I am checking off the last few things on my check list before inspection. The DAR wanted me to install an emergency fuel shut off control that is reachable by the pilot in flight. There is no documentation in the manual for one. Andy Millin documents a nice panel mounted installation, but my panel is crowded and I wanted it mounted in a more out of the way, yet still accessible location.
Half the effort in coming up with something like this is figuring out what location will work and not interfere with anything else. How do you route the cable? How do you determine the approach angle to the sump valve handle? How do you attach the darn thing?
I go into this in some detail here in the hope that this may help builders who have yet to come to this task. Here's my version of the keel mounted fuel shut off control.
First, find a location just under the forward most point of your seat pan's travel, then the rear most. This gives you the line and angle you cannot cross to avoid interference with the seat.
Then sit in the seat with the control in your hand and find a comfortable height above the floor where you can reach the control with either hand. Six inches from the floor worked for me.
Next, find a safe routing down the inside of the keel and mount standoffs every 18 inches or so for tie wraps. Bring the cable out the bottom 1/3 of the back of the keel, where it won't interfere with the aileron bellcrank travel. Curve it around to approach the fuel shut off through a hole in the keel. The proper approach angle is the line defined by points at each extreme of the lever's travel. Remember to keep the hole you drill in the lever close enough to the pivot point that the range of travel is within the range of travel of the control cable you buy.
Now, attach the cable to the bulkhead with an Adel clamp mounted to an aluminum bracket. Mark and cut the cable and attach it through the hole with a "Z bend".
The picture above shows the business end in the open position.
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Here is the valve in closed position with the control knob pulled out up by the pilot's seat. For reference, the aft and sump tank are to the right and the front is to the left.
It actually works!
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Here are the parts for the fuel shut off mounting. I made the bracket on the right out of angle, then painted it to match the carpet. I made the aluminum standoff to mount the placard on. I decided to add a 3/8 inch joggle so that it wouldn't be bent up at an angle by the carpet surrounding the mounting bracket. Hopefully, this will keep it square and I can then just stick on the placard.
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Here is the shut off mounted with AN-7 bolts and the placard affixed to the aluminum standoff. The joggle idea actually worked. I'm pleased with the finished product.
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Here is the seat in place with the shutoff control, placard and fire extinguisher mount all installed.
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Here is a better view of the seat position. The emergency fuel shut off control is just visible. I sat in the seat and it is easy to reach and operate. (and yes, I shut the door, turned on the panel and made airplane noises)
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Now that the fuel shut off control is finished, I'll follow up on some of the other ongoing projects I finished off.
Here is the finished installation of the HID ballast unit with the ballast mounted to the hard points, all the wires connected and tie wrapped.
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There is the final product - the very bright output from the new HID landing light. Notice how white the light is. It was worth all the extra work.
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The doors finally fit and close easily from inside and out!
Man, I was worried about this one. For those of you thinking about ordering new, lower profile door seals, don't rush it. Like many things Velocity, the seals work, but just take a lot of jiggery pokery to get right.
The first time you close the door, it will seem obvious that it cannot possibly work -as in way, way off. Well, close it as far as you can and leave it for a couple days. Then, come back and get the latches to engage, even just a little. This will likely involve someone, pushing down on the strake cut off , in on the bottom forward corner and REALLY pulling on the latch to get anywhere. Leave it like that for a week.
Then, the final fix. Note the jar of aircraft grade Vaseline sitting on the strake.
As pictured above, put a generous coating of Vaseline on the fuselage door trim. This allows the rubber trim piece to slide and find its final position. Once I added this , everything fit within one more day.
The bottom line is that patience and persistence can make it work.
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The gear system is almost finished with fine tuning. It goes up smoothly and stops with the main gear doors in perfect alignment with the fuselage. The dump valve works for emergency gear extension - down and locked every time. The only remaining glitch is the nose gear door cylinder. I spoke with Scott Swing, who diagnosed the problem as my putting in the sequence valve backwards almost 4 years ago. I'll turn it around, replumb it and that should solve my last issue.
On Tuesday, I'm taking a rare day off work and taking the plane to the A&P, hopefully for the final time. The agenda includes rewiring the newly engraved Infinity stick grip, replacing the overhauled prop governor, the faulty EGT probe and the sequence valve. It's an ambitious program. If successful, I'll taxi back to my hangar this time!
The "To Do" list is getting down to the last few items. The only remaining part to install is the ELT. I'm still waiting on ACK to ship the new 406 mhz units. Other than that, it's time to arrange for the DAR visit, insurance and refresher training at Velocity.
Only 148 days remain until Oshkosh. I still have a lot to do in order to get the plane flying, finish painted and the hours flown off before then. This next few months should be a lot more exciting than the past few years. I've got a room reserved, but no airfare. I am making every effort to fly in and hope that those of you who have followed this blog will stop by to take a look and say hello in person.
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