| day |
notes |
hours |
| 1 |
Check fit of W36 tie-bar in tunnel slot and mark where relief is needed. Remove W36 and file edges of slot with tungsten carbide files. Replace W36, check fit, file, repeat until fit appears satisfactory based on alignment of W36 ends with holes & marks on fuselage sides. The TC file just touches the pitch pushrod at one point, leaving a tiny hairline scratch. Get into the aft fuselage and dress it out with 600 emery paper. Cut a piece off a plastic pipe, split it and place on pitch pushrod to prevent any further damage. Slide W34s onto ends of W36 and try inserting screws - a bit tight in places. Mark tunnel where W36 touching and remove W36. File, offer up again, mark tight spots, file again until W36 has a small clearance from tunnel all round. Check fit of all screws now that the W34s are being held in the correct alignment. Run 1/4" & 3/16" drill bits through holes in turn to allow screws to enter freely without forcing. Get out W35 gussets; despite indication in manual that the lower ones are not drilled, all 4 are drilled identically for the 2 bolts through the W36 tie-bar. PLY12 piece is just the right width for the port side but won't fit at starboard. Mark and cut it for the port side and bring to final size on belt sander. Round all external edges and corners. Cut the starboard piece and start sanding it to size. When time to stop for the night, gap between it and W36 tie-bar is 0.1" towards centre and 0.05" at outboard end. |
2046.6 |
| 2 |
Finish starboard ply block to size on belt sander by profiling forward face to match layup joggle. Round off all edges and corners. To hold blocks in place while bonding to bulkhead, need a couple of 0.1" spacers. 2 mixing sticks together are just too thick, so sand both ends of one down a bit and cut the sandwich into 2 halves. Make 0.5" spacers for the outboard ends of the ply blocks from plywood offcuts. The ply blocks are slightly thinner than the W36 tie-bar so can't just align them with top or bottom of W36. Instead make a template for positioning the blocks from another thick rectangular plywood offcut, making a protrusion about 7/8" wide and about 0.6mm deep on one end. Chamfer the corner to minimise adhesive pickup. |
2047.9 |
| 3 |
Mark out and scuff-sand 2" all around the starboard ply block position on the tank bulkhead. Degrease it and the ply block with acetone. Mix a small amount of Araldite 2012 rapid epoxy directly on the forward face of the ply block and position it using the 0.5" template at the outboard end. Insert the mixing-stick wedge between W36 tie-bar and ply block to hold it in place, then correct vertical position with the vertical alignment block, pushed against W36 from top and bottom at each end of the ply block. Repeat the procedure for the port ply block. While crouched in the rear fuselage, mark out and start to cut the 10mm rebate on the tunnel around W36. Can't get very far with that until W36 removed again. Mark parallel lines on W35 gusset plates, first one in line with the outboard bolt in W36 and the others 1" & 2" inboard from that, for spacing the bolt holes through the ply blocks. |
2049.4 |
| 5 |
Remove wedges and spacers from ply blocks. Remove W36 tie-bar. Clean up epoxy drips and scuff-sand ply blocks. Mark and cut 8 off 140mm x 245mm BID. Use a small burr on the Dremel to cut the curved ends of the tunnel rebate. Cut into brown foam with knife and remove 10mm strip of top skin. 16C, 68% RH; turn on fan heaters. Get a small bench recently freed from printer support duties and check it it can be used in the aft fuselage to support a fan heater later - looks good. Degrease layup areas with acetone. Refill slow hardener dispenser bottle and manage to spill some, so take a while to wipe it up. Mix a peg-5 (90g) batch of slow epoxy. Decant off a little and add a small amount of flox to it. Climb inside rear fuselage and paint epoxy onto the bonding areas. Spread flox into a fillet around the ply blocks Apply 1 sheet BID to port block and carefully tease it into place all around. Stipple it with the brush to wet it out fully. Repeat on starboard side. Repeat whole process on each side again 3 times. Epoxy just runs out before last layer fully wetted so climb out and make another batch. Was going to be peg-1 (30g) but overdo the hardener so make it peg-2 (45g). Wet out all layups thoroughly, checking undersides and ends with the mirror. Climb out again and cut off a big length of peel-ply to take inside the fuselage. Cut it into smaller pieces and shapes to fit the layups, avoiding compound curves. Now 25C, 40% RH between headrests. Put fan heater on bench above pitch pushrod, but concerned that its vibration might "walk" it off the bench. Apply several strips of double-sided tape to the bench top and stick a carpet offcut to it. The feet of the fan heater sink into the carpet pile enough to assure me that it won't wander around. Add a block under the rear feet to tilt the airstream down more towards the layup area. 23C, 39% RH in bottom of baggage bay. |
2054.3 |
| 6 |
23C, 34% RH in bottom of baggage bay. Sample and layups well cured. Remove peel-ply. Re-fit W36 tie-bar. Offer up W35 gusset plates at starboard side and although the underside flox corner seems a bit larger than needed, it looks as if it will be OK. The water-jet cut holes in the W35s are not quite 3/16" so enlarge them to size. Clamp one W35 in place on top of the starboard ply block and tie-bar, checking distance from W34 flange with spacer. Using Tight Fit drill kit, drill through the outboard hole 3/16" right through W36 & W34. Fit bottom W35 and plain nut to hold it. Start to drill 2nd hole but drill snatches as it starts to break through the inner face of W34 and shatters. Dismantle the tie-bar but fortunately the broken drill point is not jammed in and drops out easily. Re-fit the bolt to keep W36 & W34 aligned and complete drilling through hole with it clamped in the vise soft jaws. Re-fit the tie bar and fit the W35s to it with first bolt. Drill through 2nd hole again to let the bolt pass freely. Tighten plain nuts on both bolts and drill the 3 holes through the forward part of the gusset plate and the ply block, using the pre-marked lines and aligning with the centre of the ply by eye, and inserting a bolt in each as completed. Have to use AN3-12A here as AN3-11A too short. Note that the PDF version of the manual specifies AN3-12A for all 5 bolts anyway, whereas my paper manual shows them all as AN3-11A. My inventory showed 10 surplus AN3-12A, so that's what they must be for! Clamp the upper W35 in place at the port side and start to drill the outboard hole through the tie-bar. The drill bit snags again and although I thought the grinding noise when that happened was the torque limit clutch on the cordless drill, it looks as thought the Tight-Fit drill kit is jumping its gears. Hope I haven't destroyed the gearbox! Start up the compressor and finish that hole with the right-angle air drill. The bit needs to be very tight in the chuck to avoid slipping when breaking through. |
