Chronicling my Long EZ construction (and a few other things).
Disclaimer
This blog is for entertainment purposes only, and is not meant to teach you how to build anything. The author is not responsible for any accident, injury, or loss that occurs as a result of reading this blog. Read this blog at your own risk.
The other day I was looking for my ADS-B transponder installation post to help Chris plan his own, only to find out I hadn't done one yet. "Doh!" If that wasn't troubling enough, even more so was the fact that it took me forever to figure it out, having to sort through a few years of blog entries... and I'm the one who writes the content! This just highlighted the fact that the menu structure of the blog is a little out of step with the reality of having to find a particular something of interest. I decided to make things slightly simpler by adding a JT only page, where I collect every blog post discussing Terry's plane into a single location.
Everything having to do with JT will be listed in JT's own page from now on
This should help separate the two airplanes a bit more. I will still record everything I do in the "Chronological order" page, but I will also add everything JT related into the "N977JT" page. I hope you'll find it helpful. Back to work now!
Making JT more… shall we say… weather-resistant, is going to require a couple more items, a heated Pitot tubeand an Alternate Static source. Today we'll look at the last one, and a few other things.
I have covered making heated Pitot tubes ad nauseam on this blog (heated Pitot and heated retractable Pitot), but just in case you came late to this party, a heated Pitot tube prevents icing of the super-important total air pressure port (static + dynamic pressures), while the Alternate Static source provides an ice free location inside the cockpit from where to get a static air pressure input.
The airspeed indicator mechanisms puts total air pressure on one side of a diaphragm and static pressure on the other, effectively subtracting the two. The result of this mechanical operation is dynamic pressure, which is independent of static pressure variations, such as during altitude changes or just day to day fluctuations. Because dynamic pressure's only variable is airspeed squared (if we regard air density a constant), an airspeed indicator really is just a pressure gauge marked in airspeed units (knots, mph, or kph) instead of pressure units (PSIs, millibars, or Pascals).
As in the case of the Pitot heat which can be selected ON or OFF, the Alternate Static source can be selected closed (normal operations) or open, if necessary.
Generic Pitot Static system with heated probe and Alternate Static source
Static probe icing is a lot less common problem than Pitot icing due the nearly insignificant profile of the static source, but because icing is still a possibility, and the installation of a backup source simple and inexpensive, we are going to tackle it now, while the panel is apart again due to other updates.
Getting pretty deep into it, again.
Before making any changes to the current plumbings though, we need to take stock of what we've got.
JT's plumbings before this update
A bit too many splits and too leak prone for my taste, this also makes it hard to follow and debug as necessary. I will replace most Y with a single manifold and run new hoses from it to the various “loads”. This manifold will be hanging upside down right behind F28 bulkhead, and due to its size I will have to machine a custom made click-bond out of a stainless steel bar.
My CNC Mini-Lathe will go through Stainless without any problems, albeit slowly.
Custom Click-Bond core threaded for 4-40
Finished Frankenstein Click-Bond
Proof that even a "Monster" can have a purpose
Click-Bond floxed to the top deck of the instrument bay
Manifold plumbed
Finding a location for the switch proved challenging, but I eventually settled on a location a bit out of sight (as it ought to be) on the left armrest.
Toggle valve protected and out of the way when closed
Here you can see a little better where the toggle valve is located
Landing gear lever
I like the idea of putting often used switches on the stick, but the nose gear retraction/extension switch has been a source of irritation from day one. Mind you, it has never failed to produce results, the problem is that it is too easily bumped into while getting in and out of the plane, or when working on it.
Current Nose Gear up/off/down switch
This always produces a lot of excitement at the worst of times, although not as much as if JT had three retractable legs instead of one.
After an extensive search for a three position locking toggle switch, the only place I could find who carried one was StainAir. This switch cost $72 plus shipping (😱), but it is much beefier than the original, and can no longer be accidentally activated. I chose a location right above the speed brake for it, since my left hand is always nearby while on the throttle.
Switch handle has to be lifted above the small lip before it can be moved
The switch came with no instructions, so the first order of the way was to sort out its electrical inner workings.
