| Entry Date | Summary | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Entry Date | Summary | Description |
| 2012-04-07 | HS complete | The HS was completed by the former builder sometime before 2003. Internal parts were primed and the HS has been dry fit to the empennage, and has been permanently affixed to the elevator/trim tab. It is currently hanging on the workshop wall awaiting dry assembly, finish, and final assembly. * All labor hours are estimated and date is the purchase date. |
| 2012-04-07 | Elevator complete | Elevator, trim tab and electric trim was completed by former builder. All internal parts were primed and it is now permanently affixed to the elevator. NOTE: I still need to verify that all Service Bulletins were complied with. * All labor hours are estimated and date is the purchase date. |
| 2012-04-07 | Rudder complete | Rudder was completed by the former builder. It was primed with Zinc Chromate and dry fit to the Vertical Stabilizer in the former builder's shop. It is now hanging on my shop wall awaiting next dry fit, finish, and final assembly. * All labor hours are estimated and dates are purchase date. |
| 2012-04-07 | Fuselage mounted to cage | The fuselage halves have been joined, plumbed, and set for wing angle of incidence. The fuselage has been attached to the steel cage. This work was performed by the former builder. The only remaining cage-to-fuselage items to be completed are: - the rear overhead sruts to tie the cage to the rear fuselage just ahead of the baggage bulkhead. - SB69A shoulder harness and seatbelt modifications. - Top deck needs to be attached to cage and bonded to main fuselage. * All labor hours are estimated and date is the purchase date. |
| 2012-04-07 | Fuselage bulkheads completed | All 4 fuselage bulkheads were completed by the former builder. NOTE: The only item I still need to verify is whether the forward side of the baggage bulkhead requiress fiberglass tape over the micro joint. Original buiilder said either "plans didn't mention it" or "plans said it was not required". I have seen other Glastar builder sites that showed tape there. I may do this anyway for safe measure. UPDATE 05/10/12: I have confirmed that this is the proper method for installing the rear baggage bulkhead. * All labor hours are estimated and date is the purchase date. |
| 2012-04-07 | Cabin Flight controls installed | The control sticks, rudder pedals, brake cyclinders, flap handle assembly, and cable guides and pulleys were all installed and the rudder and elevator control cables are attached and run. The control sticks have not been drilled and bolted permanently to their mounts and no cabling is complete for aileron or flap control. Control stick mounts include a "recommended improvement" with a strap from the cage tubes to the phenolic block mount point. This work was all performed by the former builder. * All labor hours are estimated and date is the purchase date. |
| 2012-04-07 | Tail section details: UPDATE AS OF 11/27/12 | The tail cone section is completed and prepared for installation of the HS & elevator, rudder, control cabling, sheer web(s), strakes and tail cone plastics. This area will be completed much closer to the total airframe completion point. The VS also has one com dipole antenna installed with the com cabling running forward. The work completed above was done by the former builder. NOTE: I may still elect to complete the tail section reinforcement and all other items for the tailwheel. Though I do not currently have a tailwheel rating, I can easily see us taking advantage of the Gstar in the back country one day in a TW configuration. UPDATE AS OF 11/27/12: I just completed my Tailwheel endorsement so I am definitely installing the TW reinforcements! * All labor hours are estimated and date is the purchase date. |
| 2012-04-07 | Current wing completion status | The left wing has been finish-drilled and is currently cleco'd together in a temporary jig in the garage workshop. The work on the wing up to this point had been done by the former builder. Section VI: Wing Assembly has been completed up to page 93 for the left wing, with one or two items that I need to back-track to check but all is clearly marked in the assembly manual. Othere than an inventory and pre-assembly of the strut mount bracket, the aileron hinges and a few other brackets that were made during the left wing effort, nothign has been done. I plan to disassemble, debur, clean and prime the left wing interior componets and the insides of the skins and then pack and store them with the right wing components. My intention is to work on the ailerons and flaps (each left/right pair concurrently) and then return to the wings and build them concurrently. With the left wing this far along, I will be able to reference it during the right wing build to hopefully keep from too many speed bumps! * All dates and labor hours estimated. |
| 2012-04-07 | COMM 1 Antenna in Tail | The original builder installed a dipole COMM 1 antenna within the vertical stablilizer prior to assembling the halves of the fuselage. The wiring is run towards the bulkhead A position for future installation to the panel. |
| 2012-05-04 | Tips not completed yet | The HS and elevator tips are currently awaiting attention. This will likely not occur until close to the flight date, after elevator balancing and decison on final finish (paint? polish? vinyl wrap?) I am actually missing one of the two elevator plastic tips but I see folks have purchased aftermarket fiberglass tips and even used the factory plastic tips as molds for their own fiberglass tips. Too early to think about this now. I will revisit closer to airframe completion. |
| 2012-05-04 | Tail cone not completed yet | The tail cone will get attention closer to the end of the airframe build. All plastics have been identified and are currently safely stored. |
| 2012-05-04 | Strakes not completed yet | The strakes will be some of the last things I do on the tail section. The parts have been identified in my inventory and are safely stored for later construction. |
| 2012-05-04 | Doors, windows and baggage door not completed | The entry doors, baggage door and rear windows are not yet completed. The parts are identified in inventory and safely stored. These will likely be some of the last items installed prior to final assembly. |
| 2012-05-09 | Ordered the Anti-Servo tab today. | Been reading about the benefits of the anti-servo tab so I figured I would order it up as I am getting ready to begin aileron and flap construction. Instructions I've seen make it look relatively simple. |
| 2012-05-30 | SNAFU with Anti-Servo tab | So, as I previously posted, I ordered the aileron anti-servo tab from Glasair. Box arrived within a few days and, as advertised, the tab skins were pre-assembled to the spar, hinge and trailing edge...or were they? Indeed the skins were assembled to the spar and the spar to the piano hinge, but the trailing edge had some randomly spaced blind rivets installed. I suspect these are for temporarily holding the trailing edge skins together but, even though I read the instructions cover to cover 4 times, I did not see any reference to having to drill them out nor rivet the permanent standard head rivets in there. (???) In addition to that, and probably more of an issue for me was the scratched, scuffed and discolored skins! (see photos) This tab looked like it got dragged around the shop floor before being assembled to the point where I won't even put it on the plane as-is. As it stands now, I am planning to polish my aluminum flying surfaces, so this simply won't do. So I called Harry and he said all the units they have in inventory look this way. He claimed the trim tab skins do not get the protective coating that the other skins do (which I am having a hard time believing to begin with since they put these on brand new Sportsmans now) But, in the end, he was willing to accept the tab in exchange for pre-drilled, pre-formed but unassembled parts that are supposed to be plastic-film-protected. Replacements should be here today or tomorrow. I'll post photos of the replacement skins soon. |
| 2012-06-20 | Disassembled left wing from jig and packed up | This weekend, I disassembled the left wing from the jig. During the process, I photographed EVERYTHING and took notes in the assembly manual so I had a good record of where the original builder left off. I found a few things that surprised me, not in a bad way, but more in a "huh" way. For instance, mid-span on the main top spar cap, there are a number of holes that were not countersunk. I am guessing he either stopped and didn't pick it back up - or was unsure of where the transition between the different skin thicknesses occured so he left it uncountersunk to avoid a mistake. I was impressed, however, with the in-place "notes" he made on the parts. Countersink depths, rib numbering, etc. right on the parts. Reminded me how important it will be to maintain correlation during priming! And made it easy to understand where in the assembly manual he stopped. So far, I have only noticed 2-3 places I need to back-track, but nothing scary. As I mentioned in an earlier posting, I followed through on my intentions and packed up and labelled all the wing components. I am moving on to the ailerons and flaps. I am confident this is the right decision as the parts are smaller and more benign than the wing. If I screw up here, it's a much cheaper fix! Plus I am considering building the left/right pairs of things concurrently in the interest of continuity. Builders disagree on whether that is really a benefit, but I think it will work for me. |
| 2012-06-20 | SNAFU with Anti-Servo tab : Resolved! | Well, sort of resolved... Now I need to assemble my own anti-server tab from the replacement parts sent by Glasair. But they look pristine and, because I took 50 photos of the original unit, I have all the info I need to construct the new one. Looks like polishing the wings and HS/Elevator is still a possibility! |
| 2012-09-01 | Ailerons assembly underway | It's taken quite a bit longer than expected to get the shop to where I can work efficiently and comfortably, but it is finally there! Labor Day weekend (and a few days preceeding it) have seen the most significant build effort since the acquisiiton of kit #5788. So far I am enthusiastic about the quality of the contruction manual and the builder support on the GlastarNet forums. Rarely any questions and, when they do arise, I can usually get a reply within hours via the forums. Some parts prep and basic assembly eariler in the week prepped me for a BIG Saturday. Today I mated and drilled all the ribs and spars for both the left and the right ailerons. I did all that and even managed to fit the left aileron bottom skin in between the yard work and dinner time. But I can see how folks justify pneumatic cleco pliers! I feel like with my left hand I couldn't dent a soda can but with my right arm I could crush a Volkswagon! Definitely need to work on the ambidexterousity! (??) The only part of this effort so far with which I am not in 100% agreement is the dimpling of the nutplates. It seems like the flanges get mishsapen when hitting them with the squeezer, even with a ground down dimple die set. Maybe this just is the way it is. But I managed to straighten them out afterwards. Final riveting will tell me if I have it right. Working on the left aileron skins now so I will take some time out next to add the anti-servo tab. Because the original factory build version was scratched beyond my satisfaction, I need to construct more of it than expected. Shouldn't be too difficult, but definitely frustrated with Glasair for not turning out a better pre-assembled product. Stay tuned for more.... |
| 2012-09-02 | Left aileron skin mating | Now that I am working on the aileron skins, I found it impractical to work on both ailerons concurrently, so I put the right spar and rib skeleton off to the side and began working just the left aileron. Today I fitted and drilled the lower aileron inspection covers and doublers for the left aileron only. All went fine. Again, the right angle drill adapter came in handy. Might actually need to get a right angle dedicated drill. Not a huge fan of the threaded bit on the adapter. I think I'd like the more traditional chuck. Next came the "rolling on" of the top skin to the spar flange and ribs. Following the instructions, I could not get enough even leverage across the top skin to roll it cleanly onto the top spar and ribs as they all sat on the cleco tips. After ever so slightly "oil canning" the leading edge skin, a light bulb went off. The best way to get some even leverage to match up the trailing edge joggles was to turn the aileron over and sit the top skin flat on the bench and use the weight and rigidity of the cleco'd skeleton and bottom skin to get the pressure on it I needed. Worked great! I have an ever-so-slight offset at the trailing edge but I can probably clean that up with a file or SB wheel. Also today I developed a new (to me) trick to help line up the rivet lines in the top skin with the spar. It was easy to see whether my rivet line was under the skin holes or not. But if it wasn't, it was tough to tell whether the river line was fore or aft of the skin holes. So I took some red electrical tape and laid it on the forward side of the rivet line. Whenever I saw the red tape, I knew the spar was further aft than it should be. When I saw bare aluminum, the spar was too far forward. This techique worked out great for getting the spar straight and alleviating any potential for twist in the aileron. Good little trick. Worked just as I had hoped. I'll add that to the tips and tricks page! |
| 2012-09-08 | Anti-Servo Tab construction | Today I match-drilled all the parts for the Anti-Servo tab. Because my original tab purchase from Glastar was so scratched up, and they couldn't guarantee I would get a "clean" tab, I elected to have the scratched tab swapped for the raw parts. Subsequently, that meant I needed to assemble the tab without any tab construction documentation. (the pre-built tab documentation only provides instructions for modifying the aileron to accommodate the anti-servo tab) Fortunately, before I returned the previous tab, I photographed and documented the entire pre-built assembly so I could match the drill patterns and rivet types they use for the upper and lower skin/spar/hinge mount. I thought about adjusting the design for flush rivets and avoiding as many pull rivets as possible, but then I figured, why bother deviating from the original design? That is pretty much my philosophy on this build. Keep it per the plans, except where others have offered better ideas thst do not represent a significant time or safety impact. I just finished priming the parts and tomorrow I plan to assemble the tab and put it aside for when I am ready to fit it to the left aileron. That will probably occur afer I complete the final drill/mating of the right aileron, but before riveting everything together. |
| 2012-09-09 | Anti-Servo Tab completion | Today I finished riveting the anti-servo tab itself. This was my first official riveting effort on the actual aircraft, and I feel like it went pretty well, though I am glad I started with something as simple and less-critical than a wing. After a brief warmup drilling out and riveting a few varying sized rivets on my practice kit, I got the feel for the 2x gun psi settings and trigger durations. Smashed about 2 of them a little more than expected, managed to only create one (slight) smiley, and came up slightly light on another 2-3, but easily corrected those. Generally speaking, it went well and I have completed something that I will be proud to put on the plane. I will complete the anti-servo tab aileron cutout, and spar/hinge drilling when I get to riveting the left aileron. |
| 2012-09-10 | Right aileron skin mating | Spent 9/11 anniversary-eve checking in with Stacy and the Monday Night Football double header while mating the right aileron top skin to the skeleton. Drilled the lower surface and aligned & drilled the inspection hole doublers. All looking good and going faster on the right aileron as it's just a repeat of the left one. Still following and verifying the assembly manual steps but using the left aileron as the reference. My brother will be visitng on Tuesday and Wednesday this week so I will get back to the bottom skin mating on Thursday. |
| 2012-09-15 | Right aileron riveting | Finished riveting the right aileron together after priming. BIggest challenge was rolling the skin around the nose ribs and getting it to sit tight against the lower spar. FOught with it for a little bit but finally got it there. Learned it is best to wait on riveting the side and foreward inspection hole nutplates until after riveting the doubler to the skin. Fortunately, I am using the Click Bond nutplates so this was easy to rectify on the first hole. |
| 2012-09-16 | Right aileron riveting: Complete! | I completed the assembly of the right aileron. Glastar assembly manual is excellent, but there was one element I adjusted due to my experience. That was to wait on the installation of the foirward inspection hole nutplates until after riveting in the inspection hole doublers. Access to some of the flush rivets with the squeezer or bucking bar was impossible. Because I used the Click Bond nutplates, I just riveted the inspection hole doublers with the squeezer, then mixed up the epoxy and applied the CB nutplates as a final step. I installed the rear inspection hole nutplates prior to riveting the skins because that's a commitment you need to make ahead of the forward holes. I learned in this mountain process that the Click Bond adhesive does NOT like to stick to the self-etching primed surface, so I scuffed away the primer here and bonded the plates without corrosion protection. The adhesive is the barrier between the skins, spar and nutplates. |
| 2012-10-13 | Cut in and fit Anti-Servo Tab (Left Aileron) | Today I cut the left aileron to accept the anti-servo tab. Pretty simple procedure once I mastered use of the Dremel metal cutting disc. A few trial efforts to cut and fit the root and 2nd rib. Pretty good tolerence with 1/16" gap between the tab's left end and the adjacent skin. Also drilled out the wing hinge bracket (which had previously been completed) to accept the anti-servo tab push rod horn. |
| 2012-10-28 | Left aileron priming | Today I used the Duplicolor DAP1690 self-etching primer to corrosion proof the interior of the left aileron. Same product and process I used on the right aileron. Scuffed the surfaces with Scotch Brite pads and then washed with Dawn dishwasjhing detergent and rinsed clean (as recommended by many RV builders). Had to wait for the outside temperature to creep up to about 65F. Primer goes on easily and covers well. I then laid out the parts in their inboard > outboard order to verify nothing gets mixed up! |
| 2012-11-03 | Left aileron riveting | Spent the late morning and most of the afternoon riveting the the left aileron together. The whole process goes much faster the 2nd time around. Applied some of the tricks and plans sequence adjustments I learned from the right aileron to the left assembly. I almost forgot to install the Click Bond nutplate for the anti-servo tab hinge retainer screw but caught myself just in time. It pays to look over the instructions and not do too much from memory...sort of like a checklist! Not 100% satisfied with the trailing edges on either aileron. A bit more "wave" to them than I would prefer, but something that shouldn't effect the flying qualities too noticeably. Because these are the first full components I constructed, I expected there would be some quality ramp-up. If I am REALLY that freaked out about this as the buiold progresses, I wouldn't think twice about rebuilding them (or having them built again). But I read somewhere on the GlastarNet forums that this scrutiny 'softens' over time. We shall see. |
| 2012-11-03 | Left aileron riveting: Complete! | The left aileron is all riveted closed. The only thing left to do on this now is the counterweight slot. I'll do that on Sunday before the football game. |
| 2012-11-04 | Finished the aileron counterweight arm slots | Cut the left aileron counterweight slot and cleaned up the right aileron c-weight slot with a small round file. Worked out well. The right slot, being the first slot I cut, is a bit larger than it needs to be, but the left slot is nearly dead-on. This item completes both the aileron assemblies. Time to move on to the flaps! |
| 2012-11-04 | Flaps parts inventory and prep | I dug out the spars, skins, ribs and all flap track brackets, arms, etc. Also dug out the 2x aluminum sheets for the flap track skin doublers. Glad to see the original builder had those as they are part of a SB for the flap construction. I did not locate the 100-0640-003 angle bracket but I did find something that was dimensionally very similar but labeled "100-0640-05372In" (see photo). I originaly suspected this was .053" x 1" x 1" aluminum angle but, seeing as how it is exactly the length required for the flaps and the wing materials lists (65"), I couldn't understand why the P/N would be different. As it turns out, the markings underneath the hand-written P/N is actually 100-0640-003, NOT -053. I guess I had been over-thinking this and missed the simplest fact that someone (maybe even me) had over-written a "5" where there had been a "0". Details, details. I laid out all the parts in order just to make sure I had all the correct left/right orientation ribs. All good! |
| 2012-11-05 | Spar and rib preparation | The spar prep required cutting approx 2" off one end of each spar to bring the length to exactly 110-1/4". (Not sure why they don't come from the factory cut to the exact length, but OK). After squaring all the nose and aft ribs, I marked the center lines for the rivet lines. For the spar flanges, there are "first-run" and "second-run" versions of the Glastar flap skins that dictate the spar rivet line dimensions. I have the second-run (-03) skins so I followed the rivet line marking for those. Seems the distance from the rear of the flange are inverted for the second-run (11/32" on top flange and 9/32" on the bottom). For marking rivet lines I use one of my favorite tools (and probably the cheapest!)... the "edge marker block". Just insert your favorite color fine point sharpie, measure the angle with the tip out, lock it down, and go! Really speeds up the measuring and marking process. |
| 2012-11-07 | Manufacturing the nose rib reinforcement angles | One of the Glastar revisions included a requirement for reinforcing the nose ribs on the ribs that mate to the flap track guide arms and deployment arms. These are cut from .063" x 1" x 1" 6061-T6 aluminum angle and shaped with an offset to meet the downward angle of the nose ribs. 6 total mirror image left/right pairs are required. I cut these to max length on the mitre saw, then cut the offset on the band saw, filed to final size, and finished on the bench grinder. There is a radius required on the back of the angle to fit into the rib angle, but I also found radiusing the back side of the top and bottom flanges helps set them in there nice and tight. |
| 2012-11-10 | Manufacturing the skin doublers per SB#4 | Service Bulletin #4 is included in Revision C of the plans. This requires maufacturing 8 skin doublers which will be installed on the outside of the skins over the flap track guide arm rib locations on the upper and lower sides of the flaps. The plans include a full sized template for laying out the cuts on the 12" x 12" .050" sheet aluminum. This allows for the prescribed number of rivet locations across the nose ribs, spar and aft ribs at each rib pair. These are the same rib pairs that received the reinforcement angles. I used the edges of the sheet aluminum for the more critical edges and cut the remaining lines on the band saw. Cleaned the lines up with a file and then de-burred the edges and radiused the outside corners by eye on the bench grinder. I drilled the interior radius corners where the flap track and deployment arms protrude with 3/16" and 1/4" bits, then filed each with a circular file. Interesting to note the flap skins have different interior radii foor each side of the slot. Not sure why but the skin doublers are built to match. The manual says the template covers the maximum size of the rivet hole locations for both upper and lower skins, and they can be cut down to suite the actual rivet locations. Not so sure I will do that. I may just keep them all consistently (slightly) over-sized. Before installing these onto the skin, they will be curved over a 3" metal pipe to conform to the curvature of the upper and lower skins, and match-drilled from the interior of the skins. That step comes just prior to final flap assembly and riveting. Because I plan to polish all aluminum surfaces, but I still want corrosion protection in place, I will probably just self-etch prime the interior side of the doublers as a barrier to the bare aluminum skin on the flap skins. |
| 2012-11-10 | Mating the nose ribs to the flap track and deployment arms | The nose rib reinforcement angles need to be mated to their respective nose ribs and either the flap track guide arms or deployment arms. Eight holes per assembly need to be drilled using the two pre-drilled 1/8" holes as alignement points. Plenty of Cleco angle and C clamps used to keep the alignment solid. I then countersunk the flap track guide arms for the AN426AD4 flush rivets. This was my first opportunity to c-sink on the project so far. I really like the c-sink tool and the tight fit it creates for the flush rivet head. Though the manual says to prime and rivet these together before drilling the spar flange end of the assembly, I elected to Cleco the whole assembly nice and tight and drill the #40 holes now. The alignment is very tight and I do not anticipate any alignment issues when riveting. |
| 2012-11-11 | Match drilling the ribs to the spars | Next I Cleco'd together the entire assembly for each flap. I then match-drilled the nose rib, spar and after rib openings per the manual, up-sizing to #30 holes the rib pairs with the flap track guide and deployment arms. Next step is to overlap the skins and match-drill them to the skeleton. I will be careful to be extra precise in this step as the nearly 9' length of the flaps can cause a ripple effect at the trailing edge or an undesirable longitudinal "twist" if not monitored closely. |
| 2012-11-11 | Drilled left lower flap skin | Spent a few hours on either side of the Seahawks game aligning both skins and drilling the lower left skins. I found the factory slot for the deployment arm was a little too close for comfort, creating a little bit of "lift" right where the brackets slides under the skin. After some help from Omar on the GlastarNet forums, I decided I would open this up about 1/4 inch. That worked out very well and now the skin fits perfectly flat leading to the spar. I installed the recommended spacer blocks between the flap track guide arms and the deployment arms (5/8" and 1/2" respectively) and clamped the ends to the spar on the rivet line. Minimal adjustment was required to align the spar under the factory holes, so all went very smoothly. Aligning the nose and aft ribs simply required reaching under the skin and adjusting to reveal the centerline. I have both flaps set up on the bench so next I will do the same for the right flap assembly. |
| 2012-11-13 | Drilled right lower flap skin | Second verse, same as the first! Tonight I aligned the right flap skin over the skeleton, opened up the deployment arm slot slightly, and match-drilled all the ribs and spar. Just like the left side, this was pretty speedy, so I am optimistic the top skin and trailing edge joints will align proiperly. |
| 2012-11-21 | Drilled upper skin to right flap frame | The top skin mating to the flap frame was a tricky part of the flap construction. After using the -03 skin assmbly instructions and carefully marking and drilling the lower skins to each flap frame, I discovered an odd alignment issue on the top surface. I posted the issue on the GlastarNet forums and, though I received some good feedback, most of it suggested I had done something incorrectly in either measuring or drilling the flap to this point. I was having a hard time getting a consistent span-wise alignment of the skin rivet holes over the rivet line markings on the upper spar flange. On the ends they were off by as much as 1/8" and about 2/32" in the center. In order to get them to line up, I found I needed to push the skin forward, creating a sort of dimpled effect on the leading edge arc. Not good. Time to step back.... Fortunately, Stacy and I had a short trip planned to Cleveland and that gave me an opportunity to read and reread the assembly instructions while en route. Once back in the shop, I confirmed all markings and drilling thus far was dead nuts on. So still...why the discepancy?? So I looked closer at my 1"x4"x10' jig pieces. Turns out the flap track guide arms were ever so slightly lifting the spar off the 1x4, forcing a sort of uniform "twist" at each end. So I remeasured the positioning, and notched the 1x4 under the flap track guide arms and BINGO!, everything came together. I still need to force the trailing edge down to even up the upper and lower trailing edges, but this helped the skin sit flat on the spar and eased the force on the forward-most nose rib flange (which doesn't receive a rivet anyway). Now the spar line is perfect and the rest of the drilling went very well. I still need to drill the nose ribs and trailing edges, as well as size up the ribs to #30 for the blind rivets, but the main mystery was solved so I am really happy with the outcome for this portion of the build. Tomorrow is Thanksgiving Eve, so I should make good progress then, and more over the weekend after the holiday. I will also get a chance to try my "passive solar heated priming bench"! |
| 2012-11-23 | Drilled upper skin to left flap frame | FInished match drilling the left top skin to the frame and then set up the trailijng edge joggle alignment jig. This is just the same 1x4 pairs used in the earlier part of the flap construction, but I cut the intermediate board down to 3.25 and used those scrap strips to prop up the back end undere the trailing edge joggles. Pitched the intermediate board to sit flap against the rear ribs and all was lined up nicely. I used the rivet fence to the 1.5" spacing in the manual and carried that exact spacing from factory hole tyo factory hole, straight down the rivet line. I maintained the lower skin cusp all the way back and managed to have about 1/32" overhang from the top skin to the bottom. This actually went better than expected and the trailign edge is nice and straight! |
| 2012-11-24 | Formed, drilled and countersunk the skin doublers | I had previously cut and final-shaped the skin doublers for the flap track guide ribs per SB4. Next step was to shape them to match the top and bottom flap curvatures. Once shaped, I lined them up and clamped them onto the designated locations, then match drilled to suit. Once drilled, the top doublers cut countersuck to accept the flush head blind rivets. A few depth adjustments on the test material and I turned the drill to the doublers. Everything worked out nicely. In the interst of poloshing the wings for their final finish, I will prime only the back side of the doublers, creating a barrier against the outside of the flap skins. |
| 2012-11-25 | Deburred and primed the left flap parts | Prime Time! But before we can do that, we need to debur, scuff and wash all the flap parts. This is the mindles minutia that takes more time than I prefer but it is essential to a quality finished product. What is it they say? 90% of any good project is in the preparation? Then again, I've herd that 76% of all statistics are made up on the spot. :) So it isn't evident how many rivet holes there are in the flaps until you have to debur them. I did a quick estimate and tallied upwards of 1400 holes in a single flap's worth of materials. That's not to say there are 1400 rivets (probably around 800), but then multiple x2 as you need to debur each side of each hole and you've got over 2800 debur actions PER FLAP! Add the edge and lightening hole deburring, and you've got a sizeable effort, as mundane as it may be. So I put on one of my favorite Pandora channels and got to it! After using Scotch Brite pads on the parts, I gave all of them a Dawm dishwashing liquid bath, dried and laid them out in order for priming. I find this helpful as, even though the Sharpie markings on each part are still visible through the primer, I like to account for them before hand in the event anything gets covered up with too thick a primer coat. After drying, I brought all the parts inside and arranged them again in assembly order. All parts accounted for. I concentrated on the left flap assembly before prepping and priming the right flap parts as I really wanted to get enough done to start riveting in the evenings during the week. This time of year, I need to take advantage of any of those warmer weekend days to prime as it gets dark and cold before I leave the office during the week. Plus, an upcoming weekend trip suggests I won't get another opportunity to shoot primer for another 2 weeks. By then I should have the left flap fully assembled and the right flap parts prepped. Hoping the weather cooperates, otherwise I may need to figure out an indoor priming tent. Not excited about this, but I guess, if built correctly, it could satisfy my priming needs for the wing parts before the warmer weather returns in the Spring. |
| 2012-12-02 | Riveted left flap skeleton | Today I riveted the left flap spar and ribs together, including the previously-mated flap track guide arms and deployment arm brackets, ribs and doublers. A little trouble determining the right rivet depth for the AN426AD4 rivets through the rib doublers but worked out well in the end. All ribs and brackets straight and true. |
| 2012-12-03 | Prepped left flap frame for skin riveting | I cleco'd the left flap skin to the spar/ribs assembly and reconfigured it on the bench for better interior access than suggested in the assembly manual. I also cleco'd in place the lower flap track guide skin doublers. Re-installed the flap track guide arm spacers for the 5/8" opening and cleco'd all lower ribs to the skins. |
| 2012-12-08 | Riveted the left flap bottom skin. | Riveted the left flap bottom skin to the skeleton, including the lower flap track guide doublers. I wasn't a fan of how the blind rivets were holding the doublers to the nose ribs, so I replaced the AAPQ-43 blind rivets with AN470AD4 standard rivets. There was plenty of room to get the bucking bar under there so I am not sure why the remainder of the nose ribs use pull rivets, but this is the only change I made. I am glad I did as it seems more structurally sound and now the doublers are more uniformly attached. Everything else went well and I only needed to upsize 2 skin-to-spar rivet locations for those areas where the spar rivet holes sat too close to the aft rib flanges. Cleaned up really well afterwards. Minimal scracthes too! |
| 2012-12-08 | Left lower flap skin riveting complete! | Moving on to the upper skin riveting. Not quite sure how I'll mount the flap to the bench or how I'll get my oversized hands inside the undersized flap opening....hmmmm. |
| 2012-12-09 | Left upper flap skin riveting complete! | This weekend saw a lot of activity on the left flap, finally closing it up with riveting the top skin. No issues to report and my "bucking bar extension handle" worked great on the upper spar rivet line (see Tips & Tricks page for details). The flap track guide arm skin soublers went on very nicely, conforming to the airfoil shape perfectly. The flush bling rivets (AACQ-43) did a really nice job holding doubler/skin/spar/ribs together. Trailing edge is really nice with maybe 1/32" top skin overlap. But straight with minimal "wave". Not too impressed with the "sticking power" of the Duplicolor self-etching primer on the flap track and deployment arm guides. Needed to reshoot that post riveting. Maybe it was too cold when I shot these originally - or maybe I jjust beat them up a bit too much during the riveting sessions. |
| 2012-12-11 | Improved storage for completed sub-assemblies | With the completion of the left flap, I needed to make some space to store this while I work on the right flap. With one wall of the garage supporting the hanging of the HS/Elevator and Rudder, I needed to come up with a better plan for the Ailerons and Flaps on the other wall. Wherein I have room on overhead shelving, I want to reserve that for completed oddly shaped assemblies like wheel pants, wing tips, etc. So using the side walls of the garage makes sense. Here's what I did: Since the total end-to-end span of both ailerons is slightly over 10', and each has a closed nose rib on one end, I purchased a 1" PVC pipe and "threaded it" through the aileron nose ribs from the open end so it spanned the hinge bracket locations. Laying the aileron flat on the bench with the remaining pipe extended out one end, I then slid the other aileron over the PVC pipe until it too spanned the two hinge bracket openings. With the PVC pipe spanning the internal width of BOTH ailerons and past the outside most hinge bracket openings, I drilled a hole through each opening to accept 1/4" rope. I cut a few lengths of the rope and knotted one end of each, sliding the other end through the holes in the pipe. Then, carefully, and with some assiatance from the wife, I hung the ailerons on the wall, tieing the open end of the rope around a 10' x 1/2" aluminum pipe run through some I-bolts on the wall. I put some pipe insulation between the aileron leading edges and the wall and they hang nicely. I also cut a piece of pipe insulation and created a soft "spacer" between the end of the ailerons around the PVC so the edges wouldn't meet. Using the same aluminum pipe on the wall, I dropped some rope down to 2x 1/8" hooks looped through the flap track guide arms and suspended the flap below the ailerons. A little bit of work for a huge storage benefit. And it's sort of like an artist proudly displaying his work! |
| 2013-01-19 | Back at it in 2013! Right flap corrosion proofing. | Happy New Year! After taking the week after the New Year to install some insulation in the unfinished garage walls and eaves, I am back at the airplane construction! Today was prep and prime day for the right and remaining flap. I had orignally planned to construct a downdraft paint tent in the garage to allow me to continue priming in the winter months but today in Denver it is nearly 65 degrees! (gotta love Colorado!!) So I grabbed some leftover pegboard and laid it outside mid-morning and monitored the temperature on the surface. As you can see from the photo, it made it to roughly 80 degrees in the sun. Pretty good considering the previous weekend saw temps below 0! (see the other photo). Now just waiting for the primer to cure before clecoing and riveting the right aileron. That will take place tomorrow. |
| 2013-01-19 | Riveted right flap spar and ribs | This afternoon I riveted the right flap spar, ribs, flap track guide and deployment arms. Sooooo much faster on the 2nd flap! Still needed to refresh my memory on my approach to things and rivet sizes as some are .5 sizes I needed to cut down from the stock sizes. Managed to get the protective plastic off the skin with a little heat. Again, no surface corrosion on this one either so, so far, only a little bit on one aileron. Looking good. I cleco'd the lower side of the skin to the frame and will rivet that starting Sunday while I keep an eye on the NFL championship games. |
| 2013-01-26 | Riveted the right flap bottom skin. | Completed riveting the lower skin surface and doublers to the right flap frame. Since I was a little out of practice with the holiday break, I ended up with more than a few "smileys". I used the rivet removal tour that I obtained with the kit purchase to remove the suspect rivets and got them all fixed up nice. Like the left flap, I went with standard AN470AD4 rivets on the lower flap track guide skin doublers instead of the prescribed blind rivets. Nice tight fit to the skin surface. |
| 2013-01-27 | Riveted the right flap upper skin. | Today I riveted the upper right flap skin and flap track guide arm skin doublers to the frame. I used my custom-made bucking bar extension tool to apply leverage inside the upper spar cap. Worked like a charm. I then riveted the trailing edge joggles to finish off the right flap. Now on to the wings. This is out of the order of the manual, but since this is my first project, I wanted to work on the less critical components before tackloing the wings. Big day and a milestone completion point! Woo-hoo!! |
| 2013-01-27 | Right flap complete! | This completes the aileron and flap section of the build. Major milestone! |
