38 - Canopy & Window (finished); 42- Misc (attached foot steps); 47 - Cowl Baffle (closeout; oil door); 51 - FWF Misc. (various); Other (moved fuselage to hangar!)

First and foremost, I moved the fuselage to the hangar - specifically Parkers Towing and Transport moved the fuselage, and spent a good deal of time designing ramps for the main wheels for transport.  The Parkers are great people, and were very interested in all aspects of my RV-14A - most importantly, they took great care to secure and transport my bird.  I highly recommend them if you live in central Florida; they drove 50 miles each way for the transport, and now that they have transported two Van's aircraft (my buddy, Ken B's RV-14A and now mine), they are pros. 

The rest of the past 2 weeks involved a bunch of odds-and-ends, in an attempt to finish as much stuff in the workshop prior to moving the fuselage.  Specifically, I did the following: 

- finished attaching Koger sunshade; cleaned canopy and removed some of the inside protective plastic (for sunshade); painted baggage covers for steps

- tightened alternator pulley/belt and torqued and safety-wired bolt; attached boot to p-lead of magneto

- lower cowl closeout completed w/distal part of sniffle line attached to it; attached step attach covers in baggage area (used thin nylon #8 washers so paint doesn’t chip when screws tightened)

- greased nosegear Zerk fitting with blue marine grease (had to push out the Aeroshell 5, which is more hygroscopic); added 2000deg fireshield barrier to “red cube” fuel flow transducer, since so close to exhaust pipe; prepared oil cooler scat tubing

- painted baggage floor closeout and access panel from baggage area to tailcone; finished oil door; vacuumed tailcone, tied up loose wires in tailcone

- cleaned baggage area and tailcone with damp cloth; closed out baggage area and passthrough to tailcone; started installing aft window (siliconed screws in roll bar; loose attach of 22 of 29 screws in aft section of window)

- finished installing and prosealing the aft window

- cleaned garage, moved plane outside to attach canopy (with wife and daughter helping); realized aft edge of canopy was touching parts of the aft window, so sanded and scraped aft part of canopy to ensure adequate gap (4 iterations - pain in the ass, but it’s done)

- prepped plane and workshop for fuselage move (final prep)

- moved the fuselage to airport hangar using Parker’s Towing; cleaned hangar; cleaned workshop some more

Here's a pic of the first step of the move:

Avionics (canopy wiring); 38 - Canopy & Window (seals and Koger sunshade); 42 - Miscellanea (foot steps)

I didn't accomplish that much during the past 2 weeks, largely because I diverted some time to register the bird with the FAA, and start getting current again with a local flight school (and I completed a written exam, which took me about 6 hrs!).  Formal retraining starts this week.  Back to the bird:  I'm at the "90% done, 90% to go" stage, and formulated a long punchlist of stuff I want to accomplish before I move the fuselage to the hangar in a few weeks, as well as what is needed to finalize the plane prior to its airworthiness inspection. Here is a short list of tasks I completed these past weeks:

- attached head unit for ELT; completed SB-00027 (nosegear cutout and beefy washer); cut and attached LED glareshield light strip (1 extra segment, per Ken B.); started wiring canopy wires to the male molex pins on canopy molex connector

- finished canopy wiring, adhered wires with RTV silicone (note - the LED light strip’s tape does not adhere well - may need to RTV silicone that as well - or use Pliobond, which I ordered)

- attached static line to GSU25 and G5; attached 1/8” NPT straight fittings to pitot/AOA on GSU25 and pitot on G5

- attached some seals to canopy front, some of which used Pliobond to stick better; reattached LED light strip

- attached forward seal to canopy

- attached foot steps (powder coated black a few months ago)

- attached side canopy seals; attached Koger sunshade    

Started the cutout for part of the recent service bulletin (SB-00027):   

Avionics (lots of shizzle)

I completed a lot of avionics-related tasks during the past ~two weeks, including powering on the panel for the first time!  Thanks to Sean M., I have a temporary ground power unit hooked to the aircraft, supplying about 14V (need to have between 13-15V to charge the LiFePO4 IBBS), and I can spend a couple hours at a time playing with the settings instead of only 10-15min with the ship's battery. Specifically, I did the following the past two weeks:

- finished tidying all wire bundles FWF; routed and terminated all grounds (34 in total) to “forest of tabs”

- wired voltage regulator for backup alternator; wired a few other loose wires; attached battery; attached two Comant COM antennae; attached (temporarily) transponder blade antenna

- routed RG400 and connected BNC male connectors to all 4 ends of the coax that goes to the Comant antennae

- fabricated and painted shelf for GPS antennae; routed RG400 for the main GPS antenna (from GTN750xi); ordered RG400 and female BNC to connect G3X "el cheapo" antenna

