Flight Testing A CH701 In Seattle

2012-01-25T17:03:00.001-08:00

2012-01-09T09:44:00.001-08:00

2012-01-02T08:52:00.000-08:00

2011-12-25T01:11:00.000-08:00

2011-12-18T01:31:00.001-08:00

2011-12-17T22:22:00.001-08:00

2011-12-11T22:42:00.001-08:00

2011-12-10T23:39:00.001-08:00

2011-12-07T20:29:00.001-08:00

Thank you to David Shultz ( who ever you are?!?! ) for getting this picture!

2011-12-07T14:36:00.001-08:00

The invitable comparision between a 701 and... an RV-10?!?

Vashon Municipal Airport

2011-11-27T21:08:00.001-08:00

Certainly one of the cuter airports I have been to, and never would go with a 150.

2011-11-13T16:50:00.001-08:00

Flew off the remaining 1.9 hours of Phase 1 testing on Saturday, staying close to AWO due to weather. Performed and oil change with a new filter and did an engine inspection. Found that the radiator was rubbing the cowling a bit, so I installed some corking. Removed the NACA vent to the oil cooler and aluminum taped off the cooler to help with low oil temps. Also taped off part of the radiator to help with low CHTs.

Tried out the new "16" grass runway. Winds were 120@8kts to 120@10kts. Also finally tried the plane in the rain. All performed as expected.

PIREP: Grass

2011-11-07T11:53:00.000-08:00

I finally took the 701 on the grass on Saturday and Sunday. The WX cooperated by providing mostly dry grass and limp windsocks over the weekend. The 701 of course is designed for these sorts of operations with large turf tires, direct linkage steering on the nose, a large rudder and a very centered CG.

After much discussion I decided not to use a full stick back technique for takeoff, nor pulling the stick full after after landing due to possibility of over rotation. Flaps were not used as they cause a “heavy” elevator, greatly increase sink rate and increase the pressure on the nose wheel.

I started with about 10 takeoffs and landings on the pavement to warm up and practice softfield technique. Then I transitioned to about a half dozen takeoffs on the grass with landings on the pavement, then finally approached the grass.

The first several landings were T&Gs so I could get a feel for the surface without committing the full weight of the aircraft to the strip. It also gave me a good initial idea of how much strip I would require. The current grass strip at AWO is 1500 feet. After 4 T&Gs I brought the plane to a full stop and taxied back by the pavement, then progressed to stop & gos. Overall I did 30 landings on Saturday

I found that with no wind on slightly wet grass I currently need about 500 feet from touchdown to get to a full stop solo. Takeoff run from a stop appears to be about 300 feet. Overall I prefer pavement takeoffs due to the 50% less space required. They are faster and just more fun.

After almost 40 hours in my 701 I think landing it on the grass is preferable despite the increased roll distance. The impact is softer and the slipperiness of the surface makes it feel more forgiving. The nose bounces a bit due to the bungee cord without a shock\dampener, but prop clearance did not look to be an issue and you do not feel it in the cockpit, although the video makes it look like I was tossed around.

After a few hours of landings at AWO I ventured south, when down the valley then across Bellevue to BFI for some pattern work. Like with the 150 I requested early bases and added early cross winds. By altitude the crosswinds were not early, but given where I was I still made sure they were OK. Once again the BFI guys are the friendliest ATCs around and even recognized my voice and commented on the plane’s performance.

In addition I tried a David Clark ENC headset. What a world of difference. This is the first active headset I have tried that does not produce an uncomfortable pressure on my ears. It also does not produce an irritating humming sound when on. The active “reduction” is very noticeable and allows me to hear myself without turning on the intercom while on takeoff.

Combined on Saturday I got 4.1 hours in.

The current grass runway at KAWO is on the West side of the hold short line, just north of the skirt and south of the A2 taxiway. There is a new grass runway that will be officially opened soon.

Saturday’s Video:

Sunday I played on the grass more and then ventured out. I ended up at JeffCo to have lunch where I just missed another 701 builder. Then it was out towards Sequim until clouds stopped me, up over Whidbey with a transition, then over Cypress to Bellingham, to Skagit and finally back to AWO.

The video does not really show it well, but saplings really do cover the old Cypress strip. The catch them on film them I would have to get much closer than I was.

Sunday was 3.4 hours in the air. That leaves 1.9 hours left of the 40 hour test period.

Sunday's Video:

Sunday Cypress Island Fly Over:

2011-11-07T11:51:00.000-08:00

Hopping around the San Juans again in late October:

2011-10-17T08:01:00.001-07:00

2011-10-16T09:12:00.000-07:00

With clean fuel filters, I started to test again. Everything is running great, except the plane seems harder to get really slow on approach. This may be a combination of the slightly reflexed flaps and the VGs.Sometime soon I will attempt to move the VGs aft. The weather was lucky enough to provide a nice 8kt cross wind

2011-10-04T10:33:00.000-07:00

On Sunday I was going to fly over to Bremerton from AWO, but I ended up getting some more important obligations the meant I would have to be back in Seattle around 1-2pm. After flying for 1.5 in the morning I found out that those plans had been canceled, so I installed some VGs that I had been wanting to test on the elevator, fueled up ( and yes, I tested the fuel at all three sumps ) and went back to flying.

My normal routine for testing out a change like this is to follow the valley and fields Northwest from AWO towards Stanwood and then try turns, stalls, ect at high altitude then return back to AWO to try landings and then more landings to make sure I like the change.

After about 54 minutes of trying out the VGs I hit a problem.

Halfway through a downwind leg at cruise power\attitude I hit an unexpected loss of power.

The engine became rough and power dropped down to an almost stopped state, then came back up gradually, went back down gradually a few seconds later, came back up gradually a few seconds later, went back down, came back up. The loss of power lasted about 45 seconds to a minute. Carb ice crossed my mind while doing the landing. It was similar to the symptoms of carb ice in an O-200, but my installation has constant carb-heat.

At the first sign of the drop I had already started pitching for glide and called out the mayday. There were two planes on final and one on base. The two on final went around, but the pilot in the tow-plane still turned final and did not abort, turn or otherwise react. Several other people on the radio chimed in in an effort to get him to react.

With the 701 I fly my downwind and base no more than ¼ mile out. I turned base just a little North of the numbers and landed the numbers with better than idle power.

Sadly the on board camera had run out of battery and 1) did not catch the engine event 2) did not catch the emergency landing with a HAPL approach that I hope would have made my flight adviser proud.

Up to that point I had put on 2.5 hours alone that day. There was plenty of fuel and I was hallway finished with my downwind at cruise power, so even a failed fuel pump should have not caused this.

After landing I did do a full run up, and everything was fine. It made full power, mags grounded, ect.

The loss-of-power event was caused by a clog that collected in the fuel filter. My morning preflight showed no issues at the gascolator or in the fuel filter. My theory is that debris that had not been swished out of the tanks, along with debris introduced by auto-fuel and some small amounts of sealant collected in the gascolator on the forward edge. Earlier in the morning I performed a test were I wanted to see how far I could taxi with the fuel valve shutoff ( this was due to several accidents this year were some Cessnas had enough fuel to start takeoff with the valve shutoff ). The intentional fuel starvation most likely caused suction in the fuel lines causing the clog to dislodge and move up the fuel line to the filter.

As a result I will be cleaning the filter and gascolator every 20 hours or so.

Video of a short landing:

Video of flap testing\very consistent landings:

2011-09-25T21:39:00.000-07:00

Worked on improving the nose gear. First a a piece of phenolic material was installed underneath the nose strut stop. This reduced the friction of the nose strut while in flight. Next the v-notched channels were ground down and polished. The nose strut no longer touches the extrusion in normal flight, but rides when the rudder is at extreme positions.

The friction in the rudder pedal bearings was also reduced by changing the bolt tension down a bit to 25lbs from 30lbs.

In flight the rudder slowly returns to position, but is still not as loose as I would like due to the nature of the nose bearing surfaces.

A new lower nylon bearing had been fabricated and installed last week. The old bearing had shown some signs of wear and had a 2-3mm gap in it. This new bearing was intended to reduce the amount of forward and back shake on landing. Overall the change was successful. The shake is still visible, but it is no longer detectable in the pedals. This may be the nose strut flexing.

I ended up making a side-by-side comparision video of my 701 & 150 taking off and landing. The takeoffs are on the same runway and almost identical conditions. The winds, pilot, amount of fuel, ect were almost the same. What was not the same was how I flew the 701. This was a normal takeoff, not a short field takeoff. For the 150 I did a short takeoff.

The landings were similar in wind. Obviously the runways were different. The 150 land land short. Just drop 40 degrees of flaps and use power to keep from falling out of the sky.

2011-09-18T02:24:00.000-07:00

The weather was bad on Saturday and I took it as a chance to try to reduce the friction in the rudder system and reduce nose gear shake on landing.

For the shake I fabricated a new lower nylon bearing. This one has a tighter fit than the original, so the forward\back motion is limited.

To install it the old lower bushing had to be removed. This was an incredible pain. Reaching the bolts is complicated by the nose strut and the muffler. While the nose bearing was out I removed the v-notch channels and machined them down to create a smoother ride. the new shape is a semi-circle instead of t notch.

I also experimented with the strut cap. New pieces were fabricated out of nylon and phenolic to attempt to reduce the nose gear friction. Once all the pieces were re-installed some reduction of friction was made, but not much. In addition new friction was added by the new lower bearing. The lower nose gear needs to be removed again as I found the new machining of the notches allows for full left rudder deflection, but not full right deflection.

There is still too much friction in the rudder system. After much experimentation I can say the friction is mostly from the nose strut. The rudder by itself is free of perceivable friction. Some friction is being added by the rudder pedal assembly bearings. Grease, teflon, lithium, ect does not seem to reduce the pedal friction.

With the nose gear push rods removed, it obvious that the nose gear is the cause of my troubles. By placing washers under the nose strut cap, I tried lowering the nose strut to allow the cross tube to rub the newly machines angle. This was more friction than the strut cap, despite having less contact surface. The addition of a nylon or phenolic piece under the strut cap adds some reduction in friction, but not as much as expected. One idea I have is to place a matching nylon piece on the firewall shelf so the bearing is nylon to nylon. This would require removing\accessing the bolts holding the upper nylon bearing and may be impossible with the nose strut in place.

The final attempt will be to perform the roller bearing mod. Adding the bearings will require removal of the nose strut or the exhaust system. It will also require some way of adding additional material on top of the lower nylon bearing to allow for full deflections.

The roller bearing mod was originally found here:http://www.utdallas.edu/~klaus/Airplane/nose_gear_thrust_bearing.html

The proper bolt length appears to be AN3-37 and the bearings are "DPP4-FS464" from ACS.

2011-09-12T12:38:00.000-07:00

Tested gross weight and aft most CG limits. To test the aft limit I flew off the fuel to only 6 gallons and then loaded the baggage compartment with 40lbs shoved to the far back. This is as close to the aft limit as I could get given the baggage hold limits.

Handling at rear CG was slightly lighter. Power-off and powered stall attempts, takeoffs and landings were about the same as solo/no gear.

Next I added 200lbs of sand bags and fueled up to 16 gallons. Starting DA was 2000'. This was also the most forward CG I could obtain according to the numbers.

Takeoff roll was about 300' and climb out was ~700~750FPM. Power-off stall attempts resulted in a lower nose attitude when the elevator lost authority. Poweron stall attempts also resulted in a lower nose attitude.

Landings were very different. The added mass gave the plane much more momentum and was harder to slow. With my standard final approach speed of 60 MPH, the sink rate was higher and the plane felt "faster".

On Sunday I found an issue with the control system. The baggage area was loaded, but in a slightly different way. This caused the piece of nylon I installed underneath the baggage area to shift. The end result was a snag that I felt in the controls check. It took about 30 minutes to locate it and then a few more minutes to fix it.

2011-09-06T22:30:00.000-07:00

Lots of flying over the Labor Day weekend. The big item was getting N701GV up to 17990 and running out of VFR airspace. The climb took 38 minutes and 100+ FPM of climb was still left at 50MPH indicated.

Parts were ordered for the roller-bearing mod on the nose gear. This should improve the feel of the rudders in the air. I will also adjust the lower strut bearing to see if it can be tightened and remove the V-notches the nose strut sits on.

2011-09-01T21:10:00.000-07:00

Reached 10 hours in the air. Changed the oil and did another under the cowl inspection.

All indications from the magnet filter and oil look good, break in is going well.

Found some evidence of an oil cooler fitter rubbing against the engine mount. This was more flex than expected. The filter was moved and secured down additionally to stop this.

After adjusting the turnbuckles more, it appears that 18lbs tension is the magic number. The slight left turning bias on the ground was traced back to a trailing \ not yet broken in brake pad.

There is still more friction that I would like in the rudder system, so I will install the rolling bearing mod on the nose strut.

The airframe now has about eleven hours in the air.

2011-08-25T23:10:00.000-07:00

Adjusted the rudder cables today to get a straighter track on final. The nose wheel was slightly off compared to the rudder and acting as a rudder itself. Need to loosen them a bit or allow them to stretch.

2011-08-22T00:42:00.001-07:00

2011-08-15T14:59:00.000-07:00

The weather has not been very cooperative for test flying recently. Taking advantage of this down time I opened all the inspection ports and did a full day inspection on the plane.

Additional grease was required and I vacuumed out more chaff that has appeared. More grease was required in the inspection bays around the controls and bearings. Some additional grease was required between the nose strut and the accessory shelf.

In addition I added velcro fasteners to all the seating and installed a document holder.

2011-08-07T23:59:00.000-07:00

I added another 1.6 hours today in the air.

Several tests were done. First was a temperature measurement of the avionics area during taxi, pre-flight and in flight. Next was a test of flap deployment and retraction. finally I measured time-to=climb and have first numbers for Vy.

The ambient temp was 82F during the test flight. During run-up and taxi the area near the Dynon reached upto 95F. Opening the air hatches reduced this closer to 91F. I may need to install a fan tied to the master bus in the area of the Dynon.

Climbing out to 4000 I explored slow flight some more. The force it takes to deploy the flaps above 60MPH is very high. Realistically you need to be lower than 55MPH, or even 50MPH. I found the flap deployment produced a strong nose down attitude, but ample authority was available in the elevators and ailerons.

With the flaps deployed I attempted slow flight at 40MPH. I may attempt slower flight later. An attempt was made to stall the plane with the flaps deployed, but once again the elevator does not have the authority to produce a high enough attitude to stall the plane.

