Finish Kit

The finish kit arrived with parts for the landing gear, canopy, engine shroud, wiring, rigging, optional lights, optional seats and interior, optional factory finished gas tank and optional wheel fairings. I did not install the rear canopy as access is still needed to install the wiring and rigging. I did drill out and tap the matching holes in the roll bar for the rear canopy. The seat cushions are a great help in allowing me to work on the wiring without injuring the plane or the amateur builder! I am very glad that I did not install the rear canopy as access is tough enough with the rear canopy removed.

Section 30 Wing Attachment

I elected to delay the wing attachment as I continue to work in my garage. However, the fuselage pin stopper assembly is required to install the wiring harness.

30-02 Step 3

I had difficulty cutting the piece of PT 1/4OD tubing to exactly 1/4 inch so that it was flush with the bushing. Consider inserting the tubing into the bushing until it is flush on one end and then use a box cuter to cut the tubing to length flush on the other end of the bushing. You can then use the remaining tubing to push out the cut section if you need to file it for final fitting.

Section 31B Wiring Kit Installation

I was able to do all of this section except testing the trim control motor orientation as that step will need to be done later when I re-attach the tail feathers for final rigging.

31B-04 Step 2

Since I have removed the tail feathers I needed to defer installing the trim pins into the main wiring harness. I did pass the trim wiring through the heat shrink of the main wiring harness.

31B-05 Step 3

As I have an older kit, I needed to add an extra opening in the base of the instrument bay for the new ADS-B antenna. Van's will send you the Section_53 SkyView ADS-B in pdf if you request this document or you can download the version they sent me by clicking the file at the bottom of this page. The document indicates where to add the additional opening to the instrument bay base. If you remove (and then slit) the wiring snap bushings from the main bulkhead you can pass the ADS-B antenna into the tail section without drilling any additional openings into the F-1204A or F-1204D. You can then replace the bushings using the slit to position the antenna inside the snap bushing.

31B-06 Step 2

My flow sensor simply shipped with three bare wires. I contacted Van's support and I am hoping that they will ship me the necessary parts to create a Molex connector to the fuel flow sensor.

31B-07 Step 1

As other builders have noted, the opening in the F-1203A is seriously undersized for the current aux connector. I measured the aux connector at 8.07 mm (or .286) inches and the opening in my plane at 7.37 mm X 5.99 mm. I simply used a step drill to open the hole until the aux connector would just barely passed and snap in, de-burred the opening, and installed the aux connector.

31B-09 Step 9

The ES-00010 Molex Plug 9 has markings on the side delineating the pin numbers. The markings are very difficult to see.

31B-10 Step 5

On testing, my reed switches only work when they are just above the steel sleeve on the fuselage pin stopper. Worst, if the reed switch is not in near contact with the reed stopper, it must be above the steel sleeve to activate. So in the real world, the reed switch needs to be mounted as close to the underside of the armrest and in contact with the flange in the armrest. Even with the reed switch mounted near the underside of the armrest, I had to remove 1/32 of an inch of steel sleeve on the right side, and 1/8 inch of steel sleeve on the left side to activate the reed switches. Inserting the tiny snap bushings and then inserting the tiny wires through the snap bushings was a challenge.

Update: Van's has modified the switch hardware available as a retrofit to a mechanical spar switch.

31B-12 Step1

Make sure you buy a flexible bike handle not a rigid handle. I tried using soapy water at first to install the grips and ended up using silicon spray.

31B-12 Step 2

Since we are screwing the push to talk switch into the handle bar plug, I removed the extraneous washer and nut on the push to talk switch.

31B-12 Step 3

After much experimentation, I resorted to using a vacuum to suck up a piece of yarn fed in from the bottom of the control stick to the top of the control stick. Amazingly this works well. I then use the yarn to pull the push to talk wires down the control stick.

Note: Consider drilling and grinding the control stick bearing and the control stick per plans 32-05 Step 2-5 BEFORE you pull the wire through the control stick.

31B-15 Step 7

My red WH-P485 wire had a large connector attached. I recommend passing this wire earlier in the build process while there is still room for the connector to pass through the bushings.

31B-25 Step 3

Don't worry if your wire bundles are not perfect as I needed to drop the rudder pedal assembly anyway to install the wireway. I divided the wires into two bundles and installed the wireway. Then I reinstalled the rudder pedals.

I was able to pull the three wires through the roll bar using safety wire. Not sure how I got that to work.

Section 32 Controls

I plan to do most of this section and defer the final rigging until later, when I will attach the wings and tail feathers at the airport.

32-02 Step 3

I modified a spring loaded "cleco" clamp by grinding the nose of the clamp. This let me use the modified clamp to squeeze the cushion clamp, freeing up my hands to position and start the AN3 bolt into the nutplate.

It became obvious that the four brake lines from the right set of pedals that run through the cushion clamp need to be forward of the two runs of electrical wiring, so the the four brake lines run between the firewall and wiring harness. I can see that the cushion clamp stabilizes the brake lines such that they avoid the area where four bolts may protrude through the nut plates in the firewall.

My kit came with an FLF-00004 with a metal connector that attaches to the reservoir. It has a white coating of lubricant and it "will not hurt" to add additional thread sealant as instructed in the manual. I plan to use Loctite 567. I also ended up routing the two brake lines from the center tunnel forward of the wiring harness.

32-05 Step 5

I found that it is almost impossible to install the bearing spacers 5702-75-60 with the control stick in place. Since the washers are really just spacers, I use the standard Van's building technique to temporarily super glue the spacers to the bearing with the bolt in place. I removed the bolt before the super glue had fully hardened. Once dry, I was able to install the pushrod to the control stick as depicted. After connecting the control stick pushrod to the flaperon mixer bellcrank, I noted that the control sticks were flared outward in the forward position. As others have posted on line, the sticks move together in the neutral position and then back outward in the full aft position.

32-07 Step 12

I could not get the fork assembly into flap handle to allow insertion of the detent bracket assembly. Turns out there was some hanging chad inside of the flap handle tube at the posterior aspect of the superior opening. My concern is that this hanging chad could prevent full engagement of the fork assembly into the detent assembly if the fork assembly were to bind to any hanging chad.

I decided to install the landing gear next. I will leave out the factory built fuel tank until the wings are installed and rigged.

35-02

When building the nose wheel, I would leave the tube inlet washer and nut on the inlet tube. As per Matco, the washer and nut fit nicely between the wheel halves. On the mains, I only used the washer on the air inlet as there are not enough threads on the tube inlet to install the washer and nut on the external face of the wheel as depicted by Matco. So, to be clear, on the mains, I put the washer on the internal face of the wheel. I purchased a tube of Mobilegrease 28 from Amazon to pack the bearings. The rubber bearing seal is integrated and attached to the bearing. Special attention is needed to pack the grease pass the rollers into the bearing. If you hold the bearing seal, you can rotate the bearings to test the adequacy of the grease packing. I purchased and did not use anti seize.

I had difficulty starting the main brake fittings due to factory paint. I removed the interfering paint with a small piece of scotch brite pad. I then lubricated the fittings with brake fluid Royco 782 and was able to advance the fittings progressively. I then cleaned the fittings and inserted the fittings using Loctite 567 on the threads. The straight in fitting was torqued using a crowsfoot wrench at ninety degrees to the torque wrench to 40 inch pounds. The angled fittings were more problematic. One fitting was positioned easily at the 45 angle using the torque range of 40-65 inch pounds. The other fitting could not be positioned directly using this torque range. By backing off and advancing the fitting I was able to position the second fitting to 45 degrees without exceeding the torque range.

35-03 Step 2

Older kits are missing four 1/4 inch holes in the center section. The instructions for drilling out the four holes are in SB12-11-09. Consider buying two copies of the R1204V template. I had to cut about four inches off an extended #30 drill and use a right angle drill to make the #30 pilot holes. Make sure to remove the blue plastic from the templates so that you can see the reflection of the drills on the template.

Main Wheels

Mount only the axle on the main landing legs to check the alignment. I had to add 1 degree shims to correct some toe in. The alignment post that capture/align the inboard moving brake shoe do not need to be removed for disassembly of the disk brake. Do note the orientation (inboard/outboard faces) of the disk brake mounting bracket when disassembling the disk brake for later re-installation.

35-05 Step 3

When you route the final leg of the brake lines, be aware that the brake lines must clear the F 1275G cover plate as depicted in 35-06 figure 2.

35-05 Step 1

I used a 12 inch zip tie to temporarily position the brake lines against F 1204D center section aft bulkhead. I then was able to pass and secure a 4 inch zip tie as instructed.

35-05 Step 4

My older version of the fuselage did not have the landing gear bolt access holes depicted in figure 2. I called the mother ship who instructed me to drill them 3/8 inch and plug the holes with the HW-00003 plugs. When drilling, avoid the flanges of the ribs. It is easier to de-burr the holes before installing the F 1275G cover plate.

Note: Consider taking photos before installing any cover plate as documentation.

35-07 Step 7

I used a reverse brake bleeder kit from Phoenix Systems to fill the brake lines with Royco 762. The system uses about 1/2 of a quart of brake fluid.

I then bled the system using a continuous loop. Despite all my efforts, a small bubble of air persist in both brakes in the low pressure side of the brake system between the reservoir and right side master cylinders. This does not seem to have any effect on the effectiveness of the brakes or the refill system.

38-02 Step 1

I did not install the canopy unit after the engine was installed. This was done as a precaution to insure adequate clearance for the propeller spacer. I marked the cut lines with a permanent marker and then cut the fiberglass with a Dremel 543 1-1/4 inch cutting/shaping wheel. This cut the fiberglass like butter. Unlike the smaller disposable cutting disc, this wheel is resistant to suddenly snapping into pieces. I tried first to use the new vacuum powered Dremel and it did not have adequate power. Since Fiberglass dust is not good for you, I attached a shop vac hose to my Dremel with good effect. I also used a simple particle mask.