Ah, yes it seems I’m taking too many steps backward right now, but I will
go forward again. When I first flew it, I had bare bones flight
instrumentation, a handheld radio mounted in my panel, no x-ponder, and a
panel full of automotive engine gauges (the EM2 was still in pre-production).
As I could afford it and new stuff became available or affordable, I added to
the panel. When I first moved to the airport I rented hangar space from a small
regional airline in an huge old WW2 hangar that was affordable at $270/month in
the summer, but winter rates were $1050/month (and there was a waiting list for
the winter!) And there was a several hundred (can’t remember exactly how
much) dollar surcharge if you opened the huge hangar door when the temp fell
below a certain temp to cover heating costs(and that was before this latest
huge increase in natural gas costs). Needless to say I’ve been parked
outside on the apron since then.
I’ve since added a Dynon, EM2, X-com, Micro-Air X-ponder, other assorted
gadgets, along with a number of FWF modifications, all done while parked on the
apron with all my tools carried in the truck. As you can imagine this is never
the best scenario for working on a plane as it always seemed that I would
forget to bring a crucial tool or something unforeseen would occur or a storm
would appear or sometimes it was just to damn cold to work your fingers. With
that said I always ensured that my installs were safe and properly done,
however I always knew that I’d likely have done something’s
differently had I been working in my heated well lit shop where I built it.
Building this plane was an extremely gratifying achievement and was immensely
enjoyable, as was flying it, however the requirement to work on it outside in
adverse conditions began to wear on me and I found myself less inclined to make
the long drive up to the airport. This combined with my long trips back to tech
school every year, and soon I had an airplane that I didn’t want to fly
until I had the time to do a fair bit of maintenance on it, but I didn’t
have the time to do it. Finally with another winter approaching, I pulled the
wings and took it home.
Over the last year I built a large (32x36x12) shop attached to our new house,
and while it isn’t yet heated or have cement floor poured (I’m
doing everything myself and trying to pay as I go), it is a huge improvement
for working conditions. First thing I did was pull my D-10 and send back for
upgrade to D-10A, which requires rewiring the harness, which sorta opened a
huge can of worms. Didn’t need to, but everything I thought I could do
better now, ended up coming out. Allot of this was also done when I was still a
first year instrument mechanic apprentice, and now five years later as a
journeyman I’ve learned a few more tricks and feel I can and should
improve things. Another factor which pertains more to the FWF is that it was
all designed and built with no rotary flight experience, so when real world
testing proved some of my ideas flawed, alterations were once again performed
in a less than ideal circumstance. I’ve yet to begin dismantling anything
FWF yet (which is why I’m still quiet on the list), but a few things that
need addressing are; new rads (old ones still scarred from hail storm
encounter), comply with Tracy’s AD on the RD-1A (welded vs. pinned gear),
check oil o-ring again as oil press is low, ceramic coat exhaust pipes, plus an
assortment of other little items. Oh yeah did I mention the brake fire that
destroyed my wheel pant? So I better throw a little fiberglass time onto the
work schedule tooJ.
Unfortunately progress has slowed this month as on New Years day our deepwell
pump quit (556’ down) so had to be replaced, so I also began upgrading
the rest of the water system electrical control, then I melted down a piston on
my Ski-Doo (main mode of transportation to work in winter as I only live 3km
from work by trail, but 15.5km by road = 3minute commute vs. 20min), Then my
electrical system failed on my skidsteer, while I was working with it in a
really crappy location inaccessible by any vehicle that would have any chance
of towing it back to the shop, so I had to run hundreds of feet of extension
cord out to it to keep the block heater and work lights plugged in. Without
being able to lift off the cab this was a real bitch of a job. Made working on
the apron seem not so bad. Now the snow is getting high enough that my 3 horses
have finally figured out that they can step over the fence! So the last few
nights I’ve been woken up by the sound of horses calling and the dog
barking (you’d think they’d be smart enough to be quiet when they
escape, but no, they gotta holler and let everybody know they’re
out… damn hayburners). So the plan for tomorrow is to use the skidsteer
to dig the snow out from the fence line… sounds more fun than working on
the plane anyways… eat your heart out Florida J
So now you know why Endurance is coming apart. I think I’ll go mix
another hot buttered rum. Goodnight.
S.
Todd Bartrim
(still thinking of putting skis on the 9)
C-FSTB
Turbo13B RV9
http://www3.telus.net/haywire/RV-9/C-FSTB.htm
http://members.cox.net/rogersda/rotary/configs.htm#C-FSTB