Geek's STi Build

[Geek]

Looks good! Always like a clean install!

Glad you found your problems and Garmin came through as well.

Looks like a keeper Gary, nice work!

Thanks guys. When you talk "clean install" both of your planes come to mind. There's a reason your build logs are used as a reference for the rest of us.

Brett - you find your radio gremlin?

Gary

[Geek]

I am at the dreaded fitting of the cowlings. I looked here on the forum for words of wisdom (and there certainly are some) but there were lots of places where I had questions. I think that my raw cowlings were actually in better shape than some I saw pics of here. I had heard that Kitfox had made some improvements on the molds so think mine were representative of that. But I still had questions and some things were just not obvious to the casual observer. So I am going to try and provide some pics and insight here. So what do you do first when you have questions? Easy - email Brandon for some insight. So the first four pics are ones that Brandon provided me on those first steps to get the front dialed in. Here's the verbiage that Brandon provided along with the pics. One thing of note, is that I did cut one of the tabs off and the other one is sanded down pretty thin. I will be replacing these with metal tabs and many have done before me. For those who have done this and have other/better ideas, please chime in. No pride in authorship here.

Brandon says, "don't try to draw a straight line from the side of the cowl across the middle. Those a will NOT line up. But you can straighten and level those areas. See picture with "step 1"....I start with this center section and get that area straight across and lining up the top and bottom cowl. See picture with "step 2". Align the front of the bottom cowl with the joggle line. See picture with "step 3". Note.... This cowling in the picture has already been trimmed down the whole edge. You'll want to notch the leading edge of the outer air inlets like the picture (just lower). Then trimming a little at a time on each of the 4 contacting points across the nose to ultimately get close to 3 5/8" as shown in the picture. Once you're there, you can put on the airplane and start final fitting to the boot cowl and determine your sides of the top cowl.

IF you trim too much, don't fret. You can patch things back up if needed. I take too much all the time and it's just a matter of adding back in."

Cowl AA.jpgCowl AB.jpgCowl AC.jpgCowl AD.jpg

When I was done with mine, the 3 5/8" was 3 3/4" and in talking to Brandon later, he said his 3 5/8 number was a target and not an exact. I trimmed my front as Brandon had explained it and also enlarged the hole for the prop. I bolted the back plate for the spinner on to the prop extension (my prop uses a 2" extension) and placed a couple 1/4" pieces of wood behind it to set my spacing between the cowl and the spinner. Once you have the cowlings up and in place, the next thing you need to do is trim the rear of both upper and lower cowling so that they align with the joggled line on the boot cowl. Not having a good way of knowing where that line was, I placed 3"wide tape along the back of the boot cowling joggle. Put the upper and lower cowling back on and measured 2 1/4" from the back of the tape line up in to the cowling. That gave me a cut line that would let me get closer to the right fit. Cut both cowlings at that first cut line and then placed a 1" tape along the back of the boot cowl joggled line (same place the 3" tape was. This time when I mounted the cowling back up, I could see the back of the 1" tape as a reference. Using the back of the that tape as a reference, I put another line of 1" tape along the cowlings. That should accurately be where the joggled line of the boot cowl is and where the back of the upper and lower cowling should sit. Traced another line on the cowling for where the final cut should happen. When I actually did the cutting, I cut about 1/16" inside the line (towards the back of the cowl) so that I had some extra material there that let me sand it down to fit. So now I have the rear lines cut on my cowlings. Another thing I did was use "witness lines" so that I was certain that every time I took the cowlings off and then put them on again, I was sure they were in the same place as before. It is VERY easy for them to squirrel around. Will do the side cuts once I get them done. Sorry this was so long but hope it helps.


Cowl 13.JPGCowl 1.JPGCowl 6.JPGCowl 7.JPGCowl 8.JPGCowl 11.JPG

Cowl 14.JPGCowl 16.JPGCowl 15.JPGCowl 17.JPG

[jiott]

Gary, I think your post should be very helpful to those at this stage. I wish I had had such good instructions when I did mine 10 years ago. It was one of the most, if not THE most, difficult parts of the build and had me really spooked. Brandon's first sentence is key. Once you understand that, the rest is not nearly as bad as you think. Just go slow and easy. Regarding those tabs; they will never slide easily into place, but that's OK. Just thin them up some (both the tab and the mating upper cowl). When you assemble upper to lower cowl you just push the tab with your thumb and spring it into place; it will hold tight and be OK.

[Geek]

Part 2. I made the first rough cut on the lower cowl with my only concern being to not get too close to the line I drew. Used a 2x3" sanding block with 60 grit paper and sanded the rough cut down just to the line. Made a fitting and saw that it was actually just touching the edge of the joggle. You can just see the line in the pic of that fitting. I sanded it down to just remove that drawn line and it fit much better for me so called it good and moved on to the sides of the upper cowling. Used the same system as the lower where I placed a 1 inch tape along the edge of the joggle that the upper cowling was to mate to on the lower cowling. Put the upper cowling back on making sure that the witness lines were good and put a 1 inch tape along the upper cowling so that the bottom of that tape lined up with the bottom of the tape on the lower cowling (sorry - forgot to take a pic). Same as before, I rough cut up to the drawn line but not too close and used the block to sand just down to the lower edge of the line. With the 60 grit paper and the block it sands down pretty quickly. Put the upper cowling back on and checked the fit. As expected it was a bit too long so I sanded down to make the line go away and it was just the way I wanted it. (the last pic is upside down)

What I learned here is rule 1) Don't hurry - take your time. 2) If for some reason you look at what you have and you feel something doesn't seem right - listen to that. Fit it again and see if the feeling goes away or if there now appears to be an adjustment that will make it seem right. I've been asked how many times I fit the cowlings to the plane doing this; 27 times. Don't forget rule 1.

Gary


Lower Cowl 1.JPGLower Cowl 4.JPGLower Cowl 6.JPGLower Cowl 9.JPGUpper Cowl 1.JPGUpper Cowl 2.JPGUpper Cowl 3.JPGUpper Cowl 4.JPGUpper Cowl 5.JPGUpper Cowl 6.JPGUpper Cowl 7.JPGUpper Cowl 8.JPG

[Geek]

Quick update - the cowling has been successfully fitted to the plane and cleco'd into place. Have started on some basic body work to fair in some of the mismatch between the upper and lower cowling. I do think the raw cowlings are better than they were based upon mine versus some of the earlier pics here on the forum. I had heard Kitfox was working to improve their molds some. There is always going to be some mismatch cause each plane frame is just different enough. I also ran the pitot tubing from the wing root area to the panel so now both my primary flight display (PFD) and the G5 (my back up) are hooked up.

Lower Cowling.JPGPitot Inputs.JPG

[GNL]

Hi Gary,

Your panel is almost identical to the one I'm trying to design. Could you send me a clear picture of yours? Also, which IPad and EFIS are you using? I'm hoping to fit the 10" GDU460 and the Ipad pro 10.5 along with a panel mount comm and autopilot but have been struggling to get them to fit.

Thanks,
Greg
(GNLSipes@hotmail.com)

[Geek]

The EFIS is the GDU 460 and the iPad is the mini. You might get a Pro in there but it will be very tight if it fits. The Guardian mount is about 5/8" bigger on all sides. The smaller pic here is before I populated it and will get big enough to read the switch labels

G

Panel Power.JPGIMG_3344_2.jpg

[PapuaPilot]

A word of caution about cutting out a permanent hole in the panel for iPads. I initially had an iPad mini, the it got to the point of no longer being supported by Apple. I originally installed an AirGizmo mount that cost $$. I ended up replacing the Mini with a 9.7 Pro (10"). It was hard to install the full size iPad in the same spot, fortunately it just barely fit. I saved some $ on the new mount and just bought a $15 case online. Then I cut off the case front and mounted the back to the instrument panel with 4 pop rivets. It's been working great for about 4 years. It was a super easy installation because I had not made a permanent hole in my panel.

Bottom line, leave room for expansion when you get a new device. Every new line of iPads are slightly different size than before.

[jiott]

I am curious what the thinking is as to why you would permanently mount an iPad in your panel when you already have a full featured aircraft quality EFIS already mounted there? Maybe I am wrong, but doesn't the EFIS have nearly all the features you get in Foreflight? I can understand the desire for redundancy, but the iPad is not considered legal redundancy for IFR flying, and for VFR flying why not just have it somewhere in the airplane so it can be quickly accessed in case the EFIS malfunctions. Then you don't use up valuable panel space and risk the frequent obsolescence of the iPad. So many people are doing this that I must be missing something and would like to be informed.

[PapuaPilot]

Great question Jim. An iPad or equivalent is the least expensive way to have a backup. Personally I only do VFR flying and don't need a second "legal" screen for IFR redundancy, so an iPad made sense.

I decided to put the iPad on my panel because there was plenty of space for it. This keeps it out of the sun, allows for a cooling blast tube, keeps it off my lap/seat, and keeps the charging cable out of the way. In the event of an electrical or LRU failure an iPad duplicates almost everything on the G3X except the engine instruments. With my Garmin Pilot subscription I know the iPad will always have current charts, etc. For any panel/screen you need to do some extra steps to update them via an SD card, etc. At times my G3X doesn't have current charts, but the iPad does.