Chapter 21 – Fuel Blisters

This will probably be my last post from Germany until next year since I leave tomorrow for Tampa.

I thought I would show a picture of the fuel blisters that I just recently received from Feather Light.  I’ll be real happy when I’m posting pictures of these guys installed!

Chap 21 - Fuel Blisters

 

 

 

Chapter 14 – Das Spar ist Kaput!!!

I started off today by lightly sanding the CS spar to remove all the excess epoxy that was all over the outer skin of the spar from the various layups & me handling it with sticky gloves at times.

Chap 14 - CS Spar Final Sanding

Once I finished sanding it, I vacuumed the entire spar, inside & out.

I threw a piece of scrap wood in as a support strut underneath the garage door crossbar & then attached a hanging “fish” scale to weigh the spar.

Chap 14 - Weighing CS SparChap 14 - Weighing CS Spar

Mike Melvill, in CP 25 (maybe 26?) listed out the weights of his Long-EZ components.  His CS spar was 29.5 lbs.  So my spar is about 2.5 lbs heavier than his.  Not bad, especially since I used the heavier blue foam.  But I did use the new UNI layup as well, so it should have probably equalled out.  Oh well, one thing I definitely didn’t have helping me out were the Aliens that obviously he, Burt & Dick had helping them out! . . . ‘cuz their low build weights are definitely alien to me! yuk, yuk!

I’ll comfort myself with a quote that is oft heard in the US military, and oddly enough was actually credited to Soviet Admiral Sergei Georgievich Gorshkov:

“Perfect is the enemy of good enough”

(Yes, it’s come down to me quoting Soviet Admirals to justify my shoddy workmanship!  Ironic? Or just time for me to take a break from building?!  ha!)

Chap 14 - Weighing CS SparChap 14 - Weighing CS SparChap 14 - Weighing CS Spar

 

 

Chapter 14 – CS spar… final steps

I started off today by installing & floxing into place the phenolic tubing that will be the conduit for the Nylaflow rudder cable conduit as it traverses the CS spar front & aft walls.

Chap 14 - CS spar rudder cable conduit

Again, I’d like to reiterate that these holes were created in the glass layups on both the inside & outside walls by carefully separating the glass fibers so that they went AROUND the holes.  No glass (or shall I saw the minutest amount) was cut or drilled to install this phenolic tubing.

Chap 14 - CS spar rudder cable conduitChap 14 - CS spar rudder cable conduit

I then measured out & drilled a 2-1/4″ hole (approximately, I was using German hole saw bits so it was ~57mm) on each end of the spar on the bottom to allow access to the wing spar bolts.

Chap 14 - Spar bolt access holeChap 14 - Spar bolt access holeChap 14 - Spar bolt access holeChap 14 - Spar bolt access holeChap 14 - Spar bolt access holeChap 14 - Spar bolt access hole

After I drilled the holes, I Dremeled out the foam just a bit along the edge of the hole, cleaned everything up, and then dry micro’d the edges of the hole.

Chap 14 - Spar bolt access holeChap 14 - Spar bolt access holeChap 14 - Spar bolt access holeIMG_0014Chap 14 - Spar bolt access hole

 

Chap 22 – Electrical & Chap 21 – Fuel

Tonight I took some pics of some of my electrical components that I received from B&C Specialty Products.

Pictured below is the master battery contactor (silver), the starter contactor (blue), the firewall ground “forest of tabs,” and the B&C LR3C 14v Voltage Regulator.  As well as an assortment of FastOn terminals.

Chap 23 - ElectricalChap 23 - Electrical

And below is the EFII Electric Fuel Boost Pump with filters that I recently received from ACS.

Chap 21 - Fuel System

Chapter 14 – CS spar end caps

Today I started by using the Fein saw (again, I call it that for ID purposes, but mine is actually a cheapo version from Harbor Freight… but it works great!) to remove the overhanging glass on each end of the spar & on the straight runs of the oval access hole.

I then focused on the oval access hole with the Dremel tool.  I knife trimmed it as well to remove all the excess/overhanging glass.  I also used my Perma-Grit tool and sandpaper to smooth out the access hole edge and surrounding glass.

Chap 14 - CS spar end caps

I used a 7/8″ bit to drill out the foam covering the electrical wire/antenna cable conduit at each end of the spar.  I sanded it to round over the edge of the hole for a nice radius.

I then Dremeled out a narrow wedged-shaped channel into the foam at each end of the spar around the inside edges of the glass.  I removed the foam on the inside of the glass to maybe 1/4″ deep max.

IMG_0002Chap 14 - CS spar end caps

I sanded the foam faces at each end of the spar, vacuumed the end bulkhead surfaces & prepped for glass.

First, I cut 2 pieces of 7.5″ x 7.5″ of BID at a 45° bias.

Then I floxed the edges of the glass into the channels I had just created in the foam.  What this does is create a fillet in the corner between the existing 4 sides of the glass & the newly laid glass.  Once it cures, there will be a very solid “triangular” (as best possible) corner bead that will greatly increase the strength of the corner, and also the bulkhead’s glass ply covering.

Chap 14 - CS spar end capsChap 14 - CS spar end caps

I micro’d the remaining foam in the middle of the end bulkheads.  I then wet out the pre-pregged 1-ply of BID…. which is hard to see with only one ply.  I then glassed each end of the spar with the 1-ply BID pre-pregged layup.

Chap 14 - CS spar end capsChap 14 - CS spar end caps

I trimmed the excess glass with my Dritz scissors (still awesome!) & then made an X-cut in the glass over the hole and plugged each one so the glass would wrap around the radiused edge of the hole and cure securely onto the interior of the channel conduit.

Chap 14 - CS spar end capsChap 14 - CS spar end caps

 

Chapter 14 – CS spar final side glassed

I started off today by refilling some more hardener & consumables.

I cut 11-1/2″ wide UNI strips across the full length of the roll at 45° . . . enough for a 2-ply layup across the front face of the CS spar.  I also cut an 11″ x 22″ 1-ply BID piece at a 45° bias for reinforcement around the center spar access hole.

I had a couple delams right along the edge of the angled/wedge corner … apparently I didn’t squeegee it well enough and gravity did it’s work & it separated just a hair.  I quickly gave it an injection of epoxy.

I used a flox/micro mix for the edge & edge divots.  I also added some flox around the edge of the hole as a base layer since the glass was thin but still a bit rough from how it had cured before.

Chap 14 - Glassing final sideChap 14 - Glassing final side

I glassed Layup #8 (2-ply UNI ± 45° … so 90° angle to each other).  As I laid up the glass, I very carefully separated the glass fibers around the holes for the rudder cable conduit, just as I had done with the glass on the back of the spar.

Chap 14 - Glassing final side

Chap 14 - Glassing final side

I glassed the 1-ply BID around the the oval access hole & then peel plied the entire layup.

Chap 14 - Glassing final sideChap 14 - Glassing final side

Chap 14 - Glassing final sideChap 14 - Glassing final side