The day has finally arrived for the DAR to inspect the airplane. All my logbooks, build plans, photos and other documentation were laid out for review. There were no paperwork issues, but a few minor items to address on the airplane. Overall a successful inspection!
Certificate issued on March 6, 2023 for N190XB!
Here is a brief video of the first engine start from January 30, 2023. This was an exciting day and a huge milestone in the project. The engine started right away and everything ran great. Looking forward soon to the airworthiness inspection and first flight!
Click this link to see the video: N190XB-FirstStart-2023-0130v1
Many thanks to Terry, Mark, and especially Tal for their unwavering support helping to make this project happen.
The final installations have begun after many years of component fabrication.
My son and I carried the propeller out of basement storage for transport to the airport.
The unwrapped propeller on the floor was checked, then hung by Terry, Eric and I. Sorry no photos were taken during that process. Needless to say, everything went well and the prop looks great. Easily the best looking thing about the aircraft!
High temperature RTV was applied to gaps in the baffling and between cylinder heads. The engine was then filled with 12qts of Aeroshell 100 mineral oil, which will be used for the 25-30hour engine break-in period.
Final connections of the propeller governor cable and bracket adjustments were made. The air dams with their original heights were installed. These were later reduced in size after some initial flight tests were performed.
EGT probes were installed in the exhaust manifold, then bundled with their corresponding CHT probe wires. The alternator belt was tensioned and Safe-T-Wired secure.
Measuring the leading edge of the wing provided a reference point for the CG calculations.
Intersection fairings for the gear legs were initially fit, then later painted and installed after the TS Flightlines stainless braided brake lines.
Final installation of the oil door with hidden hinge…
A 1/16″ ceramic mat was contact cemented in the lower cowl, then covered with Vans aluminum heat shielding. This combination should prevent the cowl paint from being scorched by the exhaust manifold heat. Lower cowl pins will be secured against these Adel clamps with tie wraps.
Final wiring for AeroLED VX landing lights were Solder Sealed, then run through conduit to the wingtips.
AeroLED VX landing and NS position lights/strobes…
Decals applied to flaps and doors…
Wiring from control sticks to system buses used DB15 connections for easy maintenance or removal.
Ground wires were covered in thick rubber fuel lines to prevent chaffing, then seat pans were installed.
Aerosport auxiliary seat handles were installed for easier operation. Then final inspection and review of everything to date.
All that’s left before first engine start is sit back and wait for good weather outside. It certainly has been a long time coming. Very excited about this next major milestone.
Here is a walk-around of progress made in the last few weeks. These videos show the right and left sides for review.
Right Side
Left Side
This next video shows initial attachment of the NAV2 antenna to the upper vertical stabilizer, applying a door opening decal, and putting on a wingtip.
Last week the data plate was installed on the left rear fuselage under the horizontal stabilizer. Together with the FAA registration I understand this combination means I have a real airplane!
I selected the simplest data plate possible: Builder, model and serial number.
Much of the finalized assembly was not photographed in-progress, as fabrication of the parts was generally covered in previous posts. Plus I really wanted to get done without taking further time on the website. A greater reliance on video content was made as the build headed for completion.
VERTICAL STABILIZER
Here the vertical stabilizer was being attached to the empennage – hopefully for the last time.
I made this custom NAV antenna bracket many moons ago. In retrospect, I would probably forgo this bracket and mount the antenna directly under the fuselage.
Anyway – here was the final connection and covering by the VS cap.
The left photo shows the Suntail Strobe/Nav wiring exit between the rear fuselage and the rudder bottom. On the right is the original elevator stop replaced with a much heavier and larger alternate means to comply with Service Bulletin SB18-03-30 from Vans. This modification prevents over-rotation of UP elevator.
Following attachment of the rudder bottom, intersection fairings around the VS and HS were installed. Thin rubber edging protects the HS paint from the elevator trim covering. Note the elevator horn to elevator push rod assembly in the upper right of the first photo.
This photo shows a taut line extending from the main wheels at ground level to the rear tie down point. This confirms the COM1 antenna will not scrape on the runway during takeoffs or landings.
BATTERY BOXES
The Odessey 680 batteries were secured with a Delrin-like polymer frame with a felt underlayment for protection. Here are the components before assembly.
The final configurations of the battery boxes, Artex 1000 ELT, and the Garmin GTX45R transponder/ADSB behind the baggage bulkhead is show here.
Now that the airplane has been moved to the airport and wings attached, final painting and installations can proceed.
Interior panels from Aerosport Products were primed with PPG DP48LF white primer. Later the panels were painted PPG Concept Boeing Grey.
The foam backed, fabric material was glued into place on the Aerosport headliner with contact cement by professional auto specialists. (Don’t ask why I did not do this myself). The backing fiberglass was then fitted with Velcro strips and attached to corresponding strips on the canopy.
More views of the overhead console and installed headliner..
The left photo shows fitting the map pockets on the forward interior panels prior to prime/paint. The right photo shows the baggage bulkhead after painting.
