Pages 275-300

First venture of 40-hours
July 22 With a forecast for showers and clouds in the west, the sun was still out, morning air was still calm if a little hazy. I put the cowl on, did a preflight check and requested runway 27 and a safe-recovery flight area to 3500-ft above the tower. 601EZ was up to temp on arrival of 27, so with clearance, the throttle was advanced to 4800-rpm and the plane lifted at 65-mph and climbed out at 75. The prop was re-pitched to 15-degrees and climb was slower so I advanced the throttle to 5000 and it went right up to pattern. The tower cleared me to circle south of 9-27 right over them. Continuing the climb-out, averaging 4800-rpm, the EIS light came on at 1400-degrees, and I cancelled the light. EIS for coolant came on at 200-degrees and it was cancelled. EIS showed temps had peaked, EGT 1407, CHT 222, coolant 201, and oil at 197-degrees F. After leveling off, trimming the elevator down a bit, at 2400-ft the plane's nose leveled and sped to 95-mph indicated at 4500-rpm. I continued to circle the area in a slight haze, but the plane handled beautifully while I fiddled with turns and the trim system. The cabin was very comfortable with fresh air from the vents and I felt very in-control. Temps came down a bit. Water settled to 186, CHT was 220, oil was 198, EGT was 1370. I finally felt more at ease, so switched to ignition-B to confirm it was working. The engine stuttered as if to quit, so I switched back to ignition-A, recovered the rpm, and requested a landing on 27. They couldn't hear me at this point, as I didn't realize my rear speaker had been left on. I unplugged the second headset, reception returned and they cleared my landing. I made a short round approach on 27 from 1100-feet at 2500-rpm. The nose was held to maintain 80-mph until decent rounded out and slowed on the ground cushion and flared to a very smooth landing. All this "adventure" in 30-minutes flight time left a real good feeling none-the-less. Logs were entered and after, the ignition on the ramp would run on A or B, so this one has to be looked at very carefully.

July 23 A pattern was cut from .050 4130 to support the heat-core on the forward side of the #4 cylinder. The center area was cut out and flange edges were bent to fit the base. Two 10mm bolts fastened the support and the heat core fit the area perfectly. The front and backsides were measured and sketched out for making a fiberglass mold that would be light and accept scat tube.

July 24 Electrical knife-splice connectors were undone at the coils and resistance at each were measured at 1.8 ohms. Perhaps B will read higher when hot. A timing light, an electronic ignition tester, a vacuum gage and a compression gage were retrieved from a box of older automotive test equipment.

July 25 After reading as much info on modules and coils, and searching the Internet for articles on heat affected connections etc, I put the books away to let the information soak and spent the rest of the day with family.

July 26 The wiring connections were evaluated and the knife splices at each coil were really suspect, but eventually discounted. The coils were checked and a new meter that has a sound signal permitted me to chase all the connections and then read primary and secondary ohms in the coils. Don't think that was it. The control module on the secondary B-ignition seems the culprit. Others have had this problem. Wires were continuity checked thoroughly and the frail shrink-tube, with wires from the distributor, was put in a plastic split tube to arrest excess motion and deflect heat. Might need a seasonally adjustable vent for the coils and distributor. Really considering the 4-pin GM unit an attractive item right now.

July 27 Finished making a mold for one half the heater core shell for the output side and took it to the airport for a fit. Another will be required to do the intake side. Found an article and wiring diagram for the dual ignition, GM HEI 4-pin control module for the Nippondenso distributor. It listed NAPA part numbers, which is helpful. I copied them and sent them to Kelly for his interest in a better ignition. Considered the B-ignition module for external pickup mounted in front of #3 cylinder a heat liability and it might be better served out an inch in front of a heat shield/air scoop. Prepared for tomorrows trip to Oshkosh and revised my list of books of interest and hardware. Camera batteries were charged and the car fueled.

July 28 Lee and I drove 3 hours to Madison, Wisconsin, checked in at the Crown Plaza Hotel at 3:30 p.m., shopped at the Borders in the East Towne Mall and found a recent publication book titled "How to Design High Performance Ignition Systems" by Todd Ryden. We dined at Red Lobster and then watched bits of the 3rd evening of Democratic convention speakers.

One Day at Oshkosh

July 29 We got up early, had hot cinnimon rolls and coffee, left Madison at 7:00 a.m.with overcast skies and a forcast for rain late in the day thru the weekend, and arrived at Oshkosh at 9:00. We parked in front of the museum, took the bus into the delivery area, proceeded through main street tents, saw the new Ford GT, Cobra etc, then north to the Zenith area to check out new stuff. Saw a Corvair powered XL. Lee and I walked the flight line to the repair tent and visited with our Chapter 75 members. We then went thru the ultra-light area and visited the helicopter group. The Zenith 701 was doing take offs and landings that clearly demonstrated an ability to land and take off shorter than any of the other ultra-light craft. I ran into Chris Heinz on the road back to the repair area, visited with him briefly, shook his hand and let him know how pleased I was with my 601HDS. After lunch, Lee and I stayed under the repair tent while it rained for about an hour, then we tracked north, caught a trailer ride to the merchandise buildings where I bought another hat. This was enough fly-in to see the latest innovations, designs and visit with old friends. In anticipation of more rain, we got onto the bus and were delivered back to the museum and the car and made it for home. We left about 3:00 and arrived a little past 7:30. It was a good trip!

July 31 The fiberglass lay-up of the outflow panel for the heater core was completed, test fit to the plane and is done. Preparations were made for an inflow panel lay-up. Information was obtained on module brand quality and a list of sources for the second Nippondenso distributor was made. Mykal is sending another pick-up sensor to get the B-ignition flying again and a Nippondenso core that I may be able to use to make the Dual ignition system per Paul Messinger. Found NAPA store sells two grades of TP45 control module, the common model and a heavy duty one.

August 1 The inflow panel for the heater core was cut, rounded and set up as a mold for the final product. A two-layer fiberglass laid up was done and the hardened product was trimmed, sanded and finish coated. Components for a dual ignition distributor were collected for eventual modification and use in the Subaru. (later testing would prove that the heater core is not needed.)

August 2 Ignition wires on the Stratus were re-arrainged and attached to provide separation and avoid "bundling" the wires. The battery charger was hooked up to await delivery of a replacement ignition pick-up from Stratus. The list of to do items was re-written to include a new flight check-list and spare parts to order for maintenance. The brake lines were finally not exhibiting leakage or drips.

Dual ignition revisited

August 3 Two heavy-duty TP45 control-modules and EP300 capacitor noise filters were ordered from the NAPA store. The flywheel pickup and ignition module were removed to study the wiring. The silver box is filled with a plastic material that prohibits visualizing the wiring inside. Pictures were taken of the engine-firewall area to make a heat sink for two control-modules. The intake and outflow panels for the heater core were secured to the radiator with rubber bands. Side panels that will secure the two to the radiator were studied for a best easy assembly.

August 4 Picked up the TP45s and the capacitors today and proceeded to make fiberglass side caps to hold the inlet and outlet panels for the heater core. While resin cured, a jig was started to fit the right upper engine mount. The new mount will also fit this fixture and it will then be match-welded. The cured side caps and heater core were taken to the airport to check fit. Wow! Black vehicles were everywhere. Security was reloading one of the largest military transport jets out in the middle of the airport. I surmised that it was to support President George Bush's visit. The core caps fit fine. A dimensional-sketch was drawn to mount each TP45 control-module and heat sink individually below and in front of each coil.

August 5 An educational primer on "How to Build High Performance Ignition Systems" was picked up from Border's. I spent the morning completing a match-weld jig for the right upper engine mount. Had lunch with Cy and the guys at the Lucky 8. US Postal Service delivered the replacement pick-up and a ND distributor core from Stratus and the Dual Distributor Kit from Paul Messinger. PDF-files on the Dual Dizzy system were printed and then saved to the hard drive for reference. The defective pick-up was return-mailed to Mykal at Stratus. This new pick-up will hopefully keep N601EZ flying for a while, until I can assemble and install Mr. Messinger's more reliable Subaru/GM dual-pick-up ignition system. Lee and I dined out at the Captain's Table and enjoyed this 65 to 75-degree weather.

August 6 This morning the new pickup from Stratus was attached, but the center core of the pickup seemed out of angle and not tight as was the other. It contacted the housing when nudged. This possible electrical question was emailed to Mykal at Stratus and flying was again put on hold. The weld fixture for the upper right engine mount was completed and so the new mount is ready to weld. A new distributor cap was obtained at Foreign Car Parts. The ND distributor was disassembled, cleaned with a high speed soft stainless brush and prepped for modification. The gear-end of the distributor was placed in the lathe and the ignition shaft was rotated in the housing and checked for a +/-.005 run-out limit. It was fine. Would have been a beautiful day for flying.

August 7 In an overcast morning at 70-degrees, the plane was pulled from the hangar and started to proof the B-ignition was ground-rpm functional. It did and as soon as the engine was warm, it began to sprinkle. Back in the hangar, the engine was rotated to TDC with the distributor rotor centered on the #1-cylinder, the distributor housing was marked for position. This would enable a replacement distributor to be marked the same way to enable reassembly. Recent efforts to find Subaru parts were a pain, so an Internet search found the "Standard" brand. Specific Subaru parts can be seen with a list of model and year autos each part is used on. Very handy! Generally, the basic parts for the Stratus EA-81 could be found under the 1986 Subaru Brat, 1.8 liter engine. The parts were printed with appropriate pictures and I headed to the auto stores again. This time it was much easier. Using this list, a rotor was picked up that was a perfect match. The single Standard brand pickups,less modules, with stainless mount plates were available only by special order and, as an exception, applied to the Subaru XT. Eventually, the plane will have a list of electrical parts and spares on the shelf that will keep it going a while.

August 8 On doing a pre-flight, I noticed the wheel pant brackets were still attached and protruding from the forks like miniature air brakes. Each measured 1.25" x 4" and all six of them represent 30 square inches. This translates into 6 pounds of drag at 100 knots or a waste of nearly 2-horsepower. The brackets were removed until 40 hours of restricted flight are over. The plane was refueled and the day transitioned to attend to another plumbing emergency.

August 9 At 8 o'clock a.m. two Standard brand p/n XL-600 pickups were ordered from the local NAPA store at $76.00 each. The clouds were down to pattern height so flying was put off to later, then the winds kicked up, so the ignition wires that were fastened by knife splice connectors were replaced with push-on tab types one by one while wiring was also re-arranged to separate possible inductive influences. Lee and I had lunch at the Lucky 8 with the airport group. Electrical work progressed to late afternoon and two splice joints were found suspect for being too loose on disassembly. Time was well spent here. The new right hand upper engine mount was fit to the jig and welded.

August 10 This mornings 60-degree weather permitted finally putting the last two spade connectors together. The forward top skin was removed for the 15th time to gain access to the ignition switch arrangement. Realizing that my double pole double throw A-B switch is a liability as a "single point of potential failure" to quote Frank, my ignition A and B must have separate 7-amp fuses on the hot bus. The new modules were fitted to two heat sinks made of .040-aluminum. The heat sinks extend ¾" down from the coils and then extend out 3-inches and then, protectively, bend up and back over the top of the modules with a half inch clearance. These two bends are punched with 3/16" holes on two lines. They were sand blasted with exception to the actual module mount-surface. They will attach to the bolts holding the coils to the firewall stiffener. #8-32 stainless screws, lock washers and nuts were used to fasten the modules to the heat sinks.

August 11 The heat sinks were mounted with the flange behind the coil and the TP45s were set so that coil wires were nearest the proper spade terminals. Satisfied with clearances, access and exposure, they were removed and the plug wires were relocated for support above the coils. Next, the A-B ignition switch was disconnected from the key ignition and the coupling wire discarded. The A-ignition wire was moved from the double-pole double-throw switch to the key ignition switch. A new 7-amp fuse and 16-gage wire was fed from the hot bus to the now singular B-ignition. The dual tach wires on the right side of the switch were not moved to continue reading both ignition rpms, so that function didn't change. Decals were printed to show the correct switch functions. The primary drawing was updated to reflect the changes, as was the aircraft log. The changes will permit running both ignitions on take-off and only one after climbout. This separation of ignitions, advised by both Frank and Kelly, was a serious improvement in both reliability and safety.

August 12 With a view of this mornings low rolling clouds, the wiring groups were tie-tied in place and the forward top skin was reattached. Each ignition switch was separate now all the way to the fuses. The test run up out on the ramp suggested everything was working, but the tach wires hadn't been reversed, so no tach on ignition B. The top skin was again removed, the wires switched and then they worked. The top skin was reattached and A-B decals were removed from the B-ignition. New ones were cut and applied to keep panel info straight. Plexiglas spray cleaner turned out to be very good for cleaning old adhesive and getting the panel free of fingerprints. The plane ran up to normal temps and was taxied about the hangars. Both ignitions were checked running together and then singularly alternating each on with the other off and tachometer readings stayed on throughout. Everything is ready for another flight so the plane was put away for a less blustery day.

The control tower bites back!

August 13 Second Flight in Safety Zone. The perfect morning, the plane was ready and fueled. After the customary preflight check, I requested a takeoff from 27 and was cleared to track the ¾-mile taxi. I was cleared and took off from the extreme end of a 10,000-ft runway and climbed to 1200 feet before reaching the other end. All temps and data were normal until I reached 2500-ft and the EGT noted that it was at the 1400-degree mark. It was cancelled and I reduced rpm to 4800 and continued the climb above the tower to 3000-ft. All worked well and B-ignition was turned on and A turned off several times during the flight. All ran well, so the rest of the test involved keeping an oval pattern south and parallel with 9-27. Even the heater worked so well it was turned off. At a little more than an hour, I requested landing and was given 27. The landing was fast but uneventful. Tower offered B and N taxiways and 5-23 as return-path to the hangars and I chose 23. I started reading taxiway signs to get a bearings on these and acknowleged a hold short instruction for 23 and I was all too soon looking down 23 realizing there was an aircraft at the end. I went on past 5-23 and took D taxiway back to the hangars. I wondered why I was offered 23 as a return path when there was an aircraft there. I then realized I'd just blown a hold short instruction from the tower. On arriving at the hangar, the tower asked me to call them so that they could discuss this with me. The gentleman was polite, but this was reported as a safety violation and I will definitely hear more from the FAA. This was Friday the 13th! (Note: I immediately filled out a NASA Safety Report Form and sent it off the same day. The reported event was not recorded on my file and to date, nothing further has been heard from the FAA on this. I pay much closer attention to instructions now because I doubt a second event like this would be overlooked.)

Chapter 75 Picnic

August 14 This was the Saturday picnic for Chapter 75 at Steve Beerts in Blue Grass and everyone showed up. There was great chicken and corn on the cob at noon and lots of homebuilt aircraft taking off and landing from the neighborhood developments 2700 ft grass strip. Lee and I invited Sheryl from next door because she is single as are some of the gentlemen in the chapter. A few introductions were made and she was very comfortable with the personality of the chapter. It was a very enjoyable afternoon. Carl Ritter was there to demonstrate his 701s capability for very short take off. Nick flew his twin 310 in and on leaving did a low flyby. The 3 Varieasys flew several high-speed low passes at about 200-mph. We were home by 3:30 so there was still time to work on the new distributor. An order for electrical fasteners arrived in the mail from Wicks.

First flight out of the control zone

August 15 On this 75-degree day, N601EZ was fueled, a preflight inspect, and check of the ATIS was followed by a takeoff cleared for right-hand exit from runway 5. The 5000-rpm climb-out was exceptional with the prop at 15-inches. The tower cleared flight to 3000-ft south of the control zone. I flew over Mercer Co airport and kept within a reasonable distance of it just in case. The corn is very high so there is a lot less to consider emergency landing area. Rpm was held to 4000, trimmed out level, the airspeed would only be reading 92, but burning 3.6-gallons per hour 87-octane car gas. At 5000-rpm the airspeed would climb past 100 with no wheel pants and climb-pitch. After the engine is broke-in, the pitch will increase progressively to find a best climb-cruise. At 4000, EGT was 1380, coolant 180, CHT 220, oil 197 and there are no vibration areas above 4000-rpm. At about 3800, there is a low rumbling sensation from the drive belt. Adjusting the trim was largely unnecessary for level flight. The GPS indicated 3-mph faster than my airspeed so that item will be tweaked a little. My anxiety level settled and the flight became very enjoyable. Both ignitions were checked several times. After an hour and 10-minutes, I returned to MLI and the straight-in approach was good, but the landing dropped in from 2 feet without bouncing, but not as smooth as recent ones. Log data was recorded and there are only 35.8 hours to go.

August 16 The gas cans were filled again and taken to the airport. A little wind with rain predicted in the p.m., so dual distributor pickups were soldered to leads and shrink-wrapped. Two sets of springs for the distributor advance counterweights were ordered.

