A little progress XL H-58

[Chuck in Indiana]

Thanks, Keith..  It would look "better" with another coat, but paint weighs a lot. After all, this is (hopefully) a flying machine, and a fancy paint job and interior only makes it fly slower and not climb as well.. 
Just MHO..

[Chuck in Indiana]

Painted the tops of both wings today. I'll get the bottoms tomorrow.

If I had it to do again..  I would have used a system other than Poly Fiber. The reason I used it was:
(1) I had the fabric and a couple of gallons of poly brush, etc. laying around.
(2) I'm familiar with it.
But..
I think some method of just covering and rolling on one coat of house paint would be better. It would certainly be cheaper, less labor intensive, and probably lighter, although a gallon of Poly tone will easily paint the whole airplane with one coat.

[Chuck in Indiana]

And now for the fun stuff.. the labor is (mostly) done, and it's time to assemble and make it all work. 

[Chuck in Indiana]

Continuing on the fun part..  control stick and floorboard in for the last time.

Stabs on, rudder and elevators hinged.

Tailfeathers roughly rigged.


Tomorrow will be spent adding and subtracting washers for final rigging and cable tension. That will be kind of a PITA, but (ahem) assuming I didn't make any of the cables too long.. that will be another milestone.

[Chuck in Indiana]

Back in the distant past, 914 Pete said,

I followed the plans for my XL and found the 36" length too short. 5'9" avg. build. When sitting in the seat I felt like I was sliding forward. I added an additional 6". Now I feel like I'm more settled in a "sling." It's very comfortable. Plenty of room above the torque tube. Matter of fact, I wish I added 7". Also, it would have been easier to go long and shorten the seat rather then having to lengthen it after finishing it. The width is ok.

so I made the length 42 inches.I had my lovely assistant come out and check the seat bottom for clearance before installing it for the last time. She said, "plenty of clearance on the top pulley, but the up elevator cable is just touching when you scoot forward a bit."
Took 1 inch off the bottom..

Reinstalled, and she said I had at least one finger's width of clearance. When I put Mouser's seat in there, there is a *lot* of clearance because it spreads the load over more area of the sling. So if someone finds this some time in a search, there you have it. 

[Chuck in Indiana]

Yep, looks like unbleached muslin to me..

Everything rigged and working, brakes hooked up, and I can sit in her and make radial engine noises..

[Chuck in Indiana]

Installed the firewall. Motor mount, oil tank, barely seen fuel pump, and voltage regulator on this side.

Coil pack and unbelievably light weight lithium battery.

Went for a short flight (in the shop) and visibility will be awesome. Even better than a Cub with the doors open.

[Chuck in Indiana]

Another milestone, the engine mounted for the last time. 

Stuck the prop on for a picture..should have adequate power. 

[Wayne Munich]

Do you have any grease plates for the wheels to see how much gear movement happens with you and the engine?
Wayne

[Chuck in Indiana]

Do you have any grease plates for the wheels to see how much gear movement happens with you and the engine?
Wayne

Nope. I eyeballed a little camber into it when building the gear, and so far.. 

[Wayne Munich]

BTW it looks great. I still haven't worked any more on mine. Still have to carve the  prop and do a break in. Maybe some engine noise will inspire me.
Wayne

[Chuck in Indiana]

Hope you are doing ok, Wayne.. and wishing you the best. I just finished what I wanted to get done before the holidays, so will be taking a break until after the first of the year.
Oh. And thanks..

[Theodore]

time stamp
2 years 9 months 1 day 6 hours
class rating 'Expert'
i know of a father son team also 'expert' class rating(AnP, career aviator) they 4 years
Im two years wait three now and have time before the snow melts(i work at golf course), i have had life get in the way(two deaths in family, covid, economy) not to mention the back to work thing. I have a C 120 to continue my flight training(tail dragger) and field close by but WHERE IS THE TIME???
Way to go Chuck, Dan, Steve, oh and Leonard. I choose LE and sticking to it! Much support and info here! although i wanted to build "backyard flyer" but no plans.
Thank you
Theo

[Chuck in Indiana]

^^^^^ It takes a lot of time. Leonard says if you can't do it in 6 months you are slackin'.. but.. salesmen have a license to lie.   When I first looked at the plans, I thought, "2 years if a guy stays right at it," and I think that is about right.. IF.. you have been down this road before. All bets are off if this is the first time you've built an airplane. There is a fair amount of thinking involved to build it.  That is why prefabbed "kits" are so popular.

[Chuck in Indiana]

Fun stuff here: making sure all the hardware is correct and properly safetyed. I start at the tail and look at each. I'll get another pair of eyes on it before flight, though. It's amazingly easy to miss something. As I was going forward, I just had regular an365 nuts on the landing gear. The verbiage is "subject to rotation" when it needs to have a castle nut and cotter pin.  Had to get the cherry picker out and change out that hardware.
Still fun stuff to be assembling for the last time, though.