- tidied some of the avionics wires; routed main & G3X GPS antennae RG400 wires and mounted both antennae to shelf above baggage compartment; installed GTR20 (remote Com2) and voltage regulator for backup alternator to rails (fabricated previously); installed trickle charger harness to battery

- connected transponder and attached right avionics shelf; figured out LED strip light connections; troubleshot rocker switch backlighting issue (3 switches weren’t lit; bad wire crimp for two); wired G3X GPS antenna; wired GTN750xi Nav to Archer antenna (temp. install)

- attached power supply to airplane to test avionics without draining battery, and to charge the IBBS and G5 (since they supposedly need >=13.8V to charge - correction: 13-15V) ; Comms worked well in receive mode - used headset and separate handheld transceiver on 123.45MHz; programmed avionics (started)

- installed most components of the ELT (except head unit, since waiting for battery)

- attached labels to push/pull control knobs; attached canopy avionics wires to molex connector; routed and attached 2 wires to canopy open/closed switch; cut and attached glareshield edge trim; started planning SB for nosegear washer and cutout; cut LED light strip to size (plus one segment, according to Ken B.) 

The next set of pics are the final tidying of FWF wires, hoses, cables, etc:

47 - Cowl Baffle (finished); 50 - Control Cables (prop cable); 51 - FWF Misc. (route mag harnesses); Avionics (FWF wire terminations)

A lot of miscellaneous tasks were accomplished during the past couple of weeks, the most noticeable of which was wiring the various FWF sensors to the avionics, as well as finishing the damned cowl baffle. They both are looking good though.  Oh, and I had a visit from my buddy, Ken B., who gave me an initial Pope's blessing for the FWF - before we do the first engine run-ups, he'll go over everything with a fine-toothed comb.  For now, most everything was good, and a couple things were fixed.  Specifics for the past week are listed below:

- attached magneto/emag cooling tubes; sealed baffles with lots of red RTV

- formed and attached clamping strips to bottom cowl air inlets; epoxy-floxed between cowl and strips

- sanded bottom cowl outboard and inboard air inlets to curve to match the baffle’s width; added epoxy/flox to top cowl to eventually sand down to match bottom cowl (outboard edges of air inlets)

- sanded top and bottom cowl outboard inlets to match each other; attached inlet seals (except one screw - need a longer screw); attached foam block to top cowl with red RTV; mostly done with the cowl baffle section!

- installed prop bracket & cable; partially attached sniffle valve and tubes/hoses; ; finished installing alt. air cable

- Route, adel-clamp, and attach spark plug harnesses (from Slick magneto and P-mag)

- Ken B. visited to check out my FWF and avionics install to date - great to catch up, and I appreciated the advice!

- installed CHT and EGT probes; messed with routing wiring for EGT and CHT (K-type wires); inventoried misc. hardware and supplies that I bought from Ken. B.

- worked on wiring under panel; routed and wired CHT and EGT probes

- wired a couple FWF sensors (fuel pressure, oil pressure)

- wired master solenoid, starter solenoid, oil pressure switch, oil temp, main amp shunt (primary alternator), aux amp shunt (backup alternator), started tidying all wire bundles FWF

Using binder clips to pre-bend the stuff rubber seals:

47 - Cowl Baffle (baffle rods; snorkel & air filter; ramp cones; baffle seals)

Another two weeks have passed, and I still haven't finished the cowl baffle section! Lots of little steps, many of which require fitting and refitting (e.g. snorkel).  I received the interior this week (yeah!), and look forward to installing it in the plane in a few weeks, once I finalize the avionics wiring and a few other tidbits.  Details of what was accomplished are as follows: 

- messed with the snorkel for far too long - doesn’t fit perfectly, so I will have to build up the flange using flox (edit: I just sanded a bit, since there was plenty of material); tried cutting baffle tension rods and using a die to thread the ends, but I had a crappy die and work-hardened the ends by using a dremel tool.  Contacted Ken B., who suggested a die grinder and better 6-32 die

- threaded rod ends using a better, high-speed steel 6-32 die (McMaster-Carr), and attached and tensioned the rods to the baffles

- fit, trimmed, sanded, drilled, floxed and epoxied snorkel

- cut alt air hole, drilled and floxed alt air inlet; unpacked and inventoried interior for plane!

- formed and attached ramp cones; final-installed snorkel and air filter (safety-wired snorkel to fuel servo); everything fits fairly well!

