Well, I certainly don’t know what I am doing, but I decided to polish the plane for a bit prior to committing to paint. I started with the right wing top surface:
Since I don’t have the good stuff yet (Nuvite), I just did a quick pass with stuff available at autozone. I bought a 6″ random orbit buffer, some foam pads, and used microfiber cloths under the foam pads to apply the cleaning polish. My first goal was just to git rid of the surface oxidation and remove the discolored lines left from the removal of the blue plastic along each side of each rivet line.
Although this still looks like crap, it is 100% better than before where it was milky/blotchy with obvious marks on each side of the rivet lines:
Getting better:
You sure go through microfiber towels quickly. I took these home to wash and it took two cycles in the washing machine.
Today (1/3/16), I did the left wing, with help from Rachel and Zack:
Added 1/2 quart of oil. Also found the source of my fuel smell. Last night when the FBO filled the tanks, they filled them so full that fuel was displaced when I reinserted the fuel caps (thats full!). However, this also caused more fuel than normal to burp out the fuel vents overnight. When doing the pre-flight today, I noticed fuel staining on the exterior fuselage side skin, below the root/leading edge of the wing on the right side. This coincided with the area where the fuel vent entered the fuselage. I pulled the wing root fairing expecting to find fuel staining inside the wing root area on the fuselage skin above where I saw the stains. However, there were no leaks on the outside of the fuse in the wing root area; (see clean picture above) it seemed to be coming from the fuselage skin seam between the side skin and the floor skin.
This led me to climb into the cabin and stick my head up under the panel with a flashlight and inspect the fuel vent on the inboard side of the fuse wall. Lo and behold there was some evidence of weeping fuel from the flare fitting where the 90 degree elbow attaches to the fuel vent tube. There are 4 of these vent tube connections inside the fuselage, and it turns out I hadn’t fully tightened any of the 4! This is probably the biggest mistake I have found in the build to date, and is a big blow to confidence to find 4 vent connections only finger tight (makes you wonder where else you missed something no matter how careful you try to be).
I tightened the one that was leaking at the wing root on the right side and its corresponding brother on the left side (connection was loose, and only minor evidence of fuel staining there). I also attempted to tighten the other two connections near the firewall where they exit the floor to the fuel vents. Harry helped me by holding a 11/16 wrench on the outside of the fuel vents while I tightened the nuts on the inside. Once the bulkhead fitting was tight, I was then able to tighten the flare fitting on each side.
Flight 8:
I filed for a 1 hour flight out of HEF (instead of my normal 1:30) just to check if the fuel smell issue was resolved. I’m happy to report that the issue seems to be cleared up. I’ll watch this as we go forward, but I’m 90% sure the issue is fixed.
During the flight I also managed some 65% and 75% cruise at 7,500. And also some slow flight at 70 KIAS and 80 KIAS flaps up. I did lots of left and right turns with 30 and 45 degrees bank.
14 gallons dipstick on right tank. 10 gallons remaining dipstick on left tank. Fuel truck added 5 gallons to the right tank, and 9.9 gallons to the left tank. Dipstick then measured 20 gallons on the left tank, and 20.5 gallons on the right tank. I know these don’t add up perfectly, but such is the precision of dipsticking with 2 gallon intervals.
Also noticed during this flight I forgot to reset the fuel totalizer so the following measurement also includes the fuel burn from flight 7 (17.9 gallons). Fuel totalizer = 34.1 used, 25.8 remaining. Compensating for the 17.9 gallons from flight 7, leaves a totalizer measurement for this flight of: 34.1-17.9=16.2.
I forgot to download the flight data from the G3X so I will post that here later.
Oh, and I polished the top of the right wing the other day. This is what it looks like when the wing top is polished and the fuselage still looks crappy:
I preheated the engine for 1:20 and saw the oil temps increase from 41F to 52F. CHTs from 40F to 47F.
Today I flew 1.8 hours and tested a variety of level flight cruise power conditions. This is without wheel pants and without gear leg fairings (worth a reported 15 knots extra) and without a calibrated airspeed probe.
146 KTAS @ 2500 RPM @ 18.5″ MAP @ 12,000 feet MSL
148 KTAS @ 2600 RPM @ 18.5″ MAP @ 12,000 feet MSL
Descended to 8000 MSL
156 KTAS @ 2660 RPM @ 22″ MAP @ 8,000 feet MSL
This is about 180 MPH.
During the descent, I saw 177 KTAS (Vne=200 KTAS). This is about 204 MPH.
Again I noticed the fuel smell in the cabin on two separate times for just a few minutes. The first time was on climbout, and the 2nd time was during a left 180 degree turn. After reading quite a bit about possible sources for this smell, I learned on VAF that sometimes with full tanks the fuel vents can burp a few drops of fuel on the belly. The first time I smelled the gas on this flight was with both tanks full just after takeoff. The 2nd time I smelled it in the turn was approximately 45 minutes later, and I’m not sure if I was still on the first tank (leaving the 2nd tank still full to drip in a turn). Apparently, if the drips hit the belly, the fumes can get sucked into the flap pushrod holes due to the lower cabin pressure. I’m still not giving up on searching for weeping fittings, but this theory may also have some merit.
I performed a few stalls clean during this flight. I let these stalls get just a bit sharper and deeper than previous flight’s stalls, but I’d like to get spin training before I push this any further.
Most annoyingly, the Garmin G3x MFD rebooted in flight twice. This is almost certainly a software bug and it happened during me fiddling with the knobs and buttons and the same sequence of button presses and knobs caused it to happen again after the first reboot. All I had to do was: Press NRST. Defaults to rightmost page: Airspace. Spin the knob rapidly to the left (trying to get to NRST Airports). Boom: Instant reboot. This “feature” might really piss you off if you needed to find the nearest airport in a hurry! I’ll need to notify Garmin and see if there is a software update.
I did not notice any fuel pressure dips during this flight, but post flight looking at the data, I see one did occur dropping to 20.4 PSI. I’ll need to read up on this and determine if this is normal.
Removed top and bottom cowl. Wiped brake reservoir overflow (this seems to be decreasing).
Right tank dipstick: 8 gallons. Left tank dipstick: 16 gallons.Fuel totalizer used 17.9 gallons (24.1 remaining). Right tank fuel truck added 13.35 gallons. Left tank fuel truck added 4.75 gallons. Reset totalizer. Set 42 gallons onboard.
Jan 1, 2016. Taped the hole in the lower cowl nose gear leg area to help prevent pressurization of the lower cowl area.
Prior to the flight, I installed 2 Reiff 100W oil sump heater pads (one on each side of the sump at the rear of the engine) and the thermostat’s ceramic cube on the back of the engine oil sump (in the center rear). I ran the heater for less than an hour this morning and saw the oil temp and CHTs rise a few degrees from 50 to 53. It looks like it is working, and this is plenty warm for starting.
Today I flew for 1.7 hours. I did 2 stalls clean, 2 stalls at 15 deg flap, 2 stalls at 30 deg flap, and 2 stalls at 45 deg flap. Stalls at 45 deg flap have a tendency to drop the right wing slightly.
I did at least two climbs from 4,000 to 10,000 feet MSL under various RPM settings and power settings.
I tested the cabin heater valve. It heats but not a whole bunch.
Noticed a fuel vapor smell in the cabin during initial climb (this smells different from an exhaust smell). This has been a recurring event and I am trying my best to locate the source. Since I sealed the remaining holes in the firewall prior to this flight, it doesn’t seem like it is coming from the engine compartment (and there are no fuel leaks in the firewall forward area that I can find. Bob says fuel vapor can frequently can come from the wing root areas and into the cabin around the aileron pushrod holes (there is positive pressure in the wings and it forces air into the cabin under the seat pans. I pulled the wing root fairings (external) several flight ago and found no evidence of fuel leaks at the wing root connections. Other ways can be if the fuel tank is leaking at the back baffle and running down the inside lower surface of the wing to the wing root area. From there if it is more than a drop or two, it can run into the fuselage cabin floor since the cabin floor underlaps the wing for a few inches (I think). I can’t find any evidence of this happening. I plan to pull the fuel selector valve covers and the fuel pump cover and look for evidence of drips around those connections. The smell doesn’t last for long and is lessened when I open the cabin fresh air vents (in rush air may help pressurize the cabin slightly).
I also noticed occasional fuel pressure dips. You can see the two dips in green here (dropped to about 18 PSI):
Oil temp was also fairly cold on this flight (150’s & 160’s). I’d prefer to see 180 and I already have 1/4 of the oil cooler air inlet taped over.
Post flight fueling: 8.7 gals right tank from fuel truck. 10.6 gals left tank from fuel truck. Right tank 20 gals dipstick. Left tank 21 gals dipstick.
Wiped overflow on brake fluid reservoir.
Put foil tape on 4 holes in the lower fuselage surface where the upper gear intersection fairings mount (but are not currently installed) in an attempt to block any vapor entry in this location.
Added 0.25 quarts of oil to bring the oil above 6 quarts.
Disconnected the hoses and unscrewed the elbow fittings from two master cylinders (lower fittings on pilot & passenger right brake pedals). Resealed 2 brake pedal NPT fittings using permatex #2 and reconnected the Bonaco hose fittings.
Bled the right side brake (for probably the 5th time).
Removed the upper cowl.
Removed the lower cowl.
Trimmed metal flange on left side of starter ring gear to make getting the lower cowl on and off easier.
Installed cowl inlet baffle seals on the lower cowl lips using #6 countersunk screws and all metal locknuts and washers. I used 3/32 blue silicone for the first time from Aircraft Spruce.
Front left lower cowl air inlet baffle seal:
Front right lower cowl air inlet baffle seal
New piece of black baffle material added at the front on both sides like this one on the left:
Found an area on the lower cowl in front of the nose gear leg that is obviously letting a bunch of pressurized air into the lower cowl area. This is probably reducing cooling of the CHTs to some extent. I will try covering this hole on the next flight. It eventually will get covered by the nose gear fairing upper intersection fairing (but I haven’t made that yet).
Pre-flight prep work: Dave Haschart met me at the hanger at 07:00 and helped with preflight; Thanks Dave! Removed upper & lower cowl, inspect FWF. New heat scat tube mounting looks to be doing well. Reinstalled upper & lower cowl. Attached tape to front cowl noses to see if it helps with not pressurizing the lower cowl area and improves CHTs. Also added tape to block 1/4 of the oil cooler. Tire pressures: L: 32.0, R:31.5, N:31.0. Preflight inspection completed.
I flew four laps around the pattern and performed 3 landings with 15 degrees flap and 1 landing with 30 degrees flap. This plane lands beautifully. I haven’t had a bad landing yet or even so much as a hop/skip, but I’m sure they are coming. The winds have always been calm so far. My takeoffs / go arounds however still leave much to be desired. I haven’t mastered keeping the nose wheel off the ground but not WAY off the ground. Thus when I accelerate on the go after a landing, I either lift off early or let the nose wheel touch. I’m trying to work on getting the hang of the right amount of stick back pressure.
After the 4th landing, when retracting the flaps, I got a red flap fault warning. I taxied back to the hangar to check things out. After shutdown, I reset the flap fault on the VPX (it was a flap runaway; which means the flap motor ran longer than it was supposed to). Turns out it was the up limit on the flap sensor that wasn’t being met, and the flaps kept running when I retracted them. This was the same condition that Mark Gramann noticed on the flap down side, which I corrected earlier by adjusting the down flap limit. It looks like I will need to adjust the up flap endpoint also. I should use this as an opportunity to check that the installation of the flap sensor is not shifting and to permanently install the pop rivets holding the flap sensor.
Post flight 5: Found overflowed brake fluid around the firewall reservoir (will continue to watch this and see if it stops when the reservoir is 1/2 full). Also found some weeping brake fluid connections on the pilot and passenger right brake pedal master cylinder lower connections. I don’t have the best luck with NPT fittings I guess. I have used Locktite 567 when screwing the 90 degree elbows into the gold brake pedal master cylinders, but was afraid of turning them in too hard and probably undershot. I plan to tighten these two fittings and apply Locktite 567 again. Unfortunately, I will have to bleed at least the right side brakes again.
Engine Total Time 6.3, Total Time 7.5, This flight: 0.5/0.7. Oil was at 6.0 quarts (hot). Left tank dipstick was at 16.5, and fuel totalizer said 3.7 used, but I did not fuel or reset totalizer after this flight.
12/13/15: Riveted flap sensor in place. Adjusted the flap up and down stops to be 8 units backed off from actual end points. Adjusted the flaps to run for 0.2 seconds after reaching the backed off stops. This should ensure the stops get triggered and the flaps stop running after an additional 0.2 seconds. Prior to last flight I reversed this roll trim end points so the indicator was indicating properly, but since I didn’t reverse the motor polarity, now the trim indication was moving in the opposite direction of the hat switch. I reversed the motor polarity after this flight, and now finally I think the trim will be running in the correct direction. I also added new baffling extending forward a few more inches on cylinder #1 and #2 towards the top cowl front.
