Status info
A little current state info:
As far as I know, the Mattituck engine order is all good. We should see an O-320 engine with all the trimmings in a few months. We still haven’t done anything with the cowl and nose gear leg that either needs to be sold or returned to Vans. We still need to order the O-320 cowl, engine mount, and drilled gear leg from Vans. I’m thinking we’ll order that stuff from Vans, then ship back what we have in the same crate.
I ordered the Firewall Forward kit from Vans this week among other minor stuff. That was a big order ($5K+). My kit deletions included the wiring harness, alternator, and gascolator. I’m doing a B&C alternator (as well as a standby SD-20) with my engine package from Mattituck and an Andair gascolator from Vans.
I have an order placed with Affordable Panels for the TruTrak autopilot servos, AOA, and a custom cut panel. They have recently begun a policy to not do custom panel work unless you buy other stuff from them. Apparently they were having problems with people placing custom panel orders and reselling them with a markup. I also have orders ready for a bunch of electrical stuff from Steinair and B&C. Not to mention the perpetual order list from ACS.
Construction is in a funky state. Technically, fuselage construction is fully complete except for wing fitting and fuel and brake line plumbing. I have recently painted the lower forward fuselage interior parts that need paint, so I can proceed with some of the plumbing. I’m going to need to wait for the cabin fuel plumbing until I get my recent order from Vans containing the Andair fuel valve (I know, I said I was going to use the stock valve, but I couldn’t resist when it came time to spend the money), fuel pump, and firewall stiffener for the gascolator. Wing fitting is, well, a big scary thing in a small two car garage. The wings are currently in storage in the living room (did I mention that we own a hangar _chuckle_, Tanya is super cool about it). They still need the bottom skins to be riveted on before fitting but before that, I want to make sure all of the wiring and AOA tubes are going to fit in the conduit that is installed. Oh, yeah, and there is always that pesky Vans fuel tank pickup service bulletin that I’m going to comply with. Yep, so as soon as I get the AOA and some wire from Stein and get the bottom skins riveted on the wings, well do full wing fitting. Until then, I’m finding little random stuff to do.
Other big stuff that I’m thinking about is avionics. Obviously, since I’m prepared to have a custom panel cut, I know exactly what I want (three display GRT EFIS, EIS, GNS 430, audio panel, SL-40). But, the one rule that should not be violated while building a modern all electric airplane is to not purchase avionics until the very last moment possible. It is all computer stuff that is obsolete before it is even shipped. I figure that I will need the avionics in another three or four months. Which means it is getting very close to time to order this stuff. I’m going to do wiring and systems completion before engine mounting. Right now the fuselage is set super low to the floor which makes it real easy to work on. That will change after the engine is mounted.