Two Year Anniversary of Nothing!

Wow, two years without a post.  That’s pretty impressive, and not in a good way.  We are still here, and so is the airplane.  I work it regularly — most recently the firewall forward area.  The cowling is fitted and the baffling is in progress. I was well into the instrument panel earlier this year, then I sold the two screen EFIS setup and decided to start over.  Call me fickle.

It’s tough to keep the content of the blog going.  With the first plane I had the motivation of being one of the few people documenting an RV-8 project on the web.  Now everyone’s doin’ it. Sigh.

I like the Google+ alternative, and have put some more recent RV-7 content on there. Circle me if you want to follow along with my really slow progress: +LarryBowen.

Cheers.

To The Airport!

Time to move the RV-7 to the airport.  Not really because it’s ready, but because we are moving into a new house.  We have to be out in less than two weeks.  Thanks to the moving crew: Pam, Scott, Gene, Brian & Bobby.

Lightspeed Ignition Installation

I’m using dual Lightspeed ignitions instead of traditional magnetos.  So I need to install the two brain boxes somewhere.  I tried the ribs behind the firewall, but the included wiring didn’t reach.  So, I made this mount that holds both boxes.  It attaches to the top angle on the firewall and the rudder support bracket.  The end result is rock solid, convenient for wiring and service if needed.

Another view.

Installed.

I was able to fit the ignition sensor connector through the firewall without cutting by disassembling d-sub and slotting the SafeAir firewall pass-through.

Another view from the aft side of the firewall.

Engine Hanging

There are a couple of things that are best done before the engine is attached to the plane:

Install the prop governor gasket.

And the PCU5000 prop governor itself and control bracket.

Install the oil pressure fitting (with restrictor).

Organize the Lord engine mount parts.

Ready to roll.

Ta-da!  It took some finagling, but a couple hours later the engine was on the plane.  Big milestone!

Wheels and Fairings

The wheels and fairings were installed while I still had access to the engine hoist.  The fairings need to be aligned with no weight on the gear —  as they will be in flight, thus the hoist.  I’m using retread tires that stand a little taller than the stock tires, so there is plenty of ground clearance.