2056.8 |
| 7 |
Dismantle the Tight Fit drill kit - housing screws are quite loose - don't know if that is cause or effect of gear skipping. Seems that shims on the bearing block would help to ensure full engagement of the bevel gears. Snip off a couple of pieces of different thicknesses of shimstock and slide into place. Re-grease and re-assemble, tightening screws firmly. Try drilling the second hole through the port end of the tie-bar, but again the bit snags when breaking through. So, try putting a much smaller bit through the hole which works OK. Repeat with progressively larger bits until 5/32" which snatches in the same way. Give up and switch to the right-angle air drill again, which successfully finishes that hole. The air drill head is also just about small enough to let me get close enough to the bulkhead to do the holes in the ply block. |
2058.3 |
| 8 |
Dismantle the W35 gusset plates, W36 tie-bar and W34 ends, marking all parts as removed. Deburr all holes and run paper wipes through W34s & W36 to remove internal swarf. Clean off old marks and re-mark identities. |
2059.1 |
| 9 |
Vacuum up the swarf from the baggage bay. Check the lengths required and shorten starboard EURO44 1/4" bolt by 12mm, port EURO44 by 9mm, and both EURO45 3/16" bolts by 10mm. Dress the ends of the bolts with a fine file and run dies onto the threads to clean them up. Scrape and file away the brown foam on the tunnel-top rebate around the tie-bar slot with a knife and Perma-Grit files. Mark along the edge of the top rebate with a paint maker and lay an offcut of brown foam on top to take an imprint of the width. Cut it to the transferred line and trim to length. Similarly mark the starboard side and impress another offcut of brown foam. However, once cut to the line and offered up to the space, find it is thicker than all the other offcuts so thin it by rubbing on a Perma-Grit flat file until it matches the other 3mm pieces. Re-fit W36 tie-bar and W34 end fittings with loose bolts. Measure top, bottom & side distances from W36 to edge of rebate and mark brown foam correspondingly. Split it along a vertical line and cut out the centre pieces. Offer up to check and file as needed to make both halves fit. Remove W36/W34 assembly, mark and cut a piece of brown foam for port side of tunnel. Re-fit W36/W34 assembly and measure distances to rebate edge on port side. Mark the piece of brown foam, cut in two, remove centres and file to fit as before. |
2061.5 |
| 10 |
Remove brown foam and W36 tie rod/W34 end piece assembly. Clean with acetone the small areas of W36 where the paint has got chipped and re-spray several coats of Appliance Gloss White. 12C, 72% RH inside cockpit area. Start one fan heater on floor. Replace brown foam parts on tunnel rebate, lay a piece of polyethylene sheet over and trace the outlines. Spray ACF-50 down inside of W36; after draining for a while, push a wad of paper wipes through to make sure all covered and no excess left. Re-fit W34s. Mix a peg-1 (30g) batch of standard epoxy and add about 1 and a half doses of flox to make non-slump. Grease all the EURO44 & EURO45 bolts and insert to just flush with inside skin. Climb inside rear fuselage. Apply a thin layer of flox to W34 position each side. Spread a thick layer of flox on both W34s then position W36/W34 assembly very carefully to avoid getting flox in unwanted places. Push starboard and then port EURO44 & EURO45 bolts through W34s and wipe flox off ends. Fit stiffnuts loosely at starboard side; the nut on the forward EURO44 catches me out as I positioned it with the ring spanner and then found I couldn't get the spanner off! Undo and re-fit using fingers and open-ended spanner. Place starboard W35 and drop bolts into place. Similarly fit port stiffnuts loosely then add port W35 and bolts. Add the lower port W35 then fit washers and stiffnuts to the 5 bolts through the W35s. One nut wastes a lot of time trying to get the thread started - eventually have a close look at it and it has NO thread! Likewise add lower starboard W35, washers and stiffnuts. Tighten the nuts on the aft EURO44 bolts enough to just hold the W34s against the fuselage, and do up the other nuts to just touch W34. Go around the nuts on the W35s, tightening all firmly. Climb out for a break. The BID required to sit in the tunnel rebate is 45mm x 225mm,and the overlay BID needs to be 85mm x 260mm. Mark another piece of polyethylene sheet with the larger BID size, and add lines to show the rebate boundaries. Mark and cut 2 pieces of BID to each of the above sizes. Lay them on the marked polyethylene sheets and split the end of each for going around the tie-bar. Scuff-sand around the tunnel rebate and degrease with acetone. Mix a peg-4 (75g) batch of slow epoxy and pour it onto the BID to wet out. Decant some of the remainder and mix a small amount of flox with it to thicken it but not make it too stiff. Lift small piece of BID on the polyethylene sheet and drop it into place on the tunnel rebate. Work it into position along edge of rebate and around W36. Spread flox on the back of the large piece of brown foam and put it into place on top of the tunnel. Likewise spread flox onto the 4 small pieces in turn and fit them around W36. Spread flox over the top surface of all the brown foam. Lift the large piece of BID on its polyethylene sheet and position using marked lines. Peel off the polyethylene sheet and work the ends of the BID around W36. Stipple down. Add peel-ply in lots of small pieces. Move fan heater on its bench forward into working position and turn on. 21C, 37% RH at front of cockpit; move meter to baggage bay with sample cups. Fit deflector board as before and drape some polyethylene sheet right across back of cockpit opening. Turn off the fan heater on the floor. 25C, 33% RH in baggage bay. |
