Windscreen Trim Install

TIme: 2.5 hrs

I’m hoping to get all the Sika stuff wrapped up this weekend so I went ahead and installed the fiberglass trim piece that finished off the bottom edge of the windscreen. I had done some filling and sanding on this piece a few weeks ago and gave it a good coat of primer to get it ready to paint. This piece installs the same as all the other stuff installed with Sika, the only new thing is that some of it bonds to the aluminum on the fuselage, but in reading the install instructions for the Sika sealer you can use the same primer (206G+P) as you use on the fiberglass pieces to prime the aluminum. I used some 320 grit paper to get the primer to grip better and the 205 Aktivator prior to priming.

After fitting the trim piece I masked off the area where ether primer and Sika sealer will be applied. These areas were abraded with sand paper as suggested in the Sika install instructions I also primed the back of the fiberglass trim piece.

All primed and ready. Need to wait at least 30 minutes for the primer to o dry up and no more than 24 hours.

Trim piece is installed and the edges are filled and smoothed out.

I also finished up filling the expansion gaps on the door windows as well so all the major sika stuff is done.

Rotax SB-914-055UL

Time: 1hr

Performed the worked needed for Rotax Service Bulletin SB-914-055UL which concerns the circlips in the carburetors. This also applies to the carbureted 912 engine (SB-912-073UL). I ordered the necessary parts from Leading Edge Airfoils which consisted of the 2 circlips (Rotax #945 786), 2 o-rings (Rotax #950 430), and 2 10mm crush washers (Rotax #230 150). Note: I only needed 2 crush washers since my right carb doesn’t use the hard fuel lines. Cost of the parts was minimal and installation was pretty easy. Rotax has a good video on how to apply the fix.

One thing I noticed during the install of the circlips is that the left carb had the clip in the 3rd position. There are 4 positions (or slits) in the needle stem where the clips can go. The right carb was in the 2nd position and the left was in the 3rd. In the Rotax heavey maintenance manual is says the normal positions for the 914 are the 1st and 2nd position so I’m wondering if this clip was put in incorrectly. The position of the clip doesn’t cause any harm, but affects how rich or lean the carburetor is. Maybe I’ll ask in the Rotax board if this is normal or not.

Above are the parts needed to carry out SB-914-055UL. I ordered a few extra just to make shipping worth while.

Top of right carburetor removed and the needle removed from the diaphram. The needle is on the block of wood and the circlip can be seen on the end of the needle. There is a bolt (with the blue strip of loctite) that needs to be removed so the needle can come out of the rubber diaphram. A small o-ring fits on the top side of the circlip. You just need to swap out the circlip and o-ring and reinstall.

These are all the pieces that were replaced. The 2 10mm crush washers were for the left carb fuel line. You need to remove it so you can get the screw and top carburetor piece off. This step seems like it’s not necessary on the 912 since I don’t think the 912 uses hard lines to the carburetors.

Windscreen Installed

Time: 4.5hrs

Today I finally got the windscreen installed. I had wanted to do this a few weeks ago, but there was a delay getting the sika primers. I had to drive 45 minutes to pick it up at a UPS store in Thousand Oaks since the shipper wasn’t able to ship it directly to me due to California Air Quality restrictions. Not really sure how these tiny bottle of primer affect the air quality.

Installation went as planned. The one thing that I wish I did prior to installing it was to remove the masking tape along the bottom inside of the windscreen. I had thought to do that because from the fittings I did it seemed like it may be hard to remove it once the windscreen was installed. Well sure enough a bit got stuck and ripped. I got most of it out, but I still need to try to fish a few small pieces out. I just want to wait until the sika is dry so I don’t upset the way the windscreen is seared in it. You really don’t need the masking tape along the bottom because the sika sealant isn’t going to squish up and out through the dash, unless I guess you put A LOT of sika.

There’s plenty of information from Sika on how to prep, prime and apply the sika sealant so I won’t bore anyone with posting that. You do need a few different primers and an activator so it gets a bit expensive. It would have been nice if I could have used the Sika priers I purchased for the side windows, but it’s only good for about a year. And I even noticed one of the primers I just got says it expires end of September so that kind of sucks.

Windscreen installed. Sorry I didn’t take more photos of the install, but I was stressed about the sika drying so was focused on getting it installed and the sika smoothed our on the seems.

So now need to clean some things up and then fit the fiberglass piece around the bottom of the wind screen. Also I need to do the seams around the main door windows with the sealant. I didn’t do that when I installed the perplex on the doors thinking that the paint seam would be better, but Jean said to just finish it and not worry about how the paint will come up the the windows since there needs to be black paint done over the Sika and part of the window to protect the Sika from UV.

GPS Antenna Installation

Time .75hrs

Today I installed the 2 Garmin GA-35 WAAS GPS antennas. Install was pretty easy. I mounted them on the mounting brackets that TAF provides. I had previously wired up the TNC connectors so it was just a matter of putting the supplied #8-32 screws through the antenna and into the holes in the mount bracket and then I used some washers and #8-32 all metal (prevailing torque) locking nuts.

Both GA-35’s are installed in the engine compartment. One antenna will wire up to the GNX375 and the other will go to the G5.

TAF Service Bulletin #0018

Time: 1hr

Service Bulletin #0018 – “Insufficient swaging of oval sleeves on the rudder cables”

On 7/28/2020 TAF released Service Bulletin #0018 which concerns the crimping of the oval sleeves on the rudder cable. The oval sleeves are located at the attachment to the rudder control horns and the rudder pedals.

Today I checked the crimping on at these locations and found that they exceed the maximum crimp of 8.90mm. The largest crimp I found was at 9.13mm and all other crimps were more that 8.90mm, though not significantly more, but still over the max. I’ve contacted TAF on what the next steps would be. I don’t know if these can easily be crimped more or if the rudder cable needs to be totally replaced. S will be standing by for further instruction from TAF.

Not too far from the 8.90mm max, but still out if range. The right side is even a little worse at 9.13mm. Will see what TAF recommends for a fix. I hope I can just crimp these more and be done with it. Though crimping the ones at the pedals will not be fun… need to crawl under the panel to do it.

Panel Cut

Midwest Panel Builders sent me a photo of my panel that they cut. Looks just like my CAD drawing 🙂

Now they are waiting for the printer so we can put some of the placard warnings and N number on the panel rather that having to use stickers. Steve at Midwest Panel Builders said the printing is very hard to remove so it should last a long while. Getting excited about the panel now.

Box of Fun

Got my box of fun from Aircraft Spruce today… still one more on the way. I went ahead and purchased most of the avionics for the panel, plus all the antennas. Now I just need some of the higher ticket items like the GNX375 and the 2 GDU displays.

Still waiting on the Sika primer so I can install the windscreen. Seems that UPS returned it to the shipper as undeliverable. Also hoping it cools down so I can start working on the plane again. It’s just been way to hot in the garage to work to work in there for any amount of time.

Got the G5 (with battery backup) and a few of the antennas. Also got the install kits for the GDUs and the GMC. Another box should be here early next week with the GMC507 and another antenna. Next on the list to purchase will be the GNX375 and will hopefully get the cut panel in the next few weeks and can start assembling everything.

Windscreen Fitting

Time: 6hrs

Today I trimmed the wind screen to fit. This was easier than doing the side windows because there’s only one edge that needs to be accurately cut. I started to trim the front most edge that sits against the dash. Once I got that to fit how I wanted (trimmed back just behind the rivets) I moved along inward towards the canopy frame. With all that looking good I got the windscreen to fit into the frame along the canopy then used some 6mm striping tape to set the gap between the perplex edge and the canopy. As with the side windows I used a thin cutting blade in my die grinder to make the large cuts and then my belt sander with 50 grit paper to trim down to the mark.

So now the perplex fits, I just need do some fine tuning and also mark the contact area that will need to be scuffed up and primed for install. I also need to order more primer since the ones I used on the side windows has expired.

Once I got the perplex to fit down into the frame I used some 6mm tape to set the gap and then used a marker to draw a line on the inner edge of the tape so when I removed it I had a straight edge to use as a guide of where to trim to with the belt sander.

Gap is good.

And it fits. Needs some fine tuning and I need to mark the contact areas so they can be scuffed and primed, but the main work is done.

UPDATE 08/16/2020

Finished prepping the windscreen for install so it should be ready to go. I have to drive about an hour to go pick up my Sika primer because due to our wonderful California air quality rules the company isn’t able to ship it directly to me. So know I have to waste gas and pollute the environment by driving 2 hours (1 hour each way) to get the primer.

The mounting area has been taped off and then scuffed with 80 git paper. This area will get Sika primer applied as well as the fiber glass frame on the canopy. Different primers are used for the perplex and the fiberglass so it gets a bit expensive. This is my second round of primers because I waited too long between doing the other windows and the windscreen and my primer expired.

Wing Tips Done

Time: 6.0hrs

Finally !!!!!!! After a year of waiting for the left wing tip I was able to get both wing tips installed. I fit and drilled the left wing tip a few days ago and also installed the Aveo on it. Today I installed an aluminum backer strip, finished the fitting of the tips and then riveted them onto the wings. The left wing tip actually fit a bit better than the right. The right one had a section that had some scalloping on the bottom toward the leading edge. I ended up using some fairing putty to fix the spots that weren’t fitting so well. I found that putting on the putty and then using some saran warp over it and installing it into the wing set it up for a perfect fit. Then I just had to sand a bit after it dried.

For the aluminum backing I found some 1″ wide aluminum strip on Amazon. It’s technically a refill for a cookie cutting mould, but it works great for making the backing for the fiberglass. I then used some epoxy to attach it to the inside of the tip.

After applying the fairing putty to the area that needs some filling I covered it with Saran Wrap (use a good quality thick one so it doesn’t tear so easily). Then I put it on the wing and clecoed it in the area. I let it dry for a few hours then removed the tip and the Saran Wrap and sanded.

After a bit of sanding the fairing putty fills the spot nicely. I had about 1/16″ of gap here and now it fits perfect. I later sanded with 300 grit and then 600 grit and put some primer of it before installing on the wing.

Well they’re both on and the lights are installed as well. They fit great and just a few small things to fix before painting. The dark areas are where I sprayed some primer. The lower corner of the photo is the area where I had the most problems with the right wing tip.

Dash Installation

Time 1.25hrs

Finally got the dash installed. I had to wait all day for the 3M VHB double sided tape to get here so I started on it late, but it didn’t take too long since I already had the holes drilled. Install was pretty easy. I just cleaned the underside of the dash and the aluminum with Acetone then applied the tape to the edge of the fiberglass of the dash. I then clecoed the dash to the plane with a cleo in every other hole. When everything was lined up I removed one cleo and started to peal back the backing on one edge of the tape and inserted a rivet in the next hole (that didn’t have a cleco). I just repeated until I reached the center of the dash (half way around). Then I went to the other side and did the same.

I also was able to install the fuel selector and the ducts for the air vents. Next will be to start working on the install of the windshield.

Dash taped in and riveted.

Installed the fuel selector and the ducts for the air vents.

Now on to installing the windscreen.