Author: Brian

Wing Top Skin – Part 3

Brian 0 Comment Top Skins

Finally jumping back to finish off the left wing. With a little assistance from my wife, we turn and move the wing to my workbench to begin prepping the skins for final assembly.

After deburring both the wing skins, I begin to deburr all the ribs. I ended up getting one of the “in and out” deburring tools online and used it for a good section of the wings. I’ll admit that it did a decent job without taking too much material off. I may use this for more of the build going forward.

I then move the wing so I can install the 4 rivets that I didn’t install earlier between the spar and ribs. I spoke about this in the previous post regarding the top skins as the plans were not clear on these rivets.

Next, I started to dimple the ribs, J-stiffeners, and the wing skins. Using the sawhorses, some 2×4 and felt mats allowed me to quickly get through the dimple process without any drama. I’m actually starting to get better working in the somewhat limited space I have.

I then mount the skins, J-channel, and wing-walk stiffeners onto the wings. Next I have to verify my countersink cutter is properly adjusted so I can countersink all the holes common with the wing-walk stiffeners. This makes a complete mess and lots of aluminum shavings!

Finally I take the time to mark anything longer than a 3.5 rivet on the skin so things will go faster once I get an assistant to help me rivet. I’m looking forward to using my new back-rivet sets to see if I get any better results vs the last time.

Air Conditioner

Brian 0 Comment Air Conditioner

So I have been going back and forth on this topic personally a lot over the last year or so. Initially I was of the opinion that this was a MUST for me for the comfort of my family. This has lead me to reading a number of blog entries from other builders on how they installed their systems and the different options out there.

Currently I’m following three systems (or two depending on how you look at it). Air-Flow systems, Flightline AC, and South Florida Sport Aviation (repackaged Air-Flow systems with overhead console). The Air-Flow / SF Sport Aviation system uses a condenser scoop that sits on the belly of the aircraft that looks like a P-51 scoop, while the Flightline system is contained in the tailcone just behind the baggage bulkhead.

I was personally thinking of going with the Air-Flow system package as I liked the idea of the condenser sitting outside of the aircraft. It looked slick and installation didn’t seem to be too challenging. It also didn’t have the issues of routing air for the condenser through the tailcone and freed up some space in the tail.

The downsides to all of this is that the AC is really only there to help on the ground, or down low on a really hot day. As I said I thought this was a MUST for my family, but starting to change my mind. In addition to it’s limited benefit, it is a complex system in general, with modifications needed Firewall forward, as well as in the fuselage. Extra hoses / cables that need to be routed, and additional weight to an aircraft. It is also an additional cost in time and budget.

As I submit my final payment for my fuselage and feel my bank account lighten, I am starting to plan out some of the additional items that I will need to order throughout the year for this project. Since an A/C is much easier to install when working on the fuse, this item is highly visible on my list of things that may need a decision in the near future. At the moment, I’m of the opinion that an AC is a luxury item that is not needed in my situation. With the exception of possibly going to Oshkosh, I shouldn’t be in a position where I will have an extended ground taxi in extreme heat / sun.

Wingtips – Flyleds – Part 1

Brian 0 Comment Wing Tip

With cold weather outside limiting my ability to prime parts, I continue to find things I can get done to make forward progress. For about a month I have been wanting to build my Flyleds works kit but it didn’t make sense to install the electronics until the boards were sanded to their final shape.

With the wing tips moved out of storage, I started with marking the cutout shape based on the template provided by Flyleds. I then quickly cut out the excess material with my multi-tool (This is the perfect tool for cutting fiberglass!). With the basic shape cut out, I install the boards and mark where I need to trim the circuit board / wingtip so everything fits. Initially I manually start sanding as I didn’t want to break the circuitboard on my belt-sander, but then realized I was just making my life difficult for myself. A Beltsander is the perfect way to quickly trim the Flyleds.

Off-camera I solder on all the components and test that everything lights up as expected (using a 9v battery). With those test completed, I bring the board back out again and mark where the wing-tip needs additional trimming due to the heatsinks. I then go to do the same on the other wing-tip.

Only difference is the other wing-tip had some voids under the gelcoat that needed a little touch-up. I sanded everything around the void to make sure I had a good bonding surface and found the void was even bigger than I first realized. No big deal. I had some Evercoat skim-coat on-hand and quickly mixed up a batch, applied it and used a scraper to help give it a rough shape. Came back after dinner and it was ready to sand / clean up. I then just did the same process as the other wingtip. Only thing left to do is drill the holes for the nutplates to mount the FlyLeds to the wing-tip and bench-test everything.

Ailerons – Part 1

Brian 0 Comment Ailerons

Starting section 21 I start to read through the instructions and pull the parts from storage. The language in section 21 starts to change from how the steps are defined in previous chapters a bit so I wanted to mention how I approached it.

Typically you see instructions to flute ribs, cleco together, match drill, then deburr, dimple and if desired prime. For the ailerons, instructions start with flue, final-drill, and dimple before you assemble anything. As I typically dimple after I prime parts, I’m having to deviate from the order of operation in the plans just a bit. (Not that this is a bad thing as I go on to explain).

Since I want to prime parts, then dimple, I’m “skipping” over the areas where I’m asked to dimple or rivet and assembling all the parts using clecos to ensure I can match/final-drill where necessary and that I have all the parts properly marked / labeled. I basically ended up building the whole aileron using clecos. *Note: cutting, sanding, and deburring all the stiffeners was a bit of a process!

I’m not sure if the change from match drilling to “final-drill” is due to better tolerances in the MFG processes for the skin and stiffeners, but I decided to match drill and label all parts.

With all the ailerons assembled with clecos, match drilled and deburred, now I just have to wait for a decent day to prime before I can start begin final assembly.

Another XC flight with my girls – DC to NJ

Brian 0 Comment Trips

This weekend I was luck enough to be able to fly up to NJ with my girls for an event in NYC with my brother and father. Most of the week was spent watching weather and trying to see if I was going to have to drive, or if flying was going to work.

This was also going to be my first XC flight in a 172SP with autopilot. Talk about living the life! That plus my new IR rating would be my first XC flying in the system. Let’s just say that I was leaning on canceling as I did not want to get sucked into “get there itis” and have any issues.

On Thursday evening I did my last online briefing before bed and saw a good window that I thought was safe. Winds were scheduled to be calm until just after 10am in DC and would remain manageable until about noon in NJ (straight down the runway). Sat looked like great weather all day for my return flight.

Packed everyone in the car early and got to the airport by 7:30 am or so, however the airplane was frosted over. Another weather brief and looks like winds should pick up around 11:00, so plenty of time to try to get the frost melted.

Turned the airplane around so the sun can melt the frost, and get the flightplan filed. (inside the FRZ, so no Foreflight filing) Finally everything was ready and we departed around 9:30 or so. Only down side was no cabin heat and I’m not a huge fan of the KLN GPS in this airplane. Autopilot however was absolutely fabulous and really made the flight easier on me.

While the flight was a little bumpy due to winds, I was glad I did it. Helped me to evaluate my minimums as I had been on the fence most of the week if I would launch. Also getting experience with different equipment is helping me make sure I understand what I want out of my airplane. Had a good (but cold) flight up and a easy flight home, even with the headwind. Can’t wait for my project to finish so I can get more adventures with my daughters!