She is missed already.
Back to work on the Aircam on Monday. Not sure who will be my quality control officer now.
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Sad Day
Lost my hangar mate this week. Bleriot succumbed to her failing health. She was a feisty cat as many a visitor can attest. Here are a few photos of her.
She is missed already.
Back to work on the Aircam on Monday. Not sure who will be my quality control officer now.
She is missed already.
Back to work on the Aircam on Monday. Not sure who will be my quality control officer now.
Friday, July 22, 2011
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Be Seated
Tailwheel on and the interior panels are clecoed in. Lockwood builds their on tailwheel. It looks pretty squared away to me. It is like a Maule or Scott in that it is steerable for about 30 degrees then breaks free to swivel.
Ane here is the attachment spring.
The interior panels clecoed in.
I have to take some of them back out to route the break lines but they all seem to fit OK. This also gives me a chance to think about how I am going to run wires for various systems like the intercom connections and the stick grips.
Finally tonight I mounted one of the seats to the seat frame. The seat is preformed fiberglass that is very stiff. This is the seat pan side (the side your butt touches)
Don't worry there is a seat cushion and upholstery in the kit.
Here is the bottom side attached to the bracket which is a weldment.
And here it is sitting in the seat track.
Not a good shot of the set-up, I'll get a better shot later. The seats is ground adjustable for different length legs but they do bolts in. A quick lock pin might make this easier.
Have to go to Chris Lucas' tomorrow night to fire up the mighty Lycoming in his RV-10.
Ane here is the attachment spring.
The interior panels clecoed in.
I have to take some of them back out to route the break lines but they all seem to fit OK. This also gives me a chance to think about how I am going to run wires for various systems like the intercom connections and the stick grips.
Finally tonight I mounted one of the seats to the seat frame. The seat is preformed fiberglass that is very stiff. This is the seat pan side (the side your butt touches)
Don't worry there is a seat cushion and upholstery in the kit.
Here is the bottom side attached to the bracket which is a weldment.
And here it is sitting in the seat track.
Not a good shot of the set-up, I'll get a better shot later. The seats is ground adjustable for different length legs but they do bolts in. A quick lock pin might make this easier.
Have to go to Chris Lucas' tomorrow night to fire up the mighty Lycoming in his RV-10.
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Coming Together
Putting in a few controls with permanent hardware now. First was to install the elevator forward bellcrank.
Forward is to the left where the push pull tube is located at the bottom and the two cables to the right go through the aft fuselage to the rear bell crank here:
That's the bell crank through the access hole.
The control sticks ar in also.
Pilots's
And passenger
And the brake cylinders are in except the bottom bolts are not correct yet. These attach to the passenger pedals.
I also have to attach the brake lines and route them to the landing gear legs.
All for now.
Forward is to the left where the push pull tube is located at the bottom and the two cables to the right go through the aft fuselage to the rear bell crank here:
That's the bell crank through the access hole.
The control sticks ar in also.
Pilots's
And passenger
These bolts need to be safety wired
And the brake cylinders are in except the bottom bolts are not correct yet. These attach to the passenger pedals.
I also have to attach the brake lines and route them to the landing gear legs.
All for now.
Sunday, July 17, 2011
A Step In The right Direction
Another productive weekend. I installed the pilot entry step. I had bead blasted and primed this with some rattle can paint last Monday. As of Friday night it was still tacky so I brought it in and stuck it in the warming oven of the AGA overnight. That did the trick. Here is an external shot. Eventually it gets an airfoil section put on it but for now it is just a steel weldment.
Some of the bracing where it penetrates the fuselage.
And the backside doubler on the floor rib.
I also primed the landing gear legs and stuck them in place. The fit of these is amazing. Quite a testament to the design and manufacturing of the kit. Outside view:
And inboard attachment:
Got to remember to put a nut on that!
I decided to put a shelf aft of the cargo bay. I will put the transformer for the strobe lights on it. It is made from 0.040 2024-T3 aluminum. I bent up a 3/8 inch flange for stiffness and to catch parts from rolling off the shelf. If I install an autopilot the pitch servo will probably go here too. Here it is laid out:
The diagonal on the right is a brace for the elevator bellcrank bracket.
And here it is riveted in:
The control sticks are in for good too.
I got the cargo skins in ready to be riveted. I don't have a photo because the phone died on me. The NY Times Sunday crossword puzzle took me almost 2 hours and it really eats into the battery life on a Sunday morning. I'll have some shots later in the week.
Some of the bracing where it penetrates the fuselage.
And the backside doubler on the floor rib.
I also primed the landing gear legs and stuck them in place. The fit of these is amazing. Quite a testament to the design and manufacturing of the kit. Outside view:
And inboard attachment:
Got to remember to put a nut on that!
I decided to put a shelf aft of the cargo bay. I will put the transformer for the strobe lights on it. It is made from 0.040 2024-T3 aluminum. I bent up a 3/8 inch flange for stiffness and to catch parts from rolling off the shelf. If I install an autopilot the pitch servo will probably go here too. Here it is laid out:
The diagonal on the right is a brace for the elevator bellcrank bracket.
And here it is riveted in:
The control sticks are in for good too.
I got the cargo skins in ready to be riveted. I don't have a photo because the phone died on me. The NY Times Sunday crossword puzzle took me almost 2 hours and it really eats into the battery life on a Sunday morning. I'll have some shots later in the week.
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Proboscis Perfecto
Took the plunge tonight and drilled the snout attachment holes. We fiddled around with it a little bit trying to center everything up. The main issue was it seemed to rubbing on the top of the instrument panel and so I filed it down a little. The final result should be good.
There appears to be a small gap on the right side but the screws that you see are not tightened.
The left side looks good. The angle pieces are to ensure the panel is flat.
And finally another shot with some pictures of possible avionics.
Of course a little trimming will be in order and some work on where the instrument panel attaches to the cowling lip will be required but all in all it fits very well. A lot of people struggle with fiberglass parts but at least for the AirCam nose cone it is a nice piece of work.
My friend Carl was somewhat overwhelmed with the sophistication of the avionics. He said all I needed was "airspeed, altimeter, oil pressure, and a gas gauge." I said, "Gas gauge?"
There appears to be a small gap on the right side but the screws that you see are not tightened.
The left side looks good. The angle pieces are to ensure the panel is flat.
And finally another shot with some pictures of possible avionics.
My friend Carl was somewhat overwhelmed with the sophistication of the avionics. He said all I needed was "airspeed, altimeter, oil pressure, and a gas gauge." I said, "Gas gauge?"
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
More Snout Anyone?
Obscure Simpson's reference for today's blog title I'm afraid but today was all about fitting the nose cowling.
First I had to fit the instrument panel. This went pretty good but I did not get any detail shots so here it is clecoed in with the cowling.
Next we slid the cowling on.
The wood spacers are maintaining the gap between the front lip and the internal flange of the cowling. This distorts the flatness of the instrument panel. I will put an angle brace on it temporarily when we drill the final attachment holes.
Next we slid the cowling on.
The side gap is not too bad and should lay down once the fasteners are installed. Here is a view from the front
The wood spacers are maintaining the gap between the front lip and the internal flange of the cowling. This distorts the flatness of the instrument panel. I will put an angle brace on it temporarily when we drill the final attachment holes.
And a final shot with some cutouts of potential displays. Have not made up my mind on these yet but will sort it out at Oshkosh in two weeks.
Sunday, July 10, 2011
Great Progress
Got a lot done this weekend. One could say a minor milestone as the entire bottom and sides up to the top skin overlap are now riveted. This is the main landing gear strap. There are a lot of CherryMax rivets in this. Two of them gave me a fit but we finally got them installed.
These are shots of the rest of the belly.
On Saturday, Gina and I hit it by doing the sides. We started at 8 and finished about 3:30 with a break for lunch at Ma's Hot Dog House. She dipped the rivets in paint and I pulled them.
It has lost its porcupine look now.
Sunday I got on with the scuppers for the rudder cables.
These have phenolic bearings to guide the rudder cables. The beauty of a slow airplane is you don't care about drag and can hang things on the outside.
I also got the pilot step fitted but didn't have my phone with me to take a picture. Stay tuned for later in the week.
These are shots of the rest of the belly.
On Saturday, Gina and I hit it by doing the sides. We started at 8 and finished about 3:30 with a break for lunch at Ma's Hot Dog House. She dipped the rivets in paint and I pulled them.
It has lost its porcupine look now.
Sunday I got on with the scuppers for the rudder cables.
These have phenolic bearings to guide the rudder cables. The beauty of a slow airplane is you don't care about drag and can hang things on the outside.
I also got the pilot step fitted but didn't have my phone with me to take a picture. Stay tuned for later in the week.
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