J160 Kit#14 various with Photos

[Ross]

29-01-2008

 

Added some more lining to the luggage forward roof area which had not been completed previously. Easier now when I apply a coat of adhesive to the lining and the fibreglass. Wait till both surfaces are tacky before attempting to apply the lining with no wet liquid liquid adhesive showing otherwise it will fall off.

 

 

 

Prepared both areas for application of flock by

 

removing paint,

 

sandpaper areas to be flocked

 

clean with acetone

 

apply epoxy to area of joins

 

apply flock as a fillet to the joining materials.

 

 

 

Epoxied & flocked the throttle limit to the floor below the throttle lever.

 

 

 

[ATTACH]4811.vB[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]4812.vB[/ATTACH]

 

Epoxied the stick forward limit to the centre console in front of the control stick.

 

 

 

[ATTACH]4813.vB[/ATTACH]

 

 

 

Record Times,temp,relative humidity till cured.

 

 

 

Check position of stops periodically until initial curing has occurred.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Ross]

30-01-2008

 

Removed the instrument panel to fit the slip & skid indicator.

 

 

 

I checked the alignment of the panel with the aircraft door sills and they appear to be within about 1 or 2/10 degree of being aligned.

 

 

 

[ATTACH]4824.vB[/ATTACH]

 

So lined up the square edge of the instrument with the vertical edge of the panel. Using the aligned instrument as a template drilled holes to match and inserted black brass screws to attach instrument. Trimmed off the excess length of the screws to minimise chance of short circuits on wiring for indicator lights.

 

 

 

The glass tube in the slip & skid indicator is spring loaded and the black "lines" are black nylon like material on the outside of the tube so they can be adjusted manually after the aircraft is flown - does this mean that it will only slip on cross wind landings!!

 

 

 

Installed forward end of centre console. Attached it with retained nuts and pan head screws. Some rearranging of radio jack wiring, electric fuel pump power and low level float switch in header tank was required. Fuel pump was raised slightly to minimise air locks oin fuel lines.

 

 

 

[ATTACH]4825.vB[/ATTACH][ATTACH]4826.vB[/ATTACH][ATTACH]4827.vB[/ATTACH]

 

After looking at the job and photos I think I should trim about 25 mm off the bottom of the forward centre console so it can be lowered 25 mm to improve the routing of the fuel hose from the pump to the filter and firewall and make it easier to service the in-line fuel filter.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Ross]

31-01-2008

 

Removed the panel again to get at the wiring.

 

 

 

Removed about 20 mm from the bottom of the Centre Forward removable console before drilling new mounting holes and changing the fuel lines lengths involved.

 

 

 

[ATTACH]4831.vB[/ATTACH][ATTACH]4832.vB[/ATTACH]

 

 

Moved the electric fuel pump up a bit and a bit closer to the fuel cock to give a better curve to the line up to the filter & fire wall connection.

 

 

 

[ATTACH]4845.vB[/ATTACH][ATTACH]4846.vB[/ATTACH][ATTACH]4847.vB[/ATTACH]

 

 

Remounted the magnetic compass on the pilot side top of the panel to get better alignment with a/c. Discovered the screw in the back of the compass that allows you to level the compass laterally - it is sitting on a sloping surface as it is almost in front of the pilot. Used brass screws, washers and nuts to mount the compass. Shall have to put some loctite on the screws as I do not have lock nuts on the bolts.

 

 

 

[ATTACH]4833.vB[/ATTACH][ATTACH]4834.vB[/ATTACH]

 

 

A few more cables and wires need to be secured behind the panel mostly using cable ties. Make sure that nothing can get fouled by feet or controls after the panel is in its normal position and when the aircraft is airborne.

 

 

 

[ATTACH]4835.vB[/ATTACH][ATTACH]4836.vB[/ATTACH][ATTACH]4837.vB[/ATTACH]

 

 

I have probably used about three or four times as many cable ties as will end up on the aircraft and I don't think I am finished yet.

 

 

 

For the inexperienced like me the cable ties were very daunting until I had had a few attempts. Once you have tied up a number of bundles it becomes more obvious as to how untidy it all is.

 

 

In the pics below the fibreglass supporting the retained nut for the panel just above the choke control was dislodged and fractured. It was repaired by aralditing in a flat piece of scrap fibreglass behind the supporting glass and a new pair of CSK 3/32" pop rivets inserted.

 

[ATTACH]4838.vB[/ATTACH][ATTACH]4844.vB[/ATTACH]

 

The last few pics show the control stick stop and the throttle lever stops after curing.

 

[ATTACH]4839.vB[/ATTACH][ATTACH]4840.vB[/ATTACH][ATTACH]4841.vB[/ATTACH][ATTACH]4842.vB[/ATTACH][ATTACH]4843.vB[/ATTACH]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[BigPete]

G'day Ross - in your post dated 30-1-08 I got the impression that your slip ball was adjustable - did I read this right?.

 

regards

 

 

[Ross]

1-02-2008I thought I had written this up - it is in the log book but I had not put it in the forum. So I will add a pic after I have entered today's stuff (2-02-2008) where I have also done the pics already I hope.

 

 

 

Hi Peter a correction. The lines look like thin black wires. They are fixed in place by a pair of narrow slits cut into the face of the instrument so they are not really adjustable. But pressing on the tube does move it and affect the position of the ball. So the only real correction is the position of the bolt holes in the instrument panel. My apologies.

 

 

 

Magnetic compass mounted with 5/32" brass pan head bolts and face aligned parallel with the instrument panel. Loctite was applied to the bolts & nuts as I don't have nyloc nuts to suit. Compass was and can be rotated slightly to level it inside it's housing secured by a screw on the rear end of the housing. It is adjustable over about 5 degrees left & right in the roll axis.

 

 

 

[ATTACH]4873.vB[/ATTACH][ATTACH]4874.vB[/ATTACH]

 

(apologies for the two out of focus shots - negates the effort made to add them later from yesterdays pics)

 

 

Some more cable ties used behind the panel to secure throttle cable, choke cable and excess antenna wire.

 

 

 

Instrument Panel remounted.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Ross]

02-02-2008

 

Prefit windscreen to fuselage.

 

 

 

Sat w/s in place and drilled strategic holes around screen to help clamp it in place & hold it down flush with the fuse when epoxy is applied.

 

 

 

[ATTACH]4868.vB[/ATTACH][ATTACH]4869.vB[/ATTACH]

 

Marked top (outside) side of w/s protective material with a Texta pen in line with inner edge of where the epoxy will extend to when the w/s is fitted.

 

 

 

Removed sticky protective material on inside of screen in line with the Texta marking.

 

Removed sticky protective material from edge to about half way to the texta mark on the outside of the windscreen.

 

Roughened the joining area on the inside of the windscreen with emery cloth.

 

Roughened the joining area on the fuselage.

 

Made a chamfer on the inside joining edge of the w/s and the matching area on the fuselage.

 

 

 

Cleaned joining areas with air and acetone.

 

Mixed a batch of epoxy.

 

Applied epoxy to joining area of fuselage.

 

Mix flock into epoxy.

 

 

 

Insert a few screws so that w/s cannot move after being sat in place.

 

 

 

Apply flock to joining area and insert self tapping screws with two washers to pull down w/s flush with fuselage surface.

 

 

 

Apply extra screws as required.

 

 

 

Wipe off excess flock with rag & acetone.

 

 

 

[ATTACH]4870.vB[/ATTACH][ATTACH]4872.vB[/ATTACH][ATTACH]4871.vB[/ATTACH]

 

Record time, temp and RH until cured or nearly so.

 

 

 

Because there is some tension on the screws they will have to stay until the epoxy is cured but they can be rotated periodically so that they are not too difficult to remove.

 

 

 

In fact I will remove and replace them one by one to wipe off excess flock underneath the washers before they are fully cured.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Ross]

04-02-2008

 

Went to YNAR yesterday, the sky was pretty impressive so we did not fly. CASA was there testing the landing aids.

 

 

 

Today took some pics of previous stuff but also attached the holder for the headsets.

 

 

 

[ATTACH]4881.vB[/ATTACH][ATTACH]4882.vB[/ATTACH]

 

Applied adhesive to the backside of six strips of felt.

 

Applied adhesive to the backside of the sound curtain.

