Category Archives: Fuselage

Back to heavy metal work

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One task that I want to document for others I forgot to mention is modifying the tunnel cover around the Control Approach rudder pedals.  The cable attach arms are relocated inside the tunnel so slots need to be cut for them to move freely in the cover.  I measured their arc and marked the tunnel cover where I wanted to split it into two pieces.  Before cutting, I marked and drilled a center plate to hold nut plates which will allow me to screw the two pieces back together.  It was a pretty simple modification as was cutting the slots for the arms in each piece.  Again, I’m trying to consider maintenance and access down the road as much as I can.

I also took the time to modify the seat rails since I got the Aerosport seat levers.  Others have described this mod and it makes removal of the seats a snap.  Step one is to remove the delrin guides from the seat bottoms and trim the first 1 ½” off followed by reinstalling them.  This allows the seat to be slide rearward on the rails and then tilted around the flap tube cover with the necessary clearance.  I then removed the aft rail stop and drilled through the rail into the plate below.  Installing nut plates below the plates lets you put bolts in place of the screw and nut on the stop.  Now, I can get to the bolts from the top down eliminating the need to reach under the seat plate to get the lock off, allowing the seat to slide freely rearward.  It all makes sense when you look at it.

I’m trying to knock out some little side tasks along the way now in the spare time.  I used some excess epoxy from a door filling session to install the front vent NACA scoops.  I drilled a few holes and used clecos to hold them in place while the flox cured overnight.  I don’t have proseal and didn’t want to use any silicone on the area since it will be painted.  With minimal flexing and a good scuffing on both surfaces, I am confident the epoxy will hold these just fine long term.  The scat tube will have a short run from there to the Aerosport vents that I installed in the instrument panel.

I also performed a quasi service bulletin from Sean at Plane Around.  When I received the lights from him for the overhead and doors, several had bad boards which he promptly replaced.  I got a call from him with an interesting finding.  He used a brass wire over a piece of foam to hold the LED boards inside the aluminum and plastic housing.  He found that in a few instances, the wire was touching the board and shorting out LEDs.  Awesome service!  He called and suggested using a different method such as silicone which is an easy solution.  I removed all of the installed lights and completed the rework after ensuring all LEDs checked good.  I took the opportunity to install the micro molex connectors on the remaining few assemblies as well.

Service bulletin complied with in accordance with published guidance, OPS check good!

And finally, another cleanup item to mention was the addition to the hangar family.  While she hasn’t been officially named, our new Best Tugs Alpha 2 arrived!  I ordered this at OSH last year to use on the DA-40 we fly now and for long term with the RV.  It cost a pretty chunk of change (plastic, let’s be honest) but man is it nice.  It will save my twice-operated on back for years to come and is really handy to maneuver the airplane around.  It took a bit of practice one afternoon but now it’s just like pushing a shopping cart!  I requested the smooth cover with the intention of having it painted by Jonathan to match the RV but didn’t realize the red anodizing was going to arrive.  Oh well, not the end of the world.

Dirty Door Details

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I want a really finished looking product for the doors which requires covering / filling in a few key spots such as the pin guides, hinges, and install holes for the gear rack and center cam.  Some have laid fiberglass over these areas, others have left them open, and a few folks are using basswood to create cover plates.  Since I’m better at the wood and had some on the shelf, that’s what I chose to do.  The pin guides I just roughed up and applied flox directly on them, roughing the shape in to match the door lines.  I used some scrap pin material to keep the hole clean.

 

I used the basswood to fill in a hole used to install the center latch and create covers for the hinges.  It was pretty easy to trim and shape the wood for the plates needed and after I coated all sides with epoxy to harden the wood, I epoxied the plates in place.  I then went back with Superfil and did the final contouring and shaping to match all of the door’s surface.  I’m really happy with how it came out and while it was a bit of extra work, I think it’s worth it in the end to not look at exposed hardware.  I’ll be covering the hinges on the cabin top down the road as well.  Finally, I took some time to fill in little surface blemishes and final shapped the interior edge of the window frame.

