| day |
notes |
hours |
| 2 |
Buy Garmin GPSmap296 and Airgizmo mount at Transair Staverton. Start to cut out BID for tank layups. |
1202.6 |
| 3 |
Cut rest of BID for tank supports and temporarily store between sheets of polyethylene to help keep clean and in shape. Scuff-sand cockpit module bonding areas with fine Perma-Grit sheet and vacuum up dust. Think again about how to apply the layups in a way that will ensure they adhere well to the cockpit module. Decide they must be laid onto cockpit module before inserting tank so they can be stippled on. Apply further pieces of polyethylene sheet to areas where layups can be draped, and that can be used later to fold layups over onto tank. |
1204.2 |
| 4 |
In preparation for re-furbishing the epoxy pump, pump the remaining resin in the reservoir into one of the part-empty resin tins. There is not much hardener to save and anyway it is very discoloured, so mix it with some leftover old resin and leave outside to cure. |
1204.9 |
| 5 |
Find 1 fan heater was accidentally left on last night, so environment all ready for epoxy work. 20C, 41% RH. Turn on the 2nd fan heater to keep the air well stirred. Lay 3 layers of 950mm x 120mm BID on pre-marked polyethylene sheet. Estimate I will need about 90g epoxy to wet that out, so mix a peg-5 batch of the fresh epoxy. Not quite enough so mix another peg-1 (30g) batch to finish off. Brush bonding area on seatback lightly with epoxy and apply layup flat on seatback, ensuring that the bend line is correctly aligned with the bottom edge of the masking-off sheet of polyethylene. Lay 3 layers of 325mm x 140mm BID on marked polyethylene sheet and wet out with a peg-2 (45g) mix of epoxy. Apply to tunnel area ensuring 50mm overlap onto front face of baggage bay and leaving other leaf on baggage-bay tunnel for now. Similarly wet out and lay up the 2-off 3-layer 350mm x 100mm BID pieces onto the bases and faces of the baggage bay. Slide tank into position, ensuring that all pieces of polyethylene attached to it stay in the right places. Insert wedges and adjust tank position to get base about 5mm clear of eventual fuselage floor position, and centred laterally (about 20mm in from each edge of headrest base area). Slide lath in between tank and seatback. Un-tape polyethylene sheet from seatback and fold layup 90 degrees onto tank. Peel off polyethylene sheet. Likewise fold other 3 layups 180 degrees over onto tank. Mix one dose of flox with remaining epoxy and spread into port side baggage-bay joint. Not quit enough to do full length. Mix 45g (peg 2) batch of epoxy and add 3 doses of flox. That is about enough for the full-width fillet at the seatback. Mix another 45g batch and 3 doses flox which is just about enough for remaining fillets. Adjust baggage-bay alignment to get the specified 323mm spacing of the tank bay faces, and keep it in position with pieces of 0.15" soft aluminium wire bent to engage with the lightening holes. Lay out the remaining 3 layers of 950mm x 120mm BID and wet out with 120g (peg 7) batch of epoxy - only just enough this time. Lift polyethylene sheet and layup using a metre-stick and carefully introduce to the space behind the seatback. Lay on, aligning bend line, remove polyethylene sheet and stipple down. Similarly do the 325mm x 140mm layup in the tunnel with 45g epoxy. Final single-layer layup should only need about 30g epoxy but the dispenser bottle is nearly empty so stop to refill both that and the hardener dispenser. Mix 30g batch but it barely covers the BID, so mix another 20g using the small digital scale. Lay on those layups and stipple out. Scissor-trim edges where they overhang the cutouts in the base of the baggage bay. 21C, 37% RH. Leave both heaters running at thermostat 3.5 for cure. Order TruTrak wing leveller for delivery to Pete Jeffers in Florida. At bedtime, layups well on the way to curing. Turn fan-heater thermostats down to 3 and leave on overnight. |
1210.1 |
| 6 |
18C, 35% RH. Layups well cured. Turn off heaters. Remove as much polyethylene sheet as is easily possible. Some can't be reached, and some is trapped by bonds. Rear bottom corners of tank at port side of baggage bay and in tunnel are stuck fast to the layup - should have waxed those areas! Trim off edge of layup in baggage-bay cutouts with Minitool jigsaw and clean up with Perma-Grit files. |
