Final touches, several more engine starts, taxiing around, and ... she's ready for the Airworthiness Condition Inspection!

The big day is getting closer, and I am pleased to say that my bird is now officially ready for her Airworthiness Condition Inspection, which is scheduled in a couple weeks!  All the paperwork has been completed, and everything I can think of has been done to the airplane to make her ready for flight.  I'm sure I'll fuss over her a ton, recheck everything, and pitter around over the ensuing days.  

I performed several more starts to set the low pitch on the prop to obtain 2650rpm at max throttle, which took only two tries since I read that others had to turn the set screw "in" (clockwise) at least 1.5 turns - mine took exactly 2.5 turns.  I also taxied around and checked the brakes - I'm not used to taxiing a castering nosewheel, so it took a couple turns before I got used to the feeling.  I'm looking forward to transition training in the factory RV-14A, since this beast is very different from the Cessnas I'm used to flying.  Hopefully, the next post will include a picture with my DAR and an aircraft airworthiness certificate.  As usual, below and past the break are details from the last two weeks:

- final-drilled #19 holes, deburred, drilled #40 for nutplates; countersunk holes; riveted nutplates; checked prop clearance of gap filler and spinner (and adjusted as necessary); safety-wired 4 bolts that attach forward spinner bulkhead to prop hub

- finished spinner - riveted gap fillers to rear spinner bulkhead (involved removing rear bulkhead to gain access, and retorquing those nuts); sanded aft edge to be flush with bulkhead; checked gaps again and adjusted; safety-wired main wheel pants brackets; torque-striped painted as many nuts/bolts as I could find that were torqued but weren’t striped

- finally fixed the flaps switch!  required reversing the flap molex pins at each stick; thanks Ken B. and Glenn M. for making me do this; checked function of autopilot in heading mode (works - goes side to side when the HDG bug is turned); painted seat pans

- worked on the emp. fairing (improved fit, blind-drilled using magnets, up-sized #27, drilled nutplate rivet holes in VS and HS, countersunk #27 holes in fairing)

- deburred holes of emp. fairing, riveted nutplates, attached gap fairings, outlined areas to trim on emp. fairing

- performed second and third run-up; static RPM is now 2650-2660rpm (IAW Hartzell manual, increased fine pitch to reduce top prop. speed); started cleaning plane 

- Sanded edges of emp fairing, installed and floxed all “high” areas for better fit; filled fuel tanks with an additional 20gal (approx. 38 gal remaining on board now)

- Removed emp fairing, sanded edges, epoxied inside parts that touch metal; Finished ELT installation, performed ELT self-test, performed yearly ELT function test (between top of the hour and 5min past the hour); installed Canopy Hinge covers; installed database updates

- Taxi and brake test and mag ground check (Hobbs: 0.5h; Tach 0.3h); added W&B to G3X; applied 3M 2000+ degree fire barrier to firewall pass-throughs;  attached crotch seatbelt straps; finished initial Condition Inspection and wrote the certification statement in my logbook.  The airplane is ready for the Airworthiness Condition Inspection (although I’m sure I’ll still fuss over it)

Emp. fairing, floxed on the airframe:

FIRST ENGINE START!!; 24 - Wing Tip (finished); 12 - Emp. fairings (almost finished); 44 - Spinner & Prop (almost finished); Other (lots of misc. finished)

Big milestone:  FIRST ENGINE START!  Thanks to Ken B. and Glenn M., who were with me for 5 hrs that morning to do a number of tasks prior to the first start.  After we had Sal Capra from On-Site Weight and Balance perform the W&B, we performed a fuel flow test for both tanks (~45gph) to confirm fuel flow and rid the lines of any debris, and we pre-oiled the engine by removing the top plugs and running the starter 3-4 times for 10sec each until oil pressure registered on the G3X.  I then reinstalled the plugs, we chocked the tires, and I started her up - looks like about 3 blades until she caught (see video, below) ... and the engine ran very smoothly, and the prop cycled well at ~1800rpm.  The next day, CE Avionics performed the IFR certification for the transponder and pitot/static system.  There aren't too many tasks left until the Airworthiness Condition inspection!

As always, here is a detailed list of tasks that were completed during the past ~3.5 weeks (also click "read more" for additional pics):

- finished trimming, drilling etc. left tip lens; started AeroLEDs Sunspot LX Nav light (red for left side)

- a few different sections, so I’ll put that under “other” - installed BSR landing light lenses; installed wing tips and finished wiring lights; started working on rudder bottom fairing (up to attaching the nutplates)

- installed VS fairing; floxed rear AeroLED light doubler for bottom rudder fairing; worked on left elevator fairing

- installed left elevator fairing, worked on right elevator fairing; installed tail light and lower rudder fairing; checked Nav/strobe lights (worked!); played with G3X a lot to calibrate ADAHRS, setup autopilot, and figure out trim system and how it integrates (or not) with autopilot servos.  I need to calibrate magnetometer first

- finished right elevator fairing; started working on HS tip fairings (cut, sanded, drilled #40, made 2 bi-layer fiberglass patches)

- floxed/epoxied patches to HS tip fairings; started working on metal rear emp. fairings

- floxed and glassed inside of patches for both HS tip fairings; figuring out p-mag; leveled pitch on G5; started emp fairing

- Worked on HS tip fairings (sanded and micro-epoxied); figured out p-mag setup mode (has to be “off”, i.e. p-lead grounded); figured out mounting location for VIRB camera

- worked on flaps, which won’t detent (i.e. press once and it goes from -3 to 0deg, twice to 15deg, thrice to 30deg); called SteinAir and worked with Tim D. 

- worked on flaps, which still aren’t working correctly; rewired POS-12 sensor connection with d-sub pins; figured out wiring with Tim D.; no dice - still won’t work

- HS tip fairings (sanded the micro-balloons and painted with filler primer); figured out flaps, sorta (had to reverse wire for flap motor; detents work, but have to press up for flaps down and vice versa - may rewire later, or just keep as-is and get used to it - NOTE: - Ken B. and Glenn M. told me I can't leave it like this, so I will reverse the switch wires; micro-molex pin extractor is being sent from SteinAir); mounted VIRB camera; confirmed traffic ADS-B works (pulled bird out of hangar)

- finished and installed the HS tip fairings; timed Emag and Slick mag (thanks, Joe D., for the help!); redid safety wire for one pair of prop bolts; added hole and redid safety wire for remote oil filter; recalibrated flaps; attached left baggage side carpet

- installed seat harnesses (mostly); redid 8ga cable from bup alternator to ANL fuse; put dollop of silicone adhesive to tip of ELT ant (to secure to rear window

- prepped for W&B; W&B (Sal Capra); first oil pressure (run starter w/o top plugs for ~30-40 sec); fuel; fuel test (approx. 45gph each side); first start!; magnetometer calibration

- IFR certs. completed by CE Avionics (Transponder, Alt, pitot/static); fixed a few items brought up by Ken B., Glenn M., and Joe D.; fixed G3X settings for RPM and fuel pressure

- removed seats, seat pans, control sticks; finished wire-tying all avionics wires under the seats; started spinner (drilled #30 holes, drilled #40 holes for spacers)

Here is the video of the first engine start (thanks, Ken B., for taking the vid!):

12 - Emp. Fairings (Rudder and VS fairings); 41 - Wing Attachment (wings are ATTACHED!!!); Other (lots o' stuff)

Although I haven't updated this blog for a month, a LOT of major milestones were achieved.  First and foremost, my buddies, Ken B., Shane B., Mark A., and Glenn M. (all RV-14 or RV-14A builders) descended upon my hangar last week to help me install the wings.  Ken B. helped me a few days prior install most of the tail feathers.  Together, it really looks like an airplane - I couldn't be more pleased with the progress ... and also that I got to hang out with my RV friends one more time.  Wish they all lived a lot closer.  A bunch of other smaller projects were completed - I'm at the 90% done, 90% to go phase, which means that every time I complete one task, two more get added to the list.  Here are what I accomplished this past month (not a lot of pics, but a lot was done):

- cleaned garage, organized for next part of project, drained compressor; painted 3 closeout panels for interior

- installed shelves in hangar, moved more stuff to hangar

- worked on VS and rudder fairings - made 2-ply backing for VS fairing as well

- trimmed backing for VS fairing; floxed to VS fairing

- sanded VS fairing; temporarily installed rudder to VS to check fit of rudder and to check fit of VS fairing.  Needed to flox and sand the aft part of the fairing to clear rudder forward counterweight section.  Added flox today

- cleaned garage some more, moved last big stuff to hangar with wife - hopefully last Uhaul trip for this project!

- moved more stuff to hangar - about 90% complete (the move, anyway); organized hangar and new tool chest/tools

- finished moving stuff to hangar and organized hangar - she’s ready to go!

- worked on empennage attach - elevators attached temporarily to work out spacing, massaged leading edges to get +30deg/-25deg clearance with no binding/rubbing

- final-drilled elevator horns - measure 10x, final-tighten the rod end bearing jam nuts (!), measure 100x, then drill 2 holes.  Sounds simple, but many a builder has screwed up this part, had to weld the holes shut, and try again.  Thanks to Ken B. for telling me to clamp the wooden block for the lower hole extremely tight! 

- installed HS, elevators, and VS to fuselage with Ken B.! 

- Final-torque 4 of 5 elevator bolts; attached pushrod to elevator horns; filed elevator stops to get at least +25deg/-20deg of travel; attached flap pushrods to wings; drilled 4 holes and installed snap bushings for OAT probe

- hung rudder and attached rudder cables; finished rigging elevator pushrods, including ensuring control sticks don’t interfere with anything on the panel

- finished wiring elevator trim tab and checked function and deflections; started final-installing pitot/AOA (had to bend around control rod) 

- Attached wings with Ken B., Shane B., Mark A., and Glenn M. - great to see my RV-14(A) buddies again, and thanks for all your help! 

- finished installing pitot/AOA tubes in the wing, and routed them behind the panel; routed RG-400 for Archer Nav antenna from wing to behind panel

- Installed grounds from wing to fuselage; connected pitot heat to molex connector; worked on flaps

Attaching the top rudder fairing:

29 - Fwd Mid Fuse Side Str. (attached air vents; fuselage complete!); 12 - Empennage Fairings (trimmed bottom rudder fairing); planned wing transport to hangar

The last couple of weeks hasn't seen much work because I am finished with the first 3 kits, minus the fiberglass work and attachment of the tail fins and wings to the fuselage, and am waiting for the Finish kit.  I spent some of the time placing a few orders, to make sure that I have everything before COVID-19 takes over the manufacturing and transport industries (okay, probably not). I also received the propeller - that's quite a large item, still sitting in its box in the living room.  I secured a hangar, and will be moving my wings there in a few weeks.  In order to move the wings, I had to design a set of transport cradles, which I did during this down time.  I'll post the cradles and details of the wing transport in a few weeks.  I finished attaching the air vent assemblies to the fuselage using RTV silicone, and then cleaned and reorganized my area in preparation for some initial fiberglass work. After 1 hour of trimming the rudder bottom fairing, and getting fairly itchy, I doubt a mostly fiberglass airplane is ever in my future.  The best news is that I received the bill of lading from the transport company for the Finish Kit today!  Hopefully, I'll get that delivery in the next 7-10 days, because I'm eager to get back to building.  A few pics, below:

Air vents, assembled and ready for mounting: