Glass it!!!

I started out today by getting the first of many things curing.

Since I will have a myriad of electrical components housed in the GIB headrest, I am completing the task I started when I populated and configured the Hell Hole before mounting the firewall.  The task here is to drill a wire transit hole through the top of the CS Spare (not the spar cap area of course) by first reinforcing the sides of the eventual hole with flocro, and then create the hole.

I started by identifying exactly where the wire transit hole was going to be located.  My aim was to get it as close to the front right interior corner of the GIB headrest.

I then drilled out a good side sized hole ONLY on the top surface of the CS spar. I then dug out a good plug of foam to allow me to replace the foam with a 50/50 mix of flox and micro.

Here the flocro has been put in the hole and is curing.

I’ll jump ahead here well over an hour into the future to show that the flocro cured and I drilled a final 7/16″ hole through what will be the GIB headrest “floor.”  The area surrounding the hole will get further reinforced with the interior 2-ply BID tape that I’ll layup when I glass the headrest in place.

I then got to work on the GIB headrest.  I pulled the peel ply and sanded the surface where any imperfections where apparent.

I then marked the glassed GIB headrest for cutting.  The top depth is 3.6″ while the bottom depth is 3.9″.

After cutting the GIB headrest with the Fien saw, I then test fitted it in place.

Not shown is my spending about an hour measuring, test fitting, ascertaining, and determining final component placement inside the headrest.  One thing became quickly apparent to me, and that was no further steps could really be taken on the headrest until the inside surface was glassed.

So I laid up 1 ply of BID on the inside surface of the GIB headrest, and then peel plied it.  I then set the headrest back into place and taped the edges so that it was in what would be its final shape.  Another view I didn’t capture on camera was that if the headrest sides weren’t kept in check, then they would splay outward.  I figured an inside layup would keep the sides where they needed to be, and allow further interior component install steps to be taken.

While the GIB headrest interior layup cured, I then cut the B&C recommended heat sink and mount for the SD-8 alternator’s voltage regulator.  Again, according to B&C, a 0.040″ thick heat sink would do the trick, so that’s exactly what I used in the 2024 aluminum variant of metal.

I then measured/added/riveted a couple of K1000-4 nutplates to the SD-8 voltage regulator heat sink mount for the SD-8.

Here’s the back side of the SD-8 heat shrink mount showing the nutplates riveted into place.

And a shot of the SD-8 voltage regulator being test fitted onto its heat sink mount.  I think this heat sink mount should do the trick nicely.

I then set my sights on the last task of the evening: glassing the aft end of the avionics top deck cover which is technically the actual glare shield.

I started by adding a urethane foam shelf that stuck out from under the glare shield sub-structure by 0.9″.

I then added a taped foam wall on the aft side that will create a lip on the aft edge of the glassed glare shield once it cures.  This lip will both interface with the canopy front skirt as an ad hoc interlock and will also serve as a drip guard/block to keep any incoming moisture diverted to the outboard edges of the canopy skirt.

I laid up 3 plies of BID in what will be the bottom (interior) surface of the aft nose/avionics top deck cover.

My layup for these 3 plies of BID had the first ply going on at 4.5″ wide, with the next ply at 3.5″ wide, and the final ply at 2.5″ wide.  My primary focus was on the aft “trough” side of the layup to ensure that all 3 plies were laid up well to create a strong glare shield, especially since it will have a structure consisting of nothing more than cantilevered glass.

Again, to reiterate, these 3 plies are the bottom/inside surface of the very aft edge of the avionics top deck cover, so more plies will be added to these as the top cover is constructed.

To facilitated the construction of the top cover –including the addition of more plies to this layup– I peel plied the layup.

Here’s another couple shots of the peel plied glare shield layup.

After the final glassing of the evening above, I then grabbed the GIB headrest, pulled the peel ply and razor trimmed the edges.

As per my discussion, note how the interior layup allows the GIB headrest to maintain its appropriate shape.

I then set it back into place –sans any tape at the bottom edges– to check its fit.  I have to say that I’m liking what I see so far!

[Note the position of the GIB headrest wire transit hole…]

Tomorrow I’ll continue with my nose and canopy install related tasks.

