Chapter 23 – Engine move to NC

I actually started off this little tale yesterday: 25 October….

Today I finally got the remaining significant aircraft assemblies for my Long-EZ build hauled down to North Carolina.  The big 3 components that I moved were the engine, the canard and the panel mockup.  In addition, I also moved my glass storage cabinet and cutting table down as well.

The panel mockup, sans the majority of the avionics, simply went into the pax seat of my truck. EZ-PZ.

On the canard, I used 2 of the wood flooring boxes and wrapped each side of the canard, from the mounting tab outboard to the tip.  A tad bit of effort going on there, but still relatively EZ to add some shipping protection to it.

The engine was a different story of course.  Although not overly difficult, it did take a good bit of machination to ensure all would be secure and safe during transport.

My first concern was that since I have the engine pert near full of pickling oil, I couldn’t just simply remove the oil quick drain valve on the bottom of the cold air induction oil sump since it was keeping all the oil where it’s supposed to be!  And since the oil valve protrudes downward a good 3-4″ below the oil sump, it clearly need some nearby supports to keep it protected.

Thus, it was quickly apparent that unlike the thick styrofoam that I had used in hauling the engine home from the shop, I needed a transporting base to keep the bottom of the engine (e.g. the quick oil drain valve) off of the truck bed while in transport.

Being a rather clever fellow (ha!), I grabbed a spare 2×6 I had laying around and concocted this thing here.  The 2×6 upright “post” towards the front of this thing is situated along the bottom of the engine case in between and just forward of the alternator and starter, where the case has a little flat spot.  The quick oil drain valve is situated inside the open area made up by the boards running on each side of the vertical post.

As you can see somewhat, I then strapped my engine transport base to the bottom of the engine using 2 tie-down straps.  I also prepped the engine for a good road trip by encasing what I could in large garbage bags and then wrapping it all with plastic wrap.

Here’s a more closeup view…

After the 20+ minutes of setting up and configuring the engine hoist, then came the somewhat laborious process of undoing the engine-to-engine stand bolts, then hoisting the free engine –with the attached transport base– into my truck.

I then secured the engine into the bed of my truck.

About 15 hours later –after unloading the rest of my stuff into the storage unit– I then got my engine unloaded into my friend’s garage down in NC.  It’s hard to tell in the pic, but there was a steady light rain coming down at this point.

In addition to my engine, I had also hauled down the much required engine hoist and engine stand on the trailer.

I then simply reversed the process to get the engine back off my truck and onto the engine stand.

And Voila!  Then engine is now safe and sound in NC!

Thus ends another successful mini-adventure in the tale of my airplane build!

 

Back in black!

Ok, so after a month-long detour my fuselage is back where it’s supposed to be: in North Carolina.  Along with the left wing and motorcycle.

However, before loading the fuselage onto the trailer and departing Virginia for trip #2 down to NC, I decided that I wanted to actually sit in my fuselage and actually look out of the finished canopy for the first time.  I started by peeling the protective plastic wrap back over the canopy to just aft of the roll bar.

Then I climbed in and closed the canopy.

This was the general view I saw looking forward over the nose.

And the view 45° out to the right.  Yes, the bright garage lights were on, but it was night and remember that my canopy is tinted.

I then lowered the nose significantly to check out the nose gear deploy/retract system with me sitting in the fuselage.  Although it sounded like death warmed over, the nose gear actuator did it’s job like a champ both going gear up and then back down.

I then climbed out of the fuselage, replaced the canopy’s protective plastic cover, and loaded the fuselage onto the trailer.

Here’s a shot of fuselage and wing back in it’s proper place: the storage unit in NC.

I still have a few more major build components to bring down, including the canard and the engine, but beyond that I’m calling the build pretty much moved.  On my next trip (in a few weeks) I’ll be bringing those last components down along with my very near to final load out of household goods.  By the end of October my house should be ready –or very close– to put on the market for sale.