Ethan had a friend help him paint the gas tank with green primer on 10/9. That took about 3 hours to rough it up with scotchbrite pads and paint. He brought over the gas tank on 10/10 and we spent an hour doing riveting and looking at some lime buildup inside of the tank. We’re…
Hull touchup, Build Elevators, build Floats 10/7/15
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We worked on touching up the hull today and building the elevators and float attachments. The hull had some small gaps in the corners that we filled with West Epoxy Adhesive 610. The thinking there is that water could get in the crevices and damage the hull if it froze. Someone on the STS site thought…
Drilled Bilge plugs, built stabilizers 10/4/15
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Today we drilled the bilge hole plugs which was a little scary because you don’t want to make a mistake. We used a 1 inch hole saw, put tape on the front and held a board on the backside. The hull is pretty thick, after drilling we had a 13/16 inch plug in the back and a…
Flap and Aileron actuators – 9/30/15
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Did several different things today. Finished rudder pedal covers – got the needed longer rivets. Installed the vertical fin compression strut Installed the electric trim actuators and some of the linkages Installed the electric flap actuators and some of the linkages Put in the new aileron torque tube blocks with bearings – LSX upgrade –…
Aileron conversion kit & rivet info – 9/27/15
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We started installing the aileron control conversion kit today. It uses different bearings and a push/pull tube vs. cables and it moves smoother with less force. We’re missing the needle bearings for the post and asked PA to send. rudder cable pulley It was difficult to drill holes through the rudder pedal, is…
Rudder pedals – 9/20/15
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Worked on building the rudder pedals today. We ordered the upgraded LSX rudder pedal parts. The reinforcement tubes were too long and needed to be ground. That was a pain because we had already riveted the plates on. It was also difficult to drill the holes through the rudder pedal tubes because they…
Inventoried Wing parts, tested Gas tank 9/7/15
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We riveted some cable clips to the boom tube and did some testing of the aluminum gas tank. We rinsed the inside of the tank with water and removed at least one aluminum shaving. Then we put some plastic npt plugs in it and did some rudimentary pressure testing. We’re going to get the fuel tank…
Airplane Controls – 8/29/2015
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Worked from 3pm to 7pm on airplane controls, landing gear. Put bone tangs in to hold control cables. riveted control tube oversleeve. Installed LSX improved gear leg bushings on pilot side. Had to drill larger hole to adapt. Riveted push/pull oversleeve in place Installed bone tangs and clips for control cables…
Install Stick and Controls 8/22/15
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Here’s what the plane looked like after our August 22nd building session. We replaced the tailwheel bearings that we had damaged previously. We put the diagonal control tubes on the back side of the firewall – instead of the front We installed the control sticks and throttle. The sticks are linked and now…
Trial fit landing gear 7/8/15
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This is what the plane looked like after our July 8th building session. We temporarily put the landing gear, brakes, and wheels on for trial fitting. They will need to be removed before we put the hull on. We damaged the bearings in the rear tailwheel and will have to order new ones It…