Monthly Archives: March 2014

My Family Gives Me Wings!

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And friends too…

Well, we have now installed the wings for the first time, and I’m a pretty happy guy!  After many weeks of worry (as usual) we have spent the day at the hanger and we have passed a BIG benchmark: Wings on!

Last Saturday, I invited a bunch of family and friends to meet Tom and me at the hanger for a good old fashion wing raising.  What is a wing hanging?  Well, one BIG step in building is to set the wing incidence and drill the attach bolt for the rear spar.

RV-9A fusealage

Fuse ready for Wings

 

So, Tom and I arrive at the hanger real early and move all the stuff out of the way. we roll out the wings in the wing stand and center the fuselage in the hanger. We then level the entire fuse left and right and front to back. We install temp legs on the fuse stand to be sure it stays that way.  We then laid out the wings and waited for folks to show up.

We did not have to wait long and all the folks were ready to insert the wings, level them, set the sweep and clamp the wings in place.  After double checking everything, we are ready to drill the read spar. Volia!  Wings set.

RV-9A fuse and wings

Wings Installed

So, what do you do after all that? Well, you REMOVE them off course. The wings will not be installed for the last time until after the plane moves to Camarillo.  Here is how you remove wings:

 

Remove Wings

Panel Planning Post Possibly Perfect!

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*sigh*

We are getting into the really tough part.  Planning the Panel.  I see many panels, and think how cool they are. How complex they are. How WAY complex they are.  I want a simple airplane that is easy and fun to fly, and I can go into the clouds with no worry, and if things get tough, a simple panel will bail me out.  I’m not building the space shuttle. I’m building a cool two-seater that is Cessna Safe!

Panel Electrical

Panel Playground

OK, I believe the planning will be complete, not when I run out of things to add, but rather I will run out of things to take away. Anyone want to buy a Hobbs Meter?

We have decided not to go with the EXPBUS and instead go with 90% fuses. I’ll still use circuit breakers for flaps, trim and autopilot. It will be the kind of circuit breaker that I can pull to disable. This will give me one last change to prevent a runaway motor.

Fuse blocks for RV-9A

Main Bus and Essential Bus fuse holders

It is funny, that I’m ready to build the plane the way I want to build it, but when an onlooker says “Have you thought about X” I have a knee jerk reaction to say “I’m building the way I want”

*BUT*

The reality is that I did NOT think about that, and it is a good idea to at least thing about this stuff. I make it a habit NOT to try to make a decision right there, but rather really think about the comment, and THEN make a decision when I weigh all the options. We are in the process of thinking about:

  • Fuse vs Circuit Breakers vs Fuseable links
  • Essential Bus and Main Bus and Master Bus and Ground Bus
  • Wire access
  • Switches
  • Equipment I bought and can leave off (How many Hobbs meters does a plane need? How many timers?)
  • Cutting ALL the panel holes first time out.

We will soon be taking a break from all this and fit the wings. Wow! The Wings!  Silver Wings! Laughter Silvered Wings!