Author Archives: Michael

SkyBolt Install

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Time: 8 Hours

I need to explain to those who are unfamiliar with how the RV-8 has its fiberglass cowl attached to the aluminum fuselage. The stock way of doing this is with piano hinge mated to the aluminum and fiberglass using the center pin to hold both halves tight together. This has worked well on thousands of RV’s out flying. There are challenges to this method, including difficulty getting the pin in and out when removing or replacing the cowl. Especially along the top and bottom of the cowl due to the curve. Another option out there is to use the Skybolt fastening system like many production aircraft. Even the Lear 45 I fly has similar fasteners holding the avionics doors in place. The Skybolt system uses receptacles mated on the fuselage and spring loaded pins mated on the fiberglass. When the two parts are brought together the pins get pushed in and turned to lock into the receptacle. These make installing and removing the cowling incredibly easy and reduce the risk of chipping/scratching the paint that’s usually associated with the hinges. I decided early into my build that I like the look of these fasteners and would use them on my RV-8. So like many projects in the build in order to do one task there are always other tasks that need to be finished first. I started out wanting to seal the firewall inside the baggage area and realized that I needed to have the Skybolt tabs riveted in place first. So that’s what led me to this task. Show my goal was to get The tabs riveted along the top curved edge of the firewall leaving the sides for later. The cowls have two main sections when it comes to the Skybolts, the perimeter of the firewall and to sides of the cowl the run from the nose aft to the firewall. The goal will be for the aft Skybolt of the sides, running from the nose aft to the firewall, will be in sync with the perimeter Skybolts. That way everything looks symmetrical, this will be much easier to show later on in the billed as I get to that stage. But for now I have to do a lot of planning so that that winds up. I will have some lead way in moving the tabs to get that all to work if I leave one or two tabs above the center line open. Those will be able to be moved or spaced so that all line up just right. For now I just need to be close so that a 1/8″ here or there won’t be noticed to get the spacing right. So for now I started working on the tabs which included cleaning up the edges and countersinking the holes that will attach the receptacles.

To start I’m going to center one tab, dead center of the top of the firewall. From there I will work my way outboard until I get to the sides and see how the spacing looks.

As I worked my way outboard I need to find out a rough area for the centerline of the cowl. I got a pretty close location mark with the help of my buddy Glenn. With that mark I was able to figure out the line that would represent the centerline of the Skybolts that will be above the cowl centerline.

With that one tab set I adjusted my spacing on the remaining tabs between this one and the top one to get even spacing. Once I was happy with this I removed the two lower tabs on both sides as I will drill those later. Then I match drilled the tabs with the firewall and forward skin.

I marked each tab with a piece of tape and a number so that I could replace them exactly where they go. After drilling I remove them all and deburred the holes. I also countersunk all the holes on the forward skin for flash rivets. After all the tabs were returned to their correct spots I used my pneumatic squeezer to rivet them all in place. Keep in mind I left the lower couple of rivets on the lowest tabs out so that I could get the next tab in place once I need to. My goal is that I will have some wiggle room up or down with the remaining tabs to get them aligned with the ones that will be on the cowl sides. That way they all look symmetrical. I made quick work of riveting the tabs in place after getting all the holes cleaned up.

After those were finished I moved to the bottom of the firewall. Here there are two small areas that would normally have small hinge sections but will now have two Skybolts.

I added a small piece of .032″ aluminum to the corners to close up the gap that will be between the cowl and firewall. It should also help align everything when installing the cowl. I cleaned up all these holes and got them riveted as well. Slow progress only because I have so little to do and 55 days until I go build my engine.

Wingtip Lenses Done

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Time: 4 Hours

So after I had the lenses cut, sanded and fit to the opening with a little extra gap I placed a layer of electrical tape over the edges of the lenses to do some fill work. I then screwed them back in place and use some epoxy/fiber-fil to fill the irregular gap to get a nice match to the lenses.

After that cured I removed the lenses and cleaned of the fill with sandpaper. I reinstalled the lenses to check the new fit and they look great! Very little lip to be felt as you run your hand over them. This will change with temperature as the plastic will expand and contract. But for me they are perfect!

I removed them once again as well as the nav light hardware I left on the left wing tip. This way I could prime them with a light coat to find pin holes.

I found a few pin holes and some irregular spots so I filled them with Super-Fill, sanded and re-primed. After the primer set up I reinstalled the NAV lights, Taxi/Landing lights and lenses for storage.

