Project 5 build thread

[alexM]

Okay here's the video tour of my Verner Scarlett 7U


Jez,
I'm going to add some clearance to be sure but my elevator push-pull does not contact that piece of wood. Thanks for pointing it out. Sure is easier to take care of it before covering.

[alexM]

I'd almost forgotten what hot Oratex smells like. In spite of outside air temps starting at 29F this morning it crept up to 42F by mid day. I had been running my turbo heater in my hangar and it brought it up to 52F so I got to work while I could. Of course once I put the first brush full of adhesive on I was committed to keep it up until every bit of it was heat activated and fully bonded.

PXL_20221110_033020540.jpg
PXL_20221110_033029039.jpg
It was a long day. I left a few tails of fabric that need to be trimmed and of course I only shrunk it enough to get the wrinkles out but not tighten the fabric much. It's all uphill from here.

[Geek]

.........It's all uphill from here.

Looks good Alex. The view when you get to the top of the hill is great!!

G

[alexM]

Thanks Gary.

I cleaned up the mess I made in the hangar with the scraps of fabric, etc. I took my landing gear and engine mount to the powder coater late last week, and those will be ready on Dec 1 when I get back.
I'm packed and ready to go to work in the morning. Weather in Bethel this morning was severe clear and -15C. Density altitude was -3500 MSL, so at least the beginning of my shift will be some great flying.

[alexM]

Got home from work at 7am. Slept until noon and then went to get my engine mount and landing gear from the powder coater. They came out exactly as I had asked them to do everything (lots of masking). They did a media blast, baked epoxy primer and then top coat. The red landing gear is a great match for my fuselage and I went with a satin white on the engine mount, which I understand is traditional so it shows cracks easier.
PXL_20221201_221142139.jpg
PXL_20221201_221011841.jpg
I'll drag this stuff to the hangar tomorrow and see if I can warm it up enough to get some more covering done.

[bbs428]

What's that white stuff under your landing gear, lol.
The cold sure makes it challenging to get things done!

Powder coat is looking good!

[alexM]

Well I didn't get much done in December because of the (incomplete) Kitfox ferry flight. I had to do some work related computer tasks today but did manage to get a little time in on my plane. It's too cold to cover for at least another few days so I turned my attention to my engine. During my time away from home my SAE1 prop hub showed up from Ukraine. I had to see what the prop looked like on the engine:
PXL_20230102_230605946.jpg
And today I took advantage of some free help and took the engine off the stand and put it face down in the crate again so I could install the engine mount, exhaust and fuel injection system. This is all just mocked up (nothing fully torqued or cotter pinned). I just wanted to make sure everything fit together and to make sure I understood the process. it all went more smoothly than I expected. My modeling in Solidworks paid off because the throttle body clears the motor mount by just enough to allow me to use it sticking out the right side. An air filter will be cake now.
PXL_20230103_232214267.jpg

PXL_20230103_232254676.jpg

[jrevens]

Beautiful!! It looks very good Alex!

[Geek]

That just looks wickedly good Alex. Nice job!!

Gary

[alexM]

PXL_20230112_025629416.jpg
Well my hangar is a mess (technically it was a disaster scene when I started) but I got the right side of the fuselage covered yesterday and the left (aka "other right side") covered today.

Challenging to do when the temps are low because once you make the first brush stroke on the structure with the Oratex adhesive you can't stop until every inch of (completely dried) adhesive has been activated with the iron and/or heat gun.

I've still got some trimming to do and of course the edge tapes to get done before I can get too excited but it is starting to look suspiciously like a Kitfox.