February 14, 2021
I felt that the Van’s Construction manual left a lot to be desired on rigging the flaps and ailerons. The information was spread out over many sections and took multiple readings to understand the process. This post is meant to be a more straightforward guide. 1. When setting the flaps they need to be fully up against the rear spar…
February 14, 2021
Whew, today feels like there was great progress. I was able to get the two charge ports installed with a bracket for the batteries. That will save me from removing the bulkheads should the batteries need to be topped off. Then it was on to finishing the baggage area panel covers and the baggage door. Let me just say the…
February 13, 2021
I bit the bullet and sanded the windshield surround fiberglass. That was a three hour project, but it looks pretty good and will certainly keep the windshield from departing the aircraft. Whew, happy to have that checked off. Then it was time for more sanding, this time sanding on the co-pilot door sill I epoxied yesterday. It turned out well,…
February 12, 2021
I finished up the co-pilot door strut. Then made some adjustments to the door lock blocks, sprayed some silicon and bam the doors open, close, and lock perfectly. Then it was on to floxing in the carbon fiber door sill. Once that was clamped down I added a nice edge and filler to the rest of the door opening and…
February 11, 2021
I knocked out the major sanding in a couple hours on the pilot door. Getting the door lock blocks mounted and operational was definitely much faster today. However, the sanding for the McMaster door seal took forever. Eight times I would sand to a gap I thought would be good, vacuum, apply the door seal, close the door, and check…
February 10, 2021
Blerg, what a day. I learned a lot about making the doors fit tight and have a proper gap. So that will be helpful tomorrow when I finish the pilot door. As mentioned in the title, I spent the entire day working on the co-pilot door. First I had to get the door lock blocks located and mounted. But before…
February 9, 2021
Huge day! Cross off the first engine start. Boy did that feel great to have an near instant start and for her to run so smooth. Whew. Backing up, I started with installing the fuel tank vents, attaching the rudder cables to the rudder, and attaching the yaw damper cables. This is was engine prep time; flush both fuel lines,…
February 8, 2021
Guess what. I started the day with sanding. Knocked out of outside of both doors and lots of sanding on the windshield. Hours upon hours of bliss. Later in the day I put on, what I hope is the final fiberglass layer on the windshield. After sanding I’ll make a final determination. The big excitement for the day was getting…
February 7, 2021
Well the rear windows are sanded. That was a fun start to the day. Tomorrow the outside of the door windows and then I will begin to see a light at the end of the tunnel. Ha. Still have to sand/fill the door gaps for the McMaster Carr door seal. After that excitement I moved on to the continuing ER…
February 6, 2021
Boom two and a half hours later the right ER tank was installed. Of course it is a totally different position from the left or the first set of tanks. No surprise at this point. But after some monkeying I got it installed. Then filled it with fuel. Actually filled both tanks. Turns out they hold 14 gallons and not…
February 5, 2021
Okay first off, I didn’t realize how long it takes for the FAA to process aircraft registrations and I really painted myself in a corner. Hell I even forgot to enter the engine serial number requiring a second notarized form to be sent UPS red. But today my registration came through. Huge relief to know that my inspection/first flight won’t…
February 4, 2021
I have held off on this post until things reached a conclusion. My fuel tanks were about two months late but finally arrived back in October. The weld and metal forming quality was not good. I talked to a couple of other builders who recently bought tanks and one of they got replacement tanks. I have learned that the original…