Posted 4/28/2016
With this update, the end is finally in sight. Were it
not for rules and regulations, this plane could probably be at
least airborne and back on the ground safely, within maybe 10-15
hours of work. Thankfully there are regulations such as
the need for an airworthiness certificate, to keep the
excitement under control, as there are realistically quite a few
things to tidy up yet before any attempt at flight should be
made. Additionally, I would like to have at least the
fuselage and wings painted before I fly, just so I don't have to
take them back off again. I will probably wait, against my
own advice, on doing the wheel fairings, until after I fly it,
simply due to wanting to get the time flown off. Sadly,
any work you do AFTER flying, seems much more like general
drudgery, so I'll have some hours of suffering after I fly, just
like I did on the RV-10.
My registration paperwork has been sent out, so this is one of
the first write-ups made where the actual N-Number will be
posted. I had 2 of them reserved and didn't want to choose
right away. Whereas on the RV-10 there is much signficance
to my chosen N-Number (N104CD), on this project it was done much
simpler. First, I wanted a 2 number N-Number...and why not
go with 14 since it's an RV-14. Then I didn't really care
about the lettering, as long as it looked nice, and was easily
spoken to ATC. I find that having a 3-number with 2
letters gets tedious when speaking to ATC on IFR trips...so
anything short is much better for me.
The Air Filter used |
Van's uses a NAPA hose |
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Initial pics of my new
seats! |
By Flightline
Interiors |
My Prop Governor |
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My ELT |
Cap plugs to cover unused
Headset Jack Hole |
My EIS |
Glareshield Fan |
My VDO (ignore the SF and
OFF) |
My Manifold Pressure sensor |
Here are the cables I got as-delivered. The mixture and throttle cable should work for anyone doing the quadrant as I did, but the prop cable will likely be slightly different depending on how you drill the hole and route your cable. I purchased these part numbers, for just over $70 each. Mixture: 176-VTT-2-59.6
Throttle: 176-VTT-2.25-48.9 Prop: 176-VTT-2-54.5 The first number, 176 denotes the higher temp jacket. VTT is the cable type. The next number is the cable throw. When you order, you will want 2" as a minimum for ANY cable you use on the quadrant. On the throttle I actually ordered 2.25" because the control arm required 2.25" to get full travel. Unfortunately, the quadrant delivers a pretty standard 2 or more like 2.125" of travel when going stop to stop. The issue isn't really the quadrant, but the throttle body itself. It is very common to have to re-drill the arm on controls, or buy an arm of a different throw length. More on that below. |
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I didn't want these control cables to have early failure like the green ones did on my RV10, and with the Vetterman exhaust on my RV-14 the throttle cable is within .5-.75" of the exhaust pipe that runs under the engine sump, so it was time to heat shield the cable. For heat shielding, I did 2 things. First, I bought 3 feet of 1/2" fire sleeve (the silver stuff pictured above). This is the same stuff used on hoses, but I bought silver just because I could. Next, I went on amazon and bought reflective "Thermaflect sleeve" in the 3/4" size, that velcros over the firesleeve. It fits about perfectly. This fire shield says it's good for 1000F continuous, 2000F intermittent, so it should do well. I'm going to put this over my fuel hoses as well. Anything silver and reflective will actually reflect a lot of heat away from your hoses and cables. Below you can see pictures of the 2 parts installed on the cable...the ends are sealed with red hi-temp RTV. Above are the clevis and clevis pins used to connect the cable to the throttle quadrant. A standard 10-32 jamb nut, and small cotter pin and light AN960-10L washer is also required. Below you can see some parts baggies that I bought from Van's. They provide control cable end kits. I purchased these before I remembered I'd be getting some of these parts with the FWF kit. So I have many spares now. But these kits are pretty nice because you can ensure you get the proper quantity of the special washers/spacers and things. Also below is the STOCK Hartzell arm. This arm, in my opinion, is way too short. First of all, because of the short length, it required Van's to mount the control cable rod end on the OUTSIDE of the arm, which means the control doesn't pull in a straight line, but pulls at an angle. Not ideal....but by having a LONGER arm you can mount the rod end in a straight line with the cable pull, on the INSIDE of the governor arm. MUCH nice...I should stress MUCH a little more. If you don't have a longer arm, the rod end would bind with the arm spring catch. With a longer arm it works perfectly. Also, the quadrant only gets about 1/2 throw with the short arm, but by using the longer arm you can get nearly full (not quite full) travel on the quadrant. Call Hartzell and they can set you up with the better arm. It comes with 3 holes in it, and they call it the universal arm. It's about $30. |
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A little more painful to deal with than the governor arm is the throttle arm. The stock IO-390 fuel system comes with an arm with 2" reach from pivot point to control hole in the arm. It also joggles over about .75" from vertical, being a bent arm. This is not ideal in 2 ways.... 1) With this arm the way it is, you get ALMOST full travel with the quadrant, but you will either not get fully to idle, or full throttle. 2) Just like the prop cable, in order to have this arm be pulled straight, Van's has you add a spacer to the inside of the arm. I did drill my arm (see pics below) and by drilling a 2nd hole just above the first, it did work just fine. The cable throw was PERFECT. My effective arm length now is a hair over 1-5/8". It actually functions fine that way, and I almost left it as-is. But, I wanted to improve the offset spacer/bolt situation a bit... Having that spacer (in my case about 3/4") in place, means that there is one other place that you can get a twisting torque on that bolt shaft...because if there were anything broken internally holding the throttle arm from moving, and you forced it, you could put a lot more force on the bolt shaft and potentially snap it or bend it. Reading through the forums, a lot of people have discovered that you can fix this by replacing the arm. Avstar sells a mixture arm that is straight...same type of arm as the throttle arm, but straight, and it's 1-5/8" long. By using that arm, you can have it all....a cable that doesn't require the spacer, pulls in straight alignment, and gives you full control travel with a bit of cushion on both ends so you can guarantee you get full throttle and full idle out of your throttle cable. The only down side is you'll bay about $78 plus shipping, for the new lever arm, part number AV2522004. Once installed, my cables can get full control throw to both stops on the throttle body. |
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These pictures above and below
show some of the hole drilling on my existing lever if you
go that route, and also show the new prop lever and it's
new control throw on the quadrant. No binding and I
can put the rod end on the inside of the arm now. |
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