Kit #7 arrived

[Utah-Jay]

Made the gasket for the gear struts (sorry forget to take a photo)

Screwed in the front floorboards for the last time

Put torque seal all the nuts that need inspecting for preflight and annual condition inspection

Set the auto-pilot servo arms with the stick in the neutral position both fore/aft and left right
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I have the servo limiting brackets on both the roll and pitch servos, so I set the servo in the middle and adjusted the arms for the neutral stick position. The roll servo arm is not cotter pinned as there is a slight chance it might need to be adjusted once the wings are on and the ailerons are rigged.

Air vents are plumbed
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As far as I can tell the only things needed to be done on the fuselage are to mount the prop blades (tomorrow) and bleed the brake lines later this week.

I built wing cradles this week and they are all secure on stands.

Let the wing fun begin.

For the record I started building on October 1st, 2021. I travel for work in blocks of weeks from 2-6 weeks at a time totaling 22-24 weeks a year. I have taken less than 10 days off when I have been home during the whole build process. Many times in the winter I only get to the hanger about 2pm as we ski most mornings (make sure you keep your spouse happy during the build). Why am I stating this? To give folks an idea of build time. I was a COMPLETE neophyte when I started my build, I was totally delusional on the time it would take to complete. I hope this might help someone on the fence. Building a plane is not hard, but can be frustrating, stick to it and you can do it.

[Utah-Jay]

Boot cowl is riveted in, Naca’s are riveted in but not plumbed yet as I wanted the silicon to get a chance to completely dry/cure. The gray “box” on top is removeable to get to avionics if needed and will be under the “carpet” on the glare shield. I had ONE FREAKING rivet that gave me trouble and had to drill it out 3 times to get it right.

IMG_5165.jpg IMG_5171.jpg IMG_5164.jpg IMG_5172.jpg IMG_5173.jpg I used butyl tape between the firewall flange and the boot cowl to eliminate any chance of CO gas from coming into the cabin via a leak. I also used silicon on the firewall/tunnel junction to also stop CO from sneaking into the cabin.
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[Utah-Jay]

IMG_5165.jpg IMG_5164.jpg Right side boot cowl is riveted on, left goes on tomorrow. I am two days from being done with the fuselage

[Utah-Jay]

Lot of work has been done, not many photos… But here is some progress

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All of the boot cowl extension, or behind the front door frame is riveted in. I used stainless pull rivets.
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I guess some people call it orange peel, but I painted all the surfaces with a matte type finish to match my oratex fabric
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I would have finished all the riveting, but I needed CCP-32 rivets for the front of the tunnel rather than -34 as the -34 were just a tad bit too long and contacted the bottom tubing where the firewall attaches.

Spinner should be painted black tomorrow.

Floorboards are in place and just need to be secured.

Too much other stuff to remember.

[Utah-Jay]

How did you know there was a problem, did it not fully set up? I know that repeating work can be frustrating, but it is much easier to fix now than later.

Jared
7 weeks ago when I painted I realized the paint was not drying as fast as it should on the first 2 batches of mixture. That is when I checked the labels and realized I used the epoxy primer actuator rather than the paint actuator. I figured with a 5 week work trip in the days following it would be fully cured when I got back. But sadly there were still a few tacky spots. So I figured I would not take any chances and strip it all and start over. It was tedious and messy, but the right thing to do

[jaredyates]

How did you know there was a problem, did it not fully set up? I know that repeating work can be frustrating, but it is much easier to fix now than later.

[Utah-Jay]

What was once blue is no longer
IMG_5136.jpg IMG_5135.jpg IMG_5134.jpg That was not fun.


Had a poor accelerator/paint ratio and had to remove all the paint.

[Utah-Jay]

After spending 11 of the past 14 weeks working overseas, it is good to be back and working on the plane.

Yesterday I hooked up lights to all the wing wires to confirm everything is working, only had one hiccup and that was an easy fix once the problem was diagnosed. So wing wires are all set.

Today I fastened up all the wiring behind the panel so it is a bit more tidy looking.

I also riveted the top and bottom engine cowls to the nose bowl so I can paint them.
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You may notice the texture in my paint, it is on purpose to match the texture of my oratex fabric

[Utah-Jay]

Just to add, yes the paint has a texture, it is by design to match my Oratex fabric

The photos of the nosebowl were taken inside the paint booth so the lighting was great for the photos, but the nosebowl looks great. Sadly it gets sanded tomorrow morning, then riveted and painted again after riveting to the respective top and bottom engine cowl

[Utah-Jay]

Well, today was a visual day.

It was a serious milestone! I filled and sanded the nosebowl about 30 times, all be it at the end with 400 and 600 grit sandpaper. How long does a cycle of filling and sanding take? About 4 hours each time. It was like chasing a GHOST! But today it was all worth it
IMG_4942.jpg IMG_4943.jpg IMG_4940.jpg IMG_4944.jpg IMG_4939.jpg IMG_4941.jpg Tomorrow the engine cowl gets riveted to the nose bowl and will all be painted.

Happy Days

[Utah-Jay]

Somebody took my plane apart
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Kidding aside, I am preparing for painting the boot cowl. Both the boot cowl and the firewall are dimpled for flush rivets. Now it is prep for painting time.

I took the opportunity to finally trouble shoot my faulty Carb Heat sensor issue, I had a bad splice leading to the D-Sub, so redid that, this time I checked it on the ohm meter to make sure all was good.

[Utah-Jay]

It was like Groundhog Day only in hours. I am on my 7th time of filling, sanding and priming. Looks like bottom cowl is now at an acceptable level to get it through Phase 1, which after Phase 1 I will paint the engine cowl. I am only chasing pinholes. I may also add fiberglass reinforcement to the inside of the bowl
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[Utah-Jay]

Engine cowl final fit and holes upsized for #8 screws and nutplates as well as #4 rivets
IMG_4914.jpg IMG_4915.jpg IMG_4918.jpg Black clecos are for #8 screws, copper colored clecos are for #4 rivets. The Cowl top will be riveted to the top of the nosebowl and the cowl bottom will be riveted to the bottom cowl.

The nosebowl and engine cowl will not be painted until after phase 1. Boot cowl will be pained and riveted in “soon”

[Utah-Jay]

rodsmith


Here ya go:

https://www.cabletiesandmore.com/tefzel-cable-ties

I got the 11.6” 50 pound ones.

[rodsmith]

Where did you source the high temp zip ties?