold. There are two oil pressure guages and 7 different connections that could leak. Tightened them up and we'll see how they did when I take the cowl off again tomorrow.

Let's see, what have I missed posting in the last 3 weeks. Landing and refueling in Lampassas. Touch n goes at Burnett. Full stop landing at Burnett and visiting the FBO just cause I can. Lunch and a plane visit with the gang from work. Lunch at the airport diner in Fredricksburg. Miserably hot and bumpy conditions on the way home at 5500 ft.

Cav with the Hangar Hotel in the background.

I have stall speeds. Vs, stall speed with no flaps is 51 knots. Vso, stall speed with full flaps is 42 knots. Not much warning between buffet and stall. Buffeting seemed to happen sooner with more weight. Vx is about 75, Vy is around 80, at least with the data I have now, which was taken with only the nose gear leg fairing. Wide open throttle speed is 132 knots, or a true airspeed of 144 knots. Climb rates of about 1300 fpm with a light load. The airframe passes the stability tests.
This data is sufficient to sign the airframe logbook at the end of the 40 hour period, but I still need to take data with wheel fairings in place.

Speaking of which, I've been inching closer on the fairings, and I may try to drill the main gear intersection fairings this weekend or next week. Once that's done, I can glass the lower intersection fairings to the wheel fairings, and then finally fly with my pants on! Wheel pants, that is.

I've also been working on finishing the glare shield cover and edge trim. Cut a sheet of .016 to fit under the canopy, and bought new glare shield material from Cleaveland. The first attempt at glueing didn't work too well, but I hope to fix this up this week as well.

2011-09-28T21:40:00.004-05:00

Apologies to my readers, I've been really bad about posting. It's late, and I'm about done for the night, but here's a few pictures.

23.2 hours on the Hobbs. 16.8 to go!

The Spicewood fire.

The gang from work!

2011-09-05T21:13:00.005-05:00

A busy long weekend. Got in 4 flights, two today. I can fly twice in one day!
I've started venturing away from Lakeway, going all the way up to Lampassas, then down to Fredricksburg. Haven't landed at another airport yet, but that will happen soon.

On Sunday morning I started on flight test card 5, doing 2 minute climbs at various airspeeds. I did this out south and east of Horseshoe Bay, trying to stay somewhere close to a emergency landing site. Also did some low power descents, but at 1300 the engine still produces quite a bit of thrust. Checked the VOR nav reciever enough to verify it receives a station.

By late Sunday, fires had developed in the area. There was no trace of them Sunday morning. But by Monday there were some serious fires.

Here's the satellite photo from Monday evening. All the patches over Texas are fires (except a few clouds over the valley).

This morning on the LZZ T82 triangle I did a thorough checkout of the NAV receiver. It seems to work great. Still a couple of items to check, but the 430W VOR receiver and Archer antenna seem to be a usable combination. I was even able to tune into the HIWAS on the LLO VOR audio, so the audio hookup to the audio panel is working as designed. So far the radios are all working as expected, but there are a few finesse points to using them correctly.
Also turned on the autopilot for the first time. It did the basic heading and altitude hold with no bad habits. Next I need to check VS and set altitude modes, then GPS steering.
A freak early "cold" front passed through yesterday, so the winds today were strong and gusty from the north. I managed a passable landing this morning despite the conditions.

Then this evening winds had died down so went up for another short flight. Got in some slow flight and 45 degree turns, out east of Burnett. There are nice emergency fields up there, including lots of private strips, although I could only find a few of them from the air. The fire south of Spicewood was going strong, but another fire, maybe up in the Fort Hood area was fouling the air over Lakeay. A TFR for the Spicewood fire was in effect. It did not show up on the web page when I checked before leaving. Fortunately I steered well away, so I managed to just skirt the edge of the TFR coming back into Lakeway. I did not bust that TFR. Whew!

10 hours on the Hobbs now.

2011-09-03T16:54:00.003-05:00

Got a flight in this morning, #4, 2.0 hrs. My primary purpose was to burn holes in the sky to break in the engine. So I ran at 2600 up to full throttle between Lago Vista and Horseshoe Bay, I started at 4500 on the first west bound leg, then climbed to 5500 east bound, then up ot 6500. OATs were a nice 66 degrees, and it was almost comfortable in the cabin. There were sparse clouds to the west at about 4900, but I was soon above them.
The stuttering with leaning is gone, I guess it was the dropped bottom #4 plug that I replaced. Let that be a lesson.

CHTs popped up to 435 on 3 and 4 during the initial climb, but they all came down and were mostly green the whole time. EGTs can peak at about 1500, but with power at about 75% they run at 1350 or so. Fuel flow is a bit higher than I want, at 75% it wants to be at 9 gph.

Oil temp never got above 200 today. It was a bit cooler, the nasty heat we had in August seems to have left. I'm still wary, it could be back as soon as the storm in Louisiana is gone.

Durning the week I adjusted the left flap and right aileron to improve the heavy wing problem. It seems to be a non-issue, although the aileron trim is still not usable for leveling the wings.
I started, departed, and left the fuel selector on the left tank to see how much I had to burn to get neutral roll trim. The answer was about 7 gallons. So at that point I had 12 in the right, and 5 in the left. So I switched tanks.
The only odd problem I had today, is that after switching tanks and running a while,
the left tank was still going down, while the right was pegged at 12 gallons. At the time I was wondering what the heck. I discovered this on the way out to Horseshoe Bay. It occurred to me that I was going away from Lakeway with only one working tank, and only 4 gallons in that tank. I realized that was a problem so I turned around. In retrospect, I think it was just the left tank fuel level pickup settling out a bit. There can't be a real problem with the fuel selector. The engine was running fine, and the right tank finally did start registering lower levels.

The test flight cards had me do some slow flight, so I did that on the last lap back into Lakeway. I got it down to 70, 60, and finally 50 while maintaing altitude and making shallow turns. The fuel flow drops to about 3 gph, and the engine temps all go yellow because they're too low!
The plane flies great at 100 knots, and sips fuel. I was seen 135 knots indicated today at 2600, 150 knot ground speeds.

Flying at 9AM means it has been nearly glass smooth most of the time.

2011-08-28T14:53:00.005-05:00

Yesterday stripped off the last remaining blue plastic and installed the wing walk material.

Installed extra return springs on the pilot side brake master cylinders. They're not perfect yet, but these made a huge difference. Now I almost look like I know what I'm doing when I taxi. Much more controlable on the ground.