| 2013-02-09 | Construction of Wing Jig | Today I started construction of the wing jig. Following a lead from the previous builder (and many others), I elected to construct the jig from some rigid material, rather than wood. A fellow Sportsman builder turned me on to a Craiglist ad for some 2"x5" aluminum tubing. After a drive up to the other side of Denver to pick up 4 lengths of 8' each, I had the material I needed. In fact, it is a bit overkill! But cheap is cheap! So I constructed the end upright posts from 2 of the 2"x5" beams. I spanned the the other two beams between the uprights to support a 18" wide x 12' long 1/2" MDF shelf for tools and the rear spar support brackets. Similar to the plans but modified for my own needs. Attaching one upright to the overhead storage shelving and the other with some angle iron to the side wall helped true it up nicely. Making sure everything was square, plumb and aligned across the 16' span was a chore. Probably the most challenging part of the build so far. But this jig is solid and should last at least as long as it will take to build both wings! |
| 2013-02-10 | Mounted the Spars in the Wing Jig. | Today I mounted the front and rear spars into the wing jig. For some reason I needed to shim out the lower inboard spar bracket about .1" while the rest of the brackets sat perfectly. A quick test for plumb and true, and I was good to hang the spars. The water level was helpful in establishing level across the 16' span. With the inboard spar pin opening accepting a 1/2" bolt, I carefully lifted the outboard end to the outboard upright post. A quick check of the water level and I clamped it down for drilling. Using the digital level, I confirmed level across the spar brackets, leaving the sag in the center of the front spar for after I mount the rear spar. The rear spar mounts similarly to the front spar (bolt through the inboard end and a cleco throught the outboard end), but the outboard bracket needs to be trued against the front spar bracket using a plumb bob. Then the rear spar drops right on and, all measurements accurate and true, all holes should line up, which they did for me. I then constructed the rear spar support posts using some 1.5" square redwood and some t-nuts with threaded 7/16" x 5" bolts in the top end. A few nuts to lock against each other and I can adjust the sag in the rear spar and lock it down. Looks good. I went ahead and re-installed the main ribs (pre-drilled by the original builder) just to give the forward (upper) spar some rigidity. Everything fits, it's sturdy and ready for the balance of the wing build. |
| 2013-02-17 | Mated left upper wing skins and leading edge skins to left wing frame | Because the original builder had done all of the match-hole drilling and such for the entire left wing, I took the opportunity to walk through the manual, re-living each step. With the exception of one main rib rivet hole not being sized up to #30, and an odd arrangement of rivet holes for the root rib doubler to spar mating, everything was solid. So I spent the day re-cleco'ing the upper skins and leading edge skins to the left wing spar/rib frame to ensure alignment and true. The leading edge skins went on without a hitch (once I figured out which was the upper side and labeled them!). Then the main skins went on without issue as well. I installed the hat stiffeners after mating the skins to the rib and upper spar flange, and finished up by cleco'ing the rear spar/main skin locations. Again, all perfectly aligned and nearly no gap between the leading edge and main skins. I also dry fit the spar cab strips but did not cleco them to the spar with the skins. Just a trial fit to the spar flanges was enough for confidence. Next up are the lower skins, lower hat sections, cap strips, and lower center skin doublers. Really starting to look like a wing! |
| 2013-04-25 | We're moving!! | It's official. The build needs to get packed up (again) to move about 12 miles southwest of our current neighborhood. We found a wonderful home in Elizabeth, CO. Dedicated space to build and a few acres for some serenity in our busy lives. Check out the "Workshop" page for some photos and progress on the new shop. |
| 2013-09-14 | Fabricated new wing spar brackets | Since the move to the new house and shop, I decided it was time to build both wings simultaneously. So I took the time to fabricate all 8 brand new mirror-image spar mounting brackets. |
| 2013-10-07 | The jig is up! (again) | Since the move to the barn, I've been looking at the best way to build both wings simultaneously. Well, here it is! I used the original 4x 2"x6" aluminum beams to provide the 4 uprights to the 2x wing jigs. They are straight and perfectly sturdy beams and were pretty cheap on Craig's List. I linked the left and right end posts to each other with 1-1/2" slotted angle iron and anchored them to the vertical posts in the barn. I squared and plumbed them using a combination of beam bubble levels and laser levels. All worked out well over the 16' span. With the spars in the jig it is SOLID! Not going anywhere. I built 6x rear spar support posts from redwood deck spindles fitted with a threaded receptacle to accommodate a 7/8" x 6" bolt. There's a rubber cap on the head of the bolt under the spar and a lockdown nut at the point where it hits the threaded receptacle to keep it set where I leave it. I did not build the under-spar shelves as I have a rolling cart I'll use for tool, supplies, etc. With the left wing being almost at the point where its ready for primer, I will assemble it and use it as a reference for the right. |
| 2013-10-24 | Right Wing: Root Rib Doublers | The left wing root rib doublers were assebled by the previous builder. But having both wings in the jig simultaneously really makes it great to double check my measurements, approach and understanding of the manuals. Over the last few days, I fit the main ribs in the right spars and cut the top and bottom right root rib doublers to size. I trimmed the doublers along their length to taper back to the rib flange depth per the manuals. Next I took the (already cut to size) root rib reinforcement angles, measured their location on the main rib and drilled out the end rivet locations with a #30 bit. I then re-fit it in between the spars and all looks good. This weekend, I'll pick up where I left off and continue drilling the doublers and reinforcement angles. |
| 2013-10-30 | Right Wing: Root Rib Doublers (cont'd) | I finished drilling out and riveting the right root rib and all the doublers. After riveting, however, it didn't quite fit as well in between the spars. I ended up having to relieve some of the rib doubler ends so it didn't interfere with the interior radius of the spars. Trimmed up and it went together fine with a little encouragement from the rubber mallet. On to the main, nose and cove ribs spar attachment. |
| 2013-11-05 | Ribs, hinges and struts installed | Between Sunday and tonight, I installed all of the nose, main and cove ribs to both the left and right spars. (the left were already prepped and drilled by the former owner) All pretty straight forward and made easier by the fact that the former owner fabricated ALL brackets for both sides when he did the left side. The root rib doubler holes inboard of the inboard wing skins gave me some trouble from a measurement standpoint, and I was restricted by the reduced length of the doubler flanges required to fit inside the spar flanges. I also struggled a little in the late night one night thinking the strut beam brackets were swapped between left and right, but turns out they are correct. Drill on!.... |
| 2013-11-17 | Assembled and fit the Wing Strut Beams | This step was a little tricky because I had to diagnose a mis-labeling of some of the strut beam components by the former builder. He had labeled the top and bottom sides of the right wing strut post backwards, which threw me off for the orientation. After a little research and double-checking, I realized I had them dry-fit correctly and merely had to re-label the parts to match their orientation. Drilling the 1/4" holes into the L brackets and through the beams was a key "measure twice, cut once" opportunity. Dry-fitting the brackets between the spars is a lot of un-cleco'ing and re-cleco'ing! |
| 2013-11-19 | Right Wing: Leading edge skins fitted | Placed, adjusted, re-adjusted and set the leading edge skins and drilled all the pilot holes into the spar and ribs. The key item to manage here is the overlap of each leading edge skin's outboard end over the inboard end of the next skin. Took some finessing to get the bends in the very leading edge to sit tight and even across the length of the wing while also lining up with the spar rivet lines. It all fits tight when drilled and cleco'd together. Really happy with this step. And SO much easier to get my man-hands inside the wing skeleton as compared to the ailerons and flaps! Next up: main wing skins. |
| 2013-11-24 | Right Wing: Main top skins fitted and drilled | Today I fitted and drilled the right wing top main skins. It was actually quite a bit smoother than I expected, with all ribs and spar rivet lines showing up right under the rivet holes on the first fitting. A little trimming of the forward edge of the main skins to avoid any overlap with the leading edge skins was the only tedious part of the effort today. Looking at the undrilled skin in the first photo, I can't help but wonder how nice flush riveting the main skins would look! Still thinking about flush riveting the hat sections and standard rivets on the few ribs. We'll see. |
| 2013-11-26 | Right Wing: Main lower skins fitted and drilled | Fitted and drilled the right wing lower main skins. Good to see the rivet lines for the ribs and the spars directly underneath the entire span(s) on the first try. I am finding blue painter's tape to be very helpful in holding the skins to the frame, ribs and other skins while I get things aligned. Very few places the clecos will clamp to the more skins get fitted. Next step is to cut, fit and drill the center skin gusset and inboard lower skin doubler. Then trim the skins at the leading edges and finish drill. The only part I questioned on this part of the effort is the buildup of the intersection where the outside edge of the inboard lower skins and leading edge skins overlap the inboard end of the center main and leading edge skins. Seems to be about 1/32" - 1/16" of a gap where they pile up. This is correct per the manual (it's explicit) but I hope the riveting will bring them all together nicer than this. |
| 2013-11-28 | Right Wing: Fitted and drilled inboard lower doubler | Thanksgiving Eve! Tonight I fitted and installed the lower inboard skin doubler to the right wing. Using the inboard main skin as a reference, I drilled through the doubler and fitted it to the wing. I drilled the additional 3x #40 holes @ 5/16" inboard of the outside aft corner. Not entirely sure why these are required, but I suspect the manual will take me there. So far everything leads to something! Once fitted, I marked the doubler's forward most point where it meets the inboard leading edge skin, and trimmed it to butt up against, leaving approx. .025" gap between. Next up, hat section stiffeners! |
| 2013-12-08 | Right Wing: Preparing the Hat Section Stiffeners | Per the manual, I flattened the flanges on the upper and lower right wing hat sections stiffeners. (left wing is complete) Relatively easy to do with a flat table and a rubber mallet, as well as my bare hands. I then began fitting and drilling the lower hat section stiffeners to the skins. There was some additional adjustment required to get the hat sections to sit flush with the skins and also "step" up onto the inside of each spar flange towards the hat sections ends. Also per the manual, I fashioned a notched block as a tool to assist these hat section joggles in conforming to the spars. Once conformed, the hat sections sit tight to the skins and spars. Worth noting: the rigidity and strenth these hat sections bring to the skins is surprising. I guess this is how the Glastar maintains the strength it does with only 6 full sized ribs across a 16' wing. |
| 2013-12-10 | Right Wing: Drill lower skin doubler and hat sections | Tonight was a brief night in the shop marking and drilling the additional holes required in the hat sections and lower inside skin doubler. The 5 inboard lower hat sections require double the qty of holes as the outside sections. And the lower inboard skin doubler needs spanwise reinforcement holes drilled to mate it to the inboard main skin. Marked and drilled all of these. |
| 2013-12-11 | Right Wing: Lower hat section stiffeners | Tonight I continued the monotonous task of setting and drilling the lower hat section stiffeners. Not much to report here except each one is taking less time that the prior one. 2/3 done with the lower right wing stiffeners. |
| 2014-01-07 | Right Wing: Lower hat section stiffeners - cont'd | I completed setting and drilling the lower right wing hat sections. After looking at the spar to hat section stiffener transitions, I realized the joggles could be formed better so the skins sit properly without any detents. This was a bit of a workout because its a fine balance between the joggles and stiffener curvature. But now they all sit nicely and I do not anticipate any unusual detents in the skins. |
| 2014-01-12 | Right Wing: Upper hat section stiffeners | With the Seahawks beating the Saints in the NFC Divisional Playoff game on Saturday, I began the right upper wing hat sections on Sunday. GO HAWKS! With the lower hat sections already done, these seemed to fly by, completing the fitting and drilling of the first 5 stiffeners in about an hour. The inboard upper stiffeners do not require double the rivet holes as the lower inboard skins, so that sped things along. |
| 2014-01-12 | Right wing: Rebuild of Root Rib assembly | I was disappointed with the fit of the right wing root rib and associated doublers. In addition to needing to cut the rib flanges back to fit inside the joggle, the length of the doublers between the spars didn't leave enough edge distance for the rib-through-spar rivets and screws. SO I decided I would only be satisfied with remaking this entire assembly. But there's a hitch!....Glasair no longer stocks the original Glastar root rib so they shipped me a Sportsman rib instead. But, wherein it fits dimensionally, the root openings for the fuel lines and fuel senders don't align with the Glastar fuel tanks. Had I proceeded, thbis would have resulted in cutting open the root rib and making swiss cheese of the rib. I am certain this would have compromised the integrity of the root rib assembly, so that was not an option! Thankfully, my plane came with "an awesome set of tools" which included a rivet removal tool. So, without having to finesse the removal process, divorcing the original root rib from the too-short doublers was quick work and I was able to salvage the root rib. Cutting and prepping the replacement doublers was swift work as well. (the 2nd time always seems to go faster and better!) So in the end, I had a well-fitting, robust root rib assembly. Viola! |
| 2014-01-22 | Right Wing: Upper hat section stiffeners - cont'd | After a visit to the Great Northwest to see the NFC Championship game (go Seahawks!), I spent a night back in the factory finishing up the upper right wing hat sections stiffeners. I am MOSTLY happy with the fit on these but I feel like I need to give a little more attention as it comes time to rivet to ensure I do not have dimples in the upper and lower skins from not getting the hat curvature quite right. Everything fits well at the skin to spar transition, which I believe is where most of the complaints from other builders has arisen. And I suspect the skins will pull the hat sections closer in places once this all comes together with riveting. But I'll keep a close eye on it just to be sure. |
| 2014-01-25 | Right wing - Spar cap strips | I began installing the forward spar cap strips on the right wing. When pulling the aluminum stock from inventory, I was surprised (and pleased) to see the former builder had already radius'd the 72" length edges for the upper and lower flanges. Lining up the upper cap strip was easy as it nests right up against the corner of the spare web and flange. I drilled through the existing spar/skin holes to match these to the 72" cap strip, and then I'll drill through the 72" strip into the 36" doubler strips. To accommodate the buildup of the 72" and 36" strips, main rib 3 needed to be relieved at the forward portion of the web. Lower forward cap strips are next. Seems these require a 1/16" off set from the spar web to accommodate the strut beam assembly forward mounting brackets. I checked the other wing and it seems the former builder complied with the manual there. Good. |
| 2014-02-08 | Right wing - Lower wing span stiffeners | The lower wing skins require span-wise stiffeners adjacent to the inspection holes for rigidity. This required taking the 4x U-shaped channels supplied with the kit, cutting to suit between the hat sections and ribs and drilling through to mate. The two longer parallel outboard-most stiffener holes are pre-drilled through the skins, but the others required marking and drilling. At first glance of the assembly manual, this looks like a straight line inboard from the lower of the pre-drilled stiffeners. It is not. The center 2 are in alignment with each other but slightly offset from the outboard and inboard stiffeners. This offset is required to ensure good space between the hat section stiffener rivet holes. Though this requires some specific cutting per u-channel, this was a quick effort. The only thing I am wondering - and may require some investigation on the GlastarNet forums - is whether anyone puts a spacer between the stiffener and the skin between the hat section stiffeners. The skin here bends inward (upward) between the hat sections. (see photo) |
| 2014-02-08 | Dimpled wing skins & nose ribs | Aside from the left leading edge skins and left nose ribs that had been dimpled by the previous builder, I spent the better part of the afternoon peeling the blue, white and clear plastic from the remaining skins to dimple the forward spar rivet lines. In addition, I dimpled the right leading edge skins, nose ribs, and main rib #6. Main rib #6 will be flush riveted to facilitate installation of the wing tips. This also required dimpling the outboard rib rivet line and countersinking the aft spar outermost hole. Of course, before I could dimple all of these parts, I needed to de-bur the holes. The definition of monotony! |
| 2014-02-09 | Countersink right wing forward spar | Today I took on the monumentally monotonous task of countersinking the right wing front spar as well as the remaining holes on the left front spar the former builder never completed. (this is about where he left off, so everything from this point forward will apply to both wings.) The varying thicknesses of the wing skins and leading edge skins require different depths of countersinking. There is a chart in the manual that shows the different depths required, ranging from .020" to .025" to .032". So long as you use the buttline measurements or, like I did, marked the transition points on the physical spar itself, this is hard to get wrong. I used some scrap pieces of aluminum to test the thicknesses as I went. The only anomaly I noted between the manual and the actual wing is on the lower center skin where there is a .032" gusset at rib #2 that sits under the center skin at the forward spar. Because of the thickness of the gusset, I countersunk these holes to .032" instead of the noted .020". Tested the fit between the gusset and some scrap .020" material and the countersinks and dimples sit tight. I also countersunk the outboard most holes in the rear spar to accommodate the flush riveting of rib line #6 to accommodate the wing tip installation. I left the inboard forward and rear bolt holes undersized and did not countersink those yet. I still need to see what others have done here as there are varying approaches to anchoring the root rib doublers to the spars here. |
| 2014-02-15 | Assemble aileron bellcrank - right wing | The former owner prepped a lot of the right wing parts when building the left wing, so I had a jump start on the right wing aileron hinge brackets and control bellcranks. All that was left to do was assemble the parts properly and drill the brackets through the spar and inboard aileron hinge bracket, as well as attach the bellcrank bracket to spar flange angles. |
| 2014-02-16 | Aileron control pulleys | Fabricated and drilled the outboard and inboard pulley assemblies for the aileron control today. This went very quickly and smoothly with excellent detail in the assembly manual and perfectly matched/machined parts from the factory. It was evident today that, once I rivet the aileron bellcrank assembly to the aft spar, that getting a bucking bar inside the lower and upper skins in this area will be impossible. I presume some Cherry Max structural blind rivets are recommended here. |
| 2014-02-16 | Flap track guide assembly | Finished up the day today marking, drilling and fitting the flap track guide arms into their respective cove ribs. The factory machined parts are really nicely made and the assembly instructions are very clear, so quick effort here. Once I marked the cove ribs and aligned them to the flap tracks with the mirror-image cove rib on the opposite side, it was just assembly-line time. |
| 2014-02-16 | Fitted flap track guides to spars | Following the manual's very precise instructions for flap track guide ribs placement, I dry-fitted the tracks to the rear spars. 65-1/2" on center as specified. |
| 2014-03-15 | Root rib doubler screw-through spar modification | I am using the Sportsman method of anchoring the root rib doublers to the spars. This requires a #10 drill and 11/32" countersinking for the 509 flush screw. The hole locations for this conflict with the skin edges on the inboard end of the wing. Not all are exactly the same location, so I had to mark and relieve each skin section specific to each spar/root rib location. The photos show the countersinking location and then the skin relief with the screw temporarily placed in the hole. Overall, I am pretty satisfied with the final work. I wish I had understood this better ahead of time, as It would have been easier to be more precise and consistent with the hole location. As it was, I was dealing with some oddities from the previous builder's work, which was very likely done before the Sportsman mod was known, let alone published. |
| 2014-03-16 | Flap bellcrank assembly | Today I fitted, drilled and dry assembled the flap bellcrank and bracket assemblies for both wings. I am now at the point in the process where I have caught up to the original builder's left wing progress and I am doing both wings worth of work concurrently. For the flap bellcranks, this made it a little easier as I could assemble mirror image assemblies all in one sitting. The flap bellcrank assemblies will require Loctite for inserting the bearing housings so I need to prime and rivet all of these pieces before installing in the wing. So today I ordered some Loctite 680 retaining compound and wait for it to arrive Tuesday. By then, all the primer will be well-cured and ready for final riveting. |
| 2014-03-16 | Primed the flap control parts | Deburred, scuffed and cleaned all the flap bellcrank assemblies, flap track arms, and mounting flanges prior to assembly. With the rare 60F+ winter weather today, I decided I should prime these loose parts so I can finish assembling all of the flap control systems. I am continually amazed at how well the Duplicolor self-etching primer works on these parts. Quick scuff, cleaning with Dawn detergent, rinse & dry, and off to the primer table. Finished product is durable! |
| 2014-03-23 | Primed all flight control system parts | Now that all the internal flight control system components are manufactured and drilled in place, I took the opportunity to prime everything that had not yet been primed. Prior to prime, all parts are deburred and cleaned of extraneous markings other than the part identification. I am still working with the Duplicolor self-etching primer. I am pretty pleased with it as all I need to do is scuff the parts, clean them with blue Dawn dish soap, rinse, dry and shoot with the Duplicolor. Great coverage, hard finish after 24 hours of cure. |
| 2014-03-29 | Flap pulley bracket assembly | Completed the cutting, drilling and priming of the inboard flap pulley assembly. I feel like I am starting to get the hang of the manufacturing of various brackets which will surely come in handy as I move on to the fuselage items in a few months. These pulley brackets represent the last of the builder-manufactured parts until after the leading edge and lower skins are riveted in place. Just when I was getting good at it! |
| 2014-03-30 | Bellcrank bearings installed | The Loctite 680 arrived so, after priming and assembling the complete bellcrank assemblies, I was ready to insert the bearing housing and bearings. Before I could insert the Loctite-laden bearing housing, I needed to clean the interior diameter of the bellcrank of any primer to help the Loctite stick tot he aluminum. I also had to taper the ends of the bearing housings to get them started in the receptacle of the bellcrank as it was a VERY tight fit. A block of wood and a mallet, and some gentle persuasion, and the bearing sleeves were in. I then inserted the bearings themselves into the bearing housing sleeves use Loctite, wiped away the extra and called it good. |
| 2014-04-12 | Deburred and re-primed rear spars | Today I deburred every spar drill hole, then cleaned and re-primed the rear spars to corrosion proof all the countersink holes and up-drilled locations. Looks nice to have a clean spar free of shop dust and scuff marks! |
| 2014-04-19 | Riveted aileron hinge brackets to rear spars | The outboard aileron hinge assemblies mount with all rivets through the rear spar. The inboard aileron hinge brackets share some holes with the aileron bellcrank brackets, so this was a 2-stage installation. It was also interesting to manage the length of the rivets for attachment as some shared the ailron hung flange/spar/bellcrank bracket flange, while other only had the spar and one of the 2 flanges. Altogether, 3 different length rivets depending upon which assembly I was affixing. In the end it all looks good and rivet gauge says all are within tolerance. I temporarily installed some yellow string to test the geometry of the control arms, pulleys and bellcranks. Looks good. |
| 2014-04-19 | Prepped and primed nose and main ribs | I built a cool "table" for priming small parts. It's made from deck spindle lumber from the aircraft supply aisle of Home Depot. Some corner gussets, a center divider, and chicken-wire provide rigidity and allow "spray through" and minimal contact surface for drying parts. So now I can roll the items over for opposite side priming in short order. The divider helps me organize left and right wing parts. The benefit of being out on acreage is I can spray the self-etching primer without any noxious fumes lofting the neighbors' way. Of course, a proper respirator and gloves, and standing upwind, keep it away from me as well. |