The fourth flight on Sunday was similar to flight #3. The goals were to perform full flap testing, and begin stall testing. Prior flights had only used 15 degrees of the 45 available flap degrees. I have flap stops set at 0, 15, 30, and 45 degrees.
Flap testing was uneventful and the flaps perform as expected. Later flights will determine stall speeds at all flap settings. There is considerable pitch down moment when the flaps are deployed and there is considerable sink when retracting the flaps in one continuous motion.
I climbed to ~7,500 feet MSL and performed several approach to stalls with the aircraft in a clean configuration. Post flight examination of the data shows 56.2 KIAS did not stall, but 55.5 KIAS did stall (3rd dip in plot below). Later in the flight I climbed to 10,000 feet MSL.
During flight the seatbelt shoulder harness adjustment was causing the left shoulder belt to get caught on the right side of the seat headrest whenever I leaned to the right. This was annoying so I adjusted it on the ground after flight to prevent this in the future.
Removed wing root fairings (top side only) to inspect the fuel tank inboard ends for any signs of fuel leaking (found none). There was a lot of little dust and debris that had migrated to this location after these first few flights so I vacuumed that out. Expect this came from the wing internals and from under the seat floor pans.
Need to update the checklist to include flaps up after landing, flaps down before shutdown, record flight times before shutdown.
Need to buy and instrument cover for the area behind the instrument panel.
The morning flight went so well, that I decided to do an afternoon flight by myself after the ground crew had gone home.
The purpose of this flight was continued break-in of the engine, and departing the local Manassas class D airspace to get outside the SFRA. This enabled me to get some altitude under the wings, and gave me some added gliding distance if anything unusual happened with the engine.
I filed for departure at 18:15 and return at 19:15. I left Manassas and was over Warrenton in only 5 minutes. Amazing how fast things happen at 160 KTAS.
Outside the class D and SFRA, I climbed to ~6500-7000 feet MSL and just did laps around Warrenton & Culpeper keeping the two airports within several miles.
Good CHTs in Cruise…the engine seems to be slowly cooling off this flight even though I constantly increased the RPM throughout the flight.
Oil Temps are maxing out around 178F which is a bit too low…I may try to cover 1/3 of the oil cooler air inlet which may also help with more air for cooling the CHTs.
I noticed some grease being thrown from both main gear wheel bearings and some from the nose gear wheel bearing. The nose gear seems to grab/release when pushing the plane backwards. I will have to watch this and plan to upgrade the nose gear bearing per some of the links on VAF soon.
The prop threw a little grease from the prop hub. This is normal for the first 10 hours, I understand.
This flight started with 41 gallons on board, but the fuel totalizer started at 40 gallons I think.
Right tank dipstick measurement post flight: 13 gallons remaining
Left tank dipstick measurement post flight: 13 gallons remaining
Gauges say 15 + 15 remaining
Totalizer says 15.9 gallons used (24.1 remaining)
Oil is 6.0 to 6.1 quarts remaining
Add to the todo list: print new checklist, add switch tanks to checklist, tape front right cowl gap to see if it helps with cooling.
Fuel truck added 7.3 gallons to each tank (14.6 gallons vs 15.9 on totalizer).
Once again I had a nice group of friends willing to support this flight by acting as ground crew. Dave, Alex, & Lisa Haschart, and Bruce Anderson, joined Rachel, Zack, Mom and me at the airport at 7AM on Saturday.
We didn’t have the fire axe or rescue squad folks on hand for this one so we were missing the fire axe and sawzall, but felt comfortable proceeding based on the success of the first flight.
Once again, flight #2 was to be a trip around the local airport pattern at Manasssas VA. However, this time I was flying ~155 KIAS instead of the ~105 KIAS from first flight.
Departure was around 07:45. Tower had me make left traffic from runway 34R which was a bit unusual, but posed no problems and let me fly larger laps around the west side of the airfield. I spent about 1:30 in the air.
Dave was kind enough to send me this video of the takeoff:
This flight included a fuel tank change every 30 minutes, and I started on the left tank which had been tested during the first flight. No noticeable effects in fuel pressure or fuel flow when changing tanks for the first time. I did not use the boost pump during switches.
Dave also sent this video of the taxi in after landing:
After taxi in and de-cowling, we checked/noticed the following items:
Brakes were good but reservoir leaked another ~1oz.
Right Tank Dipstick Measurement: 12 Gallons Remaining (Gauge = 14 gals)
Left Tank Dipstick Measurement: 7 gallons remaining (Gauge = 8 gals)
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