Year-end Update

Off topic, from the '70s. Here's an old photo of me and my buddies making a practice jump at East Troy, Wisconsin. We were getting ready for regional 10-man speed star competition.


It was a good year, but I do regret not getting to fly and race this thing.

Having said that, I am really getting close. I'm working on firewall forward and things aren't too bad. I just had two days of working with the hangar door open and it is really a morale booster. So much better than trying to think and fabricate in a dungeon.

My most recent success (meaning overcome obstacle) is mounting my ignition coils. With the RWS EC3 injection/ignition system, each plug gets it's own LS1 coil. I understand these coils are used on Corvette engines. I took a cue from Lynn French's creative installation and mounted two of them directly on the engine mount. I think this will work pretty well.




My short-term goal is to fire up the engine by the end of January.

I don't work in a total vacuum and certainly don't have the skills to do it all myself. Here are just some of the people that helped me this past year. I know I don't have everyone and if you don't see yourself here, please don't be offended. I probably lost those brain cells connected with your name.

Billy Cheek
Bob Knuckolls and the AeroElectric Connection e-mail list
Bruce Dallas
Charley "C-Rod" Rodriguez
Cory Steinkoneig
David Posey
Dennis Hannon
Don Bartlett
Grither's Auto Body
Harry Hinckley
Jerry Marstall
John Cotter
John Eynon
Ken Robinson
Larry Dauer
Keven Mitchell
Lynn French
Mike Bergen
Mike Burgener
Mike Dwyer
Mike Most
Rob Hoskins
Various SIU Aviation Technology students

And the award for the most help and patient understanding goes to:

My beautiful wife, Sandy

My original target date, for project completion, was May 1, 2008. I still think that was realistic for the original project list, but I kept adding things and it grew and grew and grew. Not on the original list were; replacement of the rear wing, new canopy, and TWO PAINT JOBS.

I just need to stay at it.

Composite Oil Sump is 99.4% Complete

Don't try this at home!

There were just a few things to attend to for the oil sump; like installing a filler cap and post curing the thing. You can refer back to this post to see how I got it this far. http://samhoskins.blogspot.com/2008/06/carbon-fiber-oil-sump.html

I was able to get into the composites lab at SIU AvTech to make the final parts. I used an AN825-20D cap and an AN824-20D nut as the final fitting. I intend to insert a 1/8" welding rod as the dipstick. Thanks to Justin Mace for that idea.

After the thing was complete, I used an oven at SIU to post cure it. This particular epoxy remains quite brittle until the crosslink reaction is complete. I kept it at 140 degrees for 10 hours, then ramped it up to 300 degrees for about 20 minutes. This oven has a precise thermostat and a circulating fan. As you can see, it just barely fit!

After I fabricate the dipstick I'll have to shorten the oil sump suction tube. Then it'll be time to bolt it up and add oil!

I sure hope it doesn't leak.

Today's report

Just a quick update. I'm working on the firewall forward stuff now. The bigger challenges here are to install the trigger sensor, the four LS1 ignition coils, complete earlier work on the carbon fiber oil sump, and install the new Jenvy throttle body and linkage.

As usual, the biggest hurdle is just starting. I had been fretting about it a lot, but I found once I got started on the trigger sensors bracket that it was no big deal. Using a free CAD program, I laid out the drawing. Then it was just a lot of cutting, drilling and fitting.

My main tools are a band saw, drill press and a vice. No mill or lathe, unfortunately. Here's a couple of photos of the trigger sensor. Click on the photos to see 'em bigger.

NOW we're making progress!!!

Here's couple of photos of both behind the scenes and the new panel. I still have another day of hooking up some of the Dynon and ICOM wires, but we're pretty much good to go.

This first photo shows the pilot's rudder pedals, the finned voltage regulator, and the blue thing is the filter capacitor. You can also see the high pressure fuel tubing and the blue return hose.


After setting the instrument panel in place and crimping on about a hundred wires (well, maybe 25) I hooked up a battery and connected power. At first nothing worked. Couldn't get the master switch to operate.

Oh yea. I have to hook up the instrument panel ground plug. Still nothing worked.

Oh yea. I have to hook up the fat engine ground wire. Still nothing worked.

Oh yea. I have to hook up those five other grounds. (I'll have to get a photo of the forest of ground tabs).

Still...

Found a broken wire on the switch that goes to the master solenoid.

NOW SOMETHING WORKS!!!!

I was able to switch on the master and run some fuel pumps and the strobe lights. But, I couldn't get the main distribution bus to run on it's own. No nav lights either.

But, the nav lights are on the same bus as the strobe. Damn. I hope I wired up that bridge diode correctly. Checked it out and it seems okay, but maybe I drew the diode in backwards and wired it according to the drawing . Let's take the meter and work backwards to see where power is feeding from.

Oops! I forgot to install the fuse for both the bus and for the nav lights.

Now EVERYTHING works! Well, everything meaning everything that's hooked up. So, in a couple of days I should be able to start working on the installation in earnest.

Thank God I didn't let any smoke out of the wires.

The Instrument Panel is In

It's been almost exactly one year since I pulled the instrument panel and yesterday I set the new one back in place. Still working in a 43 degree hangar, but with the halogen lights, I actually feel like I might be getting a sun burn.

I recorded a couple of weights before it went in. The .050" aluminum panel, switches, wire, and brackets comes in at 7 pounds. Adding the Dynon, the hand held GPS, transponder, and com radios brought it up to 15 pounds.

Like I said, I have better than a hundred wires in this set-up. It's relatively easy to work behind the panel area, before it's installed, but becomes much more limited now that it's in place. This was so much easier 22 years ago.

I'll sit on my haunches for quite a few minutes at a time and when I have to get out of the plane to get something, it takes a while to unfold myself. Toward the end of the exercise, as I was crawling over the side rail, I got a sudden damned charlie horse. Ouch!

After a few adjustments, I stuck the panel in place and started hooking up some wires. Each wire is tagged with a number; Axx - general airframe, Exx - EC3 Engine Control Unit related, and Dxx - part of the Dynon D180 FlightDEK. Everything is pretty well identified on my drawings and, in theory, it's just a matter of crimping on a terminal and sticking it on the proper switch.

About two hours into it I did find I had forgotten to run a critical wire - the wire that feeds +12V to the ignition coils. Rats. Well, it won't be bad to run the new one.

I keep imagining the fun I'll have as I actually apply power and start flipping a few switches. With a little luck, things will operate and I won't let the smoke out of the wires.

No photos today.

A Year Ago, Today

A year ago today was the last time I flew the Quickie. The target date for getting back in the air was May 1, 2008. I guess I missed that one a little.

On this anniversary, I was planning on making a list of all the things I have changed, but that would be boring and time consuming, so maybe I'll do that after the plane is once again airborne.

The latest update; lots more wires going in, still working on the final electrical system design, and getting ready to install the panel.


It looks rough, but it will all clean up.

More From the Dungeon

Sometimes I feeling like I am working in a dungeon. I have two light stands, a lighted magnifier at the work bench, a portable trouble light, a light bulb in my drill press and my pedestal grinder, and a 150 watt bulb waaay at the top of the hangar. I do arrange it to illuminate my particular task, but overall it's pretty dim.

The temperatures aren't too bad - yet. However, today we are supposed to have a high of 37 degrees and I may get five degrees more than that after the lights have been on for an hour or so.

But enough whining...

The wiring is coming along well. I am dangerously close to being able to permanently install the instrument panel. Yesterday, I decided to change where the fuel injection fuel re-enters the cockpit and had to order a few more AN fittings from Summit Racing.

This photo shows the main battery and the two always hot battery busses in the passenger's baggage compartment. (You are seeing the shelves through the tailcone opening.) This wiring scheme is based on Bob Nuckolls' drawing Z-19RB, electronic fuel injection w/dual rear batteries, page A & page B. The always hot busses feed the electronic control unit, the ignition coils, the fuel injectors, and the fuel injection pumps. (click on photo for more detail.)


With the help of a fellow EAAer I installed the new starter contactor and ran the starter's fat wires. I am using 4AWG welding cable which is very flexible and tough. I'm soldering the terminals and it's working out pretty well. Here is Bob's article on soldering fat wires.

BTW, if you haven't already gotten familiar with Bob Knuckolls and his AeroElectric Connection you are missing the boat. This man has provided a wealth of information for aircraft electrical systems, and has made it available for a song. Buy his book!

It was also time to get the engine off the stand and back where it belongs, to see how everything seems to be fitting. It's not on permanently, but it is heartening to see it back where it belongs, even if it is temporary.

The Darkest Night is Just Before Dawn

Now that the days are getting shorter and it's getting colder, I'm having to hunker down a little. Right now, anyway, the hangar is still tolerable. This week the indoor temperature ranges from 50 to 60 degrees and I'm still comfortable. Unfortunately, I have to keep the door closed and it makes it a little like working in a dungeon. I have a couple of halogen trouble light stands which kick out a good amount of light.

Here's a photo of the executive office:


The wiring is coming along well, but the wire count is quite high. I would say I will be having to identify, cut, add terminals, and mark over a hundred wires, before it's all done. But, like I tell my wife, this is the fun part. I should be able to permanently install the instrument panel by the end of the week.



One wire at a time, every thing is falling neatly into place. There are three major systems involved. First the aircraft electrical system, which I have made redundant because the plane is now all electric. Then, I have the Dynon FlightDek D180 EFIS/EMS system. And finally, I have the RWS EC3 electronic ignition and fuel injection system.

Yikes! The Stripes!

Just a couple of photos to show the paint stripe, courtesy of Sandy. She gave me the stripes for my upcoming 38th birthday. Or is it my 48th? Or....?

As always, click on the photo to see it bigger. Questions and comments are always welcome.

All Things Electrical

I've been trying to concentrate on all of the electrical items from the firewall aft. This is cool, since I am actually bolting parts on the airframe, and the piles of parts in boxes are getting smaller.

