Carlson Skunk Works

August 31st, 2017

AMF 14H MARANDA SN:1026 Making Sawdust August 31st, 2017

Posted by Roger in news

WOW!!!
My last post was in March!
Things have been happening since then. Progress has been made on Sawdust and we attended AirVenture. Of course, the main thing here is to document the progress on Sawdust.

The primary focus has been on the wiring, instrument panel, plumbing and firewall forward. At this point I have only a couple of wires to finish. These are the wires that will provide ground continuity from the engine to the engine mount, on to the firewall and gas tank, then finishing up at the bus bar.

These are my bus bars. The one on the pilot’s side of the plane is the positive and the one on the passenger side is the negative.

The aluminum angle will support the battery and a bracket will hold it to the firewall.

The other side of the firewall bulkhead has the voltage regulator. This also has room for the gascolator and the cabin heat duct.

The instrument panel is about ready to be pulled and finished. I am going to make an aluminum sheet section for the breakers to fasten to. This will be something like the one on the other side where the master switches are located.

I found an inexpensive throttle cable. For about $45 I got a 30 foot long remote throttle cable generally used for trucks and other equipment. However it works pretty well and was much less expensive than what was available in Aircraft Spruce. This cable can be locked in place when the desired setting is reached and has a vernier mechanism that allows fine adjustment by turning the knob. The red button overrides the vernier control for rapid changes.

The fuel line plumbing is done. Well, it is figured out and the rough installation is complete.

I have the tail feathers fitted and am ready to install the rudder pedals and cables.

My big purchase at AirVenture was the propeller. I knew that I had some bolts at home that would be too long, but the right diameter, so I waited until I got home to try to figure out how long the prop bolts would need to be. I put a bolt through the holes and marked the length. Then I wrote down the length and proceeded to order the bolts. When they arrived I found out that I had measured correctly, but wrote the length an inch too long. So, I ordered a second time. When the bolts came they were 1/4″ too long!!! The “correct” bolts are supposed to arrive at home in the mail today. Wish me luck!

The other thing that I did was to install the cable for the remote switch for the ELT. I still have to solder the ends of the cable to the switch and get the power connected properly.

Just keeping on keeping on.

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