Author Archives: Michael

Prop Governor Cable

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Time: 1 Hour

Now that the cables are run through the firewall I can start the process of connecting them to the parts of the engine they control. First up was the propellor governor control. My engine will power a constant speed propellor that will adjust its blade angle via oil pressure to maintain a desired RPM. That RPM is set using the cable connected to the governor. On this end of the cable you screw a rod end onto it. This rod end has a bearing that rotates about a bolt as the arm on the governor rotates. The challenge is the bolt needs to go through one direction so that it does not interfere with the arm rotation and hit the screws on the governor. This required me to remove the safety wire and screw holding the arm in place. Then I slid the arm almost off but not all the way. This little bit of room was enough to slip the bolt, rod end and the various washers that are required into position. With the cable end attached I could secure it to the governor cable bracket and adjust the length. The cable operates smooth with a little binding at the quadrant itself. I may need to make a little bend in the arm after examining closer later.

Control Cable Bracket

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Time: 4 Hours

Since I have used an alternate throttle quadrant from DMJ and placed it aft of where the stock controls would go I have to fabricate a cable support. The cables need a anchor point so that they can function properly and not move as the controls are moved. I followed my buddy Glenn’s lead and created one similar to his. It started with some basic measurements for where I would mount it. I used one of the three cables to line up the cable end and make a measurement how far forward of the quadrant I would need to mount the bracket. Once I had these measurements I sketched these out on a piece of some aluminum angle. With the band saw, files and my 3M wheels I got it in the shape I designed. I mounting this bracket to the side wall angle that would have been used by the stock arm rest/throttle quadrant. I drilled two holes in the bracket followed by match drilling through them into the side wall angle. Two AN3 bolts secured the bracket to the angle. I ran the three cables, throttle, mixture and propellor, through the firewall openings, through the gear tower and then the bracket. I secured the cables on the bracket with the supplied nuts and star washer. The ends of the three cables have a threaded section for a clevis and jam nut to screw onto. Them the clevis gets a pin through the hole in it and the hole in the quadrants arms. I put the pins in temporally to get the fitment tested. Once I connect the other ends and test the operation I will secure the pins in the clevis with cotter pins. As the cables pass through the gear tower I will place snap bushings that I will cut a split into. These bushings will snap over the cable and then I will slide them into place. Where the cables pass through the firewall I have “eyeball” pass throughs. These needed to be drilled to a larger diameter to accept the cables. I removed the eyeball and drilled them in a vice and cleaned all the edges up before putting them on the cables and securing them to the firewall.

Aileron Boots

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Time: 1 Hour

One complaint with Vans aircraft is sometimes they can be crafty and let cooler air in via some of the holes required in the fuselage. Two of the bigger holes are where the aileron control rods go from the fuselage to the wings. These holes can allow a lot of air to work it’s way into the fuselage. So Abby at Flightline Interiors, who I bought the carpet kit for the RV-8, also make boots that cover this area and allow the control rods to move freely. They are easy to install and have a slot down the side that is secured with Velcro allowing them to be installed after the rods are already in place. They have a plastic disk that has Velcro to attach them to the fuselage side wall. So another little task is complete and hopefully these help keep us warm on our future flights.

Elevator Trim

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Time: 2 Hours

I have had the elevator electric trim motor since I bought the tail kit so that I could work the mount it needed into the right elevator. During the time I was installing most of the wiring I ran the necessary wires, shielded 5 wire, to the horizontal stabilizer. I just had it bundled up where it exited the horizontals rear spar. I decided to get that wiring finished up since I will be installing that elevator soon. I’m using the Deans micro connectors commonly used in the remote control toy world. These need to be soldered to make the wire connections and are perfect for these small wires. I planned on running the wire from the stabilizer through a snap bushing that is in the elevator with enough to hang out the opening where the trim motor gets screwed in. That way I could mount the elevator and have the wires/connectors easily accessible so I could make the connections before mounting the motor. The extra slack in the wires can be easily tucked to the side of the motor as it’s is mounted. After a quick test the the motor functioned correctly I completed the wire connections with shrink tube to protect the joints. I installed the motor into the elevator and temporally installed the elevator. Dynon has a setup and calibration for the trim to identify the full travel of the motor in both directions. Once that’s done you are good to go minus identifying the trim location for takeoff. That will come later during flight testing. Once that’s done I will set that position in the Dynon setup and a green line will show on the trim indication so you can easily set takeoff trim. Here is a video of the trim as I move it through it’s full up and down travel. https://www.rv8-hangar.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/img_2504.trim-1.mov

Wings Back On

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Time: 6 Hours

We have been busy getting all the things done in the new home to make it ours. Like ripping up old ceramic tile to make way for new hardwood. That was not a fun project but it’s all ripped up and ready for the installers. In-between that work I have been doing little projects in the hangar to get it organized. I also got my hands on the RV to start building again. One of the items I was unhappy with when I put the wings on the first time was the length of the wire bundles coming out of the wings. I found them to be a little short to work on with the tight space you end up with when the wings are on. So since I had the wings off again I decided to add 12″ to each of the bundles to give me plenty of length. I also figured that I would finish up the little bit of fiberglass tasks to the control surfaces, the rudder and elevators. I just needed to fill some pin holes and smooth the transitions out a little. A composite pro I am not and hope to get some help when it comes painting time to make these perfect. I used some filler primer to identify the holes and used Super-Fil to make the corrections. With the rudder pin holes taken care of and a coat of primer on I put the rudder on the vertical stabilizer and bolted it in place. I also put the AeroLED tail light in as well.I then spent two hours putting in the new close tolerance bolts in to secure the wings…again. The process was just the same as before, I froze the bolts and used LPS lubricant. The rivet gun at low pressure worked to drive them into position. The hardest part of the whole ordeal, as before, was to torque the bolts. I worked one bolt and then took a little break as leaning over the side wall of the fuselage even with padding was not very comfortable. So that’s a good start to being in my very own hangar that’s ten feet from my back door! I can not wait to be able to just walk out and go for a flight or a trip.