| 2014-04-20 | Second-hand Cowling and Wheel Pants | I was fortunate enough to find a Canadian Glastar owner who was selling his original cowling and wheel pants. He is converting his o-320 power tricycle Glastar into a fire-breathing IO-540-equipped floatplane and these items were no longer necessary, My win! They arrived from the NW in good shape. The oil door, landing light lens and cowl flap are all included, as is the hinge line for securing the top & bottom halves and the NACA scoop and filter slot for the intake. I'll need to make some slight modifications and small repairs, but this is saving me a ton of time over a brand new factory cowl. Not to mention the cost savings. This entire assembly as delivered was $150 as opposed to the $1650 price tag new from the factory! Win-win! |
| 2014-04-22 | Aileron bellcranks and pulley installation | Spent some time riveting in the aileron bellcranks and pulleys with the associate brackets to the rear spars. I also needed to prep, prime and rivet any of the common or conflicting cove ribs at the same time. The pulley assemblies and some brackets required torque-to-spec nuts and bolts. Thanks goodness for my Inch-lb Torque Wrench! |
| 2014-05-04 | Flight Control Systems | With all of the sub-assemblies completed, I riveted them to the aft spars and torgued the nuts. Then I installed the cotter pins where required and called it good....until I realized there is an item in the "Final Assembly" section that requires cable guides to be installed there. Oh well, it's not like I have assembled, disassembled, assembled, disassembled, assem.....well, you get it. |
| 2014-05-06 | Strut Beam Assembly | The strut beam assembly anchors the forward and rear spars at the point where the wing strut connects from the underside of the wing to the fuselage. This assembly is VERY rigid and a substantial beam compared to the weight of the main ribs. It lends tremendous rigidity to the wing structure and must be installed prior to riveting the main ribs. The strut beam assembly is comprised of 23 but/washer/bolt combinations once installed between the spars. Thin washers on the forward bolts (top in the photos) and the strut attach post, and standard washers on the rear bolts. One washer on each forward spar bolt-through needs to be shaved from a full-thickness washer to accommodate the transition in the thickness of the edged of the forward spar. Then all nuts are torqued down to their respective values, anywhere from 35 - 105 in-lbs. The torqueing guide with the build manual provides torque values for specific size and types of bolts with a range. I've chosen to shoot for the upper 2/3 of the range. I'll need to pick up some brightly-colored torque seal this week so I can mark the assemblies so during preflight or annual condition inspection I can see whether they've moved. |
| 2014-05-07 | Ribs riveted to spars | Spent tonight riveting all the main ribs, flap cove and aileron cove ribs to the spar. Order is important here so you do not create an access restriction for the cove ribs around the aileron hinges and flap track assemblies. The wing is starting to take shape (again!) but this time permanently! Note the strut beam assembly towards the center of the span of the wing. |
| 2014-05-13 | New Engine Arrived! | Today my ECi IOX-340 Stroker engine arrived. I purchased it from a private owner in Texas who had it built for a project he was co-building, but that project was abandoned before completion. This is becoming a theme for my major project purchases, like the Glastar airframe itself. More details on the engine: It's an ECi Titan IOX-340S-B6C2N "Stroker" Experimental Piston Aircraft Engine. Which means it is essentially an IO-320 case but with a longer bore & throw the generate more horsepower. The test run data sheet shows 185hp at 2700RPM. From the build inventory info: It's a Conical style mount crankcase with thrust washers; Standard Lycoming style flat tappet camshaft and lifters; Standard Slick magneto ignition (1x 4370 direct drive and 1x 4371 impulse) with standard aircraft style spark plugs. It was configured with a Lycoming up-draft style sump and induction with a Precision Silver Hawk fuel injection system (with the reverse direction control); Tempest high pressure AF15473 fuel pump; Hollow nose crankshaft set up for Fixed Pitch (but I may go Constant Speed or even Ground Adjustable); Nickel-Carbide bore cylinders with a 8.3:1 compression ratio and taper fin barrel. Also provided with the engine is the Sky-Tec starter, starter Ring Gear, Precision EX Fuel Servo. Because the engine was ordered by the previous owner a few years prior to his target installation date, it was preserved (or "pickled" as they say) at the factory after being test run, so it could be stored in a controlled environment without negative effects over time. |
| 2014-05-31 | Leading Edge Skins Riveting - Part I | After a brief hiatus for Mother's Day and Stacy's family visit for some birthday celebrations, I am back at it in the airplane factory. Today, dodging thunderstorms, I set up the priming table for the leading edge skin prep. Using the infamous red Scotch-Brite pads, I scuffed the interior surface of the 6x leading edge skins. Then cleaned them with acetone and the usual Dawn dishwashing detergent bath, dried and sprayed with the Duplicolor self-etching primer. [Side note: I know a lot of builders use the 2-part epoxy primer. But I like the convenience of the DC-SEP in the rattle can. I can shoot what I want, when I want, without having to prep a batch of primer. I'm probably spending more to prime than using 2-part, but at $6-$7/can, it's hard to beat!] Once the inside of the leading edges were primed, I fitted up ribs 1-6 for the left inboard leading edge skin and riveted them using AN426AD-4 and AD-3 flush rivets accordingly. The DeWalt power drill is there for removing the faulty rivets, of which there were an initial few. Once I found a method of securing this very light, oddly shaped assembly to the table, everything went together nicely. I love the look of the flush rivets. |
| 2014-06-01 | Leading Edge Skins Riveting - Part II | I rounded out my Sunday afternoon riveting the leading edge skins to the nose ribs and then joined the 3x lengths to create the 2x leading edges for the wings. Compared to the ailerons and flaps, there seems to be a TON of room to work in positioning the bucking bar and rivet gun. I am sure this will change as things close up. Seeing the shiny aluminum bolsters my enthusiasm and confidence that my Glastar will receive the NuVite polished mirror finish one day! Next step is to obtain some flexible conduit and hangers to install the electrical wiring routing through the leading edges. I'll then route the wires down the strut and into the lower fuselage, installing quick disconnects for each of disassembly (when necessary). |
| 2014-06-03 | Electrical Conduit in Leading Edges | I needed to install conduit to get the electrical wiring for the wing tip nav/strobe/position and landing lights from the fuselage to the wing tips. This is required because the extended range fuel tanks fill the outboard bay between main ribs 5 & 6. For my plan, the wiring from each wing tip will run inside conduit inside the leading edge nose ribs lightening holes until it drops into the wing center section through the inboard-most lightening hole for the outboard end of the main spar. From there all wiring and pitot/AOA lines will run down the wing lift strut into the fueslage. (wow, that's a lot of locational info!) I'll likely install quick-disconnects in the wing and fuselage to allow for wing removal. Searching locally for felxible conduit, I had a tough time finding anything that didn't have the longitudinal "split" and wasn't corrugated. Searching Home Depot's various aviation aisles, I found myself in the plumbing aisle looking at everything from white PVC pipe to black PVC drain pipe, to perforated pipe, to clear vinyl tubing. Then I found the PEX plumbing piping. The wall is a little thicker than I need and it is not really flexible, but it is very light per linear foot, smooth inside and out, comes in colors, and works with plastic joist hangers. Perfect! So I grabbed a 10' length of blue, brought it home, cut it (nearly) in half and installed it in the forward-most lightening holes in the leading edge nose ribs, just as planned. The plastic hangers are oriented perfectly to allow the mounting tabs to hit the nose ribs web between the smaller and larger lightening holes, and hold the pipe steady in there. It sits proud of the outboard nose rib by 1/8" and I ran some high tensile pull string through it to facilitaet wire pulls later. Inboard, it stubs just inside of nose rub 13 where the pull string feeds into the main wing section. |
| 2014-06-07 | Leading Edge Leading Edge Skins Riveting - Part III | This is the third of four entries for riveting the leading edge skins. Today I physically riveted the leading edges to the upper and lower flanges of the front spar, with the exception of the inboard lower flange. Here, the inboard main lower skin sits under the leading edge skin and will be completed in a subsequent step. Overall, the flush riveting looks excellent, with a few very minor scratches and dings that most people will not notice. So far I am optimistic about still being able to polish the wings and other aluminum surfaces to a high luster. We'll see if that optimism continues! |
| 2014-06-27 | Installed Pitot/AOA Tube Mast | I purchased the Dynon heated Pitot and AOA tube figuring this is easier than installing both a pitot and AOA probe. I had some concern for the proprietary nature of the Dynon tube but I learned at Oshkosh this year that both the Dynon Skyview and the Garmin G3X will work with the Dynon tube. Those are my primary avionics considerations, so I am covered here. I ordered the SafeAir pitot mast from Wicks. This is technically the version design for the RV's with a slight joggle to fit the spar overlap. For my purposes, I cut the joggle off and worked with the remaining base plate. In the Glastar the pioto mast plate mounts to the skin and one of the span-wise skin stiffeners just outboard of Rib 2. I used the provided template and cut carefully though the lower left skin to allow the mast to pass through. I followed the Glastar pitot mounting plate fabrication instructions to crete the skin doubler to which the SafeAir pitot mast attaches. I then mounted the SafeAir mast with it's integrated baseplate to the custom cut doubler. The doubler hides under the span-wise stiffener and is drilled through the outside skin. This is now extra rigid. Six AD4 rivets will hold it all together, plus the 5 rivets through the span-wise stiffeners. Finally, I painted the pitot mast from its blue anodized finish (which was very nice, BTW) to a metal finish with rattle can spray paint. |
| 2014-07-16 | Pitot Tube - Threading the mounting holes | Borrowed a tap & die set from my friend and fellow Gstar builder, Jon Apfelbaum. I used the tap to thread the interior of the holes on the pitot tube flange for mating to the pitot tube mast. Delicate work but it looks good and functions well in the end. |
| 2014-08-05 | Lower Main Skins Riveting - Part I | I began riveting the lower main skins to the spars, ribs and hat section stiffeners. Slow going as there are countless rivets and a few tough places to reach. The areas between the flap and aileron bellcranks, as well as the section around the lift strut beam required some creativity. Ultimately, a few rivet spots required Cherry Max structural blind rivets. I followed another builders recommendation to use a standard rivet set in the C-frame and sort of back-rivet the hat sections. This worked really well and made for quick work on the bench before loading the skin between the spars. I left the top 2 rivets out of the hat section to ensure I could life the skins up with the hats inside the spars and then drop the skins down onto the rear (lower) spar. This worked really well and I did it with all but the inboard skins as these are too stiff and also sit underneath both rows of forward spar rivet lines. |
| 2014-08-06 | Lower Main Skins Riveting - Part II | Continued riveting the lower skins including span-wise stiffener channels around the inspection holes and the inboard lower skin doublers. The entire wing assembly has become extremely rigid. Pretty impressive considering how light all the individual parts are. |
| 2014-09-05 | Wing skin polishing - First Pass | I really like the look of the polished aluminum on a few of the Glastars and RVs. So I have been really scrutinizing my work to see if it holds up to the standards a polished wing requires. So I purchased some Nuvite cutting compound at Airventure this year and did the first pass. I was amazed to see how nicely the aluminum polishes up. There are some unfortunate scratches on the wing skins that may not come out with polish, so the jury is still out on whether I can do this, but it's fun to see what if could look like after a few hours work! |
| 2014-10-06 | Removed Wings from Jigs | I am getting ready to mount the wings to the fuselage and drill the lift struts. This required jockeying the fuselage around and removing the wings from the wing jigs and dismantling the jigs. I manufacturer a roll-around wing cradle to hold the wings until ready for final mounting, and a buddy of mine helped me move it all around the shop. |
| 2014-10-06 | Preparing the fuselage for more work | The wings are ready to be mounted to the fuselage, so they have been removed from their jigs and placed in a roll-around cradle. The fuselage is now placed in the barn justified to one side to allow for the left wing to be mated up. We took an hour to set and level the fuselage to the waterline, as well as leveling across the top fuselage tube between the forward spar attach points. |
