41 - Wing Attach (finished); OP52A - AeroLEDs Sunspot LX (finished); Other (lots o' stuff); 24 - Wing tip (mostly finished)

It's been a month since I last posted, but I have been working as diligently as possible on the bird.  I had a little (well, it was yuuuge) snafu at work that I have been spending an inordinate amount of time dealing with, so working on the plane has been good therapy.  I hope to finish in a couple months, and there are still tons of items on my to-do list.  Nevertheless, I accomplished quite a bit during the past month:

- Attached fuel lines between wing and fuselage; continued working on left lower wing root fairing

- worked on wing root fairing fit (left upper and lower) to clear fuselage by at least 0.040”; riveted root fairing stiffeners to upper left root fairing

- finished most of the wing root fairings, except for lower right; attached OAT probe; wired OAT probe (spliced to pigtail at wing root)

- finished lower right wing root fairing; RTV-attached UHMW spacers to both wing roots (using instead of proseal; will keep an eye on it when removing upper root fairings; rigged ailerons (the control stick moves like buttah); attached flaps and started rigging flaps (need to file a bit off the edge of the right flap) 

- removed lower cowl and two landing light lenses; started working on landing light brackets; attached magnetometer; other misc. stuff

- worked some on landing light brackets (mostly painting); final-attached and checked canopy switch; routed and attached Pitot and AOA tubes to G3X and G5; tidied wires under panel some more; attached brake modification (thanks, Mark A. and Shane B.!) which affords a spring-return to not accidentally drag brakes

- finished attaching and wiring landing lights (AeroLED Sunspot LX); the two adel clamps were a pain, since they were on the inboard side

- fueled left tank with 20gal (no leaks so far), and started to calibrate fuel sender in G3X; added canopy latch warning from Van’s; played with G3X settings; installed and painted canopy guide pins

- drained left fuel tank, filled right tank with 20gal, calibrated both fuel senders; programmed G3X limits and calibrated aileron trim and flaps; tried to calibrate elevator trim servo, but couldn’t get a voltage reading (I’ll redo micromolex connector with D-sub pins, as recommended by Ken B.); painted seatbacks

- added 7qt of oil to engine (Aeroshell 100 mineral oil); worked on tail light wires; drained 20gal of fuel from right tank (no leaks so far!); attached seatback interior to metal painted seatbacks

- attached wingwalk pads to both wing roots, so I stop scuffing the aluminum (or slip); finished tail light wires, and tucked under rudder so I can do the fiberglass; started playing with brake bleeder, but the container won’t prime - needs new seals, or I need to buy a new pressure vessel

- bled brakes after fixing container; re-did elevator trim wiring again, this time with d-sub pins (thanks for suggestion, Ken B.!) - successful calibration

- Completed much of the right wing tip up to installing the nutplates; also started installing Archer tip antenna (for VOR/ILS)

- finished right wing tip, including nav light lens and wired nav lights (started)

- started left wing tip, finished Archer tip antenna (floxed/micro’d to inside of wing tip), finished nav lights

- finished 2/3 of left wing tip up to installing nutplates and installing wing tip rib

- sanded trailing edge of left wing tip, sanded nav light area; cut and trimmed left tip lens to size (what a pain)  

There are approx. 50 pictures that follow, but unfortunately they are not in order - I'll still annotate each.  Here are the seat backs, after priming and painting:

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:

38 - Canopy & Window (complete); 39 - Seatbacks (nearly complete); 40A - Gear & Engine Mount (misc. tasks); 41 - Wing Attach (misc. tasks); 42 - Miscellanea (ready for paint); 43 - Engine Install (misc.)

Big news - the engine arrived this week! What a beaut - now, I just have to figure out how to prep it prior to mounting it to the fuselage.  Prior to that, I need to attach the gear ... but there's been a COVID-induced issue.  I've been waiting on a number of parts from Van's - essentially all the larger powdercoated parts in the finish kit (incl. gear legs), as well as the exhaust system for the engine.  After contacting them, COVID has hit their suppliers of these parts, so there is no projected ship date.   To keep forward momentum, I am going through each section and doing any task that I can logically do out of the standard order, and thus why this post has tasks from 6 different sections.  Here is a summary:

- installed defog fans; installed rear seal and torqued zone 3 of canopy; fiddled with canopy latch mechanism - pins still too tight (need to work it in)
- fabricated seat backs - still need to paint, so didn’t final-install the pins
- bolted engine mount to firewall assembly (with help from wife)
- separated and primed gear attachment angles; primed and installed upper gear braces (not final torqued yet, since waiting on 3/8” torque wrench); trimmed washer for nose gear leg; primed gear attachment bars
- final-drilled #17 holes in wing root fairings
- elevator pushrod assembly and priming; wing root fairings deburred and lower fairings bent around 1.25” PVC pipe
- engine delivery and uncrating
- determined best way to lift engine
- dimpled holes and installed nutplates to seat ramps; deburred  edges of almost all parts in the Miscellanea section; riveted motor cover assembly; riveted aft cover and doubler; attached shoulder harness cables; primed stick boot doubler and battery box attach angle
- temporarily installed battery; installed master relay and starter solenoid; installed sender mount to firewall (without oil and fuel pressure sensors, since I’ll need those from SteinAir)
- figured out how to install a Michelin Airstop tube and tire on the Matco nosewheel (final tire pressure = 35 psi)
- installed tubes and tires on main wheels (final tire pressure = 40 psi); packed grease into all 6 bearings (2 per wheel); installed bearings in main wheel and tire assemblies; torqued upper gear brace; installed elastomer pad; installed nose wheel and tire assembly, using Matco axle, spacers, and bearings

Assembled engine hoist: