Neal – Page 8 – RV-14 Build

Cowling Fitting

Posted on June 11, 2024July 13, 2024 by Neal

Today my Dad and I worked on fitting the cowling.

The first step was getting the top cowl firewall attach hinges to fit nicely. The instructions call for filing the corners of the eyelets on the firewall to allow the cowl-side eyelets to fit nicely in the area where the hinge curves from the top to the side. Then some fluting is needed on the cowl side to ensure a consistent curvature.

With a nice alignment of hinges, we moved onto trimming the cowling. There is a scribe line that shows where the cuts should be made, but it’s important to go through an iterative process of fitting and adjusting, since the scribe line is more of a guide, and certainly not exact. The cowling went on and off many times while dad carefully trimmed away to get a perfect fit.

The prop needs to go on before we can finalize the fitting of the cowling, but the majority of the trimming work was completed today.

Dad filing the edges of the hinge eyelets

The fluting is visible here on the cowling side of the hinge. Also visible are the rounded edges of the firewall-side hinge eyelets

The initial set of cuts being made to remove excess material. We used a diamond hacksaw blade for most of the cuts, and a hacksaw blade for the tight corners

Marking the scribe lines with a sharpie to make the trimming process easier

Shortening control sticks

Posted on June 10, 2024July 13, 2024 by Neal

Over the last two days, my dad and I worked on solving two problems with the control sticks. 1. shortening the control sticks to prevent contact with the panel when full forward, and 2. modifying the passenger-side wiring to avoid interference with the structure around the stick.

When I first installed the sticks I didn’t have the panel installed, and wasn’t sure how much clearance they would have. With the panel installed, the stick grips were hitting the bevel on the bottom edge of the screens, and the flap switch. We took the sticks out, removed the grips, cut away the sleeve, shortened the stick about 1.5 inches, installed a new sleeve, then reinstalled the sticks. Of course we started with just the passenger side, got the dimensions just right, then copied for the pilot side.

On the passenger side wiring, we removed the bulky connector I had fabricated, and just went with d-sub pins isolated with heat-shrink tubing. This is the same approach as the pilot side. There is a risk of the connectors pulling apart over time, but the multiple layers of tubing will help. I’ll also be zip-tying each side of the connectors to the stick to reduce strain.

Removing the stick will still be possible, but not recommended except for maintenance.

I plan to install a switch on the passenger side ground wire so I can deactivate the stick buttons and switches as needed.

Passenger side showing the new wiring configuration.

Full forward stick position clears the panel

Governor studs

Posted on June 8, 2024 by Neal

Today Dad removed the original 4 governor studs and replaced with longer versions from Lycoming. The original studs didn’t have sufficient length for the two washers that are called out in the manual.

A stud removal tool, some copper paste, and a couple of nuts were needed to remove the old studs and install the new ones. Carefully measuring the depth of the original studs helped ensure the right placement of the new ones.

With the studs in, I reinstalled the governor and final torqued the nuts.

FlyLED controller and Light dimmer

Posted on June 5, 2024 by Neal

Today I installed the FlyLED controller board and the light dimmer circuit board. These both went of the forward side of the sub panel. The mounting hardware protrudes through the sub panel, behind the vpower unit.

I uninstalled the shelf that holds the vpower box and transponder, to allow access to drill the mounting holes for both boards.

Dad made a template to mark the holes, and then we drilled them to the correct size. The plastic standoff pins for the FlyLED board worked nicely, the only tricky part was mounting the board, which I did by feel, since there’s no easy access.

After installing the boards, the 4 standoff pins are visible between the piano hinges, while in the background the two #8 screws holding the dimmer board are visible.

FlyLED board installed on the plastic standoff pins

#8 screws hold the dimmer board onto the sub panel

ELT

Posted on May 29, 2024 by Neal

With all the hardware in hand, I went ahead and installed the ELT.

Important to-do: register the ELT and do a self-test. Since I don’t have a registration number yet, I don’t think I can register the ELT, but I need to research. Testing is also something I need to research, as setting off a 406MHz ELT is not the same as the old 121.5 style which you can test in the first 5 minutes of every hour.

ELT bracket. Note the buzzer mount on the right and ground point on the left.

