With the joysticks done, I turned my attention back to the flap and elevator torque tubes in the center fuselage. I quickly discovered that none of these will go together easily; each bracket that holds a bushing has needed *some* kind of modification so far. For these torque tubes,...

I spent about an hour on joysticks again. My pilot-side joystick moves freely, but I found that I hadn’t yet tightened down the copilot-side bracket that attaches the joystick torque tube to the main spar carry-thru assembly — that’s why it was moving so easily! As soon as I...

I spent far too many hours this weekend trying to get various torque tubes that ride in bushings to turn smoothly. I gave up on the rear elevator torque tube for now, and decided to put in the rudder pedal hardware. The rudder pedals are also torque tubes that...

Here’s what I have to choose from: Notes: NA = Naturally Aspirated EFI = Electronic Fuel Injection 5 min max continuous power (for takeoff) 154HP is the advertised power, but I would probably ask for derated to ~135 HP for compatibility with a Whirlwind propeller Price when purchased through...

Another two hours on torque tubes, this time trying to get the rear torque tube to move smoothly. Because this tube rests on three bushings (and not just the ends), they need to be lined up perfectly, which is not easy. To achieve that, I’ve had to grind down...

I spent about 1.5 hrs doing a few small tasks. First, someone on the Sling Builders Facebook group happen to notice that I installed an aileron control stop incorrectly; incredibly, I did this even after studying other blogs, and being aware that the build manual shows them in the...

I’m pretty excited about the idea of an improved cabin heater for my plane, so much so that I decided to go buy one from a junked car for inspiration. I haven’t committed to this yet, but I would like to reverse-engineer an automotive unit and then design something...