Correction of Static Ports Install

I got a tip on my blog a few weeks ago from Daniel H. that I should have installed the static ports from inside the fuselage, not on the outside as I documented previously. The thought never occurred to me that they should be inside; the static port on...

Nose Gear Installed

In between activities over the long holiday weekend, I spent some time working on the nose gear. I found the nose gear difficult to rotate once assembled. It appeared to be binding on the split bushings used in the lower mount. I think the split bushings are created from...

Attaching Right Main Tire

Continuing with the installation of the landing gear. To install the wheel, the brake assembly needs to be partially disassembled. Unfortunately I discovered that one of the brake pads was cracked and will have to be replaced. Spruce sells a Matco brake relining kit and a tool to squeeze...

Garmin GPS Arrived

My Garmin GTN 650xi arrived this week, very fresh from the factory — all the paperwork was dated 8/25/2020! Great service from Steve and Adam at Midwest Panel Builders. They are an authorized Garmin dealer, and I highly recommend them for anything avionics related. As I discussed in a...

Main Gear Leg

Attaching the main gear leg proved to be a difficult task, as other builders have reported. I experienced a lot of the same difficulties, resulting in the need to file the legs in a few spots, both spread it and squeeze it, and then finally I was able to...

Starting Main Landing Gear

On Sunday I finished riveting the port side fuselage skin, so now the fuselage is finally a structure that can carry some load. My next goal is to get the fuselage on wheels, so I started looking into the work required for the main landing gear assembly. The main...

Fuselage Showcase

I have friends over today for a summer BBQ so I decided to set up the plane for a little showcase. Some of the interior bits are installed, and I hastily attached the nose wheel (temporarily of course). I’m quite pleased with how the interior is looking, and very...

Instrument Panel Update 1

My current favorite layout of the instrument panel is what I call ‘Variant 1B’. I settled on using a GTN 650xi as my IFR navigator, per my recent post comparing it with the GNX 375. This panel is the result of feedback that I solicited from two Facebook groups,...

Garmin GTN 650xi vs GNX 375

The avionics are one of the more costly parts of a kit airplane build. It is easy to spec out an equipment list that totals more than the cost of the airplane itself. One costly option I discovered is deciding to equip your plane for IFR flight. For a...

Prepping Second Side Skin

Over the weekend I started preparing the port-side outer fuselage skin for installation. There are a few steps to do before installing it: Lightly abrade the skin near rivet locations (for better paint adhesion under the countersunk rivet head) Dimple the forward rivet locations Attach NACA duct Roll edges...