Oh, that's one of the perks being an EAA member - I've got a good group of guys to give her a close look over. Bonus - we're all cordial and on good terms, but not quite friends; they won't have any worries about offending me by way of criticism.
Oh, that's one of the perks being an EAA member - I've got a good group of guys to give her a close look over. Bonus - we're all cordial and on good terms, but not quite friends; they won't have any worries about offending me by way of criticism.
The opinions and statements of this poster are largely based on facts and portray a possible version of the actual events.
I brought the camera along yesterday to take some pictures of build progress, but didn't take any relating to it! Just too busy working when that got started. Before that, though, I grabbed some pics of my new digs.
Hey, is that...is that a hangar? I wonder what's inside?
Oh, lovely! What a neat little aeroplane!
One's first hangar is a bit like one's first apartment, I guess. I had asked for - and gotten - the least desirable one on the field in order to negotiate for the lowest price. This one has a nasty tendency to let water into it under the door for the first three feet of the hangar due to run off.
Like all first apartments, it came with obnoxious roommates.
I found we were incompatible after discovering she was far too goth for my liking and had to get rid of her. Plus it turns out she had a sister hiding inside an old cinder block on the floor in the corner.
Plus she had some friends that stayed from time to time that just left dirt in piles or long streams on the shelves and walls.
Each airport has its own flavor, and Talledega is no exception. When assembling the aircraft I worked until after dark. Around seven or eight somebody started up their hot rod and just revved and revved the engine. Annoying. Then their buddy joined in. What the f... Then a loud speaker started warbling and the National Anthem kicked up. Stopping work, I stood facing the music, only to put together that it's Talledega, and that's the short track races.
Leaving the airport at around 2300, I found the main access road had a chained gate blocking it off. Trapped like a rat! After many sighs and some color commentary, I correctly guessed that there was an escape route through the industrial park that is adjoined to the airport.
On the plus side, I struck up a conversation with the A&P's in the maintenance hangar across from mine and it's already proven to be a mutually beneficial friendship. He needed some help moving a metal shear and I was more than happy to strain and lift. I had ran out of AN4 washers and he let me wander around the hangar collecting strays from the cracks in the floor and from under shelves.
Anyhow, on to the airplane. She's all assembled and I had our resident EAA guru and tech counselor come out to give her a once-over and help with getting the wiring started. Rusty did a little frowning and some smiles, but mostly approving nods. He wants to put a third swag in the center of my cable joins...I'm not too thrilled with that, as I'm afraid that it will goof up the ones on the end. But I remember Robert saying one could do that.
Overall he was satisfied with my workmanship, which is reassuring. He even found a couple of my solutions to be praiseworthy.
Anyhow, we dug into wiring, with me being helper man to his expert. None of it is rocket surgery, but the execution of crimping and connection has to be done right. He's a master and has the right tools for it, so I'd be a fool not to defer to his judgement and skills.
Rusty also has this neat circle cutting tool, so the cowling now has a proper hole in the center. He held it in place and I measured back to see how far the extension needs to go. Rusty says it's kind of a shame to cut nearly two thirds of it away!
The opinions and statements of this poster are largely based on facts and portray a possible version of the actual events.
Great big milestone today. Our EAA tech advisor and super guru came out to show me how to put together the wiring, as he had worked up the bus bar for the fuse box:
I think it's a work of art.
We run all the wires and flip the master switch to see...
Volt meter shows the juice, and the oil temp and pressure wiggled slightly up from the peg.
A quick bump of the starter button and the selenoid kicked in.
Lots of work to do - I've got to dress up the wiring back from the firewall (it's hot and I wouldn't begin to ask Rusty to stick around for that!) and there's still a zillion friggin' things to do on the rest of the plane.
But here's a scary thought: If I mounted the prop and stuck gas in the tank she'd fly.
Sure, the turnbuckles aren't safety wired, the clevis pins holding them on don't have any cotter pins to hold them in, and the wiring to the panel is a hanging mess, but she could fly.
Bonus plan: one of my other EAA brothers showed up and, having a little time to spare, took me around the patch in his Cessna 150! Just too much fun! He let me move the flying stuff around, which was just a joy. First time every using a yoke.
Of course it's a super fancy airplane with flaps and trim and mixture and even ashtrays on the door, but I've never been a reverse snob.
The opinions and statements of this poster are largely based on facts and portray a possible version of the actual events.
good looking gauges !
They do look pretty, don't they?
When I cut the panel I put those tabs or ears or whatever down on each end because I though it looked good. When we sat down to plan the wiring, I realized I didn't have a voltmeter! A quick order on Amazon and it came....with me thinking it just might fit in that lower bit I put down. Pure, absolute luck that the space was darned near perfect for fitting it.
All the wiring got cleaned up and zip tied to where it's not in the way of anything today, and along with a bunch of other minor tasks I started marking the cowling for where to drill for the transition piece that goes back to the fuselage.
I was getting pretty hot and fussy - not a good combination for precision work - so I called it a day and went home before I messed anything up.
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Use a flush side cutter to cut all the zip tie ends with. I learned the hard way when I used a regular pair of dykes on my RV7. Any time I had to get anywhere there was wiring my hands and arms looked like a wildcat had attacked me. Finally used a razor blade to cut them flush. Don
Because the sides of the airplane are open from panel to firewall, I could both put the wiring well out of the way of everything and get to the zip tie ends easily to cut them. I actually used my little pocket knife for them.
The opinions and statements of this poster are largely based on facts and portray a possible version of the actual events.
Just to keep the thread alive, Mom came to visit en route from Germany to Washington State and gave her approval of the plane.
I was looking at the pictures and it seemed the left lower wing had reverse washout - the roundel shouldn't be showing like that. So yesterday afternoon I went out to the airport to put in the ground wire on the tach and start on the "check every bolt" process (I plan on repeating it a bunch of times).
Turns out that when I assembled the aircraft I didn't put any nuts on the bolts that hold the interplane struts onto the lower wing! After a rueful "well, that ain't good," nuts were installed and tightened after loosening the landing wires. Wires back to proper tension and the wing has the required 1.5 degree washout. Much rejoicing in the hangar - I spent a LOT of time getting the rigging right, and did not want to have to attempt a do-over.
I need to bring some gas up to the airport as well. It dawned on me there is absolutely no reason I shouldn't put a gallon or so in the tank to make sure there's no leaks in the system and fire up the engine briefly. I must say that when I plunged the starter button to the bottom and turned it over it gave me quite a thrill. First gasps for breath from my Bebe.
I also need to purchase a good fire extinguisher for the hangar as well.
The opinions and statements of this poster are largely based on facts and portray a possible version of the actual events.
Make sure you are allowed to run the engine without the counterweight of a prop.
greetings
I'm afraid to sound really stupid, but what do you mean?
The opinions and statements of this poster are largely based on facts and portray a possible version of the actual events.
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