Construction Blog and Builder's Resource
Upper cowl hinge rivets drilled out and hinges & spacers discarded. I managed to slightly oversize four holes in the process, so it’ll be “oops” rivets to the rescue.
Skybolt has my Camloc kit in stock, so I’ll be picking it up at their parts counter tomorrow.
Cowl halves are officially out of the house and in the garage for fitting. Yeah, it’s trivial, but it felt like progress for a minute or two.
Upper cowl trim lines outlined in Sharpie.
Lower cowl trim lines outlined in Sharpie.
Empennage fairing fit, post-initial trim.
Empennage fairing fit, post-initial trim.
Empennage fairing drilled to stabilizers and aft fuselage. The Van’s-suggested method of placing a light under the fairing and trying to spot the holes is a Rube Goldberg solution, at best. Use the right tool for any job, in this case a strap duplicator. Easy-peasy.
Empennage fairing drilled to stabilizers and aft fuselage. The Van’s-suggested method of placing a light under the fairing and trying to spot the holes is a Rube Goldberg solution, at best. Use the right tool for any job, in this case a strap duplicator. Easy-peasy.
Empennage fairing countersunk and nutplate installation underway. Many of the nutplates will be VERY challenging to solid rivet without removing the vertical stabilizer as suggested by the manual. In my case, that’s simply not going to happen. I’m using MK-319-BS pop rivets to attach the nutplates.
Empennage fairing countersunk and nutplate installation underway. Many of the nutplates will be VERY challenging to solid rivet without removing the vertical stabilizer as suggested by the manual. In my case, that’s simply not going to happen. I’m using MK-319-BS pop rivets to attach the nutplates.
Cowl attach hinges and pins underway.
Cowl attach hinges and pins underway.
Cowl attach hinges and pins underway.
This is how far I got when attempting to insert the left-side upper pin. Yes, it was pre-curved and lubricated. Yes, I filed the hinge eyes, though more is probably necessary. The aluminum pin, though, has the integrity of overcooked spaghetti. It may very well get easier as time goes by, but the initial fit – and the pin’s unavoidable tendency to bend – is entirely unacceptable.
I initially intended to use Skybolt Camlocs (as I did with great satisfaction on my first RV), but they were out of stock when I riveted my fuselage-to-firewall skins way back when and I figured I’d try the stock hinges this time around. Yeah, the hinges are a no-go.
I’ll be ordering the Camlocs this week and drilling out the firewall-mounted hinges. I suppose it could be worse, but I’m definitely annoyed. Ugh.
Spaghetti pin…
New 2-ton engine crane in the shop. Getting ready for the Lycosaur’s imminent arrival…
The first item from the Stein panel crate installed!
Transponder antenna (obviously) now wired to the aft end of the cable installed in the tailcone way back last summer.
A little better view of the panel awaiting its date with the fuselage. The bubble wrap is covering an absolute rat’s nest of wiring and remote boxes, though not nearly all of them.
Getting this all connected – and all of the boxes mounted – is NOT going to be fun.
Fun times crawling into the baggage area today to complete running coiled lines forward from the tailcone. In this case, the forward end of the transponder cable on the right side and the static line on the left side.
I also took a moment to tighten the headset & mic jacks, drill, install, & tighten the LEMO jacks, and connect the 12V power port ground wire. Hey, why not, I was there.
All sorts of stuff has now been run forward and up behind the subpanel. This area is about to look a whole lot worse before it begins to look any better.
I’m going to need to come up with a better stick wiring solution. Stein’s neat little connector backshells won’t pass through the snap bushing holes. I may just connect all the D-sub pins directly and heat shrink them together. We shall see.
