2.5 hrs. misc.

Despite the possibility of having to bend the sticks, I went ahead and installed the other grip.  You'll also notice I removed the dash.

This is approximately the center position of the stick.  Look right?

I filled a bunch more rivets today and sanded a few (wasn't in the mood to do lots of sanding today).

Crosby guarding the house. ;-)

Had breakfast today in Concord (next town over from mine) and saw that they were filming a new Netflix series on the streets.  I noticed that it was all crew and no actors: Turns out the new, as yet unnamed, series, will be about the apocalypse so they were filming empty streets... :-O

2.5 hrs. on the stick grip and filling rivets..

I need to drill the hole in the stick to accommodate the set screw.  10.5mm to the top of the hole and 15mm to the bottom.  So that means it's 12.75mm to the center.

Trying to measure using a ruler in the cockpit to a somewhat hard to see location wasn't going to work, so I just used a caliper set to 12.75mm.  With that I could make a small scratch where the hole needed to be.

And that's done...

The screw locks the grip to it's sleeve and the nut locks the stick to the screw.  With both of those tight it was rock solid.

Right after I did that one stick I got an email from a Sling 4 builder (who's done) in Australia which said I'd need to use a bent stick if I use these bent-forward grips....  Is that true?  Seems to me that the range of motion is the same no matter what the stick shape.  Grip all the way forward to just before the panel (should not touch, even with your hand!) and all the way back to your crotch.  This is wrong though if the pushrods can't be adjusted to that range positioning (though that seemed OK) or if your crotch gets in the way of the full back position (ouch!).  This is the full forward position...

...and this is the full rearward position.  Maybe this is a problem?  Since I can't get the seats in, I can't test it.  Does look weird...

Since I can't work on that, I'll think about other things...  Sling 4 builders, where did you route (or are planning to route) the brake line?  Down with the wiring (it's pretty tight)?  Above the flap motor?  I need to figure this out because I have to order stainless steel brake lines, so I need to measure the lengths needed.

Another, closer in, view.

Since I don't know that, I'll work on something else...  I have lots of rivets to fill, so I'll do some of that.  Not much thinking required...

Probably filled a few hundred rivets in 30 minutes...  Tomorrow I can sand them down.

1.5 hrs. in the cockpit.

I wanted to check how the side panel fits with the throttle assembly in place (probably should have had it in place while I was locating and fitting all this...).  But, it fits just fine.  One thing is clear though is that the side panels further up will need to be installed before the dash goes back in.  As I've mentioned before it's difficult to get up there with the dash in place.

Now to cut down the stick.  A bit agonizing because I didn't want to get this "wrong."  Held it in place based on what I've seen in other Sling cockpits and in consultation with Midwest Sky Sports who made the grips (they build Slings if you're not aware, so they know how they should fit).  The metric I understood was the center of your hand grip was just below the lip of the dash.  With that I determined that I needed to cut 105mm down from the top (your mileage will vary if you have different grips).

First I tried this...  Which was slow...  Then I realized I had a pipe cutter that might work just fine.

Much easier!

I did quickly realize that it could mar the stick so I put a couple of layers of painter's tape just below the cut.

Quickly cut and quickly checked!  Seems perfect.

Nice!

Since that was so easy I cut the other stick too.

Cut in less than 5 minutes.

I'll have to drill a hole in the front of the stick to accommodate the set screw.

Like!  Tomorrow the dash and throttle assembly are taken off and put aside for awhile...  I also learned (thanks Simon!) that the interior plastic panels (which fit under the dash on the side) should be done before the dash is put in permanently.  I'll update the Task List with that.

1 hr. on the dash to throttle assembly connection.

Holes drilled (drill bit no larger than the holes in the assembly of course).

You can't install a rivnut over the leather so it needs to come off where those go.  The leather doesn't come off easily, so cutting underneath is required.  Takes patience...

Leather off and M4 rivnuts installed after I reamed the holes with my M4-sized chucking reamer (actually started with smaller reamer bits to work my way up to the M4 bit because it's pretty big).

Well, that wasn't too hard. :-)

1 hr. in the cockpit.

I had forgotten that the center console already had the rivnuts for the throttle assembly, so I screwed those in.

There seems to be a small bit of play as to the longitudinal position of the assembly on the dash, so I'll check factory photos to see how it looks coming out of the factory. Once I establish that I can mark the hole locations and put in M4 rivnuts.

Another thing to check in the factory photos is the height of the stick grips.  Seems high.
EDIT: Yes, they're definitely too high.  Factory photos show the top of the stick near the bottom of the Garmin display.  So, I'll have to cut down the sticks.  You can see lots of photos of Sling cockpits here.

Looking under the dash it looks like it'll be easy to relocate the grounding block to the sub-panel.

Well, I just ordered the engine!  Very exciting!

Of course I don't have it yet, so here's a picture of the Rotax 914 from Wikipedia for your drooling pleasure (well, at least mine. :-D).

Was hoping to work on the plane yesterday, but didn't get a chance.

But, I did recently receive the EAA's new Flight Test Manual and Test Card Book, which look great.  It's based on the methodology of military test pilots.  I'd post a link to it, but it appears to be broken at the moment.