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Build Diary 21/22/23-July-06

Mark the spark came and helped me in the hanger on Friday. I put him to work on fitting the starter and mater diodes. We then fitted the new control panel and refitted all the egine controls. We then spent a lot of time trying to bleed the brakes.

However Saturday I discovered the Matco park brake was leaking! Finished fitting the canopy latch by fitting knob. I connected the rudder to pedal cables, also fitted the tail wheel springs and controls.

Sunday I secured the cables in the rear of fuse, connected the Dynon OAT probe and fitted the baggage area panels. I then timed the engine as I had removed one mag. Jo was coming down to help with starting the engine. Jo has been waiting to pull all the blue plastic off the RV - I promised she could. So off it quickly came as I got everthing ready for the engine start.

Finally it came time..... TO START THE ENGINE ...... We moved the RV out of the hanger, I then tied it to the back of my Land Rover and weighted it down with three 20L (full) fuel cans. The engine started first time easily and ran for a short while - it stopped and I realised I had selected the tank that I had drained!! So I took this chance to check the engine for leaks. I had one on the oil cooler, the joint was loose so I tightened it and restarted the engine - with some fuel this time! The engine ran well and I checked the Advanced Engine monitor settings. I stopped the engine, climbed out and was greated by an excited Jo leaping around excited about how well it had gone.

Mark came over on Friday and helped out on the RV.
He fitted the start and master diodes. As well as the last battery lead.
Fitted the internal knob to the canopy latch.
I fitted some spiral wrap around the brake pipe where it passes the cowling to ensure it is not scuffed when fitting or taking the cowling off.
Fitted spinner.
Fitting tail wheel controls.
I have made the controls slightly long as I can adjust them shorter easily.

UPDATE: My inspector suggested they were shorter, I have taken a link out.

I cleaned the floor and used stick down pads to hold the rear fuse wires in place. Also connected the Dynon OAT probe.

After cleaning the area and fixing the wires I fitted the baggage area cover/panel.
Jo came over on Sunday. She had been waiting to peel the blue plasic off. So while I prepared for the engine start Jo started pulling it all off.
I took the plastic off the canopy. It looks great!!!!

THE ENGINE START......
I strapped the RV to the back of my Land Rover, and weighed it down to ensure the tail did not lift.





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