| day |
notes |
hours |
| 3 |
Brush and vacuum up the mahogany shavings from planing the trailer threshold strip (way back on 28th Aug!). Tidy up, move wood and metal off rack above window onto layup table and try to secure things in preparation for the new window installation in the garage by Anglian Windows, due to start 5th Nov. |
|
| 5 |
Add Mod 58 pages and parts to database. Start to check items outstanding in Graham Singleton's tailwheel mod, and enter pages & parts in database. Take build hours clock off garage wall by window to let the Anglian Windows people put the new window in. |
|
| 6 |
Continue looking at GS tailwheel mod parts. Check length of bolts for attaching new tailwheel horn and limit stop, to see what thickness of washers will be OK. Still no response from Roger Bull, so send him a reminder e-mail around mid-day. Reply comes back that evening, addressing a number of the points raised in the manual. |
|
| 7 |
Import Roger's answers of yesterday to the "manual pages" database. |
|
| 8 |
Add to the parts inventory database the bits for Graham Singleton's rudder/tailwheel mod (PFA* mod 10371) that were supplied by Europa. Find that the manual pages have the same issue numbers as ones I already have, but different issue dates which is very confusing. Have to call them issue 0 in order for the database relationships to work. Realise I seem to be short of a bolt to fix the pushrod end into the CS29, and that I don't have a picture or definitive instructions for the assembly at that end. The rod-end at 0.375" is about 0.135" slimmer than the space between the CS29 flanges at 0.51". Having looked back at my e-mail of 4-1-01 to Anna Turnbull ordering the extra parts, I see I did order 1-off AN4-10A bolt, but it was not included in the order (or packing list). The dimension across the outer faces of the CS29 flanges is 0.585", so a -10 bolt with 9/16" (0.563") grip length would not be threadbound even without a washer. The MS21042-4 stiffnut is about 0.215" thick so to keep 1 1/2 threads clear of that the minimum bolt length is 0.854" without any washers. AN4-10A is 1 1/32 so we can afford either regular or thin washer. Need to check with Roger Bull about the correct assembly - or why not check with Tim Houlihan! I imagine it would be similar to the arrangement on the pitch torque tube or flap cross tube which both use AN5 bolts.
* The Popular Flying Association (PFA) became the
Light Aircraft Association
(LAA) on 2008-01-01.
|
|
| 9 |
E-mail Tim to ask about getting a copy of the manual page(s) covering the rod-end to CS29 assembly. Order some bolts from
Light Aero
(AN4-10A for rudder pushrod CS29 end, AN5H-12A for mainwheel hub, but not AN4H-16A for brake caliper as they don't have stock) and a spanner-operated Nicopress squeezer. |
|
| 12 |
Shift the old house front door which the Anglian Windows people had left in front of the resin and glass-cloth cupboards, and fit it in place of the existing garage back door. |
|
| 13 |
Light Aero order arrives, with new catalogue. Notice that they now list Alodine, which I don't think was in the old catalogue. |
|
| 14 |
Send e-mail to Graham Singleton listing all the outstanding queries on his tailwheel drive mod kit. |
|
| 15 |
Move wood and metal off layup table back unto rack above window. Take starboard flap back to storage area. Check resin cupboard temperature as spirit thermometer was indicating below 10C; digital meter shows 27C on floor of pump compartment, so spirit one must have sprung a leak. |
|
| 16 |
Check catalogues for suppliers of Scan facemask that D&M Tools seem to have stopped stocking. Find that Buck & Hickman list it, and a wider range of filters. Consider that I probably would be OK to use the vapours (organic or inorganic?) filter element for layups, and the Airlite helmet for sanding. That would be cheaper than getting the combined elements for the Scan mask. |
|
| 17 |
Move port flap off layup table and wax-polish table. Fit hourmeter to wall beside window - wooden bracket needed as new PVC windowframe covers previous mounting place. |
|
| 18 |
Tim phones to say he's found the description of the rod-end-to-CS29 assembly - there is no picture. It's an AN4-10A bolt inserted from the top, with an AN960-416 or AN960-416L washer each side of the ball as appropriate and another AN960-416 washer under the MS21042-4 stiffnut. Respond to Tim Ward's list posting about control-column boots, asking for payment etc details. |
|
| 19 |
