Jamie,
we are firmly locked into the 90/90 rule - 90% completed and 90% to go. Having said that we are now going to beat the 787 to flight. The engine runs were satisfactory and the 912 fired up 2nd go - not bad for 4 years in a box. The cooling system mods (all the rads in the nose on a custom plenum) appears fine and I have now managed to get ALL the instruments working.
The engine mount extensions turned out easier than imagined - in fact I managed to upset our 'metal wizard' by asking when these would be fully incorporated. In fact they had been done for a while and they were so neat that I couldn't see them added to the stock mounting). A reverse compliment if there ever was one.
The cockpit is just about complete apart from labels - what a nightmare that is.. We have the canopy surrounds to finish and one aileron to rivet up. There was one aileron with a small 'factory damage' nick in the lower trailing edge that needed fettling - so that one was left behind the assembly process.
I managed to find some blade server fans - dual counter rotating 2" units - that solved the demister power beautifully. The undercarriage controller worked perfectly and took just 2 hours to wire up. Considering that it took me six months to R&D and develop it - that was (hopefully) expected.
Here are some more photos. We roll her out for final engine runs and taxi tests this weekend (18/09) and will hopefully send her to flight line mid November. Flight tests will take a couple of weeks - depending upon the weather. I have booked leave to do the performance testing, but I have implemented the Dynon data gathering software - so that will not take very long compared with a pencil and kneepad job.
The Wattle Witch is proving invaluable in doing the training and she is sorting out everyone's Tail Dragger skills nicely. No more flying in big boots around here - it's gym shoes or bare feet to keep this lady from wobbling
The stock phrase seems to be - "If you can fly that bitch - you can fly anything", which is just what is needed really.
Oh and yes, all the cowls and panels were English Wheeled from flat stock. We had to use a slightly thicker, softer alloy on the cowls to achieve the curvature, but the results are stunning (if I say so myself) - even close up. The biggest problem we have with visitors is to keep their sticky hands off the rivet lines
All the piccies are here :
Picasa Web Albums - Ken - NZ Warbirds T...
Some teasers here ....
MG