Joshua's RV-9A Project

Spent a good portion of time in the shop today, but didn’t accomplish a great deal, it seems.  I started the day with a list of what seemed like easy quick tasks, but in reality, I only checked off one thing.

The main order of business for the day was finishing the EGT/CHT wiring FWF.  Having installed or test-fit essentially everything in the area, I finished running the wire harness and sorted out which wire was which.  After creating service loops and trimming to length, the wires needed to be terminated, using the recommended method (crimp, flux, solder, heatshrink) from AFS.  I put heatshrink on each terminal, as they’re uninsulated; once the terminals were joined together, heatshrink went over that, then a larger piece of heatshrink to bundle the pair of wires for each probe together.  It should be secure and well-protected, yet still easy enough to cut away when a probe needs to be replaced.  Once everything was hooked up, I used a heat gun to check that the proper probe is wired to the proper location — the EGT’s are, but I wasn’t able to get the CHT’s to show on the display; not sure what’s going on there, although the EGT’s disappear below a certain point as well (100*, I think), so the CHT’s probably have similar logic and I just wasn’t able to heat them far enough given the larger thermal mass of the cylinders.

Other more minor tasks accomplished:

• Fabricated, fit, and painted an angle brace to go between the panel and the subpanel, to eliminate a slight flex in the left side of the panel.  The brace ties into the EFIS 2 tray with a countersunk screw, and is fixed to the subpanel with a riveted clip.  Will install this tomorrow once the paint is dry.
• Installed the ELT remote to the panel, and attached the audio alert box to the subpanel.  The audio alert can be serviced without removal, since the cover unscrews from the base, but the remote will need to be removed again for installation of the battery.  There are actually three batteries in the ELT system — one in the ELT itself, one in the remote, and another in the audio alert box.  All except the ELT have to be procured by the builder.  I haven’t looked yet to see if they’re all good for 5 years like the ELT battery, or if more frequent replacement is required.
• Since EFIS 1 was removed for access to fit the panel brace, I took the opportunity to enlarge the wiring hole behind it.  My initial hole was large enough for the requisite wires, but the bigger, oblong hole will remove the tight bend that a few of the wires had to take, and give more space for the pitot/static/AOA tubing.  Speaking of which, I found that I never ordered the fittings for the pitot/static connections to the EFIS.
• Ran switched/dimmed power and ground to a plug at the subpanel, where the panel flood lights will connect.  These lights are mounted to the underside of the glareshield, which is part of the canopy, hence the need for a disconnect to allow canopy removal.

Worked on various things today, all generally related to FWF…

• Measured for, built, and installed an angle brace for the oil cooler.  To avoid interference with injector lines, ignition wires, and purge valve cable, I tied it into the clip that was fabricated earlier for the purge valve cable.  This, as promised, stiffened up the oil cooler quite well.
• Made up the tubing spacers which go between the flanges of the oil cooler to keep it from being deformed by the mounting bolts.  Installed spacers and cooler, after removing/reinstalling the aft left baffle to drill the bolt hole for the brace.
• Worked through the engine control linkages FWF.  Drilled the mounting brackets for bolts and installed, torqued rod ends, and replaced temp fit bolts with proper length ones, torqued and sealed all fasteners.  Was going to install the fuel servo & bracket, but it seems I never ordered the proper nuts (5/16 coarse thread all-metal locknuts) to do so.
• Unbolted the purge control cable and threaded it back into the cabin in order to install the eyeball passthru in the firewall.  Re-ran the cable, installed final bolts, torqued & sealed fasteners.
• Riveted the left side heater air takeoff and screen to the baffle ramp.
• Torqued and sealed the brake lines which run from the fuselage to the caliper.  At this point, the brake system is completely installed (except for fluid).
• Looked at the exhaust system hanger clamps; it appeared that these could be adjusted on the pipe, but they are fixed in place with a welded pin.  I don’t understand how the hangers mount and where they run to, so will need to do some research.  The brackets seem to me like they’re facing the opposite direction of where they should (with the side ear facing outboard instead of in).
• Worked on refitting the top cowling, which means trimming the baffles.  On this initial trim, the goal was to get them trimmed just far enough that the cowling can be fixed in place, not to get them to the final cut line.  It took several initial trims, then I spaced the top cowl up by clamping some wooden shims across both cowls, setting the top-to-bottom spacing consistent all around.  Then, cut a block and drilled a hole the same distance from one end as the space between the cowls.  Reaching inside with a sharpie through the hole in the block, I was able to slide it around and mark the contour of the cowl on the baffles, to establish a trim line.  (This method stolen from a VAF post)  Removed the top cowl and trimmed to the line, then a couple more re-fits to tweak, and it’s fitting well.  There will be more trimming ahead, for sure, but this was a good start.
• In order to fit the top cowling, the camloc strips were reinstalled to the firewall edge, after having excess width trimmed from them (1/2″ trim, for a 2″ total width).  These are not yet drilled for the camlocs, so that 1/8″ clecoes can be used to secure the cowling to the strip.  The camlocs won’t be installed until the strips are installed, which isn’t until after the top skin is installed.  Chicken-and egg, yes…and there must come a point where the easy access under the top skin needs to be sacrificed in the name of getting the skin on so progress can be made, but not yet.
• Neighbor Jeff and his brother stopped in to check out the progress.

And, crossed the 1400-hour mark tonight.

Worked on various little projects around the plane:

• Finished install of cabin brake lines.  Torqued and marked.
• Bolted rudder pedals in place.  Tried the middle holes, but with the seat put in, they’re too close for me, so moved them to the forward holes.
• Messed with ignition leads to see how much too long they are (some are just right, others are several inches too long).
• Cut pieces of screen for the second heater air takeoff, and the cabin fresh air vents.  Installed the vent screens between the scoop and the duct.  RTV’d the heater takeoff screen and clecoed the flange in place to cure; this’ll get riveted next time.
• Played with routing for the left heater feed, which comes off the baffle inlet ramp.  Discovered that there is enough room between engine and cowling to run the SCAT along the bottom of the valve covers with adel clamps.  Will need longer screws to allow attachment of things like these clamps, and ignition wires, to the valve cover screws.
• Fabricated and installed a bracket for the purge valve cable.
• Installed new lockwashers, torqued and marked the engine case bolts along the top that were removed for installation of baffles & brackets.
• Figured out how to install the Reiff preheater power harness along the top of the engine, and did so.  Ran the cable to the sump heaters through the same grommet as the fuel supply to the spider.
• Installed clamps to secure the transducer-spider fuel hose.
• Started work on finishing up the engine side of the thermocouple wiring.  I’m planning to leave these wires long and double them back, leaving plenty of extra length, as they would be a pain to replace in the event that one needed to be trimmed and no extra length available.

Started installing brake lines tonight; put in the elbows at the calipers and fit those lines, along with the right-side cabin elbows, lines, and reservoir tee.

More work on FWF stuff today…routing the purge return line behind the baffles, then re-routing it to clear the oil filler tube.  Reworked the CHT/EGT wires on both sides to clear other items like the purge line, purge control, and oil cooler hoses.  Fit the oil cooler hoses to make sure everything had clearance.  Installed another fistful of adel clamps. Ran the purge control cable through the firewall and baffles.

Updated the FWF to-do list, but most of the components are in place now; much will be removed & reinstalled, but at least things are fitting together.

Brake lines and harnesses have arrived.

