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Can you tell me how you cut out the blue plastic so neatly? We use a blunted soldering iron and a straight edge, but we still occasionally scratch the surface, and the plastic does not always follow the line!
 
The blue you see in that photo is masking tape---I use the same method as you for plastic but lightly on the plastic just to make a mark.

Dave
 
Can you tell me how you cut out the blue plastic so neatly? We use a blunted soldering iron and a straight edge, but we still occasionally scratch the surface, and the plastic does not always follow the line!

I just take off ALL the blue plastic the first time I touch the part, specially the inside and then the outside after I have done the match drilling. Yes it will pick up a few scratches along the way but you will scuff it before it gets painted anayway.
 
John,

A couple of questions:
- Why do the charts say XIO-360, when your engine is an IO-540? Were the test runs not done on your engine?
- Can you post the chart showing the fuel flow savings?
- In your build, did you have to plumb return lines all the way back to the tanks? If not, where did you plumb the returns to?


Yes Mike. Mines a 540, the tests done at Titan were done on a 360 b/c that's what they had in production.

And yes, I have return lines run back to the tanks via a duplex valve. The fuel system runs just like an automotive system with the returns hitting the tank as far from the feeds as possible.
 
fuel returns

We've done testing on how far the fuel return into the tank needs to be away from the fuel pickup in the tank to keep the return bubbles from getting into the pickup.
(BTW the amount of vapor bubbles in the return fuel is about 50% of the return content - it's a bit surprising the first time you see it.)
It turns out the return fuel bulkhead only needs to be about three inches from the fuel pickup in the tank. This is enough spacing to allow the return bubbles to percolate out in the tank without allowing them to get back into the pickup.
Of course there is no harm in having more spacing than this.

Robert
 
That's impressive Jon! Do you plan to prime all the airframe inside and out?

Hey Vlad. Yup, I'm priming in and out. I began just doing the interior of the skins, but being in southeast Georgia I saw some surface corrosion on my tailcone shortly after getting it built. I think it was from some sweat that I missed cleaning up (built the tailcone in the middle of summer in my non-a/c'd garage:( ) but it still made me uncomfortable storing my parts in my hangar unprotected for several years.

MikeH on here is a local builder building a -14. He began priming in/out, and I followed suit.
 
You are doing right thing Jon. You should see my bare aluminum after flying for only three years :eek:
 
Showplanes Cowl

Just now getting a chance to post some pics of all the work we did over Thanksgiving.... Shayne and I had a long list.... but the cowling and intake plenums took us the full 10 days we had to work on it... but it's done.. and it looks great...

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BIG THANKS to JDanno (Danny Riggs) for loaning us his Damaged MT Prop and Spinner (ours was delayed by MT, and he had a prop strike due to a nose gear failure... ask him if you wan details... so... $35 UPS with stubby blades and we were in business....).... Enjoy the Bourbon I sent you Dan.....:)

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Had to Extend the intake plenums to meet up with the EFII Fuel Servo/Throttle Body.... FYI... A Pillsbury Icing container is the PERFECT fit for the mold and the epoxy doesn't stick to it... Came out perfect..

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It's a lot of work to get the intakes to line up just right... LOTS

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Also did the test fitting of the trial version of the new exhaust from Clinton @ Custom Aircraft Exhausts... Henry played shop dog....
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Are We Done yet Dad??
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Wow, John nice looking cowl. Not knowing much about the Show Planes cowl, how do you get alternate engine air?
Rick
#40956
Southampton, Ont
 
Show planes cowl

John- cowl looks great. Is it designed for the camlocs on the firewall connection or was that a personal preference? What's your impression of the exhaust fit in the cowl?

Thanks,
-Mike
 
Wow, John nice looking cowl. Not knowing much about the Show Planes cowl, how do you get alternate engine air?
Rick
#40956
Southampton, Ont

Rick,
I think the thinking is that since there's 2 intake locations and two filters, the odds of both getting clogged is slim to none... I have considered putting some sort to alt air opening on the intake plenums, but I'm just not sure if it's really nec... Its a question i had for other guys with he same set up.
 
John- cowl looks great. Is it designed for the camlocs on the firewall connection or was that a personal preference? What's your impression of the exhaust fit in the cowl?

Thanks,
-Mike

Mike,
The 1/4 turns were my prefference and Bryan recommended Skybolt... I wanted the cowling to come on and off as quickly as possible. I like inspecting my whole engine as much as I can. Kind of wishing I had done the sides too... The hinges are a PAIN but they do look cleaner. You could use mil-spec too. I think they are the same... You could also machine your own flange the way Bryan does and save some $... again... if had known...
For this exhaust, we are the test dummies... I asked Clinton to make us a Forseling style exhaust since you can't get them anymore... so he's got a 540 at his shop with the BPE intakes and CAI on it for mocking up the exhaust. He's been working with Bryan and us to get the design and fit just right.. This first one was almost exact. Just had to move the tail pipes a little (they would have worked... more of a cosmetic thing). Can't wait to get the finished product...
 
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Engine Run on a Dyno

Folks: I finally witnessed my first engine run today at G&N in Merrillville, IN. It's a Performance Aero IO-540 C4B5 with 10 to 1 pistons, dual LSE ignitions, and a lot of other extra goodies to hopefully increase performance. I'll get the numbers on it when I pick it up in a few days. I hope the Airflow Performance FM-200 servo lets it breathe OK. We'll see.

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Hey all,

Haven't updated in a while. Waiting on the wings to be shipped. Just finished the elevator pushrod connections and the tailcone is complete. I am planning to work on the fiberglass while waiting for them to arrive. At least it will be done and won't have to do it all at once. Went to the Sebring Sport Aviation Expo this past saturday and had a good time talking at the Advanced booth and to a flying 10 builder. Good times.

Look forward to getting busy on the wings.

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UPS finally found the train car which had my fuselage on it! This is me pushing it in the garage with the wings temporarily parked outside in the nice weather. Just finished installing the left aileron tonight. Man this is fun!
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Jon, congrats on your delivery!

I'm working on my flaps now. My wing kit is old, it's got a different aileron design than yours does. Weird.

The TE on my ailerons and flaps sticks out between the skins about 1/16 of an inch as well. Not like the rudder, where it's hidden all the way. I wonder if that's another difference in the old vs new kits??
 
Jon, congrats on your delivery!

I'm working on my flaps now. My wing kit is old, it's got a different aileron design than yours does. Weird.

The TE on my ailerons and flaps sticks out between the skins about 1/16 of an inch as well. Not like the rudder, where it's hidden all the way. I wonder if that's another difference in the old vs new kits??

Yeah, same here Tim. I found it odd as, like you said, the rudder TE was flush. Elevators, too, I believe. A little filing will clean it up.
 
Thanks to the help of a friend (and -14 builder) I was able to finish up the bottom skins Friday. Got one wing finished this morning, TEs of the other wing control surfaces yet to shoot, then off to the fuselage;)

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Thanks to the help of a friend (and -14 builder) I was able to finish up the bottom skins Friday. Got one wing finished this morning, TEs of the other wing control surfaces yet to shoot, then off to the fuselage;)

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You made the front page!:eek:
My arm and neck are still feeling you're "progress":D
Still can't believe I managed to do both wings without slipping off and tagging the skin with the bar at least once.
 
Looks great Jon!

PS - I'm pretty sure I can eat off your garage floor! :eek:

D

Thanks, David! Don't let my floor fool you. The floor (and other parts of the garage) will never be the same after this:D

You made the front page!:eek:
My arm and neck are still feeling you're "progress":D
Still can't believe I managed to do both wings without slipping off and tagging the skin with the bar at least once.

Yes, I owe Mike big time!! We shot all his skins and a couple weeks later, we shoot mine. To my amazement, Mike chooses to BUCK every last one. Absolutely amazing to watch some of the long reaches with perfect shop-heads as a result - definitely a master on the bucking bar. Pretty sure I could count on one hand the rivets we had to drill out for both wings.:)
 
Horizontal Stabilizer Complete.

Thanks to the flu and a few business trips, this piece took about 2 months longer than I anticipated! But thanks to my wife's help bucking rivets, the HS is now complete.

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It's quite amazing how much more efficient things can be with a second set of hands!
 
Wing Fit Check

I finally got to see the plane with its wings on!....for a day. With help from Brian and Brandi we trimmed the flaps and wing root fairings as needed in less then a day! Brian was a great help and I'm not sure I could have gotten the job done before sundown without him.
Thanks Brian!

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Got a bunch done last week.... The Punch list is getting shorter... Most of it is boring stuff that everybody has seen and done... nothing too out of the ordinary. We did get to test fit the interior and installed it only to take it back out until final assembly. Don't want to get it dirty...
I think at this point I should have some stock options at Aerosport.... I Think the phrase "give me one of everything" was actually mentioned at one point....
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Overhead is all done.... still filling around it a bit..
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Made our heater pull location
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Fitted the MH O2 Canister
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Worked on the doors.... you know the drill... fill, sand, prime, fill, sand , prime, fill.... infinity... Really wish Vans would do a better job on the fiberglass. These things are really done horribly to try and finish them.... They might be great functionally and structurally, but the interior dents and pinholes are nuts. We're still far from calling them done.