 

When the adhesive was tacky applied the strips to the back side of the sound curtain.

 

 

 

[ATTACH]4883.vB[/ATTACH][ATTACH]4884.vB[/ATTACH][ATTACH]4885.vB[/ATTACH][ATTACH]4886.vB[/ATTACH]

 

Applied adhesive to the backside of six velcroe strips.

 

Applied adhesive to matching positions on the circular whalebone at the rear of the luggage compartment.

 

When the adhesive was tacky applied the six velcroe strips to the matching positions on the circular whalebone.

 

 

 

[ATTACH]4887.vB[/ATTACH][ATTACH]4888.vB[/ATTACH]

 

When the adhesive was cured positioned the sound curtain against the matching velcroe strips on the whale bone at the rear of the luggage compartment.

 

 

 

[ATTACH]4889.vB[/ATTACH]

 

 

At 18:45 hrs took a few pics of the clouds to the North East of us and one to the South West. Sunset about 120 hrs.

 

 

 

[ATTACH]4890.vB[/ATTACH][ATTACH]4891.vB[/ATTACH][ATTACH]4892.vB[/ATTACH][ATTACH]4893.vB[/ATTACH][ATTACH]4894.vB[/ATTACH]

 

They would have been pretty impressive over in Captain's backyard as well which is roughly South East of here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Flyer]

I have wired up my instrument lights and note that they draw about 1.5 amps when my mains automatically regulated battery charger is operating. I was wondering if any one knows if LED lights are available for that style of light.Regards.

Hi Ross

 

I'm thinking you're looking for instrument panel lighting? Try Vans aircraft on this link and look at the Whelen post lights.

 

LED lighting is becoming very common because of longevity and very low current draw. Have a look around the vans site...lots of ways to empty a wallet..;)

 

http://www.vansaircraft.com/cgi-bin/catalog.cgi?ident=1202164625-376-405

 

type in Whelen Post lights into the search box...not cheap but nice...

 

Hope this helps....

 

p.s. Nice plane ;)

 

Regards

 

Phil

 

 

[Ross]

05-02-2008

 

Thanks for that Phil. I have saved the site. The load was a bit less than I thought, maybe 1 amp from memory but milliamps would be better! I have decided I want to fly it sometime soon so no more options for a while - just tidy it up and get it flying.

 

 

 

Had to re-stick some of the velcroe strips in between the window work.

 

 

 

Today prepared rear windows for installation.

 

 

 

Used mains powered Dremel tool to clean up paint in window positions on fuselage. Can do it in minutes instead of hours with a piece of emery cloth.

 

 

 

Drilled holes for temporary screws with penny washers to hold windows in place during curing of epoxy.

 

 

 

[ATTACH]4901.vB[/ATTACH][ATTACH]4902.vB[/ATTACH][ATTACH]4903.vB[/ATTACH][ATTACH]4904.vB[/ATTACH][ATTACH]4905.vB[/ATTACH][ATTACH]4906.vB[/ATTACH]

 

Try fit of windows & mark for area of window that will match the fuselage.

 

 

 

Mark & trim windows to fit using Dremel tool.

 

 

 

Trim off cling wrap plastic from joining areas on windows.

 

 

 

This afternoon a very short duration very noisy thunderstorm went through here with one of the strikes probably less than 100 metres away - only 5 mm rain not like Sydney!

 

 

 

After the storm a big mob of Galahs occupied part of our paddock for a while until another close lightening strike. Some very mediocre hand held telescopic pics follow taken in a hurry in fading light.

 

 

[ATTACH]4907.vB[/ATTACH][ATTACH]4908.vB[/ATTACH][ATTACH]4909.vB[/ATTACH][ATTACH]4910.vB[/ATTACH]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Ross]

06-02-2008

 

Strange weather day here. We had a mild thunderstorm around midday with 6.5 mm rain at our place (far less at Yanco) followed by a dust storm in the late afternoon followed by another light shower of rain.

 

 

 

Fitted both rear windows today partly interrupted by rain with increasing relative humidity. Started again when RH dropped about 10%.

 

 

 

Sandpapered joining edge of both windows with 80 grit paper.

 

Cleaned with cloth and acetone.