Now that work has settled down for the summer (127 hours in the last two weeks…), I’m trying to get back into the swing of working in the shop.  Took the day off work and bounced around on a few little things…

• Finished drilling the hinges to the cowling and clecoed in place; test-fit the cowl and spinner backplate.
• Fabricated a mounting tray for the AFS magnetometers, one bulkhead behind the baggage wall.  Installed the D-sub connectors and tested that the EFIS was talking to the magnetometer, which it was.  Clecoed everything in place for now; will need to rivet the tray in place, and pick up some brass screws for mounting the sensor itself.
• Temporarily put in the lower spark plugs and attached the plug wires, so I could see where clearance would be needed in order to…
• Drilled and installed the EGT probes to the exhaust pipes.  Fit the mufflers to the crossover pipes and held them up with bungees for now.
• Removed the too-short mixture cable and replaced it with the new, longer one (48″) that arrived.  Fabricated a new bracket to secure the cabin ends of the control cables, and adjusted the linkages for proper throw on the quadrant and the fuel servo.
• Started work on the rear left engine baffle where the oil cooler attaches.  Fabricated a reinforcing angle for the baffle corner to avert vibration cracking, and a thicker doubler plate for the cooler itself.  Once the cooler was located on the baffle, trimmed away a portion of the aft flange on the cooler to provide clearance from the engine mount tube.
• Remade the fuel pump mount piece to accommodate the new version of the Andair fuel pump, which mounts a bit differently due to the now-integrated controller design.  The new mount is actually simpler; the overall pump length appears to be the same, so no adjustment of fuel lines will be needed.

Spent a bit of time fussing with the control cables again.  I didn’t come up with a bracket solution that satisfied me, because the too-short mixture cable would need it’s bracket a couple inches closer to the firewall than the throttle.  The extender wouldn’t solve that, just make it reach the lever.  So, I guess I’ll order a longer custom cable, wait for it, and get it in right; then sell the short one to someone who can use it.  Also, more aluminum angle to redo the bracketry.

Cut the side hinges and hinge shims that will hold the lower cowling, and drilled them to the firewall.  Marked and cut the slot in the cowling for the gear leg.  Cleaned up the fiberglass on the backside of the nose flanges and refit the cowls together.  Clecoed the top cowl back on the plane, then put the bottom cowl on via the two clecoes in the nose, and a cargo strap under the rear portion.  The fuselage end seems like it will fit decently, but the nose doesn’t hold alignment with the spinner backplate — the gap at the top right side is 1/4″, and the lower left is 1/2″.  This might close up a bit with the rest of the fitting, but it looks like a load of filler will be required.  (Apparently this is not uncommon.)

Spent a bunch of time working on engine controls today.  Figured out and fabricated brackets for the throttle and mixture controls, and temporarily installed, along with the cables, to test fit and function.  Trimmed the AFP brackets to match and provide clearance from the engine mounts.  Had to adjust the angle of the mixture arm, and use the shorter hole on the throttle arm, for the cable throws to work out with the throttle quadrant.  Extra holes for more throw also had to be put in the quadrant levers, a common item.  The throttle lever doesn’t have as long of a throw as I’d like (1/4-3/8 each end remaining), but it’s perfectly workable.  Couldn’t hook up the mixture at the quadrant end, as the cable is just a bit too short…aargh.  Will have to order one of the threaded extenders from Spruce, way cheaper than a new custom cable.

Put a rod end on the purge valve…still need to engineer that bracketry and FW passthru.  Also swapped out the bolts in the nosegear fork for longer ones with spacers, which give a better grip for the towbar to hook on to.

The Vetterman crossover exhaust (with mufflers) arrived this morning.  After unpacking, I took it out to test-fit.  The flanges fit right up, and it looks like there will be sufficient clearance from all the hoses, wires, and such.  It’s not really bolted on yet, just held in place with a few bolts.  Not sure if it’s best to fit the cowling with or without it on, and it will need to come off to be drilled for the EGT probes, anyway.

