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RV-9A, SoCal

Time to drill a bunch of holes. But first, I needed some way to prevent the canopy frame from distorting/moving around while applying pressure from the drill. In front, I bored a couple of 7/8" holes in a 2x4 to accept the front hoop ends. Farther back, in front of the pins, another lateral 2x4 and some 2x4 chunks for support. And at the rear, under the spine at the "T" of the hoops, a jack stand with the pad covered in blue tape. Shim as necessary on the aft 2x4 to make sure there's no twist.

Next, the sides of the canopy tend to bulge out, which pulls the outer corners out of alignment for drilling. So clamp some plywood in a couple of places so the canopy matches the contours of the side rails in plan view.

I used the blue tape method on the frame for marking the rivet spacing, but most of the time, I couldn't see a distinct line where the canopy pressed down on the tape. No worries, as it's pretty easy to see the curvature of the tube and I got excellent drilling results just eyeballing it. If you stick the tape down around the circumference of the tube, it makes the eyeballing a lot easier.

The windscreen is close to final shape. I'll need to shim the front of the canopy frame up about 1/8" for proper alignment, as I made the mistake of cutting the tubes too early. At least I saved the scrap to make some custom shims. :):) There's also a gap between the aft third of the spine and canopy, so I think I'll thread these holes and use #6 screws and spacers (or maybe just use longer rivets to provide the necessary reach).









 
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Got the windscreen final-drilled and holes in the roll bar tapped, and everything lines up nearly flush with the aid of a few 960-6 spacer washers. I marked the number of washers needed on the roll bar with a Sharpie next to each hole so final assembly will be easy.

Also, drilled the holes for the canopy frame rollers. I'd hate to have these off, so I braced them first with a piece of alum. angle for alignment, then drilled the front hole with a #40 drill through the frame and halfway through the roller. Then remove the roller and drill a nice perpendicular #40 hole on the bottom side through the existing hole in a drill press. Deburr, and reinsert in the canopy frame, and finish drilling all the way through the frame with your nice pilot hole in the roller bracket. Then enlarge to appropriate size and final ream.

Maybe it's overkill because if you drill the whole thing in situ, it can turn out reasonably well, but I've I've had a few, shall we say, less than perfect holes when I do it in one fell swoop.

Also made a pattern for the glare shield carpet (so much easier to do this with windscreen off) and fitted the canopy latch. I took maybe 1/4" off the tube to get the proper alignment.










 
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Closing in on one month of canopy craziness, and I'm getting inspired since I can see the finish line. I mounted the pin anchor blocks (right side shown) and ultimately, I had to shim the canopy frame up about 3/8" on the left side, so that block has a 1/8" shim under the U-channel piece and the hole is drilled near the top of the block.

I don't like the asymmetry, but it was necessary for the front hoops to match the contour of the roll bar. But everything slides smoothly and latches down as it should. The other problem this created was that the left side skirt just barely bridged the gap down to the fuselage, where it should overlap by 1/2" or thereabouts...so I bought some .032 sheet and made one that's 3/8" deeper. Fixed!

I also painted the glare shield. Rolled on some primer that gave it a nice pebble-grain texture, then applied some flat black. The area will be carpeted, so the paint is really there so you don't see shiny aluminum through gaps in the carpet. I was encouraged by some early pre-bending and test-fittting of the aft skirts, as it looks like they will lay down nicely. It really is a lot of trial and error. Bending forms included my leg and the edge of the workbench. Sometimes, you just have to grab the whole piece and give it a big burly twist to make it behave!









 
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On the QB fuselage with the canopy deck rails already in place, it's really tough to get at the top rivets of the F-705 crossmember. so I thought a little creative scalloping was in order. Later, I might make a cosmetic fill piece and pop-rivet it in place. Or not. :) It's far enough back that it's not that noticeable.

Now I just have to wait for a new #30 bit for my angle drill to arrive from ACS to finish the rest of the rivets.

Also, cut some of Pep Boy's finest carpet and glued it on the glare shield.





