Off to the paint shop

Baby Bird made its first big move today - 150 miles to the paint shop. Once it's painted it will be final assembly, finish the avionics, run the engine and work through certification with the FAA. Juan at T&P aero seemed to want to get started first thing so it may be only a few weeks until it's painted. I have several small jobs and one last big job, the fuel tank, that will keep me busy while it's in the shop.

Two steps back - one step forward build time 1602 hrs

Well it's been quite some time since I posted to the blog. I finished the engine and cowl and purchased the Avionics - which apparently I should have done in reverse order. I purchased the engine first because I wanted to get it painted before final assembly. I then realized that there would be antennas and doublers with the avionics kit so I had to wait on that. I'm a bit concerned that the engine hasn't run in months, not good for engines. We'll do a thorough inspection of the cylinders prior to starting and I'm hopeful it will be fine.

At this point in the build there aren't a lot of pictures that show significant progress. Most of the work involves taking something apart to install some new wire or servo and such. I'm down to this last weekend of work on the plane before we haul it off to the paint shop. Many folks don't paint until post phase 1 test fight in case they have to make major changes. I don't expect that since it's a known entity and many have been built. I've not deviated from the design in a way that would cause major parts of it to be removed or changed and once it's flying I intend to fly it.

The last major piece is the fuel tank which I'll assemble while the plane is in paint. Once it comes back it will take a couple sessions to get the avionics in and tested and I'll do that here at the house. Then, it's off to the hanger for final assembly - still months from flying.

It's also time to dig through all the paper work for registration. It's daunting but as with this entire project just start reading and it all starts to make sense. Time to call Vans for my bill of sale and discuss the registration process. I will also complete my N number registration which is reserved for now - N696VA.

For builders looking into the paperwork process here's a list of items I've compiled so far:

mbers.eaa.org/home/homebuilders/registering/register.html

https://www.vansaircraft.com/pdf/Registering-RV/Registering.pdf

Request a bill of sale from Vans

1. If you have an RV-12 but do not meet the RV-12 ELSA criteria, you will only receive the 8050-2 bill of sale. If you want the placards they can be purchased at an additional cost. 

1) Aircraft Registration Application, FAA Form 8050-1.

2) Affidavit of Ownership, FAA Form 8050-88 (use version dated 9/98).

3) If a kit aircraft you must also complete FAA Form 8050-2 Bill of Sale and replace the word "aircraft" in the title with "kit."

4) If you want a "special" N-number, send a letter requesting five choices.

5) Appropriate fee: $5.00 ($15.00 for "special" N-number)

Prior to the FAA inspector’s arrival for the final inspection you should obtain:

1) Airworthiness Application, Form 8130-6.

2) Eligibility Statement for Amateur-Built Aircraft, Form 8130-12.

AC 90-89B - Amateur-Built Aircraft and Ultralight Flight Testing Handbook 

http://www.faa.gov/documentLibrary/media/Advisory_Circular/AC_90-89B.pdf

AC20-27G -Certification and Operation of Amateur-Built Aircraft 

https://www.faa.gov/documentLibrary/media/Advisory_Circular/AC%2020-27G.pdf

8130.2H - Airworthiness Certification of Products and Articles 

http://www.faa.gov/documentLibrary/media/Order/8130.2H.pdf

AC-45-2E Identification and Registration Markings

http://www.faa.gov/documentLibrary/media/Advisory_Circular/AC_45-2E.pdf

http://www.faa.gov/documentLibrary/media/Form/ac8050-88.pdf

http://www.faa.gov/documentlibrary/media/form/ac8050-2.pdf

http://www.faa.gov/documentLibrary/media/Form/Approved_OMB_8130-6_Expires_2015.pdf

http://www.faa.gov/documentLibrary/media/form/faa8130-12.pdf

Questions for Justin:

* Would paint be considered commercial help?

* Certified as EAB - I would like it to be day / night / VFR / IFR - any reason that cannot be done?