- attached baffle seals; routed top ignition wires (had to enlarge holes for the 5/16” p-mag wires); brushed on additional layer of epoxy on top cowl where baffle seals will touch

Here are two of the baffle tension rods, attached and torqued - those were a pain to install. Note that I used two metal locknuts (one as a "jam nut"), since the -06 sized nuts are really not very tight:

47 - Cowl Baffle (attached 4 main baffles); Other (ANL fuses; shunts)

Not as much progress during the last two weeks as I had hoped, but much of this time was spent thinking and reading about the next steps with the firewall-forward wiring - mostly how and where to attach and wire the ANL fuses and shunts. There are many different ways of tackling this with 2 alternators and 1 main battery. Some folks use 1 shunt after fuses and tie in both alternators, and sometimes the battery, to measure current for all 3.  While this would work, in conjunction with a voltmeter (built into the G3X), I had SteinAir specifically wire two sets of shunt wires so I could monitor both alternators separately. Also, I had a little issue with the oil filler tube - it came cross-threaded, and thus couldn't be installed straight. No worries - a couple emails to Lycoming and I received a new oil filler tube with no problems (and this one installed relatively easily).  Specifically, these items were accomplished:

- attached ANL fuse holders and shunts to firewall (w/wife helping); attached all 8AWG cables/ring terminals from alternator to ANL fuses to shunts to unswitched side of starter contactor.  Shunts will measure current flowing from primary and secondary alternators

- deburred, drilled, and riveted cylinder baffles and left aft baffle

- deburred, drilled and riveted right aft baffle and cylinder #3 bridge; attached aft and forward center brackets to engine; applied RTV sealant to left and right aft baffles

- installed both aft baffles to engine (mostly - some nuts/screws need to be final-tightened later)

- assembled left and right forward baffles and air ramps, qqand added strips of red RTV where they touch the engine (will need to cure for 1-2 days before installing on engine)

- installed oil filler tube (w/safety wire); installed front left and right baffles and tightened all screws/nuts

A little out of order, but here is the final wiring for the ANL fuses and shunts (pic below).  One fuse per alternator, and one shunt per alternator, so I can read the current for either on the G3X EFIS.  No need to read battery current - if I'm at the stage whereby I need to know how much current I'm drawing from the battery, then both my primary and secondary alternators have failed (unlikely), and I will be landing ASAP.  Moreover, the EFIS screens have an IBBS (integrated backup battery system), and the G5 backup system has it's own 1 hr internal battery, so the chances of running out of juice are essentially nil. If all else fails, the engine will still run without any external power, and I can communicate via a handheld radio that I carry.  I am a belt, suspenders, another belt, and a few more suspenders kind of guy:   

48 - Exhaust (finished install); 49 - Fuel & Oil System (installed most hoses/lines); 50 - Control Cables (installed throttle and mixture)

 Lots of little odds-and-ends were accomplished during the past two weeks - I can certainly understand the phrase "90% done, 90% to go!"  On one hand, I feel like this plane should be flying in a month - on the other hand, every time I think that, I find 10 more tasks I need to accomplish.  Oh well - I can't believe I'm still having as much fun today as I did in July 2018 when I started this project!  I also wish the building part will never end (BUT, I want to fly again soon, so not really).  Time to start scheduling my eye exam, get my Basic Med signoff, get current with a CFI, and put my name on a waiting list for transition training.  Here are the details for the past 2 weeks: 

- installed one more scat hose

- installed penultimate scat hose for heating air vents; played around with wiring and hoses for rest of avionics and engine install (complex!)

- installed Airwolf remote oil filter; installed a few more FWF oil/fuel lines and other misc. stuff

- installed oil pressure sensors and oil pressure switch (had to disassemble manifold bar on firewall to do so); installed a couple oil lines; deburred and primed parts of oil cooler; installed breather tube

- oil cooler mount and other related items were installed or prepped

- Finished installing oil cooler; installed p-mag manifold pressure tube, routed and temporarily attached Aircraft Specialty manifold pressure lines (not tight yet); wired p-mag control plug/harness and installed to p-mag (difficult as shit to reach in there)

- installed hoses to oil cooler; dabbed more red RTV to seal holes in oil cooler shroud; routed some avionics wires (temp.); accidentally knocked identifying shrink tubing off of CHT1 and CHT3, and had to disconnect several avionics bundles and unscrew left shelf, strip wires, do a conductivity test, and then relabel wires and reassemble everything (PITA!); final-torqued and installed manifold pressure lines; installed wires to manifold pressure sensor

- enlarged holes and installed control cable bracket; routed and partially installed throttle, mixture, prop, and alt air cables; rerouted some avionics wires (esp. the big wire bundles/connectors, which needed to go aft of the horizontal rudder pedal bar)

- installed cabin heat cables to right and left heat vents; continued installing throttle cable and cable guide; 

- installed the throttle bracket/cable and mixture bracket/cable

- rerouted some of the avionics wires to go through the center firewall passthrough; drilled holes for ANL fuses and shunts on firewall; installed “forest of tabs”

Scat hose connected between the two heat muffs: