Engine Site Survey

Took a ride up to KFDK this afternoon with Mike Regen in his RV-6 to see the engine that will eventually make its way into the RV.  This is a gorgeous Superior IO-360 engine that was built by Mike Peters (KTM Mid Atlantic Engines) and has been preserved in his office for the past two years.  The engine has been bored, balanced, and has a custom paint job with lots of chrome (black cases/jugs, red sump/push rod tubes, polished stainless intakes).

 

Prep Interior Parts for Paint

John Branchaw and I spent a few hours this evening scuffing all fuselage interior parts and panels in preparation for paint.  We also sanded and finished the microballoon filler that was applied to the rivets on the instrument panel.

 

Next step is to build a rack for suspending all parts so that we can apply primer, paint, and clear coat.

Fabricated Spar Attach Angles

Fabricated two forward spar attach angles.  (one left, one right).  This is the angle that gets bolted to the fuselage and provides a 1" diameter hole for securing the wing bolts.

Added instrument panel rear vertical rails

Added two instrument panel rails to run vertically along each inside edge of the panel rear.  These rails are used to support mounting the GTN750, PMA800, and SL40.  Added plate nuts to edges for attaching the avionics.  The panel rails were cut from 3/4" x 3/4" angle bracket.  Particular attention was paid to ensuring that the edges of the rails don't overlap the inside edge of the panel opening.

Canopy Cut - Final Fit

Finally finished cutting and trimming the canopy.  This too a lot longer than I expected.  Multiple cuts were made along the lower and leading edge of the canopy.  Each cut lowered the canopy a little more onto the canopy frame to the point where the canopy bottom butted up against the canopy frame rails with very little pressure.  The clamps attached in this picture serve more to hold the canopy in place than they do to press the canopy against the canopy frame.