Seat belts and cargo bay

I have made a first attempt at a cargo bay. On my last Aircraft I was up to, I think, prototype 3 before I was happy. I think this one will be ok, but I could change my mind later. I have decided not to go all the way to the floor as I like to be able to easily see the elevator push rod tube and spring assy. If I had made the bay lower, chances are I would have to enclose this area so the cargo wouldn't interfere with the elevator flight control. I was also worried about boxing in this tube for the reason that if cargo dislodged and somehow damaged the protection box mid flight, it would end up a real spoilt day.   I am going to have to sort out some side panels for the cargo bay no doubt, then black lightweight carpet over the top to finish it off. I like to have the cargo bay slope towards the seat too so that anything in there will tend to move forward so as to have less effect on the C of G.

The seat belts attached with no problems. I up drilled the tabs to suit the AN-5 bolts and bolted them in. 

After I had done all this work I realised also that anything metallic in the cargo bay would possibly affect the compass module. When I initially mounted the module I figured it would be right out of the way in this spot. I had planned on a deeper cargo bay. I will move it later if it becomes a problem but I have to hope that perhaps it will be better here than under the floor with the control rods and mechanisms all so close. 

Throttle positition

I have been looking at the install notes regarding the throttle quadrant and been confused as to why Sonex recommends fitting it on the vertical spar behind where it is in this pic. As it sits there it is held in by a cleco for the dash corner bracket. Personally I like it there as I can rest my hand on the dash and the throttle at the same time for small adjustments. I will leave it a little longer before I get serious and drill anything. I am trying not to be hasty in regard to final placement of critical components 

Will have to have a few more coffees and think on it...

On a side note, I finally took my first passenger in my Aeropup the other day. Climb rate was ok and  it flew fine.. I could certainly feel the extra weight. I usually wheel the sucker on 90% of the time but it seemed with the extra weight a 3 point landing was the go. All in all I am very happy with the plane now I have sorted out the camshaft issue. Just thinking about the wrong cam being in it for all that time makes me quite angry but at least I got to the bottom of it and now have a serviceable plane. 

Not breaking any speed records but temps good and running really well. 

Baffling times once again

I had a go in earnest to fit the baffles this time. As I had the cowlings all done I could then see how and if any trimming or so on needed to be done to the baffles. Essentially this was the end result. I ended up using the original P seal Sonex supplies and found it was easy to install and fit really well.  I had a go at installing the regular silicon type seal,got half way around the engine and discarded it for the recommended seal. I have yet to try and fit the cowling since the seals have been fitted so I will let that be a little surprise for me if it is too tight or anything and the cowling has become a monster to fit. I obviously have tried on for size both halves in turn to get the fitment right, just not done a complete cowling install on and off.

The gap around the intake tubing is a result from the extra height the spacers give when under the intake manifolds. I had to elongate the holes. I will need to seal these up obviously to avoid all my  precious cooling air spewing out the back unused. 

The top mounted cooler went on just fine. 

Gascolator

I had to order some spares from a automotive performance shop in Perth to do these fuel lines. The price I paid for the parts was at a BIG premium let me tell you. I have found identical parts on ebay from the same manufacturer for around a quarter of the price. Off track here but usually the only time I have ever seen price differences like that, is with memory cards. Anyway back to the point; I borrowed my mate's pipe bender and made the pipe as below. It came out sweet and I was really surprised with myself nailing it on the first attempt. Blind luck I put it down to but I'll take it! 

The Gascolator is a permanent fixture but I have since changed my mind in regard to the fuel line routing. It was going to work out well but the throttle cable threw a spanner in the works. Essentially the fuel line is just there to hold up the fuel flow meter so I could wire it up and have it set up in the EFIS without it dangling by the wires.  

What I do need to do to the gascolator however, is add an extension in the form of a brass 45 or 30 degree bend and that will have it protrude out the bottom of the cowl for ease of fuel drain during pre flight.  

Antenna

I bought the MGL recommended antenna with all the other equipment. The ol DELTA POP. 

Yeah..sooo...nice name ...anyway hopefully it works well. 

I mounted it,  in what I hope is a spot not too close to the canopy to create a good ground plane for reliable reception. I have seen others in this location so surely it will be ok. We will see. I have noticed too that it sits proud due to the rivets on the centre spine holding it up. I will either have to make a white rubber gasket of sorts or see if I can create a small cavity on the underside of the aerial to allow for the rivets. That's down the list a bit far now to care about so I will worry accordingly later. 

Oh I say, Is that some instruments I see in the mail?

Well yes, as it happens it turned out to be the Discovery Lite and V6 radio ol Chap.  I was very excited to see this arrive I can assure you.

Amongst the two big ticket items were the pre-wired harnesses, egt's, compass module, fuel flow meter, current sensor and a few other bits and bobs.  I had, at first, thought that it would be a very simple affair,and to be honest it has been I guess.  But it is time consuming to fit it all and bring it up to operational status.  I have had to incorporate more wiring than what I had anticipated. Lucky that plug I fitted to the firewall was a 26 pin plug. I have used at least 18 pins as a best guess. 

I have doubts about my logic regarding the location of the engine module. The module incorporates the wiring really well there in terms of ease of access and aesthetic wiring runs. In regard to handling the temperature? I guess we will find out. My main logic was the cowling in general is a very small space and in regard to temperature differences in such a small space, well could it vary that much? I wouldn't have thought so. Anyway we will see if it stands the test of time. I am placing a lot of trust in the turbo blanket enclosing the majority of the heat that could compromise the module's longevity.

This is the general layout of the dash. I have since added the mp3 input and that is about it. I am struggling to work out where to place the headset plugs. The passenger's side I will fit on the corner of the dash and the side panel but as for the pilot side I am still at a loss. I really had my heart set on having them on the panel behind me. The pre wired harness is wayyyyyy too short for that option and I don't fancy trying to extend the wiring at this stage. I will find a home for it and see how it goes. Perhaps tomorrow will bring a new idea. I am pretty happy with my Narva usb plug. It is a 2.1 amp twin usb port and hopefully will work very well keeping my mini ipad charged and if necessary my phone too. 

Cowling revisited

Quite often in my life, I have had to eat my words. I was so assured that the cowling was going to be a straight forward affair I guess I deserved it when I came to hurdle.

All was going really well until I added the lower half hinge pin. This tended to force the bottom of the cowling forward and hence make it sit proud of the prop flange. I had a small meltdown at the time and then sat there for ages thinking about the best way to move forward.

 I toyed momentarily with glassing up both the vertical side hinge holes and reshaping from scratch where the cowling meets the fuselage and dismissed that idea promptly as too hard. I figured that perhaps reshaping the nose would be way easier. So again I sat there for a long time then went to work on option 2. 

I enlisted the trusty Dremmel and cutting disc for this task and ground out a blade width and some more towards the lower end.  I have pulled the snout in and reglassed it.  It now fits really well. 

I still need to do some work around the fuel filler area. I have been jumping to and from different areas on the build to keep things interesting and also moving forward. I will get to the fuel door in the near future.