Reverse engineering the gear switch electricals
Next on the list was to 3D print a wheel to mount on the switch to make it look the part. A setscrew would hold it on.
ABS wheel
Setscrew on the bottom locks the wheel in place
New landing gear switch in its new location
Canopy’s latch
The switch worked really well, however I had not considered the fact that during gear operations the back of my hand would be in too close a proximity with the sharp edges of the canopy latch’s lever.
Nut and bolt sticking out
Back of my hand after one just takeoff and landing (next day)
After just one flight a new style handle had to be fashioned to minimize takeoff and landing induced "blood losses”
Latching lever removed from the plane
Sharp edges
CNC lathe at work. Facing, turning, drilling, reaming, boring, and edge radiusing operations were necessary to produce the new handle.
Old and new handle inserts
New handle is same height but slightly fatter, and sports a 10 degrees taper cut to match the original lever's dimensions.
All edges received a 0.050" radius
Hardware is now fully enclosed within the handle
Of course I had to go fly the plane in order to verify the installation, you know how important testing in actual conditions is 😁.
Alternator Circuit Breaker
Old Alternator CB. This place is now occupied by the new Landing Gear switch.
Yeah I know, but labeling it "Circuit Breaker for the Alternator Field input from the Voltage Regulator" would have used up all my remaining labels and most of the panel's free space. Given that this breaker effectively stops the production of electricity when pulled, I will consider it a way to turn the alternator ON or OFF, hence I shall label it just "Alternator".
But why would I ever want to disconnect the alternator from the electrical system in the first place, outside of an Emergency situation that is?
Marc Ausman, founder of Vertical Power, wrote the following in his excellent book “Aircraft Wiring Guide”…
“When the engine is OFF, and the alternator is ON, the voltage regulator sees low bus voltage (about 12.4 volts) and tries to raise the bus voltage to 14.2 volts by increasing the output to the field wire to its maximum capacity. Because the engine is not turning, nothing happens and the voltage stays at 12.4 volts while the voltage regulator is at maximum output, drawing about 4 amps of current. This also makes the alternator harder to turn and adds drag while the engine is starting (how much drag is added, I don’t know).
Based on this assessment, I don’t recommend turning on the alternator until after engine start. Get the engine running, then turn on the alternator, then turn on the avionic”
Because of Marc’s advice I've always pulled the Alternator CB after shutting down the engine, and pushed it back in after starting it, but it has occurred to me that I could replace it with a CB/switch combination, and stop having to pull on the tiny CB with my fingertips. Since I had already reused the old Alternator CB hole to install the new landing gear switch, I had to make another one further up on the panel.
Looks like the only place left for this CB/switch combo
Up is ON for all the switches. During an overload the switch trips back OFF on its own.
Rudder cable linkage
During last year’s roll servo installation, I machined a snag-resistant rudder cable linkage of my own design for the right rudder, which has proven itself effective and trouble free. As a result of this success, this year I made another one for the left side. The inner bushing are made on the lathe out of stainless steel, and space the two halves of the linkage just enough that the thimbles are no longer squeezed tight by the sides and are now free to articulate.
Not a big fan of this linkage, though it worked well enough thus far.
The thimbles get squeezed until they are unable to articulate.
The bolts stick out a bit much and could catch on the oil cooler fan assembly (not currently installed)
This design eliminates any edges that could catch on something
One side encloses the bolt head, the other the nut.
Each line represents a tool path, 5 tools were used.
Drilling relief holes for the bolt head's corners.
CNC Mini-Mill taking some pretty aggressive cuts
The two components roughed out of a 2.5" 2024 Aluminum bar
Not looking forward to the cleanup
Parts essentially done
After machining the bottom off, and making two stainless steel bushings.
New linkage in action
Hardware fully contained
Only one ¼" socket on the other side is required to take this assembly apart
Using this linkage I did loose the ability to lengthen the cable run, but since the rudder pedals were originally setup for JT's builder (Terry Lamp) who is in excess of six feet, I've actually always had the opposite problem, needing to shorten the cables as much as possible, and this linkage will work just fine for me.