2066.4 |
| 11 |
21C, 28% RH in bottom of baggage bay; samples cured; turn off heater. |
|
| 12 |
Remove peel-ply from tunnel layup. Trim already-bandsawn foam pieces to 3" wide and 16" long. From melamine-faced chipboard, strips of oak that just happened to be exactly the right thickness, and a couple of other strips bandsawn to thickness, construct a jig for thinning the blue foam pieces to 7mm thick. Set them in the jig in turn and sand down with a large coarse Perma-Grit block. Unfortunately, get too enthusiastic on the second one and it buckles up and snaps. Lay polyethylene sheet in the jig and stick the foam together with 90-second epoxy, holding it in place with lead weights until cured. Pop epoxy & Redux samples out of several cups and file them in a polyethylene bag. Mark the extent of the blue foam strip on the inside of the starboard cockpit wall. Measure the angle of the thigh support and cut the starboard foam to that angle. Offer up to check height and cut top off to fit under sill. Press into place against the bolt heads and dig out the impressed areas with a scalpel. Press again to capture washer outlines and dig out shallower annuli for them. |
2068.8 |
| 13 |
Tidy up more sample cups. Remove tools, cushions etc from cockpit area for better access to forward wing socket stiffener areas. Mark foam outline on inside of port cockpit wall. Measure thigh support angle, transfer to foam and cut. Offer up and mark top end against sill. Cut and chamfer to fit. Impress the foam against the bolt heads, cut around the marks and dig out. Press again to get washer outlines and cut shallow annuli for them. Will need to hold foam pieces against the cockpit walls in at least 2 places each while the flox cures. From chipboard offcuts, make props to fit between foam and tunnel. Cut pieces of pre-preg offcut to act as softening against the foam. The starboard spar clamp in the trailer failed along a weld line during one of the times I had the wings out recently (forgot to log which date). Could take it back to Roger Huttlestone, but first take it to Gloucester Strut to see if anyone can recommend a welder nearer at hand. Roger Bailey offers to do it for me, so leave it with him. Robin brings the turn gyro to the Strut meeting reporting that the main bearing has failed and it would be a lot of work to repair. I ask him to see if he can do anything with it. |
2070.7 |
| 14 |
Start fan heater on floor. Cut 2 more strips of chipboard for props on the port side foam, and two offcuts of pre-preg for softening. Mark vertical lines on both sides of the cockpit and down onto the thigh support for the extent of the layup over the foam. Abrade the whole bonding area on both sides. Vacuum out the sanding dust. Degrease the whole of both bonding areas with acetone. Mix a peg-2 (45g) batch of slow epoxy and add about one and a half doses of flox to thicken it but keep it easily spreadable. Spread onto back of port foam with a mixing stick. Set it in position and gently jam in the sticks and pre-preg pieces to hold it in place. Wipe off excess flox at edges. Repeat for starboard foam. Still only 11C, 70% RH in the baggage bay where the temperature/humidity meter was left from last layup. Move meter to base of seat pan and start fan heater inside rear fuselage. Drape a sheet of polyethylene over the cockpit openings and secure it with duct tape. Leave to cure. By bedtime, a couple of hours later, seat pan (which is well below and most shielded from the fan airstream) is up to 17C, 52% RH. |
2073.4 |
| 15 |
17C, 38% RH on seat-pan. Partially remove the polyethylene sheet cover from the cockpit. Remove the props and softening sheets from the pieces of foam. Mark 2 pieces of polyethylene sheet with 130mm x 480mm rectangles plus lines 80mm apart for foam position. Mark and cut 6 off BID 130mm x 480mm and lay in 3 layers on each piece of polyethylene. Mix peg-10 (160g) batch of slow epoxy and pour onto the BID. Not quite fully wetted, so mix a peg-3 (60g) batch of slow epoxy and wet out the remaining spots. Mix micro (Q-cell) into the remainder to make a thick slurry. Paint the port foam strip with micro slurry. Lay on a 3-layer BID strip, starting from the underside of the door sill and pressing it on progressively, keeping it aligned with the marks and trying to avoid bubbles. Peel off the polyethylene sheet and stipple the BID into place. Apply peel-ply in several pieces. Repeat the whole process for the starboard side. 22C, 32% RH at bottom of seat pan. Cover cockpit again with polyethylene sheet and leave fan inside running. Turn down thermostat to 1.5 on the fan heater that's out on the floor & leave it running. In case Robin cannot repair the turn gyro, look at other possibilities. A new electric turn and slip would be about £1k. However, the Dynon D1 (or D2) offers the facilities of all 3 gyros for about the same price. If I did not fit the vacuum-driven gyros and the vacuum pump, that would save quite a bit of weight. Have a look at the possibilities on the panel, and decide it's just about feasible. Phone Robin and leave a message to cancel work on the electric gyro. |
2076.5 |
| 16 |
Send e-mail to Robin enlarging on the phone message to stop work on the gyro. 24C, 31% RH in seat pan; turn off fan heaters. Get some M8 x 30mm stainless set-screws from ScrewFix for the wing dolly pivots. Take tailplanes out of trailer for access. Jack up starboard wing dolly inboard end with bottle jack and spacer block, and fit M8 x 30mm stainless screw with additional washer under stiffnut. Jack up outboard end and replace the 20mm screw with 30mm, again adding a washer under the stiffnut. Likewise replace the 20mm screws on the port dolly with 30mm; no extra washers needed here as already fitted. Remove 50mm pivot bolts near aft wheel and replace with 60mm, on both dollies. Return tailplanes to trailer and close up. Remove peel-ply from yesterday's layups. Rub off some sharp whiskers along both door sills. |
2078.9 |
| 17 |
Roll out fuselage onto drive. Check quick-connect bellcrank pivots and with round burr in Dremel grind off small areas of layups that could foul the edge of the bellcrank bearing. Fit both port and starboard bellcranks and connecting rods with plain nuts to check neutral - looks OK by eye. Pull trailer forward and start removing stuff for access to port wing, then realise I could have left the trailer where it was parked as I can do the Belleville washer stuff without removing the wing from the trailer. Remove the quick-connect bellcrank from the port spar to improve access. Wrap a piece of polyethylene sheet around the bolt to keep it free of epoxy. With acetone, remove primer from aft face of spar socket on port spar and abrade with fine Perma-Grit flexible sheet. Abrade one P281315 Belleville washer on both sides. Degrease it and the spar socket face with acetone. Find an offcut of plywood that will fit into the spar socket and keep a pair of the 50W resistors in contact with the aft (top) inner face of the socket. Set up Thurlby bench power supply in trailer. Mix a peg-2 (45g) batch of standard epoxy and wet out a piece of BID 80mm x 90mm on a piece of polyethylene sheet. Add flox to remainder of epoxy and spread onto concave side of Belleville washer. Drop it into place and align using greased 1/2" bolt. Spread more flox around edges of washer then lay BID on top. Stipple down then check alignment again using a piece of flat-ended 1/2" round bar. Slide the resistors and spacer into the spar socket and switch on power supply at 15V, 1.1A. From about 7C, the surface of the layup get sup to about 70C in about 20 minutes. Wind the power supply down to 10V, 800mA, which reduces temperature to about 55C in about 5 minutes, then 50C after another 5 minutes. Turn power supply up to 11V, 900mA and leave to cure. After about 2 hours, the layup is at 45C - 48C and seems fully cured, although the BID overhanging the spar socket (and thus not in direct contact with the heat) is still at the "leathery" stage. Trim off most of the surplus with the Tuff-Kut scissors. Disconnect and remove power supply and resistors. Put all the stuff back in the trailer, close it up, couple the car and back the trailer to its parking place. Move the fuselage back into the garage. |
2083.3 |
| 19 |
Start at 10:10. Open car port, move car, roll out fuselage. [10:20] Check what size of drill bit is needed for the forward pin holes and choose 15/32" as I don't have a 12mm in stock. [10:25] Drill through the forward pin holes and the stiffening layup (and the washers on the inside, by the feel of it). Clean up break-out on inside of holes with Perma-Grit conical bit and round file. [10:30] Open trailer, check width of wing dolly wheels, close ramp. Mark that width opposite the obstructions with a fat felt-tip pen and pull trailer forward to just clear those lines. Open up again and shift all the stuff to clear access for the port wing. [10:55] Decide that although the light is poor inside the trailer, it's easier to work on the spar socket while the wing is secured there. File off the whiskers of BID at the edge of the spar socket with Perma-Grit files. Drill through the centre hole 10.2mm and file out to the size of the washer hole. Finally use taper reamer to clean it up and make sure the hole is circular. File off the BID on the top surface of the washer around the hole until a small ring of steel is visible all round. Check fit with pip-pin - seems fine. [11:25] Re-fit aileron quick-connect bellcrank and find that the end of the bolt in the rod-end bearing is just fouling the surface of the BID. File down the BID locally to clear the bolt. [11:40] Roll out the port wing and push the spar into the fuselage. Goes onto the pins at the second try and the pip-pin hole looks well-aligned. Push the 1/2" bolts part-way into the spar holes. Move engine box across trailer and roll out starboard wing. Spar goes in OK, but pins seem reluctant to line up. Spar seems to be slightly high. Pull wing dolly out a bit to lower the wing slightly and try again - pins now starting to enter sockets. Wiggle wingtip fore and aft and the pins go in a bit further. Drop a M4 x 30mm screw into the pip-pin hole to prevent it popping out and wiggle some more, which seems to do the trick. Take out the screw and insert the pip-pin, also put in the port pip-pin now. Spar bolts reluctant to go through second spar. While thinking about it, shorten the starboard spar pin S07/3 to 3.375" from the head and tidy the end to a nice taper on the grindstone. Try jacking up the fuselage dolly slightly to see if that helps the spar holes line up. The wings flex visibly as the load goes on and off the dollies; try to find a neutral point where the wingtips are neither sagging under their own weight or being pushed up too much by the dollies and it does seem to improve things a bit. After greasing the S07 lightly, it goes in both sides with not too much effort (of course the large handle on it does make it easier to push by hand anyway). However, the port pip-pin S08 is still very reluctant to go fully home. After much fiddling eventually persuade it to go home and the button clicks up. Insert and remove a couple of times to see if it gets any easier, but not a big improvement. Suspect that if I had an assistant or two wiggling the wingtips up & down while I pushed the pip-pin it would go in quite easily. Now possible to pull it out by hand until the balls contact the aft Belleville washer. Measured by ruler, the clearance between the pip-pin flange and the seatback reinforcement is 3mm. [13:00] Belleville washer is quoted as 2mm so 1-off AN960-816L at 0.8mm should be just perfect. Assemble those 2 washers onto the pip-pin and try it in the spar hole. The button only just pops up when the pip-pin is tapped home firmly and there is no clearance, so try it without the AN960-816L and that seems to be OK. The max allowed clearance is 0.5mm and the 0.5mm feeler gauge will not go in, but the 0.4mm feeler gauge will, so I'm happy to accept that. [13:25] Stop for lunch. [14:50] The quick-connect bellcranks appear to be pretty well aligned, so there seems no need to debond the pivot bolts in the spars and re-align them as outlined in the manual. Try to measure the space between them on each side. It's quite tricky to get a feeler gauge into the space and make sure that it's filling the full length of the gap and this keeping the faces parallel, However, to a first approximation, if the maximum gap at the bottom end is measured, with the top ends touching, that should be twice the thickness of the parallel spacer needed. At the port side, I can just get 1 mixing stick plus feeler gauges 0.63mm & 0.38mm into the gap at the bottom of the bellcranks. That stack measures 2.6mm with the vernier caliper. At the starboard side the same gap takes 2 mixing sticks plus 0.63mm, 0.38mm, 0.3mm, & 0.25mm feeler gauges, which measures as 4.9mm. [15:15] With considerable effort, remove rear pip-pins. Remove spar pins. De-rig starboard wing and return to trailer. Move engine box back against it to steady it. De-rig port wing and secure it in the trailer. [15:35] Put away trailer stuff and close it up. [15:50] Roll fuselage back into garage. [15:55] Later (not timed) couple car to trailer and re-position back to its place. |
2087.4 |
| 20 |
Degrease remaining P281315 Belleville washer with acetone and abrade both sides with fine Perma-Grit flexible sheet. Degrease again. Degrease seatback area around port spar pin bush. Grease a 1/2" bolt lightly and insert into bush to ensure it is well greased inside, just in case any epoxy gets onto it. Drop washer onto bolt. Mix a small batch of Araldite 2012 rapid epoxy and mix in some flox. Apply to seatback around port spar pin bush. Quickly slide bolt in and push washer into place. The 1/2" bolt is fouled by some part of the control system, preventing it going fully home to the head, so change to S07 spar pin so I can press the washer firmly against the seatback. Smooth out the Araldite/flox around the washer - it's already starting to gel. As the PLY5 pieces appear to have been entirely used for the fuel tank spacers, find a piece of 12mm birch ply from stock for the starboard pin receptacle. |
2088.5 |
| 21 |
Bandsaw 12mm birch ply to width with one edge angled at 45 degrees for starboard spar pin receptacle. Mark location on fuselage side 32mm up from spar pin centre. Offer up to test fit then chamfer aft end on belt sander to fit corner. Hold in place and mark edge where pin handle touches. Mark and drill 12mm then cut slot to edge. Cut to length, 13mm beyond slot. Mark 42mm length & 12mm width on remaining piece of EURO10 3mm aluminium alloy plate. Hacksaw to size and smooth edges with millennicut file. Mark a centre at 6mm from one end and drill 2mm. |
2090.1 |
| 22 |
Start fan heater. The EURO24 screws for the spar pin receptacle latch were missing from the kit but I had a verbal assurance that they were 3/4" x 8 woodscrews. However, looking at the receptacle #8 seems a bit fat. Have a look through my miscellaneous collection of roundhead woodscrews and find a couple of 3/4" x 6 that look suitable, although they have Philips heads rather than the Pozidriv I prefer. Drill the aft end of the receptacle top edge 7/64" and try one of the screws. Gets a bit tight, so take it out and drill again 1/8", which seems fine on test. The AN960-10L washer quoted for the #8 woodscrew is a bit of a loose fit on the one I have chosen, so pick out a 4BA washer instead that is a nice snug fit. Open the pivot hole in the latch to 4.5mm. File and sand the pivot end of the latch to a semicircle. Mark a centre 6mm from the other end of the latch. Screw the latch firmly to the receptacle and drill through the marked hole 1/8". Remove the latch and open up the hole to 4.5mm, then hacksaw a slot into it. Tidy up the edges of the slot with needle files. Smooth it off all over on the ScotchBrite wheel. Check fit again and adjust bottom chamfer angle of receptacle on the belt sander to allow the latch to swing fully clear. Abrade and degrease receptacle and bonding area on fuselage side and seatback. Mix some Araldite 2012 rapid epoxy and add a small amount of flox. Spread it onto bottom and aft edges of receptacle and place in position. Swing spar pin handle into place to confirm correct position. Hold receptacle against side and seat until epoxy gels. Smooth off edges of rapid epoxy/flox around port spar bush with power file. Abrade about 30mm all round the bush and degrease. Cut 2 pieces BID 75mm x 75mm and 4 pieces 75mm x 60mm. Mix a peg-2 (45g) batch of standard epoxy (which turns out to be far too much). Paint it onto the area around the port spar bush and lay on a 75mm square of BID. Stipple to wet out and apply a second layer. Add peel-ply in several pieces. Paint the area around the starboard spar pin receptacle with epoxy. Lay a 75mm x 60mm BID lengthwise into the vee between the receptacle and side, taking the aft end onto the seatback, and stipple until wetted. Repeat for 2nd layer. Similarly lay BID on bottom of receptacle, down onto fuselage side and carry the aft end onto the seatback. Wet out and add a second layer. Apply peel-ply in several pieces. With the fan heater running out on the floor, the seatpan is up to 18C, 42% RH. Turn on the fan heater in the back of the fuselage and cover the cockpit aperture with polyethylene sheet, taping it in places to retain and close gaps. 21C, 35% RH in seat pan after 3 hours. |
2093.3 |
| 23 |
Get TH01 throttle box moulding and TH02 throttle lever out of box 19 in trailer. Top of TH02 is 1" wide, so find a piece of aluminium round bar 1" diameter from which to make a handle. 20C, 29% RH in seat pan, sample cured. Turn off heaters & remove cockpit covering. Roll fuselage out onto drive for access to port side. Remove peel-ply from yesterday's layups. Trim surplus BID from edges of starboard spar pin receptacle with various Perma-Grit files. File off BID from central part of port spar bush layup, to expose centre of Belleville washer. Get out EURO08 SRBF sheet from box 8 but it doesn't seem to be big enough to provide the required number of layers over the full area of the CS15 fuselage quick-connect bellcrank faces. Look through SRBF stockpile to see if there is any suitable thin sheet. Thinking again, check size of mating faces on W16 wing quick-connect bellcranks and they are smaller, only about 73mm x 25mm with a scallop down to 13mm in the middle. Thus, don't need the full width of CS15 covered with SRBF, only the forward 25mm. Could cut EURO08 into 3 off 73mm x 28mm pieces, which should be enough. Port side needs 2.6/2 = 1.3mm, which is pretty close to 1mm SRBF + 0.25mm Redux film. Starboard side needs 4.9/2 = 2.45mm, about the same as 2 x 1mm SRBF + 2 x 0.25mm Redux film. Had been planning to bond the SRBF to the CS15s using heater resistors to get a quick cure, but can't see an easy way to secure the resistors to the inside faces of the CS15s while the wings are rigged. If the SRBF is bonded on without the wings rigged and just clamped in place, the Redux film may get squeezed either too much or not enough. Notice that the rod-end bearing bolt on CS15P is touching a slight bulge in the BID where it goes around the corner. File the BID down to clear the bolt, and then notice that it's a longer bolt than that fitted on CS15S! However, the one on CS15S did seem a bit short to ensure the stiffnut would be in safety. Further, the manual says the bolt should be shortened as necessary but leaving 2 threads clear of the nut. Will have to repair the BID and try to make it flatter next time. Remove CS15S & CS15P and compare with W16S & W16P on wing spars. The pivot point of W16P is about 37mm down from the top edge of the contact surface, and CS15P is about 38mm down from the top edge of its contact surface. W16S pivot is about 36mm down and CS15S pivot is about 37mm down. So, the 73mm x 28mm piece of EURO08 SRBF could be positioned at the top forward edge of each CS15 and provide contact over the full area of each W16. The SRBF will need relieving on the forward bottom corner to match the profile already formed on CS15P. The W16P does contact the end of the spar pip-pin at the end of its travel (without ailerons installed), but the manual assures me that it should not travel that far when everything is properly adjusted. Close the trailer and roll the fuselage back into the garage. Find a length of 1" ID steel tube to use as a handle for the tailwheel manoeuvring device and a length of 1" wooden broomshaft to stiffen it internally. Cut a 75mm length of the wood and insert into the end of the steel tube. Centre-pop 12mm from the end of the tube and on the vee-blocks with the wood flush to the end of the tube, cross-drill through the tube 7/64". Consider that the heating resistors could be attached to the back of the CS15s with M3 screws into tapped holes that would be covered by the SRBP. |
2096.7 |
| 24 |
[11:15] Roll out fuselage and position on drive for wing rigging. Move trailer well forward, open up and move out the stuff that obstructs access to the wings. Take ailerons to front drive. [11:33] Get out Thurlby and Coutant bench power supplies and soldering iron. With junior hacksaw, cut EURO08 1mm SRBF sheet into 3 strips 28mm x 73mm. Unsolder 2nd 50W resistor from 2 of the heating harnesses and reconnect with just one resistor each. Mark, centre-pop, drill 2.6mm and tap M3 holes for attaching resistors to CS15P & CS15S. Trim 1 piece SRBF to match the cutaway on CS15P. Attach the resistors with M3 x 4mm cheesehead screws found in the M3 miscellaneous drawer. Abrade CS15P & CS15S with fine Perma-Grit sheet and fit them to the fuselage. Run the wires for the heating resistors inboard and down through the fuel-drain access holes. [12:48] Stop for lunch. [13:10] Wheel out port wing and insert spar almost fully into fuselage. Wheel out starboard wing and insert spar partially. To check that everything fits , push port wing fully home and insert aft pip-pin. Push starboard wing fully home and insert aft pip-pin. Starboard spar pin goes in OK but port spar pip-pin reluctant. Use 1/2" bolt instead and tap it gently in. Satisfied with rigging, pull out pip-pins and spar pins and extract wing spars fully. Grease the faces of W16P & W16S, and other areas of the bellcranks where drips might fall. With duct tape, mask off the bottom edges of the spar aperture and the end of the quick-connect pushrod. [14:05] Degrease CS15P & CS15S bonding faces. Mix 10g + 4g Araldite 420 (Redux) and apply it with a mixing stick to the face of CS15P and the SRBF piece with the notch. Position the SRBF piece on CS15P. Apply Redux to CS15S face and to 2 sheets of SRBF in turn, positioning them and lining them up by pushing the edges with the ends of mixing sticks. Notice that SRBF tends to slide down the faces of the CS15s so they need to be re-positioned from time to time. Slide in the spars and insert the aft pip-pins. From underneath, look to see if CS15 & W16 are moving together with no binding and no lost motion. Starboard side is fine, but there is a little lost motion on the port side - will need to make the SRBF sandwich thicker somehow. Remove pip-pins and take wings out completely again. [14:45] Mix a little flox with the remaining Redux to make it non-slump. Remove the SRBF from CS15P. Spread both CS15P and the SRBF with a thick layer of the Redux-flox and re-position the SRBF, trying not to squeeze it too hard against the CS15P. While the spars are out of the way, re-route both the heater wires aft of the aileron link rod to reduce chance of them fouling the spars. Re-solder one resistor connexion that has developed a dry joint. Re-insert port spar and push home. Insert aft pip-pin and spar pins part-way. Check starboard SRBF position and re-align slightly. Insert starboard spar and push home. Insert aft pip-pin. Push starboard spar pin home and insert 1/2" bolt in port spar bush, tapping gently home with plastic mallet. Connect and turn on heating resistors at about 7V, 1A each. [15:15] After about 15 minutes, the infra-red thermometers show about 20C (hard to get in close enough for a definitive reading of the bellcrank surface), so wind up the supplies to about 10V, 1.5A. Start to figure out how the lines for the flap drive slots can be marked. The wide difference in distance from retracted to extended between the flap pin and the fuselage makes it quite difficult. Bellcranks now about 35C; wind up power supplies to about 13V, 2A each. [15:45] Find a piece of tube that is a (rather loose) sliding fit on the flap pin and cut off a length that will just fit between flap and fuselage when the flap is retracted. Trace around the end of the tube, sliding it against the fuselage as flap is extended. The result is a bit crude and approximate but better than nothing. Get W53P & W53S wing root fairings out of trailer and fit them to the wings. Mark their outlines on the fuselage sides and wings. On the starboard fairing, mark the position of the pip-pin, but forget to do the same on the port one before putting them away. Bellcrank areas now reading between 55C and 60C. Fit port and starboard ailerons with temporary short screws (not easy to do from underneath with the wings rigged!). Check action from cockpit and it is extremely satisfying to see them operating when stirring the sticks! Remove pip-pins and spar pins, de-rig and put wings away in turn. Reload stuff into trailer, couple up car and re-park trailer. Turn off heaters, pull back wires and leave ends in cockpit for now. Roll fuselage back into garage, return power supplies and soldering iron to office. [18:30] |
2103.7 |
| 26 |
Thinking about the Dynon D1 possibilities, transfer a screenshot of the side into CADintosh and try to measure the position of the power socket. Seems as though it would be slightly above the axis of the altimeter setting knob. Then consider that the knob could be extended to beyond the front face of the Dynon for easier gripping, and having just a thin shaft instead of the full diameter of the knob beside the socket could leave enough room for the power connector. Remove the altimeter setting knob and find the threaded shaft is M4. It should be simple to make an extension shaft from hexagonal brass stock. Get some of the throttle box hardware (AN316-4R, AN525-10R10, AN970-3, AN970-4, EURO22, EURO23, MS21047-3, FL9, TH05) out of boxes 19 & 20 in the trailer. Roll the fuselage out onto the drive for access to both sides. Remove the duct-tape masking from the bottom edges of the spar holes. Remove CS15s and associated link rods. Roll fuselage back into garage. Remove duct tape from link rods and remove from CS15s. Clean up excess Redux that has squeezed out around SRBF pieces. Returning to tailwheel handling device, keeping the 7/64" drill bit in the first through hole in the handle tube for location, line up, mark and centre pop at 51 mm in from the first hole (51 = 75 - 2x12). Support on vee-blocks and with 7/64" drill bit vertical, drill on the centre-pop 1/8". Enlarge that hole up to 8mm successively. Insert M8 bolt for location, remove 7/64" bit and similarly enlarge that hole to 8mm. Mark & centre-pop points on centreline of aluminium-angle fabrication, at 51mm apart. Drill each 1/8" & open to 8mm. Check fit of M8 bolts through both parts - fine. Fit to tailwheel to check length of handle needed, cut off and deburr. Find some 27mm OD wooden dowel (ex roller-blind core) and cut off about 50mm. Chuck in lather, face off cut end. Turn down the outer 40mm length to just fit in the handle tube. Drill through 5mm. Reverse in chuck, face off, then turn down OD to match OD of handle tube. Bevel off outer edge with file. Remove from lathe insert it into the handle. Mark and cross-drill 20mm in from end of tube, at right-angle to M8 bolts. Enlarge cross hole to 1/2" with drills and finally enlarge to just fit the redundant rudder pushrod with the taper reamer. Insert the pushrod to check length of cross-handle needed. Cut to length and deburr. Insert into cross hole, centralise and drill down through hole in end of dowel 5mm. Tap the holes through the pushrod M6 and insert a screw to retain the cross-handle. Check function as far as possible without really moving the fuselage - seems fine. |
2107.0 |
| 27 |
For the throttle handle, cut 2 slices off the 1" aluminium round bar. Chuck one in the lathe and face off. Reverse, face to 21mm long and drill through 5mm. Drill 1/4" to 14mm deep. |
2107.9 |
| 28 |
Fit small boring tool and bore 14mm deep until about 18.3mm bore, 3mm wall thickness. Soften edges with emery stick. Reverse in chuck, gripping inside of bore on outside of jaws. Polish original outside diameter with emery stick. Open up hole in top end of TH02 lever to 5mm. Check fit against of the handle just made against TH02 and smooth edges of TH02 with emery paper Similarly on second piece - face, reverse, face, drill 5mm, drill 1/4" to 14mm and start to bore 14mm deep. |
2109.6 |
| 29 |
Continue boring out until wall thickness is about 3mm. Clean up inner face. Smooth edges with emery stick. Remove, reverse with bore held on outside of jaws. Smooth edge and polish original OD with emery stick. Remove and assemble onto TH02 throttle lever with plain M5 nut to check for fit and appearance - looks fine. Looking for FL9 bearing insertion tool, but can only find what appears to be one half of it, the male mandrel. To make the other part, cut about 2" off a length of 1" round steel bar and face off one end. |
2111.5 |
| 30 |
[11:55] Move cars, move fuselage out onto drive, pull trailer forward. [12:05] Fit fuselage quick-connect bellcranks and link rods. [12:15] Light rain shower makes me wonder if I should not proceed; but the forecast was for less than 5% likelihood of precipitation so carry on. Get out GE12E spherical bearings and FL17 bearing housings. Find a piece of 15mm copper pipe that can be used instead of FL15 flap cross-tube to aid in cutting the slots. [12:25] Open trailer and move out the stuff that obstructs access to wings. Wheel out port wing, move engine, wheel out starboard wing. Drill the top end of the slot markings with 20mm grit-edged holesaw on both sides. Start to insert the 15mm copper pipe and then realise the pitch pushrod is in the way - that's why FL15 has a kink in the middle! So, instead of a single piece right across, will have to use just a stub of pipe each side. Cut off a piece about 250mm and deburr. Insert port wing and using short copper pipe, check lineup of drilled hole with flap pin. Seems OK, so remove wing and drill several more 20mm holes along the marked line, stopping short of the end as the flap travel has not been measured yet. Smooth holes together into a slot with Perma-Grit files. Insert wing again and with pipe held on pin, check slot position. Seems OK as pipe doesn't appear to touch the sides of the slot throughout travel. Starts to rain again; take cardboard boxes and trolley back into trailer and close ramp. Stop for lunch. [13:20] After lunch [14:25] wipe rain off wings with silicon squeegee - very effective. Clean and degrease GE12Es and FL17s. Find that a brass plumbing fitting is just the right size to fit the bearings for driving them into the housings. Apply Loctite 638 and tap bearings into place. Wipe off excess Loctite, trying to keep it out of the bearings. [15:00] Fit wing profile template to port wing root and mark flap retracted position with a line on its top surface along wing TE. Measure flap deflection and when the outrigger clicks, the flap is 27 degrees from the retracted position, which is very handy. Extend the slot to accommodate that travel, and file edges of slot locally to ensure clearance from the copper pipe throughout travel. [15:30] Measure starboard flap deflection - it needs to go about a degree beyond the outrigger click point to get 27 degrees down from the retracted position. Extend the slot as for port side. Remove wings and file top end of both slots where the pipe was just touching. Check the size of the FL15 cross-tube (32mm) and enlarge the slots at both top & bottom ends with a 30mm step drill. Enlarge enough with a file to admit the end of the cross-tube at the top of the slot. Remove all the cushions, the fan heater and the bench supporting it from the rear fuselage. With some fiddling, insert the FL15 into the starboard slot from inside then swing it under the pitch pushrod and into place at the top of the the port slot. Try inserting wings and check how concentric the FL15 is with the flap actuating pins in the retracted position. Can't check FL15 length as port wing is refusing to go fully home for some unknown reason, although the pins are starting to enter the sockets. [16:35] Getting dark, so open up trailer, remove boxes, put wings back in followed by boxes etc and close it up. Clear up tools from drive and mop out seatpans and baggage bays. [17:30] Put fuselage away - much easier to manoeuvre backwards and forwards and up & down slopes with the new rigid tailwheel steering device than with the rope I was using before. [17:40] Couple up car and re-park trailer. Put cars back in place. [18:05] For the FL9 assembly tool, drill through the piece of steel in the lathe 3mm, 5mm, 5.5mm, 5.9mm & 1/4". Reverse in chuck and face other end. [19:10] |
2117.8 |
| 31 |
Clean and degrease TH02 lever and FL9 bearing, and the two parts of the assembly fixture. Apply Loctite 638 and press together with jig. Mark a vertical line on the port side of TH01 throttle box for the lever pivot hole location. No depth dimension is given in the manual, so with the lever vertical and touching the bottom, mark a fine felt-tip a line across it flush with the top edge. Transfer the lever to the outside and with the marked line about 1mm up from the flange, and the pivot hole centred on the marked vertical line, trace inside the pivot hole onto the port side of the box. Support the box on its side, level on the drill table, and drill through 1/4". Turn it over and open up the starboard side to 14mm with a step drill (to admit a 5/16" socket for the MS21042-4 stiffnut). Assemble everything onto the EURO23 pivot screw and check operation - all fine. Remove lever from box, keeping hardware with lever. Using a combination square (like a height gauge) on a flat surface, mark on the forward face of the box a line 20mm from the upper surface. Mark centreline and then 5.5mm out each way for the cable holes. Drill each 5/64" then open up to 1/4". Reaching in from the firewall, offer up throttle box to the underside of the spine on the tunnel but it is far too wide to fit - looks as though most of the side flanges will have to come off. File them back with a coarse Perma-Grit block, supporting the centre where it flexes away from the block. After a couple more tries when it starts to go into the spine a bit, notice there is a wrinkle on the inside of the spine obstructing it, so file that off too. After filing off the side flanges completely and chamfering the top edges, the box fits into the tunnel spine nicely and stays in place. However, the front face is about 10mm too far forward (370mm aft of firewall instead of required 380mm). Crawl underneath to check if the aft end can go any further back, but it is already butted against the aft end of the spine. File off aft end flange in small increments until the front face of the box is just 380mm back from firewall. Mark and drill forward and aft flanges centrally 3/32". Position in tunnel spine and start to drill through aft flange 4.8mm from underneath, but the box won't stay in place while drilling and the hole in the spine goes off-centre. I should have supported the box, but there wasn't enough room for me to get my other hand up to reach it. Jack up the dolly quite a bit more and secure it. Now enough room for one hand on the box and the other with the drill. Drill 4.8mm through the forward and aft flange pilot holes and through the spine. Notice that the hole for the stiffnut adjustment looks as though it lines up with edge of the brake lever, so it probably won't be possible to fit a socket extension protruding through the starboard side of the tunnel to allow throttle friction adjustment in flight. The MS21047-3 anchor nuts will not take the TLPK424BS rivets called out in the manual. Can't find the jig I used before to drill out anchor nuts, so drill an offcut of aluminium square bar 7mm and countersink to locate the anchor nut upside-down. Drill out both anchor nuts to 3.4mm. Fit them to the throttle box flanges with short screws and spacer nuts as usual. The riveter nose extension for the TAPK33BS rivets won't fit the TLPK424BS, so find a small length of 1/4" round steel rod to make a new one. Chuck in lathe, face off, centre-drill and drill through 2mm. Check for rivet stem fit and open it up to 2.1mm to allow free entry. Reverse, face other end. Remove from chuck, hacksaw into 2 pieces and face off each cut end to make a 6.5mm and a 10.5mm spacer. Use the shorter one to set the 4 rivets on the anchor nuts. Store the spacers in the TLPK424BS rivet drawer. Notice that the black button-head screws holding the brake cylinder are looking a bit rusty; they are M8 x 35mm - will check for availability of stainless in that size. Notice afterwards that although the text on page 2-3 of the 912S installation manual calls for TLPK424BS rivets on the anchor nuts, figure 2 on page 2-2 calls for TAPK33BS! Put AN525-10R10, AN970-3, AN970-4, MS21047-3 from box 20 into small parts drawers in garage. |
2122.2 |
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