The big move

Some pictures from the hectic days before the big move, lots of last minute tasks to be done:

Panel Version 1

Then it was time to rent a truck, unfortunately winter has returned and my train to the destination was delayed so I had to drive in snowfall and darkness. 

The ride went well, it was a three hour drive home, I got a great discount for basically transporting the truck to the next customer. It was a good way to get to know the handling before having precious cargo in it!

Finally parked at home:

 The train delay meant that I arrived home way to late for preparing anything on the night before the transport as planned. So in the morning I started opening up the shop.

 Then my father and father in law arrived for helping me load the RV onto the truck.

 My wife managed to help a lot while keeping track of the kids at the same time :)

 The cargo space had about 1 inch in total divided by the two sides as clearance. I had to dismount the wheel pant attachment points to make it fit. The entrance to the cargo hold was 1.5 inch tighter so we could not just roll it straight in.

 The next problem was that the cargo hold had absolutely zero low attach points so my thought out plan on how to secure the RV went into the trash bin. I basically used every wooden board I had and all my 2x4s to secure it. I did not look pretty but I can now say that it worked!  Unfortunately I do not have a single picture of it secured :( 

 Ready to drive

 The boys loved the ride, they slept for more than half of the 1,5 hour drive. My as always fantastic wife took the car and meet up with us at the airport delivering hamburgers for lunch.

 Unloading with the help of my wife and EAA controller Jan-Erik, thanx!

Safe in what will be the new home for 1-3 months

Transport 1

I have tried to rent a truck for today with the intention to move the aircraft to the airport tomorrow. No luck. Not confirmed yet but I expect to get access to one this upcoming weekend.

 

Canopy wires

Success, One of the smaller but difficult thing that was left to do before moving everything to the airport is done.

I had read about the problem with getting the wires for the door warning switch inside the canopy frame. It sure was a hassle but after spending 15 minutes getting the safety wire in place, the two wires followed all the way on the first try and it then took about 10 minutes to get them thru the oval hole.

I also installed the koger shade.

 

Series of small frustrations

All is going forward... slowly. The latest frustration is the starter relay actuation.

Last July I realized that the wires from the master and starter solenoid was not included in the kit. I then run my master actuator cable thry the firewall and connected it to a switch and then ground. Probably thinking that it was a good idea to wait with the starter relay to make sure that I could not make the prop spin in the shop, I did not run that wire..... I remember the manual says something like "make sure you have all the wires..." before sealing up the firewall penetration holes. Well, I forgot about the starter actuation wire! Yesterday I managed to push a stiff #14 wire thru the sealing silicone :) Now I once again have to read up on to/from were it is supposed to be connected ;)

Pulling the wire after managing to pushing it thru from the other side

Success after a good sleep

With fresh eyes I quickly realized that getting the stick and attachments out would not be to difficult. Having easy access to the other side of the bolt made it an easy task to drill it out. The seat area is starting to look finished now :D

Slow weekend

On Friday I had a visit from another RV14 builder. great chatting with you Allan! I totally forgot about taking photos.


I have only worked for a few hours on the RV this weekend, about one hour was spent on screwing in most of the panels around the seat area, most of them were just attached with 3-4 screws before.


Then I managed to bind the bolt connecting one och the sticks and to make the pain worse, a drillbit broke inside the bolt as I tried to drill it out, still stuck after me spending more than an hour trying to get it out. It is not a place were I want to use brute force banging it out, decided to work on other things while coming up with a plan.

Sticks fully connected

Today I wired the upper parts, most wires connect to the GAD27 and some to the ICOM radio.
The cable mess looks somewhat better after tonight :D

Stick contacts

Got the needed female crimp pins in the mail today. Both stick connectors are now done.

Two grips

Got a delivery on Friday, now I have two complete sticks. I have ordered molex connector pins for the right stick, the left is completely installed at the lower end, all 10 wires are still unconnected at the upper end.

starting the final Paperwork

I am preparing and starting the final paperwork.
- Training protocol from the first flight training delivered
- Prepared the ELT form
- Requested Radio transmission permit
- My insurance will change to flight status on 2019-04-15


Getting closer to airport move, final assembly, fuel flow check, first engine start and taxi tests. 

Seat belts

Almost done with installed the seat belts :)

Back Window in place

The last session with the sticky proseal?

 My amazing wife who was in bead reading, agreed to come out and help me torque the screws/nuts :D

I think I managed to do it without getting any proseal on the window.

Back window on its way in

Had some problems, It must have fitted good at some point in the past as the holes are match drilled by me, but now it was impossible to get the window in place without grinding of some plexi slightly back of the roll bar at the bottom.

I was to tired to work tonight. The next session will involve the messy proseal again :/

I have spent around 30 minutes in the last few evenings looking both in the shop and in inventory list for the female molex connectors used to connect the stick wires. I then read another builders blog stating that they were not included! Ordered now, should arrive next week.

Baggage area completed

First I secured the GPS antenna coax cable and some other wires going into the tail section, I then closed the area and attached the floor panels.

Not many wires left

I need to wire the sticks and a few other wires but basically I am just 2-3 work sessions away from being ready to transport everything to the airport :)

Fuel sensor wires connected to the GEA24 and tail surfaces removed

Connected some wires and then removed the tail surfaces in preparation for transport.
Now I can walk around the fuselage again without crawling on my knees :D

Green light from the pre-inspection

Great morning with my controller and inspector. The message was basically: get the wiring done and then transport it to the airfield for final assembly :D And my Hero has returned from the dead, by bumping it around I managed to reconnect whatever is loose inside, so working but totally unreliable.

Well deserved Coffee break!

One fall to many... my GoPro is dead

Decided to temporary attach my OAT sensor and magnetometer in hope of getting the transponder to give me a green tick-box. Got some encouraging info from Chris, thanx :) Not done with the connections yet, it has been a busy weekend.

My fallen Hero who has served me very well

Fairings done

Done with the fairings. Still having problem with the transponder configuration. It just sits there "updating"...