I just finished installing all of the bits in my panel tonight. Next session I'll be riveting on the floor and hope to run the engine early May.
(http://fjowners.com/gallery/12/6694_11_04_21_8_18_02_0.jpeg)
Awesome! Very cool! :yahoo:
Looking like real progress there Bryan :good2:
Thanks guys! It's hard to believe that I'm almost done. I would have been done sooner except I spent all that time bringing my FJ back to life. Plus a thousand other things.
Adam has been my chief riveter since the beginning, when he was 12. Now he is finishing up his bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering, so he is not around very much. I'm saving the last rivet in the floor for hiim.
(http://fjowners.com/gallery/12/6694_14_04_21_10_24_34_0.jpeg)
Here is a time lapse of some other riveting:
https://youtu.be/Xa4O4vRuJrU (https://youtu.be/Xa4O4vRuJrU)
Great work you and Adam must have developed some serious handshake force after all that riveting :biggrin: i saw that video you was using a airtool, but many rivets was done by handforce
Quote from: Old Rider on April 16, 2021, 06:27:33 AM
Great work you and Adam must have developed some serious handshake force after all that riveting :biggrin: i saw that video you was using a airtool, but many rivets was done by handforce
There were a small percentage of rivets done by hand. What you are seeing is we are installing and removing clecoes. A cleco is a spring loaded tool that aligns and clamps parts together through a hole. Every aircraft manufacturer uses them - Boeing, Airbus, Cessna, Beechcraft, Sikorsky, and so on. Yes you definitely develop hand muscles! I have not removed and replaced clecoes in any great amount recently so my hands definitely got tired and I had to switch left & right while doing the floors.
Here is a good video on clecoes. The car guys seem to have discovered them also.
https://youtu.be/jgqA48Pe9mA
I have hundreds in the 3/32" and 1/8" size.
Last weekend we did our fuel flow test. Minimum fuel, airplane chocked at the top of the hill behind the hangar, and we measured fuel flow in a very nose up attitude, with minimum fuel. It passed. With 1 gallon remaining we had 11.5 gallons/hour. Maximum fuel flow is 7 gallons/hour and you are shooting for 1.5X, or about 10.5 GPH. Up at a more reasonable fuel level, like 4 gallons, it was over 24GPH. This is a gravity feed system.
(http://fjowners.com/gallery/12/6694_21_04_21_10_40_08_0.jpeg)
While we were out we did our first comms check with somebody in the pattern. Loud and clear.
After that we bled the brakes and then went for a ride (FJ and V30 Magna - not the airplane). it was a good day.
Since then I've connected the fuel line to the carb and addressed some squawks we discovered during the comms check - pilot and copilot PTT buttons swapped, and the nav/com audio selector backwards.
First engine start when my kid finishes finals at the end of the month.
Too cool! Can't wait to see it up in the air!
Quote from: fj1289 on April 21, 2021, 08:28:54 PM
Too cool! Can't wait to see it up in the air!
Totally impressive - that thing is beautiful!
A major milestone - the last rivet.
https://youtu.be/j14hXlAr2yw
We should have the weight and balance done by next week.
We have cranked the engine - and registered oil pressure.
https://youtu.be/BMqEEzBxa6g
We leveled the aircraft and using plumb bobs etc have measured all the lever arms from the datum. Time to roll it on the scales.
Awesome! Cool to see the constant incremental progress!
Will you be doing the initial flight tests? Or hire that out?
I'll be doing the flight test. First I need to get recurrent, and more importantly I need to get proficient again. I haven't flown in almost 8 years. But I've got 1000+ hours, much of it tailwheel. I used to tow and fly gliders. I have my helicopter rating but not a lot of rotary wing hours. I did all my acro training in a Pitts S2A, except for one flight in a Decathlon. There are many different types in my logbook. The flight school here has a Cessna C140 which is a good place to start - tailwheel, side by side, and spring gear. I'll be flying with friends in their C140s and Luscombes, and I'll seek out more Sonex time before I fly it.
First engine start! With FJ1200 in the background of course.
https://youtu.be/uHAaI3cqUjw
That has to feel good...
Quote from: FJmonkey on May 15, 2021, 07:58:19 PM
That has to feel good...
Oh yeah. Also my kid built that engine when he was 15, with my supervision. So it was a really big deal for him.
Getting close!
Commendable job not rushing things!
Quote from: Waiex191 on April 11, 2021, 09:19:37 PM
I just finished installing all of the bits in my panel tonight. Next session I'll be riveting on the floor and hope to run the engine early May.
(http://fjowners.com/gallery/12/6694_11_04_21_8_18_02_0.jpeg)
Congrats !
One question why isn't there attitude indicator on the gauges panel is it enough with just the turn coordinator ? or are you planning to install one later or will you install a Garmin 500 or similar ?
Quote from: Waiex191 on May 15, 2021, 08:07:00 PM
Quote from: FJmonkey on May 15, 2021, 07:58:19 PM
That has to feel good...
Oh yeah. Also my kid built that engine when he was 15, with my supervision. So it was a really big deal for him.
I sincerely hope he was present to bask in the success of his work. For as long as he flies that plane the satisfaction of having built the motor himself will never leave him. At some point on every flight a smile will creep over his face, even if just for a moment, as he listens to that engine purring away, he will be reminded that
he built it. It's a magic feeling.
I know a mechanic for whom the thrill of hearing a motor he has built (as opposed to re just assembled) run has never left him, even after 50 years and hundreds of engines, be it a V12 supercar engine or a lawn mower it never fails to make him feel good.
The satisfaction of turning a box of nuts and bolts and odd shaped parts into a living, breathing motor is special.
Recoing an engine has a ton of variables that rely on skill and experience to get right, adapting an engine to play another role takes it up a level.
Tell your young fella, well done! I'm impressed.
Noel
Quote from: Old Rider on May 16, 2021, 04:37:17 AM
Congrats !
One question why isn't there attitude indicator on the gauges panel is it enough with just the turn coordinator ? or are you planning to install one later or will you install a Garmin 500 or similar ?
Thanks Old Rider! For VFR no attitude indicator is required. The airplane is really not suitable for IFR. I don't plan to upgrade to a Garmin as I don't have deep enough pockets. I learned to fly in a 1946 PA12 and it only had the minimum - needle, ball, and airspeed. To get through the private pilot rating, and to get out of a jam, it is all that is required. Years later when I did the instrument rating I was the ace on needle, ball, and airspeed as that is what I learned on. That is usually hard for normal people. We didn't actually need anything for attitude but I put the turn needle in there for training.
(http://fjowners.com/gallery/12/6694_16_05_21_8_02_10_0.jpeg)
Quote from: ribbert on May 16, 2021, 05:12:43 AM
I sincerely hope he was present to bask in the success of his work. For as long as he flies that plane the satisfaction of having built the motor himself will never leave him. At some point on every flight a smile will creep over his face, even if just for a moment, as he listens to that engine purring away, he will be reminded that he built it. It's a magic feeling.
I know a mechanic for whom the thrill of hearing a motor he has built (as opposed to re just assembled) run has never left him, even after 50 years and hundreds of engines, be it a V12 supercar engine or a lawn mower it never fails to make him feel good.
The satisfaction of turning a box of nuts and bolts and odd shaped parts into a living, breathing motor is special.
Recoing an engine has a ton of variables that rely on skill and experience to get right, adapting an engine to play another role takes it up a level.
Tell your young fella, well done! I'm impressed.
Noel
Thanks Noel! He was definitely there, taking the video. I offered him the opportunity to start the engine but he declined. After he built the Aerovee our next project was to rebuild my '99 Saturn. Again, I had him do all the work and I supervised. That car now has ~25K miles on it since the rebuild and is his daily driver.
(http://fjowners.com/gallery/12/6694_16_05_21_8_02_10_1.jpeg)
He did do the first start on the Saturn.
https://youtu.be/yX5yG0dGw64 (https://youtu.be/yX5yG0dGw64)
In the video below, there is a good view of my FJ around the 1:00 mark.
https://youtu.be/bsoZdmA0sYw
We adjusted the secondary timing, and it runs much better. Getting there. We hadn't touched it in a while because we have been messing about with sailboats. On Adam's youtube channel you can see some sailboat stuff, including two that met an untimely end. Not sure if many people besides me are into both FJs & sailboats.
Adam's first time running the engine:
https://youtu.be/DEe6FXfRr78
He built the engine when he was 14, but he wanted me to do all the initial running. The top set of spark plugs are run by Briggs & Stratton magnetos. The top one runs the two front cylinders, and the bottom one runs the rear two cylinders. The P lead on the bottom mag is bad, and would not turn off the magneto. The other ignition is electronic and runs the bottom set of plugs.
First taxi:
https://youtu.be/VX8dyWF_jCM
Getting close!!!
Cool to see it moving under its own power!