People have been asking me whether I planned on going to Sun & Fun in Lakeland (Florida) for as long as I can remember. I have never attended the fly-in for a number of reasons, but this year, fresh out of excuses, I began planning my trip a couple of days prior to the event. 😁
Weather was to be clear from Florida all the way to Maine (at least on the way down), but I still wanted to file IFR to get a little more practice working within the system with JT.
So, the night before departure I reinstalled the top engine cowl with the freshly fixed oil door, fueled up to max capacity (52 gal), and preflighted the airplane in order to minimize early morning surprises.
Open parentheses... If you have never filled up a Long EZ before, the procedure is slightly different than what you'd expect. Normally, one would park the plane on its nose then add fuel, except that doing it this way it's only possible to get thirty-some gallons in it. To get the rest of the gas in the tanks, the nose needs to be all the way up, and someone else needs to weigh down the canard while you fill up the tanks. Not a big deal, but help is necessary, and you’d better make sure they understand what their job is, or else you might end up with fuel spilling out of a Long EZ sitting on its non existing tail, looking a lot like the Space Shuttle did at launch time. Not good! ... Close parentheses.
I don’t particularly enjoy getting up early, especially on a day off, but even at 170 KTAS Foreflight estimated the one leg to KLAL to be nearly 4 hours long, so in order to make it in before the planned midday airport closure (Blue Angels’ airshow start time), I planned on being airborne by 0730.
With a chilly 45ºF (7ºC), foghad formed right on the runway overnight, but by 0700 it was quickly breaking up.
Chesapeake, VA (KCPK) runway fog
By the time I started up JT, the fog was all but gone.
Sun quickly obliterating the fog
Like AirVenture, Sun & Fun has its own set of NOTAMs covering the fly-in highlighting the Dos and Don'ts, and sticking with their preferred route choices avoided getting rerouted all over Georgia, Florida, or worse... over water.
Yeah, the bottle came in handy... twice! 😱
Running JT at 65% power
Somewhere North of Wilmington, NC.
Total distance getting there turned out to be 664 NM (764 miles, 1230 Km) long. The planned fuel burn of 32 gal left me with 20 gal usable in the tanks in Lakeland, nearly enough for three more hours, had I needed to hold. However, I was counting on using it a couple days later to get me as far North as possible in search of cheaper fuel on my way home.
Looking down on Savannah, GA from 8000'.
What Savannah looks like in the cockpit
The flight South was completely uneventful, at least until I cancelled IFR. The last five minutes was pretty intense! With everyone aiming for the same initial point, things were guaranteed to get, let’s say… interesting. So much so in fact, that after a less than stabilized approach and landing on a taxiway (as instructed), I completely forgot to show my homemade HB (homebuilt parking) sign. As a result the ground crew didn’t know where to direct me, and I ended up on the wrong side of the airport.
“Doh!”
This however turned out to be a somewhat fortuitous event, as I ended up taxiing right behind the Blue Angels, literally minutes before the start of their airshow. They did look at me rather intensely as I slowly taxied by, but that’s almost normal flying an EZ anyway, so I waved and some of them waved back. I figured I’d get arrested shortly, but at least I’d have some cool footage to show… right?!
Wishing they were me 😂
At last I had to admit of being hopelessly lost, and ended up getting progressive taxiing instruction to the South side of the field, all the while dodging all kinds of military jets. It was kind of fun actually, almost like in the good ol' days.
I was barely parked when new and old friends began dropping by to say hello. Drummer Dan was first to make contact as I struggled to remove multiple layers of what now seemed rather anachronistic clothing. The Florida sunshine with its 80ºF (27ºC) weather demanded swift and less than decorous action on my part, but Dave looked past all the commotion and was gracious enough to present me with a beautiful UK EZ GROUP patch, which I later sewed on my 30 year old helmet bag.
That's a pretty cool patch Dan. “Thanks a lot!”
I wish I had had the presence of mind to take a photo with Dan, but regretfully I missed out on the opportunity.
After tying JT down, BizMan caught up with me, delivering essential gear (as in lawn chairs and refreshments), and we settled in for the airshow.
A Long EZ generated friendship that has been enduring since 2010
T6s putting up quite a demo!
