Joshua's RV-9A Project

Still avoiding the wheelpants, but I knocked nearly everything else off the list, so if I make it to the hangar at a reasonable time tomorrow, I won’t have a choice but to begin…

Cut foam blocks and inserted them into the gap between the upper & lower bars of the wing spar, where the spar joins the fuselage.  This should help prevent air ingress and cabin drafts.

Removed most of the zipties from the ignition wires and replaced with “tubing clips” from McMaster.  There are a couple spots near the ignitions where wires are tied together from various directions; in those places the clips don’t work (they are designed for parallel wires), so the zipties remain.

Opened the right brake system at the pilot’s pedal, in order to fix the weeping leak there.  When I arrived today, a small pool of fluid had formed on the cabin floor, so it’ll be good to get this fixed.  Removed the hoses, and the elbows, and cleaned off all the EZ Turn.  Reinstalled with Loctite 567, which is specified as a high-pressure thread sealer.  The tech sheet for it says that full cure takes up to 24 hours, so I won’t rebleed that system until tomorrow, to give it the best chance of sealing up well.

Added RTV to the inboard lower cylinder baffles, where the tapered-fin “issue” is.  This fix has been reported to work just fine, so I’m going to try it before committing to a complete removal & reinstallation of the baffle system (and everything that’s mounted to it).

Installed threaded hex plugs in the tie-down holes.  The extrusion that the tie-down rings screw into are tapped deeper than the ring bolt is long, so it’s possible to thread them in too far and gouge up the outside of the skin (and any paint that may be on it).  The plugs I found are just the right length to thread in all the way, and provide a positive stop for the rings, clear of any skin damage.

Replaced the screws on wingtip and leading edge light lenses with Torx-drive, after receiving an order of the correct size from microfasteners.com.  These’ll be used for all non-structural fairings, panels, lenses, etc.

Drilled a matched set of holes in the upper corners of each crotch strap bracket.  Deburred, and installed a bolt through both halves, with a stack of washers between to act as a spacer.  This secures the floppy forward piece in place, making it less prone to bending, and easier to align the screws when installing the seat pans.

Resecured the wire bundle for the pilot stick grip.  The stick is much more comfortable now that it’s shorter…my arm rests comfortably on the leg, with fingers around the grip.  Vacuumed all the debris out of the cabin.

Placed the empennage fairing and elevator horn access panels in place, and secured with a few screws; the rest of the screws are just finger-tight in.  I need to install all the panels, fairings, screws, etc, in anticipation of having the plane weighed (once the wheelpants are on).  I’ll also drain out all the fuel.  After weighing, fuel will be added in increments to calibrate the tanks & dipsticks.

I’ve taken the next week off work, to spend time getting transition training.  When not doing that, I’ll be working on the plane; I’d like to get the pants on, W&B done, transponder check done, and inspection paperwork submitted…we’ll see how realistic that goal is.