Messed around with the control cables for the throttle and mixture, temporarily attaching them to the fuel servo.  There is a long distance from the end of the cable to the fixture nuts, so I’ll need to move both of the control brackets one more hole aft before creating the brackets to hold the cables.  Drilled out the mounting hole for the purge cable and fit that to the panel; that one still needs to have the FW eyeball installed (as does the alternate air cable, when that’s ready…)

Pulled out the cowling again and started looking at how to fit it.  I have a 2×2 sheet of .063, which will probably make the camloc strips, but it’ll need to be done in 3 pieces as the dimension to span is around 53″.

The verdict on the AFS/VP-X amps & volts is that it’s not currently supported to source the gage reading from the VP-X datastream.  Hopefully they’ll consider adding this in a future software update; it seems a bit silly to have a current shunt (and associated cables and connectors) when the data is already there.  For now, I disabled display of the ammeter.

It was interesting to me that two things appeared in the last couple days that found me where I’m at: an article in EAA’s homebuilding e-newsletter, and parts of a thread on VAF, both around with what the article named “Project Paralysis.”  It must be the weather–for most of the month, it’s been gray, gloomy, raining/snowing, and cold (running 10+ degrees below average; we had snow yesterday for a bit).  March was exciting, and I put in far more hours than expected (nearly 80), but April has been a downer.  Only 25 hours, and the motivation to head to the shop in the evenings hasn’t really been there.  Work is heading into the busy spring season, which will last the next 5+ weeks, but I don’t think it carries the sole blame for the lack of energy.  Must be the weather…here’s hoping the snow stops soon.  On the bright side, I’ve spent some good time with Allison talking/dreaming/scheming about plans for the summer and beyond.

This week, though, has been looking up.  Lots of boxes arriving, the UPS man has been here every morning.  Engine hoses, control cables, and my AFS screen are here, and the Vetterman exhaust should be in tomorrow.  I’ve been reading up on fitting the cowl (among others, a good thread by Brantel on fitting the pink cowl, and a new one on baffles, plus DanH’s highly informative and well-illustrated fiberglass tips), which seems like a logical next step.  I need to pick up or dig up some PVC pipe to use as a stand-in for the prop spacer, and fit the camloc strips first.

The task list for tonight was simple, and easy to motivate with new and exciting parts: test-fit the hoses, and fire up the EFIS.  All the engine hoses seem to fit well (though the oil cooler is not yet installed, so those can’t be fit yet).  I got these from Tom at TS Flightlines, who was easy to work with and fast getting them out.

The EFIS screen (AFS 4500-EE), having already wired all the harnesses during the panel install, slid right into the tray and powered up.  Spent some time going through the menus, configuring serial ports and such.  Two oddities I noticed (1. the master warn light never illuminated when it should, but did when the screen was powered off, and 2. the screen always powered on when the master was turned on, even though the avionics bus wasn’t on), turned out to be related, and a simple fix: I had inadvertantly inserted the pin for the master warn light into the wrong hole, which caused it to be hooked up to the backup power input.  It was getting power on that backup input when the master went on (since the annunciator power is always on), and booting up (and illuminating the light).  Once primary power was applied, it stopped using that backup input, and the light went out.  Moving it to the correct pin solved both problems.

Allison came out and I put her seat in, and we sat in the plane looking at the panel.  Tested that the audio out of the AFS works, and it talks to everything hooked to it: VP-X control, transponder gets altitude, a finger in the CO detector pops up a readout of O2 saturation and heartrate, and it sees data from the GPS.  I posted a message on the AFS forum about the volt and amps gages…I had been under the impression they would take their readings from the VP-X datafeed, but that doesn’t seem to be the case, or at least I can’t find it in the menus.  The voltmeter is using the internal sensor of the AFS (not a big deal, it matches the VP-X within 0.1 volt, but of course reads 0 when the avionics master is off), and the ammeter just reads 0, since I didn’t install the shunt (since I thought it would come from the VP-X).  Both values are displayed on the VP status page, but it would be nice to have them as gages in the display, and be able to alert on them.