First Engine Start

After checking and rechecking everything we added fuel to our header tank, about 2 gallons.  We ran the fuel pumps and checked for any leaks on the high pressure side of the fuel system.  Finding no leaks, we moved the airplane outside to start the engine for the first time.  We secured the airplane to a nearby tree and made sure we had a fire extinguisher nearby.  We used a first start checklist and engine start checklist provided by Rotax.  We were rewarded with an easy start and smooth running engine. 

Hours: 2

Congratulatory Fist Bump 

Propeller on, oil filled, fuel and coolant systems work

We installed our new prop, which is a three bladed carbon-fiber propeller with a diameter of 190cm, made by a French company called E-Props.  Hopefully it performs as good as it looks.

Prop installed on engine.

After double checking all the oil connections, we added oil to the engine (it's a dry sump system), and purged the air from the system by following Rotax's procedure.

We've been chasing some leaks in both the fuel and coolant systems.  Original debug was done by pressurizing the system and spraying the connections with soapy water, but this just wasn't good enough as we couldn't identify any of the leaks.  We then bought a stethoscope (with an air leak adapter), an ultrasonic leak tester, and some super-bubbly fluid from Rectorseal (all fairly cheap from Amazon).  All three were used and help find the leaks in the fuel system which were from connections directly beneath the header tank.  One of the fittings under the header tank needed to tightened (a standard pipe thread fitting), and two hose clamps needed to be tightened.  We still had an issue with one of the hoses beneath the header tank, so I replaced a 6" hose section and reclamped. This time it worked and the fuel system now holds pressure without leaks. 

These hose connections were leaking

We also identified a leak on the coolant system, and tracked it down to a bypass valve on the cabin heater line.  The valve itself felt a bit loose and likely defective, so a new valve was ordered and installed.  This new valve has a better, smooth feel to it, so we feel better about its quality.  Other coolant hose clamps were also tightened a bit to help ensure the system was sealed.  Hours: 17

Replacement Bypass valve installed

Carpet, Fuel lines, Brake system

We had to make some small adjustments to a floor carpet piece that we received from the factory due to some fittings under the seats that were in the way, so Michael put his sewing skills to use to trim and restitch the carpeting.

Michael modifying the floor carpeting

Various clamps holding the fuel lines were checked and torqued, then the fuel line fittings themselves were also torqued and marked with "torque-seal".  A low-pressure test was run on the system (from the header tank to the engine) to look for possible leaks.  The system was pressurized slightly with air, and it is indeed leaking, as it loses about 5psi of pressure over 5 minutes, so more investigation is required to track this down.

As mentioned in a previous post, we decided to remove the parking brake, so the parking brake cable, valve and all associated cabling and tubing was removed.  A nice black plug was installed in the panel where the parking brake lever was previously located.

The left brake had previously been bled, but it has a slow leak at an elbow fitting near the tire.  This fitting needs to be "clocked" correctly, but we found that one more turn to tighten it more was not possible.  After some research, we found a few possible solutions.  One is to use a better thread sealant (now on order), another is to use a new fitting that will have slightly different threads that will allow the correct clocking, and yet another possibility is to tap the threads a little more to allow the fitting to turn a little further.  So we'll try one or more of these options to fix this issue.   Hours: 12

Firewall Interior Heatshield/Upholstery

When we purchased our kit, we also elected to purchase the "premium upholstery" option.  This included a piece that is placed on the interior firewall being attached by velcro strips.  Now that we've just about completed our firewall attachments, it was time to see how this piece fit.  It is actually nicely done, including an insulation layer that should help with both engine heat and a sound deadening layer.  Problem was that it was too tall and interfered with our wiring and heater core installation.  After talking several measurements the  part was cut down to fit.  Had to break out the sewing machine to hem the edges that were now exposed.  Two areas on each side had to be cutout to accommodate the rudder return spring attach points.  The velcro attach points had to be re-done as well.  Four (4) new pieces of velcro was sewn on to the small part.

Hours: 4

Newly Resized Firewall Upholstry Piece

Velcro Strips, the two diagonal we old attach points 

Checking for fitment in the cockpit.

Battery vent, brakes, wiring

The battery vent hose routing was completed.  This directs any unwanted gases from the battery out the airplane in the unlikely event of a (lithium) battery failure.

Battery vent tubing installed

More wiring bundling and cleanup was completed.  We are pretty much done with the wiring now until we get the chance to put the wings back on, in which case we will wire up the navigation lights and magnetometer.

Wire bundling behind the instrument panel

Wires bundled and routed behind pedals

Wire bundling in back of airplane

We ran into a few issues with the brakes.  When attempting to bleed the brakes, we found some problems.  One is that the parking brake valve was reversed.  This was corrected.  But then we realized an issue that we should have found sooner.  Our brakes have 2 master cylinders, one attached to the backside of each of the pilot's pedals.  The top of the master cylinders need to be at the highest point in the hydraulic system because they have an integrated resevoir for the brake system.  Unfortunately this was not the case because our parking brake valve sits much higher on the firewall.  We figured there are 2 ways to fix this.  Either change the brake system to add an auxiliary resevoir at a higher point (also requires us to change 2 cylinders), or just remove the parking brake.  To keep the parking brake, we figured we'd have to spend another $500 or so, and add more weight.  This didn't seem worth it since the parking brake is not required, so we decided to remove the parking brake.  Kind of a pity since so much time was spent on this, but we both think this is the best decision in the end.  We can always add it back later if we change our minds.

Michael bleeding the brakes

Lastly,  four nutserts were installed for the fuel on/off switch.  This will allow us to install the plate with simple 8-32 screws instead of the sheetmetal screws that were part of the original plans.  Hours: 20

Firewall passthru, wiring cleanup, hoses, labels

Two firewall wiring pass-thru plates were fabricated from 1/8" titanium plate. A ledge was milled into each piece so that they have some overlap where they meet in the center.  There are 3 holes, two for the large Rotax engine harness HIC cables, and one for other sensor wires and the alternator cable that pass through the firewall. Silicone grommets were used to seal around the cables, and the high temp sealant (Permatex 27036) was also used to seal around the titanium pieces.

Titanium pass-through plates

Our EarthX lithium battery has two vent ports that need to be connected to hoses that can exhaust fumes outside the cabin.  This provides a path for unwanted gases in the unlikely event of a battery failure.  A vent outlet was installed on the bottom of the fuselage.  Teflon tubing will be used to make the connections. Per the manufacturer, nylon fittings can be used if more than 2' from the battery, and brass fittings are needed for closer connections. 

Vent outlet, bottom of baggage compartment

Vent opening, bottom of fuselage

We also ran one additional wire from the battery to the front to accommodate a line from the EarthX lithium battery that provides an indication of a battery fault.  

Additional work is being done to organize, bundle, and clean-up the wiring.  Still quite a bit of work to go here, but we are making progress.

Wire bundling underway, back of fuselage

Wire organization/bundling underway

Rerouting of a coolant hose was completed to provide more clearance, and Adel clamps were also installed to help hold it in place at the Rotax ring mount.  Still need to attach some fire-sleeve material at locations near the exhaust, but at least the routing is completed.

Lower coolant hose rerouted

Panel switch labels were also reprinted to reflect the current switch locations and functions. Hours: 24

Panel switch labels updated

Antennas, wiring, radiator hose, misc

The Garmin GPS was installed in the back of the plane, along with the Garmin Transponder.  These are installed along the side of the fuselage, just behind the baggage compartment.

Garmin GPS mounted in bracket next to transponder

An aluminum ground plane was installed for the GPS antenna; glued to the fabric aft of the turtledeck.  We were originally going to put the GPS antenna towards the back of the turtledeck, but determined that there would not be enough separation between the COM antenna and GPS antenna if we did that. so another small aluminum ground plane was glued to the fabric further back after first attaching a fabric backer "doily" for abrasion resistance.  The GPS antenna was then installed with 4 screws that went into nut plates that were attached to the aluminum ground plane.

Small ground plane for GPS antenna

GPS antenna installed on top of fuselage

We are in the process of modifying the routing of the coolant hoses that run from the pump to the radiator.  This radiator hose was routed between the Rotax ring mount and the Just aircraft engine mount, without a lot of clearance.  We were concerned that movement of the engine on the vibration isolation pads (shock mounts) could cause wearing on the side of the hose.  For this reason, we will be shifting it up to give more clearance.  Not a trivial task because we have to remove and remount an aluminum elbow that is screwed into the water pump to change the angle of exit first.  

Original radiator hose routing

All the avionics are now wired up, so we started to do a little cleanup of the wiring, too.  Some wires were bundled with spiral-wrap covering which does a nice job of bundling them together.  We have a lot more bundling to do, but at least we started this part of the job.  Hours: 25

Some wires with protective spiral wrap covering

Wiring Debug

We completed some final wiring to a few of the Garmin components and now have most of the wiring complete.  We are going through some checks, debug, and system configuration to make sure everything works before doing any final bundling of the wires.  

We ran into a few issues, but no major roadblocks thus far.  Initially, the Garmin G3x system did not see the transponder, but we found that the wiring of two serial ports simply needed to be swapped which fixed the issue.  We also ran into a problem where our engine monitor was not seeing both lanes of traffic from our engine computer (It only reported data from lane B, and nothing from Lane A).  We found that two of  the CANBus lines in one of the Rotax HIC connector needed to be swapped.  This was a little trickier to find, but once we swapped the lines, our engine monitor started seeing data from both lanes of our computer.  Also, one of the Lane LED warning lights was not working, but this was a minor wiring fix.  We have some additional checks to go through, but we are feeling pretty good now that all the major flight instruments are powering up and seem to be functioning.    Hours: 22

Even more wiring

 We continue to plow through the wiring work, making excellent progress connecting up all the Garmin pieces.   Much of the wiring is now complete on the GTR200 Com radio, GDU 460 display, GMC305 autopilot, autopilot servos, GEA24 engine monitor, GPS 20A, and backup G5 attitude display.  Most recently, Michael installed the G5 LPM (lightning protection module), and has also been building up the antenna cables.  I've started to wire up the GTX 45R transponder.  Once we get all the basic wiring done, we'll bundle all the wires and cables and clean up the installation.  Hours: 24

Power applied to panel instruments. No Smoke!

Wiring progress in front

Wiring work in back also underway

More wiring

We continue to work on the wiring.  Most switches are wired up. Michael is currently focused on the Garmin CANBUS wiring to multiple devices, including the Garmin G3x Touch, GEA24 Engine Mgmt System, G5 Display, and GTR200B COM radio.  I've been working on the trim, Garmin GMC305 autopilot, and pitch/roll servo wiring.  We are making good progress, although it's difficult to show with pictures.  Wiring work will look messy until we are closer to completion and can bundle the wiring appropriately.  Hours: 22

Wiring work continues

Wiring Continues

Wiring of the aircraft continues.  It looks rough now, but will be cleaned up once all the wiring is complete.  Wiring of the Garmin ADHRS (GSU25), Garmin Engine Box (GEA24), Garmin GPS Antenna GPS35A, Garmin  OAT (GTP59) and ELT were all worked on.

Garmin GSU25 getting OAT Sensor connected.

Garmin GEA24 Getting Current and Fuel Pressor sensor connected

Drill template for the GPS antenna Backer plate.

40Amp Fuse install at battery for main panel power

ELT Buzzer box with custom 3d Printed Mounting Bracket

Hours: 20

Landing Light wiring

Landing light wiring was completed.  We also installed a wig-wag module made by Perihelion Design.  When enabled, this module alternately pulses the landing lights.  Wiring this module required adding a few diodes and surge suppressors to the circuit as specified in the circuit diagram.  Hours: 8

Short clip of functioning wig-wag lights:

WigWag module

Wiring and Misc

We had sent our fuel pumps to Lockwood Aviation Services due to a Rotax Service Bulletin.  The pumps were turned serviced and sent back to use rather quickly.  Once received the pumps were remounted in their stainless steel case.  The mount to the fuselage was reworked to make it easier to service the fuel pumps in the future.  It is also a much cleaner installation. 

Fuel Pumps received from Lockwood

We decided to install two pass-throughs in our gear tunnel for electrical cables to run from the rear of the fuselage into the cabin area.  Two plastic reinforcement rings were made and glued to the front and rear tunnel walls.  A piece of SuperFlite fabric was glued on top of the reinforcement rings and allowed to dry.  The area was repainted with gray primer.  The four holes were cut out and grommets were installed.  The grommets are there to keep cold outside air from entering in the cabin.  Finally two plastic tubes were installed, thus allowing wires to pass through.

SuperFlite Fabric over Reinforcement Plate

Grommets install (Baggage side)

Grommet and Plastic Tube installed (Cabin side)

We purchased an EarthX ETX-900VNT (vented) battery along with a matching battery box/holder.  The battery box was mounted to the battery tray provided by Just Aircraft with 8 flush mounted solid rivets in the base of the battery box.  The battery contactor was installed on the battery tray just forward of the battery box using AN4 bolts. An 4 AWG was run from the battery to the contactor as well as from the contactor to the starter solenoid running through the recently installed pass-throughs.

Battery box and contactor installed

Battery installed in battery box

4 AWG wire being installed to Starter

A ground bus block was purchased from SteinAir and mounted to the firewall in the cabin.  On the engine side, the engine block and airframe ground on the Rotax Fusebox were grounded to the ground bus block via the passthrough bolt.  The engine block was grounded since it is the return path for the starter.  A 4AWG wire was routed from the ground bus block though the cabin pass-throughs to the battery in the aft fuselage.

SteinAir ground bus block

Engine block and Fuseblock grounded

The Garmin GSB15 USB charger was wired with power and ground.  A third wire was run to turn off the internal LED by grounding it.  Looks like our GSB15 unit is defective as the LED's would not illuminate with the cable open or grounded.  Not as issue since we wanted the LED's off anyway.

Garmin GSB15 (blue unit) wired

The power and ground for the Cabin Heat fans was wired.  In the L (low) setting only the left side fan is powered.  In the H (high) setting, both the left and right fans are powered.

Cabin Heat Fan Switch

Cabin Heat Fan Installation

Wiring for the switches to control the Rotax engine was started.  Switches wired included Rotax Lane A, Lane B, Fuel Pump 1, Fuel Pump 2, Engine Start Power, EMS Backup, and Engine Start Button.

Rotax control switches being wired

Hours: 25

Exhaust and Muffler

 Added a few additional heat sleeves for coolant lines running adjacent to the muffler and exhaust pipes.

Additional heat sleeve

Heat sleeve on radiator hose

Next, some high temp anti-seize lubricant (Permatex Nickel #77124) was applied to the ball joints of the exhaust, and all 8 exhaust springs (2 on each exhaust pipe) were installed.  The exhaust springs were safety-tied (prevents the spring from falling off it it ever breaks) using 0.041" stainless wire.  Finally, as recommended by Rotax, we applied high temperature silicone to the springs (we used Permatex Optimum Max Torque).  Hours: 10

Spring attached, wire tied, and silicone applied

Side shot of attached muffler and exhaust