| 2014-10-11 | Cut wing fold angles into lift struts | In order to accommodate the wing fold feature, the inboard rear ends of the lift struts need to be cut on an angle. This way, when the wings fold back, the strut will not interfere with the fuselage. Quick band saw cut and some filing, and the strut were deburred and cleaned up. Next step is mounting the lift struts to fuselage and wings. |
| 2014-10-12 | Cut tank boss and gauge openings in wing roots | Using plexiglass as a see-through template, I set the fuel tanks between the spars and the hat sections stiffeners and marked the fuel gauge/pickup opening and the feed and vent line openings. Due to some construction anomalies between the two tanks, I needed to make some adjustments in the openings to accommodate the threaded boss flanges. Slight elongation and all looks good. |
| 2014-10-12 | Constructed wing dihedral jig | In order to set the wing dihedral and ensure there is no twist to the wing, I needed to construct a jig with adjustable height. I used the same posts with threaded bolts I used under the rear spars and attached them to a horizontal 2x4 sitting inside a plastic saw horse. These actually worked out to be a perfect length for the task. With each post sitting under the fwd and aft spars, I can adjust the threads to set the height of the outboard wing. |
| 2014-10-15 | Left Wing Mating to Fuselage: Part I | During my first attempt at loading the left wing into the spar attach points, I realized the depth of the root rib flange on the fuselage was just about 1/4" - 3/8" too deep and the spar holes would not line up. After consulting with some other Gstar builders, I decided to simply cut off the flange at the root. I will simply re-attach when I get to the top deck and windshield installation. Using the wing dihedral jig to support the inboard end of the wing, I fashioned an overhead hoist from a Home Depot pulley and some bungee cords spanning between the front and rear outboard spars. I then slowly hoisted the outboard end of the ring up as I "walked" the inboard end from padded sawhorses to the top of the dihedral gig, then into the spar attach points on the cage. I then moved the dihedral jig to just outboard of the lift strut intersection and began the tedious task of setting the dihedral along the wing and the twist between the root rib and outboard rib. 1.5 degrees across the span: CHECK 1.6 degree aft slope at root and outboard rib: CHECK I then used the Glasair-supplied lift strut drill jig to drill out the lift strut and strut attach arm. This jig made the entire experience a breeze! |
| 2014-10-15 | Left Wing Mating to Fuselage: Part II | More photos of the left wing mating procedure: |
| 2014-10-22 | Right Wing Mating to Fuselage | Seems the 2nd one of everything goes SO much faster than the first! Without enough room to load both wings simultaneously, I needed to rotate the fuselage 90 degrees to accommodate the right wing installation. Using a similar(yet better) hoist method to that for the left wing, I swung the wing into place on the right side very quickly. I set the dihedral and twist with my jig quickly and began to measure the lift strut drilling dimensions. Because each strut is identical when inverted, using the left wing lift strut as a test-fit for the right, much to my astonishment, the left strut fit PERFECTLY on the right wing assembly. This gave me confidence to simply follow the same drilling dimensions and procedures for the right wing as the left wing. This sped the entire process dramatically. |
| 2014-10-25 | Right Wing Flap Mounting | After collecting the various minute parts to assemble the flap to the flap tracks, I slid the flap onto the right wing. This would have been easier with an additional set of hands, but eventually, I managed to get them into the tracks and through the roller bearings. Assembling and setting the throw of the deployment actuator took some trial and error but eventually nailed it. Next I loaded the deployment and retraction cables through the guide blocks and appropriate access holes and pulleys. |
| 2014-10-28 | Right Wing Aileron Mouunting | Mounted the right aileron to the wing exactly as per the instructions. Aside from finessing the spacers and washers into place - and reaching into the tiny access holes with these size 10 hands - all went smoothly. I then adjusted the push rod length for appropriate up/down aileron travel using a plexiglass deflection guide I whipped up. |
| 2014-11-08 | Mounting Main Gear Legs to Fuselage - Part I | This is always an exciting milestone in every aircraft construction effort - putting the plane on it's landing gear. It is also extremely important to be very precise as this is the platform on which I will leave and return to the Earth for each flight. When rolling down the runway at 65-75 MPH, the gear needs to track straight and true, so I made sure to measure 3x on these tasks! In order to achieve the exact toe-in for the gear legs, and to make sure they are level on the fuselage, a simple angle iron jig was required. I built this from 2x 4' section of angle steel from the local True Value. I attached these to a rigid 1x4 I had laying around and leveled the assembly under the fuselage. The gear legs then slid into the fuselage cage receptacles and the axles were adjusted to sit flush on the jig. (*more on fitting the gear legs into the fuselage receptacles later.) The legs are then toed in using a .032" shim. From there, the top of the gear legs are drilled through the top of the receptacles. You'll notice in the photos, left leg sits approx. 1/8" proud of the top of the receptacle opening while the right leg sits approx. 1/16" shy. This is simply due to the imperfections in the manufacturing from leg to leg. [*The biggest challenge in this portion of the construction effort was in getting the gear legs to slide into the receptacles. As delivered from the factory, there was NO WAY these legs were making it into the slots. So, following advice from some other builders, I bought a brake disc cylinder hone and began scraping material from the interior of the upper and lower fuselage receptacles. Though a seemingly immaterial amount of 'shaving' was performed, this was enough to get the gear legs in with the assistance of some anti-seize compound.] |
| 2014-11-09 | Mounting Main Gear Legs to Fuselage - Part II | Drilling the gear leg mounting bolt through the receptacle tubes was an exercise in patience. Some cobalt drill bits and plenty of cutting oil with a slow-turning electric drill, and eventually, I got there. Keeping an eye on the angle of the drill so as to stay within the center of the tube was challenging, but I took my time. Though I did not stay perfectly parallel to the cage tubes, I stayed perfectly centered on the tube front to rear and top to bottom. |
| 2014-11-26 | Fabricating the Wheel Pant Backing Plates | This was by far and away the most challenging and tedious fab effort so far. Using the (not to scale) template in the manual, I fashioned 2x wheel pant backing plates to attach to the brake mounting hub. It was not entirely clear from the manual why they have you do this in this sequence, but I read ahead and got a good idea of some of the challenges. I also read on the GlastarNet Forums that it is a good idea to retain approx. .75" - 1" additional edge on the aft lower section of the backing plate, so I applied that concept to mine. The interior cutout for the brake caliper and pad assembly was a real challenge, but looks good with 1/8" minimum clearance on all sides. |
| 2014-12-25 | Mounting Brake Hub on Gear Axle | The brake hub sits all the way inboard on the gear leg's axle and is used to attach the brake components as well as the wheel pant backing plate. (this will also accept the custom jack pedestal I'll fabricate for jacking the plane up). To install the brake hub, I needed to perfectly level the brake hub to the aircraft waterline (which also happens to be true level in the jig). Then all that was left to do was "simply" drill vertically through the top and bottom brake hub flanges and all the way through the 1.5" solid hardened steel axle. Piece of cake, right? Wrong! After using a couple of cobalt drills of varying sizes to step-up the diameter, I finally got there, but it was VERY difficult and messy (especially with all the cutting oil). But once cut, the brake hub slipped on, and then the wheels, and the brake components. Photos here are of the dry fit prior to installing the wheel pant backing plates. |
| 2015-01-05 | Tailwheel Installation - Part I | I purchased the Tailwheel Conversion kit from Glasair as the kit purchased by the original builder was configured as a tricycle gear version. The TW Conversion kit comes packaged nicely with all parts required to install the Alaskan Bush Wheel tailwheel assembly including leaf springs, internal reinforcements, hardware, control cables, chains and steering springs. Part I of the installation is to install the forward spring bolt bracket interior to bulkhead D and to reinforce the interior fuselage sides just ahead of bulkhead E with 3 layers of DBM fiberglass cloth. Photos here show the temporary 4-bolt securing of the bracket to bulkhead D. |
| 2015-01-09 | Tailwheel Installation - Part II | Once the forward spring interior attach bracket is put in place, I needed to fashion the forward and aft spring spacers. These are blocks of aluminum stock that need to be conformed to the lower fuselage profile and tapered enough to allow the tailwheel springs to sit parallel to the waterline. Easier said than done. Despite my best efforts, I could not get the springs to align with the waterline without leaving a significant gap between the upper spring and the fuselage near the rear of the fuselage. After scouring the GlastarNet forums, a common theme emerged; I needed to abandon the notion of setting the tailwheel springs parallel to the waterline and just set it all up so the rake & trail of the tailwheel was positive and not "flat or trailing". So after much experimentation, I managed to nail this down. My final solution was to reverse the slope of the forward spring spacer (it now slopes up toward the rear) and then create a wedge interior to the forward bulkhead attach bracket to keep the bolt-up square. I then added a 1/4" thick spacer below the prescribed rear spacer to take up the small remaining gap between the springs and the fuselage. This worked really nicely with the factory rear spring attach bracket, though I did need to hogg out some of the DMB cloth under the interior receptacle. So ends Part II. Now on to the really fun part...mounting up the tailwheel. |
| 2015-01-10 | Tailwheel Installation - Part III | Next up was mounting the tailwheel assembly to the spring assembly. This step also required securing the aft spring stack between the attach bracket alongside the aft spacers. This is the Sportsman style aft spring attach bracket and is really only used to keep the rear spring assembly aligned with the fuselage and from settling down when unloaded. The bracket attaches with 2x long bolts through an interior bracket with 2x kept lock nuts. This bracket gets embedded in flox for a secure fit after the interior fuselage mounting area is flattened to support the bracket. Next the tailwheel needed to be aligned with "true centerline" which in .20" east of the physical centerline (not sure why, but that's what the instructions said). In my case, a very slight shaving of the tailwheel spacer got is exactly plumb and straight. I torgue'd all nuts with my fancy new ft-lb torque wrench since my inch-lb version wasn't rated for these values. |
| 2015-01-14 | Tailwheel Installation - Part IV | The final step to setting the tailwheel is attaching the steering springs. To do this properly, a special laser alignment jig is required to "shoot" the line between the tailwheel steering spring attach point and the rudder horn attach point. I used a slightly different design than others posted on the forums. It just seemed to work better. I used some leftover angle aluminum, cut the rudder horn end to get the proper bend to the forward end of the jig, and then I attached a piece of 1/2" MDF cut at the appropriate angles to sit on the tailwheel steering arms. I made this universal so I could transfer the jig from the right side to the left. Once set on the bench, I just taped a laser pointer to the support angle and moved it to the place. Then just mark the intersecting point on the fuselage shell and drill through for the steering cables. Once drilled, the steering cables get fed through some extra pitot static line to keep them from chafing the fuselage (or the fuselage chafing the cable). This pitot line gets cut flush to the exterior of the fuselage and provides a guide internal to the tailcone. The final installation requires Nicopress sleeves swaged to the cables. Then tensioning of the dual springs from the tailwheel steering arms to the rudder horn. |
| 2015-01-27 | Final install of the main wheels and brakes | Today was a milestone. After fitting the jacking brackets, I mounted the wheels with all axle spacers, axle nuts and cotter pins. I have to admit that drilling through the axle threads to accommodate the cotter pin was a bit of heartburn, but in the end it worked out well. Brakes slide in place without any rubbing against wheel pant brackets or gear jack points. All nuts torque sealed for reference. |
