Rigging Flaps - 4 hours (185 Total)

Today I finish rigging the flaps. I attempted to do this several weeks ago but was having difficulty because either the flaps would be too high or too low. Rans's suggestion for alleviating this issue was to trim the excess thread off of the teleflex cable. I trimmed 5/16" off of both teleflex cables above the cockpit. This allowed for only a couple of threads to remain before the teleflex bottoms out onto the bolt in the Insert Nut.

Rans also told me to set the teleflex retainer bracket so the angle was towards the front. Trimming the excess teleflex thread and having the bracket in this orientation only made the problem worse. By rotating the teleflex retainer bracket around, the problem was reduced but not solved.

I then trimmed off 3/16" of the left teleflex cable at the flap end. This turned out to be unnecessary because the Flap Lever Teleflex Cable was still adjusted. Luckily I didn't trim off too much. I did not trim the right cable.

I readjusted the Flap Lever Teleflex Cable so it was fully bottomed out. I then built a jig to allow me to accurately set the flap and aileron droop out of some plywood (actually OSB). This jig will hook onto the front spar of the wing and allow me to check droop of the flaps.


















Once the flaps were adjusted, I safety wired the teleflex retainer brackets within the wings and placed the "safety brackets" above the cockpit.








































I then trimmed the wing fabric around the flap teleflex cables to prevent rubbing. These did not come out as clean as I had hoped.



























Here are pictures of the safety wire used on the teleflex retainer brackets within the wings.

Nose Cone - 3 hours (181 Total)

Today I assembled the two halves of the nose cone. One of the main reasons I am doing this now is because I want to fit the nose to the plane to see if I have room to place my parachute inside of the nose. This will save me space behind my seat and move my center of gravity forward.

I started off by drilling the rivet holes into the aluminum strips. The manual says to start the holes a quarter inch from the end of the strip which will mount at the tip of the nose. I decided to start the holes at 3/8" to allow the first hole to be used by the screws that will hold the plastic block and pitot tube. This spacing is required to give enough room for the pitot tube between the screw heads.

Once the holes were drilled into the metal strips I used clecos and clamps to help transfer the hole to the top half of the nose cone.













I used blue Saran (plastic) wrap to protect the nose cone lexan. I through out the plastic film that came with the pieces because they collected the lexan dust when I ground the edges down to the correct size. I was afraid the dust would scratch the lexan.













To give the metal strips a snug fit towards the tip of the nose cone I bent them into a slight curve. This was done by lightly hammering them with a rubber mallet over a 2" diameter rounded edge.














I then transferred the rivet holes to the lower half of the nose cone. This was tricky to do and get a tight fit without bulges.



























Prior to riveting the pieces together, I applied some foam to the lower nose cone half to fill any air gaps. I used the foam that the manual calls out to use as a door seal.














Assembled and ready to rivet...













Finished nose cone wrapped in blue Saran (plastic) wrap.














During the rivet process, two of the brass washers fell off. I needed to drill out the rivets to replace them (not fun) with the brass washers.

Rigging Flaps - 3 hours (178 Total)

I spent a few hours trying to rig my flaps to have the correct amount of droop to no avail.

During the process I noticed that I had bolted the teleflex retainer in the wrong hole in the left wing. There are two holes about an inch apart in the compression tube. The manual clearly states which hole to use within the text but doesn't reference it in the exploded parts diagrams. Luckily the holes were pre-drilled to the correct size for the bolt (I would have never been able to get a drill inside the zippered portal to drill out the hole). With considerable effort I was able to unbolted the teleflex retainer and move it to the correct hole.

Even with the teleflex retainers in the correct position, I still wasn't able to adjust the flaps to the correct droop. I adjusted the following components in many combinations...

• Female Rod End - While maintaining min 10 threads
• Teleflex Retainer - I've rotated this to point forward and aft but the change it makes is too great. I verified that it is mounted in the forward hole of the Flap Compression tube.
• Insert Nut - While maintaining min 10 threads. I also tried removing the Insert Nut and using a lock nut but the change it makes is too great.
• Flap Lever Teleflex Cable - I've adjusted how far the shackle bolts onto the threaded end of the cable.
• Unihorn - I verified that I'm using the correct hole (there is only one hole left after the unihorn was cut down to size) and it is oriented in the same manner as the assembly drawing.

I will contact Rans and ask for their advice.

Oil Fittings - 0 hours (175 Total)

I received the 90 degree and 120 degree oil fittings today. It looks like there are severe clearance issues with either fitting and the engine mount. Hopefully the 150 degree fittings help.

Below are four pictures using the 90 degree fitting. As you can see in the picture, the Barry mount is in the direct path of the fitting.


























































Below are a few pictures of the 120 degree fitting. This fitting has a little better clearance but the Barry mount washer will still have clearance issues. Even with the planned 1/4" increase in distance from the engine to the plate for the next rev of the mount, I don't think there will be enough clearance.

Exhaust Clearance - 0 hours (175 Total)

I am planning to use the exhaust system that Mark H. Beierle has designed for his Earthstar aircraft. His exhaust sits above the engine. Jerry from Green Sky Adventures is interested in using an exhaust system that sits below the engine. Below are some pictures that should help see if that type of exhaust system will fit.

The exhaust pipes will need to squeeze between the flaps which are roughly 14 inches apart. This will need to be done within the first 8 inches of pipe measured from where they leave the engine.

Aileron and Flaps - 6 hours (175 Total)

Today I worked on attaching the second flap and the two ailerons. Getting the hinges to line up enough to insert the hinge bolt took much effort and time. I wasn't able to come up with much of a technique that made it any easier.















Once I attached the flaps and ailerons, I cut the hole for the right wings' flap teleflex cable. The dimensions that the Rans manual said to cut in to the wing fabric for the teleflex cable seemed to be off by 1/4 inch on the first (left) wing, so I attempted to compensate on the second (right) wing. This didn't help; I would have been better off to use their specified dimensions for the hole. Both cut outs look fine but they needed to be enlarged to accommodate the teleflex cable excessive rubbing of the fabric.














Unfortunately, it looks like I do need more of that 1/4 inch aluminum tubing. It is needed as a spacer for the bolts that go through the teleflex fittings. I will need to contact Rans to send me more. I tightened down the bolt or the flap system just to see the end result. I did need to use the think washers instead of the thin ones that were specified to prevent the acorn bolt from braking through the plastic of the nut.















After the flaps, I worked on the push-pull tubes of the ailerons. The holes in the fabric that were needed for the aileron push-pull tubes we very different than what the manual called for. From my experience with the flaps, I marked out the fabric hole with masking tape and cut an X out in the center. I fully cut out the holes once the ailerons were operational.

Screwing the aileron push-pull tubes onto the eyebolt that is connected to the bellcrank inside the wing was not easy. The hard part was getting the angle right so the threads of the eye bolt and push-pull tube would line up. I did use Lock-tite on the threads.

Prior to cutting the holes in the wing fabric for the aileron push-pull tubes, I needed to roughly set up the correct rigging. The first part was getting the bellcranks inside the wing aligned with the wing's compression tube when the ailerons are in the neutral position. The zippered portal in the wing isn't in the right place to get the best view of the bellcrank but I aligned it the best I could. Aligning the bellcranks required adjusting the rod ends of the long push-pull tubes at the control tee above the cockpit.















Next I adjusted the rod ends of the short push-pull tubes where they connect to the ailerons. Since these rod ends also needs a 1/4 inch aluminum tube spacer that I didn't have, I roughly set the droop of the ailerons without using the recommend straight edge.

The next step was enlarging the holes for the aileron push-pull tubes. Below are three pictures of the left wing with the control stick left, neutral, and right.







































Below are three pictures of the right wing with the control stick left, neutral, and right.
















































While testing the movement of the ailerons I noticed a strange resistance. If I move the control stick to the left, about 4/5 of the way through the movement the resistance will increase. This isn't a gradual increase; it feels as if there is a slight stopping point and then it takes a slightly harder push to get though the full movement. The right aileron also has this but it is not at pronounced. In fact I didn't notice the issue until I specifically looked for it by only connecting one push-pull tube to the control tee at a time. This may be caused by the clear coat on the velcro of the wings. The velcro is very stiff because of the clear coat.

The last major thing I did today was place the cotter pins in the wing's hinge bolts. I trimmed the cotter pins after I inserted them to make them easier to bend around the nut.

Aileron and Flap hinges - 6 hours (169 Total)

The second half of the day I worked on the hinges for the wings, ailerons, and flaps.

I started off by finding the locations of bolt holes for the hinges on the flaps. This was not easy considering the dark color of the fabric. Once I found the first hole by feeling for a dimple with my fingernail, I marked them with a pen. I was able to find the other holes a little easier by referring to the measurements I had made prior to putting the fabric on. Taking these measurements was very helpful since the manual doesn't give these dimensions. I did find one discrepency that I'll get into later.

Once the holes were marked, I marked out the 1.5" cutout in the velcro for the hinges. I used a pair of scissors to make the perpendicular cuts but found the soldering iron was best used to make the cuts parallel to the flaps. I used the soldering iron to weld any frayed fabric or loose thread.

I bolted the hinges onto the flaps without much trouble but needed to ream out the hinges with the #11 drill for the bolts to fit. This wasn't needed for the holes for the hinge bolt.

Next I assembled the flap's bracket for the teleflex cable. The instructions called for me to trim the bracket for the flaps but not the ailerons. This was done easily with my miter saw and bench grinder. I used a metal file to clean up the edges. The bolts and nuts used to hold the bracket pieces together are very close together. I could not use a socket wrench because of interference with the other bolts.

The instruction called for a spacer made from the 1/4" aluminum tubing to be placed inside the flaps at the trailing edge. I assume this is needed because the trailing edge of the flaps is made out of 1/2" aluminum tubing which would probably weaken if a bolt hole was drilled though it. I barely had enough of the 1/4" tubing to create the spacers for the flaps and ailerons. I needed to use a hack saw for the last few cuts because using my miter saw with its thick blade would have wasted too much material.

To insert the spacer inside the flaps, I just enlarged the hole I melted through the fabric for the bolt. This was not obvious to me at first.

The instructions called for the use of thin washers on the bolt that went through the spacer. I decided to use thick washers for this because when the acorn nut was put on, the end of the bolt partially broke through the acorn nut's plastic cap with the thin washers. Another solution would have been to increase the length of the spacer but I did not have any 1/4" tubing left over.


















































































After finishing both flaps and repeating the process for the ailerons, I started attaching the hinges to the wings. The holes on the wings were just as hard to find as they were on the ailerons and flaps.

After cutting and cleaning up the 1.5" holes in the velcro for the fabric, I started bolting the hinges to the rear spar. I was shocked to find that the nut plate for the bolt that holds one of the flap hinges was not there. This was the case on the other wing as well. These are the hinges that sit closest to wing root. I remember double checking that the plates were installed prior to putting on the fabric. I examined some photos I have of the wing prior to putting the skin on and was able to see all seven nut plates. I believe what happened was that I installed the nut plate over the wrong hole. I vaguely remember there being one extra hold in the trailing edge spar. Because the manual didn't specify and I didn't have the flaps handy to compare to, I assumed that the spacing between the three hinges would be equal. Unfortunately, the hole that gave me a equal 30" from the center hinge to the two out hinges was incorrect.













Since I don't have access to the inside of the wing at this location, I don't have the ability to add the nut plate. My work around for this was to use a stainless steal rivet instead of the bolt. This will make replacing the hinge difficult which I have been told is something that needs to be done periodically because the hinge's bolt holes enlarge over time.













The next step was to use my soldering iron to cut the fabric from the wing's zippered access ports. This was straight forward and simple to do. Extra care was needed for the smaller access port because of the difficulty in holding the port open while using the soldering iron. The port only has room for one hand.

I then used the soldering iron to cut the opening in the wing for the left wing's teleflex cable used to actuate the flaps. The dimension in the manual were slightly off which required me to make a slightly larger hole. I then positioned the teleflex cable into the stop bracket inside the wing and safety wired it. I also removed the zip-tie that was holding the teleflex cable in position.

I then attached the left flap to the wing. I mistakenly placed the hinge bolts into the hinges without using a washer first. Removing the hinge bolts was not easy and scratched up the bolts. This shouldn't effect their strength but it's something to avoid doing in the future.

Once the left flap was fully attached, I loosely connected the teleflex cable and tested it's movement. It appears as if the bolt that connects the bracket to the teleflex cable is too long and will break through the acorn nut's plastic cap. I will replace the thin washers with the thicker washers to prevent this once I start fine tuning the flap position.

Trim Cable - 1 hours (163 Total)

The first part of the day I worked on re-routing the trim tab cable. Instead of routing it in a circle to allow it to enter into the opening of the boom tube, I made an opening in the side of the boom tube so the cable could be routed in more of a straight line.

This opening was created by drilling a series of holes that I later cleaned up with a small file.