 
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The latest in a rash of recent skirt fittings (for canopies, just to be clear. :):)). I'm pretty happy with the fit on the aft skirt, with the biggest gap being about 1/8" where the skirt meets the rear skin. Looks like I'm gonna have a little interference when I rivet the side skirt braces in, as the fit between these and the pin anchor blocks is tight, but I can easily trim the blocks.

Also, fabbed up a mount for the ELT antenna. I decided that having it inside the canopy was the best approach. The mount has a bend to angle the antenna inward for clearance.





 
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Well, the fuselage is almost hangar-ready! I did the final pull rivets on the canopy, and everything slides and cinches down as it should. Fears of the solid rivets hitting the anchor block were unfounded.

Fitting the windscreen took about three iterations of marking and trimming, but now there's a fairly even gap between it and the canopy, about 1/16" to 3/32". A little square of folded-up sand paper, or an emery board, is a great way to loosen up those tight spots when the canopy is latched.

On the canopy roller rails, my fish-mouth cutouts were a little deep, so I made some stops from 3A bolts so the roller wheels don't catch on the edges when the canopy is fully open. Only reduces the travel by 1" or so. The rails will likely get scuffed up during use, so I'm gonna leave them bare aluminum and put some tape (either black or clear) on the top surface for protection.

On to the last big fiberglass project, the windscreen fairing. :)









 
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Got out the 80 grit and started roughing up the plexi and aluminum. On the corners of the windscreen I had left a little too much "kick up" on the corners of the plexi for a smooth transition, so I sanded them down in place with my mini angle grinder.

I used 8 clips total to secure the windscreen, and then an application of epoxy with about 75% cotton fibers, 25% microballoons and some black pigment. It was on the runny side, so I had to keep chasing runs as it dried, but it flowed enough beneath the screen for a good bond. There's still a ledge that needs to be filled with some dry micro before fiberglass. I used the tip in Van's video to use bucking bars as weights to get the windscreen to sit down flush...the picture is the problem corner, but ultimately I used two bucking bars here for a tight fit.

The stock Van's canopy handle cleans up nicely. I used a disc sander and some sandpaper, and ground the underside to a taper to the aft tip. I shortened it too, by about 1/2". The reason? If it swings around 180 degrees and the canopy is closed, the handle can gouge that nice fiberglass lip you made aft of the roll bar. Another option would be to fabricate some sort of stop for the handle mechanism.

I can see the need for some sort of handle on the back of the canopy, to make it easier to remove now that the skirts are on. Will check out the cabinet knob dept. at Lowe's tomorrow!







 
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Windscreen glassed!

Yeah! I went a little crazy with the flox fillet at the windscreen base, but it does help define the shape of the curve. I ended up using 4-5 layers of 'glass, making patterns for the first layer (dyed with black pigment) and thereafter using a roll of 3" fiberglass tape. The tape approach is really handy as it provides ready-made straight edges. HF to the rescue for epoxy brushes...a 36-pack is only about $11.

The forward upper corners of the canopy skirts do stick out a little through the layup, but the thickness of the fairing will allow me to conceal the bumps when sanding/filling is completed. I used modeling clay in the gap between the windscreen and canopy to prevent epoxy from dripping on the insides.

The compressed air trick really helped to get the canopy free, as well as tapping around the edge of the fairing with a plastic hammer, and lifting up on the aft edges of the skirts.









 
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Keep posting your progress Doug. Good references for RV9 builders here on your thread. Over 25,000 hits means something :)


 
Sensation is slowly returning to my fingertips after a four-day marathon of filling and sanding. Feels like I have a Band-Aid on my right index finger, which has taken on an 80 grit texture. But I'm about 95 percent done!

It took three applications of epoxy/microballons, with plenty of sanding in between. In addition to a flat sanding block, I made one with about a 4" radius (for the front base) and another with about an 8" radius (for the "shoulders" as it transitions into the relatively flat sides).

The fairing lip that overlaps the canopy is four layers thick...pretty sturdy, but I will warn passengers to not put any weight on it while entering. It overlaps by about 1/2", just enough to cover the frame rivets when closed. Buzzed it off with a Dremel cutoff wheel, then block sanded.

Ended today's festivities with a thick coat of primer, which really lets you see the contours. They look pretty good for the most part, but there are subtle bulges on the shoulders, some sanding scratches and a little bump on the front base where you feather-edge sand it down to the aluminum. At least no more filler is needed; I'm down to Bondo spot putty to fill little voids and imperfections. So one more round of sanding and priming, and it'll be ready for the paint shop professionals.

To celebrate, I'm cracking open the poly-bagged wing plans for a little study. :D











 
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Doug, would you mind sharing how much work you are putting in each week? What kind of schedule are you operating? Little bit every day or mainly weekends? Family considerations?

I go down to Laguna Beach for a weekend or 2 every Jan/Feb so might I be able to stop in to meet you and see your progress?
 
Doug, would you mind sharing how much work you are putting in each week? What kind of schedule are you operating? Little bit every day or mainly weekends? Family considerations?

I go down to Laguna Beach for a weekend or 2 every Jan/Feb so might I be able to stop in to meet you and see your progress?

Hey Daniel,

I'm retired as of last November, and a single guy, so I have considerable time to work on the plane. For me, the sweet spot is about 4-5 hours a day, and lately to avoid some of the heat, I've been working the 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. shift. With the fiberglass stuff, the garage heat is great for epoxy cure time, so often I'll do a layer of 'glass at 10 a.m. or so, then it'll be ready to sand by 5 p.m. Typically, I take the weekends off, or work one weekend day with my normal 4-5 hours.

Come by pretty much any afternoon and check it out. I'll PM you my phone number.
 
Phew! So glad to be done with sanding for a while. iPhone refuses to recognize my thumbprint to unlock! Maybe Apple will come up with a DNA-based system. :)

Windscreen fairing is ready for the paint shop, after two applications of primer and more sanding. Inside, fillet over the roll hoop was done with DAP 3.0 caulk. I have some left over for siding...they say El Nino is on its way.

Lowe's Aviation offered this lovely, non-TSO'd stainless lift handle for the rear canopy, more commonly known as a U-bolt. I made a plate underneath that extends forward under the plexi to make it a bit more solid. Gotta love Experimentals!!

Last, I put the big aileron pushrods together. It takes forever for that last bit of primer to drip out the ends of the tube. On the smaller chromoly tubes, I got the wrong threaded end fittings from Van's...way too small. They are graciously sending out some new ones, no charge. I can't think of anywhere the smaller supplied fittings could be used, as flaps have the threaded hex rod.









 
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First aileron test fit!! The QB wings allow light-speed progress, especially after the long, drawn out tasks of the canopy and windscreen fairing. Got the bellcranks in, wiring and plumbing for the pitot tube, Metal-Mastered the tank plates and fuel level senders, and put in a long day today riveting the aileron attach brackets. I fabled up the aileron stop Chiclets, but will wait till later to mount them.

I also destroyed one of the shorter chromoly aileron pushrods with a poor riveting decision. (Hey, you have to mess up occasionally to learn!). I first tried putting a female rivet die in a vise, and then using a back-rivet set on the shop head. This, plus a slightly too long rivet resulted in a horrible clench, and I made matters far worse by drilling it out. The hole in the pushrod was now jagged and nastily oblong, so into the trash it went. Fresh parts ordered from the Mother Ship.

The other pushrod turned out great. I used a conventional set, and put the shop head side on a back rivet plate (and used a properly sized rivet). Far, far easier to control this way.

A little clearancing will be needed where the pushrod passes through the spar, on the top and sides of the hole. It was nice to find that through the normal range of aileron motion, the rivets on the pushrod don't pass past the edge of the hole, so no chance of them snagging and impeding control function.

Tightening the nuts that secure the hinge brackets to the ailerons was a little tough until I ground down the outside of a 3/8 box-end wrench. The bench grinder is your friend.











 
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I got the gap fairings on (after what seemed like an all-night deburring session!) and did the final adjustment of the right aileron pushrod with the aileron in the neutral position.

I needed a change of pace before starting to match-drill the bottom wing skins, so I decided to purdy up my pitot tube a little. It's essentially the Van's design, but cloaked in some airfoil tubing, plus some fiberglass at the base.

I bought some 3/4" K&S airfoil tubing at the hobby shop. That 3/4" dimension is the chord, but its size will just allow the 1/4" pitot tubing to slip inside, after tapping the trailing edge a little with a plastic-faced hammer to get it to bulge just a touch. Flare the tubing, install sleeve and B-nut, slide it inside the airfoil tubing and then make the 90-degree bend. Note the notch in the airfoil tubing on the inside radius, and the JB-Weld used to fill the void.

Tighten the B-nut to the bulkhead fitting securely, then file the edges of the B-nut to make a somewhat roundish shape. Rough up the airfoil tube, then wrap two layers of 9-oz. cloth around the whole mess, extending upward to the base of the bulkhead fitting. The fiberglass/resin will not want to stick to itself, so I used a couple of clamps, which hang down as the resin cures. The weight of the clamps also aligns everything nicely to the airfoil contours.

After it sets up, trim, apply a large blob of dry micro and ultimately sand away anything that doesn't look like a pitot tube. Aft of the fittings, the fiberglass had a void, triangular in cross section, that I filled in from the top with some runny flox...ought to add some strength.

A little heavier than stock, but I think it looks more sophisticated and most likely has less drag. The downside: As the B-nut is buried in the fiberglass, it's a little tougher to install. I'll have to reach through the inspection port and a rib lightening hole to final-torque the union nut down.









 
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The wings are just about ready to button up. Skins/substructure are dimpled, countersunk, etc.; now it's just a matter of waiting till my riveting partner has a break in his schedule.

So now, the wingtips come out of storage. I can't final mount them yet, but I thought I'd mount the nav/strobes (Ztron) and landing light (Duckworks). I roughed out the hole for the latter's fiberglass mounting tube....will 'glass it in place once the wings are on the plane and I can aim it properly.









 
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Fitting the upholstery bits, seatbelts and carpet are some of those "reward" jobs that make up for hours of sanding fiberglass and filing aluminum. Powered up the panel and plugged the ATIS and tower frequencies for Chino into the GTR-200...and...OK, maybe I did make an airplane noise or three.

The seating position is great, with the seatback top all the way back to the crossbeam and the bottom on the middle row of hinges. I'm glad I drilled the brake pedals low on the bracket that connects to the master cylinders for a little more "tilt back"; if I had done it per plans I think I'd be on the brakes too much while simply working the rudder.

 
Wow, lots happening! I found a hangar at Cable in Upland, got my 3rd class medical yesterday, and am chair-flying the assigned route for my BFR on Monday, after a flying lapse of seven years. Looks like the Big Move will happen in a couple of weeks.

The right lower skin is riveted (thanks for the help, Pete!) and right wingtip is mounted, after a seemingly never-ending plate nut marathon. The tip extends out about 1/8" past the aileron....no big deal; not a show plane. The W-930 jig is great to align the tip in profile. Finished off the nav/strobe/landing lights wiring too. My wiring bundle was so small that it rattled around inside the snap bushings more than I was comfortable with, so I sleeved each one with a section of vinyl tubing. Also put some spare wires in right wing just to give the bundle some rigidity. Not exactly "simplicate and add lightness," but it did the job.

It felt good to put the Experimental decal on the baggage partition. Wear it proudly!









 
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Doug,

Get everything you can done before you move! Not having the project close by will definitely slow you down (although you seem to be moving pretty quickly).

My in-laws live up in Claremont and we fly up to Cable often. Let me know when/where you are and I'll stop by some time.
 
Will do, Bruce! I'm getting one of the T-hangars on the East end. I'm so looking forward to moving in and getting organized...and having some real space to work. I'd very much value your opinion of my build, and maybe we could isolate any problem areas before the DAR inspection.

I've been finishing up a bunch of those little jobs, but for the major stuff I'm down to bleeding the brakes, making the tank attach brackets and fabbing up the steel links for the rudder (once the tail group is bolted back in place).