I started out today submitting an order to ACS primarily for some more aircraft oil to replace the oil I lost out of the engine during the Great Oil Spill Disaster of May 2018. Since I was submitting an order anyway, I took a good half our to review my wheel pants 1/4-turn fastener requirements and added some more CAMLOC/SkyBolt fastening components to my order.  I should just need one more final order on my wheel pants fasteners after this order when I do the first real install of the hardware and figure out my final requirements.

I then got into the shop and started off by narrowing the fuselage-side mounted lower hinge lock assemblies for the avionics top deck cover.  After narrowing them, I drilled thru-holes for the flox to grip the hinge plates better.

I installed the hinge pin (for the right side I used finishing nails) and then taped up both the inside and outside corner, with the upper hinge lock assembly in the vertical position… 90° to the hinge locking plate that was getting floxed into place.

I then floxed in the lower hinge locking plate on each side.  After each plate was set in place with flox, I then made up a 4-ply BID prepregged layup for each side measuring 1.4″ x 4″ to secure the lower plate in place on the underside and overlapping onto the fuselage sidewall.  Before laying up the glass I added a flox fillet in corner at the intersection of the underside hinge plate and the fuselage sidewall.  I then peel plied the bottom edge with a 1″ strip of peel ply.

A few hours later I pulled the peel ply and removed the upper hinge lock assembly.  Kind of a funny oops was that on the left side I can’t get the hinge pin out since there’s no clearance!  No worries since I’ll need to drill a hinge pin hole through the instrument panel anyway.  I would like to point out that the hinge pin is at the exact spot I was planning for it to exit through the panel.

Here’s the upper hinge lock assembly back in place, in a down position to be able to see it better.  To be clear, no “hinge” swivel action will be taking place with these hinges, they are simply locking devices to keep the avionics top deck cover secured in place.

This is actually a better representation of the upper hinge lock assembly since it will be pointed upwards in final configuration.   Once the cover is completed and in place, this hinge lock assembly will be riveted to a tab hanging down from the underside of the cover.

I then spent another good half hour assessing and pondering exactly what methodology I was going to use to create the top cover.  Throughout the past number of years as I have planned to have this aft nose/avionics top deck cover, I have considered the standard adding-then-shaping-foam method.  Of course that called into question on exactly what type of foam to use? Blue, urethane, or pour foam? Or even a thin layer of PVC foam?

I also considered a straight glassing method, but then while it is simpler, it doesn’t allow for contour shaping which is something that really needs to happen.

Then, as I was moving stuff around in the shop this past week, I ran across some 1/16″ thick x 4″ wide strips of Balsa wood . . . hmmm?  Could I? . . .  interesting.  Well, after playing around with the strips of Balsa wood, mystery #2 was revealed in just how to get the aft nose cover constructed: Balsa wood!  Yep, with the avionics top deck sub-structure already at the proper angle, and my having sanded both sides to match in elevation, the Balsa wood strips will easily hold their shape spanning the avionics access hole and be flexible enough to contour to the surface of the avionics top deck. That will give me about 80% of the cover’s surface with just the area on each side forward of F28 up to the intermediate nose bulkhead to contend with… which I’ll simple shape foam in the more traditional method at these points.

With plan in hand, I worked it through a number of times in my noggin until I flushed out the various kinks and got a good handle on the sequencing.

As a point of note, the aft nose/avionics top deck cover really isn’t a huge cover and is just a bit over 2′ long from front to back.  And about 2′ wide of course from side-to-side.  The cover will have a minimum of 10 attachment points, but most likely 12 when completed.

The last mystery to be revealed (#3) was the GIB headrest construction.  I had pondered about this one too off and on over the years since I knew I wanted my GIB area to be patterned after Wayne Blackler’s GIB headrest.  No offense meant towards any Long-EZs out there, but the plan’s method of creating a cavernous amphitheater-looking structure back there was not something I liked in the least.  Yes, Wayne’s version adds a bit more foam and glass, but I much prefer the look of Wayne’s GIB headrest/aft canopy structure vs stock plans.

I will say that my GIB headrest structure will be just a tad smaller than Wayne’s by about an inch around the sides.

Again, I pondered, dreamed and aspired to reach the . . .  oops, different story! Ha!

Yep, I wondered how the heck I was going to glass this structure while keeping its shape. Well, after spending a good 45 minutes finalizing how all the internals will fit, and using a very minutely modified version of the template that I created back in 2012, I simply cut out layers of scrap wood to create a form (or plug) for the foam.