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Also started prepping the cowling for paint... Filling pinholes using a process described by Bryan at Showplanes... we used a Bondo Brand glazing putty that has usable time of about a minute, so you work a 1sq foot area at a time. Sands really great. We're only trying to cut down on the prep time for our painter as he is taking REALLY good care of us....
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Shayne did make a really cool cleat for the Showplanes intakes to make it clean up against the ramps. I think it looks great. One of those things, when it's done, that only another builder would notice....
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John, I seem to recall that the factory has previously mentioned that the baggage bulkhead is a structural item.

Although I think your splitting it, and hinging the one half is a great way to access the tailcone stuff------------did you run this past the Vans folks???

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From the photo, it does not appear that there are any screw holes for the drop down half to be attached to the center post.

Looking good --------- I really like the interior side panels.

Keep shortening that punch list:D
 
John, I seem to recall that the factory has previously mentioned that the baggage bulkhead is a structural item.

Although I think your splitting it, and hinging the one half is a great way to access the tailcone stuff------------did you run this past the Vans folks???

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From the photo, it does not appear that there are any screw holes for the drop down half to be attached to the center post.

Looking good --------- I really like the interior side panels.

Keep shortening that punch list:D

Hey Mike, :)
The screw holes are there... just can't see them.. We didn't run it by Van's however, what you can't see is that we built a very strong structural frame around the entire opening for that door. I'd say it's stronger than before. We ended up with 2 baggage bulkheads so we were able to make the door oversized to overlap the hole, and it's held closed by 1/4 turn fasteners. I think it's rock solid.
 
No pictures, I'm afraid, but a red-letter day anyway.

Just started my engine for the first time. Came from Aerosport and has been sitting inhibited for 3 years. Standard Slick mags with retard breaker and SlickStart (thanks for nothing Emagair). Dynon Skyview EMS.

Started 3rd blade and ran BEAUTIFULLY. No leaks, all the EMS probes worked as advertised. RPM indication rock steady with a pick off from the P-lead and a 30k resistor. Temperatures came up nicely. Prop control worked after a couple of cycles. In fact, it could not have gone better.

I'm a VERY happy man :D
 
This update doesn't contain anything new that hasn't been done almost 800 times or so... but, might as well post.

We finally put in the Windscreen, and built the fairing. Went pretty well. Good thing I researched it here. Would never have thought to dye the filer and epoxy black until it was too late....

We also fitted the wings. So, that was kind of big deal. Actually went surprisingly easy. The plane got to get out of the garage and make Uturn back in.
Amazing that these wings left the factory in 2005 and the fuse in 2007, and they went together like butter. A lot to be said for Vans engineering and production.


Made and riveted in an extra bracket for the the windscreen. It disappeared under the fairing once it was all done.









Big thanks to the crew we had come out and help with the wings...
We figured out, between this crew we are responsible for 11 planes either built and flying or in progress... With Al and Shayne being the most repeat offenders...


Thanks to Al Smith (RV-6, Zeinith 650, RV-12, and currently a Zenith 750), Earl Starkman (25,000hr commercial pilot), Frank Klimek (Cub Replica and currently Sonex), Rick "Wingman" Wantz, Sonex), and of course, my father-in-law, Shayne (Sonex Waiex, Zenith 650, Zenith 601 and now the RV-10)



Only some minor trimming has to be done on the flaps..




 
nice pictures john. it is very motivating to see all those pictures, and it's even cooler to see all the people with experience who helped on the project. hope to see the finished product soon!
 
Great Pics

I love to see this, significant completion of difficult parts of the build and then to find out it really isnt that bad. Thanks

Wish i had a couple of build buddies like that,,,,, can you send a few up here to canada? Alberta?:)
 
A Little bit of "one step forward, two steps back", but it was nice to get SOME work done after Oshkosh....

At the "lot's of bloody knuckles and 4 letter words point".... Still working on figuring how I'm going to cleanly get all that wire routed where I want it. It gives me anxiety to see it in this state, considering my day job.....







It's hard to see from this picture, but we had to modify the previous holes in the sub-panel to accommodate the depth of the GTN 650... It's getting cleaned up and adding fresh doublers and a couple lateral braces.





 
Really nice. I'm working that area on mine and finding that I don't mind the skinned knuckles so much but I'm not as limber as I used to be. I keep my cell phone handy in case I have to call 911 to get extricated from some of the positions I find myself in... ;)
 
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