Author: "rywessel" <robin.wessel@...> Time: Tue Jan 6, 2004 1:50 pm PST Link
Builders-
I am just about completely done building the -10 epicone and I
thought I would share my experiences with you:
Building tips/ideas/oopsies:
-I was able backrivet the almost the entire epicone without any
additional assistance. By placing one side at a time on the ground
using the backriviting plate and wood shims that are the same
thickness of the backrivet plate. By putting on the clecos from the
inside and tacking on a few traditionally, I was able to get a nice
smile free surface in one night without any help.
-When cutting out the hole for the tailight in the rudder, forget
about trying to actually align the #4 nuts to hold the light in. I
simply (after a lot of aggravation!) drilled out the screw holes and
set the nuts in with epoxy. Now the the tailightlight can be easily
installed without having to platenut the fairing.
-Something I learned from building my -6a is that you want to have
every section of the plane fully complete before you take it to the
airport for final assembly. Considering the size of -10 parts I don't
want to have to re-rig subsections to finish parts up like fairings
or wiring runs.
-Items you should consider completing before closing the top of the
tailcone and packing the tail for storage. It is a lot easier to
drill and run the wires with top access than to have to crawl in.
All wiring runs-
Tailight/strobe all the way to the rudder
ELT coax (assuming you put the antenna in the emp fairing)
NAV Coax - I built a custom wisker on the vert stab
Electric Trim wire bundle
-Make sure to install the static system before closing the top.
-Be sure to accurately drill the elevator horns. It was late and I
got sloppy with the drilling causing about 1/16 of misalignment
(probably not enough to effect flight) between the elevators. To fix
it I bought a new .250 hole Magnafluxed Heim bearing for the low
price of $30.
-I have caused more damage to parts by droping them or swinging other
parts into them. That said don't worry about scratches on your parts
because you will sand/scuff all of the skins anyway before painting.
-I plan on using Luxeon Star LED's for the position lights. They cost
about $10 each but they kick out about 40 candela each at a 150 deg
angle. Driven by $1 LM317 & a 3.6 ohm resistor acting as a current
regulator- three per side should do it. This will draw 700 Ma
combined compared to 4+ amps for Whelens. www.lumiled.com
-I spoke with Ken K. at Van's about the pitch servo bracket for the -
10. Install will not require any modifications to the existing
bellcrank assembly rather a simple bolt-on affair.
-If you are waiting for the wings and you need some more stuff to do,
you may want to consider building brackets adjacent to the
battery/bellcrank assembly to mount the ELT and Strobe supply. I
spoke with Van's about W&B considerations and they reported to me
that they installed their strobe supply and ELT in the same place.
They said that the -10 flares much better with 2 or less when they
placed 50Lb of ballast in the baggage compartment.
-You may want to consider sealing the top turtledeck seams with
sealent or pro-seal. If you plane is in the rain, water will drip in
and may damage the pitch servo or strobe supply.
regards,
Robin Wessel
http://robin.getbiz.net
Tigard, OR
Author: "rv7pete" <RV10Pete@...> Time: Tue Jan 6, 2004 6:05 pm PST Link
All I can say Robin is BRAVO! This is the useable stuff that keeps
me reading this board! I've got some thinking to do in the next few
days.....your timing is great!
Thanks again!
Pete
--- In RV10@yahoogroups.com, "rywessel" <robin.wessel@v...> wrote:
> Builders-
>
> I am just about completely done building the -10 epicone and I
> thought I would share my experiences with you:
>
> Building tips/ideas/oopsies: