March 11, 2022
I customized my Condition Inspection checklist based on Walt’s (EXP Aircraft Services LLC) checklist. I also added some frequently needed documents/information to the end of my document. Here is a link to my checklist As with building, there was a learning curve this year that added a good amount of extra time and effort. Next year I think the Condition…
August 1, 2021
I’ve attended Airventure a bunch of times. Always camping but sometimes driving and sometimes flying. I’ve experienced the mass arrival at KOSH, I’ve spent hours waiting to depart after the show, and experienced the nearly every year big storm. Well this year checked most of those boxes but the most important new one, flying a plane I built. Big shout…
July 31, 2021
I sucked from the fire hose the engine information presented at Airventure this year. Mike Busch put on 13 seminars and I think I hit five or maybe it was six of them. I also took in a leaning seminar presented by Martin Pauly. And a great presentation by Vic Syracuse specific to amateur built aircraft (I was able to…
April 2, 2021
Well I have been neglecting my blogging duties lately. But with the arrival of N241VP in Steamboat it was no longer reasonable to continue my laziness. But before getting to that, a recap on the last month… The phase 1 flight testing went overall quite smooth. I had some concerns about proper engine break-in which led to flying to SE…
February 27, 2021
Holy Hannah what a day! I had not expected to make my first flight today because I wanted wind from the south since that would keep me flying on take off over empty fields until I reached a safe altitude. Winds were forecast from the north so I settled in to cleaning up a few small projects until Loyd arrived…
February 23, 2021
With four hours until the inspector arrived it was hustle time to knock off the last few items. First up was installing the lighting and Plexiglas in the right wing tip. After making a few passes on englarging the opening the landing and taxi lights slid right in and from there is was easy going. The wing root fairings were…
February 22, 2021
My work day started at 4:00am and I put in 16 hours getting my plane ready for tomorrows inspection. And yes, I am exhausted. But I should be ready to go after a few hours checking the final items off the list. Today I finally got around to the louvers on the bottom cowling. This was a time consuming process…
February 21, 2021
The day started off with making good time on the right wing tip access door. Everything fell into place and soon I had everything cleco’d together and flox between the fiberglass door and the metal stiffener curing. Then is was on to electrical stuff. I knocked out the prep wiring for the right wing tip light. So once the tip…
February 20, 2021
No not the Airworthiness, but rather certification of the transponder and static systems. This was a much more involved process than I expected. All told it took three and a half hours. A good chunk of that was fixing leaks. At every threaded fitting there was a leak. I had used teflon tape but the system still leaked. Could have…
February 19, 2021
Whew, the cowling is making me work for it. Started and finished the day with sanding. You know my feelings on sanding. In between I fabricated the oil door mounting for the two latches and the hinge. At the end of the day I riveted the cowling/hinge/stiffener together with flox to support curved areas below stiffener. A break in the…
February 18, 2021
So I thought I could bang this out in short order. HA! Started the day with more sanding… A bump out/blister was needed for proper clearance from the Vetterman exhaust, this was completed a number of weeks ago and was waiting for final sanding and for the foam mold to be cut out. That wasn’t too big of a job…
February 17, 2021
With my inspection scheduled for Tuesday I am working long hours and on the items that affect airworthiness. Fancy interior and other bells and whistles will have to wait. I finished the last of the heavy lifting for sanding, woohoo! So today’s three hours of sanding included; pilot door sill and surround, the inside cabin top, and left wing tip…