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F1 FWF Taking Shape!

Ironflight

Ironflight

VAF Moderator / Line Boy
Mentor
I have been spending a fair amount of time getting the firewall forward work done on the F1 Rocket project the past couple of months, mostly because I want to be off the fabrication workbench and have the aircraft in the assembly area of the shop when Louise’s RV-15 wing kit shows up! Progress is slow, but occasionally visible - especially with the baffles.

I started with a Van’s RV-10/IO-540 kit, and had to do considerable custom work on the front ramps and the duct for the BIG oil cooler. That scratched things up a bit, which is why I decided to paint with white epoxy - normally, I just leave baffles bare metal, but these had gotten kind of ugly. The top of the baffles have been trimmed to give me good clearance to the cowl, but I am going to wait on baffle seals for awhile, mostly because I have lots of fiberglass to get finished, and its good to have some projects to work on when I get frustrated with the glass mess and need a break.

Tom Swearengen has my “almost” final hose order after I built up the oil cooler lines out of ancient Aeroquip rubber-lined hose that I had in a box - that allowed me to get a really good routing and determine lengths precisely. New ones will match all of the fuel, sensor, and brake lines he has already made. The cowl has been fitted, Skybolts installed, and now it’s just doing detailed finishing work to make everything pretty.

Work-in-progress shot (no, it won’t fly with clecos ….. or loose spark plug wires….😉)
IMG_7601.jpeg
 
Ironflight said:
I have been spending a fair amount of time getting the firewall forward work done on the F1 Rocket project the past couple of months, mostly because I want to be off the fabrication workbench and have the aircraft in the assembly area of the shop when Louise’s RV-15 wing kit shows up! Progress is slow, but occasionally visible - especially with the baffles.

I started with a Van’s RV-10/IO-540 kit, and had to do considerable custom work on the front ramps and the duct for the BIG oil cooler. That scratched things up a bit, which is why I decided to paint with white epoxy - normally, I just leave baffles bare metal, but these had gotten kind of ugly. The top of the baffles have been trimmed to give me good clearance to the cowl, but I am going to wait on baffle seals for awhile, mostly because I have lots of fiberglass to get finished, and its good to have some projects to work on when I get frustrated with the glass mess and need a break.

Tom Swearengen has my “almost” final hose order after I built up the oil cooler lines out of ancient Aeroquip rubber-lined hose that I had in a box - that allowed me to get a really good routing and determine lengths precisely. New ones will match all of the fuel, sensor, and brake lines he has already made. The cowl has been fitted, Skybolts installed, and now it’s just doing detailed finishing work to make everything pretty.

Work-in-progress shot (no, it won’t fly with clecos ….. or loose spark plug wires….😉)
View attachment 100104
Click to expand...
That is an absolute thing of beauty...WOW!!!!!🤩
 
Looks amazing! The only thing I can think of when I see rocket threads (yours and others) is where did my other two cylinders go?!

EDIT: that's a hefty rightward cant - I assume due to the prodigious power 🙃
 
Curious to what you are using for a cable to the prop governor? We keep eating up our cable even though it's insulated. Routed under the engine and up through the front baffle as yours is. I see some RV-10's with it routed over the top? Was your routing done due to difficulties getting it over the engine?
 
Ironflight said:
I have been spending a fair amount of time getting the firewall forward work done on the F1 Rocket project the past couple of months, mostly because I want to be off the fabrication workbench and have the aircraft in the assembly area of the shop when Louise’s RV-15 wing kit shows up! Progress is slow, but occasionally visible - especially with the baffles.

I started with a Van’s RV-10/IO-540 kit, and had to do considerable custom work on the front ramps and the duct for the BIG oil cooler. That scratched things up a bit, which is why I decided to paint with white epoxy - normally, I just leave baffles bare metal, but these had gotten kind of ugly. The top of the baffles have been trimmed to give me good clearance to the cowl, but I am going to wait on baffle seals for awhile, mostly because I have lots of fiberglass to get finished, and its good to have some projects to work on when I get frustrated with the glass mess and need a break.

Tom Swearengen has my “almost” final hose order after I built up the oil cooler lines out of ancient Aeroquip rubber-lined hose that I had in a box - that allowed me to get a really good routing and determine lengths precisely. New ones will match all of the fuel, sensor, and brake lines he has already made. The cowl has been fitted, Skybolts installed, and now it’s just doing detailed finishing work to make everything pretty.

Work-in-progress shot (no, it won’t fly with clecos ….. or loose spark plug wires….😉)
View attachment 100104
Click to expand...
Great timing. I'm at about the same baffling point on the 9. Are those nutplates through the angle and extra angle riveted to the air dams? Great idea, I think I wll copy that for later adjustment if need be, rather than hard riveted. What are you using for your baffle material? I just ordered the light blue silicon from Spruce
 
Last edited:
Ironflight said:
I have been spending a fair amount of time getting the firewall forward work done on the F1 Rocket project the past couple of months, mostly because I want to be off the fabrication workbench and have the aircraft in the assembly area of the shop when Louise’s RV-15 wing kit shows up! Progress is slow, but occasionally visible - especially with the baffles.

I started with a Van’s RV-10/IO-540 kit, and had to do considerable custom work on the front ramps and the duct for the BIG oil cooler. That scratched things up a bit, which is why I decided to paint with white epoxy - normally, I just leave baffles bare metal, but these had gotten kind of ugly. The top of the baffles have been trimmed to give me good clearance to the cowl, but I am going to wait on baffle seals for awhile, mostly because I have lots of fiberglass to get finished, and its good to have some projects to work on when I get frustrated with the glass mess and need a break.

Tom Swearengen has my “almost” final hose order after I built up the oil cooler lines out of ancient Aeroquip rubber-lined hose that I had in a box - that allowed me to get a really good routing and determine lengths precisely. New ones will match all of the fuel, sensor, and brake lines he has already made. The cowl has been fitted, Skybolts installed, and now it’s just doing detailed finishing work to make everything pretty.

Work-in-progress shot (no, it won’t fly with clecos ….. or loose spark plug wires….😉)
View attachment 100104
Click to expand...
Let's see Dayton to Oshkosh in 3.5 hrs? Should break Mike Markers record from Albuquerque by 15 minutes! :cool:
 
Aden Rich said:
Curious to what you are using for a cable to the prop governor? We keep eating up our cable even though it's insulated. Routed under the engine and up through the front baffle as yours is. I see some RV-10's with it routed over the top? Was your routing done due to difficulties getting it over the engine?
Click to expand...
Going with the standard Van’s routing (in top of the intake tubes, under the cylinders) and Cablecraft cables for now. We’ll see how it works out….
 
eavila1 said:
Great timing. I'm at about the same baffling point on the 9. Are those nutplates through the angle and extra angle riveted to the air dams? Great idea, I think I wll copy that for later adjustment if need be, rather than hard riveted. What are you using for your baffle material? I just ordered the light blue silicon from Spruce
Click to expand...
The air dams are custom in terms of dimensions and shapes, but pretty standard in terms of design. The Port side has to accommodate the forward-mounted prop governor, so I welded up a steel mount that bolts to the engine and then comes up underneath the port ramp - those screws (in the middle of the ramp) fasten the assembly together, and yes - nutplates everywhere to make assembly easier. I haven’t decided on baffle material - we’ll see what comes along. I have used standard black baffle material for decades and have never had a problem - except that you need to replace it after about fifteen years or so.

Paul
 
Ironflight said:
The air dams are custom in terms of dimensions and shapes, but pretty standard in terms of design. The Port side has to accommodate the forward-mounted prop governor, so I welded up a steel mount that bolts to the engine and then comes up underneath the port ramp - those screws (in the middle of the ramp) fasten the assembly together, and yes - nutplates everywhere to make assembly easier. I haven’t decided on baffle material - we’ll see what comes along. I have used standard black baffle material for decades and have never had a problem - except that you need to replace it after about fifteen years or so.

Paul
Click to expand...
Ok thanks Paul, and looks nice very clean. Another question.....my air inlet that runs through the heat manifold for cabin heat is not on the backside of Cylinder #3, but instead on the #2 cylinder ramp. Do you know if the RAM inlet pressure is better in a certain location, ie front or back or inboard or outboard on the ramp? Anybody else that has this configuration and knows please chime in. I was waiting to ask the question on VAF to see if anybody has data. Close to deciding and making the circular cut. Thought Maybe you or Dan knows in this area
 
eavila1 said:
Ok thanks Paul, and looks nice very clean. Another question.....my air inlet that runs through the heat manifold for cabin heat is not on the backside of Cylinder #3, but instead on the #2 cylinder ramp. Do you know if the RAM inlet pressure is better in a certain location, ie front or back or inboard or outboard on the ramp? Anybody else that has this configuration and knows please chime in. I was waiting to ask the question on VAF to see if anybody has data. Close to deciding and making the circular cut. Thought Maybe you or Dan knows in this area
Click to expand...
I really don’t know the answer - I think that you should start a thread with the question…should start a lively discussion, and I bet DanH will chime in there. It will get lost on this thread.
 
Ironflight said:
I have been spending a fair amount of time getting the firewall forward work done on the F1 Rocket project the past couple of months, mostly because I want to be off the fabrication workbench and have the aircraft in the assembly area of the shop when Louise’s RV-15 wing kit shows up! Progress is slow, but occasionally visible - especially with the baffles.

I started with a Van’s RV-10/IO-540 kit, and had to do considerable custom work on the front ramps and the duct for the BIG oil cooler. That scratched things up a bit, which is why I decided to paint with white epoxy - normally, I just leave baffles bare metal, but these had gotten kind of ugly. The top of the baffles have been trimmed to give me good clearance to the cowl, but I am going to wait on baffle seals for awhile, mostly because I have lots of fiberglass to get finished, and its good to have some projects to work on when I get frustrated with the glass mess and need a break.

Tom Swearengen has my “almost” final hose order after I built up the oil cooler lines out of ancient Aeroquip rubber-lined hose that I had in a box - that allowed me to get a really good routing and determine lengths precisely. New ones will match all of the fuel, sensor, and brake lines he has already made. The cowl has been fitted, Skybolts installed, and now it’s just doing detailed finishing work to make everything pretty.

Work-in-progress shot (no, it won’t fly with clecos ….. or loose spark plug wires….😉)
View attachment 100104
Click to expand...
What are you running for ignition?
 
Ironflight said:
I have been spending a fair amount of time getting the firewall forward work done on the F1 Rocket project the past couple of months, mostly because I want to be off the fabrication workbench and have the aircraft in the assembly area of the shop when Louise’s RV-15 wing kit shows up! Progress is slow, but occasionally visible - especially with the baffles.

I started with a Van’s RV-10/IO-540 kit, and had to do considerable custom work on the front ramps and the duct for the BIG oil cooler. That scratched things up a bit, which is why I decided to paint with white epoxy - normally, I just leave baffles bare metal, but these had gotten kind of ugly. The top of the baffles have been trimmed to give me good clearance to the cowl, but I am going to wait on baffle seals for awhile, mostly because I have lots of fiberglass to get finished, and its good to have some projects to work on when I get frustrated with the glass mess and need a break.

Tom Swearengen has my “almost” final hose order after I built up the oil cooler lines out of ancient Aeroquip rubber-lined hose that I had in a box - that allowed me to get a really good routing and determine lengths precisely. New ones will match all of the fuel, sensor, and brake lines he has already made. The cowl has been fitted, Skybolts installed, and now it’s just doing detailed finishing work to make everything pretty.

Work-in-progress shot (no, it won’t fly with clecos ….. or loose spark plug wires….😉)
View attachment 100104
Click to expand...
I see its E mag. I am switching my F1 over on the top right now and was wondering where you bought the spark plug holders that are in the fire wall? They look nice and I want to copy your install its clean I am removing a Lightspeed on the top. I will need to install a blast tube as well on my right mag
 
Robb said:
I see its E mag. I am switching my F1 over on the top right now and was wondering where you bought the spark plug holders that are in the fire wall? They look nice and I want to copy your install its clean I am removing a Lightspeed on the top. I will need to install a blast tube as well on my right mag
Click to expand...
Actually, a neighbor had those in his parts box, and he’s done with six-cylinder engines….. I don’t recall where he got them (probably years ago), and just looking at the price for the two-wire grommets, someone really needs to generate a 3D printer part for homebuilders….!
 
Ironflight said:
Going with the standard Van’s routing (in top of the intake tubes, under the cylinders) and Cablecraft cables for now. We’ll see how it works out….
Click to expand...
We have the same routing and several different cables since early 2000's. All seem to freeze up over time. I think the teflon liner melts and locks the cable up. Even with firesleeve sheating, it still locks up after about 150-200 hours.
 
Aden Rich said:
We have the same routing and several different cables since early 2000's. All seem to freeze up over time. I think the teflon liner melts and locks the cable up. Even with firesleeve sheating, it still locks up after about 150-200 hours.
Click to expand...
I’ve had the Cablecraft cables get stiff and have to be replaced on my -8 before. I fixed it years ago with some carefully placed heat shields and a little fire sleeve (although i doubt the fire sleeve does as much as the heat shields. That’s what I’ll do here, and see how it works out….

Paul
 
Paul,

Quick question: is there a particular reason why you left this gap (see red arrow in picture below) on your left intake? I'm certainly not knit-picking. Just trying to learn.

The reason I ask is that I'm having a bit of an issue with a couple of my GAMI injectors occasionally blowing fuel onto my baffles. Specifically on #2 (Lycoming IO-390). I too painted my baffles white, and now I have a bit of blue staining on them. I also painted the underside of my upper cowl white and I have a few small streaks there too.

GAMI is telling me that they think it's due to to much air flowing past the injectors and that this is somewhat common on RV's. My thought is that the gap in the picture allows a lot of air to flow over/past the injector which, if GAMI is correct, could cause some fuel to bleed out.

By the way, I have not regretted painting my baffles or the underside of the cowl. While it shows "everything", that's why I did it.

Hopefully this is relevant to your thread and I didn't hijack it.

Gap.jpg

Thanks,

Fred
 
Reflex said:
Paul,

Quick question: is there a particular reason why you left this gap (see red arrow in picture below) on your left intake? I'm certainly not knit-picking. Just trying to learn.

The reason I ask is that I'm having a bit of an issue with a couple of my GAMI injectors occasionally blowing fuel onto my baffles. Specifically on #2 (Lycoming IO-390). I too painted my baffles white, and now I have a bit of blue staining on them. I also painted the underside of my upper cowl white and I have a few small streaks there too.

GAMI is telling me that they think it's due to to much air flowing past the injectors and that this is somewhat common on RV's. My thought is that the gap in the picture allows a lot of air to flow over/past the injector which, if GAMI is correct, could cause some fuel to bleed out.

By the way, I have not regretted painting my baffles or the underside of the cowl. While it shows "everything", that's why I did it.

Hopefully this is relevant to your thread and I didn't hijack it.

View attachment 100205

Thanks,

Fred
Click to expand...
Hi Fred,

If I understand your question, you’re asking why the “air dam” in front of the cylinder doesn’t go all the way to the outboard edge? The simple answer is that what you see is Van’s stock baffle kit (at that point) with stock air dams (that were modified only to be removable). There is no gap between the aluminum angle (that forms the aft edge of the ramp) and the cylinder head where the 1/4” screw goes in. We’ve had essentially the same thing with our four-cylinder engines - same injector/head baffle configurations - for many years with no issues or fuel staining.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Ironflight said:
Hi Fred,

If I understand your question, you’re asking why the “air dam” in front of the cylinder doesn’t go all the way to the outboard edge? The simple answer is that what you see is Van’s stock baffle kit (at that point) with stock air dams (that were modified only to be removable). There is no gap between the aluminum angle (that forms the aft edge of the ramp) and the cylinder head where the 1/4” screw goes in. We’ve had essentially the same thing with our four-cylinder engines - same injector/head baffle configurations - for many years with no issues or fuel staining.
Click to expand...
Paul, yes, you understand my question correctly. Many thanks, that answers my question.

Fred
 
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