A Blue Seas power outlet was fitted onto the baggage bulkhead. A 10A fuse and toggle switch for directing trickle charge power to either PRI or SEC battery were installed with switch guards. This outlet is not intended for ever jump starting the aircraft. The required EXPERIMENTAL decal was installed on the upper bulkhead cover.
The lower bulkhead cover was fitted with UHDP wear blocks for the rear shoulder harness cables. The right picture shows a rear interior panel with the air vent cover installed.
Preparation of the Aerosport dashboard cover included installation of covers for the panel fan outlets and trimming the edges for fit. After trim, I used my fledgling sewing skills to dress the edges against fraying.
The center console and control stick wiring was completed and tested. Labelling of the jack ports was with a Brother P-touch. I would have preferred a laser etched alternative, but maybe than can be a future project.
The dashboard cover was secured with 1″ and 2″ Velcro strips.
Final dashboard cover, center console and control sticks installed…
Front and rear footwell carpet…
Rear seat and baggage compartment carpet…
Finish configuration of wing root covers required installation of a few system components.
The rear spar bolt was an AN6-11, anchor nut and cotter pin. The wing root fairing supports are held primarily by LP4-3 pull rivets.
A custom fuel line, filter and shut-off valve from TSFlightline was installed. This configuration should allow the filter to be removed for annual inspection without the need to completely drain the tanks.
The massive and high precision bolts (NAS1309-58 and NAS1306-58) were tightened with the nylon insert (AN365-918 and AN365-624) lock nuts and regular/thin washers to expose sufficient bolt threads. The torques were 100 lb-ft and 20 lb-ft respectively
The Stewart-Warner IE-F-385C (right) fuel sender was attached with NAS180-2-0808 (8-32) hex head bolts and Permatex Aviation Forma-Gasket sealer compound.
Fuel sumping valves were installed and fuel vent lines were fabricated from 1/4″ stainless tube.
Lastly a Garmin GTP59 air temperature probe was installed near the first inspection port. This last run allowed the wire bundles to be consolidated and attached via CPC-24 connector to the fuselage.
The same day as ‘the big move’, we attached the wings with provisional fasteners, then began work fitting the wing root fairings.
Following the Van’s instructions, the wings were first pinned into place with drift pins and hardware store 3/8″ bolts. These bolts have much looser tolerances (~.010 “) as compared to the high precision NAS1309-58 and NAS1306-58 bolts called for final insertions (done at a later date).
Both wings were provisionally attached with just a few main bolts. Thanks to Eric, Peter and Aaron for help during the wing transport and attachment activities.
The wing root fairings were trimmed to match the contour of the fuselage. This left about a 3/16″ gap between the fairing and fuselage. This gap will be filled with black rubber edge molding as some vibration and flexing of the wing will be expected during flight. On the right stiffeners, upon which people will stand when entering the cabin, are clecoed then riveted onto the upper fairing panels.
The inner sides of the fairings were scuffed, washed and then sprayed with SEM Self-etching primer (grey 39683). The outer sides were scuffed, treated with Prekote, then primed with DesoPrime followed by application of Snow White Desothane CA8800 paint. Wheel pants and fairings were painted at the same time.
The 2022 Labor Day weekend saw the transportation of fuselage and wings to the final assembly location in my hangar at KTTA. Many thanks to Terry G. for the use of his equipment, his expertise and patience in dealing with a very nervous builder (me) during the “Big Move”.
The cowl was attached to the fuselage for transport, then pushed outside the shop to be loaded onto a 22′ heavy equipment trailer. Initially we intended to load the plane facing forward, but found rolling it on backwards would be much easier.
The trailer was about 8’6″ wide, but the main landing gear wheels were about 8′ even. As a result, the movable ramps had to be relocated outwards to accommodate loading the plane. An electrical winch attached to the tail cone started pulling the fuselage up the ramp. Eventually the pull angles were wrong, so we used the body weight of two people to hold down the tail while others pushed the main wheels between grates on the loading ramp.
Loading was a very slow, deliberate process as the leeway between main wheels and edge of the trailer was only about 3″ on either side. The fuselage was carefully inched backwards up the ramp and into position. A wheel coming off the trailer would have spelled disaster and could have ruined the entire fuselage.
More photos inching the fuselage onto the trailer.
Eventually the main wheels were chocked close to each edge. Multiple ratchet straps held down the main and front wheels. These were tightened into a very stable configuration; one secured from movement in all directions (left, right, forward, backwards, and up).
Rolling down the highway towards the airport! The actual road transport went without any issues with a safe arrival at the end.
Multiple volunteers helped unload the fuselage – basically the reverse of the load process, but much easier with the gravity assist. Here the fuselage was moved off the trailer…
… and into the hangar.
Now that the ‘big move” was complete, the protective film on the windows was removed.
WING TRANSPORT
The wings were moved to the airport with Tal’s trailer just as previously posted from house to shop.