Panel Power-Up

Posted on May 21, 2024May 29, 2024 by Neal

Tonight I finished a few small tasks and powered up the panel for the first time. No smoke or popping sounds, and everything worked exactly as expected. This felt like a significant milestone in the airplane’s life.

The prep tasks included plugging in the few remaining items (CO detector, battery, OAT), and double-checking all the wiring. I had developed a checklist to follow to ensure I didn’t miss anything critical. Then it was time to power up the ground power module, and hit the Battery switch. Note, the panel doesn’t have a Master switch, as the alternator is switched independently. (Typically the Battery plus Alternator switches make up the Master switch.)

The “thunk” of the battery contactor closing, and subsequent coming-to-life of screens and switches was awesome. Plugging in my headset and hearing the crisp and clear audio intercom and radio transmissions of aircraft was exciting and rewarding. Mostly I felt relieved that everything worked as expected, so I can move forward with tidying up the wiring and checking the various subsystems (lighting, engine monitoring, autopilot etc).

Powering up the panel. This was before I configured the VPX page to disable lighting circuits etc. at this point the avionics master is “off”, which is why the G750 screen is blank

ELT

Posted on May 19, 2024 by Neal

Tonight I got started on the ELT mount. I’m going with the 406MHz unit from Artex, and mounting in the regular location. The unit ships with a mount plate that fits the hole pattern on the aft deck. The only thing I need to do is wire up the harness, mount the buzzer (an audio alarm that sounds when it activates), and it’s good to go.

I made a mount bracket for the buzzer, and ordered some #8 screws and associated washers and nuts to mount the ELT tray.

I also installed the panel ground pigtail using an AN5 bolt.

ELT mounting tray. #8 hardware will secure this to the airframe

Panel ground plate and FlyLED board

Posted on May 16, 2024 by Neal

Tonight I made and installed a ground point for the instrument panel ground leads, and wired up the FlyLED “The Works” controller board.

The ground point is on the sub structure between the firewall and the instrument panel. Since the rib in that area is thin, I installed a plate on each side of the rib, secured with rivets in each corner. Before installing I removed the primer from both sides of the rib. Tomorrow I should be getting a bolt in the mail which will fit nicely here, securing the ground wires. This was the first time I needed to go on my back, up under the panel. It sucked. I removed the passenger side stick and used a cushion, but it was still very cramped and uncomfortable.

With that job done, I wired up the FlyLED controller board. I’ll need to mount this behind the panel somewhere, so I’ll be doing more crawling under the panel to install I’m sure.

Ground pig-tail that will be bolted to the ground plate

Seat ramps

Posted on May 12, 2024 by Neal

Tonight I torqued up 4 bolts that had been installed as part of the quick build but not torqued. This had been on the to-do list for a while, but I decided to do it now so I could install the seat ramps.

Bigger picture, I’m gearing up for a first power-up of the instrument panel. For the next few tasks I’ll be in and out of the cockpit, so I want the seat ramps installed to reduce risk of bending or dinging any of the internal structure.

Once the bolts were torqued I installed the seat ramps. There’s a slight alignment issue with one of the screw holes near the seatbelt, so I’ll have to look at that at some point. These ramps will be coming out again at least a few more times, to install the seatbelts, to connect wing systems, and to troubleshoot problems.

Second bolt torqued and waiting torque seal

Pilot side seat ramp showing the alignment issue

Pitot lines

Posted on April 30, 2024May 16, 2024 by Neal

Tonight I made a fitting to hold two cushion clamps, which will support the pitot and AOA pneumatic lines as they enter the fuselage from the wing.

I also made a corresponding fitting to help guide the Nav antenna on the right side of the fuselage.

I considered installing a bulkhead fitting for the pitot and AOA lines, and eventually decided against that option. I needed some way to prevent the lines chaffing on the aft gear brace assembly, and since the tail dragged doesn’t use part U-01402, I used the two AN5 holes to mount a fitting with two cushion clamps.

I made one of these for each side, the left side for pitot lines and the right side for the Nav antenna.

For the Nav antenna fitting, I epoxied a plastic zip tie holder to the aluminum fitting.

Author: Neal