Firewall Final Install

Production has suffered lately, as have been out of town alot. The firewall is complete. I spray glued Sunbrella awning fabric to the inside of the firewall and burned holes through with a hot knife. I then installed all of the parts shown. Next I will fitup the boot cowling.

Fuselage Final Install: Flap Handle Control

Here are a couple pics of the flap handle installation...

In the last pic, you can see clearance problem with the armature. Will solve by using extra washers to shim up assembly.

Fuselage Final Install: Aileron Cable Control System

Installed a portion of the aileron control system before the wings go on, consisting of four pulleys and short runs of cable and turnbuckles tied to the torque tube.

Fuselage Final Install: Elevator Control System

The elevator control system is complete. The setup runs from the control sticks all the way to the tail of the plane where the elevator attaches. Reminds me of driveline for a vehicle transmission. Next couple pics show the entire length, first one shows view looking forward from battery compartment.


Here is view looking aft from battery compartment.

This is a universal type joint right behind the torque tube. The purpose of this connection is to allow the torque tube to rotate independently of the push-pull tubes. The joint also enables the series of push pull tubes to function with a change in vertical alignment.

Here is another transition connection where the push pull tubes are attached and can move back and forth at a vertical alignment change.

Here is the end of the system where the elevator will ultimately attach.

With some 3-in-1 oil applied to all of the bushings and adjustments of nuts here and there, I've got most of the friction out and control sticks feel pretty good left, right (torque tube-ailerons), front, and back (push-pull tube transmission-elevator).

Fuselage Final Install: Control Stick Assembly

I final-installed the torque tube, elevator push-pull tube and control sticks. The torque tube is mounted on three pillow blocks, which are bolted to the frame. It takes a little effort to get the friction out and I had to shim the front and middle pillow blocks to get things to work. They're basically like glorified clamps which have to be loosened and lubricated to function without friction. Two aluminum stop rings are riveted to prevent torque tube from moving forward and aft. Here is the front pillow block:

Here is the middle pillow block. The bearing area was masked so paint would not contaminate.

Here is the aft pillow block. There are two black plastic bushings installed inside the torque tube that the push-pull tube goes through. The forward bushing was a son-of-a-gun to install, as the ID of the tube was out of round due to welding distortion. Took alot of sanding to get bushing to fit and was reminiscent of gear leg fitup--a fair amount of cursing aimed at the manufacturer.

Here is one of the two control sticks bolted through a series of bushings.

The front control stick will be wired with three switches, including: push-to-talk, radio frequency toggle, and elevator trim up and down. Here is me wiring up the switches. First time I have attempted any degree of soldering and was a little nerous. After a few practice runs, I got the hang of it. Key is to heat up wire and tabs with the gun and apply solder there and not directly to the gun. Looking for a glassy and not frosty looking bead.

Attached to the rear stick are two linkages which transfer elevator push pull tube actuation to the front and rear sticks.

In this pic, you can see the seven wires existing the base of the control stick.

The overall goal was to obtain a friction-free setup. I retained enough friction, however, that the control sticks won't flop over in any direction without pilot input.

Painting: Misc. Steel Parts

I painted up all of the primarily mild steel parts, which included: the control stick assembly, door/seat hardware, rudder pedals, jury struts, aileron spades, etc. Wanted to get this all done at once, so did not need to do piece-meal later. I used an automotive gray epoxy primer and matched a urethane topcoat to my gray exterior stripe. I ended up taking the door into an automotive part store where they scanned the gray stripe (with what looks like a bar code reader) and then a computer spit out the ingredients to match. He put the quart can on a scale, added the ingredients and then on a mechanical shaker. Perfect match; pretty cool and whole lot cheaper then aviation paint.

Here are bare metal pics, removed rust with Brillo pad and cleaned with lacquer thinner.

Here are pics of epoxy primed parts,

Here are pics of topcoated parts,

Painting: Doors

The covering and painting of all covered items is now complete with completion of the doors. I carried the red/white two tone color and gray stripe forward onto the doors. Had a few bleed through runs, but overall not too bad. Will dress these up when project done. The paint booth functioned well in keeping overspray out of the shop.

First couple pics show masking for gray stripe and then application of gray stripe.

Here are completed doors, hinged with "golf tees" for the time being.