Emptied the tanks last night and then filled them up 2 gallons at a time to calibrate them. The process worked, I might want to redo the right side sometime, it took a while to figure out the optimal method. The left tank should be spot on.

Flew this morning. Before starting I adjusted the SL-40 sidetone, and it now works perfectly.

0900 - ready to fly

Ran for about 2 hours today, and ventured away from home, over to the next airstrip, Lago Vista. It made a nice 8 mile race race track and gave me some straight and level time. I ran the engine at about 74% and leaned it out some, watching how the temperatures behave. Still running a bit rich. 3 and 4 hitting about 423, this seems to be about the peak for them, 1 and 2 heat up considerably from there. Oil temps about 212, 218 max. The engine stutters a bit when leaned. It goes away when the mixture is enrichened. Carb heat seems to work, and actually cools off all the cylinders.

Talked with Austin Approach, got a squawk code, ident, and they verified altitude. Transponder checks out, along with the static system.

Also got in a bit more slow flight, doing a few 360s at 62 knots. She flies well at this slow speed, no bad habits, just floating in the air.

Ambient today started at about 90, and was about 100 when I stopped.

The 430W was having receive problems. But it checked out perfectly back on the ground. I think I was setting the radios and audio panel wrong somehow, managing two frequencies very close together. Transmitting on the 430W still spikes the CHTs.

And here's a shot of the upper cowling. There are three airleaks from the baffle material, just in front of 3 and 4. Incidentally, those are the hottest cylinders.

2011-08-27T13:07:00.005-05:00

I will stop tracking time as I did in the build, although there is still more work to do on construction (fiberglass fairings, yech) and of course fixing issues and on-going maintenance will both take time.

But now I'll just use this as more of a web log than a build log.

photos today by Suanne McLellan!

Flew this morning, 1.3 hrs on the hobbs, about 1.2 of that in the air. Engine start at 8:45 when it was still reasonbly cool. The plane flew great and the engine is running well except for an occasional quick stutter. I will have to keep an eye on that.

This time airspeed was good. I took it up to 2500 and the #4 CHT was running hot, about 430. #1 was still in the green, about 385. Flattened out the climb and continued up to 3300. #4 CHT stayed around 423, just one pixel of red, and I could keep it about there by adjusting climb rate. Set the throttle for 2500 and just started doing laps. Below me the airpark was busy. Dogs on the runway, deer, etc.
I also got a good look at my guages this time. Oil temp got up to 212 and stayed there, never hotter. Fuel flow was at 12 in the inital climb, backed off to 10.5 on the racetrack, and I later leaned it down to about 9.5. The EGT's climbed into the green range at about 1410 on leaning, but with a wide variance. Lot's to learn on the EGTs.
The left wing is a bit heavy, can't trim it out with aileron trim. It's not too noticeable until I've been holding it for 30 minutes and I try to fly straight and level.
The Dynon was telling me the wind was from the north at 11 knots at altitude. And it had shifted below me too.
At the end of about an hour I slowed down to start some slow flight. I got down to about 60 knots with full flaps, maintaining altitude and flying shallow banked turns. Then I recovered up to 100 knots and started my decent. The north wind was now favoring 34, and I joined the pattern for my first ever attempt at 34. All my other landings at lakeway were on 16. As I was about to join the pattern a flight of two taxied onto the runway for departure, so I climbed back up to 2500 and loitered to the west to wait for them. The first attempt was still hot and high so a go around was needed. But the second try was just about right, although the landing could have been better.

There it is, flight #2 in the books, a reasonable success. John and Suanne came out to watch and I gave her the camera. Everyone on the airpark is also taking a few minutes to watch, and come over to the airpark to congratulate me. Thanks everyone!

Squawks include the SL-40 is too loud when I transmit. The CHT's jump when I transmit on the 430W.
There are a couple of oil leaks, I think they might even be the plugs. I will remove one and replace the crush gasket. Readjusted the right side exhaust to improve cowling clearance. I will put springs on the draggy brakes later today.

Heavy left wing.
Need to calibrate the tanks.

A flight ready RV-9A!

2011-08-25T07:08:00.002-05:00

Other notes about yesterday's flight. I wanted to fly early in the day, but there were just too many things to finish up. Got these done at noon, but then I needed to cool off and get something to eat.

It was 1:13 when I started the engine, and 1:54 when I shut it off. Temperature was 106 F.

Central Texas is having it's worst summer ever, with a new record of 77 days over 100 set yesterday, with no end in sight. A strong, stable dome of high pressure has set up residence and it's going nowhere soon. The hurricanes that come anywhere close are swatted to the side like gnats. We had about 1.5 inches of rain in May or June, but that's the only significant rain we've had in almost a year. Trees are dying, the lake is way down, all the golf course ponds are drying up. And La Nina may be on the way back. It's going to get worse before it gets better.

First Flight!

2011-08-24T19:02:00.005-05:00

N207LT flew for the first time today.
Engine start at 1:13 and we took flight at 1:20pm. Wayne and Cora
were my ground crew.

She flew very well, except for the minor
distraction of no airspeed indicator. I check for controlability and then started a climb, turning to downwind about the same time. I thought for a second about returning immediately, but quickly decided to keep her in the air, climbing to 2000AGL. CHTs climbed pretty high, with #4 at 442. I backed out the power and lowered the nose and she cooled off nicely, staying around 400. Wish I could remember what the oil temp was. On the 430W I dialed up the page that shows ground speed, so I had some inkling of how fast I was. At about 2300 I was doing 125kts.

I circled over the airport for about 30 minutes trying to stay on track with my test flight procedures, but that was hard to do with no airspeed. Also the card called for 10 degree and 20 degree turns. Well, sorry, that would take me to Oklahoma. I ended up with 30 degree turns to stay close to the air strip. I climbed up to 4000 to try some slow flight, but didn't stay on task with this too long - kinda hard to do slow flight without knowing what slow is.

Then I decided it was time to come down. I had to go around twice because the plane really didn't want to slow down. I was trying not to use the last notch of flaps as per the test plan, but also I was never sure I was slow enough for full flaps. On the final approach I was still too high and hot, but tried out a slip. The plane responded well and I was able get down and lined up. But pulling the throttle all the way out still seemed to produce too much lift. I chopped both mags and pulled the mixture and finally she started slowing down. Still she floated till the hangars. I vaguely remember that the landing wasn't too terrible. Wind was calm.

When I taxied in and shutdown, they had to remind me to grin. I obviously wasn't following the checklist anymore.