The transponder was re-verified and flight-following was used during most of the test-flight.

Additionally I reversed the bend of the trailing edge to the elevator. Currently the bend is now about neutral. This helped reduce the amount of nose up trim required for cruise flight. I suspect reflexing the flaps slightly will be the final solution to not requiring too much nose up trim in cruise flight.

The rear locking pin on the pilot side works well, although the door is slightly harder to close.

I did several measurements for Vy. The initial winner for a 4000-5000' climb is 45MPH. The time for 45MPH was several seconds faster than 50MPH. I did attempt 40MPH and 35MPH. The nose attitude of 35MPH is amazing. The ground reference plane of the Dynon just goes out of view. The other runs were made at 70, 65, 60 and 55 MPH.

After landing I did find a small drip was coming from a fuel sampler fitting. After cleaning the area with a cloth and examining it, it looks like the drip is coming from the sampler's hole. I checked the tightness of the fitting and it is secure. Furthermore I pulled on the fitting to make sure that it was fully down and not stuck slightly up. I may need to drain the tank and replace the fitting.

The plane now has 5 hours in the air and 4 flights\takeoffs\landings.

According to the indicated fuel levels, 5 gallons were used in the 1.6 hours of flight. Fuel burn was at 3.1 gallons an hour.

2011-08-06T22:23:00.000-07:00

Added another flight today for 1.4 hours. That brings the new grand total to 2.5 hours of in-flight testing.

The area above AWO started getting bumpy beneath the 4000' scattered layer over AWO, so I took the plane out of the pattern. There is a nice stretch of pasture the runs NW from the airport to the shore.

I ended up climbing all the way to 6k indicated and the plane still had plenty of power, refreshing compared to a 150\O-200.

While up there I did several things. First I contacted Whidbey approach and verified they could pick up the transponder. At first they were just picking up the discrete code. It took me a while to realize that the transponder was on, but not on ALT.

While climbing I played with my airspeed to at least partially verify Vy. Without doing a specific, A\B test, it looks like 55MPH indicated is the answer.

I also explored slow flights and attempted power off stalls. I took the plane all the way down to 40MPH and the plane exhibited good control characteristics. Even with low power settings substantial right rudder was required with the nose high attitude.

Power off stalls were approached with caution. In the end the elevator ( as often reported ) does not have enough authority to stall the plane. The altimeter unwinds ( but not too fast ) and you still have authority in the ailerons and rudder.

I also attempted to pull some Gs and perform tight turns. I was able to turn inside my wake, not hitting it until I straightened out to reverse the turn. Forty-five degrees was as far as I was willing to take it. Even then it was hard to pull more than a G or two, the plane is just that maneuverable.

Enough grease and lube has been added that the rudder now straightens itself out gradually. As the nylon block wears in the rudder should loosen even more.

Part of the testing was fuel usage measurements. The plane started with 10 gallons. After 1.4 on the hobbs the final indicated fuel amount was 5.5 gallons. Power was well below cruise for most of the flight, so 3.5\hour for cruise should be reasonable with 11.5deg pitch.

Today's landing was the best yet. I kept more power into the landing than before and made a good effort not to flare until last minute. Keeping the power up and settling on long final with a slightly nose high attitude ( like a seaplane ) really added a lot of stability to the approach. The improved rudder lubrication also showed through.

The 701 really rides thermals and updrafts. The low wing loading combined with short wings also gives the ride a unique feel. You hear some metal rattle a split second before you get tossed up in the sky. Crossing through a disturbance on one side of the plane produces what I can only describe as a "burble"... like crossing a power boat's wake in a canoe.

The next several flights will be taking the turns tighter, hitting VNE and then adding simulated passenger weight.

After the flight I ended up installing a rear locking pin on the pilot side.

2011-07-26T19:35:00.001-07:00

Here is the POH I created for N701GV. Please copy this and use it for your own purposes.
This POH was heavily inspired by many others including my C150's, The Czech Aircraft Works, Keith Ashcraft and George Race's.

2011-07-24T22:43:00.000-07:00

Second flight was on Sunday the 24th. This flight lasted for about 45 minutes, bringing the total time in air to one hour. Thirty-nine left.

The good news is that the door pin on the passenger side worked. I noticed some puckering on the pilot side today, so I will repeat the mod on the other side.

The efforts to reduce the rudder stiffness worked.

Today was a hot day which mad me think about cooling: specifically of the Dynon. The Dynon does not have any fans. After the flight it was hot near the Dynon. I am thinking a NACA style duct may be a good idea to promote cooling of the electronics.

The flight was a basic repeat of the first flight, with the exception of attempting slower flight. I took the plane down to ~50MPH and experienced the same shudder\bobble that I felt in the plane I transition trained in.

When I took off, winds were calm and mostly down the runway. When I landed I had a good cross wind.

During the landing the plane certainly seems to want to shuttle cock into the wind. That or there is a left yaw tendency. I checked the rudder alignment and it appears fine. If the third flight exhibits the same behavior then I will adjust the dorsal fin.

This landing was another firm landing due to flaring too high. I have also noticed that adding power to attempt to slow the settling will result in a ballooning. Adding power just makes the plane climb.

2011-07-23T22:08:00.000-07:00

Frabricated a securing mechanism for the passenger side door.

The fix is basically a thick piece of angle riveted to the top side of the factory supplied handle. I then drilled a hole in the free side of the handle and bolted a rod-end there.

The rod end was connected to all thread. I then riveted a piece of tubing onto the door for the all-thread to be retained by. Finally I drilled a hole large enough for the all-thread into the fuselage.

I also spent a large amount of time chasing down friction in the rudder system. The biggest offender was a huge spot I had not greased - the nose strut stop plate! I ended up just giving everything more doses of grease, even the nylon fairings. With the tail tied down I was able to reduce the friction by an order of magnitude.

By the time I was finished with all the other work today the winds had picked up past my threshold. I did a taxi test and a run-up. The door held without any pucker on the ground where it had previously puckered some during run-up.

Taxi tests with the newly loosened steering system were highly encouraging. Friction for ground handling has been reduced to at least a quarter compared to the first flight.

2011-07-21T17:53:00.000-07:00

In retrospect the post I wrote Wednesday night\Thursday morning was a ry, technical report written in exhaustion and under the influence of a few celebratory drinks.

It is probably time to fill in the rest of the story.

There was of course a large amount of initial nervousness on my part, let alone my wife. Vivian only had gave me conditional permission to execute the first flight if Tom was there flying chase. In turn Tom made me promise not to mar his perfect history of first flights without an incidents.

The real pre-flight inspection was done on the 19th to make sure nothing was missed due to nervousness. I had practiced some of the first flight in the 150 on Sunday with Tom riding as an instructor. We also practiced HAPL.

On the 19th after the DAR visit, my own inspection and putting all the hatches back together I wanted to do a run up. This way I knew I would have enough battery to start for the first flight and maybe catch a few issues. The weather was extremely good and the airport was empty so I did some taxi testing on 34. The first pass was just to see how far I had to go for the airspeed indicator to come alive. Then I went as far as to rotate the nose. At this point the rudder still did not seem THAT stiff.

Flash forward to the 20th. I flew up to AWO from BFI for the test flight. Flying immediately before hand was probably the most calming thing I could have done. It got me in a flying mind set and also let me know the real conditions aloft. There was no guessing if the air was smooth or not.

Going over emergency procedures, bailout procedures, ect was a little stressful. The idea that that I may have to trust a parachute packed by someone else just seemed wrong. If my day was going that bad, then how much worse could it get, right?

We removed everything from the plane and vacuumed it out once more. Only stuff riveted, bolted or screwed down remained except for the bottom section of my seat cushion. I only had a three printed pages ( two pages of checklists\procedures and the test card ) and a voice recorder taped down and jacked into the intercom. The tape of course ran out during the flight.

The run up seemed to take forever. And it really did. You can’t fly the Rotax until the oil gets to 120F. That meant some idling to get the engine warm enough.

For this flight there was a clear division of labor. Tom was going to handle the radios from the Cessna. I just needed to stay on frequency to communicate with him. He was to keep traffic clear and advised.

With the run up done and the pattern clear there was nothing left to do but to just get the flight over with. This was the peak of my nervousness.

I had this expectation that as I advanced the throttle every single bolts and rivet would flash through my mind. That did not happen, instead I actually relaxed a bit and tried to enjoy the ride. Concentrate on the signals the engine is giving you, keep down the middle and wait for the bird to leap.

At this point the closest aviation experience I’ve had was my first solo… that combination of a familiar plane climbing unfamiliarly fast paired with “now I have to land this by myself”. By 1000’ that was out of my mind. At 3000’ I was getting a little bored of turning left and climbing.

Then another strange thing happened. Tom was trying really hard to stay out of view and the 701 was doing a really good job of running away from my poor 150. Looking down and seeing my 150 more than 1000’ feet below trying really hard to keep up was very strange. Then during some of the turns I caught sight of it again through the big door windows, but much closer. It was something like watching the race scene from “Iron Eagle”. There was this little white plane with a red stripe turning so beautifully against the mountains and clouds. The 701 also slows down MUCH faster than a 150 and Tom went darting past me whenever I cut the throttle back.

The turns to the left and to the right were no big deal. I really had to restrain myself from going more than standard rate.

The 701 does not have a centering spring in the rudder or pedals. In addition it uses an all flying rudder with wetted area ahead of the hinge. If you push left rudder, it stays left rudder until you push it back. This is hard to remember. You also really need to lead your turns with rudder first, which is also hard to remember to do after so many years in a 150 where generally you use rudder and ailerons at the same time. Every once and I while I would see I was un-coordinated and push the rudder causing a bit of a skid.

When coordinated the 701 turns VERY tight. It is reasonable to fly the pattern only ¼ mile out, do a standard rate turn and expect to lined up for final. Hitting the rudder to get coordinated would skid you into coordination and really remind you of this.

The practice approaches were really nothing special and I have nothing more to say about them.

Landing was the ugly part. I knew I had tons of runway to allow myself to settle in. I knew I needed to carry power into the landing. I knew I had to hold the flare until last minute. These things blanked on me until I had already started to flare and felt that sinking feeling that makes every pilot think they will have to bend the gear back into shape. So of course I added power, but a little too much and got back up to where I started. Letting power out that time gave me a better sink rate but it was still a firm landing. Then I had the steering\rudder stiffness to contend with.

My thought is that the landing may have loaded the bungee strut putting more pressure on the front contact area, making the stiffness worse. Maybe stick back pressure would have helped.

All said and done the first flight took about 25 minutes and it seemed like 25 minutes. I didn't not any sense of time dilation or contraction. I remembered to breath and did some instrument scans. I was only tense for a few moments, most of which occured during the landing.

Thanks again to everyone who has helped, voiced support, stopped by my hangar, ect.

2011-07-21T01:15:00.000-07:00

N701GV had its first flight around 5:30PM on Wednesday 7/20.

I flew my Cessna 150 up from BFI to to AWO and met Tom Staggs. He then took my C150 and flew chase.

The engine in N701GV is a 912ULS producing 100HP at 5800RPM. The prop is a three bladed Warp Drive High Power pitched to 11.5 degrees. Static run up RPM is 5500. It currently DOES NOT have strut fairings or tail VGs. Empty weight is 626lbs.

Everything went as well as could be hoped. John Adams will get his helmet and parachute back un-used. There are a few items that I will fix before the next flight.

The objectives of the test were met and all steps of the first flight's test plan were completed.

Overall N701GV behaved very well and displayed no bad in-flight control characteristics. The flight controls felt balanced and no wings felt "heavy". The rudders were stiff in flight making fine corrections hard,

The flight test was pretty simple. I slowly advance to full throttle and then let the plane jump off the run way. At about 300' above ground I offset with the runway under my left. At 1000' above ground the plane was climbing so fast there was still runway ahead.

I then started a gentle left, climbing turn to keep in a cone of safety that would allow me to glide back to the runway in case of engine failure leveling off at 3000'

With that done I then evaluated basic left and right turns up to 15 degrees of bank and a descent. The descent proceeded into a simulated approach and a go-around.

This was repeated again descending down to 1000' above ground. One more practice approach was made to only 50' above the runway climbing back to 1200'.

Finally a full landing was made. It was not my best landing. I started the flare too high and came in a little hard to the left of center and barely was able to overcome the rudder friction to stay on the runway. Control friction was probably the largest factor, but loading of the nose strut may have also played a role.

I pulled the cowling and all inspection plates\hatches. No leaks were found and all bolts remained tight with Torque-Seal markings intact.

Several issues were found that need to be resolved before the next flight.

Bug#1 - The control tension for the rudders made for a stiff control system. This made fine tuned flight corrections hard and presented a challenge after touchdown for remaining in the center of the runway.
Bug#2 - The Garmin 496 GPS draws some amount of electricity from the main battery all the time. This keeps the GPS internal backup battery charged, but also reduces the available cranking amperage for starting. I will install a disconnect switch to cut the charging mechanism to allow for long term storage.
Bug#3 - The passenger side door displayed puckering during high power settings. An additional aft locking pin slaved to the main door latch will be installed.

Tom was kind enough to grab a pic while I was flying. I also took a portrait of N701GV yesterday after the DAR visit.

The flight back to BFI was pretty boring.

2011-07-19T23:35:00.000-07:00

The friendly regional DAR stopped by on Tuesday morning.

Overall it was a pretty easy experience. A fellow 701 builder, Curt Thompson, was there to observe the process and see what the DAR would look for in a 701. He also wanted to avoid any mistakes I had made.

The appointment was for 10AM and the plane was mostly already opened up, IE all access hatches, inspection plates, ect. Only the top cowling had not yet been removed.

I had a table setup with all the paperwork in order.

The basic safety inspection started at the nose, moved back to the cabin, to the pilot side wing, control access hatch, the empennage, passenger wing and finally back in the cabin.

Generally he checked that cables and wires were properly secured, gas and electrical separates, bolts were tight and proper length, ect. He also checked control continuity and correctness for the engine, flaperons, elevator, elevator trim and rudder.

Placcards were also checked.

As always what you worry the most about never receives attention. I spent a long time worrying about details like the registration numbering. The FAA has very strict guidelines concerning the spacing of the numbers. He just looked up and made sure it was there.

Then there were things that I was sure he would think were wrong, but are by plans. The prime example are the control surface hinge bolts. The Zenith design uses a bearing surface squished between two bolts, no cotter pin. I have spent so much time explaining that the bolts are never under rotation that I had bookmarked the plans page. He had just done a 750 so it never came up although he did check the bolts.

Of course he found some minor issues, but nothing that would block an airworthiness certificate. I was able to address his punch list within a few hours.

After a break and a lunch I reinstalled all inspection plates and the cowling. That was then followed by a complete walk through taken from my POH for both pre-flight and 1 month inspection routines.

I had not touched the plane for a few weeks so the combination of running electrical for the inspection and the Garmin GPS trickling a small charge gave me a hard start.

Runup went well and I took my time doing it to charge the battery. I taxied the plane onto AWO 34 and performed a few taxi tests. Everything went smoothly, but I really didn’t do much. Airspeed comes alive on the Dynon at ~25MPH just as the nose wheel gets light.

I decided to trim the wing root covering some more to help reveal the forward wing-root cover bolts. I also found a few bolts without torque-seal.

2011-07-06T00:08:00.000-07:00

Finished major construction, ready for the DAR.

Added trim to wing root skins. Secured strobe\nav wires in baggage compartment.

Added tangs to rudder cables to effectively lengthen them. Neutralized rudder and brake pedals. Safety wire and secured rudder turnbuckles. Added cotter pins to all steering assemblies.

Added adele clamps to secure brake lines.

Finished securing wires in hatch.

Fitted scat tubing to oil cooler and re-bonded NACA duct.

Chased down a squeak in the elevator.

Final check for all bolts, pins, wire.

Found prop serial number ( without having to disassemble! )

Did static runup to verify full power and prop pitch. 5500RPM at 11.5 degrees pitch.

Wrote "Fuel On" \ "Fuel Off" placards on floor since stickers would not stick.

Performed fuel flow test at nose high attitude.

Punch List:
FINISH PROCEDURES\MANUAL
Emergency flight refresher ( simulated engine out, ect )

Trim passenger side door fiberglass, add rubber trim.
Fabricate, install streamlined strut covers. ( post first-flight )
VGs on elevator ( after initial test flights )

2011-07-03T23:29:00.000-07:00

Found some more nut plates and added them to the trim servo access hatch.

Made a fork and then riveted in a small bracket to help keep the fire extinguisher from coming loose.

Drilled and deburred wing root covers to final A4 size.

Neutralized and set flaperon controls. Re-set aileron bump stops. Setting the ailerons is tricky, made worse when alone. First it is hard to determine the true up-right neutral position of the stick. Then you have to verify the lower torque tube bellcrank is in alignment ( not that much could be done about it now... ).

Finally it is a long slow process of measuring reference lines from the wing for gap distance. One trick I realized was to measure the angle between the rivet line for the push rod covers against the extrusion the connects the flaperon to the pushrod.

Luckily I had left the inboard pushrods coming from the torque tube long. This gave me more choices on setting the amount of reflex or deployment for a flaps up position.

The pushrods and jam-nuts are not flight ready.

The aileron bump stops are not the best designed items. Their placement is some what arbitrary and can be hard to align properly.

Using the darkness I verified the landing lights are aimed correctly.

On Tuesday the final securing of wires will be done. The steering push-rods will also get set.

Punch List:
FINISH PROCEDURES\MANUAL
Shorten steering pushrods, install plates to lengthen rudder cable.
Fuel flow test
Final securing of wires aft of seats in luggage
More cotter pins & safety wire ( flaperon pushrods & steering pushrods )
Safety wire turnbuckles on rudder cables.

Install wing root fairings ( post inspection )

fabricate, install streamlined strut covers. ( post first-flight )
VGs on elevator ( after initial test flights )

2011-07-02T21:58:00.000-07:00

Fabricated wire supports in access hatch. Created addition support for fire extinguisher.

Debugged transponder issue. I suspect it may have been caused by the GPS input on pin 2. Setting the Dynon to 29.92 matched the pressure altitude shown on the Garmin 327. Turning off the Dynon blanked the pressure altitude reading.

The manual indicates ( in very small print ) that NMEA inputs are not supported from the 396\496. Therefore I pulled the #2 pin to remove the input. This may have been a grounding issue caused by the GPS input or a software issue caused by the transponder attempting to decode bad input.

Found that taxing had loosened a bolt holding the passenger side nav light. Drilled out wing tip and tightened. Tips held by screws would be best, but may be impossible.

Punch List:
FINISH PROCEDURES\MANUAL
nuetralize aileron rods & control
Shorten steering pushrods, instal plates to lengthen rudder cable.
Final securing of wires aft of seats in luggage
More cotter pins & safety wire ( flaperon pushrods & steering pushrods )
Safety wire turnbuckles on rudder cables.

Install wing root fairings ( post inspection )

fabricate, install streamlined strut covers. ( post first-flight )
VGs on elevator ( after initial test flights )

2011-07-01T21:43:00.000-07:00

Made a first attempt at transponder inspection. Bits were being adding on the discrete code while in the plane, but not on a bench. Not cause has been identified yet.

Added reinforcements to the radio stack. Tightened and flight readied all nut plates related to the radio stack.

Adjusted aim of landing lights.

Installed nutplates and cover for elevator trim motor.

Punch List:
Fabricate wire bundle supports for rear cargo area.
Have transponder tested by avionics shop
FINISH PROCEDURES\MANUAL
VGs on elevator
nuetralize aileron rods & control
Shorten steering pushrods, instal plates to lengthen rudder cable.
Final securing of wires aft of seats in luggage
More cotter pins & safety wire
Safety wire turnbuckles in "double wrap" style
fabricate, install streamlined strut covers. ( post first-flight )

2011-06-27T08:47:00.000-07:00

Had a project visit and identified a few more minor changes.

Lost the elevator trim servo cover ( held on by clecos ) during a runup test.

Torqued more bolts to final, riveted flaperon covers into place. Touched up primer on a few steel parts.

Fixed tachometer reading on Dynon. Tied down more wire bundles.

Punch List:
Fabricate wire bundle supports for rear cargo area.
Fabricate new elevator servo cover.
Have transponder tested by avionics shop
FINISH PROCEDURES\MANUAL
VGs on elevator
nuetralize aileron rods & control
Shorten steering pushrods, instal plates to lengthen rudder cable.
Final securing of wires aft of seats in luggage
More cotter pins & safety wire
Safety wire turnbuckles in "double wrap" style
fabricate, install streamlined strut covers. ( post first-flight )

2011-06-26T00:25:00.000-07:00

Tensioned elevator. Re-adjusted slack bungee, added nylon blocks where elevator cables could rub. Safety wired elevator turnbuckles. Removed elevator and adjusted bolts, installed & castelated elevator bolts.

Finalized rudder bolts.

Bolted battery into position.

Installed dataplate.

Greased all bushings, control bolts.

Aimed landing lights.

Punch List:
Tighten passenger door ( opened during run-up )
Have transponder tested by avionics shop
FINISH PROCEDURES\MANUAL
VGs on elevator
nuetralize aileron rods & control
Shorten steering pushrods, instal plates to lengthen rudder cable.
Final securing of wires after of seats in luggage
More cotter pins & safety wire
Safety wire turnbuckles in "double wrap" style
fabricate, install streamlined strut covers. ( post first-flight )
Correct tach reading on Dynon, reconnect hobbs meter.

2011-06-18T22:57:00.000-07:00

Re-weighed the plane.
Nose: 162lb, arm=670mm
Left main: 232, arm= = 690mm
Right main: 232, arm = 670mm

Added RTV seal & trim around fuel neck filler & wing skin. Tightened a few more bolts & added cotter pins to all but two steering & rudder nuts. Added fuel type markings.

Tightened bolts between steering push rods and nose strut along with jam nuts.

Found fuel senders were "double grounded" and pins were crossed. Fixed fuel sender wiring. Flushed fuel system and calibrated Dynon fuel sensors.

Bled brake lines.

Charged battery.

Started engine from fuel in wing tanks.

Taxied under own power across the airport. Started break-in procedure for Matco brakes. Verified steering and brakes.

Punch List:
FINISH PROCEDURES\MANUAL
Final placement of battery
Install EAB plaque
VGs on elevator
nuetralize aileron rods & control
Final securing of wires after of seats in luggage
More cotter pins & safety wire
Safety wire turnbuckles in "double wrap" style
fabricate, install streamlined strut covers. ( post first-flight )
Install steering boots
Install nylon strip in service hatch to protect against elevator cable rub
Remove elevator & grind down clearance of center hinge.
Correct tach reading on Dynon, reconnect hobbs meter.
Aim, secure landing lights

2011-06-15T12:18:00.001-07:00

Did a bolt\torque check. Identified all untighted and overtorqued bolts. Replaced all severly overtorque bolts. 95% of all exterior bolts now flight ready. Almost all cotter pins installed, all others marked. Removed the dorsal fin. trimmed the top fuselage skin at the elevator cable exit and moved the reinforcement bulkhead forward to account for the bungee tension.

Ordered some nylon to mitigate rubbing of the elevator cable on the baggage compartment.

Gave the EAB plaque to the engraver. Worked on procedures and manual.

Took an initial weight measurement of 621 pounds.

Punch List:
FINISH PROCEDURES\MANUAL
W&B
Final placement of battery ( pending W&B )
Install EAB plaque
Fuel Filler Marking for 10G 92MoGas\100LL w/TCP
Post registration in cabin
bleed brake lines
VGs on elevator
nuetralize aileron rods & control
Fuel tank calibration
Final securing of wires after of seats in luggage
More cotter pins & safety wire
Safety wire turnbuckles in "double wrap" style
Torque seal push rod jam nuts.
fabricate, install streamlined strut covers. ( post first-flight )
Install steering boots
Install nylon strip in service hatch to protect against elevator cable rub

2011-06-08T21:58:00.000-07:00

Finished transition training. Adjusted elevator tension bungee. Trimmed wingroot covers, ready for rivetting once fuel system is fully tested. Installed fire extinguisher. Added extra nutplates for cowling. Epoxied NACA inlet adapter for oilcooler. Fitted washers for bellcranks. Created steering boots.

Trimmed, primed and installed dorsal fins. Bunch of small stuff.

Punch List:
FINISH PROCEDURES\MANUAL
W&B
Final placement of battery ( pending W&B )
Engrave & install EAB plaque
Fuel Filler Marking for 10G 92MoGas\100LL w/TCP
Post registration in cabin
bleed brake lines
VGs on elevator
nuetralize aileron rods & control
Fuel tank calibration
Final securing of wires after of seats in luggage
More cotter pins & safety wire
Safety wire turnbuckles in "double wrap" style
Torque seal push rod jam nuts.
fabricate, install streamlined strut covers. ( post first-flight )
Install steering boots
Install nylon strip in service hatch to protect against elevator cable rub

2011-05-22T21:16:00.000-07:00

Fabricated a replacement bellcrank spacer and installed it. Fabricated replacement jury strut. Disassembled flaperons and primed them. Riveted flaperon root pins. Greased flaperon bearings and reinstalled flaperons. Cleaned up wing root skins and ready them for final trim. Installed a stiffener underneath the dashboard trim, partially pulled the panel lights and re-installed them so to not tension the dashboard again.

Punch List:

Got a ton of stuff done this weekend:

Fabricated and installed the oil door, installed a few cotter pins, removed the elevator trim and modified the hinge to accept safety wire, installed the elevator tensioning bungee, re-installed the doors, fabricated access panels into the seat pans, installed the access panels and re-installed the seat pans.

Punch List:
FINISH TRANSITION TRAINING
FINISH PROCEDURES\MANUAL
install wingroot covers.
W&B
Final placement of battery ( pending W&B )
Engrave & install EAB plaque
Fuel Filler Marking for 10G 92MoGas\100LL w/TCP
Post registration in cabin
mark "EXPERIMENTAL" on entry way
bleed brake lines
VGs on elevator
nuetralize aileron rods & control
Fuel tank calibration
Final securing of wires after of seats in luggage
install first-aid kit and fire extinguisher
Washers for aileron bellcranks
Nose gear pushrod boots
Install dorsal fin
Two additional cowl fasteners
More cotter pins & safety wire
Safety wire turnbuckles in "double wrap" style
Torque seal push rod jam nuts.
fabricate, install streamlined strut covers. ( post first-flight )
finish priming bare surfaces.

2011-05-15T18:06:00.000-07:00

Got a ton of stuff done this weekend:

Fabricated and installed the oil door, installed a few cotter pins, removed the elevator trim and modified the hinge to accept safety wire, installed the elevator tensioning bungee, re-installed the doors, fabricated access panels into the seat pans, installed the access panels and re-installed the seat pans.

Punch List:
FINISH TRANSITION TRAINING
FINISH PROCEDURES\MANUAL
install wingroot covers.
W&B
Final placement of battery ( pending W&B )
Engrave & install EAB plaque
bleed brake lines
VGs on elevator
Adjust control tension
nuetralize aileron rods & control
N-Number on panel
Fuel tank calibration
Re-fab spacer on passenger side aileron bellcrank
Re-fab diagonal pass side jury strut
Final securing of wires after of seats in luggage
install first-aid kit and fire extinguisher
Washers for aileron bellcranks
Grease on bellcranks
Nose gear pushrod boots
Install dorsal fin
Two additional cowl fasteners
More cotter pins & safety wire
fabricate, install streamlined strut covers.
finish priming bare surfaces.

2011-03-01T10:26:00.000-08:00

The weekend was somewhat frozen and short on time at the hangar. The aileron stops are installed. I adjusted the flaperon and aileron pushrods to what may be a nuetral position, testing will tell for sure.

I fabricated the flaperon bungee rention system, but am having problems reaching underneath the seat to install the bungee cord.

The new landing gear leaf is in. Hopefully it and the brake lines can be installed in a few weeks. Following that only the jury struts and dorsal fin will remain for installation.

2011-02-21T15:14:00.001-08:00

Latest work:

Skylight and windshield all installed and unwrapped.
Interior painted and ready. Only a few more wires need to be secured in the cabin
Controls re-installed with continuity restored. All lingering clearence issues fixed.
Rudder pulleys and flaperon mixed riveted down
Sealant & RTV installed to prevent leaks

Punch List:
W&B
Final placement of battery ( pending W&B )
Engrave & install EAB plaque
Install new Grove gear
Brake lines
Cotter pin on bungee pin & outer sleave to tighten
Fabricate top bungee retaining pin
Drill cotter pin holes for elevator bellcrank, elevator retainer and flaperons
VGs on elevator
Adjust control tension
N-Number on rudder
N-Number on panel
Fuel tank calibration
Washers for aileron bellcranks
Tensioning bungee for elevator
Flap handle bungee
Spinner final install
Grease on bellcranks
Yellow plug succured on engine spray rail
Nose gear pushrod boots
Path door fiberglass
Install dorsal fin
Oil access door
Two additional cowl fasteners

2011-01-31T10:00:00.000-08:00

Starting to apply finishing touches.

I uninstalled all the controls, cleaned and painted them. I cleaned out the cabin, vacuumed it and blew it out with air. Once that was done painting started.

The control stick was ground down for extra clearance .

Sound deadening material will be cut to be floor mats.

2011-01-29T19:24:00.001-08:00

Secured the dashboard and panel. Gave the panel good labels. Sealed the weather trim to the windshield and did weather sealing for the skylight. The skylight is riveted in a final install.

2011-01-17T10:54:00.000-08:00

Another weekend of finishing work.

Preperations are being made to button the dashboard onto the panel. I filled all the grommet holes in the firewall with high-temp RTV. I also fabricated patches to cover the holes where the Zenith style throttle linkages passed through the firewall. They also received RTV along with rivets.

A new panel light was installed to replace the one that was damaged while in storage.

Label the panel
Patch fiberglass on doors
Final windshield install + sealing
Seal sunroof
Order & install steering boots
Adjust control tensions
Check all cotter pins, saftey wire, bolts
Install elevator VGs
Install dorsal fin
Final upholstrey install
Install oil door.
Replace gear with Grove brakeline drilled gear ( ordered )
Run brake lines
Install jury struts
EAB plaque
Adjust nose strut
Final battery box secure
More transition training
Insurance
Smooth any remaining rough edges.

2011-01-13T10:10:00.001-08:00

The engine started without problem.

New punchlist:

Patch fiberglass on doors
Final windshield install + sealing
Seal sunroof
Order & install steering boots
Adjust control tensions
Check all cotter pins, saftey wire, bolts
Install elevator VGs
Install dorsal fin
Final upholstrey install
Install oil door.
Replace gear with Grove brakeline drilled gear
Replace landing gear pads
Run brake lines
Install jury struts
EAB plaque
Adjust nose strut
Install control boots for steering rods.

2010-11-04T11:09:00.000-07:00

The new punchlist:

Fuel lines run from wings to gascolator
Fuel filter
Run line for AOA into wing
Install ammeter shunt
move solenoid location
Install final wires to bus
Wire batter & alternator together
Install split throttle
Install choke

Patch fiberglass on doors
Order Garmin 496
Create wire access port on dashboard
Final windshield instal + sealing
Seal sunroof
Order & install steering boots
Final instal on position light wiring
Adjust control tensions
Final wire secure in hatch
Check all cotter pins, saftey wire, bolts
Install elevator VGs
Install dorsal fin
Final upholstrey install
Install oil door.
Replace gear with Grove brakeline drilled gear
Replace landing gear pads
RTV the FWF firesleeving
Run brake lines
Install jury struts
EAB plaque
Instal static port

2010-10-26T17:02:00.001-07:00

2010-08-23T16:40:00.001-07:00

The engine is almost ready to go. Below is the "punch list" that I could come up with. More is likely to be added

Install battery
RTV the FWF firesleeving
Replace pads on main gear leaf
Replace main gear leaf with Grove replacement
Run brake lines
Elevator cables
Hang flaperons, connect to push rods
Wire amp shunt
CHT calibration, install
Upholstery for interior
Install elevator trim motor
Replace temp tie down stations with adele clamps in aft fuselage
Replace aileron bellcranks
Clean off sharpie markings
Finish re-run of strobe, nav wires & map lights
Run fuel lines from wings to gascolator
Install jury struts
Prime V-Frame
Cargo net
EAB plaque
Steering rod boots
Install fuel filter
Fix bad fiberglass trim on passenger door.
Run AOA line
Install static port
Install Pitot/AOA tube
Replace bad rivets

2010-03-08T14:19:00.000-08:00

Thanks to a team of really great friends, the project is now in at an airport.

I have worked up a punch list of the stuff that needs to be done before the first flight, but engine start should be before the end of March.

Finalize access hatch

Replace bad rivets

Finish securing wires

Buy Oddessy battery

Run battery cables

Ammeter shunt

Battery charging

Starter

Mags

safety wire

cotter pins

More AN3-4As

Brake lines/line clips

Rudder pedals

Attach wings

Elevator bungee

Elevator cables

Rudder cables

Paint

Seal windshield, sunroof

Attach slats

Attach flaperons

Slat push rod covers

Trim doors

Fill door tubes

Upholstry

Sound deading material

Fuel lines/firesleeving

Carb heat kit

Strobe/position final run

Pitot/AOA tube

Rivet wingtips

Wing root covers

Vinyl decals

Data plate

Install elevator trim motor to elevator

2010-02-28T07:57:00.000-08:00

2010-02-28T07:50:00.000-08:00

I spent a day fixing the horizontal stabilizer. About a year ago a test fitting revealed that the forward mount points for 10mm to far inboard on each side.

The entire skin was unzipped. With some careful measuring and luck, I was able to use two existing holes on each side that were 10mm outboard. Many of the bracket holes to the spar became elongated so I enlarged them to A6. The old holes were filled in with A5 rivets.

I took the electrical system apart... again ( fourth time? ) and used an aviation grade spiral wrap conduit to add order to the wires. I then added a piece of L-Angle near that crossed from the pilot side to the passenger side attaching to the bus mount I had fabricated earlier. This was done forward and rear. These provide a very nice spot to secure the bundles against.

2010-01-24T02:58:00.001-08:00

The panel is being put back together on the bench. I found a few small problems with the wiring and am fixing them while it is easy.

I used a rubberizing paint on the panel to make it scratch resistant, insulated and glare resistant. So far I am happy with the results.

Using "The GIMP" I have been creating a series of concepts and variations of the paint job. Taking photos of the project the concepts have been laid over to help judge how it will look on the 3D plane.

2010-01-21T09:24:00.001-08:00

I finally got around to finishing my ( new style ) cowling.

The current version of the manual is incomplete and incorrect. I used a combination of advise from Roger at Zenith, the forum and the HBH video.

Here is how I did it:

1) Fit the top and bottom halves together, sliding the top half into the lip. I then made sure the the seam between the top half and the recessed lip of the bottom half was OK.
2) Clamped and taped it together.
3) Determined the center of the top half of the cowl and the center of the airplane. I then extended forwarrd the rivet lines on the side of the fuselage to use as reference for getting it even.
4) I then determined the angle of the cowl and got it centered and even. I used the seam lines on the cowl in conjection with some rivet lines on the fuselage to get it even and centered.
5) Once I had that I then marked where I neeeded to trip the cowling to clear the gear leg and windshield. I only trimmed the gear leg hole a bit, the molding supplied a large amount of clearence. I trimmed a small a amount of the top cowling to clear the windshield and sealing.
6) Once I had the the cowl trimmed I then drilled and clecoed the front four holes to join the top and bottom halves. I determined my safe area of the fuselage flange taped the cowling into place and drilled the cowling into the fuselage flange. I made the holes A4 sized.
7) I removed the cowling. and clecoed the nutplates onto the bottom cowl for the forward holes. I put the nutplates on the "wrong" side so the barrel was pointing away from the plane.
8) I got each plate parallel with the lip of the cowl and drilled one hole with an A3 bit and clecoed. I then drilled the remaining hole.
9) Removed all the nutplates and drilled the center hole out to AN3.
10) Cleaned & deburred the holes
11) I applied a slight countersink to the A3 holes that hold the nutplate using a hand reamer. Use A3 blind rivets to secure the nutplates. Do not drill out the holes on the nutplates.
12) I drilled out the holes on the top cowling to AN5
13) Using a flat riveter head I riveted the nutplates to the inside lip of the bottom half so the barrel pointed into the airplane.
14) I clecoed the nutplates to the fuselage flange where the cowl met and used a similar technique.
15) At this point I did not install the left and right nutplates where the top and bottom halves of the cowling connect to the fuselage.

2010-01-21T09:23:00.001-08:00

2010-01-04T13:47:00.000-08:00

2009-12-15T12:13:00.000-08:00

2009-09-08T00:04:00.000-07:00

Some major steps have been taking with the wiring, with a bunch of "lessons learned".

The approach I took was what seemed logical to my programmer mind. I took a look at each device, the inputs and the outputs and made a series of sub harnesses. Connectors ( D-Sub 9 ) are used where two harnesses would need to join together.

Rough distances were measured with approximate routing.

Each sub harness was made in relative isolation.

This worked fairly well. Some of the earlier harnesses are a little untidy. None of them match in size.

As I went to install the harnesses this weekend I realized that I needed more of an "integrative" approach to the wiring problem. Lots of single wires got tangled up with each other. Wires drooped all over. The whole thing was a rat's nest mess.

I took everything back apart. Slowly I added one sub-harness back in at a time. With each new addition I attempted to clean up the harness and wrapped the wires into more logical bundles.

As the harness was put in, those bundles were bundled with the other bundles. The ground terminals were grouped together and bundled. The power terminals for the two buses got a similar treatment.

While doing this the remaining amounts of wire were looped and tied off to further promote a clean installation.

I have a LED strobe with controller. The directions suggest placing the controller in the wingtip - but there is a problem. The controller has a built in fuse holder. To comply with FARs all fuses need to be replaceable easily, preferably in flight. So a bracket and mounting plate were made and installed on the passenger side. This plate extends from the bottom of the instrument panel to the "L" angle that runs along the passenger side to the firewall.

The strobe controller and buses were mounted to this.

A partial power up test was performed. The radio and lights were all working. The split bus was isolating and the terminal ground was fine. The trim indicator was working great and the trim rocker and joystick controls were all functional.

2009-08-11T09:09:00.000-07:00

The pilot and passenger grips are now wired and ready.

For the FlightGrips you need to trim 1" off the factory Y grips, use a bushing to allow for the 1" shaft and drill a 7/32" hole for a bolt that secures everything.

The grips are very sturdy and use aviation grade heavy duty buttons and switches.

In my configuration the pilot and passenger both have PTT and Flip/Flop.

The pilot has a memory set button, elevator trim up/down and an intercom isolate switch.

Wiring the passenger grip was easy. The PTT and F/F are both on an off center trigger. Pull on the bottom is PTT, pulling top is F/F. It is very hard to accidentally pull the wrong trigger. FlightGrip's trigger is removable from the shaft. The grip is designed to open up down the center with the trigger being removable. There was plenty of room for the wires and some heat shrink.

The pilot's grip was harder. The trim and mem set switches are on the top of the stick. These buttons are mounted on a removable disk, making wiring easier. The pilot has the same PTT/FF button config as the passenger.

The passenger intercom isolation toggle is mounted as a thumb shaft on the grip. Accessing the connection points was much harder for this one.

To get the wires down the stick some scotch tape was used to secure the various bundles together and then shoved down. Fitting 15 wires down the shaft ( each in sub bundles by function & destination ) was a little tricky due to the narrow passage where the "Y" forms and the pivot point at the base of the stick.

Once the wires were out I closed the grips and bolted them onto the stick. Closing the passenger grip was easy. The pilot's grip had the problem of heat shrink and wires made inflexible by solder. Some bending and finessing had to be done to get the stick to close with wires routed around the holes for the mounting bolt.

Almost all the connectors I have been placing are DSub 9s. The originally intention was to use a DSub 15 for the pilot's grip and a 9 for the passenger. Instead the pilot's grip has two 9 pins. One connector has the PTT,FF,MemSet and isolation buttons. The PTT and FF's pins are in the same location on the passenger's grip. You could interchange the two connectors with the only side effect being to disable two buttons. This seemed like a more resiliant configuration and also lets me have the option of disabling the trim in the field if I need to.

To use both the rocker switch in the panel and the switch on the joystick a relay had to be used. Ray allen sells one for this purpose. In addition to the relay a small circuit had to be made. This multiplexes the two switches. When the relay is used what the switches are really doing is selecting what ground is being closed.

Two IN4001 diodes are placed in line to the joystick ( DPDT ). These are split from lines that go to the rocker. From the rocker and joystick each a line is sent to the ground.

2009-08-09T23:27:00.000-07:00

Wiring update:

Most of the wiring harness is complete. Lights, radio and utilities are done. The transponder, Dynon and alternator wiring remain.

To help reduce the clutter on the kitchen and workbench tables I started cutting the panel and installing parts.

Many months ago I mocked up my panel using lifesized print outs. This worked well, but many details were simply left out. Some of the parts of changed, and a few unexpected things have been added. There are more switches and breakers than I had planned for.

One challenge has been trying to plan around the throttle handle. The exact position of the throttle can not be determined with out the throttle bellcrank installed. Based on the expected position from other builders I have moved the Dynon more towards the centerline. I would prefer that the Dynon be centered with the pilot's seat, but that may be impossible.

When laying out there were a few factors I kept in mind.

1) Anything flight and emergency critical should be close to aircraft center. This is to allow the passenger access to the starter, ELT, ect.

2) Try to logically group switches by function

3) Keep power away from the primer.

4) Do not stack any switch above or below another.

I have also received my grips. The final choice was for FlightGrips ( no website ). These are a solid grip that bolt onto the Y stick.

Internally the switch poles are easy to access as the stick splits apart and the top cap is removable. You do need to be careful with how much heat shrink is used as to keep the wire flexible enough to route around the grip.

On the pilot's side there is a elevator trim up/down, PTT, Radio Flip/Flop, Radio Mem Set and intercom isolation.

On the passenger's side there is PTT and Radio flip/flop.

2009-05-27T10:54:00.001-07:00

More wiring components have been ordered and the wiring is in full swing.

This week the full wire harness for the strobes and position lights were made including a strobe pattern selector.

The harness for the landing lights was also made.

The buses are in hand and ready.

A few questions still remain, like how to properly tie in the Ducati voltage regulator and the split master switch.

2009-05-02T00:25:00.000-07:00

Progress visually has been slow, but much has been done.

The majority of the effort has been spent researching the wiring portion of the project.

Recently I flew down to Oregon and purchased an ICOM A210, Garmin GX327 and an ELT along with the matching antennas.

I also have ordered the Dynon D180 Rotax probe package and many small parts for the wiring.

A wiring diagram has been made an is almost finished. It will get posted here for the benefit of others. This diagram was used to generate the parts list. It even goes as far to include the pinouts for each piece of avionics.

Recently the ignition key was figured out using a 12V latern battery. The strobe wiring was also confirmed.

