| Date |
Work |
| 4th January 2009 |
Dissassembled the fuse ready for deburring and primimg. |
| 14th January 2009 |
Deburred and primed the fuse. Rebuilt to same stage as disassembled. My Tech Councillor suggested that as we live near the sea, I prime the whole inside surface that will be inaccessable after construction. Now a pretty green all over!! |
| 16th January 2009 |
Drilled the flap tube holes. Fitted the rudder and elevator fairleads. |
| 18th January 2009 |
Fitted the seat bottoms and generally tidied up the inside of the fuse. |
| 19th January 2009 |
Cut the notches in the main gear. Assembled all the tubes/tyres and wheels. |
| 20th January 2009 |
Fitted the axles and brakes to the main gear. Fitted the main gear to the fuse. Only a slight file needed for a perfect fit. |
| 21st January 2009 |
Fitted the nose gear. Still needs a prime and paint. |
| 23rd January 2009 |
Fitted the center console and panel top skin. |
| 24th January 2009 |
Started the canopy fit. Fitted the side rails and front and rear hoops. |
| 25th January 2009 |
Trial fit of the canopy. It was a hot day too! |
| 27th January 2009 |
Fitted the canopy side flashings, both inside and out. |
| 28th January 2009 |
Dissassembled the canopy for deburring and priming. |
| 29th January 2009 |
Finished trimming the rear skin for the stabilizer. Test fitted the stabilizer and rudder. I need to change the rudder hinge placement |
| 1st February 2009 |
Trimmed the top skins and fitted in place. Rivetted in place. |
| 2nd February 2009 |
Retrimmed the front top skin for better fit around the front hoop. |
| 3rd February 2009 |
Modified the top rudder hinge to allow full deflection. I need to order a new top hinge. |
| 5th February 2009 |
Primed and painted the canopy top rails and hoops. Fitted the latching mechanism. |
| 7th February 2009 |
Re fitted the canopy to check for the dimple positions of the side flashing. Trimmed the outside flashing to size. |
| 7th March 2009 |
I spent most of the month building the engine, something I really enjoy. The weather has been very hot as well and kept me out of the workshop. The engine is nearly finished. I just need a few more parts from Aircraft Spruce to complete the carb Air |
| 8th March 2009 |
I fitted the rudder pedals, control column and torque tubes today. I decided to use a nylon bearing at the ends of the rudders/tubes instead of bearing directly on the ally angles. Looks and feels much better. |
| 8th April 2009 |
I spent most of the last month building the starboard wing. No major dramas but a lot of time checking that things were all square before drilling and clecoing. I have full size fiberglass wing tips which looked pretty rough but turned out quite good |
| 9th April 2009 |
I picked up the engine mount and cowling today. The cowling looks very nice too. |
| 13th April 2009 |
Fitted the engine mount to the fuse. I needed to trim the firewall a bit to make things fit but it fitted perfectly. Some net talk was about strengthening the mount. The top mounts are just straight out from the firewall. |
| 15th April 2009 |
Fitted the engine to the mount. I need some shorter bolts. It is a temporary fit but will allow me to work out control runs and fuel lines etc. |
| 17th April 2009 |
Fitted the cables to the rudder and elevators. I have placed all the turnbuckles inside the fuse. They are accessible from the access door. |
| 20th April 2009 |
Spent a couple of days just finishing off the starboard wing. The control tube is now in place together with the balance cable. Strobes and wing lights are all working. |
| 25th April 2009 |
I spent some time designing and testing an aileron balance weight system. Its fits inside the wing. I have changed the design a couple of times so its getting better. |
| 30th April 2009 |
Started the port wing. Finished the skeleton with all ribs and nose ribs fitted. |
| 3rd May 2009 |
Re-drilled all the skeleton holes to the correct size. Fitted the top skin in place and also fitted the anti oil canning strips. |
| 4th May 2009 |
Drilled the top skin to the correct size. |
| 7th May 2009 |
Turned the wing over and fitted the bottom skin. The pitot head is installed. A little milestone today. I took the last piece (the nose skin) out of the box today. It is now empty and can be taken to bits. |
| 8th May 2009 |
Fitted the nose skin to the bottom of the wing and nose ribs. Drilled out the pilot holes to size. |
| 10th May 2009 |
Turned the wing over again and fitted the nose skin to the top of the wing. |
| 11th May 2009 |
Removed the nose skin again so I could check out the fuel tank. Cut the hole for the filler cap. |
| 12th May 2009 |
Disassembled the whole wing to debur and prime. |
| 15th May 2009 |
Spent a couple of days deburring and priming the wing skeleton. |
| 16th May 2009 |
Assembled the skeleton. Drilled the holes for the grommets for the electricals. |
| 17th May 2009 |
Deburred and primed the bottom skin. Fitted to skeleton and rivetted. Fitted the nose skin to the bottom. |
| 18th May 2009 |
Turned the wing over and fitted the deburred and primed top skin. Fitted the fuel tank and installed the wiring for the strobes and landing/taxi lights. |
| 19th May 2009 |
Fitted the nose skin, landing light and wing tip. Finished rivetting all over. Major construction is now finished. I just need to fit it all out!!! (90 percent to go) |
| 20th July 2009 |
Over the last couple of months I have worked from the tail forward. All the control cables are in. The empenage is all attached. The step fairings are all in an rivetted. I am presently installing the instrumentation and the engine controls. |
| 5th November 2009 |
Not much in the way of log entires but I have finished the instruments and wiring. The cowling is fitted, needs some baffelling sorted. I managed to crack the canopy on installation so had to get a new one from Todds. |
| 7th November 2009 |
At the recommendation of my AP I have decided to Sikaflex the hoops rather than drill and screw. I will post some pictures shortly. |