August 17 Low clouds, haze and then rain allowed time to fill holes in the distributor that formerly held the ND module in place using J B Weld. While it cured 12-hours, I found a good advance-dial-induction type timing-light at Harbor Freight for $23. What a deal! 1/8" rods were cut, tapped and welded to the bottom bracket that holds down the heater core.

August 18 Rain kept progress on the dual dizzy going. Took pictures of the planes distributor without the cap from the overhead with the pickup aligned and the rotor aligned with the #1 cylinder, and then another without the rotor in place. This picture helped align the dual dizzy plate in the replacement distributor. The TP45 modules were taped, and assembled to the heat sinks and all was painted flat black. The modules were then removed and unwrapped. The metal surface on the module was coated evenly with heat-sink-goop and the modules were permanently assembled to the heat sinks with the capacitors. The new engine mounts were sprayed with a coat of zinc chromate. Still raining…….

August 19 601EZ was pulled from the hangar today and a twin-engine plane sat quietly on runway 5 while people walked around it. I did a preflight and checked with the tower. The pilot had reported a multiple bird strike. 3 hit the nose, 2 hit each wing, 1 hit the windshield, and one went into the engine. He taxied off to the parking area. I took off and flew south 20-miles to the practice area. At 4500 rpm, with the elevator trimmed to hands-off level flight, the plane indicates 100mph. Reluctant to run the engine to max 5400 rpm or increase the pitch until the engine is broken in. All system temps were normal owing to an ambient 64-degrees F. The header fuel gage went from ¾ full to over a 1/4 in the space of an hour, which is about 4.5 gallons. On landing, I cut the rpm and kept the plane level while settling through ground cushion and not raising the nose. Very smooth touchdown!

August 20 Another nice day and careful preflight, ATIS was reporting 6-mph winds, so takeoff was on runway 5 with a right turn at 1000-ft to 113-degrees, then south 25-miiles to the practice area. Dressed in jeans, sweatshirt over a t-shirt and my EAA hat and headset at 80-degrees ambient (on the ground) and full sun in the canopy, finds the plane still very comfortable. The vents work great. The stick-mounted GPS (a Lawrence Airmap 100) was installed and was in-flight accessible and very readable. Bumpy convective air was everywhere up to 3000-ft, so I held on and climbed to 3500-ft. I switched between Ignition A and B frequently and practiced holding altitude within 50-ft in turns, made timed-climbs and did some slow-flight. The electric gyro turn-indicator seems to have quit, leaving only the centering ball. Gazing down, I realized the really-green stuff below is beans, and a preferable place to land in an emergency because the yellowing stuff is 6-ft corn. After logging an hour and 15 minutes and 3/8ths still in the tank, I returned for a straight-in approach from 2600-ft brought the 601 in steep, slowing to 70-mph with virtually no throttle, flared and made a very smooth landing on runway-5. After putting the plane away, safety cable clips were connected between the gas-can and plane and the header tank was topped with 4-gallons of 87-octane. My confidence level has improved measurably with each flight. The plane has 10-1/2 hours on it now and it's like my own combination mini-fighter and magic carpet. What a joy!

August 21 N601EZ was set aside for maintenance and an oil change. The WIX oil filter was too small for a conventional wrench and one couldn't reach that tight space anyway. Wondered if the half-inch end-clearance would be a problem, but it wasn't. I found an oil filter at Farm and Fleet, p/n 5049 for Briggs & Stratton engines that was a perfect match to the WIX. A nylon strap-wrench made for oil filters worked only because electric tape was added to the filter to improve the grip. 4.3 quarts of 20-50 Castrol were changed out. A closer look at the gyro turn-coordinators found the fuse o.k and the gyro's indicating window shows it's receiving DC, but doesn't spin up. This looks like an internal problem, but certainly not one that will curtail flying. The plane was momentarily pulled from the hangar to run it up to check pressure and look for leaks etc. A list of items gathered for making a laminated Preflight Check List was added to the worksheet. A drawing of the new ignition system was begun to make the original and the new systems interchangable electrically by interconnecting spade grips. Pictures were taken of the GPS mounted on the control stick and added to the websites completion page.

August 22 Rather windy today so the electric gyro turn coordinator was verified to be amiss and will have to be removed when Tim at QC Instrument Repair can find time to look at it. Logs were updated for maintenance and pieces that hold the heater core bracket were finish welded and the argon ran out. Very timely!

August 23 A full bottle of Argon and TIG gloves were purchased at Praxair in Rock Island this morning. One of the hangar gas cans was filled. A case of Coke was added to the small refrigerator. The turn coordinator was removed from the plane. Ground and positive circuits from the plug to fuse were checked with a voltmeter to be sure all were working up to spec. The instrument was taken to Tim's repair lab on the field. They offer quick turnaround as they have all the parts for this one. The new preflight check-list was completed and editing continues for concise brevity to get it into a half page. The post-flight check has to fit the reverse side and then all is laminated.

August 24 The day started with rain, so home maintenance was tended to and a motor was added to daughter Sara's spinning wheel. Then the 6-year old Kenmore electronics board controlling fan and lights over the stove quit and there's no apparent replacement. I gutted the board and touch-controls and began a search for good hard-wire replacement switches. Arrgh. The turn coordinator in for repairs is found to have a main coil winding broken. It's got to be rewound or it's replace the whole thing. Good thing it's only Wednesday.

August 25 I replaced electronics in the overhead vent with switches and a new inset panel of .025. Lee is happy for the $10 fix. Humidity persisted and clouds stayed low, so the preflight checklist was completed and governor springs for the distributor were picked up at the Subaru dealer. Brochures on the Outback were picked-up as Lee is attracted to the car. A switch was added to the hangar for the overhead lights.

August 26 Preparations were made for tomorrow's trip to the Zenith Open House and the car was cleaned up and readied. The dual distributor was taken further down to governor parts and a second distributor was also taken apart to exchange for those that might be in better condition.

August 27 After some final packing and attention to the web site, Lee and I took off for Hannibal, MO at high noon and arrived around 3:30 checking in at the former "Best Western" Clemens Hotel. We walked thru antique and pawnshops to stretch legs and by 5:30, we'd found a nice restaurant called "TJ's" where they do steak and seafood dishes. Afterward, we went swimming and used the hot tub to relax for a night of politics on Fox, Olympics track and field and Top Gun. It thundered with lightening and rained most of the night.

August 28 After breakfast, in overcast and cloudy weather, we drove the 60-miles to Zenith's facility in Mexico, arriving at 9:30. Donuts and coffee were served and Lee and I surveyed the facility to see what had evolved. New presses and bending equipment were demonstrated and I'm sure that several hundred people had visited the Zenith Open House. Nearly a full page of builders had registered to obtain a Zenith hat and decals. Fewer planes were there, because of widespread bad weather. The exceptions were Mike Fothergill and Rob, (I lost his last name), flew their 601HDS from Canada despite the low ceilings and rain. Both had Airplast in-flight adjustable props. I took pictures and after discussing these propellors with them, I decided to get one, even if it's not a $5K Airplast! Still, the event was well attended by the drive-in crowd, and I was able to shake hands with Nick and able to meet and speak with a few new or potential builders. I was surprised that there are still people interested in building the HDS after checking out the XL. The Rotax was on display and Jabaru engines were shown and represented by their dealer as well. Lee and I left a little after noon and were home by 4:00 and looking forward to next year.

August 29 Cloud ceilings were low, so I went to the hangar and replaced a leaking trailer tire, Put a charger on the batteries and installed protective boots on the last two large connectors on the alternator fuse block. A post from Richard in the U.K. having his 601 inside mount brackets breaking made for serious reading on Matronics page. I forwarded it to Zenith to Nick's attention and reviewed the design drawings. I had once questioned about these brackets when making mine for a larger engine on the 601. Tomorrow's plan includes an inspection of my parts.

August 30 I posted to the Matronics site inquiring to how many others might have found this defect on their aircraft. It'll take a week to know anything. Went to the hangar and removed the forward top skin and chatted with Cy Galley who has written a lot of safety articles in Sport Aviation. He took pictures and we discussed the alternatives. I agree that Richards's problem is one of flexure, lack of inspection, 10-yrs of bumpy hard runways, 3rd ownership and a poor design. The design could be improved because one weld in tension is half the area repeated as a bent flange that holds on to each engine mount bolt. The bracket should have been a T-pattern, bent on each of 3 legs to become a 3-sided piece with an end pocket center-drilled for the mount bolt. Anyway, mine's o.k.for now until more data is available. Beautiful day with large clouds in the afternoon.

August 31 Clear sky and cool temps this morning brought an hour and 25 minute flight 20-miles south to the practice area running 15-miles east west over mostly flat fields of tall corn, beans, and few pastures beyond the wooded river area. I spotted a half dozen new potential landing areas, golf courses, roads without poles etc. Getting better at finding these. The plane was run at 4800 rpm and saw 107mph with the 15-inch pitch. All fast enough for me, but the prop will be re-pitched soon to lower the engine rpm a bit towards 4500. Went out again in the afternoon and put on another 54 minutes and did some rather steep climbing turns. Seems easier to climb in turns for some reason. Still, it only took 5 gallons to refill prior to the second flight. Made a really smooth and very short landing on runway-5 to exit on the first taxiway-Echo this time. Sweet! 13.2 hours on the EIS.

September 1 On this clear, 7000-ft overcast morning, the plane was refueled at $1.67/gal of 87-octane from CITGO. N601EZ lifted off at 4800-rpm and made a right turnout on 5, climbing at 1000-fpm to 2000-ft to leave airport property and slowly climbed to 3000-ft to the practice area. Today's test flight a bit over an hour was conducted in totally smooth air. Didn't miss my gyro turn coordinator either. All systems performed well. The EGT has settled down to 1380 at cruise. Coolant is 190. CHTs are 210. Oil is 195, all at an ambient of 76-degrees F. On return to Moline, a left-base approach to 27 was held to 70-mph and the landing was greased-on early to exit taxiway-November to avoid traffic at the intersection. With 14.4 hours on the EIS, I was home for lunch and hanging new towel bars and a kitchen light fixture with Lee.

September 2 After a 2-mile run, a shower, breakfast and the paper, I arrived at the airport, did a thorough preflight and topped the fuel. On draining half a pint into a bottle, debris held the valve open and the gascolator continued to drip rapidly. The valve was shut off, the gascolator bowl was drained and removed. A small piece of debris was found in the valve under the o-ring. It was cleared, resealed, reassembled and safety wired. This might've compromised my arrival in flight had it not been noticed! N601EZ lifted from runway 5 for a right turn-out headed for Galesburg just 36-miles off. In bright sunlight and a slight haze, cruise was set to 4200 at 2500 feet and within 35-minutes, the One Echo Zulu had completed its first cross country to the other end of my 40-hour flight restricted circle. A good standard approach was made to Galesburgs runway 21. I taxied to the parking area, and called Lee to say I'd be late for lunch because of a slow start. I took off at 11 and landed just 20-minutes later because of a good tailwind. Lee was there as I taxied up to the hangar. The plane was put away and we had a nice lunch with the retired flyboys at the Lucky 8. Fuel was obtained at the BP Gas Station in Coal Valley and the EIS now reads 15.5 hours.

Brass elbow for oil pressure sensor broke

September 3 There was 5-mile visibility so I removed bugs from the plane refueled its tank and cleaned the canopy. On removing the cowl, there was a trace of oil at the front of the engine and some on the lower cowl but didn't think much of it. Wiped it all clean and found oil at the rear of the engine seeping from a brass elbow that I'd used to double up oil sensors to a 2" extension. On removing the fittings to add sealant, the fitting just broke off before I could loosen it. Nuts! This was another case where one could end up in the corn from an unexpected engine failure. I went to lunch with the guys at the Lucky 8. An extractor easily removed the ¼" of thread from the case and I presume the frail 1/8" brass pipe threads cracked from vibration. A trip to a hardware store found a steel 1/8" pipe that would secure the fittings. The front engine re-drive looks like an oil seal too may need replacing. Hope it can wait till the 40-hours are flown and weather cools a bit. Couldn't fly today for chasing hardware.

September 4 The oil at the front seal prompted me to ask Bill Morelli if he'd placed any seal replacement info on his site and he responded by sending 20+ images and two written pieces on how he did the front and the rear seals. I thanked him, saved these files to hard disk and printed them for inclusion to the Stratus Maintenance Guide. This morning, the 1/8" NPT tap was put in a zip-lock bag because the steel fitting measured .009 larger than the brass ones. The tap would open the thread by .005 so the next NPT fitting can get at least 4 full turns into the case to secure the oil sender and switch. I also stopped at Claye's Auto store and compared their 1/8" NPT brass nipple that had a short mid-hex with the threaded section on the brass elbow that failed. The elbow's 1/8" NPT wall thickness was half the thickness of the automotive fitting. I bought two. The new hex-nipple and T were coated with sealant, assembled to the case, and then the pressure sensor and switch were re-attached. This, with less extension, was much stronger and less subject to vibration.

September 5 Because of today's limited visibility and wind, the spinner, back plate and spacer were removed and the prop bolts were set semi-loose so that the propeller pitch could be increased from 15 to 16-degrees. Warp Drives bolt torque information was at home in the technical notebook, so I returned, made a copy of the brochure and continued to grouse about the lifespan of the turn & slip coordinator. If it's an expensive repair, it will be replaced with a modern electronic gyro type. A list of nylock nuts, bearings, belts, oil seals etc was compiled for a Tuesday morning order. I also wondered of the worth of putting a screw-type rubber stopper in the lower sprocket to get a handle on the seeping oil seal.

Prop Repitched to 16-degrees

September 6 I finished by putting the face of the re-drive at vertical and then setting the pitch of the blades to 16-degrees. The blade bolts were snugged to hold the pitch and then the prop bolts were reassembled to allow the spinner. Torque was 10-FtLbs for the ¼" bolts, 34-FtLbs for the 3/8" bolts. The spinner was reassembled using Loctite 277 on the screws. The oil inside the lower sprocket was wiped clean. All else was checked to complete the engine preflight.

Pitch is a sweet spot

September 7 Sunny 60-degrees, and wind at 6 from 330 provided a good take off from 5 and a right turn out to the practice area. The prop was re-pitched to 16-degrees. Engine rpm wouldn't go past 4800 on takeoff, but climb was 1000-fpm at 80-mph. Prop noise was muted pushing more air and, on cruise, airspeed was 97-mph at 4000-rpm. Cruise and climb were definitely improved and I reached 4000-ft quickly. Also the plane handled much better at this economy of rpm. Air vents were turned off and the heater was turned on. It smelled a little like a seasonal furnace startup with oil in the ducts. After nearly an hour and a half, I returned to Moline and did a good 10-mph crosswind landing on 270. N601EZ was back in the hangar by 10:15 with 17.4 hours on the EIS. My finger was able to find oil accumulating in the front crank seal at the lower belt sprocket, and upon removing the cowl, I found a lot more oil blown back around the engine on the firewall, scat tubing, muffler, etc. Took a while to clean it all up, but that made the decision an easy one to find the seals and replace them ASAP.

Oil seal leak causes take-down of the lower redrive sprocket

September 8 I called Mykal Templeman of Stratus and asked about the seal between the flywheel and the re-drive-crankshaft seen thru the lower belt sprocket and he said there's no need for a hard seal, because there's no pressure there, but cleaning the area with a drying degreaser and silicone sealer should keep oil contained. A trip to Iowa Bearing retrieved the prop-bearings and the large 415021 seal. The small front seal was ordered from Ron at Ram Performance. Tools were gathered and a 4" long 8mm hex with a ½" socket was made up from two tools. A 5/8" by 2" diameter stop with an offset 8mm hole was made to hold the flywheel and crankshaft while loosening or bringing bolts to torque. All was match marked for reposition in permanent ink. The belt was loosened and the lower sprocket, the starter flywheel and spacer were all removed by taking out eight 8mm bolts with washers.

September 9 On this beautiful 65-degree windless morning, the crankshaft "seal" and surfaces were cleaned with mineral spirits. When all was dry, RTV silicone was placed around the crank. The rubber seal was placed on top the silicone and the larger 415021 seal lips were coated lightly with white lithium grease. The spacer was coated at the rear surface with a very thin film of sealant and placed back in position within the large seal, aligned with the bolt pattern and put under pressure. Silicone was added in front of the seal and fingered in to fill the space between the end of the crank and the spacer. Bolts holding the starter flywheel and sprocket were hand tightened. The special 2" stop prevented rotation and the 8 plate to crank bolts were torqued to 36-ft-lbs. The stop was removed and the bolt was torqued to 33-ft-lbs. The belt was fit onto the sprocket, spreader bolts were rotated 1/4 turn and the special 2" steel wrench rotating the prop-shaft cam to position, spread open and slipped off. I went home and milled another from ½" flat steel. This one easily rotated the cam to snug the belt.

