Time: 0.6
Sorry for the severe lack of updates. Part of my good excuse is that we were gone for 2.5 weeks over Thanksgiving. Sailed to Hawaii aboard Princess Cruises' Island Princess. Very relaxing. The other excuse is that I've been flying.Today I pulled up to the airport and noticed the pretty gusty winds. That gave me an excuse to look at several small things on the plane. First was to redo the Comm antenna line. I had a bad bulkhead BNC connector and had a temporary fix in place. Well I finally got around to making that more permanent.
Other issue was the autopilot. It just would not behave normally. So today I pulled the wing root covers and checked the wires at that connector. Fine. Then I checked them at the servo ... that meant pulling the servo out! That checked fine. The torque line was reading 4.9V just like the instructions said. Called Trutrak and they advised to ship the servo back.
Not wanting to give up an otherwise perfectly fine flying airplane, I decided to reinstall the bellcrank without the servo. At least I can fly while they look at the servo. Maybe I'll get my Phase I hours off soon!
Time: 1.0
Today I removed the autopilot servo and sent it back to Trutrak for repair. Before I did this I checked all the wiring. I even removed the seat pans and wing root electrical connector to check there. Natta... there has to be something wrong with the servo. The torque line read 4.9V just like the instructions said and every other line is correct.Time: 0.5
Got the servo back from the nice folks at Trutrak. They found some loose solder on the motor drive lines. They repaired the same unit I sent them. Too bad I can't check to see if it works as the weather has been bad the past few days and isn't expected to clear for a few more.Time: 0.5
Here is a picture of the static port fix. I drilled out the SafAir1 fittings to 1/8 diameter about 1/4" deep. Then I took a Van's baffle pop rivet and took the stem out. After that I used JB Weld to attach it.Early indications show that this fix corrects my airspeed low problem. Still have to do some speed runs to verify IAS and TAS but I can tell it's close.
Time: 0.5
Here's a shot of the canopy edge seal I installed. Purchased from McMaster-Carr. Their part number is 1120A712 and works very well in this application. In some areas you have to trim it to go around the struts and the back end. I'll just use some JB Weld in those areas to secure it.Also put some rubber edge molding, P/N 8507K113, on the canopy skin. No more forehead cutter!
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Comments that appear on this website should not be interpreted as instructions on how to build any aircraft. Please consult with the manufacturer.
2004 Scott Will.