Tonight the ICOM A210 had a temp harness made and was rigged to a headphones speaker and the latern battery to power it on. The faint sound of BFI's ATIS was able to come through without the antenna attached.

2009-04-13T09:51:00.001-07:00

This weekend the engine mount was reinstalled. It was realized that there are two steel angles that have not been drilled into place yet and need to.

The next steps of the controls will require pulling the fuselage out to mount the rudder hinge. Foul weather prevented this. The hinges were fabricated over the weekend.

The wiring diagram was started. The current plan is:

Dynon D180
Airgizmo / Garmin 496
Garmin GTX 327 Transponder
ICOM A210 Transceiver

I am using Visio to create a fully detailed diagram. The hope is that I can decide on color coding before hand and decide where additional connectors may be wanted to help with maintainability.

2009-04-07T17:31:00.000-07:00

I recently moved. Packing a mostly finished airframe and a "used" workshop and then moving it across town is harder than you would think.

First the plane with the gear was about two inches wider than the trailer. This required removing one wheel. Next there is the organizational issue. The new garage is smaller and needs more organization. The plane needs to sit at a diagonal to fit. Once the engine is hung the door from the garage into the house will need to be removed to fit the plane.

Recent progress has included mounting the rudder pedals, brakes and nose steering. I also fabricated the rudder cable pulleys and some rudder mounting parts.

Here is the new workspace ( Requires Silverlight )

2009-04-01T08:40:00.001-07:00

2009-02-16T08:27:00.000-08:00

2009-02-13T00:38:00.000-08:00

This picture illustrates that I placed the horizontal stabilizer mounts 10mm to far inside on both sides.

Two options exist in my mind for fixing this.

The first option is to create a custom mount from the fuselage side shaped to clear the flange of the stabilizer's mount. This would require a spacer and a much longer bolt. It also increases the chance of the mount cracking.

The second option is to open the stabilizer and move the mounts 10mm outside. This may require some work to the spar.

The controls are coming along nicely. The push rods and flaperon bellcranks are all connected. The flaperon mixer is also connected. The pushrods terminate where they will exit the fuselage.

I also figured out the wiring for the strobes and nav lights. They were pretty easy to deal with, but finding a suitable location for the control unit may be tricky.

2009-01-08T23:30:00.000-08:00

I have been very bad about posting recently, but this should not be construed as the project not being worked on.

The whole workbench was partially redone and lowered about half a foot. This is so the plane can sit on its wheels on the ground.

The engine mount holes were drilled out to their final size and bolted on.

Work has started on the controls. All three bell cranks have been fabricated. The lower torque tube bearing was un-riveted to allow for the torque tube to be placed. I then found an unacceptable amount of ply, so a new lower bushing was fabricated to raise the torque tube up and remove the wiggle.

In addition I have fabricated the flaperon mixer bearings and started placing the "L" angle that supports them.

2008-12-16T01:23:00.001-08:00

The front was buttoned up, the rear half of the engine mount was bolted on, the nose strut bolted on and the main gear were installed.

The plane is now rolling on its own.

2008-11-16T22:11:00.000-08:00

Another monster six hour session finished the drilling for the slats. Only a few "gotchas" were hit.

First with the trailing edge skin be careful with the holes of the ribs. The last hole for each rib intersected the skin. This normally would not be a big deal but the ribs were already riveted ( per instructions ) to the bottom half of the main skin. In two cases ( outboard skins ) there was enough edge distance to drill out the rivets and use a strap duplicator to carry the hole onto the edge skin. With my inboard skins I had to make notches for the rivet heads.

All four slat pieces are drilled to final hole sizes and are ready to be deburred, primed and riveted.

2008-11-15T23:50:00.000-08:00

First, to anyone who is about to order their wheels please, please, please pay attention. Just spend the extra $30 a wheel and buy the tubes. The Matco tubeless tires are a nightmare. Seriously, I would rather rivet my hand to a rabid raccoon than deal with those things again.

I probably spent 15 hours trying to get them to inflate.

Some of that time was spent trying to separate the wheels. They can be really tight a large amounts of brute force will need to be applied.

The valve stems are a pain to install. A local tire shop was kind and let me borrow a valve stem installer. After that you need to get the wheel somehow beaded with the tire AND then slip a crazy rubber band gasket on between the two halves of the wheel.

If you use the tubes then the valve just slips on through and the wheels self bead.

A huge amount of progress was made thanks to the help of another local 701 builder. Together we made substantial progress on the slats. The slats are pretty straight forward, except for a few gotchas that got me. The biggest has to do with the "L" angle that reinforces the slat skin near the supports.

Trying to be industrious I went and cut the "L", notched it, bent it to match and then located the holes and drilled them into one piece. I used one of the ribs to back drill into a mirrored rib and then duplicated the holes to all the ribs.

What I forgot to do was check that all the holes of the "L" went into the support. Luckily all the holes that made it into the support were within minimum edge distances, but one hole missed. So I had to drill a fifth hole into the "L" that then made it into the slat support.

In one monster eight hour session we got the "L" spar drilled into all four slat skins, all the ribs, supports and "L"s riveted together and on one piece the ribs drilled into the skin.

2008-11-02T00:37:00.000-07:00

Quick status update:

The doors are on, the latches installed, the hinges hinging.

The main gear have had their notches made and are test fit. The front fork is ready for the wheel and tire. The landing gear and strut fittings have finally been bolted into place.

I did have some problems with the Matco wheels. Despite following the drawing, I can not separate the front wheel halves. There does not seem to be a retainer clip or anything like it.

2008-10-05T23:32:00.000-07:00

The pilot side door is now installed along with the door handle and strike plate. The directions were lacking, and a backing plate needed to be made for the provided handle. I unscrewed the inside latch and measured the distance between the screw posts and the center piece.

After making the backing plates the handle was positioned using the backing plate and internal handle to determine where the strike plate needed to be.

The backing plate was then used as a template to drill into the fiberglass door and the handle as screwed together.

On the passenger side the door was thicker than the pilot side. This caused the screws not to reach through and thread into the door handle.

PROGRESS:
Controls ~2h ( 2h )
Fuselage ~251h ( 3h, 3h, 2h, 3h, 7h, 2h, 5h, 2h, 3h, 2h, 2h, 3h, 6h, 2h, 2h, 1.5h, 2.5h, 1h, 2h, 3h, 2h, 3h, 4h, 1h, 2h, 1h, 3h, 4h, 3h, 3h, 4h, 3h, 4h, 4h, 6h, 3h, 3h, 4h, 2h, 2h, 2h, 4h, 2h, 2h, 10h, 4h, 4h, 6h, 3h, 4h , 6h, 3h, 2h, 2h, 5h, 2h, 3h, 3h, 2h , 2h, 3h, 4h, 1h, 1h, 1h, 1h, 3h, 1h, 2h, 2h, 5h, 6h, 3h, 5h )
Wings: ~157.5h ( 1h, 1h, 0.5h, 2.5h, 4h, 1h, 1.5h, 1h, 1.5, 4.5, 1h, 1h, 2h, 4h, 1h, 3h, 1h, 2h, .5h, 1.5h, 2h, 2h, 2h, .5h, 1h, .5h, .5h, 2h,3h, 1h, 3h, 3h, 4h, 2h, 3h, 7h, 3h, 1h, 4h, 1h, 1h, 1h, 4h, 2h, 2h, 2h, 2h, 1h, 2h, 3h, 2h, 1h, 3h, 2h, 2h, 1h, 2h, 3h, 2h, 1h, 1h, 1.5, 2h, 2h, 3h, 2h, 1h, 3h, 2h, 1h, 2h, 1h, 5h, 2h, 1h, 2h, 4h, 2h, 3h, 3h, 3h, 2h, 3h, 2h, 3h, 6h, 3h )
Flaperons: ( DONE! ) 23.5 hours spent ( 3h, 1h, 1h, 1h, 1.5h, 3h, 6h, 3h, 4h, 1h )
Paint Design: 2 hours spent ( 1h, 1h )
Elevator DONE!: ~31.5 hours spent ( 3h, 1.5h, 3h, .5h, 3.5h, 2h, 4h, 1.5h, 2h, 4.5h, 1h, 6h )
Horizontal Stabilizer DONE!: ~28 hours spent, 3 pieces replaced ( 3h, 2h, 2h, 2h, .5h, 1.5h, 3.5h, 1.5h, 5, 4.5, 2h, .5h )
Rudder DONE!, minus horn : ~16 hours spent, ( ~8h, ~8h )
-----------------------
Total Done: ~510h

2008-09-28T22:02:00.000-07:00

The door problem has been resolve. the solution was to trim 20mm off the top edges of the door sills. The major issue was matching the already existing holes into the fuselage frame. This was achieved by using a strap duplicator and the trimmed section of metal itself.

Once that was done, the hinges were drilled into the top of the door frame, then the hing was drilled into the door at some key spots to make sure the holes would clear.

After that one of the Dremels was revived with new motor brushes and the doors marked and trimmed.

PROGRESS:
Controls ~2h ( 2h )
Fuselage ~243h ( 3h, 3h, 2h, 3h, 7h, 2h, 5h, 2h, 3h, 2h, 2h, 3h, 6h, 2h, 2h, 1.5h, 2.5h, 1h, 2h, 3h, 2h, 3h, 4h, 1h, 2h, 1h, 3h, 4h, 3h, 3h, 4h, 3h, 4h, 4h, 6h, 3h, 3h, 4h, 2h, 2h, 2h, 4h, 2h, 2h, 10h, 4h, 4h, 6h, 3h, 4h , 6h, 3h, 2h, 2h, 5h, 2h, 3h, 3h, 2h , 2h, 3h, 4h, 1h, 1h, 1h, 1h, 3h, 1h, 2h, 2h, 5h, 6h )
Wings: ~157.5h ( 1h, 1h, 0.5h, 2.5h, 4h, 1h, 1.5h, 1h, 1.5, 4.5, 1h, 1h, 2h, 4h, 1h, 3h, 1h, 2h, .5h, 1.5h, 2h, 2h, 2h, .5h, 1h, .5h, .5h, 2h,3h, 1h, 3h, 3h, 4h, 2h, 3h, 7h, 3h, 1h, 4h, 1h, 1h, 1h, 4h, 2h, 2h, 2h, 2h, 1h, 2h, 3h, 2h, 1h, 3h, 2h, 2h, 1h, 2h, 3h, 2h, 1h, 1h, 1.5, 2h, 2h, 3h, 2h, 1h, 3h, 2h, 1h, 2h, 1h, 5h, 2h, 1h, 2h, 4h, 2h, 3h, 3h, 3h, 2h, 3h, 2h, 3h, 6h, 3h )
Flaperons: ( DONE! ) 23.5 hours spent ( 3h, 1h, 1h, 1h, 1.5h, 3h, 6h, 3h, 4h, 1h )
Paint Design: 2 hours spent ( 1h, 1h )
Elevator DONE!: ~31.5 hours spent ( 3h, 1.5h, 3h, .5h, 3.5h, 2h, 4h, 1.5h, 2h, 4.5h, 1h, 6h )
Horizontal Stabilizer DONE!: ~28 hours spent, 3 pieces replaced ( 3h, 2h, 2h, 2h, .5h, 1.5h, 3.5h, 1.5h, 5, 4.5, 2h, .5h )
Rudder DONE!, minus horn : ~16 hours spent, ( ~8h, ~8h )
-----------------------
Total Done: ~502h

2008-08-26T23:36:00.001-07:00

Detailed photos of the bubble door fit problems I am having.

2008-08-24T01:11:00.001-07:00

It has been a while since the log has been updated, but that is not to say progress has not been made.

The roof has been drilled into place. The doors have been test fitted, and problems have been found. The windshield is sitting in place. The front landing gear is not being worked on.

PROGRESS:
Controls ~2h ( 2h )
Fuselage ~237h ( 3h, 3h, 2h, 3h, 7h, 2h, 5h, 2h, 3h, 2h, 2h, 3h, 6h, 2h, 2h, 1.5h, 2.5h, 1h, 2h, 3h, 2h, 3h, 4h, 1h, 2h, 1h, 3h, 4h, 3h, 3h, 4h, 3h, 4h, 4h, 6h, 3h, 3h, 4h, 2h, 2h, 2h, 4h, 2h, 2h, 10h, 4h, 4h, 6h, 3h, 4h , 6h, 3h, 2h, 2h, 5h, 2h, 3h, 3h, 2h , 2h, 3h, 4h, 1h, 1h, 1h, 1h, 3h, 1h, 2h, 2h, 5h )
Wings: ~157.5h ( 1h, 1h, 0.5h, 2.5h, 4h, 1h, 1.5h, 1h, 1.5, 4.5, 1h, 1h, 2h, 4h, 1h, 3h, 1h, 2h, .5h, 1.5h, 2h, 2h, 2h, .5h, 1h, .5h, .5h, 2h,3h, 1h, 3h, 3h, 4h, 2h, 3h, 7h, 3h, 1h, 4h, 1h, 1h, 1h, 4h, 2h, 2h, 2h, 2h, 1h, 2h, 3h, 2h, 1h, 3h, 2h, 2h, 1h, 2h, 3h, 2h, 1h, 1h, 1.5, 2h, 2h, 3h, 2h, 1h, 3h, 2h, 1h, 2h, 1h, 5h, 2h, 1h, 2h, 4h, 2h, 3h, 3h, 3h, 2h, 3h, 2h, 3h, 6h, 3h )
Flaperons: ( DONE! ) 23.5 hours spent ( 3h, 1h, 1h, 1h, 1.5h, 3h, 6h, 3h, 4h, 1h )
Paint Design: 2 hours spent ( 1h, 1h )
Elevator DONE!: ~31.5 hours spent ( 3h, 1.5h, 3h, .5h, 3.5h, 2h, 4h, 1.5h, 2h, 4.5h, 1h, 6h )
Horizontal Stabilizer DONE!: ~28 hours spent, 3 pieces replaced ( 3h, 2h, 2h, 2h, .5h, 1.5h, 3.5h, 1.5h, 5, 4.5, 2h, .5h )
Rudder DONE!, minus horn : ~16 hours spent, ( ~8h, ~8h )
-----------------------
Total Done: ~496h

2008-07-22T23:48:00.000-07:00

Three hours were spent trimming the door sills and getting them drilled into place on the outside.

I decided to modify the trimming on the inside rear. Having the flap of aluminum that goes up next to the wing mount seemed wrong. It could not have provided any strength to the hinge mounting below, it made installation a pain in the ass, it would be hard to reach for riveting and it obscures an inspection point. Given that, I just lopped it off.

