Boots and cooling

Been having both cylinder and oil cooling issues.

The middle cylinders (3 and 4) were warm and getting into the yellow regularly on climb out.  I added some fins attached to the underside of the plenum top to push air down into the middle cylinders.  Worked extremely well.  Google Gemini helped me with this and was spot on.

The deflector is 2.5" wide, 2" long and bent on a 2" radius.

Gemini did such a great job, figured I would see what it would recommend for my oil cooling.  Gemini recommended building a diffuser.  So I spend a day and built what I felt it recommended.

The basic principle is the keep the air moving at high velocity and not just have it spill out into the lower pressure area inside the cowl.

Did not work.  Oil temps were hotter.  Luckily I attached it with screws, so taking it out what not a huge job.

But during the process, I discovered that the January 2026 version of the operations manual has increased the upper green limit for oil cooling from 212 F to 230 F (from 100 C to 110 C).  If this is the case, then I really dont have an oil cooling problem, but I would still like to get it better.

The plan for this week was to head to the Glasair Flyin at Smiley Creek Idaho.  The weather does not look good.  But, I wanted to get the rubber boots on the horizontal stab before going.

The local AMO where I sourced the boots educated me how they adhere them, so I followed that to the letter.  It did pain me to scuff sand my paint job, but it had to be done.

Last step is to edge seal the boot using PRC.  That is today's job.

Keep on truckin...

First thing will be to see how the window 'dressing' looks...

Turned out OK.  Few spots could be better.  Overall I'm happy.

Exhaust shield aft bolts in place and tightened.

Started integrating in the ELT wire into the bundles from the back.

On Sat, Sept 13 we are having an Air Fair at CYNJ, and the Sportsman will be on display (minus wings...).  To add a bit of 'wow' factor, my buddy said we should put the big tires on.  So we did.

For comical reference, the last time the bush wheels were mounted was April 2021.

Hoping to have the hatch covers, doors, elevator tips and rudder base fairing back in time.  

Fuselage door hinges installed.  ELT wire run up front and panel installed (covered in ELT post).

Elevator counterweights... going to build these out of tungsten shot rather than lead.  I have 6 lbs of tungsten.  Going to encase it in epoxy.  Looking for something at the dollar store I can make a mold out of.

Glareshield installed temporarily.  Pain in the ass to get in correctly with the window in...

Thursday night installed the rudder base fairing and elevator tips, and cleaned the inside floor of the cabin of 'sworf'.

I think it looks really good.  Very pleased.  The elevator tips are interfering with the stab slightly.  The fairings are not quite aligned correctly.  Will be an easy fix... just order of insertion I believe.

Progress... getting on a roll.

Tuesday evening... (Sept 2, 2025)

Pin keepers installed in the stab / elevator / trim.  THAT was a challenge solo.  Thank god for the body work stand.  I use that thing ALL THE TIME.

I was flying solo tonight, so had to get inventive on how to hold the elevator up.  Tape worked!

Peeled a lot of tape off the front window... looks reasonable, but not perfect.  I think I can fix the problem areas.  Also got some silpruf on the interior, but it is coming off with a bit of effort.  Forgot to take a pic.  2 days until the clecos come out.

On the last engine run the pipe off the turbo had a shake.  It was only supported with 1 mount, and its a long pipe.  Added a second mount at 90 degrees (roughly).  I think this will work.  It is definitely less 'shakey' just wiggling it.

That was a 3.5 hour evening.  But it was definitely progress.

Front window came out of the clamps!

Looks pretty good.

Put lock nuts on the new exhaust clamp... I found some.

Installed Deutsch connector under the tail cone for the rudder trim.  The bulkhead connector finally arrived from China.

Seriously impressed with these connectors.  The elevator side has been converted (from molex) as well.

OK, well my trim connector upgrade did not go as planned.  I temporarily assembled everything to test the wiring, and nothing worked.  Very quickly I found that the thin 26 gauge wires were either broken, or about to break.  I have spliced on larger gauge aviation wire on both sides and am testing again.  The ray allen 5 conductor wire is very thin and weak.

The strange / weird thing... I attempted to use solder sleeves to graft on new wires.  The solder in the sleve would not stick to the ray allen wire.  I ended up tinning them first with solder and an iron first, and then using a solder sleeve.  I did a sample piece first (finally learned my lesson) and it is a strong joint now.

I put everything together, and nothing would work.  Zero.  Took it all apart and realized that on the socket side I did not have the pins fully engaged.  It seems like there are two 'clicks' when you push the pin / socket into the connector.  I only got past the first 'click' the first time.  Once fully engaging the pins everything worked as intended.

Checking the elevator travel.  Manual calls for +23 and -20 (+/- 1 degree).  I am getting the -20, but not the +23... about 2 degrees short.  Filing the stop plate through the belly inspection panel.  After an afternoon of filing and checking, I gained a degree.  One more to go.

Sunday... Sept 7

Put the prop on.  3 times :-)

The manual says to pack the cavity between the thrust bearing and threads with grease... it says to use a spatula.  So I did... the blades were not fully seating.  The ferrule was lose... and it was visible.  Later the manual says too much grease will cause exactly this.  So I took it apart and cleaned out the grease and reinserted the blade.  Was better, but not correct.  So did it again.. on each blade.  Finally they were all seating correctly and torqued per spec.

Next was the bead of silpruf between the window and fuselage.  Lots of cleaning of crap out first... my theory is to get all the leftover crap out.  The 'dressing' needs to stick on all 3 sides.  So lots of pulling out the leftover bits (I could have done a better job during the insertion of the window... being honest).  Then taping the gap... 

Then cutting the gap...

Then filling the gap and smoothing it...

That was a 10 hour day... Monday will be seeing what I have... fingers crossed.

Progress... and going backwards.

Positives and negatives this week.

Clear was shot on a ton of parts yesterday.  Struts, flaps, right wing, elevator, spinner, etc.  Most of it looks good, but the wing does not look good.  One side is flat and orange peel.  Not sure what the plan is at this point.

So I got to work on the fuselage.  I have the rudder and stab, so getting everything in the fin and aft fuselage ready.  Everything is torqued, torque sealed, cotter pinned, etc.  Elevator bell crank, rudder hinge bolts, tailwheel, etc.  And I cleaned... and cleaned.

The front window looks like its going to be good.  Peeled a bit of tape away to peek.

Rudder installed, all cables connected with correct hardware, etc.

Prepping the stab and elevator for install.

Door seals installed.

Sheerwebs in the tailcone... these have been on the shelf for years.... What should I have been an easy job took hours.  The issue:  The SB that adds the reinforcing plate to the vertical fine (upside down pitchfork) moved the attach tabs back slightly.  So nothing fit correctly.  Had to open up the holes in the angle brackets on bulkhead C to adjust the alignment.  Lots of cursing involved in this one.

Mated up the stab, elevator and trim tab.  The pins went missing (again), but luckily had enough material left to make new ones.  I think this is the 3rd set I have made.

Still need to put the pin keepers in.  Then the whole assembly can be installed.

Should be getting more parts back this week.  The marathon continues...

Tail 'stuff'... and other 'stuff'.

While waiting for my PFD and prop motor to come back (prop motor hasnt even shipped yet...), working on the tail.

Tailcone fasteners are riveted in.  Elevator fairings are on, minus a few fasteners I am waiting for.  Rudder fairing is on.  Rudder base fairing is in process... I am over thinking this one.

Horizontal stab fairing fasteners are on, still need to bond the two pieces together.

Need to make the tabs for the pins.

Another builder is going to machine me a new rudder hinge that is offset.  Need to rivet the stop to the yoke of the rudder.  Hinge is complete as of Jan 20, 2025... just waiting for it to arrive.

PFD is back and installed.  Funny story... there was a USB stick in the rear USB port on the display... and I think to myself, someone forgot to take it out.  So I take it out and put it in my pocket to return.  THEN I read this instructions that came in the box... they upgraded the software, and I need to upgrade the OTHER display and all the devices on the skyview network.  OK - will do that tomorrow I tell myself.  Then I couldnt remember where I put the USB stick.  Finally found it... all upgraded and done.

Pitch change motor has arrived in New Zealand.  Hoping for a week turn around.

Cut the holes in the fuselage for the flap tracks to go... that was fun!  NOT.  The fiberglass there is REALLY thick.

Installed the eyebolts in the wings, and drilled the rivets, installed the doublers, and the eyebolt on the vertical fin.  Wings are now properly stowed.  Having the wings swung back makes the tail REALLY heavy.  The T3 suspension certainly felt it.

Next is fuel lines from the wings to the fuselage!

Turned the engine over with 1 set of plugs out.  Took a good 60 seconds to see any oil pressure.  But it came up to 80 PSI on the starter alone.  Still need to install and clamp the breather exit.  Hose procured.

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!

Horizontal Stabilizer Ready for Inspection, and Wing Kit Arrival!

Been awhile since I have posted... we took a nice holiday in California for 2 weeks in March, so progress has been slow.  BUT...

Horizontal stab is completely riveted on one side, and ready for MD-RA inspection.  It is safely put away until that milestone is ready.

Also, I have been working on the annual for the Emeraude - which is taking a fair bit of time.

The big news is the wing kit arrived today!

So here are some notes / hints for wing kit shipping / delivery - this is specific to Canada / transborder, but has some general notes as well:

1. If you plan on picking the crate up from Glasair directly, you will get charged local (WA State) sales tax @ 9.1%.
2. Glasair will arrange for shipping, which means dock to dock.  They will not setup delivery to your door / on the ground.  Unfortunately I was not informed of any of this until the kit was ready to go.
3. Glasair / their shipper will arrange brokerage, but it is at a premium.  In my case, shipping was $600 USD, but shipping and brokerage was $1600.  I arranged brokerage for $275 Canadian (About $210 USD)
4. After asking on the Glasair forum how guys have dealt with shipping in the past, they have had the crate sent to a shipping location that has a loading dock.  They then arranged for another shipper with either a flat deck or hiab crane to deliver the crate to its destination and drop it.  In my case, I had a flat deck deliver the crate and we just slid it off onto Harbor Freight / Princess Auto cheapo dollies.

Next is onto the elevator... but that will not start for a couple weeks.

Horizontal Stab - Part V

Slow progress, but progress...

Skins have been fitted... needed to trim the access holes for the forward and rear spar attach points.  Both needed a wee bit of widening.  

Also my priming job was a bit lacking, so I needed to respray the skins.  Learned that I need to do less pieces in a single shot, and build some better jigs for holding everything while spraying.  Not hard... just needs to be done.

So, the skins are fit and the access holes have been trimmed.  Onto assembly!

Jig... need a jib to have access to the underside of the skin so it can be riveted.  I pondered this problem for quite a while, and came up with the above.  10' 2x4 suspended over the bench, and the forward spar clamped to it.  Whatever you are riveting needs to be FIRMLY clamped.  With this jig, the skins can hang under the jig, so I can access inside for bucking purposes.  Like so...

Along the way I learned that while the END of the jig is really good for riveting, the unsupported middle was not - and it was consistently providing smiled rivets.  After drilling them out and driving them again, and getting MORE smiles, I figured something is wrong.  I am GUESSING that the jig is bouncing during riveting, hence the smiles.

NOTE:  The rear spar is only clecoed in place to help with stability while in the jig.

Jig modifications necessary... So I built a brace to clamp to the rear spar, and have wedged a 2x4 strut under the from beam.  The strut will help until I put on the other skin, then I am going to have to figure something else out.

So first line of rivets all done.  I am training my 11 year old helper the finer points of bucking rivets... he is learning fast...