 

After all the sanding was done and I was happy with the doors, I wanted to re-mount them for the final time.  Here is where I realized I screwed up.  The hinges are mounted to the cabin top with the hardware essentially epoxied in (see prior post) so I had to slip the door onto the hinges and install the hardware behind the new cover plate I had spent all that time creating.  Bad idea.  It’s impossible to get the washer and nut on each screw on the door side of the hinge.  My fingers are fat and not triple jointed so I spent an hour raising my blood pressure far beyond healthy limits struggling with it.  I decided to walk away, burn the project to the ground, and start over.  Okay, really, I just took the rest of the night off.  The next evening with a calmer approach, I fabed up a handy little tool to hold the washer and nut in the cavity while I installed the screw.  I used some basswood and some aluminum to create a captive wrench so to speak that worked beautifully.  Had both doors installed in about 20 minutes.  Wish I had put the hinges on the door then bolted them onto the fuselage, but oh well.  I installed the last plates to close out the hinge area and applied filler to smooth is all over.  This completely closes out the hinge cavity on the door not only making it look better but allowing the door seal to work properly.

 

Meanwhile, I set about working on the instrument panel and center console.  The big Aerosport order had arrived a few weeks prior and I was eager to play with all of the cool stuff.  I started with the instrument panel and got the backing plate and the panel itself fitted in their place.  The side skirts on the tunnel attach to the lower instrument panel with the center console mating up to it.  This stuff is top notch quality and is going to be really awesome filled with fancy avionics!  I took my time to fit it all and used nutplates to ease future maintenance and removal.  I chose to countersink the carbon which left it a little thin and brittle, so I coated each screw hole with light epoxy to help strengthen the area.  I also cut out the main areas which will have the metal inserts leaving a 1” flange to be trimmed to final size later.  The center console was positioned and I used a strap duplicator to drill the holes matching the tunnel.

 

Since my plans include using the ACM from AFS, I want to use a fancy push to start button but couldn’t really find one that I liked.  The Honda S2000 button others have used are hard to find these days so after a few returned orders, a deep Google search turned up exactly what I was looking for.  It’s a simple Apem NO switch that has a LED light actuator.  It’s also the right size to be proportional to the panel location.  I couldn’t help but to drill the hole and mount it up to see how it looked.

 

The Andair fuel valve is mounted through the tunnel on the center console as well, so I set about locating the screw holes.  I mocked up the valve itself on the stock mount and will need to create a larger mounting plate for the valve housing down the road.  It allowed me to trim the handle extension and locate the plate on top of the console.  Again, had to mock it up and do some airplane noises while turning the valve.  The noises worked perfectly; so did the valve.

 

Finally, I cut the throttle quadrant area out and worked on installing the quadrant onto the tunnel cover.  Thanks to Ed and Aerosport’s awesome YouTube video, it was pretty painless and I wound up with a very nice fit with the throttles fitting flush with the console when everything is installed.  I cut a large slit on the throttle friction lock area that allows easy removal of the console.  I’ll create a trim plate to cover up the slit for a finished look.  With the main carbon work done, it was time to drop off the instrument panel parts and center console to a paint shop for a clear coat.  I want to leave the carbon look exposed but wasn’t happy with the finish right out of the mold.  I had originally asked Aerosport to clear the items but they quoted over $1500 just for the clear coat.  I almost choked.  I love them to death and they’ve done a lot to help, but I couldn’t swallow that pill.  A few calls around the area and a local custom motorcycle paint shop could perform the work in four days for $250.  We’ll see how they turn out next.

Hold the door, Hodor

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Any big cut or drilling job comes with some anxiety and the door pin hole is no exception.  Now that the door handles and pins are all installed and working like a fine oiled machine, they need a home to rest in.  I removed the magnetic tipped pin inserts and used two ground down bolts threaded into the rods to locate the exact spot to drill into the door frame and fuselage bulkheads.   This worked really well as I was able to position the door flush with the fuselage and locate the drill placement without worrying about future misalignments.
I have some fancy aluminum pin guide/blocks from IFlyRV10 that go along with the magnetic pin inserts.  These help guide the pins in and just make closing the door that much easier and smoother in coordination with the PlaneAround center cam.  I polished the holes with some light sandpaper to get a smooth action and am really stoked to say all four holes are in the perfect position the first time!
The next project is to prep for the door seal.  As most have done prior, I am going with an aftermarket seal that affixes to the door frame rather than the door itself.  Since the frame isn’t designed for it, a little prep work is required.  I needed to build back material for the seal to mount on that will put the bulb nicely against the door.  I purchased twice as much seal as needed so I could use half of it sacrificially to form the new lip.  I mixed up a big batch of epoxy and flox and used a baggy to fill the seal.  Then I took my time to press on just enough to hold onto the frame.  Once dried, I pulled the seal off which left a nice new structure all around the door opening.
With the door on, I marked the areas that needed to be sanded down or built up a bit with filler to get a nice consistant gap all along the door lip.  Despite all the dust, it was a pretty easy task and soon enough I was ready to put on filler to smooth things out.  I did both the inside and outside.  I’m a little bummed that I’ll have to re-shoot some paint on the inside, but I can mask of the overhead console so that will make it a bit easier to blend.
Meanwhile I built a bed up of epoxy and flox on the hinge mounts since a few of the washers and nuts didn’t sit flush with the cabin top due to the contour of the inside surface.  This allows the torque to be spread properly over the newly built up area.  I let the epoxy cure about 75% then put the washer and nut on so it compressed the fill into place.  After it cured I finally torqued them to spec.
A few evenings of sanding and filling later, the left door frame is ready for paint on the inside and the seal to be installed.  The right door is coming along with initial sanding and filling happening now.  Once the windows are in, I’ll fill the final door gap and finish the rest of the door frames.

Rack ‘em and stack ‘em

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I needed to get the door pins installed so that I could lock the doors in their proper location to get the final trimming done.  It’s a cart before the horse thing, as it’d be nice to get all the trimming done but you need the pins first.  But to get the pins, you need to trim the doors.  Lot’s of half finished steps to complete the other steps here.

I’m using several aftermarket modifications as well.  The PlaneAround center latch is a no-brainer for its functionality and safety aspects.  It provides a cam in the center of the door to help close the door and ensures both front and rear pins engage the fuselage to keep the door closed.  It also basically makes it impossible to close the door with only one pin engaged.  The danger is potentially life ending, as several accidents have been caused by doors opening and separating from the airfarme.  Nothing to joke about here, you have to do this right and know the severity of the impacts.

I’m also using the low profile handles from Aerosport which are very nicely built and are a bit more high class than the standard Van’s handles.  With that being said, it means following three sets of directions that all leave a bit to the imagination.  Of course, I don’t read directions well so I started off by cutting my door racks according to the stock plans, not in half as I should have.  That looked like an expensive mistake, but VAF came through and I got a new set for the cost of shipping thanks to a very helpful fellow builder.

The door rack and gear system is simple once it’s all put together but is a bit challenging in assembly.  I was able to work through the plans, however, and soon had all of the parts cut, created, and cued for final assembly.  It all comes together very well in the end as long as you take time to ensure a smooth operation of the mechanism.  I’ll be filling in around the nylon blocks on the door’s edges so aren’t too concerned about looks here.

I also added cam locks to be able to lock the doors.  While they aren’t completely bullet proof, they will provide some security and deterence for people to not mess with the airplane or its contents.

Hey don’t forget

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Tip for other builders.  Don’t forget to follow the steps that aren’t in the plans that you don’t know about but absolutely have to do in order even though nothing says to do them in order.  For example, the door strut bracket that attaches to the top of the cabin.  Yup, I forgot that.  I realized that in a moment of sheer panic and terror about 3 am one morning.

The strut bracket is a bit rudamentary from Van’s so I had ordered a very nicely CNCed version from Sean at PlaneAround.  Those have been sitting in my parts bin for two years now and despite all my hard work at the overhead console and finishing the interior of the cabin top, I forgot to install them.  It would have been a five minute job had I remembered.  It turned into a five hour job.

I would have to cut a hole in the overhead console and grind away part of the filler on the cabin top without screwing anything up to make this work.  Fortunately, I took my time and went at it very methodically.  I located the exact position it needed and drilled a few holes to start opening up the rectangle for it to slide in.  I got pretty luck and it proved to be a nice finished fit once all the filing and trimming was completed.

I then made up a jig to locate the screw holes since I couldn’t drill or mark from below due to interference of the console.  The jig allowed me to drill pilot holes from the outside and then enlarge to get the proper alighnment.  Worked like a charm and in no time the first bracket was screwed on.

As with everything, the second one goes quicker and easier so in one evening I corrected a big mistake with really nice results.  I doubt anyone could tell that they were installed out of sequence and looking back I wager it was even easier this way vs trying to sand and sculpt the filler around them while filling in the console.

Let me get that door for you

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The epoxy dryed overnight and the next morning I was ready to start cursing clecos as I pulled them out of the cured doors.  A few were kinda tough and I ruined some clecos, but eventually all of them were out and I was left with two doors!.  The next step is trimming the outer flanges to fit flush inside the cabin top and fuselage.  It’s a tedious task as you really need to trim them to fit but they need to fit to see where they need to be trimmed.  I took a tip from another builder and created a template to cleco on the door and fuselage instead of leaving tabs on the door flange itself per the plans.  This allows the door to slide into the frame but ensures it’s held in the same place when test fitting it.

Slow and steady wins the race here, with a lot of sanding/grinding/fitting/repeat to get it just right.  I am neither slow nor steady.  So after about 15 times of test fitting and removing, I went to town with the die grinder and poof, too much gone.  Cardinal sin of building a RV10 door.  When all the dust settled, I realized that the doors themselves weren’t too small but I just didn’t take my time to fit them.  My scribe lines from the factory were WAY off and oversized.  I was shocked at how much material I had to remove to get the doors to sit flush.

In the end, I put a chamfer on the cabin top and the door flanges to get a nice fit that was a complete waste of time.  Since I’m using the McMaster Carr seal, I don’t need a beveled edge on the door and frame and will need to build the cabin top / door up in several places anyway to make the two surfaces flush.  Oh well, I knew doors would be a pain so par for the course.  Nothing was too bad that can’t be fixed, so I still looked at it as a success.

Once I calmed down, I got to work on the right side hinges which went on quickly and easily.  Wouldn’t you know it, I was ready to open the door for my lovely wife to get in her side of the airplane.  Except she wasn’t there and there’s no seat and it’s really dusty and I don’t want her touching anything yet since it’s not finished anyway…..

Dreaded Doors

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The biggest and most dreaded part of a RV-10 build for most people are the doors. The are notoriously tough to trim, fit, and fill to get a nice result. However, they are critical in the safety and looks of the plane. And since I don’t want to mess up my hair while flying, I dove in to start closing up the cabin.

It’s commonly known the scribe lines and reference dimples are useless and my doors were no different. The dimples were a half inch off from each other So I matched up the two shells of the doors by eye and measurements. The first step is to trim the window opening and prepare the shells for bonding.

Fiberglass is messy stuff, so use proper PPE! I then did a rough trim on the exterior of the halves to get ready to bond them on the cabin top. You use the cabin top as a template to get the proper curve set while the epoxy sets. So I payed the halves on the top and prepped by drilling holes for the clecos.

I then began working on the Planearound center latch as another builder did, before epoxying the door halves together. It was much easier to work on the back side of each half before the pieces work together. It also allowed me to insert the gear box through one hole instead of having to cut the slot. Looking back, I wish I had done the entire door handle system while the door halves were apart, but I’m getting ahead of myself. I cut the reinforcement tubes and also ran wire for the door/access lights that I ordered from Sean as well. These are smaller versions of what I put in the overhead console and should light up the wing and step at night very well.

I’m also installing the low profile exterior door handles from Aerosport and again it was easier to do some preliminary work on those before the doors went together. Drilling the skins for the large block as well as the door lock and trim ring saves a lot of work later on.

I had a fellow flyer-buddy of mine come over and help mix flox and set everything in place. I chose to follow a few others by using clecos into the cabin top instead of tape, clamps, weight, etc. to get the curve. This worked very well except for one spot on the right side door where the door just would lay flat against my cabin top. I pressed on knowing I’d be doing some fill and finessing later. It takes a lot of epoxy/flox mix to butter the halves up. I filled the cavities near the center cam we slathered on the flox followed by pinning it all to the cabin top.

We cleaned up the excess flox that oozed out and I’ll start popping these off tomorrow. This is all the easy part!

Almost finished!

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Ha! No, I’m not nearly almost finished. But the finish kit has arrived! I had it shipped to my work and brought it home on our trailer. I wasted no time in unpacking and inventorying the contents. To be honest, it’s almost a disappointment on how little was in the crate, especially considering how much it cost! Granted, I deleted quite a few items, including the windshield/windows, brakes, wheels, tires, and cowling. I am using all aftermarket vendors for those items and have some of them already.

A few days later, another large crate arrived from Show Planes with my cowl and induction system inside. The cowl has a little different shape to it, most notably around the intakes which are circular and the absence of the snorkel. The induction system splits the two round intakes and provides air to the throttle body. I scored a great deal on a quick turn fastener kit for the cowl as well.

This was perfect timing, as I did a few more odd jobs such as pulling some wires and quick clean up jobs on the fuselage but was quickly running out of things to do. The doors are the first job to tackle from the finish kit while I get busy planning and ordering some other things which I’ll cover next.

Coloring outside the lines

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Painting the inside of the cabin is much easier when the cabin top is removable, and with only a few items left to do before permanently installing the cabin top, I took the opportunity to put some color on the project. As mentioned earlier, the cabin interior will be a dark grey and black. I started by cleaning and prepping the tunnel walls and footwells. Most of this will be covered by the black carpet, but I wanted to make sure any areas not covered would be black. The SEM is really easy to work with and two nice coats provided plenty of coverage. I then used a low luster clear to help provide some further protection and sealant. I didn’t worry about overspray since the carpet will hide the imperfections.

The rest of the interior is the dark grey so I prepped again and sprayed the remaining parts of the cabin which will not be covered by Aerosport panels. I’m not a huge fan of painting because it’s so much prep work, but the results are rewarding. It’s nice to see a finished surface finally.

Sean also sent me his updated LED lights for the overhead so I got those wired up and installed using nutplates and the standard micro-Molex connectors. I really appreciate working with fellow builders as vendors because they provide great support. Upon receipt, there were a few LED boards that didn’t work properly. I gave him a quick text and new ones were on the way in a few days. He later did some troubleshooting and found out the wire used to secure the boards was shorting them out. So I pulled the wire and simply filled in the back with black silicone and had no other issues. The lights are great quality and very bright, providing a nice pattern of light. Night loading should be very easy with these on the overhead and in the doors.

As typical, the big moment of putting the cabin top on for good was somewhat anti-climatic! I am glad I won’t be Atlas-ing the thing on and off anymore, as that was getting a bit tiresome. It is secured with a ton of pop rivets on the rear and screws up front. The challenge to it, however, is setting the frame in a bed of flox all around the door areas. I had the Mrs. come out to help mix epoxy and spread it on the fuselage. Even with slow hardener, we were pushed for time getting it all mixed, applied evenly, and positioning the top on just right. I chose not to drill the screw holes yet and clecoing the cabin top was much quicker and easier at this point.

I cleaned up the remaining flox from inside and and put the rivets in. All in all, a bit stressful for us but a rewarding step seeing the canoe form finally disappear! The finish kit is coming next and I’m pretty pleased with the amount of progress I’m making this year.

I just need a little air

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We have big travel plans for this airplane and a great way to take advantage of weather on a long cross country flight is to climb up high. In order to do that, you need supplemental oxygen. There are many ways to do this but I wanted to go with the top of the line, integrated solution from Mountain High.

The 4ip setup is all electronic control, pulse demand system which allows greater conservation of oxygen while giving better flows to the people on board. I was able to score a significant discount via Oshkosh this year and it’s a great time to install the system before the interior goes in.

All laid out, it’s pretty intimidating, but as with everything it’s eaten one bite at a time. The bottle and regulator are the main component that needs to get installed behind the baggage bulkhead. Some folks have mounted it on a tray but I chose to take advantage of the air conditioner equipment tray and hung it from angle aluminum.

Then it was a simple matter of running some wire making the connections to the bottle. I also installed the remote filling valve in a panel underneath the baggage floor. Gaylon did this in his and I really liked the idea which is why I copied it. I’ll add a little cutout to get a better handle on the cover but it will all be covered by carpet so no need for a latch or anything. A flying buddy and I have already partnered on a cascading setup to refill the tanks on our own with him having a Mooney.

The tubing will run up the center console and go to the panels for the front seats and console for the rear. Once my center console comes in, I’ll install the user side of the system. The control head will be mounted on the lower center instrument panel up front.