Ready for final assembly

[PapuaPilot]

More progress. I have the wings bolted and pinned, fuel hoses connected, wing tips on and lights working. I had to temporarily remove the connector for the magnetometer so that the wires would pass through the spar. I finished last night by turning off all the lights off in the hanger then I turned on the plane's lights. Am I the only one that does this?

I still need to install and rig the flaperons, install the jury struts and mount the pitot tube. I ended up buying the Garmin AOA pitot tube after the fabric was on the wing. The AOA requires another length of tubing to the ADAHRS (in the fuselage). Does anybody have an idea how to get a length of 1/4" tubing past the fuel tank and ribs?

[rosslr]

How utterly childish of you Phil!! We are all way too grown up to do things like that!!

Hey, it looks great. Exciting times. I bet of all the aircraft you work on and maintain, this one is the most exciting! As for the Pitot tubing, I took mine out to the wing tips and through the rear spar, thus avoiding the tank and ribs issue.

I am doing taxi tests and twigging at the moment....... not that there is a race to first flight or anything! Perhaps we could co-ordinate a simultaneous northern and southern hemisphere first flight!?

cheers

ross

[jiott]

I ran both pitot/AOA tubes out to the wingtip and then thru the rear spar. Piece of cake!! Many people try to avoid doing this, I guess they think it is too long for the tubes and a more direct route is better. All these tubes do is send a pressure signal to the AHRS, there is no air FLOW involved so pressure drop thru a long tube is a non-issue. For maintenance or replacement later on, I think running them thru the spar is far easier (assuming you have removable wingtips).
Just my thoughts.

[PapuaPilot]

Thanks Jim and Ross for the idea for running the AOA hose, I ended doing just that and got it hooked up just fine.

Today was a big day. One thing I did was to make sure the wings had the same dihedral and washout. I measured the height of all 4 corners of both wings from the floor and compared them. The numbers were excellent. Next I checked the washout by measuring angles at the root, lift strut attach and tip. Both sides were within 0.1 degree at all three points. I think it is going to fly good so I tightened all the lift strut rod end hardware.

With the help of my son we got the flaperons installed and rigged. It took longer than anticipated but turned out good.

My to do list is getting shorter. Most of the things left are just installing parts so I can do the weight and balance. Lastly there will be system checks, calibrations, programing the G3X and paperwork before scheduling the DAR.

[DesertFox4]

Looking good Phil. Only a couple small steps from the finish line now. She is going to fly beautifully. Good luck with the DAR inspection/sign off.

[rosslr]

It is looking great Phil! Nice to see that the rigging of the wings tested well - that must be very satisfying. Also to have the flaperons rigged up and working well.

I think we are on a parallel path.......

cheers

r

[PapuaPilot]

Today I am doing some flight training at Stick & Rudder in Boise. I'm really looking forward to it. I got my insurance quote from Falcon last week and they are requiring me to get one hour of dual before they will cover my plane. The plan is to do one flight session at S&R. I already have my tailwheel endorsement and LITTLE bit of back country time .

Speaking of insurance, Falcon offers some discounts if you hanger the plane (25%), have an IFR rating (5%) or are a member of AOPA (5%). Having my hanger is going to save me money on insurance.

[rosslr]

Just a 'little' bit of backcountry time eh Phl? the master of understatement I think .... and I thin your 'backcountry' time in WP may count for double time!

Nice timing to do the S&R training - I wish they were just around the corner from me! It would be nice to do an hour or so just prior to first flight. I too got an insurance quote and it is Aus$1800 (Approx. US$1300) - sound about right for a relatively low time pilot with only 30 hrs TW time????

It is looking really good Phil - love the paint scheme too.

cheers

ross

[PapuaPilot]

I flew the S&R turbocharged Kitfox today with Aaron and we had a good session. We did some slow flight, stalls, turns and 9-10 assorted landings in 1.4 hours. By the end of the flight I was feeling pretty good about flying a Kitfox. With this under my belt I feel confident enough to take mine up for the first flight. The controls are pretty sensitive compared to all the Cessna planes I have been flying.

OK, now it's back to the hanger to finish my plane . . .

[PapuaPilot]

Another big day. My goal was to get the weight and balance done and I did.

Before doing the W&B I installed the fire extinguisher, seat belts, cabin upholstery, fitted the wing root covers and pulled all the plastic off the windows. Some items were put in their place but most items were totally installed. The last item was to fill the tanks with unusable fuel before it was ready to weigh.

My empty weight is 886 pounds @ 8.11", which isn't bad for an IO-240 engine. I just ran the most adverse forward and aft CGs checks and everything worked out OK. I am only 0.01" from the forward one though. I wish my CG was a little more aft which will give slower stall speeds, faster cruise and making it easier to flare.

While I was at it I checked the toe in and both wheels are perfectly straight. Yeah!

I still have to calibrate the fuel sight gauges, program the Garmin G3X, paint the wing root covers, check and adjust the fuel injection and prepare the paper work for the DAR. Hopefully this all can be done in a week.

Well here are some pictures of my fully assembled plane. The last picture is doing the W&B. Yes, the wheels are just off the ground, barely.