Bill's Aviation Log

Bracket installed and looking at the throttle side. Thre throttle cable length is perfect.

Yes, I know, I still have to drill the little gold bracket to the main bracket. Plus you can trim the unused part of the bracket, saving a few ounces.

The fuel hose going into the throttle quandrant is perfect length too.

Unfortunately, the fuel hose from the fuel injection spider on top of the engine to the fitting on the back of the throttle quadrant is too short -- almost as if it was designed to go to the front of the throttle quadrant -- so a new one will have to be ordered.

Each E-Mag requires a manifold pressure input. The Engine Information System (EIS) also needs an input. We have a Garmin EIS; it's transducer is locaated on the firewall forward manifold, which is very convenient, by the way.

So, to make all this happen, Nhu-An bought the very nice manifold pressure hose kit from Tom Swearengen and TS Flightlines. In this picture, you can see how the manifold pressure hose from the engine (#5 cylinder) is split three ways, to feed the two E-Mags and the Garmin MP transducer.

The main fuel line coming from the cockpit to the fuel pump.

I kind of enjoyed doing some pure aluminum work. I used the trusty old Cleaveland Main Squeeze for riveting. I sure have got my money's worth out of that tool.

A look at the spinner back plate.

Having bought the spinner and backplate was a huge time-saver. I remember spending a lot of time fashioning the spinner and backplate on my RV-7 build. Plus the spinner looks great.

Finally we were ready to start work on the cowl. We got it down from the storage shelf, where it had sat for years, cleaned the dust off, and started work.

Frankly, the top and bottom cowls don't fit together very well. A lot of trimming is in our future!

Now you see why we needed the spinner/prop mounted. The front of the cowl has to be 1/8" aft of the back of the spinner. Then you trim the aft end of the top cowl so it butts up against the fuselage.

February 8, 2025 - RV-10 Status
The control cable supporting bracket gets bolted in front of the throttle quandrant. Of course, I ended up moving the bracket about a half inch to the right and aft a little so the controls could move easier. Live and learn.

Speaking of learning, I realized that the cabin heat ducting needed installation. This is looking forward under the panel to the firewall where three of the four duct ends needed to be attached and secured with a hose clamp. I was able to get the pilot side but simply could not get the co-pilot side. I asked one of the Essex Skypark young A&P bucks to do it, and he was able to get it done in less than ten minutes! How he did it, I have no idea. If you are building a RV-10, do yourself and favor and do this early in the project! Don't be like me.

The firewall forward kit came with a nice steel (powder-coated) bracket to support the throttle and mixture control cables. It was fine for the throttle cable but not even close on the mixture cable. I'm guessing it is because we have a Airflow Performance throttle quadrant instead of a carburator. I checked Vans and they didn't seem to sell one that would work for us, or if they did, it was out of stock. But Airflow Performance sold a very nice one and Nhu-An ordered that. It's not cheap, mind you.

Bracket installed and looking at the throttle side. Thre throttle cable length is perfect. Yes, I know, I still have to drill the little gold bracket to the main bracket. Plus you can trim the unused part of the bracket, saving a few ounces. The fuel hose going into the throttle quandrant is perfect length too. Unfortunately, the fuel hose from the fuel injection spider on top of the engine to the fitting on the back of the throttle quadrant is too short -- almost as if it was designed to go to the front of the throttle quadrant -- so a new one will have to be ordered.

The new bracket is perfect for the mixture side as well. Unfortunately our mixture cable is 3 inches too long, so a new one is being ordered.

Stepping back and looking at the project.

Each E-Mag requires a manifold pressure input. The Engine Information System (EIS) also needs an input. We have a Garmin EIS; it's transducer is locaated on the firewall forward manifold, which is very convenient, by the way. So, to make all this happen, Nhu-An bought the very nice manifold pressure hose kit from Tom Swearengen and TS Flightlines. In this picture, you can see how the manifold pressure hose from the engine (#5 cylinder) is split three ways, to feed the two E-Mags and the Garmin MP transducer.

The firewall forward manifold. At left is oil pressure, center is fuel pressure, and right is the manifold pressure. We haven't installed the MP transducer yet.

The main fuel line coming from the cockpit to the fuel pump.

It was time to start work on the cowl. But before we could do that, a few things had to happen. We had to install the Camlock brackets on the firewall and we had to hang the prop and spinner. I edge-smoothed and match-drilled the Camlock brackets. Then on a relatively sunny and warm winter day Don primed the brackets.

Two days later the weather reverted to form and Essex Skypark was a lake.

But that didn't stop me from clecoing on the Camlock brackets in preparation for riveting.

Ready for riveting!

And just like that, it's done.

I kind of enjoyed doing some pure aluminum work. I used the trusty old Cleaveland Main Squeeze for riveting. I sure have got my money's worth out of that tool.

I pulled the polished aluminum spinner out of its box.

A look at the spinner back plate. Having bought the spinner and backplate was a huge time-saver. I remember spending a lot of time fashioning the spinner and backplate on my RV-7 build. Plus the spinner looks great.

Chuck came over and helped us attach the back plate to the prop. Then we installed the prop on the engine. The prop is a Hartzell constant-speed, 3-bladed, composite. It goes on the same way my Hartzell blended-airfoil prop goes on my RV-7. I am VERY familiar with installing the Hartzell prop. Here Nhu-An and Chuck are turning the six nuts that hold the prop on. It's a tedious process.

Now Nhu-An and Chuck installing the polished spinner.

I even helped a little bit.

Finally we were ready to start work on the cowl. We got it down from the storage shelf, where it had sat for years, cleaned the dust off, and started work. Frankly, the top and bottom cowls don't fit together very well. A lot of trimming is in our future!

Now you see why we needed the spinner/prop mounted. The front of the cowl has to be 1/8" aft of the back of the spinner. Then you trim the aft end of the top cowl so it butts up against the fuselage.

Here Nhu-An is trimming the top cowl with the Dremel tool. It's unwise to trim the cowl with only one cut. We ended up making four cuts, each one getting closer to the final cut.


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February 8, 2025 - RV-10 Status