May 2002

5/30/2002 - 5/31/2002: I completed the wing attach bracket for the left wing. In this journal I noted that I had problems glassing over the wing attach bracket bolt heads because I could not get rid of all of the bubbles. I had described how I planed to make the task easier for the left wing. Essentially this plan involved applying the 2 BID to the 1/4" foam on my glassing table, letting it cure, then pot the bolt heads with epoxy/flox, bond the foam in place with epoxy/micro, make an epoxy/micro fillet around the perimeter of the foam/glass plate, and then run 2 BID strips around the perimeter of the foam/glass plate. It was a lot easier, but it involved a few more steps, and I had to spread the glassing steps over two separate work sessions. If I had done it as described in the manual, as I did the first time through with the right wing, and experienced the same bubble problems, the new way was definitely worthwhile. However, I could not help but wonder if I could have put the 2 BID in place as one piece again without the bubbles given that I have gotten better at laying glass and eliminating bubbles. It went well the way I did it this time, so I won't worry about it.

5/29/2002: This morning I resumed mounting the wing attach bracket for the left wing. Chapter 7, Section C, Step C2 involves inserting 11 AN bolts into their respective holes through the shear web and the wing attach bracket. This should be one of the easiest steps in the whole chapter since all of the holes are pre-drilled. However, this has proven to be the most difficult step, for me, in the entire chapter. I have heard from other ES builders, and they reported the same problems. I did discover that the order in which I insert the bolts does effect how many bolts I have trouble inserting into the pre-drilled bolt holes. After many different sequence attempts, I found a sequence that just left one bolt impossible to insert all of the way through it's hole. I then used a rattail file and very carefully filed the hole just enough to be able to push the bolt into place. It still was VERY tight, which is what is needed. The problem is that the holes are all drilled to very tight tolerance, and they are not all aligned perfectly enough for the tolerance that the holes have been drilled. This should not be taken as a criticism of the Lancair Fastbuild process. I know I could not have done as good a job if I had done it myself. The holes have to be drilled in place in the wing, and it is almost impossible to get them exactly right. At least I had them all in place by the time I had to stop working for the morning.

5/28/2002: I completed the fuel cap installation for the right wing. All I had to do was apply epoxy/micro along the edge of the fuel cap flange, and then I installed the 2 BID that the manual calls for around the fuel cap assembly. At the end of the day, I just had to sand lightly around the edges.

This evening I had Jim Nordin over to discuss some of the details regarding my fuel probe installation. I have added the intermediate fuel tank extension (5 fuel bays per wing). As a result, I have to make some changes when installing the fuel probe. We worked out a plan for how I will install them. Most fuel probe installations I have seen so far in ES wings have taken the probes to fairly close to the last rib in the fuel tank. The reason for this is to make sure that the fuel level system can report a more accurate full state. Jim pointed out that the probe needs to oriented such that it goes to as reasonably close to the lowest point and the highest point in the tank. It does not need to go the entire horizontal length of the tank unless there is a significant amount of area that is higher. He pointed out that I could go just short of, or just past the next to last rib (BL 97), and there would not be enough additional tank volume (that is higher) to make it essential to extend the probe all the way to just short of rib BL 120. To give me an example, Jim said that most likely there would be some fraction of a gallon that would be unreported by the fuel gauge at the full state. With a fuel burn of about 13 gallons per hour, even if the fuel probe was not accounting for as much as 1 gallon of fuel in a topped off tank, that would not be even 10 minutes worth of flying time for both tanks combined. I will only have my fuel probes extend about 4 inches beyond rib BL 97. This eliminates some potential issues that I would have had to deal with if I were to extend the probe to a few inches short of BL 120..

5/24/2002 - 5/27/07: I finished the fuel return system for the left wing. The only thing I had to do was glass over the flange on the inboard side of wing rib BL 27.5. Once the resin was cured, I had to grind a hole through the glass to expose the threaded hole in the flange. This is where the fuel return line from the engine's fuel injection system will connect to the fuel tank. With the right wing fuel return assembly, I had plugged the threaded hole with modeling clay. That allowed me to glass over the flange without concern about getting resin in the hole or in the threads. It worked great, but getting the last clay out of the very small threads turned out to be a little troublesome. With the left wing, I stuffed a small wad of cotton into each end of the fuel return assembly. I pushed the cotton wad in far enough so that there was 1/4 inch from the hole opening and the cotton. I then poured melted wax from a burning unscented tea-lite candle into the hole at both ends. The wads of cotton each formed a dam to only allow the outer 1/4 inch to fill up with wax. Before the wax was completely solidified, I trimmed them flush with the tube opening with a razor blade. Once the resin had cured, and I ground away the fiberglass covering the threaded hole on the assembly, I was able to remove the wax plugs. All I had to do was lightly heat up each end with a light bulb, and then stick a pair of tweezers through the soft wax, grab the cotton, and pull the plug out in one piece. It worked perfectly, and took very little time to do.

