Author Archives: Michael

Tail Top Skin

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Time: 4 Hours

I gathered up all my tools and prepped the tail for riveting. Climbing in and out of the tail wasn’t an easy task and I wanted to minimize that as much as possible. I grabbed several bucking bars, the ones I thought I might use and my hearing protection. I placed a work light down in the tail to help see all the areas. Glenn volunteered to run the gun while I was squeezed into the tail. We worked from the center at the top and riveted the support ribs working outboard on each side. As we did those we worked aft along the seam on both sides.  

   It took around 4 hours as we took a couple of breaks since the bell crank was right in my lower back. I placed a couple of movers blankets to soften it out a bit but it was still uncomfortable! I could have removed the bell crank but all those washers are a real pain in the butt so I opted for discomfort. No drill outs needed and they all looked great!  
   The aft most support I could do from outside as will as the forward most.  
   One reason I hate skipping ahead in the plans is that no matter how hard I try to mark and remember items I always seam to forget them. The aft deck, where the horizontal stab lies is just one case. I put off riveting it to make it easier to shape the up and down stops of the elevators. Fast forward to now and I just finished riveting the top skin on and the deck wasn’t finished! What this caused was for me to get a little creative on how to rivet it on but it got done. After that task was done I was able to place the HS into its final position and bolt it down. This meant climbing back into the tail so that I could torque the bolts.  
     

  

  

  

 After climbing out I got to climb right back in to put the ELT antanae back in place. Good thing is I’m getting pretty good a sliding in and out of the tail although that’s not a task I wanted to be good at!  Big step finished and it’s starting to resemble an airplane again!  

  

Right Side Console

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Time: 6 Hours

I finished up the right side console that matches the left minus the throttle quadrant hole. This one was a bit easier as I had the knowledge from the left. It turned out just as nice and I’m guessing I will need a little fine tuning as I get all the parts together.  

    
 

 After I finished up the fabrication work I primed the top and screwed them together to see how they both looked.  
 I think these will work! Now on to prepping the tail so that we can rivet the top skin on finally. I removed all the shells that I had made along with the ELT and rear stick and set those aside.  

 My buddy Glenn saved his wood inserts from his first aircraft so I’m using his rather that making my own. These plywood pieces rest on the lower longeron’s and gives you a place to lay while climbing in the tail to do the bucking.  

      

   There won’t be a lot of room in there! 

 

Left Side Console

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Time: 6 Hours

I wanted to start the work on the pilot armrest/consoles that will house the throttle quadrant and switches. This is a modification and not the stock plan. Before I started this I had a few items to finish up. I needed to put the side panel in that covers up the battery area. Before I did that I drilled for a 6 place fuse block that will get mounted to this panel. I decided to use fuses for the seat warmers based on the advise of Vertical Power due to the flucuation power needs. I had to remove the rudder pedals to get it in.  

   I also drilled and screwed down the ELT speaker to the cross member behind the instrument panel.  
 I mounted the second Dynon hub in the right side floor bay.  

   So now on to the throttle quadrant and the attachment peices. The plan is to attach the throttle quadrant to the spar cap that runs along the sides vertically. I needed to cut a couple of peices of 1.5″ angle to make a mounting brackets. I figured out the outside edge distance for the throttle and came up 1/4″ space from the cap to the inside of the angle. I used a 1/4″ drill bit as a spacer so I could match drill the angles to the cap.  
    
 I then clamped the throttle to the angles. I won’t drill this until I make the top shelf and figure out the exact placement.  

   Glenn was nice enough to let me use his templates for his consoles to make the cuts much easier.  
    
 I made a angle out of sheet to rivet to the side panel of the instrument panel to attach the side console to.  

 I took me better part of an hour to file down the top for a good fit. Once I was happy I laid out a rivet line for screws to attach it to the side and top and drilled the top. Using the holes I just drilled I match drilled the side angle and top angle supports. I then clecko’ed the top in place and checked the fit.  

   I didn’t trim up the outside edge yet as I will wait for the side skin for this console so that I can make a nice clean corner. To attach the side I need a angle that I will rivet to the top and have nutplates to screw the side to.  
   I countersunk the rivet holes in the angles and dimpled the top skin for flush rivets. I figured out the exact placement of the throttle quadrant and clamped it in place. I marked two holes to line up the holes in the center of the attach angles. I then drilled them with a #30 then a #12 for AN-3 bolts. I removed the angles and drilled and countersunk for nutplates. I riveted nutplates to the forward and side angle for #8 screws. I then laid out the side panel on my sheet and cut it out on the band saw. I cleaned up all the edges so I wouldn’t scratch anything in the cockpit as I knew I would be moving it in and out a lot as I fine tuned the size. I can up with a screw hole lay out and marked them for drilling, starting with a #30 bit so I could match drill the angles.  

   After drilling the holes in the side skin I carefully held it in place along the console and started match drilling and starting from the front and working my way aft. I made a bend to match the top as it gets narrower going aft. I also made a bend at the aft end to match the existing structure. I measured the placement of the friction lock at the bottom of the throttle quadrant and drilled a hole for it.  
    
