bobcharl

Thanks Hadyn and Mark, Had the piece in Marks pic sorted but as mentioned the fit-up is not the greatest, but was concerned that the front of the opening may not be covered completely by the screen and was actually starting to design a piece to cover the front as you have done Hadyn. Great minds must think alike. Bob

Hadyn All appears to be going nicely. Would like some advice if you could please. Where the two forward members of the cabin frame enter the front fuselage and then bolt to the firewall/engine mount there appears to be two pieces used to cover in the opening. I have the rear piece, what covers the front of the hole? A part # would be great. I cannot find any reference to this in the manual. Thanks, Bob

80K, So far as I am aware the ICP manual does not give any info on painting so can't answer your question. Mark, Am only using Scotchbright so am not getting any scratching, seems to be only removing that bit of surface tarnishing so it seems I might be close to the mark. Thanks, Bob

Hi All, Just a brief update. Both doors are finished and seem to fit well but have not fitted the hinges yet. Have tossed around what to do with the cabin roof area. It's designed for a european climate no doubt, not an Aussie summer day, but the visability afforded would be a definite advantage. I considered making an aluminium copy of the lexan sheet, then considered painting the lexan, but both ideas would be rather permanent. Finally decided to fit a normal household holland blind just above the luggage compartment opening so it can be drawn forward when required and hook on the front cross member of the roof. Only had to be cut to size and shape and the end result seems fine. If it is unsatisfactory it will be easy to remove and discard. Am now commencing to prepare the fuselage for painting. That black goop takes removing: acetone works OK but evaporates so quickly on a warm day that unleaded petrol is nearly as good. I am glad I did some masking to limit the spread of the stuff. Have started scuffing the surface as has been suggested to me. Haven't a clue what I am doing re painting and am just following various lines of advice. Would someone please check out the result in the photograph and tell me what you think. Cheers, Bob

Hadyn, Re the undercarriage support plates I don't have much to offer you except keep trying. I understand exactly what you are getting at, because I had lots of difficulty with mine too. I kept levering through the bolt holes and fitting a bolt whenever able and eventually got the bolts in. My difficulty was compounded because for some reason which I cannot recall I had installed the seats leaving said brackets till later, Made it so much more difficult.There are instances when the manual is right. I do remember reaming the rivet holes on the sides to get the rivets in. I spoke to a fellow who works in an aviation workshop in town about this practice and his comment was "don't worry about it, we do it all the time". He supported this by saying that a rivet should have clearance in the hole before setting, and even quoted a formula (which I don't have) to calculate the clearance. What do others think? Please get your project ahead of mine, Hadyn, then I can get some advice from you. Regards, Bob

G'day All, Time to update you on my progress Eventually finished the wiring,(firewall back anyway). Took me no end of time: as an elctrician I would make a handy plumber or something else. However all seemed to check out with a multi-meter and then powered it up and all worked fine. Cabin frame on and engine mount and front leg fitted as well . Got a door assembled and masked ready to dismantle and apply black goo. Masking is tedious but less so than cleaning the excess off afterwards. There will not be much happening in the next few weeks: am off on a trip to Birdsville and surrounds. Not flying unfortunately,have flown there but never been via land before, so am looking forward to it. Cheers Bob

Robert, I am having trouble with the rudder hinges on my XL not aligning. Do you recall whether your hinges on the rudder were in line. Bob

Hi All, Thanks Steve, thats the measurement I wanted to compare.Mine measures the same so I am quite puzzled as to why the three hinges dont line up. The top two measure the same distance as each other from the longeron so its not either of them at fault.Its a while since I made the rudder, but as I recall it all fitted together very nicely. Methinks I may have to make a new control horn to solve the issue. I seem to remember somone on a thread somewhere this in site talking about excessive rudder hinge wear at fairly low hours.Seems to me that could be one outcome if it was assembled under pressure with the hinges out of alignment. Must see if I can find that post. Thanks for your interest too Mark. Bob

Haydn, I ran out also, but got more from Reg quite promptly. Bob

Hi All, Sorry about my typo in that earlier post. Try 12 July instead of 21 July. One has to be so careful on this forum doesn't one? Haydn, thanks for your efforts in checking. The S rudder must be quite different to the XL if you skin over the top(bottom)of the horn. ra, yep,thats what I am after. Bob

G'Day ra, Refer back to my post on 21 July on this thread. The pic should explain all Thanks, Bob

Mark, Mine is an XL. Realize Haydn's is an S, but didn't think the rudders were different. Don't go to too much trouble to get a measurement Mark, it may be a bit awkward in the assembled position. thats the reason I was hoping to catch Haydn before he assembled his.I will also check lower hinge part nos. to be sure we are comparing apples with apples. Bob

Haydn, Fuselage looks to be coming along well. You seem to be making good progress. Back to my rudder hinge story. Tried to take some pics through the hinge holes but lack of depth of focus prevented me from coming up with anything meaningful. Suffice to say the hole in the bottom hinge is almost a full hole diameter too close to the rudder. As Mark says, I dont know how this could be possible, unless the horn itself is faulty. To help me check this, could you measure the distance marked "x" in one of the pics attached. It's hole centres to hole centre. Hope I am not being too much trouble. Bob

Mark, Re your petrol leak problem,I have just started looking for a petrol resistant sealant for threads and flanges but have not found anything in which I would have a lot of confidence. Seems a petrol resistant washer inside the tank would be better than under the nut which would still leave a pathway along the thread(unless a thread sealing medium is used) A local firm which deals exclusively in petroleum handling equipment and fittings say nothing beats ordinary plumbers teflon tape for a petrol resistant thread sealant, but I am not yet convinced. Does anyone out there know? I feel sorry about the damage your leak has caused your lovely paint job, Mark. Bob

Haydn, Yeah, had that problem too and solved it the same way as you. This problem is different. I just didn't explain myself very well. The central points of the three rudder hinges are not in a straight line, almost as though the hole in the bottom hinge is not located accurately.It will be quite obvious if you look through them from one end if there is a problem. Thanks, Bob

G'Day Haydn, Noticed you have finished your rudder (amongst other parts). Could you check the alignment of the hinges and post the result please? I have a problem with mine, and I'm pretty sure its the bottom hinge at fault. If yours is OK, I would like to compare some measurements to confirm this. Hope I am not imposing on you too much. Bob

Can't master posting pics.See if this works for above post. Bob

Have managed to get some time back at my project at last. Decided to put some airvents in the forward fuselage adjacent to the pedals.Took lots of time but should be good in the warmer weather as these vents do work well. To the Jab jockeys out there, if you think they look familiar then you are right.Have also assembled and installed the instrument panel but it is nothing at all unusual. Am now running wires, airlines and hydraulic tubes and this also is quite time consuming. Slowly slowly but ever forward. Bob [ATTACH]17974[/ATTACH][ATTACH]17975[/ATTACH][ATTACH]17976[/ATTACH]

Hi 80K, Yes, still using standard rims and these tyres slip on easily. Weight? An extra 800gms per tyre over the standards. Thats 3.5L of petrol that I can't carry, or perhaps 2.5 kg of fat that I will have to lose. Whilst on tyres , the originals are still in the box and are for sale if anyone is interested. I won't be driving too hard a deal. Bob

G'day All, No, I haven't fallen off the planet, just haven't had time to indulge in matters aeronautical lately. The reason? My son has a grain growing property in Southern NSW and this time of year sowing is in full swing so for the last few weeks he has had my arse anchored to a tractor seat. Did snatch a few minutes ( and that is all it took) to unpack my Aero Trainer tyres and fit one to a rim. Like the look of these tyres, should be good on my planned farm airstrip. Should be back Sav building soon. Now to see if I can upload a pic of the tyres. Bob Hey, it worked!

Mark, What a wonderful achievment.Your sense of satisfaction must be huge. She looks and sounds just great.I wish you many happy hours flying your pride and joy. Its been a pleasure to share your journey with you via this forum Mark.Thanks for that. Good luck, Bob

Congrats Mark on both your final inspection and a successful flying test. What a week! Bob

Mark, Re the mis-alignment of the inner aileron hinge, yours is not the first one I have heard of. I do wonder if those who have not had an issue have not looked hard enough.I am of the opinion that this mis-alignment is possibly the cause of the stress and occasional failure (although rare) of the coupler between the inner and outer aileron.I feel re-alignment of the inner hinge would be most worthwhile. Keep up the good work, Bob

As you may have guessed not a lot of progress lately. Have installed rudder pedals, firewall, instrument panel frame and have had a trial fit of the cabin frame, but its now out for painting.After a bit of fiddling the cab frame seemed to square nicely, to the mm (as near as I could measure it) in fact. Got the firewall painted the external colour (white) and the exposed inner cabin pieces painted grey. Painting is a worry as I have no experience in that field, and have been unable to find anyone to do the job without wanting a share in the aircraft (well almost). I have access to good advice so with some practice maybe I can produce a reasonable finish. One of the extras I am installing is a parking brake lock. After some time spent researching and finally getting what I wanted, wouldn't you know it, ICP now have one on their website.Thats life. Some photos soon. Bob

Mark, Wonder could I request a small favour of you. I assume you still have a wing not fitted to the fuselage. Could you measure the minimum distance between the two tangs on the wing root that mount to the cabin frame. I say minimum because I think they will be closest at the lower edges. I have set my cabin frame up in the supplied jig, but the distance between the mounts does not correspond with the manual. Perhaps the manual is wrong again. Have been trying to contact Reg but without success. Thanks in anticipation, Bob