Up and Down

 Up: Harbor Freight motorcycle jacks lift her up to swing the gear.

 

 Down: Road trip to the Mothership (Lockwood Aviation in Sebring, FL) for refresher training on the Rotax engine.  Read about it here: University of Rotax. One builder's lessons to learn before maintaining a Rotax 914.

Medusa uncombed

 We're working on her, but all the wiring is proprietary to Jim Ratte, the SeaRey Specialist, so I can't show you how or what we've been doing, sorry. 

If you don't run your engine within 12 months of delivery the warranty is void, but can be extended if certain procedures are followed. The wood 2x4 gives me leverage to do the prescribed procedure. 

 

From high to low....

 Long time ago I put some Keelguard on her, turned out they had a bad batch and it started peeling off. Good news was that they sent me a replacement Keelguard for free, bad news was that I had to get rid of it all. 

Tried it by had with a plastic scraper for a while, but quickly tired of it.

They also recommend a fancy spray to remove the glue, or MEK, or acetone. I used one can of the $23 fancy spray, then used acetone. The fancy spray said it was "extremly flammable", and one whiff told me I needed to use it outside. Should have saved my money, the acetone took the glue right off. Waited for a couple hot days so the glue would be softer, then went at it. Even with a face shield and safety glasses I did get a bit of the fancy spray in my eye once, glad there was a hose nearby to give it a good long flushing out. I can see clearly now, the crud is gone....

Then it was time to reapply the new strip.

The compound curve at the front tip gave me trouble on the first one, so I vacuum bagged this one for a few hours.

Hanging it up...

 It's time.

 

 For once, weighing more than the engine came in handy. Gotta work on that, though. 

Another day of playing "How long can you hold your breath?"

About 30 minutes later...

Do SeaReys dream of blue skies and what's out there? OspRey does. 

 

You never forget your first...

It's been..... almost 50 years. I was a kid dreaming of the sky. I can't believe she'd just appear one day on the ramp at my airport. 

 

Hello, old friend. You're as beautiful as I remember. 

 

 

Fueling around

Starting to work on the engine, I quickly discovered the muffler needed a diverter welded on it. A call to Jim, and it was on the way for a Florida vacation. 

That made me tackle something I've been avoiding. It's been over 10 years since I swung the gear and the wheel bearings needed to be greased. The Bellingham hangar had an overhead winch that could lift the entire airplane, there's no way I can rig one up in the new hangar so I finally had to break down and buy some Harbor jacks. BUT, it turns out the gear legs have changed, and the LSX legs are higher than the Classic legs. Even at full extension I needed almost 6" of additional blocks, and OspRey never felt safe when she was jacked up. Good excuse to break down, spend some money, and buy the bigger motorcycle/ATV jacks. She's solid as a rock on them, I can even *carefully* rock her back and forth if I need to apply a bit of effort.

And another miserable job to do. The keelguard I bought was delaminating, turns out they had a bad batch way back when. Good news is they gave me a new roll, bad news is I have to peel it and all the residual glue off. Groan....

 Next came the fuel system. PA uses a filter only, but I wanted a gascolator in my system. As much as I wanted to keep it SeaRey standard, the PA location/system just wasn't going to work for me. 

Luckily, my old friend Ken Berger built a beautiful fuel system so I took his basic design and updated it for OspRey. 

 

 

I also replaced the fuel sump hose. It was 11 years old and rubber should be replaced every 10, so while I had everything apart it was a good time. Getting the old hose off and the new one on was a 3 day process, when I worked my arm down into the sump area I KNEW it was going to hurt but it had to be done, and on the third day I felt the right shoulder go *pop*. I was supposed to start a 6 day trip the next day but that was out of the question. It sucks getting old.

 

Just before I left for this trip the muffler came. Beautiful work.

 

 Miss you, Ken. 

 

 

 

 

 

Medusa

 I'm told all these wires will go somewhere. The question is Where, and How? . 

 

 

Vehicle powered

 New wiring harnesses all hooked up. Still a lot to do, and I know there are problems yet to find, but we're rolling. 

More progress

First, MANY Thanks to The SeaRey Specialist Jim Ratte for standing by all day long while I did this, despite all the preparation it was an all day evolution while unexpected problems cropped up, like not being able to get the engine hoist over or around the shipping crate.   

Rotax, you are GO for docking

We have soft dock. A combination of flop sweat and holding my breath. Don't ask how much money is being held by that crane.

Hard dock.

And a table made from some scrap pieces of the crate and other wood underneath, just in case, so I can sleep at night or while on the road and not worry about the goddamn thing falling over while I'm gone. 

 Panel is labeled, finished, and remounted for final wiring.

Load test (and Ospreys made by frickin' laser beams)

 Lack of posts does not denote lack of progress. 

 

Yup, that will hold ~220# without tipping over. Although the entire load will sit another 2' out. Maybe I better add another couple sandbags, just to be sure....

 

Grrr.. Oh well. Another reason to make panel #??. AFTER she's flying.