I had been holding off installing the fuel cap assemblies because, unlike everything else I have done on this project to date, part of it would be seen on the outside of the plane in a very visible spot. I wanted to make sure that I had developed a certain level of proficiency before I tackled this task. It turned out to be no big deal. I started by conducting some hole cutting experiments in fiberglass BID plates that I had made when I was experimenting with epoxy resin at the very beginning of the project. I never threw those pieces away because I figured I could use them for future testing. I am very glad that I had.

My thinking going into this was that if I am careful to cut the outer hole and bond the fuel cap assembly in right to begin with, I wouldn't have to do much, if any, sanding or grinding to get the hole around the fuel cap to look good, and to make the cap flush with the outer wing skin. I was reasonably successful in achieving this.

To my surprise, the very best results I was able to get was with a plain old wood hole saw. You DO NOT need a special hole saw with a grinding edge designed specifically for harder materials such as fiberglass. Those hole saws typically cost from about $45 to $125. The ones I used were about $12 from Home Depot, and I am very pleased with the results. One important point is that the hole saw should have a center pilot drill bit. Most of the wood hole saws have this.

The construction manual calls for a 2 1/2 inch hole saw for the hole in the outer skin, and a 4 1/2 inch hole in the inner wing skin. The fuel cap depicted in the manual looked different than the locking fuel cap option that I had ordered with the kit. I measured the dimensions of the fuel cap, and the measurements were also different. According to my measurements, the outer wing skin hole needed a 2 3/8 inch hole saw, and the inner skin needed at 3 3/4 inch to 4 inch hole saw (the size of the inner skin hole is not as critical). A 2 3/8 inch outside hole fit very nicely around the hole in the fuel cap assembly for the removable fuel cap. The advantage of using a tighter hole is that once I bonded the fuel cap assembly in place with Hysol, and then cleaned the extra squeezed out Hysol before it cured, there wouldn't be any sanding or grinding needed to finish the fuel cap assembly on the outer skin.

There were several things that I did that made the job easier. The most significant items include:

To make sure that the fuel cap assembly did not shift position on me once I Hysol'ed it into place, but before it cured, I drilled eight 1/8" holes around the flange. Then I drilled corresponding holes through the outer wing skin. This allowed me to use clecos to hold the assembly in place. To make sure that the clecos did not get permanently bonded to my wing, I removed them every couple of hours, one by one replacing each with a fresh cleco. Each removed cleco was then soaked in a acetone bath for a while. Jim Nordin suggested that I use the clecos before I apply Hysol, but then use regular 1/8" diameter pop rivets. Once the Hysol has cured, I would drill out the rivet heads, and then remove the rivets. Either way, this made sure that there were no gaps between the wing skin and the fuel cap assembly flange. It worked very nicely. I also used the lead weight for the rudder that came with the kit to place on the fuel cap assembly to make sure that the wing skin would not have an indention like it tends to have when you remove the Nomex core and the inner prepreg skin.
When I abraded the fuel cap assembly for bonding it in place, I sanded the outer surface of the flange back enough to allow the fuel cap to come closer to flush with the outer wing skin. I also ground the very slight curve to the flange to allow it to conform a little better to the curvature of the outer wing skin. Both of these steps really helped raise the fuel cape ever so slightly.

There were a couple of lessons I learned about cutting nice round holes in areas that will show in the completed plane with the type of hole saws I was using.

When possible, start the hole from the outside, but don't cut all the way through. Resume cutting the hole from the opposite side. Enter cuts are always nicer than exit cuts. This method gives both sides an enter cut.
As soon as the hole saw cuts through the first prepreg skin, stop cutting. The Nomex core helps hold the material inside the hole in place while it is being cut from both sides. Continuing through the Nomex core when the second side is being cut will typically result in an out of round hole on one or both sides when the Nomex suddenly gives way.

This weekend I completed installing the fuel cap assembly for the left wing, and I also bonded in the fuel cap assembly for the right wing.

