June 2011 – Bulkheads

11 June 2011 – After another few discussions with some experienced Canardians familiar with the old glory days of the Cafe Races, I decided on another modification.  Now I’m sure this  may very well elicit some groans and ha-rumphs, and maybe even a few mutterings of how crazy I am, to put it politely, but I decided I was going pulley-less and running my rudder cables from Point-A (the rudder pedals) through a curved conduit that traverses through the centersection spar, makes a semi-shallow bend and heads to Point B (the rudders).  No fiberglass strands will be hurt in the making of this modification, just merely slightly separated at the holes in the foam so that glass strength and integrity is still in tact on the centersection spar.  So, no pulleys means that I don’t require the pulley brackets, and thus no “ears” on the firewall.

Modified Firewall

Once I finished cutting the ears off the firewall, I could get to glassing it (and laying up CF on the instrument panel).

Glassing Firewall & Instrument Panel

•••

12 June 2011 — Ok, obviously by just that fact that I’m building an “experimental” airplane I like to experiment, at least a bit.  I thought quite a lot on how I wanted my instrument panel to look.  I wasn’t sure exactly, but I figured I would make the top layer Carbon Fiber on the front face of the panel to A) Add stiffness and B) Add coolness.  I ordered some CF in my last Aircraft Spruce order and after it came in, I assessed it one last time and decided to pull the trigger!

Carbon Fiber Instrument Panel

 

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Project Update

Hey Guys,

My front seat throttle and mixture cables,  GIB throttle, LEFT sidewall components, and left front armrest installs are all complete.  I also knocked out 2 videos this week before I move back into focusing on the engine installation.

Again, this multi-week detour I just made leaves pretty much just the panel forward to install & wire up as well as some nose components final install/configuration (nearly all done already).  Beyond that, we’re talking a week to tweak/finish the canard, and then final micro finish and paint. 

That of course is after I focus on my true strategic target: the exhaust pipes… now within a few days.  I have some surgery to do on the exhaust pipes, and wanted some of the low hanging fruit involving the engine off the plate before I dig in on the exhaust pipes.  After the exhaust pipes I’ll work full bore on the cowlings and the strake-wing intersections.

I’m still intent to focus solely on the plane for the next however long it takes to finish this bird… ASAP!  

  1. Chapter 23 – Exhaust pipes trimmed Leave a reply
  2. Chapter 23 – Video Update Leave a reply
  3. Chapter 22/23 – Some quick tidbits Leave a reply
  4. Chapter 23 – Throttle/mixture final steps Leave a reply
  5. Chapter 16/23 – Friction lock backplate Leave a reply
  6. Chapter 23 – GIB throttle final install Leave a reply
  7. Chapter 23 – GIB throttle + RAM can Leave a reply
  8. Chapter 23 – RAM can + GIB throttle Leave a reply
  9. Chapter 23 – GIB throttle coverup Leave a reply