Landing/Taxi Lights, Nav Lights, Antennas, IFR GPS, COM2, oil door, and a whole bunch of little stuff

I have been very tardy on updates, but a lot of progress has been made...

Landing / taxi lights installed (temporarily) and functional.

COM antennas installed (temporarily - will be removed for paint).

Installed and functional!  Left wing is COM1, right wing is COM2.  All BNC's terminated.

Avidyne IFD410 up and running, as is the NEW Garmin GNC 215

And remote flip flop (on control stick) works!

IFD410 takes a long time to lock... but this is normal.

Oil door on and riveted.

Lots to do...

LUEB

Horizontal Stab, Elevator Fairings, Tail Cone, Elevator Trim

The Sportsman has been in the hangar for a couple months... progress has been slooooow.  But finally starting to pick up some speed.

There is so much to do... almost an overwhelming amount.  So I finally decided to focus on the tail.

Elevator fairings:

Initially I fitted the elevator fairings.  Followed the manual, got everything trimmed and drilled.  And THEN I mounted the elevator and tried to align the horizontal stab portion of the fairing.  Well.... they HS portion is not long enough... or more accurately the elevator portion is too wide!

The problem... I already drilled the holes.  However, I only drilled them with #40 bits (not #19 as specified in the manual).  I had to cut 0.75" off each side in order to get them to align, and then carefully mark and redrill the holes.  

Then I figured I would just do EVERYTHING on the tail.  So onto the tailcone.

I had to cut a slot in the bottom for the tailwheel cable lock (not a steerable tailwheel - but a fully castering, lockable, not steerable tailwheel).  The slot has weakened the tailcone... so planning on 2 additional fasteners at the bottom in addition to the standard 4.  I still need to make the slot slightly longer, and put a grommet on the cable.

While I had everything apart, I put in the elevator pushrod and temporarily connected it.  Man, the elevator is HEAVY without any counterweights.

Then reassembly to start on the rudder base fairing.

That sucker is going to need a lot of trimming.

PROBLEM... my lower rudder hinge is not in the right spot for my rudder.  The lower rudder hinge and vertical stab spar was installed by another builder.  I will need to offset my hinge 0.2" to port.  Will have to get a new bracket machined...  Need to disassemble to do so.

Time for a lot of fasteners!

Wing Fold Brace

I learned a valuable lesson.... when you think something is wrong, don't do it!

When building the wings, I put the fasteners in for the wing fold eyebolts inboard on the foward spar - just like the manual and ANOR says.  I found the kit and all the pieces.  I grabbed the eyebolts that go into the fastener on the wing, under the main tank.

I thread in the right side by hand until I could not turn it any more, and then used a screwdriver through the eyebolt to wind it in the rest of the way.  No problem.  Then the left.... I start winding it in and SNAP.  The eyebolts were drilled on the shank... and it snapped at the hole.  So now I have a partial stud in the wing... and no access on one side.

After lots of thinking....

Plan A:  Try to back the fasteners out with a flat blade screwdriver using the slot in the tail.  Nope.

Plan B:  Drill the stud remaining and use an easy out.

Plan C:  Drill, and step the drill side up slowly to break the stud apart and remove the pieces.

Plan B did not go great... the drill wanted to walk on the slot, so the hole wasnt straight.  Drilled up to 1/8" and got the easy out in, but it did not want to budge.  Drilled up again and got the pieces out.

Ran a tap through the hole.  Eyebolt FITS!

New eyebolts ordered from ACS.  My god they are pricey.... but they are needed.

Forward wing braces have been fit and marked.

And the wing even folds.

I was hoping to not have to install the cups in the fuselage for the inboard flap track to tuck into.  That did not work out... it touches and the wings are not fully folded.  So they have to be installed.

Attaching the Wings!

Big day!  Wings going on temporarily to fit the hatch covers, finish the wing bulkhead wiring, lights, wing tips, etc.

Right wing was super easy.  Bolt / pin in the spar, run the harness down the strut, top strut bolts, bottom strut bolt - done.  10 minutes.

Left wing... different story.  Could not get the forward pin the engage.  The upper strut bolts were finicky.  Just fought us every step of the way.  The pin will still not engage... message sent to the forum for help.

But the wings are on, and it looks like an airplane.

Lots of potential solutions for the wing pin.  My plan is to get the wing strut brace installed and go from there.

Preliminary Weight and Balance

The moments of truth... and planning... and engineering / guestimating...

The last time I weighted the fuselage was when the engine went back on in January of 2023.  At that time, the fuselage weighed 808 lbs.  Now she weighs 1060... with no wings, prop blades, etc.  

Big days coming ahead.  Wings next!

Fuselage move to the airport!

Exciting day... all of the airplane bits are now in the same location!

The fuselage has not been outside for well over a year.  You get a whole difference perspective when its not jammed in a small space...

The driver did a fantastic job of securing the fuselage for transport.  She bounced around a LOT during the drive, but stayed in place.  So grateful for that!

Safely in the hangar...

Airbox / Air Intake

Moving closer to the end...  Need an air intake for the turbo.

Lots of ways to do this.  My preferred method is to mount the box to the starboard side of the cowl and have it captive.  IE the filter and box and 'scoop' are all one.

UL has a part... which I was initially unimpressed with.

I bought a part from the US distributor, which initially I liked... but its very tight and restrictive.

So I am blending the two, and hoping for the best.

The box is the height of the filter that came with the engine, and I make it 6" square.

Drilled and clecoed.  The plan will be to have the top removable for filter cleaning / replacement

Pretty basic design.  I needed to tweak it a little bit, but now I need to mount it.

This is kinda sorta how UL does it... but I need to integrate in a alternate air source that bypasses the filter.

Now I have to build the scoop...  It is just going to be aluminum as well and NACA-ish, but not a NACA.

Next.... alternate air inlet...

The first challenge was to work out the angles... and not interfere with anything, and keep it away from the exhaust as much as possible.

I used a flange to get the size, and started with a paper tempate.  

The 'door' is a 2 piece assembly.  I want it to slide as nice as possible, so I used some high density plastic on the top that will contact the flange.  The two pieces will be flush riveted together, and the flange on the box will be flush riveted as well.

Mock up below.

I bought a 2" linear actuator from Actuonix.  Slick little unit.  They also sell a lit push button, which looks really nice (standard switch used in custom hot rods, etc).  BUT THE WIRING DIAGRAM IS WRONG.  And all the colours on the wires are wrong.  That was frustrating.

I am going to draw this up and it will be part of the electrical diagrams.

The best part is IT WORKS PERFECTLY.

All parts have be deburred, alodyned, and primed.  One fell when I was hangiing it and bent... and got crap all over it.  Will need to be sanded and redone.  All the rest turned out good.

I found some waterproof limit switches on Amazon.ca.  Super simple and inexpensive.  I mocked it up with the existing wiring to the LED indicator on the panel, and it worked as expected.  But I didnt do enough homework... the screws are really small.  Ordered these on amazon... I now have a lifetime supply of 2mm socket cap screws :-).

This is done, except for riveting it to the cowl.