I will document the biggest and most annoying things wrong with the airplane during the test flight here but do not plan on blogging about every repair or modification to the airplane. Mainly because I’d have to become a full time writer.
The flight tests went fairly smoothly and I finished the 40 hour phase 1 in under a month. Most of my issues were builder caused, I must admit. Either a rework or bad soldering, decision making or lack thereof, and a few “that’s good enoughs” that came back to haunt me were to blame.
I tracked these by creating a list in my phone/iPad that I could check off as I corrected the issues. The list kept growing for some time before it started getting checked off. It’s worked really well for me and actually motivates me to complete all the repairs or adjustments to get the check boxes checked. I can also make group entries into the logbook to keep track of the work.
I found that I had a lot of electrical gremlins throughout the first bit of flying. Solder sleeves are amazing little buggers that are notoriously difficult to use correctly. I used sparingly while building, but they still bit me a few times. The problem is you think the solder ring has melted completely but it hasn’t. The connection will be good until it’s subject to some vibration and then all kinds of weird things happen. My oil pressure spiked to 200 PSI, multiple random annunciations based on my discrete inputs, and a few others due to the solder sleeves. And I only have about 10 in the whole plane! I will use them now if I have good access to the connection, but if not, I’ve found using Dsub pins and heat shrink as more reliable.
I had to reposition my EGT probes, as I realized they blocked 5 out of 6 spark plugs. I had a master cylinder bolt leaking just a bit. Lots more clamps and zip ties were installed, mostly firewall forward, to avoid chafing after a few oil changes and seeing where things moved a bit too much. I had to replace the autopilot pitch servo due to a service bulletin, roll servo due to slipage, and had to reinforce the rudder trim tab mount to get it to work effectively. I chose to rewire a few engine switches and add a engine master switch, which I should have done in the first place. That all neccessitated under the panel work, a new switch panel overlay and backlight sheet. The oxygen system leaked above 1200 psi (loose connection), and a few adjustments to the door light switches have been made.
The biggest squawk is a leaking fuel tank. I am getting ahead of myself on the blog, but this was discovered post paint unfortunately. Turns out a little weeping rivet that I discovered prior to paint and thought I had fixed with the Loctite trick wasn’t fixed. In fact, it wasn’t a weeping rivet, but a pinhole in the sealant on the rear baffle. Fortunately, I spent an entire day and was able to use my borescope to provide a view and a coat hanger/tube of pro seal to apply sealant and fix the leak without taking the tank off. Not a fun job.
The engine ECU tweaks were pretty easy, although I’ve gone through four O2 sensors (leaded fuel doesn’t make them last long). I removed the air filters and just installed a mesh screen over the intakes. Speaking of intakes, one was too close to the exhaust header and a hole burned through it so that required a bit of glass work along with better heat insulation and a bit more clearance.
Lots of other tweaks and adjustments were made and most of these delayed discrepancies were taken care of during the first condition inspection performed in November last year. I do have a few more items to check off the list including new door hing covers, some finish rework on the interior windshield pillars, an intake plenum on the air conditioning condensor (more on that later), and adding a second tunnel access plate are all on the list for 2021.
Bottom line, you’re not done building when you’re done building. Flying brings on new stuff that you can’t forecast on the ground so it’s a continuous process to keep it in tip top shape. I also put some of this stuff off, as I wanted to get it flying so its been a challenge to get caught up after flying so much. I am now at a point where the regular maintenance time is decreasing vs the flight time increasing. The check boxes are all most all filled in!
I also knocked out a few little projects, one being making new elevator trim bracket panels. I had the beefed up fittings sitting in the parts bin and finally ordered the new access panels. After countersinking and priming, the parts are ready to roll and comply with a SB from Van’s from many years ago. This is a common upgrade and an easy one at that.
Another little project wasn’t so little. I saved up a few tasks that needed to be completed inside the tail cone for one evening so I would only be crawling back there once (this time). The first was to support the tail better. I used two 1×4’s to bolt to the horizontal stabilizer mounts and put a caster on the bottom. While the fuselage cradle has been great, the rear support isn’t far enough back to support my weight so far aft without something heavy like an engine hanging off the front. So this was an easy fix and doesn’t take any room up in the shop. It’s still very easy to roll around and reposition as needed.
Inside the tail cone, I mounted the new static ports with pro-seal (no rivets this time) and hooked up static line that runs to where the ADAHRS will be mounted just behind the baggage bulkhead. The new static ports look way better than the original ones and I’m happy I made the change. The Safe Air 1 line kit makes it easy to run the tubing and create a leak free system. I also ran the rudder cables through the bulkheads and snap bushings. Ironically, the heads of the cables wouldn’t fit through the bushings without removing them and squeezing a bit. So basically, the cables were a pain to run instead of a quick two minute job. Lots of those in the build, I guess. I got them hooked to the arms on the rudder pedals which are inside the tunnel with the Control Approach pedals. With the A/C in there, it’s a tight fit for me!
Lastly, I installed the doublers along the center of the fuselage for the transponder and ADS-B antennas to mount to. These will be Delta Pop blades and mount with two studs, so I need access from the tunnel / fuselage. Easy enough with a second set of hands to man the gun and me bucking.
