A little here, a little there...

While the floor pan was being done I started on other stuff. It was actually fortunate the project was held up because I kept going "Ok, still waiting on the pan, what can I do this week?" and I ended up doing a lot of work that would have been difficult with the hull/frame mated.

Some bolts got pulled and a coating of Par-al-ketone applied as anti-corrosion.

And there was a mod where the pitch trim springs are split in two. This keeps the springs from compressing/bending when the trim is run full travel.

The SeaReys controls uses bolts directly touching thin aluminum tubing, and over time these tubes have found to become elongated due to loads. Others stared adding bronze bushings to the control linkages, so I did. The bushings are available from McMaster-Carr or Aircraft Spruce.

Next was to install the aileron torque tubes. Doing this meant I was confident the frame was ready for mate, since I often rested the frame on a small stepladder while working on it, and the linkage would be in the way.


One problem immediately came up, the seat pan was in the way. 

A change to the manual, the bell crank bearing now goes on top of the bell crank, and the torque tube has been shifted to sit under the bellcrank. I will say this, PA has been cranking out revisions to the manual much better lately.

 One change I made was to replace the -A bolts with drilled and keyed ones. The fender washers will keep the tie rods from coming off the bolts in the event of failure of the bearing inside the tie rod, but I could only fit it on one side so I put th washer on the pilot's side. What are the odds of the bearing failing? Slim. What are the consequences? Catastrophic. A fraction of an ounce of prevention....

This was about when I began to get annoyed with visitors and started leaving the hangar doors closed. I'd have all the linkages set with levels...

and be bent into awkward positions under the airframe, obviously busy, trying to make a perfect alignment. Someone would stop in and want to talk, or I'd hear the same joke about "When is it going to fly??" or "Not done yet?"

What I could have used was someone saying "Need a hand?" But if they weren't going to offer, I figured I didn't want their help. Yeah, my Dark Knight side occasionally beats out my Jedi Knight side. But I try.


And everything got a pass with a torque wrench and torque sealed.