Since we’re not talking about a hugely robust nor super high strength structure here, and since space was fairly critical –not to mention in short supply!– I went with 1/4″ thick PVC foam for my GIB headrest structure.  Moreover, the 1/4″ foam would easily wrap around the wood plug without cracking… and without any required cajoling (read: heat gun!).

Just for fun, and to punk some GIB applicants [Final approval still pending . . . ] with my clearly comfortable headrest design <grin>, I did a quick mockup of the headrest plug.  If you’re wondering why the plug is taller than the firewall it’s because I added heigh to it to make the sides a bit longer to allow me to secure the foam at the bottom of the plug with screws.

I then taped up the plug to protect it, but even more so just to level out the surface a bit.

I then cut the 1/4″ foam and secured it to the form/plug with a couple of screws at the bottom on each side.

This front shot looks like the bottom edges distinctly curve in, but that’s a bit of an optical illusion since the camera is at a downward looking angle.  Kind of a neat effect since the bottom edges are actually fairly straight!

I then cut out and laid up 2 plies of BID on the GIB headrest foam.  Boy, I’ll tell you, as an avid prepregger this free glassing stuff is for the birds!  What a PITA!  I thought I’d go ‘ol skool and just slap a couple of plies of glass on there . . . man is it high maintenance and finicky without that plastic keeping it all wrangled and in place.

Lesson learned!

I then peel plied it of course.  I took the pic above because I really do like the look of the non-peel plied weave in fiberglass, but when it comes to adding more plies, finishing and painting, it’s a pain to have to sand it to get the glossy cured finish knocked down… especially inside the weaves.

Tomorrow I’ll continue to work my headrest and start the prep for the aft nose cover, forward nose foam structure, and canopy install.

Today was a bit more even paced than yesterday, but I still got some significant stuff done.

I started off with a good sanding of all the edges and surfaces of the Avionics top deck…

which I guess is now a hatch as well.

I then got to work estimating the sides/corners and middle open area of the nose intermediate bulkhead.  I started to cut the middle open area with the inside edges positioned much farther out before I reiterated to myself that there is a significant transition from the aft squarish-shaped nose cross-section to a much more round cross-section the further forward the nose goes.  So I added some mass back in since most likely it is the outer “corners” that will get shaved off during the nose build process.

I then mocked up the intermediate bulkhead.  Again, this intermediate bulkhead is the demarcation line in that everything forward of it is “standard” nose and everything aft of it lies under the aft nose/avionics top deck cover.

I then glassed the aft side of the intermediate bulkhead with 1 ply of BID and peel plied.  If you’re wondering about the front side of the intermediate bulkhead, it stays in raw foam form since it will combine with other raw foam to make up the forward nose walls.

I then got to work on some of the hardware that will be used to secure the cover to the aircraft, as you see here with these hinge assemblies.  The 3-ring hinge assemblies will be attached to near-vertical tabs that extend down on the underside of the cover and then extend through the Avionics top deck via the 2 slots that look like hand holds on each side (see both top pics above).

The 4-ring hinge assemblies will be floxed & glassed in horizontally to the underside of the longerons, just aft of the longeron doublers and extensions (directly underneath the slots mentioned above).  These obviously are the aircraft side of the hinge lock pin equation.

Also mounted on the fuselage-side are the two strike plates on the left of the pic below. Each of these will be mounted to the inboard “face” of their respective longeron and will be what the upper (cover) hinge lock assembly hits first, at a very slight angle, which then pushes the cover’s hinge lock assembly inboard a bit until it clears the strike plate and then snaps into place –interlocking– in the lower fuselage side hinge lock assembly.  The hinge pin will then be pushed forward from the instrument panel side to lock the upper and lower hinge lock assemblies together.

Besides wet flox, the strike plates will be held in place by a countersunk aluminum rivet on each side, used as pins inserted into small diameter holes drilled into the longerons.  The strike plates are made up of 0.040″ thick 2024T3 aluminum and measure 1″ x 3″.

I then floxed the hinge strike plates to their respective inboard longerons and spread clamped them in place.

Here’s a closer view of the left strike plate floxed and clamped in place.

After pulling the peel ply and trimming up the layup on the intermediate bulkhead, I micro’d and glassed it to the nose sides using 2-ply BID tapes on both the front and aft corners.

Here’s another shot of the intermediate bulkhead (sorry for my POS camera!).

And here’s a wider angle shot showing the clamp holding the floxed strike plates to the longerons and the intermediate bulkhead glassed in place.

I had planned on doing a few more layups, but my better judgment actually won out tonight and said to break a littler earlier than I normally would.  I’d be working on the avionics top deck area and I wouldn’t want to inadvertently hit the intermediate bulkhead while it’s curing.  I have it spiked in place with toothpicks, and the measurement has stayed locked on like a laser sight, so I’m not going to mess around with a good thing. Plus it’s late so I’ll finish up this post and call it a night.

As I mentioned, I have a few more cover prep layups to do on the avionics top deck, and then the rest of tomorrow will be geared towards construction of the GIB headrest/component housing.  I’m constructing the GIB headrest at this point because I want to have it mounted prior to the aft canopy frame going in.  Plus, once I say I’m finished with the nose and the canopy –as I mention in my update– I want pretty much anything associated with the nose and canopy to be as completed and installed as possible.

Is what I’m now calling the aft nose/avionics bay reinforcement structure.  It just flows better.

Ok, so today I started out with a couple of orders.  First off, I ordered the Trig TT22 Transponder serial connection adapter from GRT Avionics.  This adapter allows the HXr EFIS to control the remotely mounted Trig TT22 transponder.  With this adapter in hand I now have all the avionics I need to be legal for any initial flying for my 40 hour fly off.

My next purchase was a result of my effort to find a different model LED dimmer as a replacement for the one I fried.  After looking around off & on for the past couple of months I just did not find a suitable substitute, so I bit the bullet and pulled the trigger on this one from Stein Air since I was ordering some other stuff anyway.

I then went down to the shop and finalized the cleanup of the Avionics top deck underside layups.  Again, these layups won’t win any beauty awards, but they are functional and strong, so I’m going to call that a win…

I then did the same for the underside layup on the glare shield substructure.

I marked a bevel line 0.6″ forward of the glare shield aft edge, but before I did anything with the glare shield I sanded down the high points on the Avionics top deck reinforcement foam in prep for glassing.

Here we have the bevel line that I marked on the top side of the glare shield 0.6″ forward of the edge.

I then beveled the edge on the glare shield substructure edge and then removed the foam at the edge creating a small “trench” to expose the glass underneath.  I then sanded the glass in prep for adding flox in the “trench” to facilitate a better glass-to-glass type bond.

Here’s a better view of the beveled edge & “trench” on the glare shield substructure.

I also created a narrow “trench” on the edge of each fuselage sidewall depression to also increase the strength of the bond at the intersecting glass.

With my avionics top deck foam structure in place, I did a quick final check of my nose profile.  I like it!

I then spent a bit of time both determining/finalizing my layup schedule and cutting the glass.  The layup schedule sequence starts from the bottom of the pic below with a ply of UNI (lower left) that starts on the front side of the fuselage sidewall depression and travels across the front avionics top deck foam reinforcement and then stops at the opposite fuselage sidewall depression.  Then another wider ply of UNI (lower right) was laid up at the aft end of the avionics top deck, essentially across the aft foam reinforcement piece and the instrument panel top edge.  It too is laid up from one side of the fuselage sidewall depression to the other.

The next ply –the first full ply of BID– consists of the 4 middle pieces of glass, with the visible fuselage depression-shaped pieces going in and then essentially “cross strap” pieces going across the top.  The seam for these pieces is parallel to the aircraft centerline.

Finally, the last (top) ply of BID is the 2 pieces at the top in the pic below.  The bottom of the 2 pieces gets laid up on the front side of the avionics top deck, with the top piece getting laid up last, overlapping the front piece by a good inch. The seam for these pieces is perpendicular to the aircraft centerline.

And here’s the Avionics top deck foam reinforcement structure glassed and peel plied.

I then ran out and grabbed dinner, beers and a movie with my buddy Rob.  When I returned and checked the layup it was ripe for final steps, so I pulled the peel ply and razor trimmed all the edges.

Tomorrow I’ll edge sand all the rough edges, but I of course got the lion’s share of glass trimmed off the layup tonight.

Here’s a couple shots that include the fuselage depressions for the avionics top deck nose cover.

I’m very happy with how this layup turned out, and even more happy that I can finally REALLY start in on the nose and canopy build now with this preliminary task out of the way!