The Barn Find Build

[avidflyer]

Shame to spill all over the place, and mix up to much, but on the plus side, the less product left in those cans, the easier it is to pour out of them with out spilling. Sorry, couldn't resist. I've spilled my share as well, and usually now I try to pour half into another empty container, so I only spill some the first time. Keep at it though, one of these days you will have an airplane! JImChuk

[jiott]

I dipped mine out of the can with some large measuring spoons; solves the spill problem and makes getting the ratio right easy. Spoons clean up fine with a paper towel and denatured alcohol.

[Eric Page]

All good ideas. Too bad I didn't know an alternative method was needed until I poured it the first time and made a mess! Only two more mixes required, at most, and I've got plenty of varnish left. I just felt like complaining. Thanks, guys.

[Eric Page]

Just a partial day in the garage today, due to a family obligation.

While today's smaller batch of varnish was catalyzing, I did a little more work on the builder damage at the base of the rudder's fiberglass fairing. There was still a bit of unnecessary slot visible, so I mixed up a tiny bit of SuperFil and put a blob on the inside and outside of each slot, which I'll sand back to flush once it cures.

IMG_1253.jpg

The remainder of today's effort got the second coat of varnish on all of the parts I did yesterday. The organic vapor canister in my respirator gave up the ghost about five minutes before I was done, so I was pretty happy it lasted until I could finish without having to de-glove. Fresh canisters installed for tomorrow, when I'll start on the second side of the floor boards and get the third coat on everything else.

Oh, and I noticed today that the wood stringer on the belly of the plane had never been varnished, so it got a first coat as well.

[Eric Page]

No photos today. I spent the morning doing some reading and electrical planning, and the afternoon applying another coat of varnish. Once that was done, I started spit-balling the mounting locations for A/P servos and the transponder and ADS-B antennas.

I think I've narrowed the pitch servo location down to mid-fuselage, just below the antenna mounting plate. There are tubes in convenient locations nearby, and that mounting plate can serve as an upper anchor point as well, since I probably won't use it for an antenna.

[Side-note: if you're considering putting an autopilot into a Series 5 (and probably a Series 6), the Kitfox servo mounting kit will not work. Both of the mounting plates provided in that kit are specifically designed to mount on tubes and plates that are missing from the Series 5 fuselage. The roll kit could possibly be adapted to work, but the pitch kit is a no-go.]

I'm considering putting the transponder and ADS-B antennas inside the wings (on fabricated ground planes, obviously). There's a nice open bay just outboard of each fuel tank, between ribs 3 and 4. This would put them well away from other antennas and from the A/P servos. Has anyone put these antennas in the wings? Can anyone think of a reason not to put them there?

[PapuaPilot]

Here is my AP installation in a model 5 that I did last year. I made my own brackets with angle aluminum and mounted each bracket with four adel clamps. The roll servo is under the baggage sack and he pitch servo bracket starts just aft of the baggage area.

FYI I came up with my own pushrod and mounting hardware instead of buying the Garmin kits. It was almost $100 for two Garmin kits. There is a list of the contents of these kits in the G3X installation manual. What I realized was the kit was just basic aircraft hardware (bolts, washers, nuts), 2 rod ends and a length of 1/2" solid aluminum rod. I got 2x of everything except the pushrod stock for $30 at ACS. I was able to find 2 feet of 1/2" aluminum stock for the pushrods where I work (free). Even if you buy the Garmin kit the pushrods are custom made by the builder to fit their aircraft; you cut the rods to the correct length, drill and tap them to fit the rod ends.

All of my antennas are in the fuselage. I have COM, ELT, ADSB and transponder antennas. It was challenging to get the recommended spacing. I haven't had any problems other than a one time ELT (ACK-04) false activation caused by the Garmin GTX-23 transponder (according to the ACK rep) and that has been fixed.

AP Servos.jpeg

[Frontier Fox]

This is my installation of the pitch and roll servos on my model 7. I have Dynon servos mounted on brackets of my own design.04E82AE2-581B-4A42-8534-1A47E9CEB430.jpg7DE3327D-39D3-4D70-ABA9-8FB5FE67FE1C.jpg92FEB96A-FE37-4FD6-A4FD-EFAB192CC87E.jpg707C5BEF-99FD-47F9-B17C-A53122DB5F6B.jpg9B775095-9427-41FB-83D0-42B258BE68D3.jpg

[Frontier Fox]

I see that my photos are sideways also🧐

[efwd]

I know nothing about putting antennas in the wings or on the vertical stabilizer but, Kitfox has placed antenna mounts on the airframe. I used the the mount underneath the pilot seat (aft of the seat actually) for my ADSB in & out. That happens to be about 12" from one of my AP servos and only about 18" from the other. My ELT is mounted to the mounting plate on the passenger side. No ground planes on my antennas, just the airframe, and my Xponder works great and servos work as well. My Com radio antenna is mounted up top, behind the turtle deck. I can talk with the tower at least 30 miles out no problem. I haven't tried it out at any greater distance since I can't recall ever needing to reach out to ATC from further away. There have been lots of posts regarding this subject. I only provide my $.02 worth to possibly point out that things might just work out just fine without engineering yet another installation design. I get it, some folks don't like the antenna sticking up from the top of the airframe etc. etc.. I bet if I measured, I would find that there isn't 36" between any one of these items and it is all working fine. Keep posting, I always enjoy following your thread.

[Eric Page]

Here is my AP installation in a model 5 that I did last year. I made my own brackets with angle aluminum and mounted each bracket with four adel clamps. The roll servo is under the baggage sack and he pitch servo bracket starts just aft of the baggage area.

Thank you, Phil. Your photo is enormously helpful. One question: does the wood belly stringer hold the fabric down enough that it doesn't contact the Adel clamps?

FYI I came up with my own pushrod and mounting hardware instead of buying the Garmin kits. [SNIP] I got 2x of everything except the pushrod stock for $30 at ACS.

Yes, that's my plan too. I got some servos from another builder that came with rod end bearings and a couple of short rods; I just need a long rod and some mounts.

This is my installation of the pitch and roll servos on my model 7. I have Dynon servos mounted on brackets of my own design.

Beautifully done, Joe. That looks like it came from the factory with those brackets built in!

Kitfox has placed antenna mounts on the airframe. I used the the mount underneath the pilot seat (aft of the seat actually) for my ADSB in & out. [SNIP] My ELT is mounted to the mounting plate on the passenger side.

My plane doesn't have that plate on the left side; just a small one on the right that wouldn't be big enough for the ELT. I'm looking at a spot on the left side of the fuselage about halfway back to the tail for the ELT. It looks like the strongest spot, as seven tube ends meet there.

My Com radio antenna is mounted up top, behind the turtle deck.

My plane has that spot, but I wasn't thrilled about having an antenna sticking up from there. I installed this antenna inside the vertical stab. My goal is to hide all antennas inside the fabric envelope.

However, I'm not sure about the ELT antenna. I don't like the idea of having it external where it could easily be damaged if the plane flips over, but I don't see a good place to put it inside the frame. I need to break down and buy it so I can mock up the antenna, but I've been holding off because ACK's warranty reads, "...warrantied [...] for a period of three years from their manufacture date."

Keep posting, I always enjoy following your thread.

Thanks, Eddie. Will do!