Date

Notes

Hours

12-18-2013

2.0

12-19-2013

3.0

12-20-2013

6.0

12-23-2013

9.0

12-24-2013

Unfolded tail feathers.  Worked on cable pulleys and elevator control.

3.0

12-25-2013

Figured out how to install forward pulleys. Made one cable for elevator.

4.0

12-26-2013

Made and installed rest of tail feather cables. Installed rudder pedal springs.

6.0

12-26-2013

Installed windshield anchor nuts. Installed gas tank tray.

2.0

1-2-2014

Wheels and brakes showed up.  Worked on installation.

4.0

1-3-2014

Installed axles and managed to get a 2° toe in.  Installed brake cylinders, toe brake brackets and master cylinders.  Test fitted nose bowl.

6.0

1-8-2014

Installed seat. Trimmed brake pedals to fit in cowling.  Installed brake lines and bled brakes.

6.0

1-9-2014

Worked on cowling mounting strips. Adjusted and final installed brake pedals and master cylinders.

6.0

1-10-2014

Installed cowling mounting strips.  Engine turned floor plate and trimmed to fit. Installed floor plate.

4.0

1-15-2014

Worked on cowling  fasteners.

3.0

1-16-2014

Finished fitting cowling and drilled all mounting holes.  Made floor/spacer plate for under heel area.

3.0

1-22-2014

Re-arranged shop and mounted the wings.  Temporarily installed ailerons.

3.0

1-24-2014

Made final paint scheme and color decisions.  Ordered covering materials.

N/A

1-30-2014

Drilled and temporarily fitted aileron control horns.  Temporarily installed and tested aileron control tubes.

3.0

1-31-2014

Worked on ailerons and flaperons.

4.0

2-5-2014

Fitted flaperon controls.  Marked hinges on wing and rudder.

3.0

2-6-2014

Paint and fabric arrived.  Loaded misc. un-installed parts in the seat and weighed the empty airframe.  No covering, no engine, no instruments, no windshield. = 164 lbs.  Sorted supplies, worked on iron, cleaned shop.

4.0

2-7-2014

Made fabric test frames. Calibrated iron. Tested one frame with old fabric and glue.

N/A

2-12-2014

3.0

2-12-2014

Worked on more fabric test covering.

N/A

2-13-2014

Calibrated a different iron and practiced on more fabric.  Fixed up an old bathroom vent fan to exhaust fumes outside.  50 CFM is not adequate for the full shop.  Worked on setting up the dust collector as an exhaust fan.  That much air exchange will probably require a different or additional head source.

N/A

2-19-2014

N/A

2-20-2014

Pesticide renewal class, also worked on ice in driveway.

N/A

2-21-2014

Moved hay into barn.  Removed all tail feathers and tail wheel from Firefly.  Re-calibrated iron; now two different thermometers agree.  Collected and bagged misc. parts.  Labeled tail cables. Cleaned up iron and work tables.  Need to make two more test panels, one for rib stitching practice and one to demonstrate the pulling power of raw and different temperatures of heat shrinking.  Then ready to start prepping control surfaces for covering.

N/A

2-26-2014

Worked on some more test panels.  Tested ventilation and respirator system. Tested UPS batteries and put VT tools away.

N/A

2-27-2014

Removed and marked hinges from tail feathers.  Cleaned covering bench. Cleaned and prepped elevators for covering.  Started covering left elevator.

6.0

2-28-2014

Covered other elevator and tightened both to 325° F.

6.0

3-6-2014

Cleaned shop and work table for covering.  Reviewed covering instructions. Installed exhaust hose under tables.

N/A

3-7-2014

Cleaned and prepped right wing.  Started installing bottom fabric

6.0

3-8-2014

Got the bottom fabric on and smoothed the edges.  Installed the top fabric and shaped the root rib and bow areas.  Need to re-glue a section near the tip and trim off excess at trailing edge.

7.0

3-12-2014

Finished installing fabric on right wing.  Took fabric up to 300° F but center three ribs were starting to bow sideways so quit there.

8.0

3-14-2014

Cleaned and prepped left wing.  Got bottom fabric nearly  installed

6.0

3-19-2014

Finished up the bottom fabric and installed the top fabric.  Did 225° F pass on bottom fabric.  Tidied up the edges and ironed out all the wrinkles on the glued areas.

7.0

3-20-2014

Heat shrunk everything to 225° F. Started experimenting with rib stitching.

2.0

3-21-2014

Practiced rib stitching.  Installed reinforcing tape and pre-punched needle holes (melted through fabric and tape). Left wing ready to rib stitch.

2.0

3-26-2014

Started rib stitching left wing.

7.0

3-27-2014

Finished rib stitching of left wing. Cleaned off excess wax and heat shrunk fabric. Pre-coated reinforcing tapes and other areas with Poly Brush.  Installed inspection rings.

7.0

3-28-2014

Installed tapes and patches on bottom of left wing.  Made patches for the right wing.  Pre-coated the ribs areas on the top of the wing. Made and installed all the top rib tapes on the left wing.

7.0

3-31-2014

Ironed all the rib tapes down; came out smooth.  Decided to install tapes on the root rib; made and installed the bottom tape.

3.0

4-1-2014

Installed top root rib tape and root rib overlap seam tape.  Laid out and marked placement of perimeter tape and pre-coated with Poly Brush. Finished installing all the tapes.

7.0

4-2-2014

Brushed on the first coat of Poly Brush on left wing.  Started installing re-enforcing tapes on right wing.  Laid out and marked all stitch locations and pre-punched most of the holes.

6.0

4-3-2014

Finished pre-punching holes. Started rib stitching.

2.0

4-4-2014

Finished rib stitching and laid out locations for inspection rings.

6.0

4-9-2014

Installed inspection rings and wing fold re-enforcement.  Installed patches. Made and installed bottom tapes. Made and installed top tapes on top side. Let dry overnight.

8.0

4-10-2014

Ironed out all wrinkles and re-glued loose tapes. Laid out locations for all perimeter tapes.  Made tapes and installed.  Ironed out all wrinkles and lumps.  Wing ready for cleaning and first full coat of Poly Brush.

7.0

4-11-2014

Cleaned right wing and applied brush coat of Poly Brush to both sides.

2.0

4-16-2014

Cleaned up all drips and ironed out all lumps on right wing.

3.0

4-17-2014

Cleaned and prepped rudder and vertical stabilizers. Brushed on base coat of Poly Tak

3.0

4-18-2014

Covered and shrunk rudder fabric.  Covered and shrunk lower vertical stabilizer.

6.0

4-23-2014

Cleaned and prepped both horizontal stabilizers for covering.

3.0

4-24-2014

Covered and shrunk one stabilizer.  Measured remaining fabric and checked layout of remaining surfaces.  Glued down first two edges on second stabilizer.

6.0

4-25-2014

Finished second stabilizer.  Started covering top vertical stabilizer. 

7.0

4-30-2014

Finished vertical stabilizer. Cleaned and prepped all tail feathers for applying finishing tapes.

6.0

5-1-2014

Measured and cut tapes for tail feathers.  Ran out of 3" tape, cut some from strips of fabric,

4.0

5-2-2014

Installed most tapes on one side of tail feathers.

3.0

5-7-2014

Worked on tail feather tapes.

5.0

5-9-2014

Worked on tail feather tapes.

2.0

5-14-2014

Worked on tail feather tapes.

8.0

5-15-2014

Continued working on tail feather tapes.

7.0

5-16-2014

Finished installing all tapes on tail feathers, ready to clean and Poly Brush.

7.0

5-21-2014

Cleaned all tail feathers and put on brush coat of Poly Brush.  Ironed out all bubbles and drips.

7.0

5-22-2014

Cleaned and prepped both ailerons.  Applied base coat of Poly Tak.

5.0

5-23-2014

Cut fabric and started covering aileron.

2.0

5-26-2014

Built spray booth. Practiced with sprayer.  Got two coats of Poly Brush on one side of all tail feathers.

6.0

5-27-2014

Finished last two coats of Poly Brush on the last side of all tail feathers. Glued fabric on one aileron and got it shrunk all the way to 350°. Got started with fabric on second aileron.

8.0

5-28-2014

Put two coats of Poly Tone on all the tail feathers.  Finished second aileron covering and shrinking. Yellow paint not covering very well. Cut tape strips for aileron ribs.

10.0

5-29-2014

Put third coat of yellow on tail feathers. Cleaned and prepped ailerons for tapes. Figured out how to make stands for wings while painting. Ordered engine base plate and mounts from Kolb.

5.0

5-30-2014

3.0

6-1-2014

Brushed on a coat of Poly Brush on areas where it was all stripped off.

0.5

6-3-2014

Sprayed second coat of Poly Brush on tops of both wings.

1.5

6-4-2014

Sprayed two coats of Poly Brush on bottoms of wings. Made stands to hold wings for painting. Worked on Ailerons. Cleared off fuselage and secured cables and controls out of the way. Alodined flap control bracket.

6.0

6-5-2014

Masked off both wings for painting yellow.  Set up stands and put on first coat of yellow Poly Tone on both sides of both wings.

4.0

6-6-2014

Put two coats of yellow Poly Tone on both wings.  Put one coat of epoxy white primer on flap control bracket.

4.0

6-9-2014

Masked off wings for red tip paint.  Put on first coat of red.

3.0

6-10-2014

Put on second coat of red. Had runs and sags. :(

1.5

6-11-2014

Re-masked both wings for black stripe.  Painted two full coats of black and unmasked. Worked on aileron finish tapes.

7.0

6-12-2014

Worked on ailerons.

2.0

6-13-2014

Worked on ailerons.

4.0

6-18-2014

Finished putting tapes on ailerons.

4.0

6-19-2014

Did finish ironing on ailerons.  Sprayed on coat of Poly Brush.

3.0

6-20-2014

Masked off the yellow and red sections of both ailerons. Primed metal torque tube and flap slider tube with epoxy primer.  Put two coats of yellow Poly Tone on ailerons and torque tubes.

6.0

6-21-2014

Masked off both ailerons for red and sprayed on first coat.

2.0

6-22-2014

Sprayed on second coat of red.

.5

6-23-2014

Re-masked both ailerons for black paint. Put on first coat of black.

1.5

6-24-2014

Put second coat of black on the ailerons.

.5

6-25-2014

Unmasked ailerons and put them away.  Prepped and primed nose cone and struts. Painted two coats of red Poly Tone on nose cone.  Many runs and sags, must be sanded and redone.  Inverted fuselage and glued on bottom fabric.  Tightened through 225° F.

9.0

6-26-2014

Sanded out all runs and sags on nose cone. Lightly painted instrument panel face and spot painted sanded areas. More runs. Put fuselage upright and smoothed out all glue wrinkles on bottom tubes. Installed rear fabric panel on fuselage. Pre-coated all longerons with Poly Tak.

5.0

6-27-2014

Sanded out minor runs from last night and re-spot painted nose cone. More runs! AARRGGGG!!!!  Installed and heat shrunk the last of the fuselage fabric. Managed to get the nose cone painted to an acceptable level. Dismantled paint booth.

8.0

7-2-2014

Finished cleaning up and ironing fuselage fabric.  Started installing patches and tapes.

7.0

7-3-2014

Worked on tapes and patches. Ron White and Brad Kramer came over for an inspection. Used some JB Weld on the loose main gear axle bolt.

4.0

7-4-2014

Installed fuselage top perimeter tapes.  Started ironing down the edges.

3.0

7-6-2014

Ironed out all the top longeron tapes.  Brushed on a coat of Poly Brush on the top tapes only.

2.0

7-9-2014

Brushed on a coat of Poly Brush on the rest of the tapes.  Ironed out the entire fuselage.  Experimented with using a roller to put Poly Brush on the bottom of the fuselage.  Lots of bubbles; will have to wait to see how it dries.

