Sling Central Update (plus, see pics below of my new hanger!)

Been working on wiring C1, C5, and C2/4 which I may combine into one connector. Haven't drilled and mounted them in the airplane yet but I know approximately where they will end up. Working on finishing wiring the panel side and then I'll start on the airframe side.

Got the keys to my hanger!!!  Starting to think about how to trick it out with man cave accessories!  Thoughts?

I like the view!

Got this picture from Sling Central today.  The wings are being sent to the painter and the fuselage got an outing in the sun. 😎

Looking good!

Got my paint samples today from PPG.  The colors are Cardinal Red (IM476), Blue (IM6036) and Snow White (I1183).  The red and blue are metallics, so they should look awesome in the sun.

End of week update from Sling Central:

Cowling and engine work is complete. We are on wiring from here on. Began installation of the XRC connectors on the subpanel. Trimming wires to length and locating their final routing. Making sure wires clear all moving rigging like rudder cables and throttle/brake linkage and cables. Testing functionality of buttons and switches to be sure they work before final assembly and testing. Tested pilot and copilot stick function. Began routing pitot static lines. Began making pigtails from Garmin and other connectors on the panel to the XRC connectors.

I'm a bit late getting this midweek Sling Central update posted...

Finishing up all of the last little details under the cowl. Finally received everything I needed to make the camlocks work. Installing those and finishing all of the heat wrap, hose clamps, wrapped the exhaust headers (they look good!) and now that those are wrapped, I have a slightly different strategy with the heat shielding on other hoses. I’m going to remove the aluminized heat barrier that I wrapped one oil line with and install fire sleeve instead. I’m confident that with the header wrapped we can get rid of the aluminized heat barrier and go to the much more clean looking fire sleeve. Should only be needed in one spot, up front where the oil cooler line goes around the alternator. Finished wrapping heat barrier on the coolant lines. I feel this is the correct material in this application (TAF uses it on these lines because they are in very close proximity to the exhaust and turbocharger). Removed the instrument panel for final clean up of the interior wiring and termination of all connections. By the end of the week we will be finished with the under cowl work and only working on wiring. Once the avionics has been fired up we will send the fuselage to paint and be ready to rig it when it returns.

Sling Central update

Continued routing undercowl wiring, plumbing, etc. Applying heat tape/strip/covers to coolant and oil lines. Clamping oil and coolant lines. Finding a few cowl fit issues in the process and having to work them out. Running engine wires through firewall and joining to the wiring under the panel. Haven't started making connections yet. Just putting everything where it goes. Waiting on PPG to send samples to you. Painter is ready for wings and fairings and they are ready to go to him. Plan to call PPG monday again to find out where the samples are. Plan to be done under the cowl next week and move on to wiring. Once wiring is done, rigging and flying should only take another week or so.

Friday update

Almost finished with the cowling. I may be over doing it a bit but I want the cowling to fit and look just right. I'm almost there, just working out the location of the Dzus fasteners so that everything fits nice and tight and straight. Also the Dzus fasteners require a tool that we don't have. Might need to buy or borrow one. Meanwhile I've been continuing to route the engine plumbing.

Temporarily mounted the radiator and oil cooler but will need to remove and install several times. Need to buy more Sikaflex to seal around the coolers in the lower cowl. I use plastic wrap to protect the radiator and oil cooler and then glue them in with Sikaflex. The when cured I remove them from the plastic wrap and trim the Sikaflex to make it neat. Need to do this one more time and they'll be in correctly. Oil line routing is almost complete. Need to purchase the crimp tool for the ear style hose clamps. Radiator lines are in place and only need to be clamped. Under cowl wiring is being initially routed just to see where everything goes.

Checking wire lengths for trimming. It looks a mess but once the routing is decided the rest goes quickly. Have temporarily placed Adel clamps and have begun to use wire ties to locate and secure hoses and wire bundles. Have the air cleaner assembly installed.

Mid-week update

Been working mainly on the cowling fit. It's been slow going due to having to remove it so often. Had to flute the firewall flange in several places to make the flange parallel the skin instead of pushing out on the cowling. Continued running hoses and wires under the cowl. Was able to make the 12mm hose work with the 1/2" fittings after using liberal amounts of grease and heat. This is how TAF does it and they use the same hose and fittings. Assembled the tail and began test fitting the tail fuselage fairing. Will begin drilling and mounting both the cowl and tail fairings tomorrow.

I've renamed the "Paint" tab of the hours spreadsheet to "Sling Central" and I will just put all their hours there.

Their update:

Received propeller and parachute so I started working harder on things in front of the firewall. Assembled propeller, installed it on the engine. Test fit the cowling, trimmed the air inlet on the left side of the airplane to clear the alternator. Began marking to trim the cowl to fit the firewall. Wanted to be sure that there were no clearance issues before cutting too much so I installed the exhaust pipe, coolant lines, radiator, oil cooler, and as many oil lines as I could. Noticed the oil lines are 12mm ID and the fittings are 1/2". Hoses don't want to fit on them so I'm ordering some 1/2" hoses appropriate for Rotax oil applications. Installed the oil tank and oil thermostat. Installed EGT probes. Trying to get everything on the engine that might cause interference with the cowling. Everything seems to be fitting fine. Painter came and looked at the wings and templates. He noticed a few minor issues with some filler on the wings so I've been working on fixing those. Just applying a little light weight filler to fix pin holes or rough areas and sanding.

I like it!