 

 

 

[ATTACH]4912.vB[/ATTACH][ATTACH]4913.vB[/ATTACH][ATTACH]4914.vB[/ATTACH][ATTACH]4915.vB[/ATTACH]

 

Mixed epoxy and applied a coat to mating surface on fuselage for windows which had already been sanded air blasted and cleaned with acetone.

 

 

 

Mixed flock into epoxy and applied a layer to the mating area on the fuselage.

 

 

 

Used self tappers with penny washers to hold windows in place and flush with fuselage. The excess flock was scraped off & cleaned up with acetone on the inside and outside of the window. Extra screws and penny washers were used depending on how the window was sitting in the mating slot with the flock in place.

 

 

 

[ATTACH]4916.vB[/ATTACH][ATTACH]4917.vB[/ATTACH][ATTACH]4918.vB[/ATTACH][ATTACH]4919.vB[/ATTACH][ATTACH]4920.vB[/ATTACH][ATTACH]4921.vB[/ATTACH][ATTACH]4922.vB[/ATTACH]

 

It finally worked out that putting peel cloth under the penny washers made the job much easier and tidier. Should have used it on the windscreen.

 

 

 

It was taking around an hour to extract the screws, clean up the excess flock, clean the washers and screws and then replace them.

 

 

 

Once the peel cloth was used, the screws only had to be removed once the flock was near cured.

 

 

 

But I did turn the screws a few turns out then back in after about three hours for the second window otherwise they would be much harder to extract.

 

 

 

It took about five hours from mixing the epoxy till the final screws were extracted for each window but it was two lots interrupted by the weather at midday.

 

 

 

I was going to do them both together but the initial mix of epoxy was only sufficient for one window with barely enough for a sample to be kept.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Ross]

7-02-2008

 

Had a late start today.

 

 

RH door has had hinges fitted earlier some months ago and door modified to fit opening. The hole for the door catch was also drilled at that stage.

 

 

Today LH door hinges were mounted on the door and the original 3/16" BSW pan head bolts with a socket in the head were replaced with Hexagon headed 3/16" BSW bolts so that they can be handled with an ordinary small ratchet spanner with the instrument panel installed.

 

 

 

See the pics taken of the RH door hinges with original bolts. There are only a few BSW bolts on the whole plane, quite a few metric and mostly AN series bolts on most of the flying controls, cable anchors and major structures like wings and struts.

 

 

 

[ATTACH]4941.vB[/ATTACH][ATTACH]4942.vB[/ATTACH]

 

Later kits use a different hinge and modified door that would allow better sealing at the leading edge of the door.

 

 

 

See Captain's J230 @ YSWG kit thread for the later door hinge types.

 

 

 

Marked out the hinge hole positions on the outside skin of the door then transferred them to the recess in the fuselage for the hinges and drilled a 13/64" hole for each hinge.

 

 

 

Sat the door in the door recess with the hinges attached and the door catch retracted (it sticks anyway so far) and inserted the bolts from the cabin side and they both lined up - I could hardly believe it.

 

 

 

[ATTACH]4943.vB[/ATTACH][ATTACH]4944.vB[/ATTACH][ATTACH]4945.vB[/ATTACH]

 

The outside skin of the door over the protruding hinge attach point on the door had to be trimmed for both hinges and virtually no other trimming looks like being required. A little more trimming of the door skin around the hinges is still required.

 

 

 

The trouble with this hinge design is that the skin moves forward as the door is opened so it needs excessive clearance.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Ross]

8-02-2008

 

 

 

LH Door

 

Ground a bit more off LH door skin in hinge area.

 

 

 

Drilled a hole for the door catch.

 

 

 

Drilled a hole to get lubrication onto the sticking catch mechanism.

 

 

 

Cut a hole for the hand hold pull.

 

 

 

[ATTACH]4949.vB[/ATTACH][ATTACH]4950.vB[/ATTACH][ATTACH]4951.vB[/ATTACH][ATTACH]4952.vB[/ATTACH][ATTACH]4953.vB[/ATTACH]

 

By the look of those hinge skins a bit more needs trimming off the skins so that they do not foul the glass in the hinge recess.

 

[ATTACH]4954.vB[/ATTACH][ATTACH]4955.vB[/ATTACH][ATTACH]4956.vB[/ATTACH]

 

Used Dremel with rotary emery paper to remove gel coat off the door window mating area & cleaned that up with hand held emery paper.

 

 

 

 

 

RH Door

 

Made up two hexagon bolts to suit the hinges replacing original pan head bplts.

 

 

 

Checked fit of door.

 

 

 

Slotted bottom hinge hole to get better fit of door.

 

 

 

Both sets of door hinges will have to be packed up so that the door skins are level with the fuselage skin in the vicinity of the hinges.

 

 

 

Will probably, as Jabiru suggests, pack between the hinge and the fuselage with some epoxy-flock with the door in place with slack hinge attachment screws and the door skin flush with the cabin skin. This will be done with wax on the screws to allow them to be removed. Allow this to cure then check the fit.

 

 

 

Apologies. It was a Cessna.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Ross]

9-02-2008

 

Cleaned up gel coat from door window join area on RH door . Used Dremel with abrasive paper, hand held abrasive paper and paint scraper to get into the corners.

 

 

 

The LH door had already been done but a bit more touch up was done on it as well.

 

 

 

The RH door window was sat in the door join area and marked on the protective plastic cover on the inside of the window to show the extent of the join.

 

 

 

Then the plastic protective cover was cut on this mark with a sharp knife. The top side was also marked and cut but not as wide as the joining side.

 

 

 

Once the protective plastic was removed from the join area the window was roughed up with a piece of abrasive paper to make the epoxy, flock stick.

 

 

 

The join areas of the door and window were both cleaned with air then acetone.

 

 

 

They are now ready for epoxy and flock.

 

 

 

[ATTACH]4957.vB[/ATTACH][ATTACH]4958.vB[/ATTACH][ATTACH]4959.vB[/ATTACH][ATTACH]4960.vB[/ATTACH]

 

Also at YNAR today Flew Wally's J230 to Galore Hill & return on a strong closely spaced thermal day. Did a couple of landings first one was a long floater, the second was better.

 

A Tumut Jab was visiting,

 

We had a barbecue tea at the YNAR clubhouse.

 

 

 

This was the second submission of this day's activities because I had done a preview without a submit and then exited thus loosing the work done.

 

 

 

To then start again I first had to rename all the pics I had submitted today and trim them slightly to make them a different size then load them again and enter all the text again. After that I did a preview and am about to do a submit reply.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Ross]

10-02-2008

 

Decided to mount the hinges before setting the door windows as it will be easier to handle the doors without the windows being mounted.

 

 

 

Cleaned up the hinge recesses with sandpaper then wiped them clear with acetone.

 

 

 

Mixed an epoxy batch and treated the hinge recesses with epoxy on the bed area for the hinges.

 

 

 

Added flock to the epoxy and mixed it making into a pretty stiff mixture.

 

 

 

Applied a layer of wax to the underside of the bolt heads and the threads.

 

 

 

Put the bolts into the holes with a washer then a layer of peel cloth under the head.

 

 

 

Applied a layer of flock around and against the bolt thread on the hinge side of the hinge recess.

 

 

 

Put a layer of peel cloth on the hinge end of the bolt.

 

 

 

Wait until the flock is starting to feel firm under the outside peel cloth.

 

 

 

Mount the doors in place in the door recess in the cabin with the hinges attached.

 

 

 

Screwed the bolts from inside the cabin into the threaded base of the hinges until the door skins appeared flush with the cabin skin.

 

 

 

[ATTACH]4962.vB[/ATTACH][ATTACH]4963.vB[/ATTACH][ATTACH]4964.vB[/ATTACH][ATTACH]4965.vB[/ATTACH][ATTACH]4966.vB[/ATTACH][ATTACH]4967.vB[/ATTACH][ATTACH]4968.vB[/ATTACH]

 

Allowing it to cure now and check later for fit.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Ross]

11-02-2008

 

Yesterday removed the doors again after partial curing and added another layer of flock in the hinge recess area and as the flock got firm reattached the doors adjusting the hinges to set the hinge skin & cabin skin.

 

 

 

Today removed the doors again, removed the peel cloth and cleaned out excess flock from inside the holes for the hinge bolts.

 

 

 

[ATTACH]4969.vB[/ATTACH][ATTACH]4970.vB[/ATTACH]

 

Mixed a batch of epoxy for installation of the window in the RH door. It was double the size of batch used for the rear windows. (The mass of16 of 5/16" NC nuts on my old post office balance scales; 4 nuts of hardener, 12 nuts of resin)

 

 

 

Painted the cleaned up area of the RH door with epoxy.

 

 

 

Added flock to the epoxy & mixed to a fairly stiff mixture.

 

 

 

Filled the door window matching groove with flock, a bit like a flat inverted V shape in the recess so that it would spread to the edges when the window was inserted.

 

 

 

Inserted window clamped around the accessible sides and top and used weights on the bottom side.

 

 

 

Continuously scraped off the extruded flock until the window settled. As it stabilised then wiped off with a rag soaked in acetone on the inside and the outside of the window.

 

 

 

The protective covering of plastic had only been removed in the matching join area and about 5 mm wide on the outside of the window.

 

 

 

The clamps and weights were removed at about 16:00 hrs which was 6 hours since the flock was mixed. Temperatures ran from 24 deg C to 28 degrees C.

 

 

 

[ATTACH]4971.vB[/ATTACH][ATTACH]4972.vB[/ATTACH][ATTACH]4973.vB[/ATTACH]

 

My wife came into the garage at 11:00 to tell me that we were going out to lunch and a bit later I discovered that I did not have enough 150 mm spring clamps - after chasing the four hardware shops in Leeton ended up with an extra four, the whole stock of one of the shops. We got to the pub at 12:29 a minute too spare!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Ross]

12-08-2008

 

Installing the Window in LH door

 

 

 

Proceeded the same as for the RH door except that had a bit of trouble getting the window to seat in the recess so used some self tappers to pull it in a bit tighter as well as the clamps and weights.

 

 

 

When the flock was applied then it started to rain - we had 8 mm - Yanco only 0.2 mm!

 

 

 

[ATTACH]4980.vB[/ATTACH][ATTACH]4981.vB[/ATTACH][ATTACH]4982.vB[/ATTACH][ATTACH]4983.vB[/ATTACH][ATTACH]4990.vB[/ATTACH]

 

Removed excess flock periodically cleaning up with acetone and adjusted clamps.

 

 

 

Thought of a modification to the spring clamps to make them more secure when sitting on these slippery type round surfaces.

 

Should have thought of it earlier.

 

 

 

[ATTACH]4985.vB[/ATTACH][ATTACH]4984.vB[/ATTACH][ATTACH]4986.vB[/ATTACH]

 

 

Despite the rain on and off during the afternoon the temp in the closed carport ranged from 25 degrees C at 11:15 hrs to 28.4 at 17:30 hrs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Ross]

13-02-2008

 

Downloaded and printed most of the paper work required from the RAAust web site requred to get the A/C legally flying.

 

Bought a 4 ring folder to store it in.

 

Had a look at Warrens Sonex - he's working on the tailplane area - waiting on welding of the elevator mechanism.

 

 

 

Jabiru J160 - Installed the door handle holders on both cabin doors.

 

Cut the recess for the Jabiru hand holds using the Dremel tool and the drill like slitting tool - very effective shown in the pic against the rotary sandpaper tool.

 

Cleaned up with the rotating sander in the Dremel tool.

 

 

 

[ATTACH]4996.vB[/ATTACH][ATTACH]4992.vB[/ATTACH][ATTACH]4993.vB[/ATTACH][ATTACH]4994.vB[/ATTACH][ATTACH]4995.vB[/ATTACH]

 

Prepared mating surfaces by removing gel coat and roughing up the glass side of the hand holds.

 

Cleaned up parts with Acetone

 

 

 

Mixed up Araldite and applied to mating areas.

 

 

 

Insert hand holds into prepared recesses.

 

 

 

Applied peel cloth & clamps to hand holds.

 

 

 

Removed clamps & peel cloth after a couple of hours and removed excess araldite.

 

 

 

Replaced spring clamps & peel cloth.

 

 

 

[ATTACH]4997.vB[/ATTACH][ATTACH]4998.vB[/ATTACH][ATTACH]4999.vB[/ATTACH][ATTACH]5000.vB[/ATTACH][ATTACH]5001.vB[/ATTACH]

 

 

Leave to cure.

 

 

 

Removed the spring clamps at 22:45 now needs a bit of micro-ball filler to smooth it up a bit. Tomorrow will be soon enough.

 

 

 

[ATTACH]5002.vB[/ATTACH][ATTACH]5003.vB[/ATTACH]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Ross]

17-02-2008

 

Well I have not disappeared. I have a problem with the epoxy as in a number of places it moved up under the plastic covering of the windscreen and windows.

 

 

 

As a result I have to remove it without making the screens opaque. I should have removed the plastic covering before the epoxy cured completely and wiped off the epoxy leaks with a rag and acetone.:confused:

 

 

 

With some of the marks, the first problem is to decide which side of the screen has the mark on it.

 

 

 

With some advice from Neville White, a local L2 with many years of experience, the problem will be eventually solved.

 

 

 

I can see a lot of my elbow grease and additional time being used up on this part of the job.

 

 

 

Will report again when I make some significant progress here.

 

 

 

[Ross]

24-02-2008

 

Spent the last week on and off cleaning up the surrounds of the windscreen, door windows and back windows of the J160. The initial effort was not very effective.

 

 

 

After some experimentation a cellular type cotteon singlet with Brasso proved effective in reducing scratches. But there were small pieces of flock and the protective plastic stuck around the edges of all the windows which required more drastic action.

 

 

 

A way of removing them was to apply & use the brasso liberally then come back with an evenly sharpend pocket knife and run the blade vertically over a diamond sharpening stone to remove the last bit of the sharp edge so that it will act like a scraper and not a knife so that it will not dig into the windows so readily. So each time it encounters a lump it will tend to scrape it off level with the window/windscreen.

 

 

 

Once all the highs are removed then polish with brasso or a less aggressive polish if the scratches are small.

 

 

 

Once the brasso is finished then I plan to use Plexus or an equivalent to clean and polish the windows. This product was developed in the USA for maintenance of aircraft plastic windscreens and windows also cleans and fills the scratches with some kind of wax which appears to make the scratches dissapear.

 

 

 

At the moment I am waiting on a delivery of Plexus pressure pack to finish off the windows and windscreen. Depending on how it goes I may have to do more polishing.

 

 

 

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The four pics here all show views through either the windscreen or the back windows. The door windows are not shown in these pics.

 

 

 

The windscreen turned out the best so far and the back windows the worst before the application of the Plexus or equivalent.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest brentc]

Remember though Ross that if you stuff up a bit with this you can bring your paint line inside the edge of the internal fibreglass, say from 5-10mm and nobody will notice. You can only really see it from the inside and you're not looking out those windows anyway. Mate of mine brought up the paint line on the rear door of his J430 by about 35-40mm to bring the base of the window in line with the front door and most people would never notice.

 

 

[Ross]

25-02-2008

 

Thanks for that suggestion Brent. I had noticed that from the pilots seat for example you cannot see the top of the windscreen so you can crib a bit there without loosing any view likewise on the bottom of the screen as it will only remove some of the view of the top cowl. And you don't spend much time looking out the back windows when flying although it may pay to try it out a bit more - I had not really thought of trying it before. You end up with a stiffer neck as you get older - probably in more ways than one. I always thought it might be a good idea to have some sort of rear vision mirror or TV camera on a plane like a fighter pilot especially after a glider pilot at Leeton in a Club Libelle ran down a fabric covered wooden glider over the middle of the airfield. I happened to be on the ground there at the time of impact. I heard the bang of the collision and looked up in time to see about 200 yards away horizontally and probably about 2,000 AGL the wooden glider exploded into a heap of small pieces floating towards the ground with a glider pilot hanging from a parachute amongst it. The Club Libelle pilot decided not to jump after releasing his seat belt - pulled his dive brakes and landed w/o a canopy and with a small dent dent in the right wing. He was lucky not to loose his T tail.

 

 

 

Today did some domestic jobs and thought I would spend the whole afternoon on the plane. Was not to be. The Plexus did not arrive but I started on the plane after lunch and then my cousin turned up at 3 pm (not to help) and did not leave till 8:30 pm. So tea was late and then my ISP crashed or I had a software glitch so wasted another couple of hours before getting the ISP back online.

 

 

 

So managed to line about 60 cm of the centre console and make up covers for the brake master cylinder access with press studs. Actually made up the covers on Sunday afternoon.

 

Applied carpet glue to the console and the felt - left it to get tacky and then applied the felt over the press studs with holes cut in the felt to match the studs and the access holes. Used 1/8" pop rivets with a 1/8" steel washer on the back side to stop the rivet pulling through the fibreglass. The two covers could not be made identical because of the location of the elevator cable inside the console.

 

 

 

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If the centre console (arm rest) is not comfortable enough could add another layer of felt on the back end. I would really like the control stick to be about 50 mm further forward as it tends to contibute to an unconscious rolling of the wings to the left when applying full back pressure in a normal landing. Even fitting the forky stick extension used in the J230c might improve it.

 

 

 

 

 

[Ross]

26-02-2008

 

Emptied the rubbish out of the floor areas and vacuumed the residue. Measured (about 780 MMx600MMx500MM), marked out and cut some felt to fit the pilot side and the passenger side floor pans.

 

 

 

Had to relieve the seat liner around the passenger side throttle cut out to clear the "Press to talk Button" which I set into the front face of the seat base to the left of the throttle.

 

 

 

At present the floor liners are not glued in and the felt on the front of the pilot seat also needs to be glued in.

 

 

 

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If you check the seat liner photos notice that yesterday's seat photo has the wrong liner on the pilot seat.

 

 

 

The Plexus "equivalent" supposedly was despatched today from the wholesaler to the carrier's depot for delivery here hopefully tomorrow.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Ross]

27-02-2008

 

No sign of the Plexus or it's equivalent yet. Yesterday, I think they might have said something like it has been despatched to Preston store rather than Prestons transport depot in Melbourne. "Prestons Leeton" is one of our local transport companies who travel regularly from Leeton to and from Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne amongst other places.

 

 

 

Today removed lining from the floor.

 

 

 

Used blue "stone spray" pack to paint the console between the pilot legs and passenger legs Then gave it a spray pack coat of clear varnish after it set.

 

 

 

Glued felt to front vertical side of pilots seat around the throttle . It is needed to anchor the Velcro on the pilot's seat cover.

 

 

 

Sat felt on pilot & passenger floor w/o gluing to facilitate cleaning.

 

 

 

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Seats still need a felt strip accross the back for the Velcro to grab.

 

 

 

This post was the second attempt to post today.

 

 

 

I had done it all late this afternoon including downloading the pics and fixed a number of glitches and was ready to save it. Right then we had a wild wind and dust storm, a sprinkle of rain and some electrical storm activity in the distance. As I pressed the save button it came up with the message that the website was not available or words to that effect.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Ross]

28-02-2008

 

Not much done today but glued in some strips behind the seats to take the Velcro straps on the seat liners.

 

 

 

Also re-glued the felt on the front of the pilot seat.

 

 

 

The Plexus arrived in Leeton this afternoon so I took a can around to Warren Kirkup for their Sonex etc. Got delayed there so eventually did a cursory job of trying it out on the back windows of the J160.

 

 

 

I forgot to photograph the pilot side windows before the Plexus but managed a before and after for the passenger side although one of them is out of focus.

 

 

 

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Eric Muntz from Albury should get to do his first flight in his Kit built J230 at Narrandera tomorrow or Saturday - and I will miss it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Ross]

06-03-2008

 

Did a bit today of inserting a micro-ball epoxy mix around the windows and windscreen. It was spread with a paddle pop stick.

 

 

 

The mix was a standard epoxy mix with microballs added and stirred in until it was a smooth paste that would not flow off once it was spread.

 

 

 

The trouble is it becomes sticky as it dries long before all the filling is done as it needed to be fairly dry to stop leakage onto the screens.

 

 

 

So it is and looks pretty rough but is very easy to smooth up compared to a flock mix. It can be sand-papered, filed or scraped with ease compared to flock or epoxy. In these pics it is still wet and has not set yet.

 

 

 

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It is very lite compared to flock but is not suitable for structural use.