Mike Robbins
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| Aircraft type: | RV-8QB |
| Builder number: | 80591 |
| Date started: | 12/31/97 |
| First flight: | 6/10/02 |
| E-mail: | robbinsrv8@msn.com |
Hi, I'm Mike Robbins. I live in Samamish, Washington, which is just east of Seattle. My RV-8 project is my third experimental aircraft project: I've already built a Volksplane and a Kitfox. I've tried to learn from my past projects, and also from other RV-8 builders. I have made several modifications to the RV-8 that will hopefully prove useful and that other builders might find useful... check them out below.
Here’s
where I spend 99% of my time when I'm not at work, or sleeping
(which I don't get enough of). I plan to add a section to the paint booth when he paints the wings and fuselage.
This shows the fuselage stiffener/bracket for the ELT and strobe power supply. This modification to the aft baggage compartment is to hopefully hold two folding bikes (Bike Friday, can be seen at www.bikefriday.com). My wife Jennifer and I are on the right... will our bikes fit? Read on.
I shortened the aft throttle as it will be (hopefully) rarely used, and put a cover over it for flying with kids, or anyone else I don't want messing with the controls. I've also added cockpit storage bins I'm installing along the right side. There are a total of three, the last being made from the Aft Cabin Cover, F-876. The forward and center bins were inspired by the ones Randy Lervold installed, which were in the front bay only. I have extended the concept back to the center bay and the cabin cover. All are installed with nutplates, so are removable. The pic on the right shows the aft throttle, aileron trim, forward throttle quadrant, and a few other odds and ends.
Both
fuselage mounted static ports and an input from the wing. This
shows the simple valve used to switch between the two systems. The
right pic shows the pitot and wing static lines routed through the
center opening in the spar.
Here's my variation
of access to the back of the panel. Thanks Danny King for the
inspiration. Using the straps when
installing the inner skin makes for a tight fit. Except that even
though I epoxy bonded both the inner and outer skins and used the
straps, the door still doesn't sit down in one corner. Oh
well. On to the next challenge.
Here's a view of the unfinished skirt showing the buildup along the aft sides to seal the gap and the aft end buildup, and a closer look at the aft buildup around the canopy rail. Finally, the inside surface of the skirt gets painted prior to final attachment to the frame. The extra time he has spent here working with fiberglass will prevent wind leakage in the back. I'm using PPG Concept for all interior and exterior surfaces.
I
opted to use screws to attach the canopy skirt and edge to the canopy
frame Here's a photo showing installation of one of the
66 rivnuts into the canopy frame. Details of the screws can be
seen below.
Here's the finished
canopy showing the fixture made to transport and store the
canopy off the airplane. You can see the
allen head cap screws he used to retain the skirt/canopy while he
painted it, and some of the SS #6 screws that will replace the cap
screws.
When
I layed up the windscreen fairing I used
"peel ply", which is nothing but dacron cloth used by
the rag and tube builders.
It smoothed out the surfaces and is the way to go. After the glass
had cured and some preliminary sanding,it was time to crack open
the canopy. But it wouldn't budge, not even with two people
pushing on both sides. So... I figured the only way to get
it open was to somehow do it from the inside. Jennifer, my
wife, was able to craw in though the forward baggage door opening
and ended up having to beat and pry it loose.
Here
is the fabrication of my wheel pant to gear leg fairings using oil based
modeling clay as the mold. A messy and time consuming operation, but it
works. You can see the use of dacron cloth (peel ply) to absorb extra
resin and smooth out the bumps and blend in the different layers. The
fairings were sliced at the rear with a dremel tool and removed.
Final
version of my upper gear leg intersection fairings.
Here is my panel just
before sending it off to Pacific Coast Avionics to have the Garmin
GNS-430 mounted. I didn't use any computer aided stuff at all,
rather I made up several foam board mockups and started dimensioning all
the holes, designing as I went. I ended up making four mockups
before settling on the final configuration. I made sure all
avionics and instruments in-house before making any cuts to ensure
there would be no interference problems. Using this method I discovered
I had to swap the audio panel from the top to the
bottom of the stack, moving the Garmin GNS-430 on top because it
would hit the bottom of the rear baggage bulkhead. I borrowed a friend's instrument hole punch and punched out all the
round holes, and used a Dremel with a cutoff wheel to cut out all
the square holes including the one for the HSI. In the end
everything fit. This was very time consuming, but
satisfying to know that it I did it. Okay, now what to do
with all these wires?
Most of
his electrical components are mounted below the front baggage compartment aft
bulkhead to allow access to this area through the front baggage
compartment. I'm using mostly fuse blocks plus six circuit
breakers per Bob Nuckoll's advice. I couldn't convince myself to
go 100% fuses. I'm also designed a cheap and
light external power plug made from commercially
available butt splices covered with vinyl tubing. I will
also
make custom jumper cables consisting of alligator clips on one end
and bare soldered covered wire on the other end which will plug
into the receptacle.
Panel almost finished and ready to install in the plane. Looks like this might take more than a weekend! On the right you can see how I cut my front stick in two and welded on a collar so it can be removed when I have to crawl under the panel.
A
tight fit, but it all worked out. Here's the finished product!
There's nothing like
bringing home a brand new Lycoming! Here's how we removed it
from the back of my Suburban. Two long ramps, two husky helpers
(well, hard working anyway), and an old boat winch.
Standard Van's issue fuel
selector valve. On the left you can see the routing of the 1/4"
purge valve return line which Ts into the right tank inlet line. I'm doing an
Airflow Performance fuel injection package on my O-360 A1A (from
Van's), on the right is the pump and filter installation. The smaller
1/4" line is the purge valve return line which goes back to
the right tank. The big vertical loop is the pump return.
Firewall just before installing the engine mount, arrangement of the firewall components on the right side including the manifold pressure line going to Van's manifold pressure gage and the LASAR computer, and how I routed the purge valve control cable for the AirFlow Performance fuel injection system. You can also see how I beefed up the rear baffle holding the oil cooler. There is also a .062 plate bonded and riveted to the back of the baffle. All angles are epoxied on as well as riveted. I may also add a brace from the baffle to the engine.
I added an alternate air door on the airbox in case the front inlet becomes blocked. The center pic shows the components on the left side. I installed all the firewall components before I mounted the engine, and I wouldn't change a thing. I am especially pleased with the orientation of the prop governor cable. Right pic: getting close to paint.
Let the painting begin. I'm getting to where I sort of like orange peel. This is the setup I used for painting the wings. Here this wing is being etched and alodined, one done and one to go.
Getting close...
Flight!!
Mods
made after flying: First, I
modified my tail wheel to give me more ground clearance. The tail wheel
post had bottomed out a couple of times in ruts, and
Source: Bradford Heinitz, The Aerodyne Shop, 360 403 8737