It is Saturday, the Draper Temple is closed and I have
the day to do some work on the RV-12.
After attending the World Wide Training this morning and running some
errands with Arlene I spent a good part of the afternoon working in the garage
and shop. The temperature is 59
degrees. I started by touching up the
paint on the fuel tank. After making the
tank modification and repainting the forward end of the tank last week I
discovered the Pro-Seal around the sender support ring and the under the screw
heads holding the support ring in place did not cover as well as it should
have. I used a small artist's brush and
touched up the paint around the ring and on the screw heads. I took the picture right after doing the
touch-up. Later in the day the paint
color matched exactly. I also used some
black RTV sealant and sealed the joint between the fuselage sides and bottom
and the firewall. I then turned my
attention to the plumbing and wiring in the tailcone. Because the Skyview is being installed there
needs to be some changes in the Static Air and Pitot Air tubing. Currently the 1/8" tubing for the Static
Air is connected to a ¼" tube which runs through the fuselage to the
instrument shelf. Now an ADAHRS will be
installed in the tailcone so the Static Air will not run forward but will be
connected to the ADAHRS just in front of fuselage frame F-1208. I cut all of the wire ties from the rear of
the fuselage mid-section back to and along frame F-1208. I loosely installed new wire ties so I can run
new tubing and new wiring through the ties for the Skyview. I removed the 'T' and the left side Static
Air tube. I cut the 1/8" Static Air
tube at the center of frame F-1208 and installed the 'T'. I ran a new piece of 1/8" tube from the
'T' to the left Static Port. I then
connected a piece of ¼" tube to the 'T'.
I will need to cut the ¼" tube to length and install the connection
fitting on the end. I will do that when
I receive the Avionics Kit from Vans.
While working in the tailcone I decided to run the
1/16" tubing for the AOA. This was
a bit of a challenge. I ended up cutting
the bottom section out of a coat hanger.
By inserting the end of the piece of hanger wire into the 1/16"
tubing I was able to thread the wire and pull the tubing through the snap
bushings in the fuselage frames and feed it forward to the area under the
control column. I then used the same
technique to tread the tubing to the left side of the fuselage. I removed the current wing wiring connection
(which will be replaced with the Avionic Kit) and pulled the tubing to that
area. I put the ADAHRS fitting on the
tubing in the tailcone. I will put the
appropriate connection on the other end of the tubing when I make the wing
wiring connection change.
Next I turned my
attention to the canopy and upper fuselage skin. The corner of the upper fuselage skin was
bent upwards one day while fitting the canopy.
I removed the instrument panel and removed the screws holding the skin in
place. I was able to straighten the skin
as evidenced by the photo. This corner
will be covered by the fiberglass canopy shroud but I still want it to look
good.
I
then prepped the canopy support arms for paint.
After installing the canopy a few months ago, and lifting it into the
open position, I realized the support arms will be seen from inside when the
canopy is raised. I decided because the
front canopy bow is painted with black hammertone paint, and the instrument
panel will be black carbon fiber warp, it would be good if the support arms
were painted to match the front canopy bow. I proceeded to mask of the canopy
areas so I could paint the support arms.
After masking everything I discovered my can of Rustoleum black
hammertone would not spray. I removed
and cleaned the nozzle with MEK but still it will not spray. The clog appears to be in the stem on top of
the can. I can't poke anything down the
stem or it will release the paint. I
went to Home Depot and bought another can of paint. This is the 3rd can of black
hammertone I have purchased for this project.
Now I have 3-partially used cans of black hammertone spray paint. I was able to recoat the support arms after
these photos were taken to eliminate the gray primer speckles.
