I was able to get quite a bit done today with the electric flap system. It really is a very ingenious set up, that at first seems complicated, but after a little review is very simple and structurally strong.
I started with the weldment and was pleasantly surprised that it fit so well and that there was very little distortion. I was able to match drill the Delrin mounting blocks after a preliminary fit with some plywood shims. I drew a centerline on the blocks and marked the holes through the holes in the frame. After jigging on the drill press, they fit right in place. What didn’t work per the plans is the center block. If you were to follow the dimension on the plan the forward hole would come out on the vertical of the seat frame. Opps, Van did bad. The good news is the block has extra material on the forward side, so I just moved the hole back .375” cut off the excess, and trimmed the baggage floor board to fit and all is well. The bar rotates perfectly now in the Delrin bushings and is located in exactly the right place. The flap electric motor channel was fun to build and was fabricated exactly to plans. It is really nice when the plans work and everything fit like a watch. I only need to build the side panels for the flap motor and cut some large holes for the flap push rod. After this is complete, this part of the construction will be done. This was an entirely wonderful part of the plane to build and I enjoyed it thoroughly. I am hoping for more just like it, unfortunately there are so many bad stories out there about the demons in the canopy and cowl that it sort of sets you up with a bad attitude. Maybe it would be better not to read all that stuff. This is really alot of fun.
