Radio - 0.5 hours (478.5 Total)

Today I also epoxied a velcro strip to my instrument panel for the radio.

Several weeks ago I placed self adhesive velcro on the back of the radio and onto the instrument panel. Unfortunately, the adhesive didn't stick well enough to the fabric and peeled off.

In the photo below you can see the velcro strip that has been glued to the panel. I needed to put the tape on the edges to prevent them from curing up before the glue set.

Door Handle - 2 hours (478 Total)

Today I installed my door handle.

The door handle installation was pretty strait forward until it came to securing the plastic handles to the aluminum tube which goes through the door. The instruction manual has you use a nutsert and a stainless steel screw. The screw goes all the way through the handle and aluminum tube and is threaded into the nutsert on the other side. I assumed that the reason for this setup was to allow the removal of the screw and handle. It turns out that the handle cannot be removed once the nutsert is installed anyway.

If I were to do it again, I would just use rivets instead. I also needed to replace the screws because the allan wrench heads stripped out while I was installing them.

Center Cover - 4 hours (476 Total)

Today I attached the center cover to the plane.

I started off and spent a quite a bit of time positioning the center cover over the wings. I initially had a friend help me with the positioning because I thought it would be too difficult to do on my own. It turned out to be pretty easy to position myself with the help of some masking tape.

While positioning, I slipped on the rubber trim that protects the wing fabric from the edge of the metal center cover. The trim is not in any of the photos below. I used my Dremel tool to trim the metal cover to give me a snug fit between the rubber trim and the leading edge of the wing. I also trimmed a notch in the right side to allow the door to clear.

Once I was happy with the location and fit of the center cover, I started drilling and cleco'ing it into place. I removed the rubber trim at this time to allow me to get a snug fit against the wind shield Lexan.

The next step was to rivet the center cover into place. Where the center cover was only riveted into the Lexan, I used brass backing washers. I used the technique I described in the wind shield installation post of using the primer line to hold the washers in place while I pulled the rivets.

Below are some photos of the installed center cover.

Air Vents - 2 hours (472 Total)

Today I installed the air vents.

I started off by creating a circle template for the holes I needed to cut into the Lexan. I used the rotary bit on my Dremel tool to cut the holes. I cut a practice hole in my spare door Lexan to make sure the bit wouldn't damage the Lexan.

I taped my hole templates to Lexan where the instruction manual stated. Once the holes were cut out I was able to pop the vents into place. The vents fit very snuggly into the holes and will only rotate if a significant amount of force is used. I may try to enlarge the holes at a later date but I don't want the vents to rotate too easily.

Door, Second Try - 7 hours (470 Total)

As I had mentioned in my October 31st post, I decided to rebuild my door due to the hinges not aligning properly. I purchased a new Door Frame Hinge Tube from Rans.

The instruction manual indicated that I should mount the hinges and Lexan to the Door Frame Hinge Tube and then mount the mating hinges to the wind shield tube. I decided to do it differently this time around.

I started by positioning (rotation) the Door Frame Hinge Tube so the slight bend is has on the top mates flush with the window frame tube. You can see this in the first three photos. My first attempt caused the door to dip significantly inward which probably would have caused problems later on.

Once that was aligned, I attached the top hinge to the Door Frame Hinge Tube. The mating hinges are already attached to the Windshield Frame Tube. I then connected the other two hinges to the Door Frame Hinge Tube. This allowed the hinges to properly mate with the hinges on the Windshield Frame Tube.

While I was connecting the two lower hinges, I made sure that the secured hinge was in a midpoint within it's mating hinge. In other words... When the hinges are mated together, there is a small amount of play between them, approximately 1/32". I made sure the hinge was centered while I was securing the other hinges. I used masking tape to secure the hinge in place prior to drilling and riveting. Because of the problems I had the first time, I moved very slowly and double checked all my alignments before I drilled or riveted.















































Once all of the hinges were in place and I was happy with the Door Frame Hinge Tube, I taped the Lexan onto the tube and plane. This allowed me to check the alignment of the door Lexan in reference to the window. I decided that instead of making the door and window Lexan flush as the instruction manual suggests, I allowed the door Lexan to overlap the window. This will give me tighter seal.
