Engine

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Time: 0 Hours

We made our annual trek to the greatest aviation gathering on the planet, EAA's AirVenture, to get our yearly aviation fix. As always the show never disappoints and we had a blast camping for 12 days. Each year I have one main goal with regards to my RV-8 build. This year was no different, the goal was to secure an engine. I have been looking at several different options over the last year and decided on AeroSport Power. They have a solid reputation on engine builds (they have over 2000 out flying now) and customized the engine for me. It will be the IO-375-M1S putting out between 195 and 200 HP. It will have a Superior case, heads, pistons, ECI crank (375) dual P-Mags, Precision Silver Hawk fuel injection, Sky Tec high torque starter, Plane Power internal regulated alternator, roller lifter camshaft, cold air oil sump, duel color paint, chrome package and several other items. I plan to attend their facility in Kamloops, Canada to attend the build school which allows me to help build my engine. This will probably take place in November depending on the kits arrival times. To say this was a huge step for the build is an understatement! Thanks to my girl, T, for helping keep me motivated with her her excitement and enthusiasm for the build!
Here are a few shots of our trip.

Wing Tip Lenses Take 2

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Time: 6 Hours

Ok it’s been a while since my last post. Life sometimes gets in the way and that’s ok especially since my available project items are dwindling down as I wait for an engine purchase. I have been excited to get back in the shop and get back to building. The process of adjusting and cutting the lens to shape and sanding to final fit was the same as the last post. 

Once I got them to a very close final fit I drilled for two screws, one on the top and one on the bottom, so that I could ensure they return to the same spot as I removed for sanding. 

Once I had the fit perfect I worked on the nutplates for the screws. I tried blind riveting the nutplates in place with countersunk blind rivets. I just wasn’t happy with how they were fitting so I turned to another idea. I just clecoed the nutplates in place and covered them with epoxy/flox which cures extremely strong. After they cured I countersunk the lens for a #6 screw and put them in place. 

The fit was great and the flox worked perfectly. I had to careful with the nutplate placement so they didn’t interfere with the landing light attach points. I then removed the lenses and filled the drillled holes from the blind rivets with Super Fill. 

I will sand those areas down and reprime the tips to find any pin holes. After that I’ll reinstall the lights, lenses and tips back on the wings for storage. 

Wing Tip Lens

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Time: 4 Hours

Now that I had the landing/taxi, NAV and strobe lights installed I broke out the lens that cover this area. Vans sends these as on piece that needs to separated for the left and right side. The material feels flexible and not like plastic so I did some tests using snips to cut based on other builders experience. They worked perfect and I separated the two halfs easily. They are way to big and need to be cut down to fit your opening. I started with the right wingtip and positioned the lens over the opening until I had a good shape and the curve matched the wingtip. I taped in place and use masking tape to mark the edge of the cutout. 

Are use the snips to cut along this line for the bottom cut.  With that edge nested after being cut I then worked on the other edge. 

After I had both edges cut are used sandpaper to fine-tune and get the lens to nest all the way around the opening. Once I was happy with that I drilled two holes to hold them in place as I continue to work the shape.

I cleaned up the edges so they sat within the lip all the way around. I was pretty happy with most of the fit except a few areas that had a very slight gap under the lens where it didn’t sit flat on the wingtip. What I decided would be the easiest fix for this was to sand all the fiberglass on the lip, wax the inside of the lens, apply a thin layer of epoxy/fairing filler to the tip and put the lens back in place. I applied tape to the edge to edge and buttered the lip with the epoxy and put the lens in place. 

This should match the inside edge of the lens to the fiberglass and make a solid fit.  I let them cure overnight and started the process of removing the lenses. I used a pop sickle stick to slide under the lens and work my around the lens. The left side released without any issues and looked great however when I worked the right side it was a different story. When I got to the lower side I heard a pop and noticed that the lens cracked at the drilled hole followed by another right next to it, that lens was finished. So rather than fretting this I just jumped on the laptop and ordered another set of lenses from Vans. I then sanded all the edges of the wingtip to remove the epoxy I just put on so I can start over with the new ones. I’m thinking this time I’ll live with the little amount of play I have rather than risk cracking another lens. I takes Vans about a week to ship things to my house so I decided to do some serious shop space cleaning and removed a lot of stock/supplies that I just no longer need. It’s amazing how much dust is created with composite materials! It took 8 days for the lens to come so I’ll be back at it soon. I also ordered a axle nut wrench that Vans cuts and you rivet together. I will keep this in my aircraft tool bag so I can change a tire on the road. 

It’s Easter break with my kids this week and taking a much needed break the following week to join my girl in Kona, HI after her weeklong program is over at the end of this week. It’s been kinda nice having only a few little tasks left to do on the RV which forces me to enjoy other things around me! I’ll be back to being supper busy building after I order and receive my engine from AeroSport power. The goal is to order it around the end of June and attend their build school sometime September/October timeframe.