46A - Leg & Wheel Fairings (main and nose wheel fairings, intersection fairings, leg fairings)

Since I was still waiting for the nose gear, I begrudgingly trudged through 12 of the 13 fiberglass pieces that comprise the leg and wheel fairings.  Lots of progress on most of these parts ... and a very dusty workshop from sanding and sanding and sanding fiberglass.  Be resigned to have dust everywhere for a while. Specifically, I completed the following during the past ~12 days:

- finished fitting right gear fairings to each other; #40 match-drilled; cutout gear leg clearance hole; ensured all could be installed on right wheel/gear; floxed all 4 brackets to gear fairings and loosely attached with screws (did this process off the plane, since there was no way to verify proper seating of bracket if on plane)

- cleaned up floxed brackets; drilled, countersunk and riveted nutplated to aft fairings; drilled #27 and countersunk holes in forward fairings; both main wheel fairings are ready to mount onto plane

trimmed nose fairing halves; marked and drilled holes #40 into nose fairings; fabricated “v block”

- leveled nose wheel fairing and marked;  fabricated spacer and deburred bracket and located nutplates on bracket; lots of contemplation about this fairing

- checked main gear fairings for twist; secured trailing edges; modified hinge halves; drilled, clecoed and deburred hinges into one of the main gear fairings

- countersunk and riveted hinges to first main gear fairing; bent hinge pin and drilled hole for safety wire; completed all tasks for the 2nd main gear fairing

- worked on all 4 intersection fairings for the main gear (lots of sanding)

- attached main gear fairings with screws (they fit!); attached leg fairings and intersection fairings (on/off to prepare for drilling); drilled right intersection fairings

- drilled left intersection fairings; sanded all 4 intersection fairings (80grit); floxed two upper intersection fairings and installed loosely with #6 screws; received and opened crate with nose gear leg

- floxed and clecoed lower intersection fairings to main wheel fairings

The four main gear fairing halves, at some intermediate stage of completion:

45 - Cowling (trimmed); 43 - Engine Installation (random stuff); 38 - Canopy & Window (latch system); 40A - Gear & Engine Mount (installed legs, wheels, brakes); 46A - Leg & Wheel Fairings (main gear nearly complete)

Another couple weeks of searching for items to complete, while I wait for Van's to deliver backordered items (COVID-delays, so understandable). Fortunately, they sent me the main gear legs and the latch torque tube, so I could get another week of work done toward installing the engine.  BUT, I still need the nose gear and link before installing the engine ... oh well, this forces me to continue picking at the fiberglass bits. Here are the details:

- clamped cowl halves together and started fine-trimming the spinner hole and ducts; lots of small areas to sand to get all four areas to fit nicely

- finished fine-trimming of spinner hole and air ducts; drilled #40 holes to cleco (for now) the area around the spinner; cleaned up for next project (dust everywhere!)

- removed fuel hose that goes from fuel servo to fuel spider to take measurements and pictures for Aircraft Specialty - they will fabricate an integral firesleeved hose for me, and hopefully include in their catalog for other RV-14A builders!  

- received backordered powdercoated torque tube from Van’s; installed canopy latch system; tested latch action inside and out - works just fine!  

- installed main gear legs; attached main gear leg axles (wife helped); checked alignment of axles (toe); installed main wheel and tire assemblies

- installed brakes and brake lines from fuselage to calipers (Aircraft Specialty!)

- trimmed and deburred oil door and oil door hinge

- prepped main gear fairings; fit and trimmed main gear fairings so the halves mate as precisely as possible

- drilled #30 main gear fairings for brackets and found that one aft fairing was mis-dimpled at factory; repaired drill holes in aft fairing using epoxy-flox; drilled left fairing and cut gear leg clearance hole; attached nutplates to fairing brackets; installed one bracket temp. on left gear/wheel

- attached other 3 brackets (temp) to gear/wheels; modified left wheel fairing halves to have 5/8” clearance for tire

- finished fitting right gear fairings to each other; #40 match-drilled; cutout gear leg clearance hole; ensured all could be installed on right wheel/gear; floxed all 4 brackets to gear fairings and loosely attached with screws (did this process off the plane, since there was no way to verify proper seating of bracket if on plane)

Finished trimming and fitting the forward parts of the top and bottom cowls - the two halves fit well together, so I drilled the requisite #40 hole: 

43 - Engine Installation (misc.); 44 - Spinner & Prop (spinner plate and spinner cutouts); 45 - Cowling (trimmed to scribe lines)

In an effort to keep busy while I await a number of backordered parts from the Finish and FWF kits, I bounced around between tasks for the engine installation, spinner and propeller, and cowling.  Fortunately, a fairly heavy (~60 lb) shipment from Van's is en route and should be here on Wed - and I hope these are the powder-coated parts that I need to finish the canopy latch mechanism as well as the gear legs so I can put her on her feet.  The latter is needed before I attach the engine, which would be the next major step in (hopefully) a couple weeks.  Meanwhile, here is what I accomplished since the last post:

- attached a bunch of steel fittings to the engine; torqued nuts and attached more wires to the starter solenoid
- primed and attached manifold pressure sensor bracket; separated, deburred and riveted prop governor bracket assembly
- powder-coated steps (H&R Powder Coating in Orlando)
- figuring out how to install B&C backup alternator (i.e., hard-to-reach nuts), as well as the electrical connections to the e-mag - VERY tight quarters for both
- installed B&C backup alternator (torqued 3 nuts at 108 in-lb); what a pain in the ass 4th nut - need another tool to properly torque that nut; EDIT - got proper vacuum pump crow’s foot and wobble extension and it was easy to torque that 4th nut
- drilled #30, and cut spinner plate assembly with pneumatic nibbler and pneumatic belt sander
- riveted spinner back plate and doubler, and deburred edges; removed cutout sections of spinner;
marked scribe lines; started trimming cowl at the spinner and air-intake areas
- trimmed to scribe lines for all areas except the aft lateral lines on the bottom cowl; test-fit to determine interference in the front section (will need to trim a little more)

Finished installing the remaining wires to the master relay and starter solenoid.  After reviewing Ken B.'s and Turner B.'s installations of their alternator fuses and G3X shunt, a couple of these nuts will need to come off to accommodate the starter switch wire and main power switch wire. I'll deal with that once I receive the panel.

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:

38 - Canopy and Window (fabricating the Fiberglass Fairing, Part 2 - COMPLETED)

Part 2 of fabricating the fiberglass fairing is shown below, following this summary:

- cut 2 layers of BID fiberglass on the bias, ready for pre-preg; retaped the perimeter of the fairing, readying for sanding tomorrow (after filler fully cures)
- sanded the epoxy/microballoon paste, applied second layer of tinted BID fiberglass cut on bias, pre-preg
- sanded fiberglass (80 grit); wiped with IPA; replaced black tape; applied skim layer of Aeropoxy Light (s.g. of 0.49!)
- sanded Aeropoxy Light (80 grit), re-applied Aeropoxy light in several slightly low areas, to try to get the transition close to perfect side-to-side
- sanded Aeropoxy light, sprayed with filler primer (SEM), and did 4 rounds of filling with “Icing” (like Bondo), prior to a final coat of primer.  Looks beautiful - the canopy fairing was well worth the ~25 hours I spent on it

Re-taped the perimeter with black electrical tape:

38 - Canopy and Window (final installation of canopy plexiglass; fabricating the Fiberglass Fairing, Part 1)

After match-drilling the canopy and canopy frame holes, countersinking or dimpling as appropriate, the canopy went back on the canopy frame for riveting and final torquing of zones 1 and 2 (zone 3 will be torqued later). I also figured out an easy way to thread safety wire in the left rail of the canopy frame (for the canopy switch) - details below, and involve using sewing thread!

The next task is a dreaded step for many builders:  the canopy's fiberglass fairing, which provides a transition from the aluminum canopy frame to the plexiglass canopy.  Fortunately, I attended an EAA Sportair workshop titled "Fiberglass Techniques for RV Aircraft" led by Scott Vanderveen, who had us do a complete process for a mockup canopy fairing over the 2 day class (along with 2 other RV-relevant projects).  Scott's method differs from Van's quite a bit; I've provided many of the steps below, but unless you already know how to work with fiberglass, I highly recommend taking Scott's workshop. The major differences are:  1) the Van's-supplied templates to outline the fairing or cut the fiberglass pieces are not needed; 2) instead of cutting umpteen fiberglass pieces, some on the bias but most not, simply cut enough fiberglass all on the bias (important!) for 4 strips of BID fiberglass, 2.5" wide; 3) a strong structural adhesive is used to bond the fiberglass to aluminum (epoxy doesn't adhere well to bare aluminum), 4) all filler and fiberglass layers are tinted, so the result is a deeper black than the Van's method that has only the first layer or so of fiberglass tinted; and, 5) the finishing layer is Aeropoxy light - a wonderful epoxy paste that is strong yet can be easily sanded and shaped (unlike epoxy/flox/micro). So far, I've completed half the process - i.e., up to the point right before the second application of dual-layer BID fiberglass.  I've delineated each step with pictures, following these details from the past week:

