Rear Seat Belts Part 4
This weekend, I took a break from working on my heating system to complete the seat belt mods for the rear seat. Both seating positions now have a retractable 3-point belt. The second one went a little easier than the first, thanks to a few new tricks along the...
Custom Heating System
I’ve been busy designing a custom heating system for my plane, which is why I haven’t posted in a little while. My Sling 4 kit would normally include a cuff-style heater, which heats air by passing it over the exhaust pipe. It’s a basic system, but many small airplanes...
Rear Seat Belts Mod Part 3
When I first wrote about my rear seat belt modifications, I initially planned to mount the inertia reel below the floor, and then cut a slot in the floor to route the belt up to the shoulder anchor point. However, the more I thought about it, the more I...
Front Seat Base Mechanism
Sling 4 Fuselage Manual Page I3 In between working tasks for the rear seat belt mods, I’m also building up the front seats. I assembled the locking mechanisms that attach to the base of the seat pan. It’s a nifty mechanism that uses guide pins tethered by a steel...
Rear Seat Shoulder Anchors
I’ve been continuing with my rear seat belt modifications. The shoulder anchors attach to hat sections, which are attached to the rear fuselage beltframe and skin. I fabricated the hat sections from 0.080″ aluminum. The sheet stock is too thick to cut with shears, so I used a nibbler...
Front Seat Assembly
During the week I assembled the front seats. These go together pretty easily. There were some improvements made to the design, so the parts I had were a little bit different than what is shown in the KAI – for example, the channels on the left, right and bottom...
Comm Antenna Mount
Some number of months ago, I created a miscellaneous parts board, made from a recycled shipping container cover. It is home to a number of loose parts that are still in sub-kit bags, but either I haven’t needed the parts yet, or I haven’t figured out what they’re for....
Luggage Door and Light
I’ve continued with upholstering the luggage area, it’s getting close to done. I worked on the ceiling pieces as well as the door. I’m not too sure what is the “correct” way to upholster the door, so I’m sharing a few pics of how I decided to do it....
Luggage Compartment Upholstery
I think it will be difficult to install the carpeting in the luggage area after the fuselage side skins are installed, so I’m taking advantage of the easy access I have now before I continue with building the center fuselage. I’m continuing to use the high-density foam insulation from...
Tail Stand
With all the weight in the rear fuselage, I’ve been using a couple of wood blocks to support the tail on top of the work bench. However, it’s not very robust, seems like a waste of good bench space, so I decided to build a tail stand. I used...