I completed most of the steps needed for installing the vent lines for the left and right wings. I just need to bond the vent lines in place. I am holding off until I determine a few details on how far out I want the ends to extend into the wing tips and the fuel tanks.

5/24/2002: I did not finish up the fuel return installation today because I wanted the Hysol 9339 to cure more before I put acetone on it to prep for a good secondary bond. Instead I started considering how I will install my fuel probes.

5/23/2002: This morning I bonded the fuel return assembly into place for the left wing with Hysol 9339. After that, I sat down with Chapter 7, the left wing, and the fuel cap assembly to start preparing for mounting it in place. I know many ES builders have deviated from the manual to allow the flange to be exposed flush with the outer wing skin. I believe that I will not do that, but I am at a definite decision point. I also am considering how I want to cut the hole. I am thinking this one through carefully.

5/22/2002: I had a fairly interesting day today. I had just arrived at home from work for the day. I heard a plane flying over on final approach for runway 15 at West Houston Airport. As usual, I looked up to see what it was. I could not believe it. It was a Lancair ES, and it was not N123PK. The preceding weekend, we (the Kelleys, Nordins, and I) were expecting the person that had purchased the ES that was up for auction on eBay in March 2002 to fly into West Houston Airport. He was unable to depart from his home airport due to low visibility conditions on Saturday. I wondered if this was him. So I immediately called the Kelleys to see if he was flying in today. Pam confirmed that he was. I grabbed my digital camera and rushed over to the airport. There I met up with Lon Kelley, and Wilbur Hah (the new ES owner).

Wilbur let Lon and I look his new plane over (N997LP pictured above). This plane was built by Charles Brenner, who is a Lancair builder's assistant in the Denver Colorado area. From what I could tell, it looked like Charles had done fairly good work on N997LP. He had done several things that were very interesting. Some of them included:

Added an acess panel around the fuel vent on the bottom of each wing tip. This made it very easy to access the inside of the wing tips and the vent lines. Wilbur reported that he was very happy with that addition.
Replaced the screws and nutplates on the tail section access panel with a hinge system and lock mechanism. The hinge system that he used was the same type of hinges that the kit comes with for the luggage door.
Installed 2 pitot tubes. The pitot tube on the right wing was connected to flight instruments for the copilot, and the left pitot tube was connected to flight instruments for the pilot.
There was a handle on the fuselage just above the left flap to help people stepping up on the wing, and stepping down from the wing. According to Wilbur, it was a handle off of a Beechcraft Barron. Charles had glassed over it making it look like it was actually a part of the structure.
The landing lights were installed in the wheel pants.
The luggage door did not have any type of external handle or lock. The door was opened from a switch in the cockpit similar to modern auto trunk latches. It seemed to be an electronic mechanism.

The information that was posted on eBay on the plane read:

"It was completed in July of 2000 and now has approximately 250 hours on the airframe. It has a IO 520-CB engine with 1070 TTSnew. It has been displayed in the Lancair Booth at Oshkosh. It has a useful load of 1350lbs and will cruise at 190kts on 12gph." Additional details that were posted on eBay included:

Airframe Equipment:

100 gallons fuel
Rudder Trim
Dual Heated Pitot/Static Systems
Dual Vacuum pumps
Full Co-Pilot Panel
Special fold down rear seat to allow for a cargo area over 6' long
Beautiful paint and interior
9 disk CD player

Avionics:

Garmin 430 GPS/Com/Glideslope
King KX155 with G/S
King Digital Transponder with Alt readout
STEC 60-2 Autopilot with Alt hold and fully coupled
Davtron Digital RMI
Microvisions Engine Monitor/Electronic warning system/Checklist.

Powerplant:

IO 520-CB with 1070 SNEW
Electroair Electronic Ignition with dual Batteries
Ceramic Coated Intake and Exhaust
All new Accessories

5/21/2002: This morning I cut all of the holes needed for the fuel return for the left wing. Now I have to bond it in place with Hysol 9339, and do the epoxy/micro radius and glass over the flange that is on the inboard side of rib BL 27.25.

We are also still getting the benefits of the cold front that blew through last week. Our high temperatures for the days are still only in the 80's. I wish this would continue.

SPECIAL NOTE: No hardener discoloration has started forming in the epoxy pump. So, the kit I installed last week seems to be working.

