At the Airport

 

     
1 June 2008 After spending a really long day installing all the interior and exterior panels, the airplane is basically ready to go. Note in the picture, I've left out the passenger seat bottom, stick and I didn't  install the fuel pump cover. If I get a fuel leak, I want to see it pretty quick so I'll install that cover after a couple flights. We assembled for the flight early this AM, but the weather just wouldn't allow a ceiling high enough. It stayed right around pattern altitude and didn't seem to be moving so we called it a day after visibility got worse and the drizzle started.
26 May 2008 Frank Baldwin out of the St. Louis area volunteered to come out and do the inspection. I've known Frank for years as he was also a Boredom Fighter builder. I picked Frank up at SEA and drove up to Arlington and got this knocked out. No major issues and he deemed it an official airplane! Now all I have to do is put it all back together.
25 May 2008 I went back up to the airport today and wrapped up a bunch of stuff prior to the AB-DAR visit. First on the list was re-installation of the fuel filter and ensuring it wasn't leaking, then the removal of the rest of the dreaded blue vinyl. I'm still troubleshooting a ground problem on the roll servo and it's been disconnected. Paperwork is done and it's ready for inspection.
24 May 2008 The AB-DAR is scheduled for Monday, two days to go and it's getting close. Got a lot done today in prep for the first flight:
1) Calibrated fuel tanks and find them fairly accurate for floats.
2) Did the compass swing and it's very close, within a couple degrees, to the GRT magnatometer.
3) Applied tank and baggage labels
4) Wired wingtips. It was really nice to see the strobes work since I've had the strobe power pack for about 4 years. Nav, langing, and taxi lights all functional! Wingtips temp installed.
Biggest thing left to do is remove the vinyl on the rest of the airplane.
  Here's the innards of the left tip and it's fairly simple. The right has the Archer VOR antenna so it's a little more complicated.
17 May 2008 I had a really long list of things to do today and pretty much got through them I still have a couple for next weekend, but next weekend is basically the last prior to DAR visit. It's getting close. One thing I did do was get the data plate riveted on, that means it's close to being ready for flight.
  Another thing was securing the right side stick. I still wanted it removable, but didn't want to have to install and remove a bolt every time I take the stick out. Using this nifty button from McMaster-Carr, this worked out great and ensures that you can't just pull the stick out.
  14/15 May 2008 Took a couple of days in the middle of the week and went down to Oregon to see Mike Seager for some transition training. In short I did 5.2 hours and feel pretty good about flying the airplane. For a full review, see: http://rv7builder.spaces.live.com

10 May 2008 John Adams was good enough to come up and assist in the final riveting and for the most part, it's done! It only took a couple hours to knock out the riveting on the forward upper skin and I was happy with the way it turned out. I tried to shim this to match the canopy skin, but when it got riveted down, it was still a little low. Looks like some filler when we finally paint this.

 

Here's what the thing looks like now. For the most part, it's almost ready to fly but I do have a day's worth of wrap-up items, then it's the fuel tank calibration. I managed to get the weight and balance done and came out at 1108 empty, without full interior. It did include pilots and pax seats/ harnesses but not carpets and baggage side finish (CAD products). The tail came out at 59.5 so I'm really pleased with that, at least the CG is not a problem. The CS prop and avionics placed as far forward as possible seemed to help a bit.

 
6 May 2008 Got back out to the airport for the afternoon and go a bunch of stuff done. I succeeded in installing the rudder attach/ tailwheel cables, sanded the rear edge of the canopy to get it to fit right, tweaked the latches for the canopy latches, installed a couple connectors on the strobe power supply, tied up wires at the mid-fuselage terminal blocks, and had the transponder checked and certified. Finally, I took it out and ran the engine a little more, including a run-up and mag checks, and found this really wants to go.
  3 May 2008 Can't believe it's already May! In a couple weeks I head to OR for transition training with Mike Seager and the AB-DAR visit looks like it's going to happen the last week of the month after Memorial day. It's getting close.

Spent about 11 hours at the airport today and got some stuff done. As usual, half of the stuff took twice as much time as I figured. The center elevator bearing bolt was a real pain and getting the washers in just took way too long. Also installed the rest of the washers and nuts on the rudder/ elevators, re-checked aileron travel, re-checked the wing tip fit, installed and torqued aileron push-pull rod linkages, installed arm on the roll servo, installed cotter pins on the mixture linkage, and then worked the canopy fit. It was a long day and there's still a list of stuff to do, but getting shorter.

I was surprised that the roll servo is as loud as it is. There's a pretty good difference with  the aileron feel with and without the roll servo connected. I'm trying to also get the canopy to fit right. The aft edge is still a little close to the aft canopy edge and the latches need a little work.
27 April 2008 I forgot a couple tools that I'll need this week so Alex and I headed for the airport. He took the opportunity to ride around on his scooter a little and I got the N-numbers put on the fuselage.

He wanted to help a bit so I got him pulling vinyl. He's a lot shorter than I and fits under the plane easier.
  N-number on the fuselage. Check off one more thing for the inspection. I ended up using the Aircraft Spruce service to have this pre cut for about $14 a set. Worked well.
26 April 2008 Today was the day for the first engine run on the airframe. The engine had 1.5 on it already but hadn't been run on the RV yet. First on the list was the installation of the lower rudder fairing, connection of the strobe/ nav lights, and connection of the rudder and tailwheel cables. Not a problem, but I needed to rotate the t/w springs as the spring would contact the fairing at full deflection. I've heard this is fairly common. 
  Next on the list was filling the brake system. I used this 60cc syringe to fill the system from the bottom up and it took about four of these to fill both sides. Overall the system feels stiff and I haven't seen any leaks so far.  
  I've spent some time running avionics and each time, it runs the battery down after a while with everything on. So, a trip to Fry's Electronics produced this 13.5v, 25A power supply. Connected to the alternator b-lead, this is enough to power almost everything. 
  About 1:30, Dave Parsons flew up to help with the engine start. I figured it would be nice to have someone around who recently went through this. Here's Dave tightening up the oil pressure line after priming that system I managed drain the preservative (al lot less than I thought), Also swapped the oil filter for a new on, installed spark plugs, installed a drain on the oil sump, and verified good fuel flow through the pump.  
  Here's the pre-run shot. As we progressed, we found a fairly serious fuel mixture issue and the engine just wouldn't run smooth. It would run at higher RPMs but really ran rough once the power was pulled back. We finally got a good run for 3 minutes and all systems seemed to check out. After the run we found about a cup of fuel which drained out of the sniffle valve, which wasn't normal. Hummm. Not sure what was going on but seemed to be fuel system related. I also noticed that the engine really wanted to continue running with the mixture at idle cut-off so something wasn't quite right.
    We pulled the plane back to the hangar and poked around and sure enough, found the problem. Previously, I had the mixture throw adjusted correctly, but when I installed the FI inlet, it was now causing interference with the arm on the mixture. Basically, when we thought the mixture was at cut-off, it wasn't really at the cut-off position and was still allowing fuel to flow, flooding the engine. We ended up with a lot, and I really mean a lot of fuel in the sump and running out the exhaust. Once I fixed this issue and the engine was no longer flooded, it seemed to start and run well. 
  Here's the RV at the end of the day and ready to be put away. Once the engine is running, the alternator seems to come on-line and power everything per plan. All avionics come up and work as advertised and idle cut-off seems to do what it's supposed to do. The prop was cycled through with 100 RPM drops with no problems.
18 Apr 2008 Another long day in a cold hanger. After last weekends 80 degrees, this weekend was 38 with another 6" of snow in the local area. This winter just won't end. First thing on the agenda was fitting the tips. I wanted to at least get these drilled so I drill for nutplates and start installing lights and antenna. They seemed to fit fairly well, but need a little work.
  Next was routing the cables for the tail light and strobe. I'm using the delrin block for rudder stops so I was able to use that to secure the cabling, then route to the bottom of the rudder through an adel clamp. Seemed to have worked well.
  Stick grip also got installed finally as well as the wiring. The trick was running 9 wires down through the top of the stick and out a hole in the stick near the pivot point.  I also ran the wire for each fuel level float through the fuselage wall to the tank. I really need to figure out the best method for calibrating the tanks.
  I figured I'd start the install of the aft canopy. The forward canopy seems to have shifted aft a very small distance so I need to figure that out. I'm wondering if the lack of the forward skin is causing this. Otherwise, it looks good.

I need to finish off the strobe wiring then the fuse wiring is about done, everything but the wing tips.
Flaps 13 Apr 2008 It seems like this is going to take forever, but I suspect that I'll be working along and poof!, it's done. I went up and spent 9 hours in the hangar on Sunday and it took half that to get the flaps rigged. I have about 41 degrees down travel, with the motor bottoming out at the extension. I can raise the flaps a little more than even with the ailerons so there's a little reflex. Hey, maybe I'll go a bit faster.
Flaps   Next on the agenda was the fuel lines from the wings. I don't have the flop tubes, so the run from wing into the fuse was pretty easy for the main lines. I had originally run a short line from the fuel selector, then installed a union. This made it easy to bend and install the fuel supply line. I also did the vent lines which were also fairly easy.

Next week I'm hoping to wrap up the wiring: stick, fuel float senders, wing nav and strobes, and tail lights. If I can get that done, about all that's left is some final washers and nuts, install rear canopy, and rivet forward boot cowl skin.
5 Apr 2008 I spent the day doing this work for the most part, as well as opening up the flap push-rod holes in the fuselage. As usual, this took way too long and the left aileron will need to come off again to run the trim wire.
  By the end of the day, this is really starting to look like an airplane. I can't wait to get this flying! After installing the flight controls, there's a list of small things to do, but generally not too bad.
4 Apr 2008 I took a day off from work to get some more done at the airport. Spending an hour each way really eats up available time, but there's no other option. Something that I thought was going to take a morning ended up taking all day. I was able to get the ailerons aligned, and the connecting rods adjusted for both wings, as well as fit the flaps. All the bearings need a final washer, nut and torque, but they look right and seem to align well.
  Here's the aileron and flap in alignment. When the aileron is lined up, the flap seems to be about 1/8th inch lower than the belly. May need to trim the flap a bit. Good thing the wings are wide; during the install, all the data is scattered across about 5 sheets of drawings.
C-47 at AWO 29 Mar 2008 This isn't England in the winter of 1944, but today at Arlington. I showed up at the airport around 9:30 AM and there was about 2-3" of snow on the ground and about 35*F. Yea, I know you guys in the northern reaches of the Mid-West just laugh at this stuff, but for us here, this is bizarre. Rain with snow mixed continued to fall almost all day.
CJ-6s   Here's another view this AM. And just think, it's Spring! Gee, I can't wait to see what Summer brings.
  The hangar started at about 35*F this AM and gradually warmed up to about 45 by the end of the day so it was a bit on the chilly side for hangar work. Oh, no heater. I did manage to get the Gretz pitot heat all wired up and working. You'd think that he could find a better way to wire this thing but there's a lot of wiring with smaller wires in a confined space. I also got the roll servo wired up on the right wing. Again, lot's of wiring of small wires in a small space. Finally, I finished up torquing all the wing attach bolts for the main spar. I still need to do the rear spar bolts.
No Pic 23 Mar 2008 The weather went from really nice, to 40 and lots of rain. Bummer. But for some reason I enjoy working in the hangar with the rain. I was able to take a couple hours today and install the 1/4" close tolerance bolts as well as the AN-3A bolts for the small corner brackets. I just need to torque these and they are all done. I'm trying to get this ready for an engine start in a couple weeks, but that means there's lots of stuff to get done next weekend.
22 Mar 2008 Pretty lousy picture but I didn't have the normal camera so I used the camera on the phone. Most of the day was taking Alex to soccer and swimming, followed by his 5 year Birthday party. After that was done, I headed for the airport and Cozy builder and fellow Chapter 1440 member Joe Hull assisted in getting the wings installed. We got most of the electrical lines connected but still have a couple to do including autopilot and pitot sensor. The wings are pinned with the 8 large bolts but I didn't have the smaller bolts on-hand so they need to be installed. Overall, some good progress.
16  Mar 2008 I'm trying to get thing wrapped up so I can get the wings installed for the last time. One of those tasks was to get the pitot tube wired and plumbed. I ended up getting the pitot line installed and coupled with the line to the fuselage, and also got most of the wiring connected. I still need to connect the sensor line when that's connected from the fuselage.
  Another task was installing the roll servo for the TT auto-pilot. It's pretty much mounted, but I need to do a final determination on the push-pull rod, and wire the DB-9 connector as well. That's going to be fun!
  And finally, I brought the cowl top and spinner up from the house to fit. I don't know if I've had everything on at the same time before but it all seems to fit well, although the top cowl is still somewhat of a challenge to get installed.

If all goes well, I'm ready to install the wings for good and hope to do that next Saturday afternoon.
No Pic 8  Mar 2008 After losing two weekends to knee recovery, I made it back out to the airport (without camera) to attempt to do what ever I could accomplish before the knee gave out.

Well, it held together fairly well and I did get some things done. I managed to get the Gretz pitot heat controller install in the left wing. I had previously wired that up with a couple wires, on advise from Gretz, but the wiring had changed when he went to production with the new heated tube. I stripped out some wiring and installed the controller. I do need to connect the tube next week. I also managed to open up the pilot holes for the wing fairings and drilled for nut-plates. I figure that I have one good day left to finish off the pitot tube, install fairing nutplates, and install the auto-pilot servo, then the wings are pretty much ready for the final install.
No Pic 1 Mar 2008 Just short of two weeks ago, I went in for some MCL/ACL reconstruction work on my knee which is way too much fun for anyone. Well, it did have to get done before long so why not now. After about 10 days, I'm up and around enough to venture into the shop for a couple short sessions.

I did manage to do some fill/ paint on the upper cowl as well as do some sanding on the spinner. Before the wings go on for good, I needed to comply with Van's fuel tank pick-up SB so I spent some time taking off the old pick-up tubes and removing old pro-seal from the tank covers. I need to drill the hole in the new tub b-nuts, then this is ready to go back together. If I'm lucky, I can get out to the airport next weekend to get some of the wing stuff done prior to final assembly (fairing nut-plates, autopilot roll servo, and Gretz heated pitot controller).
16 Feb 2008 The airplane was moved up to Arlington today and I'm really glad to have it up there. It took about 10 minutes to unload and shoved it back in the hangar. The first thing on the agenda was to pin the wings and drill for the wing root fairings. I didn't do this when we fit the wings a couple years ago so we had to do it now. It only took a couple minutes per wing to get these pinned with a couple bolts.

I'm going to be out for some medical work and recovery time so progress at the airport is going to be on hold for at least a month. Bummer. This is motivational.
  Here's wing root fairings after drilling. I need to trim them a bit, then install the nutplates on the wings. There's a pretty good list of stuff to do, so I'll keep busy. I also pulled the tank access panels to comply with the SB from Van's I found the pick-up tubes were well covered in proseal, but I'm also going to replace my home-built tubes with the Van's pick-ups.
26 Dec 2007 After some discussions at the last EAA meeting with our Flight Advisor, I decided to make some arrangements to do the first flight out of Arlington instead of Auburn. Arlington has a lot of local flat and open space and is ideal for a first flight, where Auburn has a 3000' runway with power lines on one end and a Lowes Home store on the other, and that's aside from being right under SEA-TAC Class B airspace. I talked by buddy Ed into borrowing his pickup to move the wings up to AWO the day after Christmas. When we left Auburn, it was just cold, but by the time we hit Everett, it was freezing rain and snow. Bummer.