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AX-O's Fastback RV-4

Hi,
Your workmanship looks great, I'm curious as to how you?ve attached the cheek cowls to the fuselage sides. From your pictures I can see a line of rivets parallel to the cheek cowls, I'm assuming this has something to do with how they are attached. Keep the progress pictures coming.

Derek,
with all the discussions going on regarding builder mods I am wondering how much more I will post about my plane. Especially since most of my pics on this thread are of work in progress.

Break break

Thanks for the complement on my workmanship. Unfortunately, the line of rivets you see around the cone does nothing. The rivets are simply plugs for previous holes I made while I was trying to fit the old cowl cheeks. I was hoping not too many people noticed:( The cheeks will be attached from the inside via pop rivets (gold clecoes on pic #1). Hopefully the attached pics give you a better explanation. I am not done yet. Still have a few more steps to go. I am trying to figure out how to insert the cowl hinge pin from inside the plane via the cowl cheeks.

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Now I see

Thanks, I like the way you've mounted the cheek cowls, when the time comes I'll be doing it the same way.Very neat.
 
Cowl Cheeks

What is best about this setup is you can install the rivets from the inside so the factory heads protrude into the cockpit.

The standard way has the pop " bucktails " on the inside which can catch your hands and looks way ugly. It also fouls the trim lever which in my instance is a very long one which I will have running on a non scuff calibrated arc on the inside of the cockpit hopefully set up to cover as many of the holes as I can.

I might wind up using proseal to glue them on.

Maybe I am being over prissy about cosmetic details. Those rivet heads are gonna annoy me otherwise I just know it !! ;-)

Mark Bolton

http://rv-4builder.blogspot.com/
 
It has been a while. I have done a lot of work in the past few weeks. Here are some pics of my seats. I cut some aluminum pieces in order to give the armrests and the side pockets shape. The aluminum pieces also allowed me to come up with a way to flush mount the parts.

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I have been working on the FWF oil and fuel line for a long time. With the help of Brett at Bonaco I was able to mock up my lines. Here are some of the pics. I went to the hardware store and got poly tube. I used the poly tube and the hose ends to get the correct lenght and routing for each line. After I was happy, I sent the poly tube and drawings to Bobaco.

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Here are some of the lines installed. The pics make the lines look closer than what they are. It depends on the angle that I took the pic.

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Interior

Axel,
Thanks so much for posting your work in progress; it provides both solutions and thoughts for the rest of us!
What about your seats, in particular, made them Axel/spouse-unique? What would discourage using your upholsterer for a just-like-yours copy? How much did he charge?
BTW, did you sell your C140? I believe you bought that from my home town of Vinita.
 
Now you've done it. The trial hose using poly is so cheap and simple I feel like a moron (again). I often assemble one fitting on a length of hose, route it, and mark the other end. Your way is better and costs next to nothing.
 
Axel,
Thanks so much for posting your work in progress; it provides both solutions and thoughts for the rest of us!
What about your seats, in particular, made them Axel/spouse-unique? What would discourage using your upholsterer for a just-like-yours copy? How much did he charge?
BTW, did you sell your C140? I believe you bought that from my home town of Vinita.


I am glad the post may help some people out. The reason the seat are "unique" is because my wife and I sat down on some xmas paper (my wife's idea) and we traced our body shape. After that we cut the foam and with the help of Mike, ended up with some nice seats. I can give you Mike's contact info if you like. I am not sure what he would charge you.

Yes, I sold the 140 a long time ago. All I can remember is that I bought it next to the largest McDonalds in the US. It was suspended above a highway.

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Axel, lookin good:D

I also am kicking myself about not being the one that thought of using the el cheapo poly tubing to mock up hoses, what a brilliant solution to the issue.

I see a RV 10 vent in the rear seat, you are going to get a lot of air through that, they are very effective in my plane.

Thanks for the update.
 
I can give you Mike's contact info if you like. I am not sure what he would charge you.

Yes, I sold the 140 a long time ago. All I can remember is that I bought it next to the largest McDonalds in the US. It was suspended above a highway.

Yes, I'd like to have his contact info. Better to have someone with specific experience!

The McDonalds, formerly known as "the Glasshouse" was one of the reasons my family moved there in '71. They specialized in roast beef sandwiches before Arby's was established. We ate there while shopping for ranch property. We thought they were great.