5/20/2002: I completed the fuel pickup for the left wing by cutting the hole through the 3 BID I put in place on Saturday to allow the fuel strainer to screw into the brass fitting. I also had to remove the modeling clay that I had plugged the threaded hole with in the brass fitting to keep resin and adhesive out of the threads.

5/19/2002: Today I also completed the fuel tank extension for the left wing. I had to cut the tunnels in rib BL 97, and close the tunnel edges with epoxy/micro filler to seal the exposed Nomex core. Cutting the holes took longer this time, but putting the epoxy/micro filler in place was easier. I don't remember how I cut the tunnels in the right wing, so I am not sure why it took longer.

5/18/2002: Using Hysol 9339 adhesive, I bonded the fuel pickup assembly in the core removal area I did on last Thursday. Once the Hysol was set enough that it no longer needed to be held in place with any sort of clamp, I created the needed epoxy/micro radius around the brass block. Before it could cure, I glassed over it with the 3 BID that the manual called for. There were 3 bubbles trapped in the epoxy/micro under the 3 BID. I could not get them to move much. I was only driving them deeper into the epoxy/micro. So... I discovered a new trick. You can use a normal sewing straight pin to poke a very small hole in the BID. The resin was still fluid enough that there really wasn't a hole, but air could be slowly released through where the pin had pierced the BID. Then I made sure that the the resin worked back into the area to insure that a pin hole did not remain. It worked great.

5/17/2002: I didn't work on the project at all today. :-o

5/16/2002: Today I finished the core removal step for the fuel pickup in the left wing. Until now, if I had to fill something with epoxy/micro or epoxy/flox, I shaped it in place, and covered it with peel ply. Once it was cured, I did whatever sanding & grinding that was needed, prepped for a secondary bond, and then glassed over it. Today I shaped the epoxy/flox for the radius along the perimeter of the core removal area, then immediately glassed over it before it had a chance to cure. This worked even better than my old way, and took considerably less time. Now I am ready to start bonding the fuel pickup assembly into place.

5/15/2002: Last week I had ordered the kit that is supposed to eliminate the hardener discoloration problem with the Sticky Stuff Pump that Lancair sells for the Jeffco 1307-LV epoxy resin that is used so extensively throughout the project. This kit (part # SS3-SSA from Michael Engineering, Inc.) contains a stainless steel check valve replacement (which replaces the valve at the bottom of the hardener reservoir), a rubber gasket (that goes between hardener reservoir and the hardener pump body), and a stainless steel exhaust ball (which is installed inside the hardener pump body). The discoloration problem occurs due to a chemical reaction between the hardener and a metal fitting in the pump. The kit arrived last week, and I installed it today. It is a fairly easy job, but it is also fairly messy. We will have to see if this replacement does get rid of the discoloration problem. I have information from several reliable sources that the hardener discoloration does not weaken the cured epoxy. However, I still had a hard time feeling comfortable using the discolored hardener. I will use what I still have, but I would like to stop making more of it.

I started working on the core removal in inboard rib BL 27.5 in preparation for installing the fuel pickup for the left wing.

5/14/2002: We are having a "cold front" passing through the area. It is wonderful. The temperature in my garage this morning was 68 degrees F. After work yesterday it was in the mid 80's. Outside it reminded me of the incredible weather we had in Silicon Valley CA when I lived there in the late 80's and early 90's. It is perfect composite aircraft building weather. Too bad it isn't always like this around here.

This morning I finished putting in place the 4 BID needed to cover the left wing tie down bracket. Now I have that task completed for both wings. YEA!!!! At first I worked the 4 BID sheet into place, and then chased bubbles. It "seemed" to go surprisingly easy this time. Then I turned on my "bubble inspection light". I was amazed at how many bubbles had not been visible with normal room lighting. I was able to get them all out without too much trouble, but it definitely demonstrated that very bright back or side lighting is needed to really spot those bubbles. If I had left the job without inspecting with the light, I would have discovered later that I had to redo that entire layup. Whew!!!

I figured out another little trick today. Just before I put the 4 BID sheet in place, I mixed a very small batch of epoxy/micro. I spread it over the spots I anticipated would likely induce bubbles. Then I painted the light layer of epoxy that I normally put where the BID sheet will go. That helped further smooth out the surface of the epoxy/micro. Then I put the 4 BID sheet in place. Normally the BID sheet has to conform to the surface. This time, the surface and the 4 BID conformed to each other. Some of the epoxy/micro was squeezed out with the bubbles, so very little of the epoxy/micro remained underneath the 4 BID. There was just enough to help prevent bubbles. I will use this trick more often.

5/13/2002: I bonded the left wing tie down bracket into place with Hysol 9339 this morning. All went more smoothly, and quickly this time compared to the right wing.

5/11/2002 - 5/12/2002: On Saturday, EAA Chapter 12 had their monthly meeting at my house as a chapter member project visit. I had a great time, and I hope everyone else did too. Sunday was Mother's Day. I used some very small pockets of time throughout the day to work on drilling the holes in the wing access doors preparing for the screws that will hold the panels in place. Later some of the holes will accommodate rivets that will hold nutplates in place that the access panel screws will thread into. Other than that, I did not really work on the project this weekend.

5/9/2002 - 5/10/2002: I pretty much worked on cleaning up the workshop in preparation for Saturday 5/11, and to make it easier to work. Too many tools were getting a little too "accessible". You know this is happening when you are devoting measurable amounts of time looking for stuff. ;-) Sometimes you just have to stop, and organize.

5/8/2002: This morning I drilled the hole in the capstrip to begin preparing the left wing for the tie down bracket. I built a release pad, as I did with the right wing tie down bracket, to hold the bracket. I did a much better job this time now that I have done it once and figured out all sorts of details on how not to do it. I should finish this step up in very short order.

While the epoxy/flox pad was curing, I worked some more on organizing the workshop. I have found a few things I have not seen in a while. ;-)

Before I stopped working in the garage to start getting ready for work, I released the wing tie down bracket, and started post curing the pad to help make sure it would be as hard as possible. I had to do very little trimming with a razor blade. Things that I did this time that helped this step go easier included:

I mixed the epoxy/flox thicker (than I did when I performed this step in the right wing) so that it would stay in place better.
I formed a ball with enough epoxy/flox material that would ultimately fill the gap that would exist between the shear web and the tie down bracket. I placed the ball in the middle of the part of the bracket that would be up against the pad. Then I pressed and somewhat spread the ball so that it covered most of the area that it would need to cover on the bracket. When I put the bracket in place, and pressed, The ball shape made contact in the middle, and that squeezed out as I pressed the bracket in place. Given the way the surface the ball shaped epoxy/flox spread out, there were no problems with bubbles or voids when I put it in place.
More of the epoxy/flox squeezed out in the middle of the sides than at the corners. I then had to redistribute some of the epoxy/flox materials from the sides to the corners. After putting the epoxy/flox in place and getting the shape almost like I wanted it around the edges of the wing tie down bracket, I put peel ply over the exposed epoxy/flox, and fine tuned the shape.

Once I removed the peel ply, it was clear that very little else needed to be done. All I would need to do is lightly sand to smooth small rough spots, and to abrade the surface to prepare for secondary bond.

5/3/2002: This morning I glassed over the fuel drain on the inside of the bottom wing skin. One more task completed.

5/2/2002: Today I bonded the brass block into place for the left wing fuel drain. Even though I had the threaded hole in the brass block plugged with modeling clay, I put more effort into removing the Hysol 9339 that squeezed through the hole in the outer wing skin that I had pre-drilled. I figured this would save me the work of having to grind it away with a Dremel after the Hysol cured. This was much easier, and looked much nicer too. Then I filed around the brass block with epoxy/flox, and covered it with peel ply..

Today Erik Lindbergh arrived at Le Bourge France. The flight took 18 hours. Of the 211 gallons of fuel that he departed New York with, he arrived in Le Bourge with 64 gallons remaining in his wing tanks. The fuel tanks extensions that we will have in our ES will give us a fuel capacity of about 92 gallons. It is hard to imagine how they converted so much more of the wing into fuel tank. Since we don't intend to make any 18 hour non-stop flights, I won't even try to figure it out. For those that want more information about this flight, there is an official website for Erik Lindbergh's 75th Anniversary Flight.

5/1/2002: Today I finished squeezing the slosh door nut plate rivets. I bolted the slosh doors in to place. I had to make sure that the hinges were not binding. It is very important that the slosh doors swing freely. I also started on the left wing fuel drain.

Today Erik Lindbergh departed Long Island, New York for Le Bourge France to recreate his grandfather's flight across the Atlantic. He is flying a modified Lancair Columbia 300. The Columbia 300 has the same engine and prop as my Lancair Super ES will. The airframe looks the same, but there are quite a few detail differences.

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