September 10 Another great day, and after getting a teeth cleaning at the dentist, I returned to the airport where the drive-belt was tensioned and measured. Sprockets were rotated to align spaces between opposing teeth rather than trying to gage the top of the teeth. This was definitely just as reliable for measuring the spacing end to end between sprockets. The closest I got was a .0035 difference. The cowl was put back on. The engine was run up to temps and taxied around the hangars. Then, without cowl, it was inspected again. Oil was found on the pressure switch and things near it, but the sprockets and forward area of the re-drive was dry as a bone. The pressure-sensing switch was removed and adapted to the airline on my compressor. 90-lb air was turned on and the sensor was dipped into a glass cup of water. A crack at the base of the threads was found where the sensor body transitions nearly perpendicular to the threads. I went to the Auto store and located another one that had a diagonal transition from threads to body, which is less likely to crack.

September 11 I remember this day 3-years ago and the sadness it brought to this country. I'm still very angry about it. We're being way too nice in the way we're conducting this war and it's going to come back to bite us. The replacement sensor was redesigned to preclude cracking, but it also was larger in diameter, so it couldn't be put on the end of the Tee. I found an elbow that would screw into the Tee, but it too contacted the case. The corners were knocked off and then it rotated easily. The pieces were all assembled to check fit and then Teflon tape was added to each piece to get the lubrication and oil tight connections. The firewall, muffler, wiring and scat tubing were again cleaned thoroughly and wiped dry. The belt seemed too tight, so it was loosened, sprockets aligned and all tightened to the 20-lb, ¼"deflection.

September 12 After this mornings 2-mile run, it dawned on me that I'd finally reached the milestone of 65 years and now qualify for Medicare. Whoopie! Lee and I had breakfast together and then I went out to the airport to fly. It was a beautiful day with 6-mile visibility. I climbed from runway 5 with a left turnout to the south practice area and 3000 ft. Oil temps seem to be a little higher at 220, coolant at 190, CHT 210, EGT 1350 right and 1275 left. Cruise at 4000 is now 97 mph and 4400 brings it up to 107. The engine sounds smooth at anything above 1500 rpm. The heater had to be turned off because it works and a vent was turned on. The plane seems to climb better in a turn than in straight flight at 4000. After an hour and 15 minutes, the nose was pointed north and from 20-miles out, I was given clearance to do a straight in approach on 5. The landing was remarkably short and smooth, but I've got to learn to hold the nose gear off just a bit longer. The EIS has 18.6 hours on the way to valve lifter adjustment at 20. Lee and I had supper out with Casey & Mindy, and Sara & Josh at Johnny's Italian Steak House. We had a fine time with family this evening at a really neat place. I had the Cagun Seafood Jumbalaya and still feel the flame inside 12 hours later. Good stuff!

September 13 The morning was 4-mile visibility and gusty so I cleaned up the shop and filled the OSHA approved 5-gallon cans with 87-octane and went to the hangar with the carburetor synchronizing gages. Previous oil splatter was still finding its way from fasteners and cowl edges and another effort was made to get it all clean and dry. I rode the PC-800 over to Lujacks in Davenport to pick up an O-ring and packing gasket from Subaru parts. These complete the dual dizzy distributor. The gyro turn-coordinator's wiring was repaired and is expected to arrive today or tomorrow. A Jason HTD 880-8M-60 belt was ordered from the distributor, Motion Technologies Inc in Moline. Drawings of the current engine mount brackets were scanned and sent to Richard in England so that they can identify, fabricate or obtain replacements for his HDS. The dual dizzy was assembled and a rubber grommet was fabricated to fill the U-shape opening for the 4 wires that exit to the TP45s.

September 14 The dual dizzy was re-assembled with new springs, gasket packing and rubber grommet that was fabricated to fill a U-shape outlet for the wires that exit to the control modules. It was a bit windy today, so brackets and wheel pants were attached to the forks to find out how they affect flight. The pants look a bit like the paws on a St Bernard puppy. The front seals arrived from Ram Performance. The Jason re-drive belt was picked up at Motion Technologies, as was the gyro turn-coordinator from Quad Cities Aviation & Instruments.. I had lunch with the guys at the Lucky 8 and installed the gyro. It spun up, as well it should, after a $250 repair. New scat-tube was retrieved to replace the stuff that had gotten oily, causing cabin heat to smell bad. More drawing images were scanned and sent to Richard to resolve his mount bracket problem. The molds for the radiator inlet were pulled out to become the next project for inclement weather. The late afternoon was spent comparing bearings and creating a 3D drawing in TurboCAD that could become a sandwich construction in-flight, manually adjustable prop using Warp Drive blades. I've been unable to find a satisfactory commercial one that's compatible with the Stratus redrive. Would rather've been flying today......!

September 15 A morning drizzle turned to solid rain, so the oily scat tube was replaced with new. EGT and CHT connections were checked to confirm that "left" on the engine was left as seen from the pilot seat in the Engine Information System. Placing a halide work light on the installed sensors raised the temps rather quickly. Fuel was poured into the header tank to within 2" of the top and all new seals, bearings, etc, were stowed in the closet. Also, about 11 a.m., at home,Windows Update began a download of Microsoft's Service Pack 2. This took over 5-hours to download and install. Despite several phone interruptions, the actual update was rather seamless, and by 5:15 p.m., everything was working and it had pointed out that my virus protection had expired. Work continued within TurboCAD.

September 16 This morning is sunny, and flyable, so I'm at the airport by 8:30 for some flight time. The cowl is off after every flight these first 40 hours, so it's easy to get the airport advisory, turn on gas and verify the system. As oil sensors were checked, fuel was running from the left carburetor bypass tube. Fuel was shut off and the flow stopped. The Bing manual was retrieved and I called tech support to confirm the problem. Fuel was turned on and flow resumed, so the bowl was removed and some crud was found and blown clear. On reassembly, the needle now held with the fuel turned on. Fuel pumps were turned on to add pressure. The plane was pulled out and run a few minutes and still no overflow. The carbs were taken apart so the large jet and the middle jet and float bowl were checked again. A gage confirmed the float arms were 10.5mm at parallel to the gasket surface. Fuel was turned back on with float arms held by hand. Then visually, the arms were let down several times and fuel would flow and halt completely at correct gage each time. All was reassembled and the right carburetor bowl was then checked for sediments as well. A grit like calcium bits was felt and wiped from the bottom of the bowl. All was again ready for the next flight, perhaps tomorrow, right after finding and installing some decent fuel filters to put just ahead of the carbs.

September 17 This morning, I helped Lee get going on a two week road trip with her sister to visit a relative in Colorado and then Molly and our new nephew Francis in California. Very quiet around here now, but I expect to get more hours on the plane after mowing grass, cooking, making the bed and taking care of washing clothes etc. The afternoon was spent getting organized and finding more materials for the fuel overflow problem.

September 18 I was asked to help re-trim the single supporting center-beam in my son's living room. Dad built the house in1957. When the paneling was removed, we saw a solid piece 4"x 20"x 12'-10" of deep red-brown Douglas fir. Way too neat to cover up, so we added trim around the ceiling edges and ends and left it exposed. Then the brackets and clamps to funnel and drain overflow fuel were made from 1" O.D. clear tubes 4" long, stepped down from plastic fittings to 3/8" tubes to run it down to the firewall and out, should it ever happen again. Filters for the refueling cans and fuel lines are next. Using 87-octane from gas stations shouldn't be trusted to be as clean as av-gas.

September 19 Casey and I drove to Whiteside County Airport at 7:45 to the fly-in breakfast. We met Kelly and his wife there and brought some spare items that he may find useful. He then bought our breakfast and after, we visited a nice lineup of experimental and antique aircraft. An RAF 2000 Gyrocopter flew in and made a graceful landing with a 10-ft rollout. We later went to Kelly's hangar and examined the VGs he'd fabricated and installed on the leading edge of his wings and under the trail edge of his stabilizer. The stabilizer VGs is one innovation I'm very interested in because they help him get much better elevator-control of the nose gear during landing. It was a really nice event, and Casey and I were back by 11:15. After lunch, I installed the overflow tubes and cleaned the gascolator screen. In the sunlight, I could see the glint of a microscopic amount of fine aluminum grit in the preflight bottle. There wasn't enough there to stress over, but a paper fuel filter will be added in the near future.

September 20 After an early pre-physical lab this morning, I arrived at the airport at 8:00 a.m. and didn't find any residue from the gascolator. Wheel pants were on so flying evaluation would be taken to the same parameters. Winds were 160 at only 10, so I took off from 5 and went south to the practice area. The plane gets an even 105-mph indicated at 4000 and 115 at 4400 in level flight, which is about an 8-mph gain for the wheel pants. The most significant thing about the fairings is the rudder and elevator really become slippery. Both seem overly responsive. The tone of the engine was smoother and quieter, but the only thing different is the addition of the overflow funnels that add a slightly lower pressure at the carbs. EGTs are in the 1300s, CHTs are 208, coolant at 187, and oil at 210. The engine was run up to 4600-rpm briefly, and it picks up speed quickly, but it never got past 120. The GPS confirms that my indicated airspeed is very close. The gyro turn coordinator worked well. On return to Moline, winds were 160 at 10 with gusts over 15. I made an awkward landing on 90 with the wheel pants, and found it difficult to hold enough wing down in a strong crosswind so I did a diagonal into the wind across the 150-ft wide concrete to lessen the effect of being blown sideways.. The EIS now is at 19.8 hours.

September 21 Got up early for the 2-mile run and was at the airport by 8:30. Winds were 4-mph and visibility clear. Preflight's a lengthy assessment, but the gascolator was clear. The tower cleared me to back-taxi 5 and takeoff from 23 into the wind. I headed for Galesburg at 174 degrees and at 3000 feet, one could see the fine line of the horizon. At Galesburg, I entered a downwind for 21, and made a smooth 80-mph approach and touchdown. Winds became a gusty 7-10 on the ground and at liftoff, convective turbulence was very rough to 3000 feet. After leveling out, and still warm from the climb, I opened the throttle to 5200 rpm. As airspeed neared 120-mph, oil temps climbed to 250-degrees with a 260-degree limit. Throttle was reduced to 4400-rpm and CHTs continued toward 230 and then returned to normal. On arrival at Moline, I was cleared to land, made another 80-mph approach and touched down without letting the nose gear down until the airspeed was spent. Pleased with that, I left for lunch at 11:00 and was back by 12:30. The valve covers, spark plugs and low voltage coil connections were removed and the lifters were adjusted. Most were found to be loose by .003 and two were tight by as much. Lifter gap was set at TDC to .014 in the order of firing 1,3,2, and 4. Head bolts were checked for 47-ft-lbs and the torque wrench only clicked. On running up the engine, the left valve cover had a drop or two of oil showing at the gasket. I was hot and hungry and went home for supper. The EIS is at 21.0 hours.

September 22 Got to airport at 8:00 and refueled. Pulled the old gaskets from the valve covers and put in brand new ones. After run up there were no leaks so the first flight of the day began at 9:30 to the practice area. Got back at 10:30 and went to lunch and then returned to the airport with more gas. Refueled and flew to Galesburg and back. The air was very convective but clear and winds were less than 5. On return, I picked new indestructible air filters from Brenny's Cycle Shop similar to the K&N type but $9.00 each instead of $32. Back at the plane, these replaced the foam type that was destined go to loose particles and clog my jets. The afternoon flight back to the practice area was uneventful, but I found that the engine gets warm when pushed past 4800 for any long period of time. Another smooth landing as described by Jeff Smalls email some months ago. His advice was right on the money. Great fun. The EIS now has 24.4 hours.

September 23 N601EZ lifted from the runway at 9:00 a.m. this morning. Air was hazy and winds were 170 at 5. I set a course for Kewanee at 120-degrees at 2500-feet and enjoyed the view of the farming countryside. The corn fields are being harvested now, so emergency landings are becoming less a concern. It was smooth all the way to Kewanee, the winds were up to 15 and gusting so I used runway 19. I stopped long enough to chat with the local A&P, drink some water, and then took off in low convective air and made a course for Moline. It was another nice landing and the plane was in the hangar by 10:30 with 25.5 hours. Winds had picked up again, so I lunched with the guys at the Lucky 8 and then got some more fuel and left it at the hangar. Rode the cycle to Borders and visited with favorite books. Later, winds were still high, so I stayed home and trimmed trees clear of our house and the incoming power line.

September 24 After preflight and adding 1/8th quart of oil, I lifted from 27, turned on the transponder and flew 230 degrees into the northwest quarter of the restricted flight circle that includes the Mercer County Airport, Aledo and Seaton Illinois. There was a thin overcast at 12000-ft and the sunlight was filtered a bit, which felt good in the cool air at 2500 ft. I repeated climbs and found that 4200-rpm at 75-mph is a good 250-ft/min rate of climb for slow cruising. The village of Seaton came into view 27 air miles from the Quad Cities and I could easily see Lee's brother Tom's and sister Jill's houses, swimming pools and all very neatly nestled into the north side of town. I then turned east flew 30 miles and back. The return to Moline was bumpy and convective, but a good landing was made in the protective depression of the Rock River Valley. The plane was back in the hangar by 10:15 and I had lunch with the guys at the Lucky 8. Then I went back, refueled and repeated the flight south of Aledo and Seaton and then east, did a 180 and retraced the way back using the trails path shown on the GPS. It was really convective on the second flight, right down to the approach, but on turning final, it got smooth enough to touch the rear tires lightly and let the nose gear down after speeds were to 50-mph or so. Back at the hangar, a total of 2.5 hours were logged today. The time and tests were put into the books and I refilled the two OSHA approved 5-gallon cans for the 11th time. We're into 110 gallons of gas here and the EIS reads 28 hours.

September 25 The morning was cool, clear and winds variable at 5 so I flew 32 miles to Monmouth. From the north, you fly a downwind directly at the center of the small town, turn a left base and left final to land on runway 2. I didn't stop, but back taxied and took off from 2. I flew north and a little west, circling Seaton before flying back to Moline. The approach on 5 was smooth and the plane was in the hangar by 10:00. Logs were entered, the plane refueled, and I went home for lunch. After gathering mail, I returned and flew to Galesburg, but it got really convective all the way up to 4500-feet. Because things were so bumpy, I didn't land at Galesburg and turned west to Monmouth, flew over their airport and then turned homeward. I was totally fatigued by the bumps and was cleared to land on 5. That was too much like riding a galloping horse. The plane was hangared and unbuttoned by 3:00. A lot of big bugs stuck to the leading edge of the wings. One might think I'd added VGs to the plane. These were washed and wiped from the canopy, nose and wings. The oil plug was undone and 4.3 quarts of hot oil were drained and I managed to burn my right hand and wrist while trying not to drop the hot plug. The filter, a Briggs and Stratton No.5075 replaced the old B&S #5049. Logs were updated to show that there are 30 hours on the EIS. (Pray for cool cloudy weather!)

September 26 In the morning's cool air, I flew the practice area with the first load, 40-lbs of softener salt, a full header tank and I, which brought it all up to 1050. The morning was cool and I traversed the width of the restriction circle, trying out stalls, climbs and turns, but could see no difference and back to Moline for a smooth landing. Everything checked out, but I've had a concern that my right cylinders EGTs are 1425 on takeoff and 1380 or so in cruise. This is 60-degrees higher than the left side. Went home, ate lunch and returned to refuel and go again for another hour that took the EIS to 32.8 hours.

September 27 I wore a sweatshirt to fly this morning at 48-degrees. Really smooth air provided the opportunity to add another 40-lbs of softener salt and compare takeoff that was not measurably longer and stalls that were not measurably quicker. The lift generated by the thick 601 wings is huge and the rate of climb was not appreciably changed by a weight of 1090. The EIS on return to Moline was at 34.0 hours. I went home for lunch at 11:00 and called Bing to inquire about changing a jet on the right side from 170 to 172. He thought it would be all right, but couldn't offer any rationale for the imbalance EGTs. After refueling and lunch, the plane was reloaded with another 40-lb salt bag on top of a quad layer of plastic sheet that took the weight to 1130-lbs. This time, the takeoff was longer and it took about 4800 rpm to climb out satisfactorily. Cruise seemed to require a bit more, but the plane was stable and even with convectives very manageable. The approach was impressively steep, but solid in the flare. The EIS has now 35.1 hours on it.

September 28 This was the first morning this month that it was too windy to fly! I got on the computer and prepared the certification statement required for the final 40-hour completion entry to the aircraft log and also made a certification statement for the completion of annual inspection. Then I converted the 29-page Zenith 601HD POH manual data and pictures to the 601HDS criteria. I went to lunch with the guys at the Lucky 8 and returned to finish the document as a Word File. The wind was still blowing at 4:30.

September 29 It was a calm, brisk 40-something at 8:30, so I loaded the plane to 1170, put on a sweatshirt and applied power enough to lift at 70, climb at 80 and reduce revs to 4800 to pattern height. The afternoons are convective, so loads will be carried only in the mornings. The 35-minute flight to Kewanee was uneventfull, but I did encounter a stiff crosswind landing runway 1. I then taxied to runway 9 and waited for a twin to take off. Getting off into a slight wind was easier this time, with the weight. Climb out was 750-ft/min, 4800-rpm at 80-mph. Flight to Moline at 4200-rpm was smooth, 105-mph and visibility west was 25-miles. I entered a fast 115-mph right base for 5, cut the throttle, slowed to 70 just before touching down and was still short enough to exit the first taxiway. Everything was inspected again, unloaded and the header refueled to within 2" of the filler. I went home for lunch with 36.3 hours on the EIS. After lunch, I flew to the south practice area and experienced heavy convective all the way to 4500-ft. Flew over Seaton, IL and then southeast nearly to Galesburg and back and landed on 5 with 37.7 on the EIS.

September 30 Retirement began just one year ago today! (Should have left 4 years earlier) First thing this morning I flew to Galesburg in very smooth air. The right EGT went to 1450 on takeoff and back to 1380 at cruise. This EGT was 60-degrees hotter than the left side and will see some attention. Leaving Galesburg, I'd just lifted from runway 21 and saw 3 large groups of geese flying my direction, so at 100-feet or so, I veered hard right to avoid even going under these birds. The flight continued out to my turn-point, Seaton, Illinois and rpms were increased till I could see125 at 5100 rpm. On approaching Moline, the right EGT went up to takeoff temps, so I slowed to 105 and landed with 39.0 hours on the EIS. Went to lunch with the guys at the Lucky 8 and returned to inspect and refuel the plane. Noticed the paint on the right upper Stratus engine-mount is showing stress-cracking at the forward end of the gusset, extending down and rearward 30-degrees behind the horizontal attach tab as has been seen on too many Stratus engines. Going to have to change out the mount for one that I made to replace it. On the express-way home, in thick traffic, a young lady in a Jeep failed to notice my nearly stopped Saturn and at 50+ mph rear-ended me damaging the bumper and hitch. Perhaps the mount will have to wait a bit.

October 1 After 2 weeks in California, Lee is expected to get home late today. I got bids on fixing the Saturn, then picked up some steel and made a stand that can be pushed under the exposed oil pan rim, take weight off the engine mount and then change out the cracked mount. The idea for the stand is to be able to use it for further inspection of mount rubbers, washers, and bolts, both inside and outside mount brackets, etc. It rained most of the afternoon so it was a good day for cutting and welding.

October 2 The stand was checked against the height of the oil pan and it was returned to the shop to finish welding and adding four adjustment screws for height and angle. A finish coat of paint was added to the new mount so that it can monitored for any change in condition. I posted pictures of the new mount and fixture on the Subaru engine page of this site. Sent Stratus an Email requesting an exchange of my cracked mount for a new spare RH upper.

RH Stratus Mount - change process
October 3 The cowling was removed and the stand slid under the side edges of the engine pan with just a little friction. An old wood cross-support was placed under the rear fuselage with about 3/8" clearance. This clearance would be taken up when the engine stand was screwed up about the same distance to take engine weight off the main mount. Bolt alignment should remain fixed with the tail and engine both on solid support. A ratchet-strap was placed around the right cylinder head just far enough out to reach behind the large gusset on the main mount with the ratchet against the forward side of the engine. This was tightened to tension the engine against the main mount. The nuts holding the cracked mount were undone as were the main thru-bolt, rubbers and washers. The bolt was pushed out with a little effort and stayed aligned. With the mount removed, rubber mounts with plastic tube were reassembled into the new mount. The new mount was reassembled to the head with no difficulty. The main thru-bolt was pushed and turned to work it thru the aligned holes until the castle nut and washer could be threaded on, tightened and safetied. The task was complete within an hour and a half and I was home for lunch. Have to give it to Kelly Miesty to credit the process, as he told me how he'd got it done. It worked right on the money! Thanks again Kelly! Now back to flying!

October 4 This very cool and windy morning, the engine stand was taken to the airport and I did a little hangar housekeeping. At home, intake mold halves were modified by adding bolted aluminum angles to top and bottom edges. These will allow a quicker assembly and takedown to split the forms to remove cured lay-ups. A little sanding and prep was required inside as well. Would have been a good day for fiber glassing.

October 5 Today was 54-degrees and calm, so dressed accordingly I performed the last preflight for Phase-I flight-testing. It took 10-minutes running warm-up to get oil temps to 90 plus and coolant temps above 100. There'd be enough time in taxiing to runway 5 to reach temps needed for takeoff. On clearance for takeoff, I noticed the right canopy latch had not, so I reached over, pushed to latch it and climbed out for the south practice area. The smooth air is a joy for any flight. It was comfortable, but the heater was not quite as effective as it should be, and after an hour of stalls and turns, Moline cleared an approach left base for 230 and I soon landed. In this hour, N601EZ passed the FAA designated time limit for restricted airspace and solo flight. As the plane taxied to the hangar there were 40.3 hours on the EIS. Five things remain to consider, EGT re-jet for the right cylinders, a canopy latch safety, improved heating, periodic check of the mounts and possibly a smaller B-battery to save weight. I went home to lunch with Lee.

October 6 Beautiful day! Got an appointment to fix the Saturn, so I took fuel to the hangar and returned home with the lower cowl. The right side, fiberglass bump out was removed as a new engine bump out that was 1/8" deeper was waiting. Engine contact with the cowl was the concern. I used a rubber patch to protect the forward lower corner of the valve cover the past 40-hrs. Not an elegant solution, but the replacement bump out will eliminate contact problems long after the plane gets painted. The hole was sanded flush and the piece laid in with its narrow flange inside. After pre-drilling for a cleco each end resin was added to both pieces and they were held until cured. The inside was sanded and a single layer of cloth was added join the bump out flange with the cowl. Resin was added to the opposite side and then a resin-based filler was added to finish the external radius.

October 7 Wet sanding was followed by two coats of white primer. The cowl was taken to the hangar and fitted. The clearance was a full 5/16 all round the valve cover which was very satisfactory. It was sprinkling lightly today. Went shopping again for a new car for Lee.

October 8 Rain provided an incentive to change out the RH Bing jet from 170 to a 172 to balance the EGT . It was too wet out to run it up, so perhaps tomorrow. Wheel pants were removed to inspect the brakes the clatter they make on rollout, but all seems to be secure.

October 9 On run up, the 172 jet did not appear to have reduced EGT so the 170 was reinstalled. I decided to fly to Whiteside County SQI. It took about 25-minutes and I also added 3 gallons of 100LL. The fuel level exceeded my overflow, so fuel ran out the tube at the right end of the center section. I pulled the plane over to Kelly's hangar with the tow bar. He was doing maintenance but I was able to visit with him for a while and finally show him my plane, the good stuff and the foibles. We caught nearly a quart of fuel in a jar before I had to leave. Taking off from SQI was easier because there's no pressure to get to altitude and above the buildings that surround the airport so my right EGT barely broke 1400. Visibility at 3000 was spectacular in all directions and within another 25 minutes, a straight in approach and landing was made on 23. I really like flying the 601HDS. It's a blast!

October 10 I removed the prop and adjusted the Bing idle mixture screws to the same positions, then ran the engine to temp. The carburetor-balancing device from Bing was opened and found not to function on air-darts in tubes, but upon a column of mercury shipped in a vial. I can't use this material around my aluminum airplane because mercury is deadly as well as extremely corrosive to aluminum. The package was wrapped up and prepped for return shipment to Bing with or without a refund. The prop was reassembled and bolts torqued to 35-lbs. I cleaned up the hangar and went home.

October 11 Removed the prop again and hooked up the inductive timing light that was purchased at Harbor Freight for $23. The engine was run up to temps and then to 4500 rpm and the standard ignition was set to 31 degrees. The nonmagnetic flywheel ignition was only 24-degrees and didn't change advance at higher rpm, which means that one could back off a degree or two on the standard ignition advance to lower the right EGTs. Or, I could fly on the fixed ignition to see reduced temps as well. Needs more study to get it right.

October 12-14 Cool rainy weather provided impetus to remove the wheel pants and brackets in advance of winters soggy fields. Also a paint scheme is being considered so I ordered a book on proper methods for painting the airplane. Computer maintenance took over this week as research continued on finding the range of correct timing for controlling EGTs.

October 15 A "see thru" fuel filter with paper element and 12" of ¼" fuel hose were purchased and the Aeroquip hose connecting pumps to the T was removed. It was replaced with a pair of coupling nuts, sleeves and short ¼" flared tube segments. Hose clamps secured the assembly to the tubes with the fuel filter in the middle. This seemed a better way to provide access and a visual reference delivery of clean gas to the Bing carburetors. It was a gray day with a trace of rain. I retreated to my warm shop and proceeded to box up old paint and chemicals for delivery to the annual hazardous waste collection at the fairgrounds tomorrow.

Excess Forms and jigs
October 16 After intensively cleaning and reorganizing shop and garage space, I realized that finally, every form for the 601HDS was in the canopy crate or on it. Including one of two engines, a space about 3' x 4' x 8'. That's space I could use to engage this winters home improvement. Must decide on an approach to sell or trade-off this collection to an in-progress or future builder.

October 17 The motorcycle was reluctantly put away for cold weather this morning. After lunch, I went flying 22 miles south and then west to within view of the Mississippi river and over Seaton IL. The sheer thin clouds overcast the area reducing convective to zero and the cool air was extremely smooth. The newly added see-thru fuel filter at the firewall created no problems. Takeoff EGT was 1450-deg f. until climb out was complete. EGTs came down to 1380-deg f in cruise. After an hour and ten, I returned to make a left base to 31 at 80-mph, slowing the approach to grease a short 65-mph landing. Was able to exit on the first taxiway to the south t-hangars. Beautiful day!

October 18 Early this cold and windy Monday, I dropped the Saturn off to be fixed and later went to Lowe's and found a metal construction, portable milk-house heater to use in the hangar this winter. The two-speed fan was quiet with heating controls for 850 or 1500 W and a thermostatic control. A 5" diameter duct will be made to fit the distance between fan and oil pan. A blanket over the cowl will close the front openings and force excess air to exit the opening at the firewall. Certainly hope this will be safe enough for the gasoline that is vented from the planes fuel tank. Perhaps that can be capped.

October 19-21 The immaculately repaired Saturn was returned this morning. This week, landscapers undid 600 80-lb blocks of the south stonework and progressively reset angle and rock footings so they'll stay in place longer. They did a nice job, so Lee and I replanted the shrubs. The adapter and duct between heater and airplane cowling are complete and work well. The wiring was restudied again to make transition from the standard Nippondenso to a dual dizzy distributor and external modules. Hoping for better flying weather.

October 22 A matching adapter with baffle rubber at contact edges to protect future paint was made to fit the airplanes cowl. This was clamped onto the end of the 4" flex tube. Was a foggy rainy afternoon.

October 24 After running 2-miles and walking Pongo thru the college grounds, I went flying. Still flying solo because of EGTs. I'm not as worried about resolving that yet as there are several things yet to examine to lower them. The cool air made for a short takeoff on 5 and the right EGT climbed to 1450. As I leveled out to 4300-rpm it came down to 1420. After reducing the rpms to 4100, it eventually settled to1380 where it stayed. The left EGT was never above 1400-deg and was 1320 at cruise. I flew around Geneseo, then crossed the Mississippi, landed at Davenport, IA, got a pop and took off again climbing to 3000 for Moline. Visibility in this plane is awsome. Our house is a distant right base for runway 23 and I could see our neighborhood and back yard while turning an extended final. I made an overly fast approach and just reduced rpms to slow the plane to a decent flare touchdown just ahead of the intersection. The nose gear didn't touch down until it was time to slow and turn off the runway to the south tees. The EIS says 44 hours and, with exception to right side EGT, all seems to be running very well.

October 25 On this perfect fall Monday, flying was put off so that the President can visit Davenport and leave safely. The heater was tried out and left at the hangar.
I tried to put my finger on a CH640 builder's problem of W & B. The CH640 was fitted with 260 hp. It dawned on me that when the counterweight in the tail exceeds baggage you're safely capable of carrying anyone would assume you have a serious problem. I recommended he confess his problems to the designer. He then contacted ZAC and obtained approval for legitimate structural, weight and balance concerns.

October 27 I was very distressed to read that Andy's 601HDS with Stratus engine, under full power, lost control and crashed, killing his Flight Advisor-pilot on its first flight. Tragic! Posts on the Matronics page by the builder yield comments related to aileron control surfaces. If it weren't ailerons, I'd look at parts described by drawing 6F11-2, B5-bulkhead and the nylon fairlead riveted to it securing the top elevator bell crank cable. If this one comes undone, there's a lot of slack and little or no prospect of raising the nose. I inspected mine again today and saw the U-shaped wire loop closed thru holes in the flange going under the cable assuring that if the nylon falls off, cracks or quits, the cable will still function. The report suggests to me indirectly that the prop may very well have been under-pitched.

October 29 Rain and gray today. I removed the cowl, propeller, and duct tube. The idle mixture was set to 2 and the plugs were checked. Plug 2 was lightest at mid tan. The engine was hand rotated to TDC #1 cylinder and crank match point. I found that it was easier to see the exhaust and intake valves opening and closing with a flashlight in the spark plug hole than removing the valve cover to assure #1 was on the compression ignition end of the cycle. Matched the new dual distributor visually with the orientation of points, rotor and body and all will easily be exchanged. The positive wire was marked on the dual pickups, or at least the same side was identified for later confirmation.

October 30 Winds at 40 mph today made for noisy work in the hangar to the point of wrecking concentration. I went home to read up more on the dual dizzy install. I ordered new prop bolts without holes, nylock nuts, cotter pins and a foot of 1/4" nylon rod from Aircraft spruce.

October 31 After a 2-mile run, I walked Pongo thru Blackhawk College woods. Then, Lee and I raked up leaves in the quiet of the morning. After lunch, ignition wires were unwrapped and first A-coil, then B-coil wires were disconnected to revise wire connectors. This would permit swapping distributors with the same end connectors and an easy reversal if the dual ignition doesn't work as intended. It also gave better separation of ignition wires from the sensor bundle.

Dual Dizzy installation

November 1 Monday is rainy all day, so wires from the external ignition and the old distributor were disconnected. The distributor was marked for position, removed and replaced by the new dual-pickup distributor. Dual wires for A and B were shortened to route along the motor mount cross tube to reach the GM TP45 modules. These were fitted by the same bolts holding the coils to the firewall cross-brace. Four 5" wires with connectors are needed to secure the ends between modules and the positive and negative coil leads, but its late, I'm cold and looking forward to a hot supper.

November 2 Election day! Lee and I voted early and after dropping her off at the hospital, I proceeded to wire the leads from the coils to the modules. Fusible tape was used to cover exposed connectors and support wires coming out of them. Tie ties were added to secure position for all of it and when done, the wiring looked as neat as the former setup. Plastic jacketing was added to the main wires from the distributor to the coils and was tie tied. I tried jiggling the wires and modules, but all seemed impervious to vibration. Vibration breaks ignition wires. Not quite time enough to gap the reluctor and pickups, but after 3-1/2 hours, the wiring was done. It was not quite as cold today, overcast, but dry!

November 3 Finally radio without campaign ads! My party won! The hangar door was open and the gap on the reluctor put at.006 minimum, .009 max. The .003-play in the distributor accounts for the variance. All wiring complete and the system was cranked, but not a puff of smoke, spark or ignition. I rechecked the connections, disconnected B and connected the MSD electronic ignition and the engine fired immediately. So, the problem has to be at the pickups, modules or in my wiring. This was narrowed by electrically testing every connection, even the polarity of the pickups. Went to lunch with Cy at the Lucky 8 and revisited the ignition drawing. On return, connections were checked by the letter and all as defined by my drawing. More research is required because these things should fire right off and I'm getting nothing. Ignition problems should be no more difficult than the schematic so it's time to dig in and find out what's not cooperating.. Beautiful 50 degree day with some overcast. Would have been a great day to fly.

November 4 A wet overcast cleared at noon to bright, windy and nearly warm. Two large combines were harvesting corn across from my hangar around runway 5. I cut an old distributor cap around the #1 plug wire connection so the rotor and distributor post are visible in the installed position. This helped me see rotor advance and match it to the post. I can see a little more adjustment on the pickup-plate within the distributor. A closer look at letters on the modules found + and - connectors switched at both coil and pickup ends. After switching these, the engine started and ran on A or B. I re-wrapped wires in fusible-tape and tie-tied it all back in place. The timing light proved I still have to advance the distributor pickup-plate to get a centered range of adjustable timing. Sweet!