I then positioned and tapped the bottom door frame to the Lexan. I also positioned the rear door frame that sits adjacent to the window. To get the proper fit, I needed to trim a half an inch off of the rear door frame tube. Without the trimming, the bend in the bottom tube would not have matched up with the curve in the plane's frame.

Once I was happy with the positioning and clearances, I drilled and cleco'd the tubes into place. I aligned my drill holes with the rivets that are in the window and sheet metal.
















I then positioned the positioned, drilled, and cleco'd the first gusset. Since I had a limited number of clecos, I went ahead and riveted the inside gusset into place. I left the gusset that sits between the Lexan and the frame unriveted. I'll rivet it into place with the Lexan.































For some reason the second set of gussets didn't fit right. This may have been caused by my decision to allow the door to overlap the window and the need to trim the rear tube. I was able to trim the gusset to fit.





























The forward gusset took the most work. Instead of having two matching gussets for either side, the forward gusset was made of a single piece of sheet metal that wraps around the front corner of the door. I needed to trim the gusset to allow it to fit around the bottom tube. The instruction manual states the you want to twist the door prior to installing this gusset. This twist will allow the door to close snuggly against the sheet metal and frame of the plane. Since I had already drilled most of the holes through the Lexan and bottom tube, I was concerned that these holes wouldn't line up after the twist. Luckily, I didn't have an issue.




























































Before I riveted the Lexan to the door frame, I decided to drill some rivet holes into the frame. These holes will hold a set of gussets for a gas strut that will hold the door open. I used one of the door gussets as a template to get accurate hole spacing. I needed to do this now because once the Lexan is installed, I won't have room for the drill.
















Now that all the gussets were in place and I was happy with the fit of the door, I went through the process of peeling back the protective coating from the Lexan and riveting it to the frame.

Labels - 1 hour (463 Total)

Today I spent some time attaching my control labels.

The serial number plate pictured below was included in the EAA E-LSA conversion kit I purchased. I had it engraved and took it to a sheet metal shop to have it rolled so it would fit snuggly against my boom tube.













































I had the engraver create two plastic labels for my dash. One is to label my Master switch and the other is my planes N-number, N14WE. Both labels are required by the FAA.












































The following photos show stickers that I placed on various controls. The stickers were provided by Rans. The FAA requires that all controls be labeled.

Door - 3 hours (462 Total)

Today I started putting the door together.

I just received a new piece of Lexan for the door. I had scratched the original piece many months ago and just recently ordered a new one.

The first thing I did today was cut the one aluminum hinge Rans supplied into three. I spent some time filing down the sharp edges and corners.

I also created new hinge pins. The hinge came with a aluminum pin but Rans supplied a steel pin to be put in it's place. The steel pin is slightly larger in diameter and fits very snuggly in the hinge. To ease the assembly, I will use the existing aluminum pin until the final assembly.
















I started mounting the hinges to the Door Frame Hinge Tube. The tube has a slight bend about 5" from the top. This is intended to match up with the slight curve in the door frame. As you can see in the photo below, I clamped the tube flat on the table so the bend points towards the inside of the table. Mounting the hinges on the upward facing surface will allow the bend to point inwards when attached to the plane.
















Once the hinges were riveted in to place, I drilled the holes for the door Lexan.































I then mounted the mating hinge plates to the windshield tube of the plane. The instructions indicate the hinges should be placed so they are resting against the edge of the Lexan. Since the Lexan edge of the windshield has a slight spiral up the windshield tube, the hinges are not in an ideal, straight line. This is causing problems when I attempt to connect the hinges together. I should have taken this spiral into account when I attached the hinges to the Door Frame Hinge Tube. I may need to purchase a new Door Frame Hinge Tube and re-attach the hinges with a matching spiral.