|
 |
||||
I mixed up a batch of proseal and ran a bead down the side of the fuselage where the side and bottom skins meet. The idea here is to keep water and fuel from leaking into the fuselage....fuel in case the tanks get overfilled or the gas cap comes off.  Here is the main reason I mixed up the batch of proseal...the bottom corners of the firewall had a small area that was exposed to the inside of the fuselage. The firewall sealant I have isn't gooey enough to work here.  With the firewall sealed up, there wasn't any reason why not to put the engine mount on for good.  Next was mounting the tires and drilling the axels for the cotter pin to keep the nut from backing off. I searched around the local builders site and Dave Parsons had a method. Tighten the nut slightly to compress the bearings and get everything tight, then let it lose and hand tighen the nut until the wheel still turns freely, but isn't sloppy. For a benchmark, I tightened it until the wheel would spin for two seconds after I spun it as hard as I could.  Next I stole the idea from Richard Horan to use a 12" #30 drill bit to mark where the hole is on the axel thread instead of a punch. First off, I didn't have a punch that would fit through the holes on the nut. Second, this seemed like a better more accurate method. Oh, I put some duct tape on the tire and rim to keep the drill bit from marking it up.  With the 12" bit, I just started the hole. I finished it off with a short #30 bit.  I reassembled everything and put a cotter pin in as a placekeeper to do the other side. Hind sight being 20/20, I should of used the 12" bit to mark both sides. I did it that way on the other side and it worked great.  I basically repeated the above steps to do the other side of the axel. I had a heck of a time getting the cotter pin in, so I enlarged the hole in the axel to #27 (and left the #30 hole in the nut) and the cotter pin went in much better.  I used some 10 gauge wire to act as a temporary pin. I repeated all the same steps for the other side.  Finally I put in the tailwheel spring into the fuselage. I mangled my first bolt trying to do so....luckily there was another one in the hardware bags. 
|
|||||
|
http://RVplane.com |
Last Modified: August 13, 2023 |