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Feb 2014 - Dec 2014

Jan - Feb 2014: Spend quite a bit of time cutting the lift strut fairings.  I sanded off the ridges that come wth the fairings.  I used Bondo to fill gaps and smooth the finish.

March 9 - This weekend I spent some time building the aluminium pieces needed to put the tail access cover on after its slid into place. I also began the process of cutting out the holes for the strobe light standoffs in the wingtips.  Ordered the Aeroleds Pulsar Exp light set this weekend.

4/10/14:  Over the past few weeks, I finsihed the tail access covers and got them painted with primer (self-etching).  Then it was time to get back to the wing tips.  I used Bondo glass first to fill the biggest area's, then per directions, went back to the regular Bondo for the final finish.  I taped up one of the strobe lights & filled the Bondo around it.  Worked well.  Now, I think its time to fit the tips to the wings.

4/28/14 - With the wingtip light standoffs done, now its time to fit the wingtip to the wing.  Turns out that to get a flush fit on the leading edge, the forward spar had to be cut (see pic).  My 3" cutoff tool did the job nicely.  After much fiddling, I finally got the wingtip mounting holes drilled and the trailing edge cut off.  The pieces from the trailing edge will be inserted into the wingtip trailing edge so the thickness of the trailing edge of the wingtip and the wing will match.  I plan on using #6 stainless 100 deg countersunk screws with stainless countersunk washers to mount the wingtips.  The hardware in on its way now.

6/10/14 - Well, May went by pretty fast with slower progress due to vacations, graduations, etc.  I finished the left wingtip mounting and got it primed and ready for final paint.  My Dad and I got the first coat of white poly-tone on the right wing while he was in town celebrating my nephew graduating from the AFA.  It was great getting Dad involved in this project!  This weekend I finished the white poly-tone coats on the rudder, horz stab and elevator.  Tonight, I located the holes for the right flapperon brackets and fit the flapperon to ensure smooth operation.  Next will be painting the brackets and riveting them on.

6/29/14 - The flapperon brackets are now painted in Desothane and installed on the right wing.  I have been doing quite a bit of painting lately.  The right wing, left wingtip, horz stab, elevator and inspection covers have been painted in the last week or so.  It has taken some experimenting with the paint gun and booth to get things dialed in.  For the Desothane, 60 psi at the tank and 10 psi at the gun seems to be just right.  Also, soaking the floor of the paint booth in water seems to help keep the "junk" out of the paint.  I've been told the humidity is good for the curing.

8/12/14 - The weights are now attached to the left flapperon.  Each one is installed using Hysol with microballoons and rivets (then alot of cleanup with rubbing alcohol).  Jared and I attached the outboard weight a week or so ago and I finished the inboard weight tonight.  Next will be doing the right side, then paint. 

8/20/14 - The weights are now attached to both flapperons.  Tonight I finished painting the bottom of each flapperon.  The top was painted a couple days ago.  Prior to paint, I painted each rivet head in the mass balance weights with aluminum primer.

8/28/14 - Both sides of the lift struts are now primed and ready for white desothane this weekend.  On Friday, I completed one side in white. 

9/3/14 - Getting the lift struts painted was a chore.  I kept getting runs and sags in the paint unlike everything else I have painted with Desothane.  So, after sanding much of the last attempt, I decided to hang them from the paint booth so I could easily rotate them after light coats.  I think finally I finished them tonight.....whew!  The trick was to dial down the gun more than I have before & apply very light coats about 5-10 min apart.

9/6/14 - Painted side one of the rudder and while I had the gun out I painted the tail access covers.  I will leave the inside of the covers in drab green.

9/15/14 - Spent last Saturday making the horizontal stab strut inspection covers.  To simulate the angle of each I built a jig that allowed me to place the strut at the same angle and position that it will be when installed.  So, tonight is painting them with primer and the next time I have some Desothane out I will paint them in white..

9/23/14 - Tonight the left wing was coated in white Poly-Tone.  This is the last part of the airplane that will be sprayed in Poly-Tone!  The best setting for Poly-Tone was the 1.5 tip with 90 psi at the tank and 20 psi at the gun.  Last week, I got the landing gear back from having it powdercoated.  It matches the white Desothane very nicely!  Per Kitfox instructions, the powdercoat facility (R&S Powdercoating) was told not to exceed 350 deg which they agreed to do.