And of course, the lower wing skin and wingtip for the left wing, which I should have wrapped up by the end of next week. After that, it's stuff that needs to be done with the wings fitted....fairings, electrical connections, adjusting flaps and such.

It's great that there's a Lowe's only a few hundred yards away. They will know me on a first-name basis!
 
Moved! Well, the fuselage, anyway. I had to call four towing companies before I found one willing to transport a plane. Ultimately, I found Blair's Towing in Lake Forest, CA. They have some prior experience with this sort of thing, and the driver was super nice and helpful....I highly recommend them.

Wings and tail bits will go via U-Haul box van next week.

The fuselage looks lost in the cavernous hangar. So nice to have all this space, and be able to garage my car again. Went to the Lowe's (about a driver and sand wedge away from the hangar) and got some nice shelving infrastructure, then got a patty melt at Maniac Mike's on the field, served by a waitress who could be Maria Sharapova's sister. Life is good. :)





 
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Welp, after a half-dozen 100-mile round trips, I've got all the airplane pieces in the hangar, and accomplished a ton on the build. Rudder and elevators hinged and torqued, pushrods final-adjusted, brakes bled, prop installed and safety-wired, rudder pedal-to-cable links fabbed, painted and installed. What a luxury to have all this space to work in....no sucking in my gut to squeeze between the garage door and prop hub!

Feels good to finally step on the rudder pedals and feel that control surface clank from stop to stop! Fan effect cooled down the hangar a little too. Brakes feel nice and tight....maybe 1/4" stroke from off to fully applied.

Also installed the PC-680 battery and spun the engine for four periods of about eight seconds each, with some cool-down in between. Saw 22 psi of pressure, so that's good to have oil gurgling through an engine that's been sitting around for the better part of a year. Hobbs made little clicking sounds, but has yet to register its first .1. :)

The control stick just grazed the toggle switches for lights, etc. at the limit of down elevator travel, so I shortened it by about 1.5 in. Problem solved, and now the right and left sticks are close to the same length.

Now to find some helpers to hang the wings. I've already got the hardware-store fitting bolts, cut off their threads and ground the ends to a nice taper.

Bonehead move of the week: While getting the fuel caps engraved, I stuffed a paper towel in the filler openings. You guessed it....during transit of the wings, one of the towels fell inside the tank. Aaaargh! Shoulda used tape. But it did justify the purchase of a neat $10 pick-up tool with an LED on the grappling end. Retrieved the wad on the very first try.













 
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Wings on!

Temporarily, at least, with some hardware store fitting bolts. Pretty easy to do with two people (bolt fitter inside and "wing jiggler" outside), and a padded sawhorse to support the tip. I used several chunks of 2x4 and some strips of plywood to get the height exactly right.

Wing sweep was durn near perfect right out of the box; I got it down to less than 1/4" without any trimming of the spar stubs. And incidence was within 0.1 degree side to side (really hard to even get repeatable measurements when dealing in tenths of a degree!) so I went ahead and drilled and reamed the rear spar holes with at least 5/8" edge distance all around.

I could've fussed with the holes a bit to get the underside flap skins a little closer to the fuselage belly, but I like the priority of getting that nice centered edge distance, and let the flaps fall where they may. They easily retract to the "in trail" position, and the rear of the inside skin is maybe 3/4" from the belly. I can bend them closer as I finalize the rigging.

No hangar is complete without an airport scooter, so I bought this racy 50-cc number that just happens to be painted in my RV's future scheme. Spent all today assembling it, changing motor and gear oil, adjusting, charging the battery, etc., so not much got done on the plane. Put 5.1 hours...er, miles...on the Hobbs...er, odometer, just putting along past rows of hangars.









 
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Thanks, guys! Another day of fiddling with the tank attach brackets, maybe a couple days for the root gap fairings and I'll be ready for the joys of fitting/tightening those close-tolerance bolts. :eek:
 
Cool pic of DC-3 low fly-by!

[sorta RV-related because I saw it in the pattern while working on my RV, and sprinted along a row of hangers to get the shot. I was winded, but worth it! :) ]

As you can see, Cable airport is right up against the San Gabriel mountains....they look closer still with a 300mm lens.

