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Computer geek since we programmed on cards. My first real computer was an Apple II+ and IBM 4341's (a pair of them)

Motor Mount Mounted!

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We got the motor mount attached this week-end!  Of course, it hits the plate nut for the electric fuel pump. Even after I carefully measured the position of the pump. Really?

Plate nut hits motor mount

Plate nut hits motor mount

OK, we go that fixed, and we are moving forward.

Motor Mount

Motor Mount

Sorry about the quality, but I forgot my camera, and just got a shot or two on my crummy phone. I gotta get a new phone one of these days.

 

We also had a long meeting with my friend the A&P and he agreed to look the engine over. I do his computer work, so this is a trade. He will put the engine on a stand, and chek out all the rubber parts, make sure stuff is tight, and try to keep oil leaks to a minimum. Remember, this is a Lycoming.

Question: How to you prevent oil leaks in a Lycoming engine?
Answer: Don’t put oil in it.

I bought a running O-320 from a minister who was upgrading to a 160 HP for his Cessna 150 (a story for another time 🙂 and I plan to plug it is and run it. It was running just fine when removed, so I plan to do little to get it in the air again. I’ll still have the A&P look it over though.

More later!

 

 

 

Major Milestone!

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This has been a BIG week-end for us. We have finally built a stand to allow us to attach the motor mount, wings and landing gear. The fuselage stand was a re-purposed stand we had used before the rotisserie, and part of the wing stand. Here is a BIG hint: never throw out old lumber. You will be needing it again.  Here is what the new stand looks like:

new_stand

Also, for the first time, we were able to sit in the fuse and make airplane noises! Wow. I still have chills!

sitting in RV9A fuselage

Have a seat.

For folks building an experimental, sitting in it for the first time is a big deal.  I finally know how I will fit while flying.  I fit pretty well.  I need to lease a few pounds tho. *sigh*

Where do we stand?  Wings and done, Tail is done, flight surfaces are done, Instrument panel frame is done. Radios are mounted but not wired. Ready for motor mount, tail and wing install.

We are staring to wind down on the riveting, and I think I’ll miss that. To see the process, check out:

Riveting Wings on You Tube

We have the motor to install, lots of wire, and now all we need is the time.

More Later.

 

 

Wire, Wire, pants on fire!

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We took a big step today with wiring!  We finished (for now) the wire that comes from beyond the spar! This includes a bunch of electrics, and the four antennas (2 comm, 1 nav and a transponder)

This wire travels through the spar with pre- drilled holes and moves up the center channel of the floor. Wow. looks Great!

Wiring in RV-9A

Wiring in RV-9A

Here is what it looks like from the spar side.

Wiring Pass-thru

Wiring Pass-thru

 

Can ya hear me now?

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The radio stack is in!

We have installed the frames for the radios.  KX-155, KY97A and a KT76A transponder. Nice King stack, and the frames are in. We are adding an MC-60 digital CDI but that will be installed on the left panel, to the right of the EFIS display. If the GPS goes south, I’ll still have a NAV with CDI to use.  No wiring yet.

King Radio Stack

Radio stack

We also installed the engine monitor, the EIS4000 from Grand Rapid Technologies.  By the way, these guys are GREAT to work with and they have really superior customer service! I still have room on the center section to add the warning light for the EIS, a COM switch, and maybe some other switches. Left panel will be busy!  I’m hoping to add an iFLY 720 with AHRS for the GPS backup on the right.  The iFLY is also a really great electronic flight bag.  Check out iFLY for more info.

Where are the flaps???

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We installed the flap position sensor. This is a copy of some friends at the airport, and it turns out, a copy from many folks.

flap position sensor

flap position sensor

It has been a quiet couple of weeks at the hanger, with a bunch of small but critical tasks. We installed doublers for the COMM antennas as well as the Transponder antenna. We finished the attach points for the instrument panel, and fit the three part panels into place. We still need to map all the stuff that will be installed on the panel tho. TONS of stuff.

