left-arrow

Europa #435 G-RODO Build Journal - 2023 06

 right-arrow
index sitemap advanced
search engine by freefind
tickgo to list of milestonestick Navigation & Acknowledgements
day notes hours
3 Spend some time fixing the handle of the rolling tool chest. A self-tapper had fallen out and the hole is too worn to hold a replacement. Instead fire up the compressor for the rivet gun and and fit a couple of rivets.

Push fuselage out onto the drive. Unclamp and remove windscreen. Wipe dust off top of F14 Instrument Module with damp cloth. No need to dry - the heat of the sun does that very quickly. To protect against sanding dust and Redux drips, drape a large piece of polyethylene sheet over the IM. Secure at forward edge with small pieces of wood pushed between IM and windscreen frame. Secure to fuselage asides with duct tape and drape the rest of the sheet over the seats and headrests. Cover TA50 GPS antenna with scrap of polyethylene sheet and secure with duct tape.

Take off watch. Cut a piece of fresh polyethylene sheet large enough to cover windscreen. Apply masking tape to secure the good edge onto the masking tape along centre of the straight top edge of the windscreen. Tape down all around windscreen, trimming as required to keep edge of polyethylene sheet in middle of masking tape line.

Inner surface of windscreen is quite dusty so wipe it off with a damp cloth. Gently towel dry with a Minky wipe then leave in the sun for a few minutes to fully dry. Vacuum garage carpet to remove all potential scratch hazards. Lay on it the heavy polyethylene sheet in which the windscreen was wrapped.

Lay the windscreen, outer face down, on the heavy polyethylene sheet. Apply masking tape all around the edge, about 1mm in from the tape line on the outer surface. This should ensure that the masking tape does not get trapped against the bonding surface. Cut a fresh piece of polyethylene sheet to the approximate size of the windscreen. Attach it to the line of masking tape (as for the outer face), trimming as required to keep the edge of the polyethylene sheet in the middle of the masking tape line.

With powerfile, grind off the gel-coat on the fuselage recess for the windscreen.

Add masking tape all around the edge of the outer face of the windscreen so that the outside is fully covered, knife-trimming flush to the edge of the Perspex.

Blow off grinding dust from engine bay with blow gun. Vacuum up dust in cockpit area.

Tidy up tools and roll fuselage back into garage. Position windscreen on fuselage and clamp in place (should have done that while fuselage was outside with full access).		 3738.8
5 Roll fuselage out onto drive. Check fit of windscreen in recess. Doesn't seem to have the close fit at the lower (forward) centre that I observed previously, but it is not far out. Fit a webbing strap across the bottom of the windscreen and diagonally across the fuselage to pass underneath, aft of the dolly. Needs some pieces of blue foam to provide pressure to get the windscreen bedded fully into the fuselage recess. Slacken strap and move clear of bonding area for now.

To get an idea of the amount of Redux needed, measure the perimeter of the door: about 2x850mm + 2x700mm = 3100mm. The windscreen perimeter is about 2x1650mm = 3300mm. So, a little more needed than for a door - the 84g mix that I used for the starboard door was rather too much, so that should be OK for the windscreen.

Abrade the bonding area all around the inner face of the windscreen with the powerfile. Degrease the fuselage recess with an acetone-soaked tissue.

Open a fresh pack of Redux and mix 60g + 24g batch. Add 4 good doses of flox to stiffen it. Spread it onto the fuselage recess with a mixing stick and smooth out. Wipe off excess Redux from around the recess with an acetone-soaked tissue. Place windscreen in position and clamp port corner, interposing a scrap of polyethylene sheet as release film. Likewise clamp at top centre and then at starboard corner. Position blue foam blocks on bottom edge of windscreen and tighten webbing strap onto them. Slip scraps of polyethylene sheet under the strap where it crosses the bond line.

With mixing stick, scrape off the excess Redux that has squeezed out in various places and wipe clean with acetone-soaked tissue, taking care not to let the acetone soak into the masking tape on the windscreen. Add more speed-clamps along top (aft) edge of windscreen where it is not sitting down tight in the recess. Clean up where Redux squeezed out. Go all around several times smoothing off and cleaning up bond line.

On the inside there doesn't seem to be very much squeezed out at all; wipe off a few small areas here and there.

Add sample info to remainder of Redux/flox left in mixing cup.

Tidy up and roll fuselage back into garage.		 3742.0
6 Redux around windscreen and in sample cup seems well cured.
10 tickRoll fuselage out onto drive for access.

Remove protective sheet of polyethylene from F14 Instrument Module and seats. A surprising amount of dust has somehow got through and is coating the top of the IM.

Remove masking tape and polyethylene sheet from outer face of windscreen. Use sharp 1/2" chisel to lift stiffer pieces of Redux overflow where masking tape has torn away from the edge of the screen.

Remove polyethylene sheet from inner face of windscreen. Start to remove the masking tape from around the edge. It is easy enough at the top (aft) edge but trickier at the bottom (forward) edge where there is less room. Once started, fine-nose pliers help to pull away the tape along the top of the IM but at the port side there is very little room for any tool. With patience, it is just possible to lift the masking tape, and avoid scratches in that area, with a #10 (curved) blade in a 3L (long) Swann-Morton scalpel handle. Clean up remaining Redux overflows onto remnants of masking tape as before with chisel.

Roll fuselage back into garage, just in time to avoid a thundershower, the first rain we've had for several weeks.		 3743.9
13 Open trailer and move boxes and doors out for access to tailplanes and port wing.

Check resistance of paint in root of tailplane to various solvents. Acetone and petrol both dissolve paint quite quickly but isopropyl alcohol is much less aggressive. Lightly wipe with isopropyl alcohol to degrease the areas of the tailplane upper surfaces where the Mod 73 placards are to be affixed. Dry with clean tissue. Apply labels.

Consider abrading the tailplane roots to remove the paint where the other placards should go, but decide to do the wing registration mark instead.

Although the rules say the registration should be equidistant from LE and TE, the flap hinges and the pitot/static access panel have a big influence on the possible locations for the markings. Conclude that the access panel can be inside the loop of the D of G-RODO. Degrease the whole potential underwing area for affixing the registration mark with soapy water on a J-cloth and dry off with clean tissue. Draw lines with erasable pencil extending the inboard and outboard edges of the access recess towards the LE and TE, to aid positioning. After measuring possible placement, draw a line for the position of the top (aft) edge of the registration sheet, in line with the centres of the flap and outrigger hinges. Cut a notch in the edge of the registration backing sheet for the outrigger hinge. Offer up the registration sheet and tape in place with masking tape, starting at the D and progressively aligning the top edge with the drawn line. Cut a further notch for the flap mid hinge. Apply more masking tape pieces to keep each letter aligned when they are separated.

Cut between the G and the dash so that the G can be lifted separately. Apply a length of duct tape to the top edge of that section to provide a strong hinge. Lift the section and peel off the protective layer. Temporarily tape the free end of the section to the roof of the trailer with duct tape. Apply a mist of soapy water to both letter and wing with the cordless airbrush. Remove temporary support tape and lay letter G down onto the wing. Carefully but firmly squeegee it all over to expel the water, working outwards all around the edge of the letter.

Cut the dash section free as above, peel protective layer, tape it up and mist spray. Lay down and squeegee as before for letter G. The instructions say the backing sheet can be peeled off after a few minutes, so try that on the letter G. Alas, no joy - the letter comes off very easily with the backing - looks like I was much too impatient. Peel it all off, re-mist and re-squeegee down.

Continue repeating the process with all remaining letters in turn. Running out of time to get to Gloster Strut meeting, so tidy up without trying to peel off any of the backing film, and leave it to cure overnight.		 3746.5
14 tickOpen trailer and remove usual stuff for access to port wing.

Carefully start to peel off support film from letter G. The film is quite well stuck and needs a hefty pull to remove it. Keep it folded tightly back on itself as I approach the edge of the letter, but no need to worry much as the letter now appears well stuck down (unlike yesterday!). Nonetheless, take great care approaching other edges. The edge of the letter lifts very slightly in a couple of small places but is easily pressed down again and seems to stay in place OK. Once the film is completely removed, the letter looks satisfactory, although there are a few small bubbles visible here and there.

Repeat careful removal of support film from dash and all other letters. Small bubbles are visible in places on most letters. Puncture each bubble with the tip of a scalpel and press down flat. Overall the result now looks satisfactory.

Tidy up and close trailer.		 3747.3
17 The new battery for the Garmin GPSmap 296 was never delivered despite tracking giving expected arrival on 3 June, and the seller was unresponsive, so I claimed a full refund from eBay. That has showed up in my account today, so now look for a different supplier. Surprised to find that most of the batteries advertised for the 296 (including ones from the outfit that failed to deliver) are 7.4V; but a few are 8.4V - I had not previously noticed that. The dead one I have is 8.4V, so order one of those from a different supplier. Just as well I didn't get the other one after all!

Open trailer and take out parts trolley, blue foam box, and doors. Take out cowl halves and assemble. Check measurements for enlarging propshaft hole. Neville advised to leave about 2" width rim (works out at 160mm circle), with cutout if needed for prop control brushes. Draw up a template (concentric circles 41mm & 160mm diameter) in CADintosh and print it out. Trim paper some distance outside the 160mm circle and tape to front of cowl with masking tape. Check dimensions of cutout needed for prop control brushes. Comfortable size would be 75mm away from the edge of the 41mm circle, 5mm below the horizontal centreline and 35mm above it. Mark that on the cowl face and template.

Drill a 4.7mm starting hole near the inside of the 160mm circle. Cut along the circle with the diamond blade in the MiniTool jigsaw. The jigsaw base prevents it following the cutout fully. Finish that off with a spiral blade in a hand fretsaw. Smooth the cut edges lightly with sandpaper and tidy up the cutout shape with Perma-Grit tools.

On the lower half of the offcut, mark lines vertically down each side of the 41mm circle and cut out that strip. Trim the offcuts from each side to the same width as the central strip, then rivet them onto each face with a slight protrusion beyond it to form an alignment guide for fitting the lower half of the cowl.

Dismantle the cowl halves, put everything back in the trailer and close up. Tidy up tools.

Notice as I write up this day's work that this is the 3000th entry in this journal file.		 3749.8
18 Thinking on about the oil breather catch can, do some online research for metal screw-top containers. Some look a suitable size, but would require some work to mount and to arrange input & breather connexions. Google again for oil catch tanks and this time a promising one turns up, advertised by Temu. It is only 98mm high and 40.5mm wide (excluding pipe adaptors). The bowl appears to be clear plastic, which should be much lighter than the one I ordered in November last year and then rejected because of its weight. Check space available for it under the oil tank and it looks fine, so place an order for one with 8mm pipe adaptors.
20 Assemble the fuse tray cover, with the printed sheet and polytrace sandwiched between the 2 sheets of polycarbonate using 12mm wide double-sided tape. Use the old assembly as a guide to correct positioning of the printed sheet. Trim off excess with scalpel.
26 Oil catch tank delivered today from Temu. Looks good and weighs only 116g. It won't hold much (maybe 100ml?), but is small enough that I should be able to find a mounting location for it without getting too close to the exhaust heat.
27 Check size of tapped holes in oil catch can - M4. Think about how to mount it - there will not be good access to the screw heads in the proposed location under the Rotax oil tank. A strip of angle longer than the width of the unit would be OK. It would first be attached to the oil catch can and then the angle bracket would be attached to the firewall with fixings beyond the sides of the can.
29 Hacksaw off about 75mm of aluminium angle (12.7mm x 1.8mm thick). Clamp it in the milling vise with a scrap piece under the upper flange to space it away from the jaws. Mill one end true with 16mm end mill. Mill about 3mm of the edge of the upper flange for about 22.5mm. Likewise take 3mm off the other end of the flange and true up the end. Alas, my rough calculations are badly in error as the central full-width part of the flange is too short and does not cover the mounting holes on the oil catch can.

Pause for thought, then draw up the mounting area of the oil catch can in CADintosh. It is now obvious that the 16mm mill is too large to make the shape needed. Decide to just make a notch with a 6mm end mill rather than mill off all the way to each end. Draw up the bracket and the milling cutter positions.

Hacksaw a fresh piece of aluminium angle and mill it to 70mm length with the 16mm cutter. Change to 6mm cutter, re-find edges with Rizla paper as usual and, carefully following the drawing, make notches on the flange. Check completed workpiece on the mounting surface of the oil catch can - looks fine.

Mark the mounting hole positions and pilot drill. Check against the oil catch can. Drift the holes into better alignment with a round Swiss file then open to 4mm. Mark bracket mounting holes and drill to 4.8mm. Assemble bracket to oil catch can with M4 x 8mm screws and spring washers. Offer up to firewall under Rotax oil tank - location looks perfect.		 3752.3
left-arrowgo to previous page of journal listgo to list of narrative pages list go to next page of journalright-arrow
Return to Rowland's home page
This page last updated 2023-08-03 17:49. I try to make this page as accessible as possible, by adhering to HTML 4 standards. Valid HTML 4.01! Valid CSS!
I welcome comments on this website. However, because of the amount of spam it attracts, I no longer post a direct e-mail address on any page. Instead, please click here to contact me. You will have to confirm that you are human before the message will be sent on to me.