Order some plain Unified nuts (8-32 UNC, 1/4 UNF & 5/16 UNF) to use instead of the stiffnuts when pre-assembling parts. Start clock again! Cut out trough for flox corners each side of centre rib on port flap, and file off some rough and poorly-adhering bits of flox from the rib face. Check alignment and washout of port flap. It seems to agree better with the published instructions for washout setting than the starboard one did. Stick down leading edge of upper jig block so that flap LE is about in line with edge of table, for best access around the LE. Put some strips of masking tape on flap and dot 5-min epoxy on them to hold flap onto jig block. Peel-ply the TE joggle and the root & tip closeout ribs. Set washout and hot-glue the shims in position. Cut off 2.5m UNI and mark fibres 340mm in from each edge. Reply received from Tim Ward on boots. |
97.9 |
| 20 |
Unified nuts arrive. Write to Tim Ward with cheque for control-column boots. At lunchtime the talks secretary of the Bristol branch of the Royal Aeronautical Society phones to say that Keith Wilson has cancelled at the last minute for a talk on Wednesday evening. Keith gave him Peter Kember's number & Peter gave him mine! Try to get Paddy Clarke but he is going to London on Wednesday, so decide to do something myself. Give Tim Houlihan a call to see if he can come too. |
|
| 21 |
Go to Kemble with compressor & right-angle drill for Tim H. Pick up one of his tailplane halves as visual aid. Take one of my bare foam tailplanes, plus rudder, baggage bulkhead, main gear leg & tire, some small hardware, slides, videotapes, EF back numbers, etc and go to Filton with Wilma. Tim is there before us. Talk goes OK and hope it was a good commercial for the PFA* as well as for the Club and Europa Aircraft!
* The Popular Flying Association (PFA) became the
Light Aircraft Association
(LAA) on 2008-01-01.
|
|
| 22 |
Unpack stuff from car and re-store various parts. Unclog hardener valve as usual in pump, and scrape out hardened bits from spout. I think the hardener is beginning to look a bit darker than before. Mix a couple of strokes and leave to cure in a plastic tray with the fan heater blowing on it from a distance, as a test piece. Check with Buck & Hickman about Safir masks and cartridges & find they cannot supply as supplier is stopping doing them. Order Roebuck mask & organic vapour cartridges (A1) instead. Test piece seems to be taking a long time to cure. Mix another couple of strokes and leave in the mixing cup to see if it will exotherm. It does, and I have to put it in a water bath. As I used a parallel-sided mixing cup (cut-off polyethylene bottle) it's quite hard to get it out once cured, but when I do the bottom is hard with no signs of tackiness. There are some messy bits where it exothermed but main body is fine. Before going to bed, check thin piece in tray and it has gone hard now too. Previously it must have been at the famous "leather" stage. |
98.2 |
| 23 |
Collect mask from Buck & Hickman. About 15:30, place UNI dry on port flap underside and cut in two for 1st and 2nd layers. Cut off length of peel-ply and cut down centre, saving one half for upper side of flap. Temperature about 17C and humidity about 50% with fan heater & extractor running. Make up 4 strokes of epoxy with 4 doses of flox and one of cabosil. Fills lower flox corners of rib and round LE with plenty to spare. Make up 8 strokes epoxy with 4 doses of micro and slurry. Quantity fine after squeegeeing. Mix up 8 strokes of epoxy and paint it on - quantity just right. Get Wil in to help place cloth, but it is still hard work. Main problem is the tapered edge where the weave is going off-square. Wet out with 4 stokes and then another 5 strokes. Squeegee off lightly and place second layer, again with Wil's help. Seems to go slightly better (practice?) but still quite difficult to get good placing. Wet out with 4 more strokes epoxy and then a final 3 strokes, leaving enough for a sample. Erect tent and leave to cure about 20:00. Turn off fan heater about 23:00; a couple of resin-rich patches are still very slightly tacky. Final temperature inside tent is about 33C with 25% RH. |
102.6 |
| 24 |
Receive e-mail from Tim Ward to say he's got my cheque & will let me know by e-mail when he posts the boots from Heathrow.
Flap layup
looks reasonable and everything has now cured hard, but there are several bubbles under the peel-ply (I don't think they are in the glass layer) around the flox corner, and several patches where there wasn't enough resin to wet the peel-ply. |
|
| 29 |
Tim H returns compressor & right-angle drill, and we take off the curing tent and have a look at the port flap underside. I lift it off to demonstrate ease of removal from bench, but jig stays put and flap comes off masking tape patches instead. Samples in bottom of mixing cups seem very resistant to demoulding so I can check for full curing on the bottom corners. |
|
| 30 |
Tim Ward e-mails to say he won't be able to post the control-column boots until 12th Jan. |
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