Visit with Terry, Small Items

Today I ran down to visit with Terry and check out the progress on his Kitfox. Chris has finished up with the wiring of his panel and has got everything working. Now he's in the programming mode. A few more things to do there and Terry will be able to put the windshield/boot cowl back on and finish up the build. The first engine start is within a week or so, then final inspection. Good Job Terry!

The big coil of wire in the foreground is the programming cable. It will be removed once programming is complete.

It's all working!

Now, Chris can get back to work on mine...

Speaking of working on mine, I did get a couple of things done. 

For the past several days I've been working on the Beringer brakes. I started by laying out all the inventoried parts. The master cylinders are already mounted to the pedals in the aircraft.

First thing was to make up a couple of brake lines and temporarily install them checking for fit. I have some issues where the wires come up to the panel but will get that sorted.

Next up, I needed to determine where the optional ALIR (proportional valve), kind of like an anti-lock brake system, was to be mounted. It's not exactly easy to locate as it goes in between the pedals and the parking brake unit (which I also need to find an appropriate place to mount it). The ALIR valve is pretty much a set it and forget it valve. So, constant access isn't required, which helps in finding a place for it. In my case, just in front of the passenger seat under the elevator control structure.

 Two lines in from the pedals, two lines out to the parking brake (not yet installed).

A shot of the co-pilot pedals with the lines going to the ALIR cris-crossing under the pedal brackets going back to the ALIR.

Another shot of the co-pilot master cylinders with the lines temporarily attached. This is looking "through" the firewall at the pedals.

 

Taking a break from thinking about the brakes, I needed to finish up running the electrical wire from the rudder strobe light into the fuselage. I decided to try my hand at making a fairing for that line. I needed something small, just to cover the hole and provide some protection. I painted the fairing matte black to match everything else and left it to dry over night.

Once I was finished with that I burned a few holes in the fabric, just big enough to allow the plug to pass through. I passed the plug inside and connected it to it's mate to complete the connection.

This morning, I applied some Super Glue and mounted it to finish that task. The wire passes cleanly through and is uninhibited in its movement through the full throw of the rudder.

WIngs, Firewall

I secured the wing bolts at the fuselage today with washers, castle nuts and cotter pins. Afterward, I applied torque seal to all.

Left Upper

Left Lower

Right Upper

Right Lower

Then I set about installing the wing tips and navigation lights. I installed the mount for the light using the previously installed lock plates, so it was just a matter of screwing the mount on. Then, I mounted the light and secured it with the provided set screw. I connected the wire plugs that were previously installed and mounted the whole piece again, using the previously installed lock plates.

Right Wing Tip

Left Wing Tip

The last project for the day was to remove the firewall so I could access the brakes. I first had to suspend the avionics tray toward the front as it attaches to the firewall, using several zip ties. The next project is to install the brake lines to the pedals. This also will give Chris much easier access to finish up the wiring in the panel.

Wings

With a lot of help from Paul and Steve, I got the wings installed back on the plane today! A major milestone in this build.

Paul's pics

Steve's pics and video...

Wings

Getting ready to put the wings on for the final time! Cleaning up the shop and making room for the process. Should happen Sat or Sun.

Elevators

I completed the elevator finishing tapes. I also attached the trim tab. I need to finish with the horizontal stabs and then I can mount all of it.

Rudder Cables, Horizontal Stabilizer

I noted that the factory has upgraded the rudder cables since I purchased my kit. My original cables were 3/32" and they now ship with 1/8". I already had my cables made up but decided for safety's sake to upgrade. This meant cutting the cable ends off and passing the new cable all the way from the rudder to the pedals.

Before I could accomplish this, I had to figure out where the cable passed through the fabric so I could burn the hole. I messed this up on the left side, ended up with an oblong hole. Once I got it located in the correct spot, I stuck a patch on the inside.

Right side

Left side

Oops, no worries, the faring covers all of it.

Then, I spliced both the old and new cables together with a piece of heat shrink so I could just pull the new cable through without having to climb in the fuselage. Worked perfect.

After making up the new cable end for the rudder, I mounted it. I had obtained a couple of cable fairings from a local Kitfox guy and set about prepping them to mount. I painted them and left them to cure overnight.

This morning I installed the front rudder cable to the pedals using the same procedure as I had before.

I finished up installing the cotter pins in all the bolts and torque sealed them. 

Next, I installed the cable fairings while I had tension on the cables. Using the laser level I got them mounted. I had also mounted an inspection ring yesterday, I cut out the hole today. It allows access to the air valve on the shock.

After a break, I set about temporarily installing the horizontal stabilizers. These were previously installed on the plane and I didn't anticipate too much difficulty in reinstalling them. Of course, there was trouble. I determined that some fabric was stopping the front cross member from fully seating. I wasn't able to get the bolt holes to line up. After some fabric surgery, all was well. So, I dismantled the pieces again so I could do some detail work and add finish tapes to them.

This evening, I mixed up some SuperFill and applied it around all the protrusions to seal the fabric to the stabilizer. I'll let that set up overnight.

Fence attach point

Flying wire attach point

Trim servo electric wire

All done, left to cure overnight.