Puttying and Sanding and more Puttying and Sanding and finally Primer Filler

 September 18, 2020

For this month of September I have been doing some more filling and sanding but this time I have been using 2 part Lightweight Finishing Putty.  I really like this product which sets up in 1 hour and can be sanded if you wish.  I am using the NAPA product but most all shops sell something like this.  I tend to go at finding all spots that need attention mark them with a piece of painters tape and then go after filling the locations.  A day later I spend the day sanding down the spots.  This routine continued for three weeks until it was good enough for my liking.   Of course I was getting very tired of this routine by now.  It won't be smooth like factory made skins.  The primer/filler is Featherfill G2 lightweight, I find it is going on very nice for me.  It is thinned 5% with Acetone using my HVLP gun with a #18  tip.  It is leveling and filling holes and scratches as I had hoped.  I am going to leave it in primer/filler for quite a long time so I can tackle areas needing more attention even after test flying.  Hopefully summer 2021.

Final puttying & sanding

 

More P&S

 

Featherfill G2 going on the fuselage.

 

Wind came up so moved into the open hangar for more painting

 

Fuselage now has two coats of Featherfill G2

Filling & Sanding & Filling & Sanding & Filling & Sanding

 July through August 2020

Two full months of filling and sanding the airplane with micro filler.  This is quite a chore and all who walk by the hangar say I must have a lot of patience and more than they.  Micro/epoxy is my choice of fill material on all low spots on the plane.  First off it is the lightest filler that you can use and is the least expensive if you are mixing it up yourself.  As is mentioned in literature it needs to be roughly the consistency of whipping cream but must have all shinny reflection out of the mix by adding enough micro-balloons.  The trick is to get it thick enough that it will sand quite easy but still be wet enough that you can spread it ok.  This took me a while to get consistency.

Two ailerons on the wing, two flaps on floor and rudder. 

 

 

The canopy came with a protective rubberized spray on coating inside and out.

 

 

 

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.