 
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I'm pretty much ready to pull the wings back off for a final furious nut plate and countersink session. The root gap fairirings are on, and with a 3/16" clearance trim, the seal fits nicely with the proper fillet curve up against the fuselage.

The only issue was that the bottom pilot hole for the tank screw was too far forward by about 1/8". Of course, I had already dimpled this hole before I realized the error :)(), but no worries....flatten the dimple with a hammer, oval the hole back with a Dremel, re-dimple. It's not a structural concern, and the intersection fairing covers it up anyway.

I cut the seal on the underside about even with the gear leg. Any longer, and it goes beneath the level of the fuselage and isn't held in place.

No pics of the intersection fairings, but I went with the Fairings Etc. pieces, and they are a great fit and required minimal trimming. Highly recommended. :)

My EFIS has an AOA feature, but I like the good ol' fashioned stall warning too, with a really loud buzzer in the cockpit. So that's been installed, which is nice. Got that going for me. :):roll eyes:





 
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Don't cut the underside rubber gap seal until you get the upper intersection fairings on and fitted. You'll end up shortening it a bit. You'll need to put a dab of contact cement or pliobond on the end of the seal to keep it in place.
 
Hey Bruce,

Does the end of the seal butt up against the leading edge of the intersection fairing, or go beneath it? I've drilled mounting holes for the fiberglass with the root gap fairing in place, but without the seal. It seems that the intersection fairing will go nicely over the rubber channel.

If it doesn't, a simple matter to cut it later.
 
Hey Doug can you look up the part number of that rubber seal I would like to order one. My RV plans are at other location.
 
Hi Vlad,

I wish I could help, but the plans are at the hangar now, and I'm sick at home with some strange stomach virus.

Maybe post in general forum? I'm sure someone will chime in with the #.
 
Finally, ready to put the wings on for good! Should happen this Friday, if my self-employed helper doesn't get any last-minute jobs.

Fuel inlet tubes match up perfectly with the tank fittings with a measurement of 2.50" from the fuselage side to the flare.There's a bit of give in the line, so you could be off by 1/8" or so and it would still be fine. Much peace of mind that they came out to the right length!

Looking forward to the W&B, I've located a set of Longacre racing scales from a friend who competes in autocross. I'm just guessing from looking at other people's #s, but the mains ought to be about 365-375 lb. apiece, and the nose wheel at maybe 300-315 lb. So now I'm putting ALL the stuff back into the plane for W&B, only to take it ALL back out for the DAR inspection. Putting it ALL back in after that will be pretty painless, because at that point it's time to fly. :D

All the placarding is done, checklists are made and laminated, ELT makes all the appropriate noises on 121.5, and POH is about 90 percent done (obviously a continual work in progress as I fly Phase 1 and determine what the numbers are for my plane). I still need to finalize some settings on the EFIS, and set reasonable limits so the display doesn't light up with warnings during the first flight.

I've also contacted Reuven at KSEE about transition training, which is tentatively set for mid January. So first flight in March? That's what I'm hoping.
 
Doug,

Sounds like you are almost there!

Here are my weights:
IMG_0390-M.jpg


Reuven will get you in shape for first flight. I went from low to very high confidence after about 7 hours with him. The -9 is much easier to handle than the -7, as long as you get the speeds down for landing. Let me know if you want to do some practice in the -9 before first flight.
 
Finally, got to drive those close-tolerance wing bolts home. There were a couple that I had to tap a wee bit harder than I'd like, but the way i figure, better too tight than too loose here. :) I highly recommend unthreading the pushrod and pushing it outboard far enough so you have clear access to all the bolts. As such, I was able to get a free swing at all bolts with a hammer and didn't need to use the rivet gun method.

So at the end of a full work day tomorrow, I hope to have the empty weight numbers. That may be too ambitious, as I'm not sure how long it'll take to get the bottom nuts on those bolts and torque 'em.








 
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I'm not going to sugar coat this...getting the wingnuts on the wingbolts on an -A model is an exercise in tedium, frustration and contorting one's body into positions previously thought impossible, even by experienced yoga/Pilates types. Much soreness from kneeling, squatting and sitting/leaning against sharp edges. It really helped to get up and stretch every 15 minutes or so.

Like a lot of difficult jobs, it does seem a little easier the following day, on reflection. Be patient when you do this, budget an entire day and celebrate each torqued fastener as a small victory.

Bulk of time spent doing the two lower outboard nuts, naturally. I used a magnetic retrieval tool, but the magnet was a bit weak so I also taped the nuts to the tool. It's a rush just getting the nut started after, oh, about 12 tries! A big flat-blade screwdriver worked best to jam the larger nuts in place for torquing....try coming from the inboard side of the weldment, and experiment with jamming from both the top and bottom of the nut.

On the most inboard smaller bolt, it is possible to get a standard open-end 7/16 wrench on the nut for final cinching, if you hold it at just the right angle. This, of course, I discovered late in the process.

If your torque wrench has a fine-pitch ratchet mechanism, all the better. On some of the lower bolts, I did final torquing one click at a time. Patience, patience...

Top bolts are all a piece of cake, with unimpeded access. Do the bottom ones first, and the top ones as a reward.

It never felt so good to apply Torque Seal to the finished product. :) Everything else in the finishing-up process will seem so easy (and stress-free) by comparison.
 
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I fully understand your literal pain. It's a good thing that task came at the end of the build and not at the start. I might have quit right there. :(
 
Thanks, guys. For me, it was a high hurdle to clear, but it probably comes off as a whiney post to all the scratch builders out there. Pictures soon! After I do the weigh-in, I'll roll 'er out of the hangar for a photo op, as she'll be pretty much fully assembled at that point.
 
First engine start!!

Well, she sputtered to life today, and I do mean sputtered. It sounds like maybe two cylinders are firing at first. Then, at about 0:55 in the video, I throttle up a little, a smoke cloud blows out the tailpipes and she's running far smoother. I did clean the lower plugs before the run, and ran fuel through the system for 30 seconds to purge the preservation oil, but obviously some gunk remained.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gDmp4EKFh44

Mostly, things went well. No hesitation whatsoever when switching tanks, and very little rpm drop when switching mags. I did a total of three runs, each for about three minutes and shutting down when the first CHT hit 350. I let the CHT drop to about 130 before starting the next run. Restarts were a cinch...just like cold-start procedure, but instead of 3 seconds of boost pump prime, I just hit the pump switch for maybe half a second. Then mixture ICO, throttle cracked and she's alive in a couple of blades.

Problems: Tach reading is way off. Maximum static rpm reading was 1510, but I'm convinced the engine is making correct power, so it ought be spinning at, what, 2200 static? Also, an indicated 1000 rpm felt like about 1300-1400. I'll call GRT to get it sorted out. Also, I'll verify with some sort of external tach.

Also, fuel senders were showing a decreasing value as fuel was added, not increasing. Again, ought to be a simple programming/menu fix, but I can't seem to figure it out even after tearing through all the documentation. So, GRT question #2.

I also weighed the machine and got some W&B numbers:

Nose: 238.4
Right main: 396.0
Left main: 390.2

Empty weight: 1024.6
Max gross will be 1750 lb.

All calculations keep the cg nicely in the recommended range, with the exception of minimal fuel (5 gal. total), a like-weighted passenger in the right seat (200 lb. apiece for us big & tall shoppers!) and 100 lb. of baggage. But reducing the baggage by just 10 lb. in this scenario gets it in the safe range. I was worried that the light Catto FP prop and SkyTec starter might cause aft cg issues, but no worries.







 
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Comgratulations, the first engine run is a major milestone! Nice christmas present for yourselve!

Btw, can't watch the video, it is marked as private.

Merry Christmas,

Kai
 
Thanks, guys! A great feeling to hear it chug to life! Sorry about the video listed as private....I just changed it to public.

Robert, I am at Cable Airport in Upland.
 
Hi Doug,

Merry Christmas! Congratulations - your 9 looks great! I still can't believe how quickly you built that bad boy.
 
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