With the exception of the wiring, I have the instrument panel largely complete. The Biggies are; handheld GPS dock for my old Garmin GPSMap196, Dynon D180, ICOM A210 Com., Transponder, and RWS ECU programming panel. You will also notice about 20 pounds of switches, used to control the ignition/injection/fuel pumps. As always, click on the photo for more detail.
On the backside of the panel, you can see two fuse blocks, a couple of diode sets and a couple of switching relays.

Throughout the airframe, I've also installed the engine and battery busses and contactors, the voltage regulator and filter capacitor and the big ammeter shunt device.

Soon, I'll get some preliminary wiring done on the panel, then get it permanently installed.

The biggest challenge, right now, is sizing the batteries. My load analysis shows that I'll need about 13 amps to keep this thing in the air. To make my system redundant, I'll need a backup battery capable of delivering 13 amps for a half hour. Yeauch!

I figured out how and where they should go, I just hate adding all that weight.

Sandy said I should just eat less and get some exercise and not worry about the battery.

Now - Where was I?

Time to get back to the fun stuff. While I was waiting for the paint to dry I did get some other work in on the aft side of the firewall. Specifically, I'm working on the instrument panel, location of the batteries, and getting the fuel system in.

Because I'm using fuel injection, I will need a fuel pump to boost the fuel to about 45 psi. It is a closed loop system, meaning, the fuel is in constant circulation as it's filtered, boosted and regulated. The pump and filter package is mounted to the fuselage wall, just aft of the pilot.

I chose Walbro pumps and I have a second as a backup. Fuel leaves the header tank via the black fuel line and goes to an aft mounted 70 micron gascolator. Then through the fuel pump, through a 10 micron filter, then through the aluminium tubing to the firewall. After making the circuit around the engine, it returns back through the firewall and is delivered to the fuel pressure regulator. After the regulator, the excess fuel is dumped back into the header tank.

One of the biggest challenges was bending the aluminum tubing, especially the 1/2" stuff. It was tough even finding the right bender. Fortunately, I was again able to tap into SIU AvTech and got hold of Professor Billy Cheek. Billy used to bend tin for the Air Force and pulled me out of the deep hole I'd gotten myself into.

The photos are showing the work in progress. Click on 'em to see 'em bigger. Please excuse the dust.










Today I actually applied power to the fuel pumps and pressurized the system. For testing purposes I took it to 80 psi, but I think I will normally run it at 45 psi. The test was a great morale boost!

Painted at last, Painted at last, Thank God it's painted at Last!

I finally got all the parts back from the paint shop.



How long has it been? I think Rob came down just before the Fourth of July and that was the start. You can see it here: http://samhoskins.blogspot.com/2008/07/cascades-of-dust.html

I've already put the elevators and ailerons back on, and I'm fitting the rudder into place. I hope to get the stripes applied soon.

The paint really looks nice and the color is consistant. I guess I'm glad I stuck with it.

Free CAD drafting program

Not that this has much to do with anything, but I wanted to let you know that there is a nifty free Computer Aided Drafting program out there I have come to use and like. It's called SolidEdge2D. It has been great for me and it's free.

Why free? Their idea is to get you hooked on their 2D program, then hopefully, you will upgrade to 3D.

I use it mostly for my electrical drawings
Following Bob Nuckolls, AeroElectric Connection, I have a large page for the main power distribution, than an individual page for each component. BTW, if you don't have a copy, get one. I consider it a must-have.

A long time ago I used AutoCad. The company I used to work for used CoCreate's ME10, which was completely different and I grew accustomed to it. After I retired, I would have preferred to stay with ME10 but it was avilable for corporate use only.

I tried some versions of AutoCad but didn't really get along with them, then I came across SolidEdge2D.

They just released a new version, so I'm getting used to it now.

Paint not yet resolved.

I'm still waiting to get the rest of the parts back from the paint shop. I really need the elevators since I will be routing things around the bellcranks.

Jon Finley suggested I choose some contrasting colors.

Now what?

Quick update here. It's definitely a good news/bad news situation.



After sanding off about $700 worth of new paint, I sent my plane to a local body shop. The interesting thing was getting a plane with a 17 foot gear width onto a 16 foot trailer. It went well and we didn't have too far to go.

They mixed a single gallon of paint and used the base coat/clear coat method - standard for automotive paint shops. We brought it home and everything seemed great - until...

Until I put the cowling on. Lo and behold, the cowling was darker than the rest of the fuselage! A closer look revealed that the flight controls, spinner, wheel cover pants were also off color.

I brought Sandy out to the airport to look at it. I thought maybe she might suggest that I live with it, but she was disappointed, too.

I had the guys come out and look at it but they couldn't figure out what happened, since it was all painted from a single gallon. They called the DuPont specialist to take a look and even he couldn't figure it out.

So, how to make it right? The DuPont guy brought a nifty scanner which he placed on the fuselage, just aft of the firewall. This device calibrates the color of the existing paint. They took it back to the body shop and plugged it into the paint mixing computer. Just like that, the computer mixes the paint to match the scan.

Today I dropped off the flight controls and some other odds & ends, to be repainted. If they look right, we'll do the cowling. The good news is that the tail cone and canopy match. I know it will be fine when we're done.

On another note, I'm starting to plumb the high pressure fuel system for the electronic fuel injection.