Author Archives: bfay500
Section 56 – Garmin Autopilot Servos
Because I am using all Garmin for the avionics, I naturally will use Garmin autopilot servos. These are the motors that will fly the airplane when the autopilot is engaged. I am going with one to control roll (in the wings) and one to control pitch (attached to the elevator). I am not doing yaw […]
Section 50 – Control Cables – 10 Hours
Kind of exciting from a pilots standpoint, this section is where all the control cables are installed including I bought a custom overlay to go over the cable bracket with labels identifying the function of the cables. The FAA may or may not require this type of labeling so I went with it just in […]
Section 49 – Fuel and Oil System
Here the various fuel and oil lines are added to the engine. Mostly in the area between the firewall and the engine. Also, the oil cooler radiator is added to the firewall and connected to the engine with some of these hoses.
Section 47 – Cowl Baffle – 37 Hours
The cowl baffle is designed to force all the cooling air, that enters through the openings of the cowl inlet, over the tops of the cylinders, and then down through the bottom back part of the cowl. This hopefully gives the most efficient cooling flow of air over the engine. The idea is that the […]
SECTION 45 – COWLING – MOSTLY COMPLETE – 8 HOURS
I mentioned in the previous post that I was unsatisfied with how the hinge attaches the upper cowling to the firewall, and that I will Skybolts instead. The Skybolts arrived and I installed them over the last week. Skybolt is a company that makes a variety of 1/4 turn camlocks used by aviation and even […]
Section 45 – Cowling – Partially Complete – 38 Hours
I am not all that far from completing this section but decided since I am on a roll with the other posts, I might as well write here as well. This is one of those dreaded sections because it is mostly Fiberglass work. The cowling halves are provided by VANS but they need to be […]
Section 44 – Spinner and Propeller (preliminary) – 2 Hours
I say preliminary here because the prop was partially installed merely for proper alignment and spacing of the cowling which is Section 45. Here, I installed the spinner plate and then the prop to the engine. It was later taken off because it gets in the way in my limited workspace. Clocked at the 2 […]
Section 43 – Engine Installation – 20 Hours
This was the big step: receiving and installing the engine. I ordered a Lycoming IO-340EXP119 Thunderbolt engine from Vans in Dec 2021. The original delivery date was sometime in October 2022 but I never expected, or wanted it, until later. It finally was delivered in early July which turned out to be perfect timing because […]
Paint Scheme
A while ago I gave an idea of what I thought would be a paint scheme for the airplane. I have since been working with Scheme Designers (https://schemedesigners.com) to come up with a more professionally designed scheme. We have pretty much settled on this: The wing design is next.
Avionics Planning and Installation
It has been several months but that doesn’t mean I have been idle. For the last 14-15 months, in parallel with the other steps, I have been planning the schematic for the panel. In fact, I estimate that I have put well over 100 hours into the schematic alone. Using a combination of internet resources, […]
The Fay's RV-14A N124KB 