* If IFR certification is OK does the plane need to have an IFR navigation installed at the time of certification?

And of course - some pics

All the Avionics - candy for someone like me.

Panel coming together. I'm not going to put too much in until it's painted because they'll be using water and etching prior to primer

The Avionics kit came with the baggage floor pieces that allow inspection without removing the fuel tank. So I decided to add the rear bulkhead split also. I ordered the small piece and took a stab at cutting my existing bulkhead. It would have worked except I mis-drill one hole. So I bit the bullet and ordered the big section also. you can see it behind the old primed bulkhead. It is about 3/4 of an inch more material. One of many parts that have made it to the scrap heap. Hope this pic helps anyone making the same change. The small piece is less than $20 - just make sure to leave enough material (the holes are matched from the small part) and cleco everything as you drill.

Section 49 - Cooling complete - build time 1533 hrs

Pretty much the entire engine kit is finished. I just need to do the propeller and spinner. I've ordered the Avionics and except for paint that's the last big chunk of money for the project. The engine on this  plane is a very busy space. Most aircraft run a primitive Lycoming or Continental and the general idea is less stuff means less stuff to fail. This engine has oil cooling, water cooling, air cooling, electronic ignition, fuel rails and sensors, gear reduction and an integrated alternator / timing pickup. It's a nice package - but very busy for a small airplane. You might find this on larger / newer aircraft where the weight of redundant systems doesn't out weight their value. In any case, I'll be happy to fly behind it and have already signed up for the first maintenance class on this series of engines.

Lake Tahoe CA - 10.5 in the C152/G

The California Delta.

My busy little power plant.

Pretty happy how this came out. Took all morning to get the patterns for the foil just the way I wanted them.  It looks just like the book.

Air, Water, Oil cooling all hooked up.

Nice warm place for birds to build a nest.

100 plus hours to get to this point.

I'll be crawling around this thing for the rest of my life. Hope it always looks this good.

Engine Installed - Cowl Progress - build time 1440 hrs

I'm writing this update a bit behind schedule. Seems there's just not enough time for building a kit writing about it and keeping up with life. In any case the engine is on and now that it's nose heavy it's much more difficult to move around. I had to finally get out the tow bar to steer around the garage.
I'm about halfway through the cowl now and stopped to install the engine partly because the engine is in the way sitting in it's crate and because I want to have the aft spinner bulkhead installed so that I can use it to make sure the cowl is properly trimmed. I'm glad I did it this way although just trimming to the factory trim line would have worked.

Canopy, Engine and Paint - a busy week

This week the engine arrived from Vans. I drove to pick it up at the shipper because I didn't want to wait for them all day. The next day I couldn't wait to tear into the crate so I did the inventory and all parts were present. The engine looks sweet and the kit contains much more than I thought it would. I needed to get the engine kit here because while reading ahead for the cowl I noted there were parts that would go inside and the directions warned not to sand the cowl - leave it translucent so that you will be able to see through it to mount the cooling baffles. Once the cowl is finished the fuselage can go to paint.

The wings are in the hanger now along with the tail feathers and assorted stuff. The paint looks really nice. Everyone was commenting on the colors we used. It was always going to be blue and white and we were walking past the paint and Jaun picked up a can of gold and said what about this. We looked at the sample in the light and I said go for it. We pretty much made up the scheme and colors on the fly. I generally knew what I wanted and Jaun knocked it out of the park.

The canopy fiber glass is all trimmed out and sanded down. I have the first of what will be 5 coats of epoxy drying now. I'm really pleased with how it came out. It was a great part to build.

The engine crate took up the whole truck bed.

I've had this number reserved for a couple years now. Hope the FAA didn't give it away to someone else.

The paint really pops in the sun.

Pretty parts.

Getting help moving this stuff into the hanger.

The colors and scheme are perfect.

The Rotax 912 soon to be mounted.

Last shot of the canopy glass before it gets trimmed out.

After trimming. It came out great.