| 2015-01-28 | Gear Jack Lifting Brackets | Following the advice of some fellow builders, I constructed some jack lifting points out of 3"x3"x.25" 6061-T6 aluminum angle. I started with the design on the forums but decided to adjust for my aircraft and set the pitch parallel to the ground when in the tail-down stance it'll have when sitting on the ramp. I also tapped the support flange with a 12-24 thread to accept a 12-24 screw as a means by which to keep the jack point from sliding off a jack. I constructed from some spare cardboard a reversible template and determined the shape, bolt pattern and center holes and then fabricated the brackets. When finished, painted and installed, they look fantastic. |
| 2015-02-03 | Header tanks installation | I mounted the header tanks on the vertical cage behind the pilot and copilot seats as prescribed in the manual. I then plumbed the dear tanks up to the fuel feed and vent lines to the tank using flexible hose so the wings can fold. One special addition to the header tanks is the CAUTION:FUEL stickers on the header tanks. This is mostly an aesthetic treatment but will also serve as a caution for anyone unfamiliar with the aircraft as they rummage around in the baggage area. |
| 2015-02-05 | Stainless braided brake line installation | On the advice of others, I purchased some custom length stainless Teflon braided brake lines from Pegasus Racing. I used some semi-flexible sprinkler drip line to approximate the routes from the wheels to the pedal mounted master cylinders, then between the L/R master cylinders, and on to the brake reservoir. I ended up with varying lengths to ensure proper routing, a little wiggle room, but only where necessary as weight is a concern here. I included a 90degree elbow right where the gear leg lines enter he fuselage. This will allow for swapping out to a tricycle gear (not that I plan to do this ever) or replacing the gear-mounted line should it ever fail. I mounted the brake reservoir up high on the pilot side as prescribed in the installation manual. Some Adel clamps hold that assembly in place quite well. And it is still serviceable in that location. |
| 2015-02-08 | Plumbing fuesalge fuel lines | Plumbing down to the fuel drain valve required some "fuel line Origami" to make the bends, keep away from any control cabling, and maintain a gravity flow down to the drain at the lowest point. This was challenging but ultimately rewarding. I learned how to assemble Swagelok fittings and work with 3/8" OD aluminum tubing. A tube bender made much of this work easier. From the drain valve tees, I then plumbed up to the fuel selector valve ahead of the flap handle. Positioning the selector in just the right place was important to me. I want it to be close enough so I could reach it while in flight with my belts cinched, but I also didn't want it too close to the flap handle, and I want to leave room for a center forward console. The console may hold switches, indicator lamps or a fire extinguisher. I also wanted to make sure plumbing to the selector and from the selector to the filter/boost pump assembly took advantage of the openings in the forward cage tunnel. |
| 2015-02-20 | Mounted and plumbed Fuel Boost Pump | I made a custom shelf for the fuel boost pump so it can sit atop the center cage tunnel clear of any wiring or cabling that will pass below. The shelf will mount to the cage with Adel clamps and I drilled some lightening holes to allow for some airflow across and under the boost pump to aid in cooling. This location also allows access for fuel filter servicing and annual inspection, as well as a casual tube bend from the fuel selector to the filter inlet. I will wait for the temporary plexi firewall installation to select the firewall fuel line pass through, but I believe it will be a straight shot from the boost pump outlet through the firewall. |
| 2015-04-15 | Conical Engine Mount | The engine mount for my Glastar is a little special since the IOX-340 engine I have requires a Conical mount. This is unusual in that most contemporary engines use a Dynafocal Type I or II mount. Rumor has it the Conical style are more prone to vibration. But in my case, I purchased a set of bolt-through vibration isolators which should reduce that a little. The composite Whirl Wind constant speed prop ought to help a little there are well. Fitting the engine mount to the firewall went smoothly with only a little pulling to align some of the holes. There are also spacers required for the lowest two mount locations. These take up the space if you are not planning to install the float mounts. Now I can start playing with the placement of FWF accessories. |
| 2015-06-17 | Oil Cooler Installation | I manufactured a custom oil cooler airflow shroud out of fiberglass by carving a foam block to match the mounting locations of the oil cooler brackets. I added some aluminum angle to the shroud and to the firewall to support the attachment to the firewall and the inlet air hose. The shroud is held on by AN3 bolts to nutplates on the firewall brackets. It's all painted red to match the engine pushrod covers. It's mounted in an optimal location for the 3" air hose to clear the engine mount and for the butterfly valve control bracket. |
| 2015-07-10 | Fabricated Firewall | Using the acrylic firewall template I created, plus following the manual's flange templates, I fashioned the firewall assembly and pass-drilled the mounting holes. Initially, cutting the firewall and the holes was slow-going but I eventually got the knack of it with the shears and made quick work of it. After test-fitting the firewall to the nose, I riveted the flanges to the firewall face using the stainless Monel rivets. A helping of 3M Fire Barrier 2000+ around the seams and it looks tight. Next step will be transferring all the accessories mounting holes and test fitting the final assembly. |
| 2015-07-10 | Firewall flame protection and insulation | I studied up quite a bit on Firewall flame protection and insulating tactics, noting a particularly compelling series of tests by DanH on the VAF forums. In these tests, Dan demonstrated heat as high as 1500degrees to the face of the firewall foil, with heat on the pax side of the cabin around 170degrees. I'll buy that as good thermal protection requiring only 3/8" total thickness of materials. He claims the best fire protection is to use the stainless sheet as the last defense, closest to the passenger cabin. Then add a 1/8" thick layer of Fiberfrax in front of that, and then some thick stainless foil with a seam up the middle. Aluminum foil tape to cover the seam will allow escaping gases from the Fiberfrax to exit into the engine compartment in the event it heats up that much. I'll add some internal fiberglass heat blanket as well to keep the noise down as well as to insulate from colder temps in the cabin. |
| 2015-07-27 | Gascolator Installation | I manufactured a custom angle bracket to support the gascolator on the lower firewall. It supports the gascolator forward enough from the firewall to have the drain spigot within the exit air slot opening in the lower cowling. To accomplish this, however, I needed to notch the exit air ramp to accommodate the body of the gascolator. I made sure the gascolator could still have the lower body unscrewed and removed and internal filter checked/changed without having to remove the cowling or the gascolator itself from the aircraft. |
| 2015-08-05 | Wing Fold Brace Kit | With the folding wing capability of the Glastar, retaining eyebolts and associated vertical fin spar doublers need to be installed. These eyebolts allow a short steel rod to support the forward spars in the folded position, and also offer a tie-back point to keep the aft end of the wings (the ailerons in particular) from contacting the vertical fin. Though I do not plan to fold the wings once in the flying configuration, it will be nice for transporting to the airport and back home for any major modifications I decide to make. |
| 2015-09-05 | Installed Battery Box on Firewall | I bought the EarthX aluminum battery box for my firewall. It comes as a fixed position box with pre-formed flanges to mount to the firewall. Because of its mounting location close to the engine mount, and proximity to other accessories on the FW, I decided to modify it to allow it to hinge open. This will allow direct installation and removal of the battery. I started by cutting off the flanges and the face of the box about 1/2" back on each side. I installed hinge rows on both sides and made the left side fixed. The right side has the removable pin and a retaining clip. I also fashioned some heavier angle for the FW mount and flush riveted the box fame to those FW angle mounts. I test fit and painted the box with high temp engine paint (red, to match the cylinder push rods) and temporarily mounted it to the wall. I'll wait to order the actual EarthX battery until closer to completion. I'll probably add some Teflon anti-chaffe tape on the interior of the box to take up any dimensional slop and protect the battery from rubbing or movement. |
| 2015-10-10 | Transponder Antenna | I installed the Bob Archer Transponder Antenna in the rear of the fuselage just ahead of bulkhead B below the leading edge of the vertical stabilizer. This is a small antenna mounted on a phenolic isolation board but it is very rigid, so I needed to fabricate some standoffs to attach it to the aircraft. Due to the extreme curvature of the rear fuselage/empennage, I had to custom fit the bracket system while contorting myself into the back of the airplane. Not fun! Ultimately, however, I got the complete assembly mounted within 5 degrees of centerline and well within tolerance for a quality transponder reading for ATC. I will cable up the transponder antenna once I begin work on the panel. |
| 2015-10-15 | Taxi Light Installation in Cowl | The former cowl owner had installed his taxi/landing light in a tube in the lower nose bowl of the engine cowling, complete with an acrylic lens. Unfortunately, there was no mounting ring included so I fabricated my own from scrap aluminum and a PAR36 rubber trim ring I purchased online. The solution is effectively 3x aluminum flared tabs that sandwich the taxi light trim ring and include a "leg" into which I installed nutplates. These nutplates coincide with the slots on the light tube inside the cowling and allow for alignment adjustment. The AERO LEDs louvered taxi light is super bright with a really good beam. I am very happy with the finished look. |
| 2015-10-15 | COMM 2 Antenna | I installed the Bob Archer COMM antenna as this is designed specifically for composite aircraft. The antenna installs on the inside of the fuselage right behind bulkhead A (immediately behind the baggage area). It forms nicely around the curvature of the interior fuselage and is held in by 6 blind rivets in the fiberglass wall. I have not yet wired the antenna, but that will occur when I begin work on the panel. |
| 2015-10-16 | Static Ports Installation | I installed the 2x static ports on the fuselage water line as prescribed in the assembly manual. They get oriented in a specific manner such that they get the proper air pressure and read accurately. They attach to the fuselage with 3/32" blind rivets. I may try to do flush rivets to a back plate inside the fuselage as I think that will look better. I need to coordinate the cabin air vents below these so as not to interfere with the airflow to the static ports. |
| 2016-01-04 | Propeller arrived today! | Today I received my Whirlwind Aviation 74RV Constant Speed prop. It is a beauty! This is a 74" diameter composite prop with scimitar tips and nickel clad leading edges. The Jihostroj compact prop governor and 12" spinner were also included. Looking forward to adding this to the front of the motor once mounted! |
| 2018-06-18 | Installing the straight Oil Filter adapter | My motor came with a right angle adapter to make it easier and cleaner to remove the oil filter. Unfortunately, the conical engine mount conflicted with that adapter and I needed to swap it for a straight adapter. Not perfect but still adequate for performing tidy oil changes every 50 hours. The challenge began, however, when I recognized the straight adapter's Vernatherm cylinder and filter flange conflicted with accessing and tightening the lower 2 studs on the mount. For both left and right sides, the magnetos were in the way so I needed to remove those to gain access to the oil filter studs and nuts to fasten the oil filter adapter. I made a note to replace the star washers on the stud mounts for the magnetos since I backed the nuts off from their torqued settings. New 5/16" star washers and a re-torque on the magneto mounts once I know they're not coming off again! |
| 2018-08-01 | Firewall Construction | I built the firewall following the plans with one exception; I followed the approach outlined in the Sportsman 2+2 manual where the flange tabs sit aft of the firewall. This creates a cleaner seam around the periphery of the firewall at the flanges and allows the fire blocking sealant a cleaner bead. I had already built the firewall a year or so ago but managed to rivet it all together after only test-fitting the sheet inside the fuselage end foraward of the cage attach points. Once assembled, the stainless steel flanges exceeded the tapered front of the fuselage. This was a major setback for me, but also a learning opportunity. For the latest firewall, I was cautious to fit and re-fit at each step of the way. In the end, the final firewall is built way better and even includes an "engine turning" swirly pattern like some vintage aircraft finishes I've seen. (The Spirit of St. Louis being one of them). Read on for how I laid out the components on the firewall and set the attach points for each. |