PROGRESS:
Fuselage ~232h ( 3h, 3h, 2h, 3h, 7h, 2h, 5h, 2h, 3h, 2h, 2h, 3h, 6h, 2h, 2h, 1.5h, 2.5h, 1h, 2h, 3h, 2h, 3h, 4h, 1h, 2h, 1h, 3h, 4h, 3h, 3h, 4h, 3h, 4h, 4h, 6h, 3h, 3h, 4h, 2h, 2h, 2h, 4h, 2h, 2h, 10h, 4h, 4h, 6h, 3h, 4h , 6h, 3h, 2h, 2h, 5h, 2h, 3h, 3h, 2h , 2h, 3h, 4h, 1h, 1h, 1h, 1h, 3h, 1h, 2h, 2h )
Wings: ~157.5h ( 1h, 1h, 0.5h, 2.5h, 4h, 1h, 1.5h, 1h, 1.5, 4.5, 1h, 1h, 2h, 4h, 1h, 3h, 1h, 2h, .5h, 1.5h, 2h, 2h, 2h, .5h, 1h, .5h, .5h, 2h,3h, 1h, 3h, 3h, 4h, 2h, 3h, 7h, 3h, 1h, 4h, 1h, 1h, 1h, 4h, 2h, 2h, 2h, 2h, 1h, 2h, 3h, 2h, 1h, 3h, 2h, 2h, 1h, 2h, 3h, 2h, 1h, 1h, 1.5, 2h, 2h, 3h, 2h, 1h, 3h, 2h, 1h, 2h, 1h, 5h, 2h, 1h, 2h, 4h, 2h, 3h, 3h, 3h, 2h, 3h, 2h, 3h, 6h, 3h )
Flaperons: ( DONE! ) 23.5 hours spent ( 3h, 1h, 1h, 1h, 1.5h, 3h, 6h, 3h, 4h, 1h )
Paint Design: 2 hours spent ( 1h, 1h )
Elevator DONE!: ~31.5 hours spent ( 3h, 1.5h, 3h, .5h, 3.5h, 2h, 4h, 1.5h, 2h, 4.5h, 1h, 6h )
Horizontal Stabilizer DONE!: ~28 hours spent, 3 pieces replaced ( 3h, 2h, 2h, 2h, .5h, 1.5h, 3.5h, 1.5h, 5, 4.5, 2h, .5h )
Rudder DONE!, minus horn : ~16 hours spent, ( ~8h, ~8h )
-----------------------
Total Done: ~489h

2008-07-22T00:30:00.000-07:00

I spent about two hours trying to figure out how to trim the door sill ( 7F19-12 ).

The plans and directions are very lacking about the door sills. The forward half of the sill is easy to figure out, the outside rear is strange ( but figure-out-able ), but the rear inside is an enigma.

A quick search of the Matronics list and Google provided nothing.

PROGRESS:
Fuselage ~229h ( 3h, 3h, 2h, 3h, 7h, 2h, 5h, 2h, 3h, 2h, 2h, 3h, 6h, 2h, 2h, 1.5h, 2.5h, 1h, 2h, 3h, 2h, 3h, 4h, 1h, 2h, 1h, 3h, 4h, 3h, 3h, 4h, 3h, 4h, 4h, 6h, 3h, 3h, 4h, 2h, 2h, 2h, 4h, 2h, 2h, 10h, 4h, 4h, 6h, 3h, 4h , 6h, 3h, 2h, 2h, 5h, 2h, 3h, 3h, 2h , 2h, 3h, 4h, 1h, 1h, 1h, 1h, 3h, 1h, 2h, 2h )
Wings: ~157.5h ( 1h, 1h, 0.5h, 2.5h, 4h, 1h, 1.5h, 1h, 1.5, 4.5, 1h, 1h, 2h, 4h, 1h, 3h, 1h, 2h, .5h, 1.5h, 2h, 2h, 2h, .5h, 1h, .5h, .5h, 2h,3h, 1h, 3h, 3h, 4h, 2h, 3h, 7h, 3h, 1h, 4h, 1h, 1h, 1h, 4h, 2h, 2h, 2h, 2h, 1h, 2h, 3h, 2h, 1h, 3h, 2h, 2h, 1h, 2h, 3h, 2h, 1h, 1h, 1.5, 2h, 2h, 3h, 2h, 1h, 3h, 2h, 1h, 2h, 1h, 5h, 2h, 1h, 2h, 4h, 2h, 3h, 3h, 3h, 2h, 3h, 2h, 3h, 6h )
Flaperons: ( DONE! ) 23.5 hours spent ( 3h, 1h, 1h, 1h, 1.5h, 3h, 6h, 3h, 4h, 1h )
Paint Design: 2 hours spent ( 1h, 1h )
Elevator DONE!: ~31.5 hours spent ( 3h, 1.5h, 3h, .5h, 3.5h, 2h, 4h, 1.5h, 2h, 4.5h, 1h, 6h )
Horizontal Stabilizer DONE!: ~28 hours spent, 3 pieces replaced ( 3h, 2h, 2h, 2h, .5h, 1.5h, 3.5h, 1.5h, 5, 4.5, 2h, .5h )
Rudder DONE!, minus horn : ~16 hours spent, ( ~8h, ~8h )
-----------------------
Total Done: ~486h

2008-07-16T12:46:00.000-07:00

Arlington 2008 Flyin:

2008-07-16T10:07:00.000-07:00

It has been a while since the worklog has been updated, but progress has not totally stalled.

About six hours of work have gotten snuck into the project between life and Arlington.

The firewall has been fully clean, protected, reassembled and riveted together. In addition all the forward fuselage parts have been clecoed back together.

Some amount of time has been spent enlarging holes, finding missed holes, ect.

The next order of business are the doors. The directions are skimpier on these parts, so inferences need to be made. One issue is the existing holes that join the V-brace with the aluminum tubing along the top. The door sill sits on top of the tube, and it is impossible to back drill from the tube side. After talking to Zenith it is acceptable to 1) Use a strap duplicator to find the holes OR 2) Trim the door sill in such a way that these holes are bypassed.

Also I received clarification on the install order. 1) Doors 2) Skylight 3) Windshield.

PROGRESS:
Fuselage ~227h ( 3h, 3h, 2h, 3h, 7h, 2h, 5h, 2h, 3h, 2h, 2h, 3h, 6h, 2h, 2h, 1.5h, 2.5h, 1h, 2h, 3h, 2h, 3h, 4h, 1h, 2h, 1h, 3h, 4h, 3h, 3h, 4h, 3h, 4h, 4h, 6h, 3h, 3h, 4h, 2h, 2h, 2h, 4h, 2h, 2h, 10h, 4h, 4h, 6h, 3h, 4h , 6h, 3h, 2h, 2h, 5h, 2h, 3h, 3h, 2h , 2h, 3h, 4h, 1h, 1h, 1h, 1h, 3h, 1h, 2h )
Wings: ~157.5h ( 1h, 1h, 0.5h, 2.5h, 4h, 1h, 1.5h, 1h, 1.5, 4.5, 1h, 1h, 2h, 4h, 1h, 3h, 1h, 2h, .5h, 1.5h, 2h, 2h, 2h, .5h, 1h, .5h, .5h, 2h,3h, 1h, 3h, 3h, 4h, 2h, 3h, 7h, 3h, 1h, 4h, 1h, 1h, 1h, 4h, 2h, 2h, 2h, 2h, 1h, 2h, 3h, 2h, 1h, 3h, 2h, 2h, 1h, 2h, 3h, 2h, 1h, 1h, 1.5, 2h, 2h, 3h, 2h, 1h, 3h, 2h, 1h, 2h, 1h, 5h, 2h, 1h, 2h, 4h, 2h, 3h, 3h, 3h, 2h, 3h, 2h, 3h, 6h )
Flaperons: ( DONE! ) 23.5 hours spent ( 3h, 1h, 1h, 1h, 1.5h, 3h, 6h, 3h, 4h, 1h )
Paint Design: 2 hours spent ( 1h, 1h )
Elevator DONE!: ~31.5 hours spent ( 3h, 1.5h, 3h, .5h, 3.5h, 2h, 4h, 1.5h, 2h, 4.5h, 1h, 6h )
Horizontal Stabilizer DONE!: ~28 hours spent, 3 pieces replaced ( 3h, 2h, 2h, 2h, .5h, 1.5h, 3.5h, 1.5h, 5, 4.5, 2h, .5h )
Rudder DONE!, minus horn : ~16 hours spent, ( ~8h, ~8h )
-----------------------
Total Done: ~486h

2008-06-22T23:56:00.000-07:00

I spent about two hours Sunday cleaning up most of the firewall and then applying corrosion protections. The landing fork section still needs to be drilled to size.

One major problem is the lack of A5 clecos. Make sure you have at least 100 of them.

PROGRESS:
Fuselage ~221h ( 3h, 3h, 2h, 3h, 7h, 2h, 5h, 2h, 3h, 2h, 2h, 3h, 6h, 2h, 2h, 1.5h, 2.5h, 1h, 2h, 3h, 2h, 3h, 4h, 1h, 2h, 1h, 3h, 4h, 3h, 3h, 4h, 3h, 4h, 4h, 6h, 3h, 3h, 4h, 2h, 2h, 2h, 4h, 2h, 2h, 10h, 4h, 4h, 6h, 3h, 4h , 6h, 3h, 2h, 2h, 5h, 2h, 3h, 3h, 2h , 2h, 3h, 4h, 1h, 1h, 1h, 1h, 3h, 1h, 2h )
Wings: ~157.5h ( 1h, 1h, 0.5h, 2.5h, 4h, 1h, 1.5h, 1h, 1.5, 4.5, 1h, 1h, 2h, 4h, 1h, 3h, 1h, 2h, .5h, 1.5h, 2h, 2h, 2h, .5h, 1h, .5h, .5h, 2h,3h, 1h, 3h, 3h, 4h, 2h, 3h, 7h, 3h, 1h, 4h, 1h, 1h, 1h, 4h, 2h, 2h, 2h, 2h, 1h, 2h, 3h, 2h, 1h, 3h, 2h, 2h, 1h, 2h, 3h, 2h, 1h, 1h, 1.5, 2h, 2h, 3h, 2h, 1h, 3h, 2h, 1h, 2h, 1h, 5h, 2h, 1h, 2h, 4h, 2h, 3h, 3h, 3h, 2h, 3h, 2h, 3h )
Flaperons: ( DONE! ) 23.5 hours spent ( 3h, 1h, 1h, 1h, 1.5h, 3h, 6h, 3h, 4h, 1h )
Paint Design: 2 hours spent ( 1h, 1h )
Elevator DONE!: ~31.5 hours spent ( 3h, 1.5h, 3h, .5h, 3.5h, 2h, 4h, 1.5h, 2h, 4.5h, 1h, 6h )
Horizontal Stabilizer DONE!: ~28 hours spent, 3 pieces replaced ( 3h, 2h, 2h, 2h, .5h, 1.5h, 3.5h, 1.5h, 5, 4.5, 2h, .5h )
Rudder DONE!, minus horn : ~16 hours spent, ( ~8h, ~8h )
-----------------------
Total Done: ~480h

2008-06-22T00:05:00.000-07:00

I have finally started drilling out the holes in the firewall. These have been A3 size since the initial assembly just in case I needed to adjust something when working on the rest of the fuselage.

Today I noticed a small amount of corrosion around one of the clecos on the firewall, so it was decided to drill everything out, deburr, acid etch, scotchbrite and then zinc as soon as possible.

All of the holes ( save the engine mount bolt holes ) that lay in the horizontal plane are drilled.

PROGRESS:
Fuselage ~219h ( 3h, 3h, 2h, 3h, 7h, 2h, 5h, 2h, 3h, 2h, 2h, 3h, 6h, 2h, 2h, 1.5h, 2.5h, 1h, 2h, 3h, 2h, 3h, 4h, 1h, 2h, 1h, 3h, 4h, 3h, 3h, 4h, 3h, 4h, 4h, 6h, 3h, 3h, 4h, 2h, 2h, 2h, 4h, 2h, 2h, 10h, 4h, 4h, 6h, 3h, 4h , 6h, 3h, 2h, 2h, 5h, 2h, 3h, 3h, 2h , 2h, 3h, 4h, 1h, 1h, 1h, 1h, 3h, 1h )
Wings: ~157.5h ( 1h, 1h, 0.5h, 2.5h, 4h, 1h, 1.5h, 1h, 1.5, 4.5, 1h, 1h, 2h, 4h, 1h, 3h, 1h, 2h, .5h, 1.5h, 2h, 2h, 2h, .5h, 1h, .5h, .5h, 2h,3h, 1h, 3h, 3h, 4h, 2h, 3h, 7h, 3h, 1h, 4h, 1h, 1h, 1h, 4h, 2h, 2h, 2h, 2h, 1h, 2h, 3h, 2h, 1h, 3h, 2h, 2h, 1h, 2h, 3h, 2h, 1h, 1h, 1.5, 2h, 2h, 3h, 2h, 1h, 3h, 2h, 1h, 2h, 1h, 5h, 2h, 1h, 2h, 4h, 2h, 3h, 3h, 3h, 2h, 3h, 2h, 3h )
Flaperons: ( DONE! ) 23.5 hours spent ( 3h, 1h, 1h, 1h, 1.5h, 3h, 6h, 3h, 4h, 1h )
Paint Design: 2 hours spent ( 1h, 1h )
Elevator DONE!: ~31.5 hours spent ( 3h, 1.5h, 3h, .5h, 3.5h, 2h, 4h, 1.5h, 2h, 4.5h, 1h, 6h )
Horizontal Stabilizer DONE!: ~28 hours spent, 3 pieces replaced ( 3h, 2h, 2h, 2h, .5h, 1.5h, 3.5h, 1.5h, 5, 4.5, 2h, .5h )
Rudder DONE!, minus horn : ~16 hours spent, ( ~8h, ~8h )
-----------------------
Total Done: ~478h

2008-06-03T22:35:00.001-07:00

The color of the clecos on the nose skins have been changed from silver to copper.