We have picked the radios! From top to bottom, I’ll have:

  • King KX-155 NAV/COM with KI-209 CDI (maybe. I’m also looking at a MC-60 digital version.)
  • King KY-97A Comm
  • King KT-76A Transponder

in the radio stack. We also have a PS Engineering Intercom and a simple audio amp instead of an audio panel. No marker beacons.

Hold it right there!

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This week-end we added the parking brake control. It is located on the Left side (Pilot’s side) below the air vent. Simple pull / push operation with a push-button lock to prevent accidental operation. Easy to install and easy to use. Here is the control:

Parking Brake Control

Parking Brake Control

The cable goes to the Matco parking brake valve. The pilot simply steps on the brakes and pulls the knob out. Knob full in releases the brakes.  Here is the valve (looking down from the top):

Parking brake valve

Parking brake valve

We also finished installing the instrument panel frame and temporarily installed the panel sheets. Does this look cool or what:

Dave's blank instrument panel

Dave’s blank instrument panel

Five Years!

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Today, Superbowl Sunday, Feb 3, 2013 is the 5 year anniversary of this project. As it just so happens, it was SuperBowl Sunday when we started as well.

A lot of stuff has happened in 5 years. We completed the tail, wings, flight surfaces, gas tanks, much of the fuselage, installed the ELT and some wiring.  Here is what we completed yesterday:

throttles

We have purchased an engine, the finish kit, and some of the firewall forward. Since we began, I have three new cats, a new car or two (we keep cars a long time) remodeled a bathroom, re-did the upstairs of the house, kept my job, learned a bunch of new skills, both with the airplane and at work, and stayed married. We have many new friends in the Van’s RV community, and have watched some speed past us, and some fall by the wayside.

We are planning flight instruments and radios. My Key: Keep it simple to start. 2 comms, 1 nav, 1 GPS external, and of course the GPS in the EFIS. We are still planning on Dynon Avionics, but we will simplify the panel to start. One EFIS for now. IFR VOR Nav configuration and maybe an IFR GPS. We will see about that.  We have the transponder (King KT-76A) and the Audio panel.

Tom and I still love to build, and we are not about to rush to finish now. We have been very careful builders, and the work we have done is top notch!

So, When will the plane be finished? Not sure. Still much to do, but the next phase is to get the fuselage off the rotisserie and on a cart for setting the wings.  Get the motor on and get the wiring done.

We’ll see.

Happy New Year!

Dkb

 

I’m gonna THROTTLE you!!!

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So, that is what we did. This week-end we added the throttle/mixture/carb heat/flap switch panel to 18TD.  The control cables went in reay easy, but not so much with the flap switch. A normal flap switch has 6 connectors so it is pretty wide. Looks like the flap switch plate I bought was not designed with that in mind. We got it to fit, but it was a bunch of work.

throttle cluster

Engine Control Panel

We are making pretty good headway with the three part panel, but I’m kinda nervous about leg room. I’m a tall guy, and it looks like the panel is getting into the pilot area.  We will not know until I get the fuse off the rotisserie and on to a safe stand where I can sit in the thing.

I got the firewall forward plans today, so we are starting to verify we are ready to add a motor mount. Battery is in, Master/start relay is in, and we have most holes punched. I’m gonna do some control cables after I have the motor mount in place to verify position.

Next week is a special anniversary for us, so stay tuned.

 

Panel Sub Structure

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We are getting close to the time we will need panel $tuff.  Yikes!

Here is the panel superstructure.

Panel Support Framework

Panel Support Framework

We got the Affordable Panels three part panel, so you can remove sections for maintenance. Really a good idea.  AP sells two designed, the 1./3, 1/3, 1/3 design where each of the three sections are centered (the kind I bought) and one where the left (pilot side) is larger. I’m not sure I bought the rigth version, because the center support rib lands smack dab in the middle of the radio stack, and will severely limit the space available for radios. I’ll have to work on that.  This would be fine for a VFR only aircraft, or one that has lots of remotely mounted radio stuff.

Here is a Hint I got from Keith, a fellow builder: Put platenuts on the bottoms of the panel support ribs to add adel clamps later if you need them for wiring support.

In my opinion, you can’t have too much support for wire.  I also plan on lots of holes with snap bushings.

CC