9/28/14 - Today, I finished installing the left wing flapperon brackets.  I really struggled with the look of the long rivets (1/2") that are used on the last row (trailing edge) of the brackets as they stick out and dont look good.  I was informed that the factory does not do this & they manage to install the smaller rivet (3/8") & wrestle with it to make it fit.  But the book says to use the longer rivets & that is what I did on the right wing.  I tried the shorter rivet & it didnt seat correctly, so I had to drill it out.  Mark, from Kitfox said I could use my squeezer to squeeze down the longer rivets & as it turned out it worked very well so that is what I went with.  There are some pics below that show the long rivet before and after squeezing.  Also, I used a strip of aluminum against the bracket so I didnt damage it so much when the rivet shaft comes off.  I also found that I could get a more flush rivet if I ground down the rivet tool to allow it to be flush with the bracket & not hitting the bracket as I set the rivet.  So, its done & I need to go back and sqeeze the long rivets on the right wing.

10/5/14 - This weekend I desided to get the gear ready so that when the color paint on the fuselage is done, the gear will be next.  So, Saturday was spent in the shop packing the 4 bearings with synthetic grease (messy but fun), putting the tubes in the tires, inflating them to 42lbs, attaching the brake, then mounting the assembly on the gear.  It was all very straight forward & went together pretty easy.  I suspect I will be undoing some of this when I get the wheel pants.  Sunday afternoon was spent installing the tail skid so that I can rest the tail on the skid (which will be sitting on some wheels) when the gear goes on.  The gear wheels will be sitting on car dollies to make it easier to move around.

10/11/14 - Jared and Kyle helped to finish the install of the brackets for the rudder pedal adjustment, flapperons and parking brake.  Both hysol and rivets were used to attach the brackets to the center console.

 

10/19/14 - Last week, I trimmed up the seat & while doing so decided to add a couple butt blockers (solid oak) designed to prevent the seat from collapsing on the aileron control rod in the event of a seat failure.  Added a similar one to the passenger side for additional support. 

 

This weekend I decided I didnt like the door latch assemblies that came with the kit.  It seems like the latching arm is subject to coming loose and it only latches the door at one location.  My brother Jeff and others on the forum have stated that the back of the door tends to open up once the airflow over the window gets high enough.  So, I designed and built my own system from raw aluminum stock that will latch both in the front and back & will open both with a single latch handle.  See pics of the assemblies below.  The rear latch will be connected to this assembly via a clevis fork end attached to a threaded 1/4" aluminum rod.  The clevis is on order now.  I'll post more pics and a video when its done.

 

11/10/14 - Over the past couple weeks, I decided to start working on fitting the bubble doors.  I started with the pilot side.  First, I took 1" off the very top in order to line up the 2 critical points where the door bends (one in front and one in back).  Then I used a metal yardstick to draw straight lines between the points I marked, then I used my 3" cuttoff tool to do the cutting.  Worked very well.  Now I need to do the co-pilot side.

 

I finally received the color paint and spent this last weekend applying the design stencil (using the wet method by spraying the plane and stencil with water/soap) and doing the first of the color paint.  Jared was a huge help getting all the tapes prepped and then applying the paint.  We waited about an hour and a half after paint application to strip the stencil off.  The paint was just tacky enough and it pulled off great.  There were just a few area's where the paint leached under the stencil (mostly at the fabric seams), but it was easily fixed using a very small screwdriver in a laquer thinner wetted rag.  I am very pleased with how the color Desothane went on (no runs anywhere) and the color choice (thanks to my wife!).  I will paint the rudder with the rest of the design when temps permit. 

 

 

 

11/16/14 - This week I decided that before I take the fuselage off the rotiserie I would paint the N numbers on.  It was cold, but with the little paint involved, I just fired up the heater in the garage (no flames) & painted the N number.  Today, I also shrunk the paint booth for the winter to make more room.

11/25/14 - This week I finished measuring and cutting the co-pilot side doors.  This is the last task I wanted to finish before getting the fuselage off the rotiserie.  I decided to attach the acrylic material with rivnuts instead of using screws with acorn nuts on the inside.  I chose 6/32 screws with rivnuts drilled with a #12 bit.  With the right tool, they went in very nicely.  Next is the landing gear install party scheduled for Dec 12 when my brother Jeff is here to assist.

12/14/14 - This Friday, Jeff was here to assist with attaching the landing gear.  Jared also came over to help.  This was a major milestone as the fuselage came off the rotiserie.  We were able now actually sit in the plane for the fist time and make airplane noises!!  What fun.  We also mounted the rudder for the first time to get the proper adjustment on the attach bolts.  We had to take it off again due to space limitations in the garage....oops...hanger.  Our neighbor Josh bought a new motorcycle on Friday, so we took a "boys with their toys" picture with Josh and Jared on their motorcycles and the plane.

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