1210.4 |
| 7 |
Take inlet fittings off fuel valve and unscrew AN822-6D elbows. Clean mating threads with acetone-soaked tissues. Apply Loctite 577 to male elbow threads and re-assemble, holding fitting in vise with thin aluminium sheet protectors to get good leverage for tightening. Wipe off excess Loctite. Clean and apply fresh grease to O-rings and re-fit to valve. Fit securing screws, tighten well and stake with a small punch. |
1211.4 |
| 9 |
Clean tank outlet adaptors and associated elbows with acetone. Apply Loctite 577 to threads of an Andair DV125 drain valve, fit to an AN914-1D elbow and tighten up. Apply Loctite to male elbow threads, fit to starboard tank adaptor and tighten. However, it isn't pointing in the right direction when tight. Unscrew, clean elbow thread and adaptor again, try other elbow dry and it tightens up nicely at the correct angle. Unscrew, add Loctite, refit and tighten to correct position. Try first elbow in port adaptor but it isn't right there either. I thought I'd got this all correct already, but obviously not. Take out the elbow and run the 1/8" NPT tap into the adaptor again, taking it a bit less than half-a-turn further than the previous cut. Try elbow dry again and it's fine now. Clean everything up again. Apply Loctite to drain valve threads, fit to elbow & tighten. Apply Loctite to elbow threads, fit to adaptor and tighten into position. Put the adaptors into the tank bosses and all looks OK except that the starboard drain is slightly nearer to the final fuselage floor position, because the starboard boss is slightly off-square to the tank. Also, I note the need to spring the tank back slightly to get the adaptors in with the elbows installed. It will be even trickier with the drain tubes and finger-strainers installed. |
1212.5 |
| 10 |
Clean ends of aluminium drain tubes and finger strainers in acetone. Mix 35g + 14g batch of older Redux (far too much, but easier to get proportions correct with larger quantities). Apply thinly to end of each piece of aluminium pipe and and insert into drilled ends of AN914-1D elbows. Apply Redux sparingly to open ends of finger-strainers in turn and slide along pipes and into adaptors. Apply a small amount of Redux to pipes around end of strainers. Wipe off all excess Redux and take in to airing cupboard for cure. |
1213.4 |
| 11 |
Bring tank adaptor assemblies down from airing cupboard. Check that they can still be inserted into the tank bosses. Temporarily fit pitch torque tube CS10 assembly to check clearances. Check fit of AN842-4D elbow. It's too long if kept horizontal and if angled up might cause airlock problems if the tube had to descend again before coming through the seatback. Decide to use supplied kit part FPA903/B, straight 1/8" NPT to 6mm hose barb. Clean and degrease it. Apply Loctite 577 to NPT threads of AN822-6D elbows and screw into tank adaptors, tightening up to correct orientations. Apply Loctite to FPA903/B, fit to port adaptor and tighten up. Lubricate inside of 1" rubber hose sections with Boots lubricating jelly. Slide 2 off CLIP1X onto each hose and insert whole assemblies into appropriate tank bosses. Quite a push to get the hoses fully home onto the tank bosses - twisting and pulling with pipe pliers is most successful approach. Think about where the hose clip screws need to be - they can't be on the top side of the bosses as shown in the manual as that would foul CS10 - and finally position inboard of bosses so they can be reached through the fuselage-bottom access panels. Tighten them all in that orientation. Clean the aileron link pushrod with acetone, cover the rod-end bearings with masking tape and spray a couple of coats of etch primer on it. |
1215.1 |
| 12 |
Remove pitch torque tube assembly. Put temporary bolts in ends of CS10 and (with large washers to protect bearings from spray) in CS09 flanges. Use short bolts in starboard and long ones on port (left) ends. Clean up with fine (reddish-brown ScotchBrite). |
1217.0 |
| 13 |