Canopy, Paint and Engine - build time 1394 hrs

A lot of stuff is coming together. I've finished laying down the fiber glass and resin. It's time to begin sanding and getting the final coats of resin on the glass for a smooth finish. Everyone is a bit anxious about this section but Vans has a really great, nearly 2 hour video on glassing a 14 that pretty much makes it simple. In the beginning it was a bit stressful but once you discover the pot life of the resin you begin to see how much time you have to work it in. Also, the peel ply is great stuff and I would highly recommend it.

This week I ordered the power plant. All that's left of the original kit is the cowl and the fuel tank. I plan on doing the tank while the plane is in paint and the cowl needs the engine before painting so I went ahead and ordered it. Should be 2 to 3 weeks they say. Hopefully there's no long wait for it but that amount of time is pretty much on target if I keep at it.

The wings, rudder, stabilator, flaperons, trim tabs and vertical stabilizer are all in paint. The primer and white are done for the most part and I went down to visit and lay out the 2nd and 3rd colors. We're going with a base white, Blue scallops on the wings and tail feathers with a gold accent. The size and shape of the scallops will be approximately what Vans paints on the SLSA's sans the gold stripe which will be about 3/4 inch. It should look very nice. The fuselage will be white on top and blue on bottom following a rolling pattern over the wings. It's coming together now. many many little parts making much bigger parts that are making one machine.

Sand paper will make this look pretty.

Peel Ply in action.

Right side glass. I'll be filling in the sag from the gap with micro balloons.

Two inch radius. Exactly as the plans say it should be.

Freshly painted stabilator. Added quite a bit of weight to it. The painter tried to keep the weight down.

Laying out the wings for the other colors.

All that hard work coming together.

Flaperon primed and ready for white.

Ready to glass the canopy - build time 1371 hrs

The Canopy is mounted and everything is coming along. It took a bit of time to get to this point as I was also trying to get the aft window sealed and installed. I took my time on the canopy because I didn't want to scratch or damage it. Also, it was cold and they are more brittle so I kept the shop warm. For those that use these blogs for tips two people would be better when it comes to handling the canopy. I don't have help waiting to spring into action so I just laid out some foam and carefully slipped it into place. I'm also putting in the seal kit so there's about 6 extra pages of stuff to be done during this chapter.

The aft window took three attempts to get it where I was satisfied. The first attempt was made using the one ounce bottles of pro seal and some West Marine syringes. I put it in and screwed it down and when I looked inside it looked terrible. There's about a 3/4 inch overlap between the window and the turtle deck. The turtle deck is white and the pro seal is black. You can see in the pic below that the pro seal didn't mush out because I didn't get enough in there. It set up fast and I pulled it out, cleaned it up and put it back in for a second attempt. On the second try I still couldn't get enough material to cover the over lap and the pro seal was setting up fast. I wen't about a 1/3 of the way around and called it. Up to this point I've only used the one ounce bottles of pro seal but I had the mid size pro seal that Vans sells that goes in the caulk gun. Vans had told me that the larger sizes of pro seal have a longer pot life and you could pretty much work with this stuff all day without any problem. I threw about 1/3 of it away but I'm happy with the seal now.

Next up is to cut the glass and start the layup. Progress.

Test fitting the canopy.

Everything aligned.

Carefully trying to get the holes lined up against the tube so when it's riveted it won't be under stress.

Everything drilled - getting closer to making this permanent.

Looks like it's all lined up.

Everything worked out. No Cracks and it's riveted on.

I decided to pro-seal the canopy to the side skirts. It just looked  like a place that would leak in the rain.

This is the first attempt at getting the aft window sealed. it just looked terrible and you would always see it. The second attempt wasn't any better.

Inside looking out. Feels good to sit in it with the canopy closed and latched.

Finally happy with the aft window seal. It came out nice.

Getting this to a place where I was happy with it took three weekends.

Next step it to break out the fiber glass.

Aft window seal after removing the tape.