November 10, 2006

I started running through the list of odd jobs that needed doing to get this thing ready to fly. I need to really get this stuff dwindling down to nothing or it’ll never be ready in time. I started to install the covers for the centre spar section, but found I didn’t have enough LP4-3 rivets. Great. The only place I’ve found for these rivets is Van’s, and they take forever to get stuff out. Anybody know another source?

I made a little shelf for the EFIS 1 GPS antenna. Ultimately, I’ll need to make a bigger shelf for the GX-60 antenna when we get one, but this will suffice for now. I shortened the cable some and crimped on a new BNC connector. Lovely.

This was one of my biggest dillemmas. What to do for the crankcase vent. Keith found me a piece of 5/8" tube that slid into the hose perfectly, so I found a way to mount it pointing at the exhaust and trimmed it to length.

Rick, our local A & P, said my ground strap on the right side of the engine was in a precarious place near the ANL current limiters with a positive supply, so I decided I’d better move it. It’s hard to see in this image, but you can just see the braid near the middle lower left. I also tied up the engine heater cable so the plug was by the oil filler. That way, the cable will go through the oil door when it’s plugged in. This should hopefully alleviate any chance of me pushing the plane out of the hangar with the wire still connected. It would be easy to miss if it was hanging out of the belly of the plane.

I spent some time securing all the wires on top of the engine. There will be a lot of air flowing through here at 200mph, so they need to be pretty well secured.

I did the left side too.

Tomorrow I want to try to get the empennage fairing fitted and the oil door started. We’ll see how that goes. I did start the lower empennage fairing strips today, buit didn’t make much progress on them really.

I also put another WDG3 clamp on the alternative air cable. I had only secured it with one clamp thus far, and I had received an order from aircraft spruce with some in there.

I think that the firewall forward is now flight ready! Hmm, apart form the front baffle seals. I better do those tomorrow too then.