PROGRESS:
Fuselage ~216h ( 3h, 3h, 2h, 3h, 7h, 2h, 5h, 2h, 3h, 2h, 2h, 3h, 6h, 2h, 2h, 1.5h, 2.5h, 1h, 2h, 3h, 2h, 3h, 4h, 1h, 2h, 1h, 3h, 4h, 3h, 3h, 4h, 3h, 4h, 4h, 6h, 3h, 3h, 4h, 2h, 2h, 2h, 4h, 2h, 2h, 10h, 4h, 4h, 6h, 3h, 4h , 6h, 3h, 2h, 2h, 5h, 2h, 3h, 3h, 2h , 2h, 3h, 4h, 1h, 1h, 1h, 1h, 3h, 1h )
Wings: ~157.5h ( 1h, 1h, 0.5h, 2.5h, 4h, 1h, 1.5h, 1h, 1.5, 4.5, 1h, 1h, 2h, 4h, 1h, 3h, 1h, 2h, .5h, 1.5h, 2h, 2h, 2h, .5h, 1h, .5h, .5h, 2h,3h, 1h, 3h, 3h, 4h, 2h, 3h, 7h, 3h, 1h, 4h, 1h, 1h, 1h, 4h, 2h, 2h, 2h, 2h, 1h, 2h, 3h, 2h, 1h, 3h, 2h, 2h, 1h, 2h, 3h, 2h, 1h, 1h, 1.5, 2h, 2h, 3h, 2h, 1h, 3h, 2h, 1h, 2h, 1h, 5h, 2h, 1h, 2h, 4h, 2h, 3h, 3h, 3h, 2h, 3h, 2h )
Flaperons: ( DONE! ) 23.5 hours spent ( 3h, 1h, 1h, 1h, 1.5h, 3h, 6h, 3h, 4h, 1h )
Paint Design: 2 hours spent ( 1h, 1h )
Elevator DONE!: ~31.5 hours spent ( 3h, 1.5h, 3h, .5h, 3.5h, 2h, 4h, 1.5h, 2h, 4.5h, 1h, 6h )
Horizontal Stabilizer DONE!: ~28 hours spent, 3 pieces replaced ( 3h, 2h, 2h, 2h, .5h, 1.5h, 3.5h, 1.5h, 5, 4.5, 2h, .5h )
Rudder DONE!, minus horn : ~16 hours spent, ( ~8h, ~8h )
-----------------------
Total Done: ~478h

2008-05-11T00:51:00.000-07:00

Saturday brought another two hours of work on the dashboard.

The upper ( "L" ) angle was drilled into place. The lower rivet lines of the top skin were also drilled into place.

In addition the top skin was trimmed per the plans.

After getting some unexpected time off, I have decided to fly the 150 to Oshkosh this year. The preliminary planning has started. It will be a long flight in the 150 as it cruises at only about 85MPH... about the same speed as the 701!

PROGRESS:
Fuselage ~215h ( 3h, 3h, 2h, 3h, 7h, 2h, 5h, 2h, 3h, 2h, 2h, 3h, 6h, 2h, 2h, 1.5h, 2.5h, 1h, 2h, 3h, 2h, 3h, 4h, 1h, 2h, 1h, 3h, 4h, 3h, 3h, 4h, 3h, 4h, 4h, 6h, 3h, 3h, 4h, 2h, 2h, 2h, 4h, 2h, 2h, 10h, 4h, 4h, 6h, 3h, 4h , 6h, 3h, 2h, 2h, 5h, 2h, 3h, 3h, 2h , 2h, 3h, 4h, 1h, 1h, 1h, 1h, 3h )
Wings: ~157.5h ( 1h, 1h, 0.5h, 2.5h, 4h, 1h, 1.5h, 1h, 1.5, 4.5, 1h, 1h, 2h, 4h, 1h, 3h, 1h, 2h, .5h, 1.5h, 2h, 2h, 2h, .5h, 1h, .5h, .5h, 2h,3h, 1h, 3h, 3h, 4h, 2h, 3h, 7h, 3h, 1h, 4h, 1h, 1h, 1h, 4h, 2h, 2h, 2h, 2h, 1h, 2h, 3h, 2h, 1h, 3h, 2h, 2h, 1h, 2h, 3h, 2h, 1h, 1h, 1.5, 2h, 2h, 3h, 2h, 1h, 3h, 2h, 1h, 2h, 1h, 5h, 2h, 1h, 2h, 4h, 2h, 3h, 3h, 3h, 2h, 3h, 2h )
Flaperons: ( DONE! ) 23.5 hours spent ( 3h, 1h, 1h, 1h, 1.5h, 3h, 6h, 3h, 4h, 1h )
Paint Design: 2 hours spent ( 1h, 1h )
Elevator DONE!: ~31.5 hours spent ( 3h, 1.5h, 3h, .5h, 3.5h, 2h, 4h, 1.5h, 2h, 4.5h, 1h, 6h )
Horizontal Stabilizer DONE!: ~28 hours spent, 3 pieces replaced ( 3h, 2h, 2h, 2h, .5h, 1.5h, 3.5h, 1.5h, 5, 4.5, 2h, .5h )
Rudder DONE!, minus horn : ~16 hours spent, ( ~8h, ~8h )
-----------------------
Total Done: ~477h

2008-05-05T00:11:00.000-07:00

A quick update -

It has been rare to find time into the garage but progress has been made. The top nose skin is now drilled into place along with the ("L") angles that line the tops of the side skins.

2008-04-06T01:30:00.000-07:00

Saturday night saw three hours of progress.

The first draft of layout for the instrument panel was done. I found various pictures of the planed instruments and then printed them out at actual size. Some items got a hand drawn picture as a placeholder. A single piece of tape was used for each "instrument" or "control" to hold it onto the panel. Everything is very easily repositioned.

The instrument plane's flange was also drilled in preparation for the dashboard, and a piece of ("L") was drilled into place that holds the instrument plane at equidistance from the firewall.

I laid out and cut 7F14-2 per the plans, and had to open up the holes to make it fit well. The holes extend too far forward and are too wide at the inside to be a perfect fit. A much better plan would have been to cut a template from cardboard THEN use that to make the real piece. In the end I am going to cover the dashboard anyway with upholstery, but anyone wanting to keep it as bare metal may want to take precautions.

The big issue of the night was with the instrument plane and some ("L") angle that runs from it forward. The basic idea of the piece is to be even along the top edge with 7F14-3, the forward side skin. The problem is that a crimp in the flange of the instrument plane would interfere with it.

The obvious solution seems to move the ("L") down ~10mm, but since 7F14-6R ( aluminum plate ) is already drilled into position, I can not trim the side skin to be even. Given the size of 7F14-4 ( top skin ) there may be enough play for it to not matter.

PROGRESS:
Fuselage ~211h ( 3h, 3h, 2h, 3h, 7h, 2h, 5h, 2h, 3h, 2h, 2h, 3h, 6h, 2h, 2h, 1.5h, 2.5h, 1h, 2h, 3h, 2h, 3h, 4h, 1h, 2h, 1h, 3h, 4h, 3h, 3h, 4h, 3h, 4h, 4h, 6h, 3h, 3h, 4h, 2h, 2h, 2h, 4h, 2h, 2h, 10h, 4h, 4h, 6h, 3h, 4h , 6h, 3h, 2h, 2h, 5h, 2h, 3h, 3h, 2h , 2h, 3h, 4h, 1h, 1h, 1h, 1h, 3h )
Wings: ~157.5h ( 1h, 1h, 0.5h, 2.5h, 4h, 1h, 1.5h, 1h, 1.5, 4.5, 1h, 1h, 2h, 4h, 1h, 3h, 1h, 2h, .5h, 1.5h, 2h, 2h, 2h, .5h, 1h, .5h, .5h, 2h,3h, 1h, 3h, 3h, 4h, 2h, 3h, 7h, 3h, 1h, 4h, 1h, 1h, 1h, 4h, 2h, 2h, 2h, 2h, 1h, 2h, 3h, 2h, 1h, 3h, 2h, 2h, 1h, 2h, 3h, 2h, 1h, 1h, 1.5, 2h, 2h, 3h, 2h, 1h, 3h, 2h, 1h, 2h, 1h, 5h, 2h, 1h, 2h, 4h, 2h, 3h, 3h, 3h, 3h )
Flaperons: ( DONE! ) 23.5 hours spent ( 3h, 1h, 1h, 1h, 1.5h, 3h, 6h, 3h, 4h, 1h )
Paint Design: 2 hours spent ( 1h, 1h )
Elevator DONE!: ~31.5 hours spent ( 3h, 1.5h, 3h, .5h, 3.5h, 2h, 4h, 1.5h, 2h, 4.5h, 1h, 6h )
Horizontal Stabilizer DONE!: ~28 hours spent, 3 pieces replaced ( 3h, 2h, 2h, 2h, .5h, 1.5h, 3.5h, 1.5h, 5, 4.5, 2h, .5h )
Rudder DONE!, minus horn : ~16 hours spent, ( ~8h, ~8h )
-----------------------
Total Done: ~473h

2008-03-30T23:46:00.000-07:00

Spent three hours working on the instrument panel.

The gussets that join the panel to the cabin frame were fabricated and drilled into place. The panel bottom channel ( 7F15-1 ) was also drilled into place.

First I would suggest drilling the channel into the panel first. This gives you a better idea of where the gussets should go.

Despite some careful initial fitting and measurement, the gussets ( 7F15-2 ) are a little further inside that I would like. By centering the panel channel first you can get a better idea of where the radius of the gusset should be.

Also you will have to trim the top of the gusset so it can clear the panel. The plans call for a line at 75mm up, but try making the line at ~100mm. Of course, your milage may vary.

PROGRESS:
Fuselage ~208h ( 3h, 3h, 2h, 3h, 7h, 2h, 5h, 2h, 3h, 2h, 2h, 3h, 6h, 2h, 2h, 1.5h, 2.5h, 1h, 2h, 3h, 2h, 3h, 4h, 1h, 2h, 1h, 3h, 4h, 3h, 3h, 4h, 3h, 4h, 4h, 6h, 3h, 3h, 4h, 2h, 2h, 2h, 4h, 2h, 2h, 10h, 4h, 4h, 6h, 3h, 4h , 6h, 3h, 2h, 2h, 5h, 2h, 3h, 3h, 2h , 2h, 3h, 4h, 1h, 1h, 1h, 1h, 3h )
Wings: ~157.5h ( 1h, 1h, 0.5h, 2.5h, 4h, 1h, 1.5h, 1h, 1.5, 4.5, 1h, 1h, 2h, 4h, 1h, 3h, 1h, 2h, .5h, 1.5h, 2h, 2h, 2h, .5h, 1h, .5h, .5h, 2h,3h, 1h, 3h, 3h, 4h, 2h, 3h, 7h, 3h, 1h, 4h, 1h, 1h, 1h, 4h, 2h, 2h, 2h, 2h, 1h, 2h, 3h, 2h, 1h, 3h, 2h, 2h, 1h, 2h, 3h, 2h, 1h, 1h, 1.5, 2h, 2h, 3h, 2h, 1h, 3h, 2h, 1h, 2h, 1h, 5h, 2h, 1h, 2h, 4h, 2h, 3h, 3h, 3h )
Flaperons: ( DONE! ) 23.5 hours spent ( 3h, 1h, 1h, 1h, 1.5h, 3h, 6h, 3h, 4h, 1h )
Paint Design: 2 hours spent ( 1h, 1h )
Elevator DONE!: ~31.5 hours spent ( 3h, 1.5h, 3h, .5h, 3.5h, 2h, 4h, 1.5h, 2h, 4.5h, 1h, 6h )
Horizontal Stabilizer DONE!: ~28 hours spent, 3 pieces replaced ( 3h, 2h, 2h, 2h, .5h, 1.5h, 3.5h, 1.5h, 5, 4.5, 2h, .5h )
Rudder DONE!, minus horn : ~16 hours spent, ( ~8h, ~8h )
-----------------------
Total Done: ~470h

2008-03-23T22:58:00.000-07:00

Got about an hour of work in. The ("Z") angle on the forward fuselage skin on the passenger side got measured, trimmed and drilled into place.

Once the initial rear hole is drilled into place and the position where it crosses the plate is determined, it is much easier to predrill the required holes into the channel, then drill into the fuselage skin.

The Rotax was finally uncrated ( mostly ). The shipping crate was secured in an unusual manner and required bending of metal to open. A quick inspection did not reveal anything missing or damaged.

PROGRESS:
Fuselage ~204h ( 3h, 3h, 2h, 3h, 7h, 2h, 5h, 2h, 3h, 2h, 2h, 3h, 6h, 2h, 2h, 1.5h, 2.5h, 1h, 2h, 3h, 2h, 3h, 4h, 1h, 2h, 1h, 3h, 4h, 3h, 3h, 4h, 3h, 4h, 4h, 6h, 3h, 3h, 4h, 2h, 2h, 2h, 4h, 2h, 2h, 10h, 4h, 4h, 6h, 3h, 4h , 6h, 3h, 2h, 2h, 5h, 2h, 3h, 3h, 2h , 2h, 3h, 4h, 1h, 1h, 1h )
Wings: ~157.5h ( 1h, 1h, 0.5h, 2.5h, 4h, 1h, 1.5h, 1h, 1.5, 4.5, 1h, 1h, 2h, 4h, 1h, 3h, 1h, 2h, .5h, 1.5h, 2h, 2h, 2h, .5h, 1h, .5h, .5h, 2h,3h, 1h, 3h, 3h, 4h, 2h, 3h, 7h, 3h, 1h, 4h, 1h, 1h, 1h, 4h, 2h, 2h, 2h, 2h, 1h, 2h, 3h, 2h, 1h, 3h, 2h, 2h, 1h, 2h, 3h, 2h, 1h, 1h, 1.5, 2h, 2h, 3h, 2h, 1h, 3h, 2h, 1h, 2h, 1h, 5h, 2h, 1h, 2h, 4h, 2h, 3h, 3h, 3h )
Flaperons: ( DONE! ) 23.5 hours spent ( 3h, 1h, 1h, 1h, 1.5h, 3h, 6h, 3h, 4h, 1h )
Paint Design: 2 hours spent ( 1h, 1h )
Elevator DONE!: ~31.5 hours spent ( 3h, 1.5h, 3h, .5h, 3.5h, 2h, 4h, 1.5h, 2h, 4.5h, 1h, 6h )
Horizontal Stabilizer DONE!: ~28 hours spent, 3 pieces replaced ( 3h, 2h, 2h, 2h, .5h, 1.5h, 3.5h, 1.5h, 5, 4.5, 2h, .5h )
Rudder DONE!, minus horn : ~16 hours spent, ( ~8h, ~8h )
-----------------------
Total Done: ~466h

2008-03-19T21:22:00.000-07:00

Finally got some flying in!

Takeoff from Boeing Field from John Marzulli on Vimeo.

2008-03-15T23:47:00.000-07:00

I spent about an hour on the fuselage. First we finished drilling the side skin extrusions into the nose skin, then we trimmed and drilled into place the upper ("Z") length that runs along the nose skin.

It turns out that the best way to approach the placement is to drill the aft most hole, then have a help hold the piece AND provide a buttress on the outside while you drill from the inside.

Also one of our EAA chapter members held a project visit today for their very nice looking 5151. Metal really dominates building so seeing how a wood project goes together was refreshing.

PROGRESS:
Fuselage ~203h ( 3h, 3h, 2h, 3h, 7h, 2h, 5h, 2h, 3h, 2h, 2h, 3h, 6h, 2h, 2h, 1.5h, 2.5h, 1h, 2h, 3h, 2h, 3h, 4h, 1h, 2h, 1h, 3h, 4h, 3h, 3h, 4h, 3h, 4h, 4h, 6h, 3h, 3h, 4h, 2h, 2h, 2h, 4h, 2h, 2h, 10h, 4h, 4h, 6h, 3h, 4h , 6h, 3h, 2h, 2h, 5h, 2h, 3h, 3h, 2h , 2h, 3h, 4h, 1h, 1h )
Wings: ~157.5h ( 1h, 1h, 0.5h, 2.5h, 4h, 1h, 1.5h, 1h, 1.5, 4.5, 1h, 1h, 2h, 4h, 1h, 3h, 1h, 2h, .5h, 1.5h, 2h, 2h, 2h, .5h, 1h, .5h, .5h, 2h,3h, 1h, 3h, 3h, 4h, 2h, 3h, 7h, 3h, 1h, 4h, 1h, 1h, 1h, 4h, 2h, 2h, 2h, 2h, 1h, 2h, 3h, 2h, 1h, 3h, 2h, 2h, 1h, 2h, 3h, 2h, 1h, 1h, 1.5, 2h, 2h, 3h, 2h, 1h, 3h, 2h, 1h, 2h, 1h, 5h, 2h, 1h, 2h, 4h, 2h, 3h, 3h, 3h )
Flaperons: ( DONE! ) 23.5 hours spent ( 3h, 1h, 1h, 1h, 1.5h, 3h, 6h, 3h, 4h, 1h )
Paint Design: 2 hours spent ( 1h, 1h )
Elevator DONE!: ~31.5 hours spent ( 3h, 1.5h, 3h, .5h, 3.5h, 2h, 4h, 1.5h, 2h, 4.5h, 1h, 6h )
Horizontal Stabilizer DONE!: ~28 hours spent, 3 pieces replaced ( 3h, 2h, 2h, 2h, .5h, 1.5h, 3.5h, 1.5h, 5, 4.5, 2h, .5h )
Rudder DONE!, minus horn : ~16 hours spent, ( ~8h, ~8h )
-----------------------
Total Done: ~465h

2008-03-08T23:30:00.000-08:00

Saturday was the first building session attempted since the birth.

I reconfirmed the positioning of 7F14-6 on the pilot and passenger side and then laid out the drill holes on the extrusion that extends from the fuselage sides.

Instead of drilling from the outside as was suggested by the HBH video, I ended up drilling from the inside to ensure edge distances.

At first I took a contortionist's approach by laying on the seats with my elbow resting on the floor pan, but I realized that I could simply sit on the edge of the workbench and lean in.

PROGRESS:
Fuselage ~203h ( 3h, 3h, 2h, 3h, 7h, 2h, 5h, 2h, 3h, 2h, 2h, 3h, 6h, 2h, 2h, 1.5h, 2.5h, 1h, 2h, 3h, 2h, 3h, 4h, 1h, 2h, 1h, 3h, 4h, 3h, 3h, 4h, 3h, 4h, 4h, 6h, 3h, 3h, 4h, 2h, 2h, 2h, 4h, 2h, 2h, 10h, 4h, 4h, 6h, 3h, 4h , 6h, 3h, 2h, 2h, 5h, 2h, 3h, 3h, 2h , 2h, 3h, 4h, 1h, 1h )
Wings: ~157.5h ( 1h, 1h, 0.5h, 2.5h, 4h, 1h, 1.5h, 1h, 1.5, 4.5, 1h, 1h, 2h, 4h, 1h, 3h, 1h, 2h, .5h, 1.5h, 2h, 2h, 2h, .5h, 1h, .5h, .5h, 2h,3h, 1h, 3h, 3h, 4h, 2h, 3h, 7h, 3h, 1h, 4h, 1h, 1h, 1h, 4h, 2h, 2h, 2h, 2h, 1h, 2h, 3h, 2h, 1h, 3h, 2h, 2h, 1h, 2h, 3h, 2h, 1h, 1h, 1.5, 2h, 2h, 3h, 2h, 1h, 3h, 2h, 1h, 2h, 1h, 5h, 2h, 1h, 2h, 4h, 2h, 3h, 3h, 3h )
Flaperons: ( DONE! ) 23.5 hours spent ( 3h, 1h, 1h, 1h, 1.5h, 3h, 6h, 3h, 4h, 1h )
Paint Design: 2 hours spent ( 1h, 1h )
Elevator DONE!: ~31.5 hours spent ( 3h, 1.5h, 3h, .5h, 3.5h, 2h, 4h, 1.5h, 2h, 4.5h, 1h, 6h )
Horizontal Stabilizer DONE!: ~28 hours spent, 3 pieces replaced ( 3h, 2h, 2h, 2h, .5h, 1.5h, 3.5h, 1.5h, 5, 4.5, 2h, .5h )
Rudder DONE!, minus horn : ~16 hours spent, ( ~8h, ~8h )
-----------------------
Total Done: ~465h

2008-03-07T00:53:00.000-08:00

We just had another delivery today. Only this baby eats premium gasoline, is Austrian, makes 100hp instead of diapers, and weighs 160lbs.

2008-03-04T17:12:00.001-08:00

So it will be some time before the plane gets worked on again. My wife just finished a nine month long project, and we just started a project that will take a minimum of 18 years...

http://www.genevievemarzulli.org/

2008-02-19T00:29:00.000-08:00

Most of Monday night was spent doing the inventory for the remaining FWF shipment. There were a few small parts back ordered, and I accidentally received the 601 equivalent part... but most of it was there. The cowling is night and smooth, really slick looking.

The actual hour of work logged was getting the aluminum plate measure and clamped into place before hitting a realization about needing to drill the side skins partially into the firewall for a smooth fit.

PROGRESS:
Fuselage ~202h ( 3h, 3h, 2h, 3h, 7h, 2h, 5h, 2h, 3h, 2h, 2h, 3h, 6h, 2h, 2h, 1.5h, 2.5h, 1h, 2h, 3h, 2h, 3h, 4h, 1h, 2h, 1h, 3h, 4h, 3h, 3h, 4h, 3h, 4h, 4h, 6h, 3h, 3h, 4h, 2h, 2h, 2h, 4h, 2h, 2h, 10h, 4h, 4h, 6h, 3h, 4h , 6h, 3h, 2h, 2h, 5h, 2h, 3h, 3h, 2h , 2h, 3h, 4h, 1h )
Wings: ~157.5h ( 1h, 1h, 0.5h, 2.5h, 4h, 1h, 1.5h, 1h, 1.5, 4.5, 1h, 1h, 2h, 4h, 1h, 3h, 1h, 2h, .5h, 1.5h, 2h, 2h, 2h, .5h, 1h, .5h, .5h, 2h,3h, 1h, 3h, 3h, 4h, 2h, 3h, 7h, 3h, 1h, 4h, 1h, 1h, 1h, 4h, 2h, 2h, 2h, 2h, 1h, 2h, 3h, 2h, 1h, 3h, 2h, 2h, 1h, 2h, 3h, 2h, 1h, 1h, 1.5, 2h, 2h, 3h, 2h, 1h, 3h, 2h, 1h, 2h, 1h, 5h, 2h, 1h, 2h, 4h, 2h, 3h, 3h, 3h )
Flaperons: ( DONE! ) 23.5 hours spent ( 3h, 1h, 1h, 1h, 1.5h, 3h, 6h, 3h, 4h, 1h )
Paint Design: 2 hours spent ( 1h, 1h )
Elevator DONE!: ~31.5 hours spent ( 3h, 1.5h, 3h, .5h, 3.5h, 2h, 4h, 1.5h, 2h, 4.5h, 1h, 6h )
Horizontal Stabilizer DONE!: ~28 hours spent, 3 pieces replaced ( 3h, 2h, 2h, 2h, .5h, 1.5h, 3.5h, 1.5h, 5, 4.5, 2h, .5h )
Rudder DONE!, minus horn : ~16 hours spent, ( ~8h, ~8h )
-----------------------
Total Done: ~464h

2008-02-17T00:32:00.000-08:00

Saturday night we trimmed and drilled into place the ("Z") angle that runs along the floor and the ("L") angle that supports the forward skins right above that.

The ("Z") was fairly easy, except I had to remove the firewall to slip the ("Z") in. Replacing the side skin and the firewall took effort as nothing wanted to line up initially.

The side skin support angles were another story.

Wanting a tight fit, the ("L") was crimped before it was drilled into place so the end point that connected to the firewall would be just right.

The problem with this is the actually accessing of the point. I had to crawl into the cabin at a crazy angle such that my shoulder was resting on the floor panels, but my hip was on the seat.

PROGRESS:
Fuselage ~201h ( 3h, 3h, 2h, 3h, 7h, 2h, 5h, 2h, 3h, 2h, 2h, 3h, 6h, 2h, 2h, 1.5h, 2.5h, 1h, 2h, 3h, 2h, 3h, 4h, 1h, 2h, 1h, 3h, 4h, 3h, 3h, 4h, 3h, 4h, 4h, 6h, 3h, 3h, 4h, 2h, 2h, 2h, 4h, 2h, 2h, 10h, 4h, 4h, 6h, 3h, 4h , 6h, 3h, 2h, 2h, 5h, 2h, 3h, 3h, 2h , 2h, 3h, 4h )
Wings: ~157.5h ( 1h, 1h, 0.5h, 2.5h, 4h, 1h, 1.5h, 1h, 1.5, 4.5, 1h, 1h, 2h, 4h, 1h, 3h, 1h, 2h, .5h, 1.5h, 2h, 2h, 2h, .5h, 1h, .5h, .5h, 2h,3h, 1h, 3h, 3h, 4h, 2h, 3h, 7h, 3h, 1h, 4h, 1h, 1h, 1h, 4h, 2h, 2h, 2h, 2h, 1h, 2h, 3h, 2h, 1h, 3h, 2h, 2h, 1h, 2h, 3h, 2h, 1h, 1h, 1.5, 2h, 2h, 3h, 2h, 1h, 3h, 2h, 1h, 2h, 1h, 5h, 2h, 1h, 2h, 4h, 2h, 3h, 3h, 3h )
Flaperons: ( DONE! ) 23.5 hours spent ( 3h, 1h, 1h, 1h, 1.5h, 3h, 6h, 3h, 4h, 1h )
Paint Design: 2 hours spent ( 1h, 1h )
Elevator DONE!: ~31.5 hours spent ( 3h, 1.5h, 3h, .5h, 3.5h, 2h, 4h, 1.5h, 2h, 4.5h, 1h, 6h )
Horizontal Stabilizer DONE!: ~28 hours spent, 3 pieces replaced ( 3h, 2h, 2h, 2h, .5h, 1.5h, 3.5h, 1.5h, 5, 4.5, 2h, .5h )
Rudder DONE!, minus horn : ~16 hours spent, ( ~8h, ~8h )
-----------------------
Total Done: ~463h

2008-02-11T00:47:00.001-08:00

Friday, Saturday, Sunday - Work picked back up. The engine mount finally got drilled into the firewall and into the V-Brace. After that work started on the forward side skins. These were easy, but I found that the bottom edge of the skins will interfere the forward most rivets of the extrusion.

The trick to achieving a good fit is to have someone pushing on the skin while a second person drills.

Before I can drill the supporting Z-Angle into the side skins I will have to do some amount of trimming so the engine mount can hold the firewall into position.

PROGRESS:
Fuselage ~197h ( 3h, 3h, 2h, 3h, 7h, 2h, 5h, 2h, 3h, 2h, 2h, 3h, 6h, 2h, 2h, 1.5h, 2.5h, 1h, 2h, 3h, 2h, 3h, 4h, 1h, 2h, 1h, 3h, 4h, 3h, 3h, 4h, 3h, 4h, 4h, 6h, 3h, 3h, 4h, 2h, 2h, 2h, 4h, 2h, 2h, 10h, 4h, 4h, 6h, 3h, 4h , 6h, 3h, 2h, 2h, 5h, 2h, 3h, 3h, 2h , 2h, 3h )
Wings: ~157.5h ( 1h, 1h, 0.5h, 2.5h, 4h, 1h, 1.5h, 1h, 1.5, 4.5, 1h, 1h, 2h, 4h, 1h, 3h, 1h, 2h, .5h, 1.5h, 2h, 2h, 2h, .5h, 1h, .5h, .5h, 2h,3h, 1h, 3h, 3h, 4h, 2h, 3h, 7h, 3h, 1h, 4h, 1h, 1h, 1h, 4h, 2h, 2h, 2h, 2h, 1h, 2h, 3h, 2h, 1h, 3h, 2h, 2h, 1h, 2h, 3h, 2h, 1h, 1h, 1.5, 2h, 2h, 3h, 2h, 1h, 3h, 2h, 1h, 2h, 1h, 5h, 2h, 1h, 2h, 4h, 2h, 3h, 3h, 3h )
Flaperons: ( DONE! ) 23.5 hours spent ( 3h, 1h, 1h, 1h, 1.5h, 3h, 6h, 3h, 4h, 1h )
Paint Design: 2 hours spent ( 1h, 1h )
Elevator DONE!: ~31.5 hours spent ( 3h, 1.5h, 3h, .5h, 3.5h, 2h, 4h, 1.5h, 2h, 4.5h, 1h, 6h )
Horizontal Stabilizer DONE!: ~28 hours spent, 3 pieces replaced ( 3h, 2h, 2h, 2h, .5h, 1.5h, 3.5h, 1.5h, 5, 4.5, 2h, .5h )
Rudder DONE!, minus horn : ~16 hours spent, ( ~8h, ~8h )
-----------------------
Total Done: ~459h