   I’m real happy with how the left side turned out! I’m looking forward to filling up the top section with switches and controls. 

COM Antenna’s & ARINC Shelf

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Time: 4 Hours

I made it out to the hangar today for a few hours to work on the COM antenna placement. I wanted to jump ahead to this task so I could know where exactly I could place the shelf I would make for housing the ARINC module. This module will convert signals from a certified GPS, like the Garmin 650, to the Dynon Skyview system. I had an idea of where I wanted to place this shelf inside the bay where the #1 COM antennae will be. So decided to start with the shelf. My idea was to keep it as low as possible to the floor so as to remain clear if the rudder cables. I planned on using some 1/2″ x 3/4″ angle with a piece of 0.040″ sheet on top with the ends bent down to give me a place to rivet it to the angles. I gave myself extra space with the size to make sure I had the correct spacing for the attachment hardware. I drilled all the river holes and clecko’ed it all together. 

    
    
   I moved onto the COM antenna’s for the two COM radios. I had bought these two antennas at Oshkosh this year.  I was lucky enough to have my buddy Glenn put his wings on his RV-8 so that we could finalize the exact placement of our antennas so that they didn’t interfere with the flaps.  Since I had that new measurement I laid out where I want to drill the holes.  I used my step bit and drilled a half inch hole for both antennas. I used the rivet lines of the bottom skin to create a centerline that I could use as a reference to make sure the antennas were straight with the centerline of the fuselage. I made a mark on the leading edge and trailing edge of the antenna base to line up with the line I put on the skin. With the antenna in place him in line I drilled the four holes for the attachment hardware.  I clecko’ed the antennas in place after all the holes were drilled. 
    
   I decided to take a break from these tasks and work on a little bit of electrical but I have been thinking about. I needed to cut the Skyview network cable that runs from the ADHARS to the network hub in the avionics Bay. I made the measurements and made the cut. This was my first time working with D-Sub connectors. Over all I was happy with how the first one came out and how it looked.  
    
    
    
    
    
    
 

First Wiring

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Time: 6 hours

I had received a couple packages in the mail a week and a half ago from various vendors. One was from Summit Racing which had the elbow I needed for my smoke tank high pressure hose. This had a male fitting on one side and a swivel female on the other allowing me to hold the perfect angle as I tightened it down. So I installed the elbow and cut the high pressure hose to the correct length. With the hose cut and installed I tightened down the hose clamp and secured the rest of the hose with zip ties.  

   The other deliveries were from Aircraft Spruce, Avery Tools and Dynon.  
 The Avery box had the custom flap push rods that I knew I wanted to get eventually and heard they were retiring and closing shop so I placed the order. All the other stuff was for wiring avionics. Firs up was to run the pre made harnesses for the ADSB and Transponder. I figured out the route in which I wanted to use and ran the bundles. I put the avionics shelves back in place and taped the avionic mockup sin place to start the layouts.  Once I was satisfied with the routes I zip tied and used adel clamps to secure a place.  

    
 I ran the bundles thru various snap bushings and zip ties on their way to the front. I’m not sure to the exact length they will need to be until I solidify the panel and where items will be. So I curled up the remaining length and zip tied them for later work. I used my shrink tube printer to mark the bundles for easy identification later.  

   I installed the bracket I made to hold the EMS box to help with wire length planning.  
 The other Barnes I wanted to run was the network cable from aft area to the from avionics bay. The Dynon system uses this 9 pin d-sub connections to tie each and every component together so they all talk to each other. Each component has multiple connections so that you may tie others into and out of them.  Dynon makes a 5 port hub to allow 4 item to plug in and one out. My plan was to run one line from the two ADAHRS, via a splitter, from the back to a hub in the avionics bay.  Dynon makes these harnesses in various lengths starting at 1.5′ and up to 30′.  So I bought one that gave me enough length to make it up to the avionics area plus a bunch extra that I can use for other runs after cut. Dynon puts a connection on one end and just the pins on the other so you can fish through small openings.  

   I figured out a good spot for one of the 5 port hubs on the forward avionics wall.  
 Last item I worked on was the Hobbs hour meter. I took some advice from my buddy Glenn to install one even though the Dynon system will keep track of it. The reason is that it’s nice to be able to just look at the meter without having to power up the aircraft. This hour meter will be used to mark key maintenance items.  I wasn’t to fond of having this big gauge in the cockpit. While at AirVenture this year I saw another RV that had the meter inside his forward cargo area facing forward. I thought this was great, it isn’t inside the cockpit and it will be easily accessible by opening up the cargo door. So I did some measuring and came up with the spot that’s close to the edge but does not interfere with the door. I used my Dremel tool to cut the opening and drill the holes for the attachment hardware.  

   All this happened last weekend and I was a little behind in blogging about it. I was in Las Vegas for the NBAA convention and had a three day trip right after. Not sure how much time I will get in the hangar this week as its Thanksgiving and we are excited to have family here for the first time in our new home. I have a lot to be thankful for!