- match-drilled #27 (w/reamer) all holes common to canopy and canopy frame; deburred holes; dimpled #27 holes in side skins; started prepping for interior paint
- painted interior of canopy frame assembly; deburred and machine-countersunk holes in canopy; separated seal retainers; cut notches in rear seal
- painted top of glare shield matte black; painted seal retainers gray; primed contact surface of canopy handles; installed safety wire (to eventually pull canopy latch switch wires, when avionics are installed)
- placed canopy back on canopy frame assembly; clecoed left side skin, loosely attached hardware on left side, and tried to “fish” 0.041” safety wire though the channel
- loosely attached screws/hardware on right side of canopy; riveted side skins to canopy; fished 0.041” safety wire through wire channel using thread and needlenose pliers; attached screws/hardware and seal retainers on aft part of canopy (tightened inboard 14 screws); fabricated and installed canopy wear strips
- separated and fit hinge covers; tightened screws in “zone 2” of canopy with my wife’s help; fabricated canopy clips
- riveted canopy clips to canopy frame assembly; sanded canopy (80 grit) and aluminum (220 grit); followed Scott Vanderveen’s canopy fiberglass transition, Day 1 (structural adhesive; flox/micro/tint epoxy fillet; 2 layer tinted BID fiberglass cut on bias, pre-preg)
- Day 2: sanded fiberglass (80 grit); brushed on thin layer of epoxy; used tinted dry micro/epoxy paste and a bondo spreader to form center fillet and fill some of the low spots

Final #27 drilling of the canopy and canopy frame:

38 - Canopy and Window (finished canopy assembly; drilled canopy to canopy assembly)

This section is taking forever; but, a shout-out to Van's for such excellent engineering - the canopy frame is light as can be, and very strong. Once the canopy was match- and final-drilled, and clecoed to the canopy frame, it became even sturdier.  Note to other builders:  take your time drilling and use proper plexi bits (I purchased from Abbeon) until you hit metal, and then switch over to jobbers for the aluminum.  Here are the main details for the past couple of weeks (thanks to my wife for helping me mount and remove the canopy and canopy frame multiple times this session):

- clecoed and final-drilled canopy assembly; removed all clecos; riveted canopy handle assembly together and to the aft canopy frame (after deburring edges of all parts)
- countersunk canopy rail assemblies, canopy handles, and forward canopy rails; dimpled canopy side skin and main canopy skin; dimpled support flange; deburred all holes that were drilled; clecoed main canopy skin and forward canopy rails to the canopy frame assembly
- riveted canopy assembly and canopy frame closeout making sure to check each side is level every FOUR rivets
- riveted canopy rail assemblies to canopy assembly
- riveted canopy frame assembly to canopy assembly; attached switched brackets and canopy pin blocks to canopy assembly; installed canopy assembly on fuselage
- removed plastic covering on edges of plexi canopy; first fitting of plexi canopy on canopy frame assembly; marked aft edge for trimming with painter’s tape
- trimmed aft edge using small pneumatic belt sander, sharp file, ceramic scraper, and 80-220grit sanding blocks; started chamfering of forward edge with ceramic scraper
- chamfered forward edge, re-fit and re-trimmed aft edge (was a little under 1/32” away from window shim), filed and scraped canopy contact areas
- filed forward canopy to contact canopy skin as much as possible; trimmed inside of canopy side edges to fit against side rails; weighed down canopy with two 10lb and one 5lb weights; final and match drilled #40 canopy to canopy assembly; marked forward of canopy onto skin to demarcate area to paint matte black

Clecoed and final-drilled canopy rails to canopy assembly: