The week after the plane was moved to the airport I took 1/2 days from work so that I could keep up with the critical items at work, but still put in a lot of hours, since my project is now 30 to 45 min away. I put in 7-10 hour days for 6 days and got the control surfaces all on and adjusted to have the correct movement. Weighted the plane, tested and calibrated the fuel gauges, had first engine start, debugged a few problems, and then on the 7th day had my DAR inspection. What a whorl-wind of a week.  Plane being wieghed. Came in at 1692 lbs. 662 Right 668 Left 362 Front Seems to be a little more tail heavy than some others I have seen, I was hoping on coming in under 1700, so at least that is good. I have a plush interior, and sound insulation everywhere, so I knew I would be above Van's published numbers of 1630. Paint may be on heavy since it was my first paint job. Vic did my DAR inspection. Vic was great and gave some good advice. 2 flight critical things he found (neither of which would have PROBABLY cause a problem, but definitely needed fixed.) were the right aileron was hitting the Auto Pilot pitch stop instead of the aileron stop. This caused it's travel to be 2 degrees less. The other item was 2 jam nuts on the elevator trim had not been tightened. Over time this could have allowed the trim system to unscrew itself, possibly resulting in a loss of trim. (Although the other end jam nut was properly tightened). Overall a great day. I have a couple of lighting issues to deal with and have to put the cowl and all the access panels back on. Expect first flight to be next week sometime. |
Firewall Forward >