Fuel Tank Testing

May 15, 2020
Today I finally got back working on my Vision airplane once again.  I have been busy spending a lot of time on my other airplane a Quickie Q2.  Today I began testing the fuel tank integrity on the starboard wing.  My objective was to make sure  there were no leaks from any fittings or from the wing tank sealing.  It all turned out great with no leaks anywhere.  First was the addition of 5 gallons of 100 ll fuel into my leading edge wing tank.  After a 1 hour check was good an additional 5 gallons was added, then 30 minutes later 5 more and all good a final 5 gallons added for a total of 20 gallons in the right wing.  Testing of the Facet fuel pump was next and it pumped an adequate fuel volume out of the open gascolator.  A small amount of fine particles were noticed from the output into a clean white bucket.  At this point I quit and will flush the  tank a few times using the tank bottom drain to clear out the fine debris. I don't want to plug up the gascolator or inline fuel filter.

Thanks to my wife  Adele for her great job assisting painting the interior of the fuel cells with Jeffco fuel sealant prior to closing them.  Total fuel volume appears to be 20 US gallons (77 liters) in the right wing fuel tank.  The left wing tank will be the same and I will update when it's completed.

May 19, 2020 The left fuel tank was tested with 10 gallons of fuel to check for leaks.   A day later a minor weeping was found from a wing root fitting, it was re-sealed and tightened after removing fuel.  Added 20 gallons and let sit for 4 days and it was without any leaks.

Radio stack, Upper cowling fastening, Heat muffso

I am working on installing the radio stack in the middle of the panel.  I fabricated a tray support structure and have three of my radio component trays installed.  December 2020 radio components sold and revised panel will be Dynon radio and Transponder.

Lower cowling blisters and new tail wheel stinger fabrication.

I vacuum formed a intake flange for the oil cooler.  A three inch hose connects to a 3 inch flange on the port side air intake area of cowling.

Below the belly panel which was made of two layers of glass have been attached to the belly which cover the wing root areas as well as the exposed main spar. 

Splash coat of carbon on the cowling where the oil access door will be cut out.

Blisters being made for the lower cowling.

A new tail wheel stinger has been made to support the Matco tailwheel and tail spring.  Made out of steel which can be repaired or re-fabricated if needed during trips away from home base.

Engine baffles and moved into new hangar.

Moved all my stuff into a new hangar and now have my Quickie Q2 and Vision together.  All in one work space will make life easier.

Cowling blisters, panel support and control linkage brackets.

Below are a couple of the items which protrude out of the lower cowling and will require
blisters to enclose.  The exhaust is another major protrusion needing a cowling blister.

Fitting the Panel Visor over the panel and calculating the securing points.

Air Intake Scoop

Nov. 8 2017
Today I completed the fabrication of the air scoop onto the lower cowling.  I purchased an air scoop from a third party vendor and am modifying it to fit my cowling.  Reshaping the air scoop was required and quite a bit of the flange and mating edges cut off.  I needed to measure distance clearances of the air filter box to make sure it fit within the scoop.  Once the scoop was modified it was bonded on to the lower fairing with flox.  A layer of bid cloth on the bonded edge will also be required.

I have anchored the lower cowling to the firewall flange using 8/32 machine screws with anchor nuts riveted onto the back side of the flange.  I am using 18 screws to hold the lower cowling in place.

The upper cowling has been trimmed to fit in place but is just resting in place at this time.  I will be installing Camlock 1/4 turn fasteners to hold the upper cowling in place.  I prefer the quarter turn fasteners on the upper cowling for ease of removal which allows quick removal for visual inspection of the engine compartment.  

Air Filter and Intake

October 31, 2017
I have completed building the air box system that will include the air filter. The air box is attached to my Rotec Throttle Body unit which is also a compact unit and helps to reduce the vertical space of the front lower cowling.  The original carburetor that came with the engine was about seven inches deep vertically and would have made for a poorly streamlined front engine cowling.  The air box has a  clever flapper door at the front for allowing heated air from a heat muff into the intake when required.  The door on the hot air intake closes off the ram fresh air, maximizing the hot air volume.

October 15, 2017
 Building up the air box system.  The kit is from Vans aircraft which is used on most of their various aircraft.  I like the system because it is compact and yet allows ram air and a real good K&N oiled filter.  this is a one time purchase round filter which can be used over and over by cleaning and re-oiling.  They are widely used on numerous performance cars.  It took a bit of time for me to build up the kit but am very happy with the final product.