Kit #7 arrived

[Utah-Jay]

Looking good and moving fast!

Thanks Mark. I worked 37 of 41 days prior to leaving for a month of work travel. I am dedicated to working everyday I am home

[Mark Dickens]

Looking good and moving fast!

[Utah-Jay]

Finished up a few things today as I am headed to work for 4 1/2 weeks tomorrow.

Took the panel off and upsized and countersunk the holes for #6 screws. Panel gets shipped to Advanced Flight Systems next week (thanks to my wife) for the panel build.
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Fabricated the cabane closeout
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I finally got the courage ( I was definitely afraid hence the procrastination) to leak test the fuel system. All is good after about 4-5 hours. I will check the one inch mark in the morning to confirm no slow leaks
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[Utah-Jay]

Boot Cowl is done

Here is a top and bottom view of the boot cowl extension and the cover plate for the gear. I will have a rubber gasket and a strut sleeve to keep out the CO and exhaust. There will also be a straight 1 1/2” piece of sheet metal that will cover the opening at the rear of the struts so seal it up. Boot Cowl was a long 8 full days challenge
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[Utah-Jay]

Purely going for an artistic photo
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Yep, nearly have the boot cowl bottom extension done, just one simple piece and all finish…. Ok “Back to work”

[Utah-Jay]

I'm curious.....Can you show us a picture or a give us a link?

Here ya go
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So two piece to complete the covering of the large cutout and of course the rubber gasket for the “seal”

[Bcone1381]

Notice the large rectangular cutout for the gear struts? I am going with the Dave Lenart method, and will finish up and show photos tomorrow.

I'm curious.....Can you show us a picture or a give us a link?

[Utah-Jay]

And just for laughs, here is a photo of some of the “tools” at my feet while doing the side extension installation
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[Utah-Jay]

This is the single most important tool in building the boot cowl
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With the drill of course being #2

So how long does it take to build a boot cowl?

Based on my finishing it at some point tomorrow, I am comfortable in saying 8 days. Today was was day 7, as in 7 days in a row. I am very lucky in that I have every imaginable tool at my disposal and good guidance when I have a question. KHCR is also a hotbed of experimental, both flying and under construction so that make it fun and helps as there is a large break and shear in a nearby hanger for sheet metal stuff.

The bender
4C15307B-F131-465D-BC01-3295B8902EFE.jpgYep, that is the boot cowl extension. Notice the large rectangular cutout for the gear struts? I am going with the Dave Lenart method, and will finish up and show photos tomorrow.

I did some extrapolation on the upsizing from a scaled down strut movement cutout and it worked out well
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The boot cowl extension has been marked with the template and will be cutout tomorrow

I have every boot cowl piece fitted and cleco’ed in barring the last half of the left side cowl extension which needs to be cleco’ed into the horizontal door former, it is all drilled and cleco’ed on the vertical
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Here are a couple of wide shots
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So far the boot cowl has been tedious and slow moving, it is not the low hanging fruit that gives end of the day satisfaction. But there are some big moments when you want to celebrate.

[Utah-Jay]

Look Mom, no straps

I got the left and right boot cowl extensions all cleco’ed in and are both nice and tight with a continuous shape all the way around.

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Drilled the relief hole for the gascolator sump and have a rubber gasket in there to keep it as air tight for exhaust as possible.
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I also rectified an issue I did not know I had. I only realized it when I started taking things apart to drill the tunnel for the sump. I had the fuel selector legs/stand secured to the floor with bolts and nuts which is not correct, so I installed clickbond attachments on the bottom and now all is good.


I only have three more pieces left on the boot cowl, the two side extensions and the bottom extension that needs relief for the struts. That might be a challenge.

[Utah-Jay]

Those with a keen eye will notice there are no more clamps…. Because it is all cleco’ed in.
DB5941EE-F287-4D7F-B89C-B5C097D633AF.jpeg1B384F20-92BA-4943-A254-5D1BAC6412B0.jpeg9AEF9CD9-1909-4973-925A-7B3955EDE6FC.jpeg The straps are to keep the integrity of the shape to drill and match drill. I hit a wall on ideas on how to drill the holes attaching the bottom of the side cowl to the top of the side cowl extension pictured above. Needed time to think and research rather than making a mistake.

[Utah-Jay]

It was a boot cowl day, tedious and slow

As for the first photo… Don’t ask
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That was the result of someone meaning well and “holding” the front end while I match drilled. Holding and pushing are two very different things. I went to the front and I had a slight pillow. It was totally unacceptable in my building. I tried to rescue it (2nd hole), but I just could not live with that being crappy! Being either the front of the back has to be trimmed, I just cut out for the door hinge areas and the fuel line and redid it. In the above photo the exposed holes will be cut off when the edge is flushed to the door former. Cost me a couple of hours, but it was a good learning experience in several ways.

This made the left side pretty easy as I knew exactly how to cut out the door hinges and fuel lines.
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I leave for work in a week and need to get the boot cowl finished so I can send my panel off for the avionics build.

[Utah-Jay]

Only minimal progress today, but did get the panel to the aluminum angle from yesterday drilled and match drilled the panel. Bent the panel tabs to a 10 degree angle which really helped set a perfect overhang for the glare shield.
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E01CD183-A4FA-4296-BFCB-94EFD6B985FC.jpeg Fitted the cabane section of the boot cowl
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The boot cowl sides will be worked on tomorrow.

[Utah-Jay]

The boot cowl project continued…

First off the top of the panel now has a attach point, this will get drilled and cleco’ed tomorrow and I can start on the top of the boot cowl.
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Got the tunnel cleco’ed to the firewall
A2D71660-7600-4839-9177-3BE475CE9B37.jpeg I’ll need to mark and trim the overhang (or is it under hang?) on the tunnel firewall junction

The Station B bulkhead is cleco’ed to the fuselage and the back end of the tunnel. I only put in about 1/2 of the cleco’ed at the end of the day when I took these photos
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[Utah-Jay]

Short day today, but did get the engine side heat shield attached


and then….. it was on to the boot cowl.

I must say when I laid all the boot cowl sheet/parts out on the floor I was pretty confused, but bit by bit it came together so to speak. I am going slow on this so I just roughly clamped things in place today and will dive in deeper tomorrow.