3.0

7-10-2014

Ironing with parchment paper and rubbing with reducer could not make the rolled-on Poly Brush look acceptable.  Wound up masking off the entire fuselage and spraying on two coats of Poly Brush.

8.0

7-11-2014

6.0

7-12-2014

Re-masked for red paint.  Put first coat of red on fuselage.

1.5

7-13-2014

Put on second coat of red paint.

.5

7-14-2014

Re-masked fuselage for black paint.  Put on two coats of black.

1.0

7-18-2014

Painted yellow hinges on one side.  Masked off and painted the yellow on the struts.

1.0

7-19-2014

Painted the other side of the yellow hinges.  Masked the struts and painted the red.  Painted the red hinges on one side.

1.0

7-20-2014

Masked off and painted the black on the struts and hinges.

1.0

7-21 thru 31

Goldwing and camper repairs. OSHKOSH!!!

N/A

8-1-2014

Removed vertical stabilizer brackets from boom tube. Primed and painted yellow and white.

1.0

8-2-2014

Permanently install vertical stabilizer brackets on boom tube. Installed vertical stabilizers and elevator horn. Need info on rivet size for vertical stabilizers. Also need 3/16" rivets for tail ring.  Installed aileron torque tube and flaperon tube. Permanently installed left elevator to left horizontal stabilizers. Started on right side.

8.0

8-4-2014

Finished installing all hinges on tail parts. Mounted tail wheel. Mounted rudder and tail wheel steering springs. Tensioned elevator cables and installed cotter pins. Installed rudder cables and springs. Installed cotter pins. Installed horizontal/elevator sections and flying wires. Torqued elastic lock nuts and installed cotter pins.

9.0

8-7-2014

Made a tail group folding support bracket. Installed engine mounts. Cleaned and polished the engine mount plate. Alodined it, too.

4.0

8-15-2014

Started assembly of motor mount plate to motor.

2.0

8-16-2014

Installed motor and intake manifold adaptor. Inspected carb boot. Disassembled carb and cleaned.  Installed new carb kit parts. Installed on engine. Both throttle and choke cables are too short.

4.0

8-18-2004

Worked on choke cable.

1.0

8-23-2014

Installed fuel tank, fuel pump, primer bulb and all fuel lines. Made and installed bracket for carb primer, installed primer and lines. Tie-wrapped brake lines in place. Tied seat back into place. Safety wired elevator turnbuckles. Installed seatbelt/harness.

7.0

8-24-2014

Milled a fork for the choke cable from a piece of aluminum.

4.0

8-27-2014

Put stop on choke end of cable. Installed and adjusted.

1.0

8-28-2014

Assembled new Warp Drive prop and test fitted to engine.

2.0

8-30-2014

Worked on throttle cable.

2.0

8-31-2014

Worked on throttle cable and lever.

6.0

9-1-2014

Finished throttle lever cable end. Installed cable and adjusted. Designed, built and installed a throttle stop. Installed air filter and safety wired. Did more research on props and MOI.

7.0

9-9-2014

Permanently attached aileron and strut to right wing.

3.0

9-10-2014

Permanently attached aileron and strut to left wing.

3.0

9-11-2014

Removed exhaust manifold for re-painting; made and installed cover for exhaust ports. Made nut plates for nose cone. Practiced installing aileron gap tape.

3.0

9-15-2014

Worked on instrument layout. Mounted nose cone to plane. Started making pitot tube bracket. Worked on name decal.

5.0

9-16-2014

Made poster board template of windshield.  Aligned and fit template to nose cone. Transferred hole marks to windshield and drilled holes. Finished making pitot tube bracket. Sandblasted and painted exhaust parts with hi-temp paint. Cured paint in grill.

6.0

9-17-2014

Called factory about exhaust mounts. Travis said he was shipping stuff today. Shopped for misc. items in town. Ordered voltage regulator and wiring connectors from LEAF.

4.0

9-18-2014

Mounted and torqued exhaust manifold. Removed nose cone and mounted pitot bracket. Marked cutouts for airspeed and compass, cut out airspeed hole and drilled screw holes.

6.0

9-19-2014

Cut hole for compass, messed up one screw hole. Installed pitot hose. Cut and painted removable pitot tube. Polished and alodined prop faceplate.

4.0

9-20-2014

Figured  out how to make static ports with beveled washers and rivets. Installed one on each side of nose bowl. Muffler mount plate from Travis arrived today, but no aluminum angle or spacers, so had to make a run to town for parts. Started laying out and making pieces for muffler installation.

8.0

9-21-2014

Fit up muffler mounting plate.  Made spacers and bushings for plate. Designed and made angle bracket, rubber mounts and stand off spacers for muffler. Test fit everything. Cleaned up rough edges on plate and angle. Cleaned and alodined both aluminum parts. Took pictures and sent email to Kolb factory to see if my setup is acceptable for use.

10.0

9-22-2014

IVO prop and spacer arrived from Internet contact.  All is well; sent payment. I now have a 2 blade IVO, a 3 blade IVO and a 3 blade WARP to experiment with.

N/A

9-24-2014

Installed muffler mount and torqued everything down. Had to modify the top engine shroud to make it fit properly. Installed WARP drive prop with spacer and set initial pitch to 13.5°. Torqued all bolts to specs, installed lock nuts on prop bolts and torqued to specs. Made mount for voltage regulator and installed mount and regulator. Started wiring for the regulator.

8.0

9-25-2014

Installed aileron gap seals. Installed tail ring bolts, made rub block for one of the rudder cables so it would clear the ring bolt. Finished wiring for regulator. Installed strobe light. Installed aileron push tubes. Finished painting pitot tube.

7.0

9-26-2014

Installed safety wire and RTV on exhaust springs.

1.0

9-29-2014

GRT instruments arrived. Installed temperature probes and started working on wiring harness.

3.0

9-30-2014

Cut hole for EIS display.  Drilled holes for power switch and circuit breaker. Sprayed touch up paint. Started wiring and static line installation.

4.0

10-1-2014

Finished static tubing. Mounted compass and airspeed  indicator. Worked on switch wiring for EIS unit.

2.0

10-2-2014

Installed switch and circuit breaker. Installed EIS unit. Mounted nose cone on plane. Put wiring in wire loom. Wired in engine sensors. Wired in tachometer wire and strobe light. Ran wire for ignition switch.

7.0

10-3-2014

Finished wiring. Programmed and tested EIS module. Finished installing nose cone. Installed windshield. Waxed the bottoms of the wings.

5.0

10-4-2014

Rolled fuselage out into the driveway.  Unfolded tail. Brad Kramer came over and helped carry and attach wings. Installed wing gap seal velcro and gap seal. Marked and drilled hole in tail boom for wing fold support bracket.

6.0

10-5-2014

Re-mounted tail wheel; corrected lean problem. Set up blocks for level flight attitude. Installed skid ball. Ordered Firefly and Serenity stickers.

2.0

10-6-2014

Used 3 scales to do weight and balance. Rotated scales 3 times and did averages to counter any errors. Did W&B calculations and the CG is inside the envelope listed in the construction manual. Filled gas tank 1 gallon at a time and marked fuel levels for both level flight and on the ground.

6.0

10-8-2014

Made and installed wing fold bracket plates on trailing edges.

Started engine on the first pull!  Adjusted prop pitch to 7° to get static RPM above 6000.  May have to add a little more pitch.  Problems with engine running too lean on the bottom end of the throttle. Ran engine for about an hour.

6.0

10-9-2014

Removed carb to look for idle problem. Moved O-ring on idle mixture screw; all passages clear. Remounted and tested engine. Could now get the idle mixture to adjust properly. Did full engine break-in procedure. There is a lean problem in the mid-range throttle area. Can be corrected by adding fuel with the enricher circuit. Will have to try adjusting the main needle up one notch to see if that fixes it.  Also the bowl gasket leaks slightly.