Many thanks to Wayne and Cora Wagner who have given my project an airport home and tolerated my invasion of their hangar. Wayne has been there to help, especially the last month. He was providing a calming flight instructor influence today as I was obviously nervous and frantic. He also took all of these pictures.

I have to repeat flight card 1, but at least I know she flies!
Squawks:
Airspeed (fixed already, loose connection from the pitot/static check)
Brakes not releasing all the way. Classic RV problem. Need return springs.

2011-08-23T23:11:00.003-05:00

3 hrs
Was supposed to be easy tonight but everything fought tooth and nail to not go together. The upper cowl should have taken about 5 minutes, took an hour. The spinner should have been easy. Until we discovered two munged up platenuts. Had to drill them out and rivet on new ones. Another hour and a half.

Then started working on the aileron trim. Needed to adjust the friction so it would hold more securely. Ended up just taking it completely out. At least it's ready to go back in.

2011-08-22T22:31:00.003-05:00

2 hrs
Applied heat shield insulation to the inside of the cowl to protect against the hot exhaust tubes.
The way this worked is that Wayne had an idea how he wanted to do his, so we tried it out on mine. I think it worked out great. We used a hot rod market high temp spray on contact cement to tack on some upgraded heat sheild material. This stuff has a fiberglass backing and a high temp metallic shiny surface. It will reflect heat and insulate, good to ~1200 degrees (the material that is).
We cut it to shape and decided we needed to build up the corner of the cowl bottom to air inlet duct with a thin strip of material. This allowed the second layer to lay down better.
Jesse B. helped out a bit, and it was good to have an extra set of hands when messing with the contact cement.
Then we fit the lower cowl on to the plane. The exterior is looking ready to fly!

Airworthy!

2011-08-21T13:11:00.004-05:00

N207LT is airworthy!
The punch list has few items, will get those worked down soon.
Mel Asberry of Dallas did the inspection and paperwork and I now have the coveted pink slip of paper. I can now legally fly my airplane!

2011-08-21T13:06:00.002-05:00

Saturday 8/20
5 hrs
Spent the day doing last minute items and preparing for the inspection.

Installed control labels for the engine controls. Finished up the wing tips, secured the nav/strobe light bundles.

2011-08-20T08:55:00.002-05:00

For Friday, Aug 19.
2 hrs
Finished up a couple more items from the list. Thursday night I installed the new Skyview backup battery. Now both screens will stay online when power is shutoff, up to 1 hour. Shipped the bad battery back to Dynon.
Extracted a spare general purpose input from the bundle behind the panel, routed it forward of the firewall. I will use this for the extra air temperature probe that I bought from Dynon. It can be moved around as needed in the engine compartment to understand the temperatures seen during flight and on the ground.
Also finally installed the black instrument panel screws for the left Skyview. The panel is now complete!

And replaced the bottom rudder attach bolt, there were no threads showing past the nut, and the tech counselor crew spotted it.

2011-08-17T21:44:00.002-05:00

Not tracking time well anymore. Stopped by the hangar and took care of a couple of minor items from the Monday inspection list. Helped Wayne move his canopy into the house, that gets it out of harms way. Still a few things to go but now just nervously biding time till the inspection.

Oh. It's official, I have the Airworthiness Inspection on Sunday. Mel Asberry is flying down from the Dallas area, he's the DAR (Designated Airworthiness Representative) that knows more about inspecting RV's and experimentals than anyone else in Texas. He also taught the class I took last October.

If all goes according to plan, by Sunday evening Mel will be safely back in Dallas, and I will have a pink piece of paper that is the provisional airworthiness certificate, and a log book entry saying that Mel inspected N207LT and found it "in a condition for safe operation". He's an A&P, so he can do this, but I can't. At least not till I get my Repairman's Certificate.

You all know what comes next! Maybe not. Next I have to put the plane all back together because all the access panels will be removed for the inspection.

But THEN.......

2011-08-16T22:12:00.002-05:00

Bought a case of oil for the first oil change that will happen next week! Also picked up some hose suitable for the manifold pressure hookup. Installed it.

Helped Wayne for a little while, we are figuring out how to program the EIS, starting to get the ammeter and manifold pressure configured and working.

2011-08-15T20:50:00.004-05:00

Tech counselor visit.
Deene, Seth, Jerry Stofer, and Dan Badwey of chapter 187.

Several items on the punch list, two big items.
Install missing cotter pins on the main control column bolts.
Tightened fuel pump outlet clocking lock nut.
Tighten starter contactor nut.
Set engine controls for 1/8" extra travel to prove positive stop.
They didn't like the safe air tubing for the manifold pressure line. The engine will get hot and may ruin the tubing. Also need a way to secure the MP line to prevent chafing on the heater air inlet.
A few other minor items some of which I found myself. Need to finish the wing tip wiring.

They advised not to burn in the brakes because of engine breakin needs. I had asked Seth about this over two years ago and he said there were no special requirements. But the cylinders do need normal breakin treatment, apparently.

2011-08-14T21:55:00.002-05:00

4 hrs
Check and tighten firewall accessory through bolts.
Start diagnosing brake issue.
Resolve left side flap actuator interference issue.
Torque seal more bolts.
Install three inboard tank/spar bolts on right side.
Start installing crotch straps.
Was going to taxi to day to burn in the brakes, but we ran out of daylight.

Helped Wayne a bit, put the pitch servo in place. Figured out why his 420 was in demo mode. A pin had been caught wrong and bent over, and it was grounding the demo mode pin. Once we straighted the pin out it worked great. Got the 420 and right side Horizon talking. Now a flight plan can be entered on either GPS and both Horizon screens pick it up right.

2011-08-13T19:39:00.004-05:00

5 hrs
Mostly finished with cleaning up the FWF wiring. I think I'll always be able to find something I'd like to change.

These photo's look very busy. The real item is not quite that bad. It can be a bit hard to reach a few things, but you can see floor in lots of places.

Need to do some taxiing tomorrow to burn in the brakes.

2011-08-10T22:40:00.001-05:00

1 hr
Countersink wing root for fairing.
Check dynon backup battery. Battery #2 is not working, display unit and wiring is fine.

2011-08-09T22:10:00.002-05:00

1 hr
Installed lugs on the nav antenna cable. Almost finished with the wing tips, just need smaller wire clamps to finish the wire runs.

Upgraded software on Wayne's Horizon HX units. Having trouble with the AHRS software upgrade.

2011-08-08T22:02:00.002-05:00

1 hr
Safety wire oil temp gauge.
Safety wire gascolator.

Engine Start!

2011-08-07T20:39:00.004-05:00

5 hrs
Spent the morning finishing up the FWF wiring cleanup. Remade the right side mag p-plead. Not completely finished, because we ran out of #12 adel clamps.

Removed and cleaned spark plugs. Dropped one, but Erik had some spares.

Pre-oil engine, purge oil and fuel pressure lines.
Rechecked all lines, Wayne looked at it also. We declared it ready for engine start.
Started the engine. It runs a lot better at full rich as compared to idle cutoff. Once I figured that out it started right up. I had prepared a test plan and mostly stuck to it. Ran it 4 times, first with out the alternator to verify the guages were alive, then with the alternator. Everything seems to work as it should, no noticeable leaks.

Taxied over to the fuel pumps to put in 10 gallons. On the way over, the left main brake is acting up a bit. Will need to diagnose this. The plane is a bit hard to steer with just brakes.

Readjusted the Dynon a bit, fuel pressure. The only guage not working is the fuel levels, and they need to be calibrated first.

2011-08-06T22:15:00.003-05:00

7 hrs
Finished aileron trim install.

Checkd nosewheel breakout force. 20-22 lbs.
Station 122 is right at the middle ribs of the baggage compartment.

Spent most of the time tidying FWF wiring. Got the Right side mostly done.
Running out of 12 adel clamps.

2011-08-05T22:58:00.001-05:00

3 hrs
Punch list items.
Set brake pedal cotter pins.
Stake gascolator screws.
Fit clamp to oil temp sender for safety wire.
Diagnose L skyview backup battery issue.
Continue installing aileron trim.
Strip more blue plastic.

Wayne was able to power up both Grand Rapids displays. We need to go through and setup everything.

2011-08-04T22:46:00.004-05:00

1 hr
Adjusted Dynon fuel flow settings. Set to 56400. Was 60000. Edit. That was the wrong way. Needs to be set to 65,800, which it now is.

Start installing aileron trim.
Strip more blue plastic.

Helped Wayne install his main EFIS connectors. We're done with that part of the wiring, now it's time to test it.

First fuel added!

2011-08-03T23:22:00.003-05:00

2 hrs, 4 gallons of fuel!
Removed wing root fairings to prep for adding fuel.
Added fuel and drained, both tanks, to wash out any crud. Nearly none.
Check for leaks. Doesn't appear to be any at this time.

Added fuel again, ran aux pump. Measured fuel flow rate, both tanks. We could fill a 1G container in 1 minute, 40 seconds from either tanks. That works out to 36 gallons/hr. The Dynon was indicating 39.5 gallons/hr. This is well above the 20GPH I needed to meet the recommended rate of 1.5 times max fuel flow rate.
Check for proper operation of fuel selector switch. Seems to work OK, including the off position. Switching tanks causes no noticeable change in flow rate.

Ran the right tank dry, measured unusable fuel. Less than 3 ounces.

Reattached all fuel lines and tightened them up.

For Tuesday, 2 hrs
Bought fuel and prepped for adding. Fuel is $5.29. Ouch.
Trimmed cowl attach strip for gascolator drain.
Install gascolator drain.

Monday helped Wayne with his wiring.

2011-07-31T21:04:00.003-05:00

3 hrs
Finish installing leading edge light lenses.
Install fuel line between gascolator and fuel flow meter.
Torque prop. Check tracking. OK to 1/32". Safety wire prop.

Spent a bit of time helping Wayne. Redid the pax phone jack connections, not happy with the first pass. Started wiring up the Grand Rapids connectors. His radios and audio are all working now.

2011-07-31T07:34:00.003-05:00

6 hrs for July 30.
Not making much progress. Put up the scales, done with weight and balance. Mailed off the program letter to get on the schedule for inspection.
Wheeled the plane outside and took pictures, with the cowling and wingtips in place.

Rolled it back in and started taking it apart to finish up and get ready for inspection.

Finally installed the experimental graphic. It looks great!

Spent a lot of time installing the wing root fairings and doing a trial fit of the upper gear leg fairing.
Installed the aft and main seat belt points.

Weight and Balance

2011-07-30T00:02:00.005-05:00

6 hrs
Did the Weight and Balance today.
Drove to Georgetown and picked up the EAA 187 scales.

Got a race car you need to weigh?

Made up a set of tare boards for leveling
First leveled the plane. Here it is with the boards arranged to get the plane level.

Then I checked the calibration of the scales. I used 101 pounds of weight plus my own weight. The bar bell is supposed to be 25, but I got a bargain because 5 scales think it weighs 26. The plates are all right on 25. All four scales had the same numbers as each weight plus my own were added. I think that's accurate enough, although that isn't quite the range needed for the main gear load.

Calibration - 101 is the correct number

Then I rolled the plane up the ramps. I didn't have enough traction to pull it up, so I got three chocks and moved each wheel up by hand about a centimeter at a time. I have blisters and sore legs from making dozens of laps around the plane, and getting up and down 3 times per lap.

Then started taking measurements, remembering to close the canopy. Measured with bare airframe, 1056 lbs, 6 lbs over my guess. Then added seats, seat belts, and wheel fairings. The total for all this is 1072, quite a respectable number. The usefull load is then 678 pounds, which allows for full fuel, 100 lbs baggage, and two standard weight people.

This is weight without wheel fairings.

Later I came back and measured gear leg stations from the datum, which is 70" from the wing leading edge. First I had to accurately lay out the datum line, then measuring from that was straight forward.

Heres the data:
Nose Wheel 242 lbs @ 33.25"
Right Main 415 lbs @ 91.0"
Left Main 415 lbs @ 91.0"

I've borrowed spreadsheets from this search on VAF and modified them for N207LT.
Here is one calculator, and here is a scenario calculator.
The result is a perfect situation. By myself I am usually flying in utility category, and with a standard weight pax I can't load it out of CG!

17000 Rivets

2011-07-26T22:57:00.004-05:00

2 hrs 52 rivets
Finished riveting the wingtip nutplates. Started fitting the wingtips, and connecting the nav/strobes. Still a couple of details to finish up with wire routing, but the wing tips are done until painting.

Fit the landing light covers. Tried out the nav/strobe and landing lights. All seems to be in good shape.

2011-07-25T22:55:00.004-05:00

3 hrs, 90 rivets
Finished countersinking the wingtips. Started riveting nutplates on. Messed up a couple of the rivets, will need to be drilled out.
Got the Bob Archer nav antenna bases riveted in, and used a simple fiberglass layup to secure the tips. Also countersunk for and installed the screws for wire routing.
I only have one nav receiver, so I only need one antenna But I always wanted an SL-30 as a second radio. Maybe I'll upgrade the SL-40 one day, and then I'll have two nav radios. These NAV receivers pick up a signal from a ground based station called a VOR. The receivers let me know what direction I am from that ground based VOR. That establishes a line of position, and provides a line I can use to navigate to or from the ground station. With two recievers, I can triangulate and get a fix - I would know right where I am. The country is covered with these VORs, and the network was mature 50 years ago. The sad part is the FAA is taking them out of service, and replacing the navigation routes and instrument approaches with GPS equivalents.

You might think that GPS would be a far superior replacement for the VORs, so why does it matter that the FAA is decommissioning VORs? To the first order, you're absolutely right. GPS is far more accurate, and not subject to range restrictions that VORs are. BUT - the military can and does knock out the GPS signals. Oh, and the FCC, in their infinite wisdom, is on the verge of approving a broadband wireless internet that overwhelms GPS signals and effectively jams GPS over large areas. Once this is deployed, GPS will be unreliable. Suddenly those crusty old VORs look pretty good.
Now all I need is a DME antenna.

2011-07-24T22:14:00.002-05:00

7 hrs, 80 rivets
A long, brutally hot day working with fiberglass.
Countersink wingtips for 931 ribs.
Rivet 931 and 916 ribs to wing tips. They turned out pretty good, except for the underside of one, I guess the epoxy was on too thick and it didn't completely squeeze out.
Drill wingtips to #33. Deburr wings, dimple.
Drill wingtips for nutplates.
Start installing Archer nav antennas.
Countersink #40 nutplate holes.

2011-07-24T08:25:00.000-05:00

For Saturday,
4 hrs
Drill and cement 931 rib to wing tips
Update Dynons.
Strip more blue plastic
Install baggage area carpet.
Install and set cotter pins on forward end of rudder cables.

2011-07-23T07:47:00.004-05:00

Couldn't post last night, the internet connection was on break.
2 hrs, Start fitting 931 ribs, but didn't have fluting pliers so had to defer.

Countersink for the 916 ribs, they're ready to rivet, but I'll wait till the 931's are ready to go.
Stripped more blue plastic, for such a simple task, it sure takes a long time.

Required placards in place on wings

2011-07-22T07:51:00.005-05:00

2 hrs last night and Wednesday working on wing tips. Got the W916 rib prepped and drilled in place. Tonight it will be riveted on, and then I'll start on the 931 ribs.

Before final trimming

After final trimming.

916 drilled and clecoed

2011-07-18T22:11:00.003-05:00

2 hrs
Finished fitting the wing tips and then drilled them in place. The plane looks complete now. Still another week of work, but the first flight is approaching rapidly.

2011-07-17T22:21:00.005-05:00

5 hrs
Finished installing wing access covers. Installed flap actuator covers. Installed fuel selector. Installed right side N number and no-step placard. Updated Dynon database and tested radios.
Started on wing tips.

Helped Wayne with his EIS connnections. He was able to power up his first electronics today.

Mike C. has this nice Bird Dog for sale:

2011-07-16T23:04:00.004-05:00

Saturday, July 16, 7 hrs
Started removing plastic, takes a while to clean up. The red dye seems to etch the aluminium a bit. It didn't do that where I stripped rivet lines during construction.

Installed the N number on the left side.
Finished the roll servo details, installed safety wire, and tightened down the servo wiring connector shell.
Finally put in the 430W, and tested the heated pitot.
Started installing the wing access covers, including the comm antennas.

Transponder, Pitot/Static Checks

2011-07-15T22:56:00.003-05:00

1 hr
Only about 30 minutes of actual work today. Installed an Adel clamp to secure the roll servo wiring bundle. This turned out to be relatively easy, which was a nice change.
The big news for today is that I have nice vinyl lettering for the EXPERIMENTAL placard, the tail numbers, and "NO STEP" for the flaps.
And the Taylor Avionics shop was here today for another job, so they checked my transponder and pitot/static systems. Passed with flying colors!

Of course I put in time on Thursday and Wednesday.
Thursday, 22 rivets attach the left elevator tip fairing. Also changed out AN3 bolts for the right aileron bellcrank and roll servo. The ones I used way back when were just too short. Tightened the roll servo control arm jam nuts.
Installed the pilot side Skyview and updated the software on both units.

On Wednesday, replaced the transponder TNC connector. Applied a bit more spiral wrap on a main wiring bundle to prevent chafing against the transponder DB9 connector
Tightened up the right side aileron jam nuts and control column bolts.

2011-07-12T22:54:00.002-05:00

2 hrs, 22 rivets
Attached the right elevator tip. Figured out I have the two on the wrong side, after riveting the left tip to the right side. Doesn't appear to make much difference.
Drilled a couple more holes in the seat ribs to improve wire routing. A few were rubbing on the pushrods just a little, and moved them to gain more clearance. Using zip ties to anchor all the wires to prevent chafing.

Got in about 3 hrs yesterday (Monday) after getting back from Dallas, fitting and installing the top baggage bulkhead and the thousand screws that hold it on. Then got back to adjuststing the ailerons, and finishing the left side control rod end install with the little tiny washers. Applied torque seal. Figured out exactly what to do with the right side aileron bell crank, just needs an adel clamp and safety wire.

Snuck in Sunday before driving to Dallas putting on the canopy handles. 8 rivets for that.

Transition Training

2011-07-11T14:47:00.004-05:00

Drove up to Dallas yesterday, Midlothian actually, and did transition training with Alex De Dominicis. I started out a bit rough, but after a lot of landings Alex seemed pleased with my progress. Now I have the training required for insurance purposes. The training was in Alex's RV-7A, which has a O360 and a constant speed prop. There were some things we just couldn't simulate properly, but the landings were good practice. If I do the first flight more than a month from now, I probably need to get a few more landings in.

Alex

We did all the pattern work at Midway in Midlothian (KJWY). While refueling we talked with Dave Wheeler and Aubrey Price of Airborne Imaging, Inc.. They operated a pair of DC-3's as platforms for testing stuff they couldn't talk about. But they could fly imaging equipment, racks of computers and data acquistion, and up to nine engineers/operators for test flights. Cool stuff.

Dave Wheeler

DC-3 Grin!

This might be my only DC-3 time, although I'd love to fly one of these things.

Thanks for taking the time to talk with me Dave!

2011-07-09T22:35:00.003-05:00

6 hrs
Install cowling top and bottom.
Install empennage access covers and fairings.
Tighten up two screws for the 430 GPS antenna.
Install flaps. Install flap actuator side covers. Vaccuum interior.
Start removing plastic. Corrosion found on left wing leading edge.
Install lower baggage bulkhead. Trim upper bulkhead to fit canopy adjustment screw.

Took some pictures.

2011-07-08T23:39:00.002-05:00

1.5 hrs tonight
Finally felt like I got something done.
Primed a few more parts on Wednesday, including the last empennage parts.
Yesterday was just frustrating again, tried to adjust the elevator pushrods, but didn't make much progress.

Today finally got the elevator adjusted and all the attach bolts installed properly, jam nuts tightened, etc.

Also replaced the 430 GPS antenna TNC connector that I had installed incorrectly.

2011-07-05T21:17:00.002-05:00

1.5 hrs
Had three tasks lined up for what was supposed to be an easy, fun, and productive work session. It was not to be.
I did manage to get the DB9 connector installed for the roll servo wiring harness. But this involved nearly having the pins ready to go, undoing them to install new shrink wrap on the harness, lining up the 7 pins again, and fighting with one of them that didn't want to seat. There went 30 minutes, should have been 5.
Then it's time to plug the connector onto the servo. Ooops, can't see or reach the connector on the servo, have to fight it from underneath the wing, one handed, entirely by feel. After way too long got it plugged in. Ooops, the standard connector shells are too long, the harness can contact the top skin.
So the connector is plugged in, but now there is a wire routing/securing task, in an area with very limited visibility and access. Oh, and I need to safety wire the servo bolts. One task done, at least two more hours of work to go.

Then I wanted to adjust the elevator pushrod to tune the elevator travel. Simple just loosen the jam nuts. Except I can't loosen the aft most jam nut, since I can't get a wrench on the rod end bearing. Now the whole push rod needs to come out.

I also wanted to replace the garmin antenna TNC connector, but decided today was just a bad day, time to call it quits.

2011-07-04T22:19:00.000-05:00

8 hrs.
Hookup pitot and angle of attack lines.
Attach landing light and nav/strobe circuits.
Attach pitot heat circuit.
Route autopilot roll servo wiring.
Attach aileron pushrods, start final adjustments.

2011-07-03T21:33:00.002-05:00

4 hours
Happy Birthday to Shannon!

More sanding on fairings.
Make and install missing aileron spacer (right side).
Install last wing attach bolts.
Torque aft wing spar bolts.
Install and safety wire tank attach bracket bolts.
Install fuel guage senders.
Attach vent and fuel pickup lines.
Install screws for lower fuselage/wing skins.

2011-07-02T21:36:00.005-05:00

7 hrs, 4 rivets
A painful day. My elbows are completely bruised from yesterday, and I kept hitting them again today. Wedged under the panel, fighting with nuts you can't see or reach in a 95 degree hangar is no fun at all. But the wings are on for good!

Finished installing main wing attach bolts. Torque to final settings.
A couple of notes that aren't mentioned in the usual list. For an A model RV, the gear leg weldment is in the way. So the bottom bolts are a major PITA to get started and to tighten. Torque must be applied from the bolt head on the aft side, there is absolutely no way to get a wrench on the nuts to tighten them.
The first note is to buy a 5/8" and 7/16" open end wrench and start grinding on them. Narrow the shoulders of the open ends so that there are thin fingers to hold the nut in place. You may have to cut the other end off the 5/8". I used one already cut.

Second tip - torque the big bolts on the bottom before putting nuts on the little ones. Otherwise you can't get a wrench on the big ones, even the new ones you just ground up.
Getting the bolts in is relatively easy (just don't put the bottom ones in too far before getting the nuts threaded on). For this reason, using the freezer, dry ice, etc. isn't really necessary. They will warm up to ambient before they're in too far, and moisture will condense on them. Just lube em up, wack em with a hard plastic hammer until you can get the rivet gun on them. The last inch or so will require painful, one-click-at-a-time ratcheting. Getting the nuts threaded on is a challenge. I had access to mongo cotton forceps, these were very useful.

Applied torque seal to empennage and wing bolts.
Replaced oil pressure led.
Attached right aileron.
Set last rivets in fuselage/armrest/center bulkhead.

I love being at the airport. Here's a view from the taxiway.

Lakeway has this pack of cubs in residence,

and attracts all sorts of traffic.

2011-07-01T10:00:00.003-05:00

2 hrs on Thursday, June 30
Happy Birthday to Mimi!

Fit the right wing and then started installing the wing spar bolts. Got two done each side. The wings are on to stay!

For Friday, 5 hrs
Sand on fairings for an hour or so.
Continue installing wing attach hardware.
Fit left aileron.

2011-06-29T23:06:00.003-05:00

2 hrs, 38 rivets
Tapped the last few holes to hold the empennage fairing on. Also riveted on the nutplate removed yesterday.
Drilled, deburred, dimpled, and installed nutplates for the right wing root fairing.

2011-06-28T22:41:00.002-05:00

1.5 hrs
Drilled last remaining holes in empennage fairing and marked for final trimming.
Had to remove one nutplate on the HS, the fairing screw twisted off when removing it. Removing the nutplate was the fastest way to repair it.

Final attach of left wing with drift pins. Remove right wing.

Then helped Wayne with wiring.

2011-06-27T22:56:00.001-05:00

2 hrs
Sanding, then coats of epoxy on fairing parts.

2011-06-26T22:20:00.003-05:00

5 hrs, 47 rivets
Started today with a visit from Jim Darrah and his Dad

Installed platenuts for left wing root fairing attach.
Rerouted pitot and AOA lines.
Installed pitot tube and heater controller. This was a pain.

Got in some time sanding on the fairings.

Ended the day with the Cub triplets lined up for a photo op. I love being at the airport.

2011-06-25T22:08:00.001-05:00

4 hrs

More sanding on fairings.
Drill last holes for empannage fairing attach (into longeron).
Remove left wing. Reroute pitot and static lines.
Drill, deburr, and dimple for wing root fairing nutplates.
Dimple wing root fairings.

2011-06-23T22:46:00.003-05:00

2 hrs
Finished rudder attach, including tightening the jam nuts and hooking up the rudder cables.
Also finished ELT antenna attach.
Working my way forward, now to finish the wing root fairings and permanently attach the wings.

Haven't taken photos for the past week or so, the camera was with Lynne in Santa Fe. But the camera is back in the shop now, so here are a couple of shots from Thursday night.

2011-06-23T00:05:00.000-05:00

4 hrs
Attach VS, elevators, rudder to airframe.
Install ELT, ELT antenna, elevator pushrod, pitch servo wiring connector.
Will take some pictures soon.

2011-06-21T22:46:00.000-05:00

2 hrs 58 rivets
Rivet nutplates for empennage fairing attach.

2011-06-20T23:28:00.002-05:00

3 hrs
More sanding and epoxy on fairings. I counted about 25 separate pieces of fiberglass that go on the plane. They all take huge amounts of work.

Drill VS/HS and aft fuselage for #6 nutplates. Deburr and dimple.

2011-06-19T21:47:00.000-05:00

6 hrs
Sand fairings, apply more epoxy.
Drill empennage fairing and VS/HS to #27.
Fit and drill wing root fairing to #19.
Deburr wing root fairing.

2011-06-18T20:39:00.001-05:00

5 hrs
Sand empennage and elevator fairings. Apply another coat of epoxy.
Start sanding gear leg and intersection fairings for sealing. Also main wheel pants.

Attached wings to gauge wing root fairing fit, etc..

2011-06-17T23:24:00.002-05:00

3hr, 4 rivets
Finish sanding spinner and rudder bottom cap.
rough sand elevator caps.
Apply layer of epoxy to elevator caps and empennage fairing.
Installed VAF data plate.

2011-06-16T22:55:00.002-05:00

3 hrs
Route and connect trim servo wires.
Drill out rivets on HS and aft fuselage for fairing attach.
Drilll empennage fairing to aft fuselage, VS, HS.

Spending more and more time at the hangar. It's like I'm cramming for finals or something, long hours with little food and sleep. Many thanks to Wayne for putting up with me!

2011-06-16T07:06:00.004-05:00

2 hrs, 46 rivets
Another evening at the hangar.
We proved that the left tank is leak free. The balloon stayed inflated the same amount for two days. Yee Haw!
Riveted tank bracket nutplates. So the wings are ready to attach.
Riveted fairings to HS, VS, rudder cap.
Attached left elevator. Need to get the trim servo wiring hooked up.

Spent 3 hours Tuesday night priming various control surface fairings. HS, VS, spinner, etc.
In this heat, the K36 fast catalyst is not usable. It sets up in the gun and that makes it really hard to spray.

Another 2 hours Monday, marked and trimmed the empennage fairing Prepped various fairings for painting.

2011-06-12T21:40:00.003-05:00

7 hrs 32 rivets
Sand spinner for painting.
Fit rudder bottom cap. Drill and countersink for #6 screws, deburr, drill, dimple, and install nutplates.
Sand rudder bottom for painting.
Attach VS to fuselage. Install right Dynon.
Torque prop extension.

For Saturday, 5 hrs, 36 rivets
Workday at the airpark, so got a little bit of a late start.
Taking parts over to Waynes a few at a time.
Trim and fit right wing tip lense. Trim right wing tip.
Rivet nutplates to wing tips.
Trim and start sanding empennage fairing.

2011-06-08T22:18:00.002-05:00

1 hr
Went over to Wayne's and we returned the trailer. So the main part of moving is over. Now to keep bringing something every time I come over.

Drilled the wingtips for the nav/strobe nutplates while dinner was cooking.

Helped Wayne install BNC connectors for his radios.

Then attached the HS to the fuse. Maybe for the last time!

2011-06-07T21:56:00.003-05:00

3 hrs
Got the wings moved tonight. Many thanks to Wayne for his help moving, not to mention the use of his Tahoe. We used my Brother-in-Law's trailer.
We also brought over the HS, the flaps, the prop, cowling. All the big parts,
except the pushrod tubes.

Brought over one of the work benches and the wing cradle.

The ailerons, elevators, VS, and rudder will all fit in my car. Still working on fairings, but most of that doesn't need to be completely finished before being used. A couple more hours needed on the wingtips before they move over.

Didn't take any pictures. Doh!

2011-06-05T22:10:00.004-05:00

6 hrs, 4 rivets
Finished the cowling hing pin covers. Had to redo one of the nutplates installed yesterday, it just wasn't lining up right.

Did a first pass of sanding on the nose wheel fairing. I'll try to kick out a bit of fairing sanding every couple of days. I hate that task.

Started on the wing tips. Got the left side trimmed to fit, but not drilled yet. Started installing the left wing nav/strobe, a Pulsar NS from Aeroleds.
Trimmed and fit the plastic cover for the strobe installation. That was almost the last part of the kit that had not been touched.

2011-06-04T23:04:00.002-05:00

5 hrs, 12 rivets
I think the left tank is holding air. I added a bit of pressure last night, and it had a vacuum this morning. It's very sensitive to temperature. Today I put more pressure in, and it went up over the course of the day. It's back down below the original level now. If it goes back up the same point tomorrow then that's a take!

Installed the landing light for the left wing.

Started working on the cowl hinge pin safety/cover strips. Got one side done.
Also installed nutplates for the screws that join upper and lower cowlings behind the spinner. Countersunk, and these are ready to go.

2011-06-02T21:51:00.004-05:00

2 hrs
Started working on the left fuel tank. The inboard end of the left wing slid off the wing cradle a long time ago. It put a slight dent in the most inboard part of the leading edge, from where the tank rib is to the edge. I checked immediately and discovered a new leak, but waited till now to diagnose and resolve it.

It turned out to be simple. The dent pushed one of the rib tangs out very slightly, but enough to tear the proseal loose from the skin and cause a leak. The leak wsa confined to the immediate vicinity of this rib tang.

This likely means that the inside is not sealed super well in the area, although I'm not sure how that could be, I did use quite a bit of proseal. The dent doesn't go inboard from there.

To fix it, I sanded the area and cleaned it up with lacquer thinner. Then mixed up some proseal. Put some lacquer thinner in the bottom of the jar to thin it, and applied this slurry to the leak. Applied a little vaccuum and worked it around for while to try and feed some of the proseal into and through the leaky area. Then I applied gob of unthinned proseal to the area.

This definitely fixed the air leak, I hope it fixes the problem for good.

Moved the fuselage to the airport. Should be jumping for joy, but it was almost a disaster. I'll explain more when I'm not in shock. The plane arrived intact, that's what matters.

2011-06-01T21:33:00.003-05:00

2 hrs, 16 rivets
Finish fitting nose gear intersection fairing. Installed all the nutplates, countersink the fairing for flush screws.

