Fuselage Interior Paint

Fuselage Interior Paint (July-Sep 2019)

I ended up constructing a paint booth in the garage. I didn't grab any great photos of it when it was done, but the first picture gives the general idea. I installed two box fans at the far bottom side (toward the garage door) and taped some 20x20x1 furnace filters on them to assist in filtration. I always had the garage door at least partially open when I was painting. I also used a full Tyvek suit with a full face-shield to keep exposure to a minimum.

For the primer and top coat on the interior of the fuselage, I used StewartSystems EkoPrime and EkoCrylic in a Dawn Patrol Gray color. They are both water based, which made cleanup and general toxicity much better through the project. As with any primer, there are a few runs here and there and it's not perfect. The fuselage was not on a rotisserie, which made getting to some of the downward facing surfaces challenging. I'm happy enough with the result though. The EkoCrylic top coat is very smooth, shiny and durable so far.

 

Trimmed Proseal

Empennage Test Fit

The end of the fuselage kit involves rigging flight controls via pushrod lengths and shaving the stops as required.  I pulled the empennage parts down from the shelf and installed everything somewhat loosely per plans.  I was happy with everything and didn't see any major issues except for the rudder pedal binding discussed in a previous post about the cable links being too short.  It's the little things that keep me going on this project and I really enjoyed moving the flight controls around and seeing everything move very smoothly IAW the plans.

Drilled the elevator horns IAW the plans...

 

Lighting

I bought the AeroLED position lights from Vans as part of the wing kit.  They were extremely easy to install.  The only snag was the connection to the wiring harness supplied with the wing.  The original was a five-place that didn't connect to the four-place connector that came with the lighting kit.  It was simple to cut off and replace, just surprised there's a mismatch here because both came from Vans.

BTW, don't forget that one light is red and one is green before you install.  Ask me how I know...

QB Wing Leak Test

The plans call for an additional leak test for peace of mind.  I elected to do both the balloon and manometer tests in combination with soapy water to check for leaks.  Fortunately, the only leaks I found were near the hardware I installed for the test itself.  The valve stem leaked a little until tightened, and the fuel cap leaked a little through the overlapping seam in the duct tape I used to try and seal it off during the test.  Having not built my wings, I was a little apprehensive about pulling off the tanks in the first place.  The first one took me about two hours (once I found all of the AN3 bolts) to remove.  The second took me a lot less time for removal and attaching.

I used 5/16" clear vinyl tubing for the manometer.  Here's a link to another builder's site that explains the process very well.  I checked each tank for about a day with 1 PSI before I removed the tubing and reinstalled the tanks on the wings.

I used a spare 2x3 frame that I wasn't using for my manometer test.  Low tech, but effective.

The balloon self-deflates after a bit, and is really just to ensure that you don't over pressurize the tank, so it's helpful for a little while if you just want to use soapy water to check for leaks quickly.

QB Wing Woes

It's my fault and I understand that.  I installed the lower gear braces, along with the AN6 and AN5 bolts that are a real pain.  However, I didn't realize until later that the openings for the landing gear and for the brake lines needed to be cut before the installation of the braces.  So, I had to remove the bolts (still a pain) and cut the openings.  The bolts and nuts were a little beat up; not bad, but just enough that I decided to replace them all before I installed the braces again. 

Rudder Pedals, Brakes and Brake Lines

I went with the stock brake line kit from Vans.  We'll see how it works out, but the installation was pretty easy.  For the rudder pedals, I liked the look of anodized aluminum that I had seen in other builds.  There was a local anodizing shop that did all four for $100, which was their minimum shop fee.  I was very happy with the result.

 

  

Without the help of other builders who have forged the way before me, I surely would be lost.  One such instance arises with the placement of the rudder pedals at the forward-most position.  This creates a a situation where the right rudder pedals when extended aft makes contact with the cross bar of the left rudder pedal before the rudder stop is reached.  E's RV-14 build site does a great job of highlighting the issue and discussing the fix.  Bottom line, don't use the forward-most position, or manufacture your own links that connect the rudder cables to the pedals.  I ordered some steel from Vans and did my best to make new ones.