Thanks again for the secret to customized seats. I must say: some people are confident enough to show pictures of their aft canopy fairing. You're the first to have enough confidence to display your and your wife's derrier online! I can tell; you're both very attractive people!:D
 
I must say: some people are confident enough to show pictures of their aft canopy fairing. You're the first to have enough confidence to display your and your wife's derrier online! I can tell; you're both very attractive people!:D

Man that was funny. Check your PM for his info.
 
Axel Nice job on the interior. I am pleased to see you put the additional bracket on the firewall for the brake pedals. I would suggest using one reservoir for your brakes as these will be very difficult to check when the airplane is complete. I have found it necessary to unbolt the bottom bolt and hold the cylinders inverted for the bleeding process. You might not have to do this but if you do those reservoirs are not going to work real well. YMMV
 
I must say: some people are confident enough to show pictures of their aft canopy fairing. You're the first to have enough confidence to display your and your wife's derrier online!

Yeah, but I can hear it now.......

"Does this picture make my butt look big??" :D
 
Brake body on the bottom

Axel Nice job on the interior. I am pleased to see you put the additional bracket on the firewall for the brake pedals. I would suggest using one reservoir for your brakes as these will be very difficult to check when the airplane is complete. I have found it necessary to unbolt the bottom bolt and hold the cylinders inverted for the bleeding process. You might not have to do this but if you do those reservoirs are not going to work real well. YMMV

I totally agree with Tom Martin with regards to brake bleeding when you have the piston assembly installed with the body down. My RV-4 is the same way. You need to remove the bottom bolt and lift the assembly horizonal or about horizontal to bleed them otherwise you're going to take all day trying to get the air out of the line. Also agree, a single brake fluid reservoir would be necessary if your installation is as it appears in the photo.

Jake Thiessen
Independence, OR
 
I have MATCOs on my Rocket mounted with the body down, but I also have a single reservoir on the engine side of the firewall to make bleeding easier (and spills less painful to clean).

I found the system difficult to bleed from the bottom up, but once I reversed the process by pressurizing the reservoir, each brake took less than a minute to clear of air. And I've had to do it more than once (don't ask), so it wasn't just blind luck. Well, maybe it wasn't just blind luck.
 
OK, so I'll be different - is their something unique about Rockets and RV-4's and how their brakes work that I am missing? I have the master cylinders and individuals in my -8 mounted exactly like Axel, and have never had a lick of problem with bleeding or leaking - they work great! (just filled out -3's brakes for the first time - same config, and again - they are nice and solid.)

Again, if there is something I am missing about a difference in these models, I'd be interested in knowing what it is....
 
Not missing a thing...

Paul,

You are correct sir, the brakes will bleed properly if the brake cylinder plungers are above the reservoirs pushing down as installed in Axels.
You can bleed the brakes from the wheel cylinder by pumping fluid from the bottom fitting and catching the overflow from the master cylinder up top. The secret being to remove the plug on the reservoir which reduces pressure.

Problem is, the original RV4 plans had the cylinders upside down which required bodily aerobatics to bleed brakes. This isn't the case here.
Axels will work just fine as installed.

Smokey
 
Right you are, I had not noticed that the plungers were mounted the other way. I have tried mounting them this way but I was never happy with the clearance between the cylinder and the centre bulkheads. I still would recommend a single reservoir, this is not going to be a nice place to inspect levels.
 
I still would recommend a single reservoir, this is not going to be a nice place to inspect levels.

That's a seriously important consideration Tom - I remember how tough it was to check the individual reservoirs on my old Grumman Yankee. Fortunately in my RV world, the -8 has the removable forward baggage floor, and the new -3 has a removable forward top deck, so access to the rudder pedals is easy. that said, I always bleed from the bottom and in six years of flying the -8, I have yet had the need to look directly at the reservoir.

Paul
 
Oops!

I screwed up--I meant to say I had the Matco brake body down originally on my Rocket. But after trying a number of different fittings, and rotations of the body I was never happy with the clearance relative to my foot and the center tunnel, so I reversed them. Either way I found the fast way to bleed them was by pressurizing the system--I do it from the reservoir now.

I suspect that's why Tom was scratching his head on my reply (!)

Sorry for the confusion.
 
I have been working on my fuel lines for the past few weeks. I was finally able to finish the installation on both sides of the fire wall. I will need to figure out the routing for the tank fuel lines once the wings are on.

A few things:
- I wanted to be able to remove the fuel filter easily without having to fight with the adel clamps, so I made a mounting plate. The filter mounts to the plate via adel clamps and the plate mounts to the fuse. That way I could deal with the adel clamps outside the airplane and once they were set, no need to unbolt them again.

- I also wanted to be able to remove the "cover" between my legs without the need to remove the fuel valve selector. So I am in the process of making a cover plate which will have a hole the same size as the fuel valve.

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Some more progress.
-I found some ignition wire clamps (part number 9728) at O'reilly Auto Parts and gave them a shot. The black one were $4.99 and the red ones $2.99 (why, I don't know and neither did the sale rep).

-Finished the interface between the plenum and the cowling. If you are using the wet suit material for your seal, cut a wide "C" shape on the material. It will help take the small contour of the aluminum ring and allow for more room on the plenum side. It makes a cone.

-Finished the routing and controls for the induction system.

-I also put as many parts together as possible so I could see what this thing is looking like and to check some human design/interface.

A few things that I don't like:
-My left knee touches the top of the throttle lever. Will have to bend the lever. This will give me some room and place my hand at a better angle when operating the throttle.

-My right knee rests on the panel where the circuit breakers will be installed. I will have to make the circuit breakers flush with the panel or move them aft.

-This thing is NOT FLYING YET!
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Lookin good

Axel, I love the perspective in this shot, makes it look FAST just sitting there.

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Love the 4........
 
Neoprene?

Hi Ax

Are those neoprene connectors between the col and the plenum?

Did you make them yourself or were they supplied by SJ..

I made my own sealed plenum and modified the stock old type vans cowl and have been wondering what to use here.
 
They are made out of wet suit material. I made them in about an hour. Not to hard to figure out
 
Ax,
Excellent the way you thought ahead about future maintenance...my compliments sir.
 
More progress pictures. I have been trying to finish the FWF and also work on the wiring of the sensors and avionics. Looks more and more like a plane every day.

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Tight!

Axel,

Looks tight! You are doing a really clean job on the installs, especially in light of the limited space.
Good work!
 
GRT EIS

Hi, your progress is inspirational, thanks for posting pictures. I noticed the location of your GRT EIS and was wondering how this will work? Will the output slave to another device? Could you also please tell me what type of firewall fitting you are using for the electrical wires and probes to pass through, thanks in advance.

Derek
 
Hi, your progress is inspirational, thanks for posting pictures. I noticed the location of your GRT EIS and was wondering how this will work? Will the output slave to another device? Could you also please tell me what type of firewall fitting you are using for the electrical wires and probes to pass through, thanks in advance.

Derek

I have developed a very difficult and intricate way to see the display using mirrors and prisms. Total weight is 1.78 lbs and requires no electrical connection. It will be in the market soon. All joking aside. :D I don’t need to read the EIS because the information will be displayed on my GRT screens. So I decided to place the EIS out of the way because it takes too much space.

As far as the firewall, I am using this http://www.averytools.com/prodinfo.asp?number=SA-05

BTW, I am glad the pics help you out.
 
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Thanks

I have developed a very difficult and intricate way to see the display using mirrors and prisms. Total weight is 1.78 lbs and requires no electrical connection. It will be in the market soon. All joking aside. :D I don?t need to read the EIS because the information will be displayed on my GRT screens. So I decided to place the EIS out of the way because it takes too much space.

As far as the firewall, I am using this http://www.averytools.com/prodinfo.asp?number=SA-05

BTW, I am glad the pics help you out.


Thanks, please keep the pictures coming.
 
southern california

I was looking at the background in your pics and it looks like you might be nearby. I am starting an RV4 kit this summer and would like to have a builder nearby. Granted, we have a ton of RVs here in Yucca Valley, but no RV4s. Do you mind me probing you with a few questions here and there?
 
I was looking at the background in your pics and it looks like you might be nearby. I am starting an RV4 kit this summer and would like to have a builder nearby. Granted, we have a ton of RVs here in Yucca Valley, but no RV4s. Do you mind me probing you with a few questions here and there?

My appologies. Did not see this post. I will be happy to help out.
 
Its been a while. Below are some pics of the progress. I made a bracket for my aux battery out of fiber glass, worked on more wiring and made some panels to cover the space under the instrument panel. I cut a hole on the panel so i can easily remove it and not have to worry about dealing with the fuel valve.

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Forgot...... I also put some 3M Di-Noc on my panel. It looks nice. We will see how long it will last.

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do you have a mockup of what the panel will hold? I checked as many pages as I could and did not see one
 
I don't have one with the round gauges installed yet.

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How are you handling the stick interference and also the brace that typically goes along the bottom of the panel? I am looking to do the same but these are challenges in extending the panel down in the center region there that I am scratching my head over, can you post more pictures of how you dealt with this?
 
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