Fuselage
2018: Weight and Balance
Total Build Time: 1350 Hours To begin the Weight and Balance measurements and calculations, I positioned the main wheels on an existing straight crack in the concrete floor and then leveled the tail of the plane. I then used a plumb bob to measure the various required parts of the aircraft that needed to … Continue reading
FINAL RIVET
Total Build Time: 1342 Hours Today the Final Rivet was set on the aircraft. I saved it for my wife and daughter, who did the honors:
2017: Aft Fuselage Floor
Total Build Time: 1337 Hours Now that I’ve completed all of my work in the aft fuselage (radio, ELT, rudder/stabilator/mixer connections, it’s finally time to install the final major component of the entire airframe… the aft fuselage floor: It has been almost exactly 3 years since I fitted the aft fuselage floor to … Continue reading
2017 Painting and Polishing
Total Build Time: 1331 Hours The paint color I decided to use on all my fiberglass/plastic parts was a basic rattle-can Rustoleum paint+primer in a blue color called Seaside. For all the aluminum parts, I also used Rustoleum self-etching primer as a base coat. My first parts to be painted were the tail … Continue reading
2017 Fairings and Wheel pants.
Total Build Time: 1303 Hours This is a long post with lots of photos spanning about 3 months of intermittent work. Here is the order of operations in this post: -Tail Fairing fabrication/installation -Jacking up the aircraft -Wheel pant fabrication/installation -Landing Gear fairing fabrication Quick note: I did fabricate but did not ultimately install … Continue reading
2017 ELT Defect and Replacement
The Ameri-King AK-450 ELT that I originally installed back in 2016 had some serious issues. The original post when I fabricated the tray and installed the ELT can be found here: Hangar Completion #9 (ELT Installation) In the above post, I had completed the installation of the ELT when the aircraft was in my basement, … Continue reading
Hangar Completion #9 (ELT Installation)
Total Build Time: 1214 Hours. There is no guidance in the plans for the installation of an Emergency Locator Transmitter, however it’s something that’s required by the FAA before my plane can be certificated. It needs to be mounted in a strong and secure manner, and I selected a location 2 bulkheads behind the cockpit, … Continue reading
Hangar Completion #6 (Push to Talk (PTT) switches, Compass and Elevator Trim)
Total Build Time: 1194 Hours. This post has several small items in the cockpit that I finalized. First are the push-to-talk switches installed on my control sticks. This is the little button that’s pushed to transmit over the radio. I began by removing the control sticks from the aircraft and drilling a small hole in … Continue reading
Time-lapse Video, 900 hours of work and move to airport.
This video includes all the time-lapse footage I have from January 2014 until August 2015. It’s essentially the entire build of the airframe. It’s missing the first 200 hours of the project because I didn’t have the camera setup for that portion of the build.
Fuselage Completion #24 (Control stick rigging and seat pan modification)
Total Build Time: 1041 Hours. Initially I found that, per the plans, the positioning of the stick-to-idler pushrod was offset in such a way that it would interfere with the path through the seat pan itself. In the below pictures you can see the angle of the pushrod. I did confirm that this setup … Continue reading
Fuselage Completion #23 (Fwd Floor, spar tunnel final installation)
Total Build Time: 1036 Hours. As my final task before permanently installing the forward fuselage floor, I decided to install 3 square attach points to the forward side of the spar tunnel (just below my knees when sitting) to allow for the future installation of cup holders or a storage pouch of some sort. The reason … Continue reading
Fuselage Completion #22 (Glareshield covering, intercom plugs)
Total Build Time: 1021 Hours. With my work under the instrument panel about 99% complete (fuel tank, electrical wiring and pitot/static/LRI routing done) I decided it was finally time to finish off the glareshield. Just before doing that, I finished the routing and installation of my radio intercom plugs, which are located high on the … Continue reading
Fuselage Completion #21 (Fuel Tank Installation, measuring and cleaning)
Total Build Time: 1015 Hours. This post details my testing and installation of the fuel tank. Included is my method for marking the fuel tank quantity and leakage testing. Also how I cleared debris from the bottom of the fuel tank. Additionally in this post is the installation of my cockpit air vent hoses. It may … Continue reading
Fuselage Completion #20 (Electrical Wiring #2)
Total Build Time: 1002 Hours. Continuing from my previous post on electrical wiring, this post covers my work on firewall penetration/protection, battery current sensor and intercom wiring. I’m still not quite finished with wiring but will follow up later. Firewall penetration for my electical wires passed through a large hole covered by a firewall penetration … Continue reading
Fuselage Completion #19 (Rudder Rigging)
Total Build Time: 996 Hours Today I rigged my rudders (prior to installing my glareshield/fuel tank which would restrict access to the pedals), and have a few closeup shots of some details. The first step of the Waiex rigging process links the rudder to the mixer in the middle of the aft fuselage. The cables … Continue reading