I put a tennis ball on the
end of the pitot tube so I would not hit it and bend it while working around
the front of the airplane. I then safety
wired the tubing together as shown in the drawings.
I used some gray RTV to seal the blast tube
to the cooling duct over the engine and the cooling shroud over the rectifier.
I started to work on the spinner. Using my Dremel tool I cut the bottom portion
of the spinner just below the scribe line.
I used a sanding block to sand the bottom of the spinner to the scribe
line. I transferred the marks on the
outside of the spinner to the inside as directed in the drawings. I also marked and drilled the curved ends of
the blade openings. I used a hack saw to
cut the blade openings out of the spinner.
I used a sanding drum to clean up the inside
of the rounded end of the blade openings.
It worked pretty well. I sanded
off the tip of the spinner and prepared to hole to receive the pitot
bushing. I then installed the bushing
with Loctite. Next I marked a center
line on the spinner back plate.
I got down the box containing the prop and its installation
hardware. I then installed the
prop. First I installed the spinner back
plate and the rear half of the hub. I
then installed the prop blades and the nylon pitch adjusting gauge. Next I installed the forward half of the hub,
spacers and forward plate. I am a little
concerned because the pitot tube rests on the bottom of the hole in the pitch
adjustment gauge. I will need to call
Vans and see if that is acceptable.
Next
I put tape on the prop blades and proceeded to fit the spinner in place. I could tell that the round open ends of the
blade spaces needed to be sanded a little more. I installed the spinner and clamped it in place. I removed the lower spark plug from each
cylinder so I could turn the engine over.
I used the ladder to hold a piece of heavy wire in front of the pitot
tube. As I turned the engine the pitot
tube did not move out of alignment with the wire.
I will be ready to attach the spinner to the plate
tomorrow.
