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Fuel tank in place - all 60 litres of it - but held in with
the wrong strap, because I cannot find the right one!
The manual calls for the plane to be on trestles at this stage, so I
tried axle stands. Be warned, you have to slide that webbing all the way
to the bottom of the seat frame so you can engage the top of the frame in
it's locating point. Trouble is, the webbing is so damned tight that it's
a major mission getting it back up the sides of the frame again!
The trick is: lose the trestles/axle stands/whatever you were using!
Lay the keel on the floor and sit on the front of it. That way, you can
use all your strength to push the webbing back up the seat frame. |
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View from the back, with the lower gear struts in place.
It's back on the axle stands now to save my aching back! |
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Here's that seat webbing all scrunched down the bottom of
the frame. I used a silicon spray on the inside of the webbing and the
outside of the frame, and it went on much easier after that. Then it all
had to come off again because there is a double loop of webbing around the
frame and I'd manage to engage just one of the loops in one place! |
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Here's the webbing all in place and screwed on.
By the way: the manual calls for a 4.2 mm drill to make the holes for
the self-tappers. Now I don't know about you, but I can't find shops which
sell drill bits sized in tenths of millimeters! I use a 4mm, then swung it
in a circle with the bit inclined at about 45 degrees. The self-tappers
went in relatively easily after that.
Hit the first true kit-fault here: The outside edges of the webbing
have metal washers pre-fitted to take the screws. 6 screws - 5 metal
washers - one ragged hole. Sod it - what's the worst that could happen? Oh
yeah, the seat could fall out of the plane! |
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Main wheel legs in place now - almost ready for the wheels
to go on.
Tell you what, it's a bloody nightmare trying to keep the garage tidy
whilst working! |
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Main gear all assembled, and the upper beam in place and
folded forward. The eagle-eyed (and Microlight savvy) amongst you will
notice I have the upper beam on backwards! So the main gear legs had to
come off again, which meant changing the Nylock nuts too as they're single
use!
Oh well - the first mistake so far and relatively easily rectified. |
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This is the seat plate for the pilot, and it to be riveted
to the webbing through the holes I'm pointing at. So what? I hear you ask.
I'll tell you bloody what: the rivets are 5 mm and my rivet gun goes up to
4.2. (If only it were a drill bit!)
<Sigh> - another trip to the DIY shop I suppose! |
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Main gear bolt has to be left loose at this stage as the
spat (wheel fairing) is yet to go on. I've got to get the rolling chassis
inspected before I can start the pod fit. |
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Front gear nearly complete. Note the hole in the end of the
bar on which the pedal hinges. The kit supplies plastic inserts to blank
that hole off - if you can get one in the hole, you're a better man than
I! I tried heating them, trimming them, gently tapping them with a mallet,
then belting seven bells out of them. At this point I noticed the bar is
open on the inside too, so it's clearly not important to prevent dirt
ingress. Also, you won't be able to see the pedals because of the pod.
Guess what? The blanking plugs are now in the bin! |
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That piece of black metal with a hole in it in the centre of
the picture marks the location of a quick-release lock-bolt for the upper
beam. Can't drill for it yet though, as I have to wait until the engine is
on, then add 50Kg more (balanced with 50Kg at the front of the trike!) so
that the gear compresses to the correct position. Then and only then can
the hole be drilled. |
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A word about torque: the manual lies! These two bolts hold
the main engine support beam, and when I tried to torque them to the value
called for, the beam and enclosing box started to distort. I stopped
tightening at that point. They're threadlocked with Loctite and use Nylock
Nuts too, so there's no way they're gonna come undone! |
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Radiator support plate in place, attached to the lower beam
on the same bolts as the lower gear struts. |
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Got that upper beam switched the right way round now, and
here it is attached to the front compression strut. The big round black
thing at the top is where the wing attaches, and the orange cable is a
safety cable which is looped around the wing keel. That way, even if the
hang-bolt breaks, the trike stays attached to the wing. How flyable it
would be in that state I hope never to find out! |
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This pulley is for the engine starter cable, so the pilot
can reach back over his head and give it a tug. So they tell me, anyway.
Personally, I find it hard to understand why anyone would not fit an
electric starter!
Pulling ropes is something that happens to other people! |
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Is that a shock absorber or what?
The Air Creation blurb says the trike can soak up a three-gee landing
and, looking at that main landing gear, I can easily believe it.
Did you know may trikes have no suspension whatsoever?
The beauty of suspension like in this picture is that is makes for very
forgiving landings! |
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Here's my number 2 son, Michael, happy now. Why is he happy? Well, his mates keep asking him "what's
your Dad
doing in the garage?". "Building a plane", he
replies.
"Bollocks, is he.", they say, "That's just a pile of
nuts and bolts and a few bits of metal!"
Now he can show them something that....errr....still looks nothing like
a plane! Well, it does if you know Microlights! Notice the wide-legged
position - that'll stand him in good stead when he is a rear seat
passenger. |
Bummers of the day
1. Fitting the upper beam back to front.
2. Finding no-one in the world sells torque wrenches which go low enough for
some of the torques called for by the manual. I used my tongue to tighten these
instead (I knew that time I spent in Bangkok would come in handy some day!).
3. Accidentally kicking the Loctite thread lock bottle, and failing to see where
on the other side of the garage it landed. Finding it again was a fun half-hour.
I'm looking forward to doing that again.
