Throttle & Trim Controls

I have been working on creating my throttle lever, pitch trim control and installing push-pull cables for the choke, carb heat and cabin heat. First, some photos of my throttle lever:

Click on images to enlarge 

 

I calculated where I should attached the Bowden cable to the throttle lever using some software trying to find the location that would give me just the right amount of cable travel. I might have over thought this, as I will not know if I got it right until I mount the carb and hook up the throttle cable to it. However, it would be easy to move the attachment hole or remake the lever if need be. I think I will also add a camp on the Bowden cable sleeve on the rear side of bulkhead F5 as I'm seeing some cable flex I wish to eliminate.

 

 

Next, I worked on creating a pitch trim control. I had seen a photo of someone else's control which was different from the plans control, so I set out to make mine similar to what I had seen.  Here are a few photos of what I came up with:

 

 

 

I searched the hardware store until I came upon the terminal lug pictured above. I found it in the electrical department. It worked perfectly for what I wanted to do. I put a screw through the mounting hole and secured it with a nut. I found a twist knob at the hardware store with female threads to match the previously mentioned screw. (Actually, I found the knob first and then the screw.) I needed to cover my slot so things didn't fall through it and asked my wife what item had enough plastic to cover the slot. Within seconds she answered, "A cooking spatula". Well, I found one at the grocery store and cut it down to fit my needs. I now can use this as an example of how I DO listen to my wife on occasion. A metal washer under the spatula strip gives additional strength.

 

I made my armrest top out of .020" aluminum. It should be fine, but If I was starting over, I would use .032" on this particular armrest. I can always make a replacement armrest top if this one doesn't hold up well from the sliding action of the control knob. Or I could reinforce it with a strip of .032" flush riveted to the underside.

 

If it's not obvious, you loosen the knob and slide it forward or aft to adjust your trim and then tighten the knob again.

 

NOTE: I will have to reverse the attach point at the elevator so that nose down is adjusted by sliding the knob forward.  This shouldn't be a big deal. If you are going to use this control, work this out in your mind before committing to it. Dave's plans built lever pushes the cable rearward when you push the lever forward. My control pulls the cable forward when the knob goes forward. (Your manual comes with a page of two photos with a heading of "Elevator trim tab rigging", but has no page number. The upper photo shows the Bowden cable attach tab pointing down. Mine will point up.)

 



Always something to do!

OK, so I was working on the horizontal stabilizer until I needed help with aligning the spar with the fuselage to drill some important holes. I wanted a particular friend to help, but he was busy. So, I put that project aside and began working on the interior armrests and panels.  Here are a few photos:

Click on photos to enlarge

 

 

 

 

 



There are more photos in my photo album on the right side of this page. Next I have to create the throttle and pitch trim controls.

 

Building up my Horizontal Stabilizer

Here are some photos of my horizontal stabilizer spar work. Trying to find the time to continue work has been a challenge, but we'll persevere.

 



Progress Update

I have been working on my horizontal stabilizer spars.  No photos just yet. Maybe yet this week.

Replaced My Wheel Axles

Just posting so you know I've been working on my project.  I replaced my wheel axles yesterday, as the originals had been recalled. Pretty straight forward installation. Most of my effort was concerning the cotter pin hole you have to drill in the threaded part of the axles to retain the castle nut. Not really a big deal, just time consuming as you have to jack the airplane up to remove the wheels and brakes. Then replace the axle and reinstall the wheel to locate the cotter pin hole. Then you have to remove everything and take the axle to the drill press to drill the hole. Then everything has to be reassembled. Then, repeat the process for the other side.

I'm now reviewing the plans to begin work on the horizontal stabilizer and elevator.  Hope to get something done on this next weekend.

Little League is Over. Back at it!

I finally got back to building my CX4.  I cut a hole in the forward sloping floor in front of the center spar so I can mount my Comm antenna. While I was at it, I created a heel step out of scrap aluminum angle so that it shares the bottom 3 screws to the cover. This heel step will enable me to catch it with my heel to allow me to use my legs to help me exit the cockpit.

Guys, this is a great location for the Comm antenna, if not the only location on the belly of the airplane, so cut this access hole BEFORE you install the forward floor panel. It would make it so much easier.

Power To The Panel

Click on image to enlarge

 

Continued wiring my panel.  I was able to bring online my Dynon D6 & my MGL E3. I still have a long way to go. The D6 comes with a remote compass that needs to be mounted somewhere behind the seat. I haven't even begun to wire my engine sensors.  Not having purchased an engine yet might have something to do with it.

Christmas in March

My Dynon D6 arrived today. This is what my panel looks like at this point.

Click on image to enlarge.

 

I had priviously painted my removable panel and installed the other instruments. This was the fun part.  Now I have to wire it all up!

 

 

 

I guess I know what I'll be doing this weekend.  It's suppose to snow anyway.  The NCAA ball games will be on in the background.  Throw in a couple of beers, and it should be a good one!

Making the Mandatory Rudder Cable Changes

Sometimes being a slow builder has it's advantages!!!  Dave Thatcher announced the original CX4 broke a rudder cable, thankfully while taxiing on the ground after 180 hours on the Hobbs.  Thus, he issued a mandatory change to the rudder cable system.  His solution is designed for the now standard floor mounted rudder pedals.  I still have the hanging type pedals.  No problem,  I just adapted what he wanted done to my setup. Fortunately, I still have sufficiant access to the fuselage to do the rework.  I feel for you guys who have painted, flying airplanes who have to take a panel or two off.

First, I bought some 3/16" SS cable with a 6-32 threaded stud swagged to one end (so I could use the original rudder pedal attachments) and nothing on the other, thinking I could leave the wire bound sleeve in place from the original push-pull cable device by cutting the rear end off, pull out the original cable and simply push in a new, longer cable. Well, I pushed the new cable in maybe a third of the way before I could no longer push any more cable through.  So, I decided to get out the calipers and measure the original cable. I discovered that the original cable was 5/64" not 3/16".  This meant the old carcass had to come out.

As a replacement to the wire bound sleeve/carcass for the cable to pass through, I found that the nylon tubing I had for break lines work perfectly for my 3/16" cable and I had some extra hanging in the garage.

Click on image to enlarge

Next I had to find a way to hold the nylon tubing in place so that the cable could move freely back & forth within it.  What I came up with is shown in the picture above.  It is a double sided compression fitting intended to splice two lines together.  In the middle of this fitting was a ridge intended to stop the tubes from passing through it.  I simply took the appropriate drill bit and drilled out the center ridge so that the nylon tube could pass completely through the fitting. Then I slipped the tube through and used only one side as a compression fitting. The other side was used to hold it in place through my F4 bulkhead.  Since original holes through F4 were too large, I made washers out of scrap alum. so the fitting would stay where I wanted it at F4.  You can see my results in the photos below. 

 

 

The tube comes out the same hole at the rear of the fuselage as the original cable. Since the tubing is secure and can not move due to the compression fitting at the F4 bulkhead, it is unclear at this point if I need to secure it near the rear exit.  I'll keep you posted.

Work Continues on the Panel

My panel is starting to take shape. I began by cutting the instrument holes in the removable face panel. I borrowed a high quality 2.25" hole saw and a hole cutter for the 3.125" hole. I then installed the removable face panel to mark their locations on bulkhead F4. I then cut holes in F4 oversized to allow the instrument to be removed with the face panel. I can always cut more of the F4 bulkhead away, but I didn't deem it necessary at this time.  I'm using .032" aluminum for the removable face panel, and it will work fine, but I think if I have to make a new one, I would use at least .040" next time. It just feels sturdier.

 

Click on image to enlarge

Another handy little tool I borrowed was a steel jig to drill the holes for the instrument mounting screws. One side fits into a 2.25" hole and the other side fits into a 3.125" hole.  Pretty sweet little tool.  I'm sure Spruce sells them and I doubt they are very expensive, but well worth the money.  I'm glad my buddy asked me if I wanted to borrow it. I think my answer was "Hell yes!" I should have taken a photo of it to post it here, but I have given it back to him already. Sorry.

I bought an inexpensive fuel pressure gauge from an auto parts store and to my dismay, it didn't come with any way to mount it.  It was really intended to be installed in the fuel line with a "T" fitting.  So, as I often do, I went to Ace Hardware to see what I come come up with.  As luck would have it, even though this is a 1" diameter instrument, it's actual size is slightly larger than 1".  At the hardware store I found a 3" rubber washer with a 1" hole in it.  I had taken my gauge with me and found that you could push it into the washer hole and it would stay snugly in the washer!  I had found my mounting solution. In the photos below you will see that I used rivets to hold it in place on F4 and the removable face panel hides the flush rivet heads. Don't you just love experimental aircraft building? I bet you won't find this on a certified aircraft!  And yes,  I have had a couple of experienced builders look at my solution and they give it a thumbs up.

The only hole I didn't cut was for a transponder.  As slow as I'm building, they may be a thing of the past with ADS-B coming into the picture.

Next, it was time to wire up my headset jacks. I actually had to make a new panel as my first attempt at placing the recessed fixture where I wanted it interfered with my rudder cables. It was actually a blessing in disguise, as my original panel was incorrectly cut so that the factory aluminum type ink markings were facing in towards the cockpit and I thought I would have to paint them because I was having no luck removing the ink.

 

 

I the photo above, you can see I cut the new panel so that the ink markings faced away from the cockpit and that the recessed jack fixture does not interfere with the rudder cable.

In the picture below, you can see the battery and switch board I rigged up, complete with in line breaker, to test my wiring.

 

 

I found that my fuel pumps work.  You can also see below, that my LED lighted switches work as well. Four are in the "on" position and one is in the "off" position. Fun stuff.

 

I need to find an antenna before I test my radio. I'll paint the removable face panel before I install the rest of my instruments. Then I will test them. I won't be able to test everything or every functionality, but it's a start.

Making Spaghetti

Wiring up the switches & breakers.

Click on image to enlarge

Fuel Lines, Gascolator & other stuff

It's been a while since my last post, but I have been working on my project. I installed my fuel lines, tank drain and mounted the gascolator to the firewall. I'm using poly fuel lines on the back side of the firewall as they are flexible, inexpensive and easy to work with. I didn't want to go through the firewall with my tank drain because I thought it added complexity, so I found a suitable spot on the floor behind the firewall and mounted it there. I did use a piece of .032 aluminum for reinforcing the floor as I will use this drain to check for water in the fuel during preflight. The photos below show the results of my labor.

Click on image to enlarge photo

 



On the front side of the firewall I had a 12" braided fuel line I had left over from a previous project and I found a exact match of it at Auto Zone On-line. This is way cheaper than to have them custom made. I also had some left over fire sleeve that I used to wrap them. I use stainless tie wraps that I found at the auto parts store to secure the ends of the firewrap.

 



I have been doing other work as well.  I have been rewiring my iCom A200 radio tray with new aviation wires. I find this to be necessary, but tedious work.

Santa came through this year with an Aircraft Spruce gift card for which I used to purchase an MGL E3 engine monitor. I guess I was a good boy in 2012!