Brakes

Finished all the minor touch up under the inner wings, mounted the landing gear and turned the fuselage back to finish the electrics and engine stuff (the rest actually). Also removed the wind shield (thanks to AirWards kits).

Started to finish the hydraulic brake lines, and then I remembered something from earlier. The brakes are upside down in the drawings.

The break bleeder is on the lowest point. Unless someone have found up a gravity defying device, the only way to bleed the brakes is to put the aircraft upside down. Obviously the brake should be turned 180 degrees.

This is the wrong way:

But this is the right way:

This will also make the bleeder to be on the very top, as it should. The problem now is the brake lines are too short, and I need to get some new ones. I don't like the brass fittings either, brass screwed directly into the aluminium pads. It won't take long before corrosion occur here. I am actually contemplating getting some real Beringer wheels and breaks that are made to last, but I have to try these first and see how well they last.

Right inner wing and canopy finished

Finished riveting the skin on the right inner wing.

Then finished the canopy. Used some 1 and 2 mm rubber sheets and cut out pads to be able to fine trim the canopy glass onto the frame. The handle also works OK, could be smoother, but I think that requires a different design. I also found a small crack that I didn't see when the plastic was on. Just stop drilled it, but have to find out how to fix it properly later.

Right inner wing skinned

It will stay unpainted for a while, until I'm finished with the internals.

Skinning the inner wing sections

Finally time to skin the inner wing sections. They have to be skinned before mounting the landing gear, or there will be no room to pull lots of the rivets. I also need to get get it on it's feet so I can sit in it and make cool sounds :-)

First I fastened the "Tygon" pitot and static pressure tubes. Just stripped them on to the electric wire lines. I have never heard of Tygon tubing before, so I googled it:

Clear, Phthalate-Free Tubing
Tygon S3™ B-44-3 tubing is specially formulated for transferring a wide variety of beverages including soft drinks, fruit juices, flavored teas and bottled water. In virtually all cases, Tygon S3™ B-44-3 tubing will not affect the taste or odor of products transferred through it, while its excellent non-wetting properties facilitate complete drainage and permit simple flush-cleaning.

The glass-like clarity of Tygon S3™ B-44-3 beverage transfer tubing allows the user to see product flow through it, so visual monitoring of flow is easy. This is particularly helpful in controlling or adjusting flow during processing.

Features And Benefit

• Clear as glass for easy visual monitoring of flow

• Lightweight and flexible for easy, quick installation

• Broad chemical resistance

• Non-wetting properties allow easy cleaning and complete drainage

• Contains no BPA or phthalates

Aha, so that makes it good for pitot and static pressure tubing? Lightweight and flexible is good. Chemical resistance is also good I guess. Non-wetting properties is probably very good. Any water condensate will not stick to the walls, and therefore easily drain and evaporate, I guess.

Then I took some last pictures before putting the skin on (already drilled and countersunk)

Then I saw I had forgotten to prime the mating face under the doubler, so primed that and started riveting on the skin.

Canopy frame riveted and painted