Clean up some remaining smudges on CS10 with ScotchBrite and wipe down with acetone-soaked tissue to degrease. Hang to dry during lunchtime. Remove pitch pushrods, clean up with ScotchBrite and degrease with acetone. Cover rod-end bearings with masking tape and suspend on wire loops. Wipe down CS10 again with acetone and give all 3 pieces 2 coats of etch-primer. |
1218.0 |
| 16 |
Clean up CS09 flanges with ScotchBrite and degrease with acetone-soaked tissue, taking care not to use too much around bearings. Suspend on pieces of wire attached to bolts through bearings. Spray both with 2 coats etch-primer. |
1218.8 |
| 17 |
Buy another can of etch-primer at Karparts. Undo the bolts holding CS04 & CS06 and gently tap the phenolic free of the flox pads. Rub down the CS05 tubes with fine ScotchBrite. |
1220.5 |
| 18 |
Start to mask off the cockpit module around the control tunnels and the end fittings of CS05s. Secure CS06s against CS07s with rubber bands. Wrap CS08 end in polyethylene sheet and tape up. |
1221.1 |
| 19 |
Continue masking off for spraying CS05s. Notice that now it's not constrained to a small angular movement, the front port bearing is only intermittently stiff. Investigate and find a small bruise on the edge of the CS02, with a slight bulge of the metal toward CS04. When that passes the edge of CS04 it rubs. Relieve the edge with a Swiss file, trying not to get any swarf into the bearing. That improves things wonderfully; CS04 now spins freely. Finish masking port side, enclosing CS02 in polyethylene sheet as for CS08. Similarly mask starboard side, but it is more complicated as I need to leave room for the wing-leveller connexion arm. Also mask around the cup for the end of the port spar and clean it up with ScotchBrite. |
1222.8 |
| 20 |
Degrease CS05s and spar cup with acetone-soaked tissues. Spray starboard CS05 with etch-primer from aft end as far forward a possible. Likewise port CS05. Give starboard CS05 another coat, trying to tidy up a few small patches where it had brushed against the masking paper. Second-coat port CS05. Aerosol can almost empty but enough left to do a couple of coats on the spar cup. Leave to harden off for a while before dealing with the forward ends of the CS05s. Later slide both CS05s forward through the front seat face and spray forward ends with a couple of coats of etch-primer. |
1223.8 |
| 21 |
Check etch-prime coverage of CS05s and touch up a couple of small areas where it had been rubbed off by contact with edges of hole in seat front. Later remove starboard masking and start to re-fix CS04 & CS06. Forward end binding slightly at the stick-to-centre extreme. Dismantle to check for burrs like the one found on the port assembly but nothing found and CS04 spins freely, so it must be an alignment issue. After some unsuccessful fiddling about with shims of polyethylene sheet under what intuitively seems to be the correct side, try assembling without shims and loosen CS06 to see where its lowest-friction location is. CS06 has a small range of movement, but it is not centred on the the correct fixing location. It seems to be best with with CS06 slightly outboard of correct position, and slightly raised (in this upside-down orientation). To bring it into alignment, it seems we need a shim under the inboard edge of CS04 and maybe a thin shim under the longer edge of CS04 (the top edge when upright). |
1226.2 |
| 23 |
The midpoint of the range of movement for CS06 is about 1mm outboard and 0.5mm towards the cockpit floor. That translates to needing for correction about 0.08mm shim at the inboard end of CS04 and about 0.04mm shim at the right-way-up top (wider) edge. Remove the polyethylene sheet and try freedom of CS06 again. Now about 0mm inboard to 3mm outboard and 1mm away from cockpit floor to 3mm toward floor. The surface of the flox pad on which CS04 mounts has quite a few imperfections in it and so the polyethylene was probably getting compressed in several small areas, and doing nothing over the rest. Get a packet of assorted precision steel shims from stock and find it includes 0.05mm and 0.075mm. |
1226.6 |
| 24 |
Cut a piece of 0.08mm steel shim to fit on inboard side of starboard CS04. Mark for holes with the point of a 4.8mm drill bit. Drill through 1.5mm and carefully enlarge to 5.1mm to some tolerance (in case the hole centres were not followed perfectly). Position between CS04 an seat face and assemble. It feels a bit better than before. Make a couple of square washers of the 0.04mm shim, disassemble again and add the 0.04mm washers under the wide ends of CS04 (ie top when upright). Seems little better. As previously noted, the flox pads are not very even and so my careful calculations may be upset by slight compression of the parts because they are only in intimate contact over quite small areas. Take out the 0.04mm shims and instead make another strip of 0.08mm about half the height of CS04 with a single hole to fit on the inboard wide-edge (top when upright) bolt. Smear some grease on both shims to keep them in position and provide some corrosion protection. Re-assemble and it seems perfect - the aileron torque-tube CS05 self-centres under gravity from both extremes with only the weight of CS02 and CS08. Undo the temporary plain nuts used during all this adjustment and fit the stiffnuts with fresh grease. Put a dab of inspectors lacquer on each nut. |
1227.9 |
| 26 |
Remove masking from port tunnel and ends of port CS05. Assemble CS04 and CS06 temporarily, but CS05 not swivelling freely. Remove CS06 bolts to see which direction it has to move to achieve minimum friction. Looks like shims are needed under the wide edge of CS04. Drill and cut a couple of washers of the 0.08mm steel shim. Fit them on the bolts at the wide edge of CS04 (top when upright) and snug up the bolts again. That seems about perfect. Remove plain nuts and fit freshly-greased stiffnuts, with an extra AN960-10L washer on the inboard one nearest the fuselage bottom to prevent it getting threadbound. Tighten evenly, checking for free movement of CS05. Fit stiffnuts on CS06 bolts and tighten. Put a dab of inspectors lacquer on each nut. Fit aileron link rod with plain nuts. Remove masking screws and washers from CS09 flanges and fit them to seatback in turn, fitting CS10 between them. Slide CS11 pushrods inside CS05s and fit the ends to CS10 with plain nuts. Fit central rod-end bearing to CS10. Washers used: starboard, 5 off thin with 2 outboard of rod-end bearing; port, 2 thin outboard and 2 standard inboard; centre, 5 thin. Fit the control-column bases CS01 and attach to CS11s with plain nuts. Everything moves freely and although clearances are small in places, nothing is rubbing or touching. |
1229.7 |
| 27 |
Check tank to seat spacing. Slightly under 4" now, so the 4" spacers will actually be in contact from the outset. Clear accumulated tools etc off cockpit module and off the low table. Take cockpit module off the table and stand it on the firewall end. Stand the table on its side to make a bit more room. Touch up a couple of tiny rubbed-off spots on the starboard CS05 with etch-primer brushed on. |
1230.4 |
| 28 |
Check location of boxes from PLY5 (box 9) and EURO25 (box 4). Box 9 was last mentioned in the trailer and box 4 must be there too as only box 2, box 3, box 5, box 8 and box 17 are in the garage. Bandsaw off a couple of 100mm pieces of wood to act as temporary packing between the tank and the seatback and prevent controls from rubbing against the tank until the proper spacers can be fitted. Check fit of fuel valve and selector. Fit 2nd roll pin in extension shaft. Fit selector and valve to tunnel, using greased 10-32 x 5/8" button-head hex socket screws, with AN960-10L washers under the heads of the 3 securing the valve as they are bearing on the glass-reinforced ply plate. |
1231.5 |
| 30 |
Buy another can of etch-primer at Karparts. Open trailer and get PLY5 out of box 9 and EURO25 out of box 4. Cut EURO25 into 4 pieces (not quite long enough to make them the full 4" after allowing for saw kerf, but close enough). Mark and trim 2 of the flanges down to 13mm. Mark and drill holes in the full-width flanges of these two pieces. Clamp both types of angle to a PLY5 piece and secure with toolmakers clamps. Drill through the assembly using the holes in the first piece of angle as a guide. Repeat on other assembly. Mark each in different colours of felt-tip pen for correct orientation. |
1233.5 |
| 31 |
Dismantle CS13-CS14-CS15 assemblies and mask off for spraying. Use short bolt in starboard CS15 to hold masking washers, and long one in port (left). |
1233.9 |
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