Yesterday used epoxy and flox to build up where the fairing screws are countersunk.

Fixing the left tank leak is up next.

Got the fuselage ready to move. Tomorrow will be Thursday.

2011-05-30T21:45:00.004-05:00

6 hrs, 81 rivets
Finished wiring all cabin leds. Now I can light up the plane and stare at it in the dark!
Rivet 904H spar cap bulkheads. Those parts have been in my way for 2 years it seems.

Fabricate cover for lower cowl nose gear slot.
Rivet nutplates for cover attachment. I like how this turned out. Nice and sturdy, and I have a backing plate for some of the nose gear intersection fairing attach screws.

After this task is done, I need to fix the left fuel tank.

Started working on the Pilots Operating Handbook. Started with Roberta Hegy's 7A book, and I've hammered it into the format I want to use. Now to fill in all the detais.

I was wondering why I didn't post yesterday. Then I remembered - I spent most of the day at Wayne's helping with his canopy skirt. We got that done just in time. The weather is already brutal.
I did spend a few tenths setting a few of the MilSpec fasteners on the cowling.

2011-05-28T21:34:00.004-05:00

6 hrs 8 rivets
Trim and sand trailing edges of all gear leg fairings.
Trim main wheel fairings for final tire clearance.
Countersink main wheel fairings, rivet to outboard brackets.
Make backing material for cockpit eyeball lights. Glue to spar caps.

Sand windscreen fairing.
Secure carb heat leads to carb heat control cable.
Start routine FWF wiring cleanup.
Fit lower and upper cowl.
Start fitting nose gear intersection fairing.

Had to jack the plane up again and look at the left side brakes. I wheeled the plane out to take pictures, and the left side brake tighted up on the way back. It was fine after I worked the brakes from inside. Maybe it doesn't like reverse.

I could move to the airport any time now.

2011-05-28T08:26:00.003-05:00

For Friday, 5/27
6 hrs, 92 rivets
Drill and countersink nose wheel fairing brackets for nutplates.
Rivet nutplates to wheel pant brackets.
Countersink nosewheel fairing for #8 screws, drill for #6 screws.

Finish installing hinges for right main gear leg fairing.
Fit and install nose gear leg fairing.
Send VAF data plate to Stokes Sign.
Received the FAA forms packet from Mel Asberry, and sent a check for insurance.

2011-05-26T22:27:00.002-05:00

2 hrs
Mark left wheel fairing for final clearance trim.
Drill main gear fairing brackets for nutplates. Countersink.

Drill outside hinge for right main gear fairing.

2011-05-25T22:17:00.001-05:00

2 hrs, 34 minutes
Safety wire heater and parking brake cables.
Mount led strip under glare shield. Route wiring.
Deburr, countersink, and rivet outside hinge strip, left leg fairing. Drill and repeat for inside hinge.

2011-05-24T22:29:00.005-05:00

3 hrs
Snuck in a little time this morning before work, a rarity. I was waiting for traffic to thin out, but I think between LTHS and UT the year is winding down and the roads are tolerable in the morning again.
After work got to it. Along with whatever construction project needs attention, I intend to work on at least one punch list item.

Drill and sand wheel fairings after fiberglass layups.
Use double sided tape to mount baggage compartment leds.
Take airframe off the jacks.
Trim nosewheel fairing for tire clearance.
Safety wire carb heat cable.
Mark all leg fairing hinges for drilling
Start drilling left leg fairing.
After the empennage, wheel fairings, and wing tips are finished, sealed, and primed, there are no more construction items.

2011-05-23T21:24:00.002-05:00

2 hrs
Spent this evening finishing the in place drilling on the wheel pants. All holes are drilled to final size. Then did the reinforcing fiberglass layups on all the places they're needed.

Over the weekend, put in about 16 hrs getting the wheel pants off the shelf and to this point. Also prepped the main gear leg fairings, trimmed to size, etc. Did the fiberglass layups on the leg fairings where the hose clamp fixes them to the leg.

A very productive weekend, and for a change, fiberglass was almost fun.

2011-05-19T22:14:00.004-05:00

2.2 hrs
Primed the windscreen and removed most of the masking materials. There are a few misc construction items left, but it is downhill from here.

Making plans to move the fuse to the airport, getting insurance figured out, signing up for transition training, and trying to get on Mel Asbury's schedule for an FAA inspection.

Oh, there is a long punch list, but I can knock out most of those fairly quick.

2011-05-17T21:37:00.004-05:00

2 hrs today.
About 30 hours since the last entry. Stuck in fiberglass purgatory, working on the windscreen fairing, consigned to sanding until my fingers fall off - which it seems may happen before the plane flies.

Did get a few other items done, helped Seth fix the stripped exhaust stud, reinstalled the exhaust, primed the cowling halves, started working on the spinner including installing nutplates on the spinner bulkheads, and started on the gear leg fairings and wheel fairings.

But way too much sanding. However the windscreen looks almost good, at least it did until I took off the masking tape. It's really hard to keep the masking tape from sticking.

But today I declare good enough for now on that task, and started masking for priming. It won't win awards, and the painters will laugh at it, but it'll fly as good as any.

2011-05-05T22:03:00.003-05:00

2 hrs
Finished priming the lower cowl. Took three tries to and a bunch of wasted primer to get the gun setup right.

Spent a few minutes at odd tasks the last couple of days. Finished most of the work on the control cables and under the panel. Got ready for the painting tasks. Primed the inside of the upper cowl.

Windscreen Fairing

2011-04-30T19:17:00.004-05:00

8 hrs
Today marks the last of the major construction work. Used 8 oz. BID Rutan Fiberglass cloth and West Systems Epoxy (105 resin and 206 slow hardener), just like most of the other work. Didn't use any carbon fiber.
After a slight tussle, got the canopy open.
Trimmed the canopy latch handle to avoid tearing up the fairing when the latch handle is pointing forward.

After the finish work is done on the fairing, it's time to get ready to move to the airport!

Spent an hour the past two nights getting ready for the fairing work.

2011-04-27T21:57:00.003-05:00

2 hrs
Finished sanding the flox fillet for the windscreen. Also remasked the boundary. Just need to clean it up and I'm ready to layup the fairing.

2 hrs for Tuesday, 4/27/11, 18 rivets
Finish riveting canopy skirt/brace.

Reinstall canopy. First attempt at attaching slider rail follower.

Apply flox/epoxy (with cabosil) to windscreen fairing.