November 5 The sunshine continued, so the distributor plate was adjusted and photographed to make comparison with the previous single pickup ignition and position. Both ignitions have to be on for an easy start, but then each will run well separately. I reversed the LX600 pickup leads to see if they were incorrect, but the engine wouldn't start easy or run well that way so things were put the way they were. The timing light was used to set the distributor to 30 degrees BTDC at 4000 rpm. The wires were re-wrapped in fusible tape and tie-tied to position. Then the module mounts were re-bolted to the backside of the flange on the cross brace and this provided a little more clearance. The engine was run again to be sure nothing had changed. I restocked the hangar Tupper with cookies and put Coke in the fridge and went home. The combines were just finishing this side of the airport corn and opened quite a view.

November 6 Late afternoon, distributor pickup-plate screws were removed and Loctite 272 was added to the threads. The engine was run and the timing was checked again at 4000 rpm. I put the propeller back on with the new bolts and nylock nuts and added fuel to top off the tank. Very windy! Spinner and cowl were put back on and moving the radiator back is next.

November 8 On this calm Monday, the prop was again removed. The distributor body and pickup plate were adjusted to re-center the timing clamp screw. The engine was started and the timing re-set. The prop was put back on and torqued. After lunch, the plane was taxied to 5. Takeoff was not as snappy as before and at 5000 rpm the engine felt smooth and quieter. Right EGT peaked at 1430 and went down as rpms were lowered to mid 4000. Leveling off at 3400 ft, I noticed all rpms below 5000 had a pulse or a miss that could be felt as a definite vibration that was not present before, so I turned about and was cleared to land on 5 with only 40 minutes on the EIS. All sounded fine taxiing back to the hangar. The prop was removed in preparation for tomorrow's review of everything timing and running.

November 9 First thing in the morning, I formed up a .032 tube 2" diameter, cut it to 6" long and TIG welded the seam. It would be added as a joint to the mid-section of the scat tube that connects to the lower cowl. Then removal of the lower cowl will be accompanied by the front half of the scat and will be out of the way. Timing was revisited. I tightened up the gap between reluctor and pickups to .008 and found both would easily start the engine. Timing was checked and it was off and required correction to 31-degrees BTDC. I decided to use only one ignition-A TP45 module and the external flywheel timing as B and reconnected those two wires. The engine started easily and a second check of timing was correct. The prop and spinner were put back on with the cowl and all was readied for the next flight. Logs entrys were added to record changes and maintenance that was done. (Note: Seemed safer to use separate source ignition because the reluctor could foul and disable both ignition pickups. Not likely, but..)

November 10 This morning, the radiator was finally moved back 2 ft to its original position. It had been moved forward for perceived CHT cooling problems. Original plug thermocouples read 60 degrees higher than block thermocouples now in use. After reconnecting hoses and refilling coolant, the engine was checked and topped off. The engine started easily and temps came up to normal, but there was still a roughness in the running like a bad spark plug or plug-wire connection. Switching from A to B didn't change the miss, so it has to be something in a plug, a wire or the distributor cap. I did inspect the plugs and found #2 was nearly clean like it had not been running. The others were tan to brown and sooty. The #2 plug-wire did not snap on or off the plug barrel, #4 barrel for the plug-wire was loose on its threads. These things were corrected and I went home to help Lee with the yard work.

November 11 After temps got above 40, I put in new spark plugs after adding a little anti-seize to threads, checked ohm resistance on both coils, plug wires and inspected the posts inside the distributor cap. #4 was not straight and had a micro-dink in the edge like the rotor had caught it at some point. I replaced both distributor cap and rotor. The plane was pulled into the wind and started up. It seemed to run much better, but for vibration at 2500 to 2700 rpm. This didn't seem like missing, but might be belt rumble, because after considerable taxiing and warm up, the band of vibration was narrower and other rpms were more powerful and smooth. The plane was rolled back into the hangar for a quieter day.

November 12 After lunch, I checked the right carburetor bowl for sediment and looked at the 170 main jet. Both were o.k. The bracket that's always removed before lowering the carburetor bowl was slotted so the bolt may need only be loosened. I checked the alignment of propeller tips and found them to be within a 32nd of each other. Belts were inspected and both were good. The plane was again put on the apron and ran with a rolling vibration present until temps peaked out. Vibration was still felt at the power band 2500 to 2800 rpm. Once warm, the engine seems to tick right along above and below that band. I might replace the distributor body with the original, swapping the dual pickup plate to see if rotor-shaft advance is an issue. This means the prop comes off again.

Carburetor Balancing

November 15 After a weekend of family projects, the propeller came off again and vacuum screws were removed from each of the carbs. The synchronizer was connected and the balance-hose was replaced with two separate plugged hoses. All was ready for starting the engine and balancing the Bing carbs. I reached in to open the gas shutoff valve and a whiff of fuel suggested something had already been seeping. The shutoff valve and fittings were slightly damp to touch. The header tank was drained into a gas can that was progressively emptied into my car. A totally empty tank will permit a complete retrofit of the fuel shutoff valve and fittings with proper sealer tomorrow.

The fuel shutoff replaced for swarf

November 16 Early this foggy morning, the leaky fuel shutoff was removed. I saw no sealant on the lower pipe thread and the removed shutoff valve turned with an abrading resistance. I believe aluminum micro-filings seen in the gascolator may have scarred the valve seal. I went to the NAPA store and bought another just like it that operated much smoother and only had to drill the handle for the shutoff extension and all would be ready for reassembly. After lunch, the fuel tank was lit up inside and I found aluminum filings that couldn't go thru the finger screen. The screen was removed, cleaned and the bottom of the tank was wiped with a brush on a long stick. Then aircraft gasket sealer was added to all threads and the final assembly was left to cure overnight. Hopefully this would be the last of the aluminum swarf that would be found at the finger screen, gascolator drained fuel samples and in the Bing float-bowls. The new fuel filter will safety the fuel-flow to the carbs. Lesson learned: "Clean thorougly before using new tanks."

Balancing Continued

November 17 Within a pea-soup fog, my hangar door was opened and the header tank was refueled. The fittings stayed dry. The carburetor-balancer was attached to the Bings. The engine was started and warmed to running temps. The balancer was centered with low sensitivity at low rpm. Sensitivity was increased fully at each 1000 rpm increase to 4500 rpm. From lowest rpms to the highest, the needle barely moved from 25% left, to 50% right. The plugged hoses were removed and the balance hose was attached between carbs and the test was redone. It was just a replay of the former results. I concluded that my carburetor linkage is capable of repeated matched throttle-settings. Timing was reset to 32 degrees at 4500 rpms and fuel was topped off again. The propeller was reattached and torqued progressively in 10 ft-lb increments to 34 ft-lbs. The cowl was reattached and the plane was run up and taxied about the hangars. Vibration or belt rumble seemed considerably lessened after all this. Now, to find or build an affordable prop balancer.

November 18 The battery chargers were attached and I spent a rainy morning looking for a flush mounted cover that could simplify plug-access to the batteries.

November 22 Weather calmed enough to fly south to the practice area and get a better handle on Exhaust Gas Temps. The timing was reset to 32 degrees at 4500 and that seems to have increased EGTs by about 30 degrees. Flying at 4000 rpm suggests the timing needs to go back to 29 or 30 to get EGTs back into the 1300s. Oddly, there was no belt rumble on this flight so the prop was marked for position on the extension. Also, with the radiator well back in it's original position, coolant temps never got above 180 and the cylinder head temps never above 190. Looks like the radiator will stay back under the rear belly. I put an hour on the plane burning 3.5 gallons. It was very smooth and overcast to 10,000 ft.

November 23 By 9:00 a.m. the prop was removed and the timing was again checked to confirm that it was at 32 deg @ 4500 rpm, but the timing light showed the advance was not as smooth as the distributor that came with the Stratus. In removing single ignition from the original distributor, one of the screws holding the pickup-plate broke off. I drilled a 3/32" hole thru the center of the screw, enlarged it to a 7/64" and a screw-extractor removed it. The dual pickup was lifted out. The engine mounted distributor body and the original were swapped. The orignial was in much better condition. The dual pickup plate was remounted and the pickup/reluctor gaps were set to .008. The engine started easily and was steadier from low to high rpms. The advance was steadier, which made it easier to set the timing 30-degrees @ 4500 rpm. The prop was bolted and torqued in place and the cowl and spinner were re-attached and ready for the next flight.

Battery charging port

November 24 I dislike making openings in the skins that have any kind of corner, so I fabricated a simpler improved-design lid, back plate and hinge that will support just charger connections (not starting cables) to the batteries. The lid opens outward with no hinge in the skin. This design eliminates the possibility that a corner could crack because the hole in the skin has well rounded corners. The back plate reinforces the skin and supports an internal hinge that reaches thru the 1-1/2 x 2 inch rectangular hole to hold the lid. The only exposed items are the door and one Dzus-fastener. Parts were sand blasted and then zinc chromated. Hopefully, when completed, the port-assembly will be fitted to the side or the bottom skin near the batteries. It's been done before like the gas cap door on your car, but I thought it worth mentioning. (Note: I ultimately used a pair of cigarette lighter plugs and mounted them on a plate inside the plane, much simpler.)

November 25 Happy Thanksgiving

November 26 An improved-design back plate and hinge were made that will support plugs allowing externalized charger connections to the batteries. The lid opens outward without a hinge in the skin. Exposed is just the door with one Dzus-fastener. Parts were sand blasted and then coated with zinc chromate.

November 27 The tank was topped off to avoid condensing water and the gap at the reluctor was again re-gapped to be sure it wouldn't overlap the pickup while running after warming up. A slight dampness was wetting things outside and prevented taking flight on an otherwise cool day.

November 28 The last couple days were spent preparing the molds for the radiator intake. Today the sky cleared and I flew the plane with the standard settings and found that right EGTs are still in the 1400s @ 4000 rpm, so on return, the right carburetor was disassembled to find a cause for lean mixture. The needle was scuffed a bit, otherwise none was found and so the jet size was increased from a 170 to a 174. All else was running well, so I went home to do more research. I believe the onset of cold dense air has something to do with the slightly higher EGTs, so larger jets will be ordered.

November 29 A high compression Colortune plug, two 176 jets, and two fixation screws were ordered from Bing to allow a better look at what's going on. It's apparently going to require running with the prop on and the plane tied down to accurately read out the fuel mixture at the 4000 rpm area. I dislike being anywhere near a running prop. More work was done on the intake molds this morning. The external mold is nearing completion, with split-body and removable face-plugs. These will assist removal of the completed intakes. The internal mold is ready to go.

November 30 I arrived at 9:30 in light snow and proceeded to take the Bing carburetor apart to see what mid-range needle jets and needle sizes are. The needle had two rings below the notches and the jet was a 2.72. I had to put a piece of safety wire down thru the carburetor to get the jet and supporting body threaded back up through the hole. With those back in, the upper needle assembly was carefully placed back on the top, aligned with jet and diaphragm key and tightened down. The 174 main jet was screwed back in and the float bowl was clipped back tight and connections were completed. After lunch with the guys at the Lucky 8, I went for new electric breakers for the hangar because they shut off the lights every time my small heater came on. It was near 30 degrees out there. At home and still shivering, I called Bing and was told that to enrich the top end, use a larger main jet and suggested I move up two sizes from the 2.72 to the 2.76 midrange needle jet. Because this overlaps the 2.74 size, they suggested moving the needle down one notch if things get too rich and follow thru by finding the best main jet to complete high range rpms. Things are finally coming together!

December 1 At 29-degrees, the hangar door was raised and new circuit breakers were installed and checked for supporting my light engine heater, overhead lighting and battery chargers. All worked well, so the cowl was reinstalled to await the last Bing order. UPS delivered the Colortune plug, 176 main jets and the fixation screws. I reinforced the nose gear tow bar by welding slotted washers to the steering slots, then wire brushed it and added a coat of paint.

December 2 The engine heater recently configured was set on low to run all night and when I arrived this morning, the engine was just slightly warm to the touch. On the low setting, it provides barely enough heat to get your hands warm, but does a nice job ducted into the oil-cooling intake. The afternoon was spent re-making a dual battery connection for charging using a pair of cigarette lighter barrels and plugs.

December 3 A third effort on the battery charging connection yields better assembly and access by eliminating the hinge entirely. Just using a mount plate for the flush mounted barrels behind a skin doubler and Dzus fasteners each end to cover the barrels. Looks good and doesn't require any square holes. The mid-range jets arrived from Bing today, so re-jetting both carbs can be done in 50-degree weather this weekend.

Small mistakes can lead to big problems;

December 4 Got to the hangar at 10:30 and proceeded to take the Bing carburetors apart for re-jetting. Took the tops off and reset the needles up a notch, then went home for lunch. Afterward, main jets and mid-jets were removed and all was inspected. The new 2.76 mid-range jets were guided into place, then 176 mains were installed and all went back together nicely after aligning the diaphragm key and hooking up the choke cable, etc. The last item was the throttle wire bolt and nut. The nut slipped from my fingers and I thought I heard it tumbling but it could not be found any where on the engine or on the floor. I spent an hour looking before running to Lowe's for a package of 8mm nylock nuts. On return, the throttle goes back together and all's done, but for the air filter…. The air filter support elbow is open and looking at me, and it's the last place one would hope to loose a nut. The power of that thought took my mind all the way back to removing heads and manifolds and valve disassembly etc. The search got serious and a cursory inspection of the intake suggests a magnet could be extended past the open throttle valve to the valve cylinder openings. Arghh! Won't start the engine without knowing that the nut did not go into the intake! Sunday will be more than fun. The odds are 10 to 1 that the nut just dropped away or flipped onto the floor instead of jumping up 2" and 6" rearward into the 2" diameter hole in the elbow, but one has to be positive about these things!

December 5 After sleeping on the problem, Cy Galley suggested that a vacuum-machine might be able to remove a nut from the intake channel near valves if suction were good. I have a spare engine in the basement and so tied a thread onto a 8mm nut and threw it into the channels toward the valves and after removing spark plugs, the engine was rotated until intake valve 2 opened. Lee's new vacuum has great suction and airflow and the nut was sucked up the tube and vibrating up in the hose. Good idea, so this was repeated at the hangar for both cylinders 2 and 4 with very reassuring results but, no nylock nut. The magnet on a flex-stick was played in the spark plug holes along the lower edge of the cylinders from pistons to valves. Still, after searching the floor, carpeting and all remote areas, no nut, but there's less cause for concern. The search was called because dropped hardware sometimes goes to that special place never to be seen again. The engine was started and warmed up with no problems. The first 3500 rpm run up put the EGT past 1400, so back at the hangar, the midrange jet needles were raised to the previous settings by putting the circlips back on the next to the bottom notches. The next run up to 3500 rpm, with the brakes at max, EGTs got no higher than 1290 degrees F. Quite a difference!

December 6 With Christmas shopping and all, a few minutes were taken to complete construction of a plate and dual plug port for an external charging connection for the batteries. It has two cigarette lighter receptacles on a .040 mount plate and uses two Dzus fasteners to secure a weather seal cover over the two flush mounted sockets.

December 7 Rainy and windy today so progress continued with wiring the battery charging connectors using standard cigarette lighter sockets. The assembled sockets were soldered to secure threaded pieces, then sprayed with zinc chromate primer. Epoxy was used to seal the end of the barrels to the back plate. AWG 18 wire and insulated spade grips made connections with the positive and ground terminals on the barrels. A template for repeating the mount hole pattern and .90 socket holes were used to duplicate-test for accuracy before cutting the fuselage skin.

December 8 Would have flown today but for haze and low ceilings, so the template was used to pre-drill and then manually fly-cut two 1" diameter holes in the bottom skin for the charger connections. I went to lunch with the guys at the Lucky 8. Afterward, the charge connection mounting plate was riveted inside the bottom just aft of the hanging step. Wiring was routed forward and across the top of the j-section toward the batteries. Two 3-amp fuse holders and tie-tie adhesive patches are needed to finish the installation.

December 9 This foggy morning, adhesive tie-tie patches were picked up at Radio Shack and the spots where the tie-tie patches are required were cleaned beforehand. The adhesion was very good and 8 patches were placed at 6" spacing. Tie-ties were added to secure the 3 18-gage wires to each patch. A ring terminal was added to the ground wire and secured to the ground cable. The 2 positive wires were shortened to add fuse holders with 3-amp fuses and ring terminals. These were connected to the near side of the battery contactors. The last foot of wire with fuses was tie-tied to the ground cable and the chargers were plugged in. Pictures were added to the bottom of the website Electrical page.

Fiberglass intakes begun

December 10 Several days of wind and rain are forecast, so I completed fabrication of a blank replacement panel for newer gages and radios for a Twin Cessna. In the afternoon, the tables were cleared and I began setup for hand layups and fiber-glassing some promised radiator intakes.

December 11 A coat of mold-release was applied to primary mold surfaces, 3 pieces of fiberglass were cut to fit the external intake mold. Resin was mixed and brushed on the surface. One piece was laid onto the mold and filled with resin, a second and then a third was applied and stippled to fill and release bubbles. After cleanup, the set was set aside for curing and the internal mold was readied. The fiberglass for the internal mold was segmented to 4 pieces, 3 layers making 12 total. All was set aside and resin was mixed. A repeat of the first mold took longer because of complexity, but the last pieces were filled and bubbles were removed when the resin had just started to jell. Both were left to cure overnight.

December 12 It's 29-degrees this morning so no flying today! Fiberglass product was separated from the molds. Rough areas were sanded and edges were trimmed. Got too busy to even go out to Lunch. Mold release was re-applied and the halves were bolted together to ready the next lay up. The product was washed to dissolve mold release film and then was sanded again to prepare for a 3-piece final assembly.

December 14 Beautiful day, 29 degrees and 6 mph winds, but cold, so the second set of fiberglass segments were cut and prepped for resin. The internal mold was covered and filled. Went to lunch with Cy and the guys at the Lucky 8. Began a write up that gets specific about jetting the Bing carburetors. Seems there's lots of information, but little of specific jet sizes used and any further data on the progression toward lowering exhaust gas temperatures. Perhaps this will help some avoid the time and expense of rediscovery.

December 15 Did another fiberglass lay-up to complete the second set. Nice day for flying were it not so windy.

Rejetting data nearly complete

December 16 Beautiful day, 40s, winds at 10, so I put on the flight-suit and taxied out to 31 and holding short, watched the pre-heated oil reach 240 until clearance was given for takeoff. Climb out was impressive, and EGTs were slow to climb to 1450 at 5100, so I reduced rpms to 4400 and turned south to the practice area and EGTs came down to 1435. Rpms were lowered to a comfortable 4300 and EGTs stabilized at 1420. The largest change from increasing jet sizes was the slow mid range climb through 1400 on takeoff. I flew an hour and then returned to land on 27 and at the hangar, the K&N type air filters were removed and replaced with the original foam types to see if they would make a difference. Went home for lunch to see our niece Molly's new baby boy, Francis. Afterward, I refueled the plane and taxied out in 16 mph winds to lift off very quickly from 31. The EGT was slower and never got past 1420 on takeoff. After leveling the plane, I headed south for 15 minutes. Rpms were set back to 4350 and temps settled in at 1375. There's still about a 40-degree difference from the right to left sides. I tried raising the rpms to 5000 and the temps would level out at 1425. The old foam filters had a much greater impact on air/fuel mixture than I'd have thought. So now I can cruise at 115 to 120 mph and not get EGTs much past 1400 Degrees F.

December 17-18 Christmas shopping today

December 19 There were a number of responses to the Stratus-Bing jet post. As people find out what jets are in their Subaru's and report their EGTs, an archival database will assist in getting the best performance out of the Stratus.

Finishing first Fiberglass Air Intakes

December 20 Married 36 years today! After buying flowers and making Lee an offer of dinner out this evening, another fiberglass lay-up was completed for the radiator intake. It was just 2 layers and fumes were controlled by a fan and a 3M 6001 organic respirator. It kept me from smelling the resin or acetone. Dinner at Johnny's Italian Steakhouse was excellent!. The fiberglass resin was cured by late evening.

December 21 This morining I pulled the cured air-intake from the mold. It was good product. Chili and oyster crackers were the best dish at the Lucky 8 today. After all the political discourse was complete, I went home where the molds were repaired, re-assembled and mold-release was added for the next set. Bubbles and pinholes were filled with resin using a small brush prior to sanding and primer. While awaiting cure of mold release an interesting paint scheme was formulated and put to paper.

December 22 The internal duct was cut in two, re-oriented for assembly and progressively fiber glassed together to fit within the external shell. Fit was good so these were filled and sanded to mate the large assembly.

December 23-24 With temps at +1-degrees F, the garage was warmed up to 65. Both internal and external shells were wetted with resin and strips of fiberglass were inserted at the mating line with the external shell. The internal piece was slipped in between the strips of wet fiberglass and weighed down to hold joint lines secure. The strips were brushed to remove excess resin and stippled to remove bubbles. The complete assembly was sanded and strips of glass and resin were added to the overlap joined edges, cured and then sanded more. The whole assembly was smoothed and a few pinholes and bubbles were filled. Two sets of aluminum side plates for mounting were cut, punched and readied.

December 25 Merry Christmas Everyone!

December 26 Pictures of the intake were modified in Photoshop adding arrows and annotation to describe completing the installation. A page of instruction and guidance was added. Not much more there to do. Lee and I gathered with family and friends for the rest of the afternoon.

December 27 Went to the hangar to confirm dimensions with Zac's drawing. Then clecoed side plates to the first complete air intake and cut slots for the hose and tubes. I'd received a Dremel Tool for Christmas! It makes the fiberglass trim work a snap! Made a center panel for holding the bottom edge of the air intake to the first louver.

December 28 A last bit of fitting for the side plates and the plate-nuts were added. Two clecos held the side plates while I drilled the other 6 holes for recessed rivets in the fiberglass. I stopped to have lunch at the Lucky 8 and we had to push 4 tables together to seat everybody. The rivets were pulled and after the heads were sanded a bit of resin was added to cover the holes. The trail edges at the sides of the fiberglass were left untrimmed so that they can be matched to the radiator side support corners. 45-degrees today!

December 29 After sanding, a thin coat of resin was brushed to fill slight imperfections and then sanded off. Very little Bondo will be required to get surfaces ready for prime. At the hangar, the rear access was opened because my ELT cable was touching the elevator control cable. It was hanging over the cable because the elevator had been hooked up last and I've flown nearly 50 hours like this. The ELT cable was rerouted and tie-tied with proper clearances.

December 30 With temperatures in the 50s, the new intake was taken to the hangar and tried on for fit. Save cutting slots for the gear channel flanges, it was a better fit and finish than the first. I removed the forward top skin and checked out two instrument lights that had slipped out of position. They were secured and the skin was reattached. Fiberglass was cut for 3 more intakes. That's 5 intakes and more fiberglass and resin is needed to continue.

December 31 The day was spent with family and friends at Ilene's to see the last day of the old year become the first of the new.

Happy New Year 2005!

January 1 This rainy morning got a late start and one visit to the plane to check heater and security. I stayed busy making side plates for the intakes and updating the 601EZ's Pilot's Operating Handbook and the Pre-Flight Checklist.

January 2 It's been raining, gotten colder with snow due this week. The fiberglass work was essentially completed and I continued the update to finish the POH and the data sheets within. I also used Photoshop to prepare segmented overlays of 601 pictures so that several paint schemes could be studied.

January 3-4 A power-loss at the South Tee hangars was fixed within 24 hours. This afternoon I took time-out to prepare for the February Bi-annual. This began by a review re-read of the "Pilots Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge". It's excellent reference material for the purpose.

January 5 Winter is dumping snow and wind here, so indoor activities are preferred today. I also began the long and arduous task of linking macsmachine website journal segments to pictures within the pages. This will probably take a couple of weeks or even a month, given that two more intakes are going to be made as well.

January 6-10 Segment 1 of the Journal is linked.. Some pictures will be linked back to the journal as well after this half is done.
A half bottle of Heet was added to the header tank to keep the water from puddling in the tank and lines. Another power outage on the 11th in the hanger went unnoticed by QC airport maintenance. I called and they wrote a work order for fixing it. I checked the breakers for function and they were good. Ran another line from the working side to recoup lighting temporarily. I found a better and much cheaper way to make the throttle flex-linkage by using a $3.00 piece of 666 hose with stainless braid incorporated over the ends of throttle link tubing. The flex piece originally used from McMaster-Carr now costs $32.00.

January 11-18 Linking journal to pictures continues as temperatures hover near zero. The flexible throttle linkage has resolved to two 3/8" 4130 tubes knurled 3/4" one end, two pieces of .090 4130 plate, one 6" piece of .312 braided-stainless hose, two pieces ¾" shrink-wrap 1-1/2" long and two micro clamps. It's very neat and has a torque capacity well beyond 20X the force needed to rotate the Bing throttle plates thru a flex link with no springs. I'm building 4 of these to serve others needs. The original will be set aside and one will be used to connect the Bing throttle plates on my 601. When finished, a drawing, process sheet and photos will be added to the site to describe how to make this linkage. Still catching lunch at the Lucky 8 several times a week to check that heater and battery tenders are still working. Too cold for much else.

January 19-21 Work continued on assembly of the remaining linkages. Each end plate was tacked and then welded to the tube opposite the knurling. After zinc chromate, I found that pressing a knurled end into the hose was a bit of a challenge until a piece of wood was drilled and split to fit the braided hose. It then could be gripped in a vise and pressed ¾" into the hose. Shrink-wrap was used to secure taped wire ends and overhung enough to close with the tube and make a good seal. A 9/16" hose clamp was placed at each end. After fitting the new flex link between the Bing carbs and attaching the ends to the throttle shafts, I was really pleased with the fit and function. It rotated with less effort and didn't touch anything. I took images and added them to the engine page just below the pictures of the original flex link.

January 22-24 Throttle flex links were completed & two were set aside and one mailed to Kentucky. Two pages were printed that describe inspection, installation, maintenance and repair of the throttle flex linkage after its been in use for several years. This process paper will go into the soon to be added Documents page with pictures. The sunny afternoon hit 38 degrees, so the snow was brushed from the hangar door and 601EZ was pulled onto the ramp. After preflight, oil and water temps were ready and I was cleared from 27 and climbed at 1100 fpm to turn south and west to do one turn about Tom and Jill's houses in Seaton IL. EGTs were 1380 at 4450 rpm and airspeed crept up to 110 mph. The Subaru was extremely smooth running with no temperature or vibration levels above 2700 rpm. Air was smooth and as the sun disappeared behind the haze at 3500 feet, temps went right down with it. The heater wasn't keeping up and I wasn't dressed for the cold either. The return approach to 27 was easy and an 80 mph glide onto 27s 10,000-foot runway was slowed to grease rear tires at 60 and the nose came down for an exit at taxiway bravo. The plane burned 4 gallons and was refueled. One hour was logged and I was home in time for supper with Lee.

Biannual Flight Review (BFR)

January 25 This bright 40-degree morning was spent reviewing flight characteristics and specifications for the Cessna 150-152. At noon, I had lunch with the guys at the Lucky 8 and then went to the hangar to check the plane. At 1:30 my instructor and I met to discuss new rules, regulation and current tower communication procedures. We preflighted a club plane, a really nice 1985 Cessna 152 and soon were cleared to taxi to 31 to test my flying ability. In an hour, I had to demonstrate turns, power-off stalls, power-on stalls, slow-flight and 360-degree turns with full-flap at 45-50 mph. We did a simulated loss-of-power and descended at 60-mph to 20 ft off the corn-stubble to prove a forced-landing could be made. This was a really good wake-up test. The two touch and goes found me landing a bit too fast, but I adjusted and touchdowns were good, or at least smooth. By 4:00 p.m., My logbook was signed off and I was cleared for another 2 years.

January 26-27 On a much colder day, after cleaning the shop and prepping the last two pieces that need milling, I visited the hangar to see if the electricity was still keeping the 601 warm. It was, so on return, I picked up the $29.00 Microsoft's Flight Simulator 2004 from Staples, and installed it. The downloaded zip files for the 601HDS were downloaded and installed into aircraft and gauge directories. What fun! I was able to fly from Whiteside County Airport to Moline International, land on 27, and taxi past the parking area and directly to the ramp in front of my hangar door. On the 4 CDs, with 23,000 airports, Moline Airport has been well reproduced with tower, munincipal buildings, runway centerlines, taxiways with signs and even west half of the south tee hangars are there. Not much else got done the rest of the afternoon.

January 28 Another milled piece was completed and I had lunch with the guys at the Lucky 8. Flying was contemplated, but it was too cold, so I put on my insulated flying coveralls, put the tri-gear up on three 300-lb scales and performed a weight and balance with the header tank full and radiator location 38" aft of the firewall. With these numbers input to the Excel program, my 195 lbs added, made a 999 lb total, and put the CG in the middle of the 11" to 19.5" limits at 14.4". It's nearly impossible to get an out of CG condition with further loading.

January 29 During this morning's 2-mile run, it snowed, so work in the shop was continued. After lunch with Lee, I visited the hangar and returned to get very deep into a book from the Zenith Press. It's called "Gossamer Odyssey, The Triumph of Human-Powered Flight" by Morton Grosser. It begins as a history of the effort from 1912 and successes that were interrupted by WWI and WWII. These are rare efforts, beautifully described in the most complete and interesting detail. In 1955, the effort continues toward winning a $90,000 Kremer prize. It would wait until 1976, when a nearly broke and motivated Paul MacCready, who's team had acquired the multi-disciplined skills and perspective, aided by early computers, designed and built the Gossamer Condor. It's great reading!

January 30-31 With low ceilings and 4-mile visibility, my shop was re-organized and a visit to the hangar recovered a brand new pair of channel lock pliers. After lunch, I continued to be absorbed by the book and effort to complete the "Gossamer Condor" in the persuit to fly a 1.2 mile figure-8 course at a height of 10-ft. Paul MacCready finally won the Kremer prize. Then another 100,000-pound Kremer prize was put up as incentive for the first MPA to fly the English Channel. This was thought to be a record that wouldn't be taken for a few years. The last third of the book covers the multi-team effort to produce the Gossamer Albatross. Written in excellent personal and technically-explained detail, this wouldn't happen until June12, 1979. Interesting that such an accomplishment could only have been done after we'd made it to the moon and back, but we didn't have either the materials or the processes available to build this particular Gossamer until then. This book is an excellent must read!

February 1 The 8.5-cubic foot hinged plastic box with spares for everything consumable was organized and a list started for inventory of drive belt, bearings, oil filters, gaskets, fuel filters, spark plugs, spare pumps, ignition parts, etc. I nearly filled it on the first effort, but still need to get a set of bungees and brake pads. Had lunch at the Lucky 8 with the guys and then put new oil and filter into the 98 Saturn at 76,600 miles. Worked on a Corel Draw remake of the 3-view 601HDS for inclusion to the POH to get good lines with detail.

February 2 It was a hazy 40-degree day with 4 mph winds, but by 10:00 a.m. it was good enough to fly. I'd asked Cy Galley to fly right seat as my first passenger because he's a pilot and could critically evaluate issues on the plane and handling from his experience. We were cleared for runway 5, accelerated to lift off in nearly as short a time as flying by myself. Climb was 800-900 fpm at 4800 rpm and we shortly flew south to the practice area. Cy took the controls and felt comfortable with proportioned feel of ailerons, elevator and rudder. It took a while to understand the prop/belt noise bands. His noise canceling headphones were better than the passive type I use, so I may have to look at them again. He found my heater lacking on his side and a lot of cold air flow right of the instrument panel at the canopy hinge area. We flew an hour at 105 mph and 4200 rpms mostly and descended to 2000 ft around Seaton, IL and then returned east to due south of Moline. We then made some gentle turns and were cleared for a straight in to runway 5. My approach was fast, so I slowed to 80 mph and on touch down the nose wheel was kept off initially while braking. We were still able to exit at taxiway echo and it was a good flight of exactly 1 hour. I'm now comfortable with flying passengers. I had a vegetable-beef soup at the Lucky 8 with Cy and the guys and then returned to do a 50-hour oil-change. Thank you Cy.

An Inexpensive Portable Aircraft Wash

February 4 We had haze and 4-mile visibility, so after lunch at the Lucky 8, skies cleared at 60-degrees. I washed my Saturn and gathered materials for a 3-1/2- gallon airplane wash. A 2-1/2 gallon herbicide pump was purchased at Lowe's for $23.00. It was filled with just clean water and a 1-gallon windshield-washer jug was filled with soapy water. The jug, two towels, a sponge and a roll of paper towels were put into a 5-gallon can and all were taken to the hangar where there is no running water. It worked great. The pump wet the surfaces a wing at a time without spraying the canopy. This was followed up with a soap-filled sponge. The pump provided a surface rinse, followed by a wipe down. There was a gallon left over, but it would have been used if it were summer. A shiny 601HDS with clean tires was in the hangar by sunset and I was home for pizza at 5:00 p.m.

February 5 Another bright hazy day, but warming, so my son Casey and I went flying at 9:00 a.m. Acceleration on 27 was fast and lift off was at 60, best climb was at 80. Casey was impressed at the difference in handling from the Cessna we used to fly. We went south to the practice area, did a touch and go at Mercer County Airport and then a full stop there. Take off was quick and we climbed to 3000 ft and flew round Seaton, took pictures and then returned again with a good landing on 23. The nose wheel was kept off nearly all the way to our exit on taxiway echo. We were back at the hangars with an hour and 15 minutes. Beautiful day and getting windy.

Wetting Wing Tanks

February 6 Casey and I spent the morning hanging a shelf. After lunch, wetting wing tanks had been overdue, so with the header tank at less than half full, a light and mirror were used to inspect inside the wing tanks and then 3 gallons of 87-octane was poured into the left tank. Inspection-plates were removed to see if any tube connections or fittings were leaking. Fine so far, so the master switch was turned on, the fuel selector was turned to the left tank and the pump was turned on. The fuel gauge for the left wing was observed to go down as the header tank gauge went up. The pump, fuel selector and master switch were then turned off. I made another cursory check for wet fittings or the smell of a gasoline, but detected nothing at this time. Leaks don't always appear right away, so as rain began to drum on the hangar, I went home to work on a final Documents page and answer some email questions and play with our cat, Toby.

February 7 5 gallons of 87-octane were delivered to the hangar with the hope of wetting the right wing tank. A gasoline smell from the cockpit found one fitting nearest the wing a quarter turn loose and just moist. It was tightened and all else was inspected for seeping fuel, but that was it so far. I left the gas in the hangar for tomorrow to see if the smell persists. The nose is best for finding this sort of thing and fingers can verify any seepage, but it goes slowly.

February 8 We're headed back into winter and snow again. I purchased a second alternator belt for the spare parts box and delivered it to the hangar. On checking the left tank, a slight trace of a gasoline odor was present at the fitting I tightened yesterday. It was damp at the flare connection, so an eighth turn was added. No puddling or drip but enough to wait till tomorrow to see if this does it. I had lunch with the guys at the Lucky 8 today and dinner out with friends and family at the La Figgaro tonight. Great fun!

February 9-11 The fitting was finally dry, but the other connections at the pump beneath the wing joint cover were decidedly wet. These connections were both snugged. CAD work and machining a project took over today. The hose flare fitting from the pump was again tightened. Everything was wiped dry again and the seeping fittings are drying up. Had lunch with the guys at the Lucky 8 today. Bright and sunny out and I'm carving metal in a CAD program indoors.

February 12 This morning, the right wing inspection panels were removed. Fuel fittings were tightened and 4 gallons of fuel were poured into the right wing tank. A little seepage was found at a hose flare fitting's pipe thread going into the Facet pump on both wings. These parts were tightened twice without any sealer and may yet require draining, disassembly and sealer if they don't dry up. I began using a good flashlight and extensible mirror to look at the bottom of the fittings. They seemed dry half an hour later, so I went home for lunch with Lee and began machining the CAD parts drawn yesterday. It was a good 50-degree day that would've been good flying.

February 13 It rained steady today and everything in the hangar was damp to the touch. Pipe threads at the Facet pumps were still weeping fuel, so the fuel in the wing tanks was siphoned back into 5-gallon cans. The fittings were removed and the threads were coated with Aircraft Gasket and Thread Sealer and reinstalled. Everything was reassembled, left to cure.

February 14-17 The aircraft gasket and thread sealer was wet and soft two days after applying it, so the fittings were taken apart, cleaned and another Permatex product intended for sealing threads was applied. Within a day it was cured and appeared to be in good shape. It's been either too wet, windy or cold to do any flying this week, so efforts continue to turn drawings into hardware and occasionally have lunch with the guys at the Lucky 8. The latest version of TurboCAD has become the main work platform. It has dependable file import to TrueSpace and quickly resolves great hardware illustrations and drawings. Still working on a paint scheme for the 601 and would like to paint the airplane while leaving a lot of it in polished aluminum, if that's possible.

February 18 A second intake was molded and sanded to prepare it for assembly. A visit to the hangar found the wing fuel fittings dry, so the remaining fuel was poured from each can into the wings and was left to sit another 24 hours. Fiberglass inner and outer pieces were sanded to acquire a tight fit.

February 19 I responded to a publishers inquiry on what buyers found after purchasing a used 601. Seemed odd posted to the Matronics Zenith group as most all are builders. I suggested the question be put to the builders and then wrote my own recommendations based on history and because the 601 seems to be only faulted by the "greater-speed" expectations of a few builders. Seems odd to have a plane that weighs 60% of a Cessna 150, and out performs one in visibility, handling, loading, speed and climb, is critisized for not being as fast as a RV. Fiberglass work continues and another intake is nearly complete.

February 20 The tank fittings are dry and there's no odor of fuel in the hangar at this time, so the engine warmer will be turned back on this week. Sanding fiberglass joints on the intake is nearly complete.

February 21-22 I spent the morning working the Internet and reading reviewers comments on Grand Rapids EFIS system. It's really impressive, especially the highway-in-the-sky part of it. Went to the hangar, checked the tanks after lunch at the Lucky 8 and found all fuel and wing skins dry and essentially free of fuel odor. The battery chargers were re-connected, as was the engine heater. At 40-degrees, heat was not needed. I returned to complete the side plates for the intake and gather packing and shipping box for the intake.

The colonoscopy

February 23-24 Two days were set aside for the second lower GI checkup in 3 years. I watched the scope light, camera, and action on the TV beside me. My doctor didn't see anything serious so I was checked out after 4 hours to await biopsy results. Great fun!

February 25 Friday morning I ordered the upgrade to LightWave version 8 from NewTek. Weather was great so I prepped the plane for flying, cleaned and polished the canopy, topped off the header and unbuttoned the cowling. The throttle wire and sheathing going to the carburetor arm still moved smooth, but was slightly draggy at a tight bend that should not be there. So I removed the bracket from the aft side of the Bing carburetor and the choke cable. The bracket support hole was milled to a slot that would allow the wire to move over to align better.

February 26 This was a third sunny flyable day in a row. The throttle bracket didn't fit well, so it all came apart and another was made from .060 4130 to replace it. It placed the wire close to the carburetor in a nearly perfect fit with a slight curve. The right choke cable was reinstalled again at 2 hours each way. Fitting the choke cable end thru a drilled bolt between washer and spacer was the most difficult, starting at 10:00 a.m. and finished at 4:15 p.m.

February 27-28 We had another inch of snow and wind, but it would melt very soon, so I spent the next two days working on the graphics and doing corrective verbiage on the POH so it reflects specific equipment and operational references to 601EZ and searching for a polish and paint scheme. After finding computer bugs in the process, a digital hard-drive cleaning was done and defrag was necessary. The process went on till morining.

March 1 The main page on the website was updated to recover a lost Pay Pal button, a fiberglass intake was mailed off to Louisiana and I went out to the hangar and turned the heater back on for the Subaru. The snow thrower was drained of its fuel and placed back into the basement and the mower was brought back up.

The Doctor's response

March 2 Good news. My doctor called, said my biopsies were o.k. but an obstructive item in the photo should be removed and that it would require a "simple surgical procedure". Great! The day was sunny, above 40, so I went out to do some flying. The preflight went well and the throttle action was very smooth on takeoff. This was a good time to demonstrate fuel transfer from the wing tanks. I climbed south 4000 ft, a chilly 27 degrees F. to within view of Galesburg and Monmouth. The right valve and pump were turned on. I turned the pump off and on twice to detect its sound. One can hear the wing pumps once you're tuned in. When the header gage backed down from the halfway mark and the right gage indicated less, the pump and valve were shut off. Later, the process was repeated to bring the header gage back above the halfway mark feeding from the left tank. 601EZ was returned to MLI, made a smooth landing and the plane was back in the hangar by 4:15 p.m. with little more than an hour on the EIS. Log entries were updated to 53 hours.

March 3 Another beautiful day at near 40+ degrees, so I fueled up the header tank and brought the headsets home to do a little maintenance on the mike swivels as they seem to get loose too often. Went off in search of a metal filter by Purolator that has a replaceable metal screen inside. Found equivalents for about $12.00, but they looked really cheaply made and had o-rings that didn't look well fitted either.

Lee's First Flight

March 4 At my mention that it was a really nice day for flying, Lee said she'd enjoy going with, so we lunched with the guys at the Lucky 8, then went to the hangar. We lifted off into an 8 mph headwind on 23. Lee was surprised at the rate of climb. At altitude I set the engine at 4200 rpm and 105 mph. She took the controls, but felt a little uneasy about the sensitive pitch and roll reactions. We flew southwest at 3000 ft, toward Aledo and on to Seaton, Illinois to circle the town where the families of her brother Tom and sister Jill live. It was a slightly convective day. The clouds were building downward to a hanging haze and that gave us cause to return to Moline for a left base and smooth landing on 23. We had nearly an hour on the clock and the plane was back in the hangar by 3:30. The only improvements needed would be a cushion to elevate her a bit and the headphones were heavy and clamped her ears, so I'll have to find her an improved size and fit, perhaps at Sun N Fun. Despite her expressions of frustration, Lee has always supported my airplane building and it couldn't have gotten done without her. She knows that thinking and working through long projects is a necessary part of my sanity and happiness so I'll always be very appreciative of her for that.

March 5-7 Two really great days of decent sunshine and then wind, rain and freezing temps again. I worked on the last air intake and finished the external shell to join to the inner one. The Pilot's Operating Handbook is nearly finished and my surgeon scheduled me for Wednesday morning, so I'll be out for 4 days. This is not something serious, so I'll hopefully be working into a new version 8 of LightWave the rest of next week. No heavy lifting for 6 weeks, but we should easily make it to Sun-n-Fun the 14th and 15th.

Life pauses for another kind of Flight. I included this "upbeat", overly-detailed experience because we too casually take our health for granted. When things do go south, sometimes it's too late. I feel very lucky to have done this early on because "it" was deemed precancerous and could have become active in a short time. You want to get that colonoscopy now!

March 8 - 9 Tuesday began with liquids and a set of laxatives for Wednesday and a lot of hot apple juice. The next morning we were up by 6:00 and at Trinity West by 7:30. By 10:00 a.m., a nurse walked me into the operating room where I got on the table. I was covered with heated wraps in a cold, 60-degree room that looked a bit like a sterile workout area with lights. My arms and legs were strapped to outriggers, the stomach was shaved, and the anesthesiologist said there'd be a burning sensation in the left arm. Within 30-seconds, it took hold, and in an hour, the surgeon made a 4" incision above the bellybutton to the right side and removed a precancerous adinoma large base tubular polyp from my colon. I felt a lot of pain at Recovery. It was uncontrollable until a shot and a morphine drip were administered. On return to awareness to a new room and more pain, a nurse tried to take my temperature, and in my buzz, I tried to eat the thermometer thinking she was offering me an edible. The 9th faded to Thursday. Hiccups caused more painful stabbing muscle spasms.

March 10 A nurse encouraged me to walk the corridor with a hydration/medicine pump following on casters. Within 30 feet, I retreated to the comfort of the bed. The morphine button was pushed. The diet was ice chips. Lee was here, and Casey visited, but I faded from conversation. Later, I took a walk with Lee to the end of the corridor and back and decided against using morphine. It caused me dizziness and a feeling of not getting my breath. Later, Nubain was prescribed. It allowed sleep without pain and exhaustion took over. At 11:30 p.m. I'm awakened by a nurse explaining the need for a catheter to drain my slumbering bladder. I told her, "You really get to know who your friends are". We chuckled, and I went into stabbing muscle spasms. My doctor said I would eat better only after flatulence begins, and that I could go home only after "substantive intestinal activity" returns. The pressure was on for me to beat my good roommate Chuck (with a broken hip) to the gas impass by walking and doing breathing exercises every hour untill late. Despite joking comments and focused efforts, neither of us had had any real success by midnight. I slept well anyway.

March 11 By evening, supper was changed to clear liquids, chicken broth, Jell-O, and juice. I thought I'd won our contest until Chuck was asked if he preferred ham, turkey or steak with vegetables and ice cream. He was offered and refused pie, and accepted packaged cookies. I laughed until it hurt too much because he was on a general diet. I was still listed on liquids. Lee and I talked and walked the complete circuit of the floor several times. I felt better by the evening. Roommate Chuck and I tuned our TVs to the final Iowa High School Girls Basketball State championship game.

March 12 By Saturday morning, I'd shaved and bathed and wanted to sleep in my own bed. The pump and catheter were both removed and the doctor sent me home on a light diet, less than 20-lb activities until his release. I agreed to only resume driving and flight on his approval. Even then I'll do a driving week before returning to flying because convective air can be more harmful than simply operating the airplane. One must do the proper safety thing. Lee helped me get ready, lugged all my stuff out to the car and brought it around to pick me up. We were home by 1:30 p.m. to rest and recoup. I believe my dear Lee was just as tired after overseeing everything and worrying through all of this.

March 13 There were 150 e-mails to answer. I read Grant Corriveau's very interesting write up on ferrying his friend's really nice 601XL from Canada to Missouri. This was listed on the www.CH601.org site under 601 stories. I worked up a materials listed to replenish my shop. Finally, a paint scheme with or without polished metal was formulated. I helped Lee do some grocery shopping without lifting anything. It really feels real good to be on the mend. Guys, if you seriously want to keep flying, don't forget to get the periodic colonoscopy checkup.

March 14-15 Tender muscles kept activities low key today, but Lee and I managed to get to the hangar to check out dimensional questions for other builders and work email till late. The next day Lee and I went out to lunch at the Lucky 8 and I made more dimensional checks and brought the halide lights home for painting. At 3:30 p.m. my surgeon removed all of the incision staples and cleared my diet to anything, gave permission for me to resume driving and flying. I may wait a few days to resume flying unless it's overcast and there's no reported convective activity.

March 16 Early, two pieces of intake extension tube were cut and beads rolled into the ends for Kelly's radiator hoses and intake. Today's perfect weather allowed me to measure wing lockers for the internal floor support structure. The floor area in each wing is a regular rectangle 15-1/2" by 21-3/4". This would allow carrying stuff without having to worry about denting the wing skin bottoms. Had to take time to acquire the license and registration for newly upgraded and installed LightWave software. The next intake was positioned for internal lay up.

Wing Locker Floor Channel
March 17 After a 2-mile run today, wing locker floors grabbed my attention because I've only bare bottom skins which is not good if the plane is to go anywhere this summer. A trip through Lowe's and Wal-Mart didn't resolve anything, but after bending a wave pattern in .020 a plan resolved. A wave only protects the area from point loads, but could easily stretch a bottom skin on loading alone. An angle is needed at each rib ¾" above the skin. Then five .025 channels 3" wide with 3/8" turn-down flanges at 21.5" length are needed to support a 40-lb distributed-load without touching the bottom skin. These are installed with a U-clip each end each channel. This makes them removable for inspection or cleaning or repair. Any point-load like a bowling ball would require addition of a temporary piece of plywood or hard foam to regain distributed-loading. This will add 1-lb to each wing without any plywood. The 5 channels will be positioned with a ¼" space between each one. Each will support 10 lbs or 50 lbs distributed across the 5 channels.

March 18 Segments of .025 was cut at 3-3/4", bent down 3/8"each side, then cut to 21.75 lengths. Standard angle were cut to 15" and the pieces were taken to the hangar to confirm that the sections bent dimension would fit into the rib hole and then into the wing locker. It did and the assembly was fitted and brought back home for final trim. Flanges were crimped 5 places each side to put the slightest top bow into the channels. Test loading proved the capacity, and I became slightly tender, so late in the afternoon after reading deep into Using LightWave, I dozed off.

March 19 The remaining channels were trimmed and punched each end and the support angles were punched to accept 6-32 U-clips, then punched for A4 rivet attachment within the locker. I seem to be short a couple of U-clips.

March 20 The whole bundle of channel, angle and tools with lights were taken to the hangar and the first measurements placed angle support flanges 1" above the belly skin. After setting parallel, the angles were riveted with A4s, and two stray U-clips were found in another drawer with the j-clips. The channels were progressively assembled with 6-32 screws until the left wing-locker platform was complete. Fatigue prevented me from going on to the right wing so I went home.

March 21 At two weeks after surgery, this morning's 2-mile run felt great. An order was placed with McMaster-Carr for two sizes of 6-32 u-clips. Another order was placed with Aircraft Spruce for restock of shop materials. Soon it was 40-degrees, with a 12 mph wind from the northeast and it was warm enough to open the hangar door. The right locker floor channels installed easier. The angles were in place within an hour and the cross channels were assembled in the next. I'm very pleased with the results. Even though I don't expect vibration-noise, this installation probably needs a thin floor mat with Velcro. A short trip to Milan Surplus yielded 2" heavy-wall tube and K&K hardware had 12" nails to complete the material list for tie-down anchors. If you must travel, it's really necessary to have a set of lightweight tie-downs.

Light Weight Tie-Downs

March 22 A package from McMaster-Carr arrived this morning with the 6-32 U-clips ordered the day before. Six segments 1-1/8" long were cut from 6061-T6, 1-7/8" O.D. x 1-5/8" I.D. aluminum tube. These parts were spun in the lathe to break edges on the rings and smooth flashing on the 12" nails. The rings were drilled 3/8" for two 12" nails so the nails cross thru the center of the tube very closely at right angles to one another. On assembly, I found that a 12" nail can optionally be added to configure it as a 3-pin tie-down. Also, 3/8"- 400 lb nylon rope was purchased at Farm and Fleet to complete the set. I've got to do a pull test with the engine hoist and spring scale that will establish holding power of this type of tie-down and advisabiity of using 2 or 3 pins. Lee and I test drove a Civic Hybrid and thought it was really nice with 47 highway / 48 city mpg.

March 23 After a two-mile run, the QC has 2" new snow at 40 degrees. I got on the computer and commenced work to finish the N601EZ Pilot's Operating Handbook. Later, the battery chargers were hooked up to the plane and by afternoon flyable weather was tempting but I'm still tender enough to cool-it.

March 24 Another machining job this morning was followed by lunch with the guys at the Lucky 8. I found my Purolator Pro-Fuel Filter on a recall list and also reason for a failed takeoff in another aircraft owner's Internet posting. The Pro-Fuel filter by Purolator would degrade by exposure to ethanol and several other components found in fuels. This could cause a leaker and a fire, or as in the builder's post, sucking air into the filter body caused fuel starvation and his engine died. I need to look for another kind of stainless see-thru filter.

March 25 With good weather coming on, it's difficult to consider taking the plane apart for painting, but that's what is going to happen once the equipment and supplies are all rounded up. I gathered information on various processes, but need to center on one brand of paint and one process. This is going to be a study in logistics, bringing the plane home several pieces at a time, moving the Corvette and motorcycle out of range of overspray while making trips between Sun n Fun, Oshkosh and Zenith's Open House.

March 26 Finally went to the hangar, gave the plane a thorough preflight inspection and fired up the Subaru. All checked out well so I lifted from runway 5 and flew south 25 miles to refresh my handle on flight. I turned west and flew until the Mississippi was well within view running from Burlington to Muscatine. The clouds were low and a foggy atmosphere hampered seeing any real distance. When the main tank reached half, the nearly full right tank was pumped into the header until the gage said full. EGTs stayed near 1380 and at higher rpm of 4800 the EGT reached 1400. I turned back southeast toward Monmouth at 110 to see if other temps would rise, but they didn't. In late afternoon convectives, I returned to Moline for an approach to runway 31. The airspeed was held to 75 on final to flare, touched the mains smoothly and then let the nose down to roll out at 40. Very exhilarating! The plane has just over 55 hours.

March 27 An Internet search found a paint company called Aircraft Finishing Systems that sells a water-born 2-part polyurethane product. No toxic elements are involved. Their site details this paint in satin and gloss and it supposedly holds up as well as catalyst activated urethane paints. They show several expensive planes that were painted with their system. The costs are the same, but eliminating a fresh air breathing system could save $500.

March 28 I went to the hangar and began evaluating whats needed to build a paint booth in the garage. It needs to be 9' wide x 20' long x 8' high and should be constructed of 1" PVC pipe sections, elbows and tees and total about $150, plus 4-mil plastic sheet and duct tape. Then, a stand-alone filtered-fan inlet box 3' x 6' by 15" and an equal sized filtered outlet box with a large plastic vent tube to take odors outside. The materials list in a reference guide for aircraft painting is quite lengthy.

March 29 After a Matronics post discussion of AFS waterborne paints, and finding some very satisfied RV aircraft owners, I decide AFS would be better than exposure to catalyzed isocyanites. I had lunch with the guys at the Lucky 8 and found most business jets are painted with these water borne paint systems. After lunch, a set of ropes were sized for the Zodiac and now the tie-downs only need a canvas container or bag with a Velcro flap.

March 30-31 After revisiting the paint scheme for the umpteenth time, more pieces of the paint puzzle came together. I bought a HPLV paint gun at Harbor Freight this afternoon and found the exact 12" bag for the tie down anchors, pegs, ropes and hammer etc. The RV group experience with AFS paints is much larger than the Zenith group, so their posts were searched for more detail on applying it.

April 1 Another 5-gallons of 89-octane was taken to the hangar this morning. The wind and convective were a bit too much for flying, so Lee and I reseeded some of the landscaping.

April 2 After cleaning up the shop and washing the Saturn, most of the weekend was spent working up a timeframe and plan for paint and a list of items that have to be removed from the plane and the order in which it coincides with our travels these next 5 months.

April 3 I picked up another fuel filter and took pictures of the new baggage area flooring, radiator installation and wheel pants. These 36" long pants need to be redone or made again at something closer to 26" with a little more concern for fit. I took dimensions and pictures for a computer overlay and seriously consider the pants must be redone in a totally new mold before paint. Pictures of the new baggage flooring, radiator installation were added to the site under wing and completions pages.

April 4 Daughter Sam came over early this morning and the air was still, so I suggested we go flying, as she had not been up since the Cessna 150. She suggested a baggy might be wise, so I threw a towel into the plane for "just in case". We did a thorough preflight and taxied out with guidance from the tower. After a clearance to Galesburg, we lifted off from runway 5 in a right crosswind. At 2500 feet, Sam took the controls and she seemed to enjoy the smoothness of the flight, but during our bumpy descent to pattern altitude at Galesburg, her breakfast made it into the towel. That improved things a bit, so we landing briefly on 3. We then taxied to the other end, got better lift in a very direct crosswind and flew back at 110 mph in about 25 minutes. At 4400-rpm, EGTs never exceeded 1400-deg f, CHTs were at 200-deg f, coolant was 189-deg f, ambient 65-deg f, Oil was 210-deg f at 50 psi. On return we pulled tightly into a short right base for runway 5 and banked steeply into final approach. Our descent was surprisingly rapid until power was added. We came in low and fast just clearing the end of the runway. Things slowed and the ground cushion worked the crosswind for a smooth touchdown. The longer rollout had us back taxiing, but the flight was a good one. Sara really enjoyed it non-the-less. Refueling took 4-1/2 gallons for an hour and ten minutes. The plane has 56.4 hours. Mental note: All future final approaches will be longer and stabilized a little earlier than this one was.

New Wheel Pants Started

April 5 After lunch at the Lucky 8 with the guys, six 1 x 8s x 48 inch pine boards were purchased at Lowe's. A 28" long center profile was traced to a piece of cardboard and refined to a solid line that was cut, sanded and transferred to ¼" birch plywood. The profile was duplicated on the 1 x 8s, cut, clamped and glued together to make two centerboards on which left and right halves will be formed.

April 6 The wheel-tire and fork were traced to the centerboards and a lengthwise board was placed on horizontal center to establish curvature about the side that would result in a maximum 8-inch wide wheel pant. Then on 2-inch intervals, formers were cut to establish the radius either side of center top and bottom, working outward center to front and center to back. 31 pieces of wood make up the left side or half of the wheel-pant assembly. These must all be duplicated for the right half to retain accurate symmetry. I took pictures which will be soon be added to the bottom of this site's Gear page to show the progression of their construction.

April 7 After cutting the rest of the pieces last night, the forms were each numbered this morning and fitted. Then the long horizontal formers were tacked with finish nails, contact surfaces were coated with polyester resin and were then nailed to the centerboards. Each upper and lower numbered form was coated and placed into the right angle formed by the centerboard and the horizontal former. After lunch at the Lucky 8, both sets had cured solid and a 40-grit sandpaper on the orbital sander was put to work rounding off and putting a radius on overhanging corners. There was sawdust everywhere. A piece of welding wire was used to check the curves and locate high or low spots. Round progressive alignments that give the wheel pants their shape were slowly sanded into the forms until they were smooth and symmetrical halves.

April 8 Both wheel pant forms were taken to the hangar, placed against the nose-wheel and then I stood back to evaluate proportions. I really like the shape and the size seems to be right. At home, the left half was propped upright and a 3" strip of 9-ounce fiberglass was laid over the top curve, stapled at one end, tightened and stapled at the other. A small mix of resin was applied where it contacts the wood and then more resin was added to the suspended cloth and left to cure. While one half cured, the other would be sanded and another strip of fiberglass was stapled and brushed with resin. The process is slow, but by evening, half each side was covered. One side was orbitally sanded and the cover seems thin but solid. Between rubber gloves and my respirator, I managed to get some resin into my hair, so getting it to lay down or comb thru is going to be frustrating until it's long enough to cut.

April 9 The process of securing 3" strips of fiberglass with the office stapler and resin was completed this afternoon. Each overlap area had to be sanded between applications to remove wax that surfaces in the resin and improve adhesion. The forms will require more work at the nose than the remainder, but so far, so good. EAA Chapter meeting tonight, so it's diinner out with Lee.

April 10 Lee made preparations for a family birthday lunch for our daughter and I checked out the Saturn for the upcoming trip to Sun & Fun. This took the better part of the day, but a can of Bondo was purchased at O'Rielly's and the last cured patch of resin and fiberglass was sanded, making construction of the forms a fill and smooth effort which should take several weeks to finish the surface.

April 11-13th At noon, we drove south thru Illinois to Paducah, Kentucky to an overnight visit and dinner out with Lee's cousin Karen, then on to Lakeland where we checked into the Comfort Inn from last years trip.

Sun n Fun 2005

April 14 We arrived at the Lakeland airport at 8:30 a.m. and visited with Bryan Martin and his Subaru powered 601 from Michigan. Two others were there, Olsen's 601 and another with a splashy paint scheme. Nationally wet weather had dampened 601 aircraft attendance. After we walked the flight line, we visited indoor commercial booths looking for aluminum polish, paint equipment, two pair of clip-on sunglasses and a new set of headphones for Lee. All were found and cards or brochures were put into the flight bag. I looked again, wistfully, at the RAF 2000 gyrocopter with its new and overdue computer controlled pitch-stabilizer. Lee and I had lunch at the Margarita/lunch pavilion, and then we walked to the tram station and took the red route to the Ultra-light area. A Kit Fox was sporting a new Hogg-Air Harley Davidson engine, also a new option for Zenith 601s. It was a very nice, if short, installation. I took pictures of Geo 3-cylinder and 4-cylinder engines on the new Trikes. One brave soul arrived in a high wing type with open tube fuselage, wheeled-floats, bags, tent, baggage and bicycles strapped on. We watched the air show from the distance of the ultra-light area and enjoyed the reduced prop noise. I visited with the Warp Drive Propeller people and discussed performance of my 601. I also asked about the prospects for a Warp Drive in flight adjustable design. We visited the Zenith display, picked up nametags and eventually made our way to the brown tram, to stop 15. A cookout, organized and managed by CH601.org and CH701.com webmasters, Mark, John and David, was being held for Zenith Aircraft builders at 5:00 p.m. within the campgrounds. Lee and I were surprised that at least 40 people arrived including Chris Heinz and the Zenith reps. There were hotdogs, hamburgers, potato salad, fudge brownies, a tray of huge strawberries, sodas and good coffee This allowed many of us to shake hands, put a face to a name and re-associate Zenith-601 and 701 Internet experiences with real friends. It was great fun and Lee and I immensely enjoyed finally meeting and conversing with everyone. We had to leave at 7:00 or before, so we hastily grabbed the tram back to the station and walked back to the parking area with Chris, a 601XL builder from California. This gathering made a truly warm remembrance for our visit to Sun N Fun. Afterward, I wished I'd taken pictures. Thanks again guys for a really great evening.

April 15 We traveled to Palm Bay and stayed overnight with Ruby, our best family/friend and enjoyed supper at a really nice seafood restaurant. That evening, I helped Ruby load software and make final connections to the Internet on her new Dell laptop and installed a printer. The next morning, we traveled to Port Orange near Daytona and visited a couple of hours with Lee's aunt Penny and uncle George. Then we went up Route 75 to Valdosta, Georgia and settled into a Best Western so that it might be possible to drive the rest of the way home in one day.

April 16 We were up by 5:30 a.m. had the complementary breakfast and were on the road by 6:15. Highway speed limits of Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky and Illinois were optimized all the way. We arrived home at 8:15 after 15 hours of driving to the great relief of our cat Toby. It was really nice to be in our own sleep-number bed. During the trip, and just before dozing off, I thought again of the people we visited with at the Sun n Fun cookout and concluded that the trip was all very worthwhile.

April 17-18 Getting reorganized, I sorted the collected information from the fly in, posted pictures, checked out the plane and advised another builder, Paul on techniques of fiber glassing for a cowl inlet. More Bondo was picked up for continuing work on wheel pant forms.

Wheel pants continued

April 19 I had lunch with the guys at the Lucky 8 and then checked progress on Paul's T-18 intake and epoxy work. He had the intake taped in place with an epoxy cure. I went home to spread Bondo over the left fiberglass skinned form. This was sanded with #40 grit until straight line depressions ran together as a larger smooth surface. Nearly a quart was used and most was sanded back off till the hard points began to show. A thin coat was spread over each slight depression and sanded with #60 to spread out the rounding. This began a 4-stage sanding that will probably take another week before prime. Pictures were taken to add to the site after the wheel pants are complete.

April 20 This morning Paul's lower cowl was removed and the inside edges were trimmed to the attached inlet. After a lot of sanding, two pieces of 9-ounce fiberglass were applied to the inside joints with a mix of epoxy and left to cure. We had rain and hail this morning. I went home, fed the cat, had lunch and set up some more filler on the wheel pants form. The routine brought the whole piece to a nearly finished state. I went to the airport and Cy was putting final touches to Paul's inlet inside reinforcing strips. Epoxy was mixed as second and third pieces of fiberglass were being added one after another. I realized shrinkage is not a factor in epoxy so it's ok to do it that way. Also Cy used small squeegees to spread and press the epoxy into the glass. I learned this was very effective and quick! I went home, sanded the filler and captured a really smooth half-form.

April 21 I began sanding again at 8:00 a.m. After using most of the can of filler and blocksanding with #80-grit paper, the right half finally matched shape and smoothness of the left. A heavy coat of sanding-primer exposed all the defects, scratches, pockmarks etc and paint fumes, ugh!, halted progress at 7:30 p.m. Rainy afternoon.

April 22 Early this rainy morning, the forms were wet-sanded with a 320 exposing minute imperfections. These were filled with very small amounts of lacquer glazing putty. Wet sanding brought filled spots to a uniform smooth finish. Forms were again painted with a heavy coat of primer and I went to lunch with Lee. The afternoon was refined to just wet-sanding with the 320 and adding prime to fill low spots. On the last coat at 7:00 p.m. surfaces were getting glossy.

April 23 The right half is near perfect and the left has a pattern of paper depth notches that outline the edges of the formers. I'm realizing the fiberglass beneath flexes when it's sanded with any substantial pressure, so going lightly, I'm set to add more paint and sand the left side again. After a trip to the airport to check on Paul's intake progress, Lee and I had lunch and the paint-n-sand process was restarted. It took several sanded coats to reduce the indents to near imperceptible.

April 24 This morning, Lee is down with a mild flu-like cold, so I mowed grass, ran the trimmer, changed the Saturn's oil, bought groceries, fed the cat and tried to be useful at a safe distance while wet-sanding the wheel pant forms with 600-paper. A white sanding primer was applied so high spots would be easier to see in contrast with gray. During lunch, I gave the cat trouble for repeatedly trying to climb into one of Lee's larger potted plants. I was embarrassed to realize the stairway door to the cat's litter box was shut. Immediately on opening the door, Toby grumbled and raced down the stairs. What a great cat! Sanding resumed until it was time to bring supper home.

April 25 On this windy morning, after wet sanding the white, shadowed irregularities were easier to spot, so Bondo was added to both forms in 3 areas and wet-sanded with 320 to get continuous curves. The coat of sandable primer became mirror smooth with 600 wet-or-dry. I found it necessary to do the cooking, so for supper we had soup.

April 26 Two gray prime coats were sanded very lightly with wet-320 to level the indents. This was followed by 600. A noon trip to the hangar found a trace odor of fuel in the cockpit. The fitting beneath the header tank below the on-off valve was just barely damp to the touch. I wiped it and went to lunch at the Lucky 8 with the guys. Afterward, I revisited the plane and wiped my fingers around the fitting. Only a very small spot glistened on my finger, so it's slow enough to retighten with wrenches and proper sealer tomorrow. White primer was sprayed and wet sanded on both forms. These were ready for finish paint, so.one coat of white gloss was added and left overnight. Lee was finally feeling better and she prepared a delicious supper of pork chops, rice and stewed tomatoes.

Continued on Journal 9