14 July 2011
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Another month passes and the year is going very fast. One of the first jobs we did since receiving the engine was to see if the engine mount fitted ok.As you can see below the engine mount fits great.
Peter fabricated an engine stand with a dummy firewall.
This will serve as a tooling aid to make the engine cowl as well as seeing how we will mount the other items necessary for the engine.
A minor setback was found when the exhaust system did not fit as i had planned.
This was a mistake on my part but was only found when engine mount was fitted to the airframe.
After a discussion it was decided to start again rather than trying to make the existing one fit.
We should be able to get a much better exhaust system installation. A minor setback compared to the progress already made.
I had a discussion today with a local exhaust business and they are willing to help us out.
The cowl design has been an interesting topic among the build team, but I think we have decided now on a shape and style.
It will be a composite cowl with an upper and lower half design.
The last major component for our Hornet was ordered last week when I placed an order for the propeller.
We found a ground adjustable 3 blade composite propeller from GA Prop in the Ukraine which looks like it will be suitable.
One of the major factors in making our decision was that it is currently being used on a PIK 23 towplane in Finland.
The price is very competitive but freight from the Ukraine could be a bit pricey.
Slava Bukarev from GA Prop indicates that the propeller will take about 4 weeks to manufacture.
Work on the Hornet has continued with the cockpit floors drilled off.
The skin under the seats will be removable for maintenance so a bit of time was spent fitting anchor nuts.
The seat rails were also fitted with anchor nuts.
With the fitting of the seat rails we realised that the Tost CRG reel is interfering with the passenger seat aft position.
We will need to move the Tost CRG reel aft a couple of inches
(version 3 installation..). Safety guards have also been installed to prevent the tow cable getting tied up with any flight control pushrods.
The baggage compartment bulkhead panels and access door have been fitted also.
Work has commenced on the battery box installation just aft of the baggage compartment rear bulkhead panel.
The rear window support structure was positioned and drilled off and work now commences on the baggage door installation.
All for now,
Regards Jack
- Man hours to date:
- 630hrs