Blue Angels fly-by
Tight turning F18
Opposing F18s
The show turned out better than I had expected, and when it was over I did get some time to walk around the airport and enjoy more of the sights. I also met more old friends like Terry Schubert and Ary Glantz, and made new ones like Shane Banquer, David Shultz, Chris Perkins, and so many more.
Definitely a homebuilt!
Definitely NOT a homebuilt!
It was like being at AirVenture, but on a more human scale. I really enjoyed it, and I will definitely be back.
Day two was more of the same, but no less enjoyable.
Cool 4 ship fly-by
Only way to enjoy an airshow in my opinion 😁
Knife edge pass with high G vertical pull up
At the end of day two, I decided to reposition JT closer to the hotel where BizMan and I were staying in Zephyrhills.
Leaving S&F
The six minute straight line flight took BizMan about one hour by car, but however short my flight turned out to be, it was certainly made way more "exciting" by the sudden appearance of a rather big thunderstorm right over the field. I ended up going all the way around it visually, and landing in KZPH from the North side in the wake of its passage.
Sometime "as the crow flies" end up looking more like a snake
Apparently everyone else must have had the same idea because after landing it took me 45 minutes to find a place to tie down, and while the airport was overflowing with airplanes, not a soul could be found to help. I ended up getting stuck in the plane as multiple thunderstorms hit the field over and over again, lightning all over the place. Mercifully, BizMan showed up with his truck and rescued me from this soggy predicament. It sure was good to have him there to help out with the logistics.
The Cavalry
Wet overnight parking on the last tie-downs on the field. "Sorry JT!"
By the time JT was tied down David was already on a final approach, so we waited for him, and we all went out to dinner together.
Perhaps due to heat, exhaustion, or adrenaline, that tasted like the best beer I've ever had.
Even BizMan agreed!
The next morning the whole of Florida was socked in tight, although slowly turning for the better. Around 10 am the weather was finally good enough to get an IFR clearance in and out of Zephyrhills.
Low overcast starting to lift
I think I lucked out with flying JT out of Lakeland the night before, and I was glad I wasn’t trying to get an IFR clearance out of KLAL, as there were probably multitudes of others trying to do the same thing at the same time. What a zoo that must have looked like. Comparatively speaking, getting out of Zephyrhills was a piece of cake.
My game plan was to fly as far north as possible before the thunderstorms hit the Georgia/South Carolina border, and since the further North one went, the lower the IMC became, I decided to stop short of the really low ceilings and land in Fort Stewart/Wright Army Air Field/Midcoast Regional (KLHW), where a bumpy GPS/LPV approach got me down to marginal VFR weather conditions just ahead of the approaching storms.
I had been keeping an eye on those two cells' Eastbound progress since taking off
Looking NorthEast toward Savannah
Getting uglier by the minute toward the West
JT did extremely well, and aside from getting bounced around more than I would have liked, everything worked out as planned. By the time I finished settling JT in for the night, the gusts were becoming pretty strong, and I was more than happy to find shelter in the Terminal building.
Midcoast Regional is a dual use airport (Military/Civilian) right in the middle of a bunch of Military Operation Areas and Restricted Airspace, and for that reason I think a lot of pilots steer away from it unnecessarily. It is actually a GA friendly airport with pretty good fuel prices, and apparently not a lot of traffic. One bonus feature for me is that it is less than 30 minutes from my son’s place, so it was a good opportunity to spend some time with family and relax a bit.
We hadn't seen each other in over a year
Getting up the next morning and looking at the current and forecasted weather, it looked like a scene from the movie Ground Hog Day, with low ceilings and visibilities over the entire East Coast to repeat indefinitely as far out as the predictions would reach. Fortunately, the situation started improving after lunch, and by the time I got to the airport things were looking up. The thunderstorms that were crossing my path North were dissipating and moving East, so I filed IFR around the area, and with a full load of fuel I settled in for the 2.5 hour flight home.
Trip back
Planning a route away from the storms
Enjoying the ride home at 5000'
Playing around with the different map modes
A look at cockpit organization
By the time I got to Chesapeake VMC conditions prevailed, and a nice overhead break was just the icing on the cake this trip needed to be complete.
Come to think of it, this trip was the furthest JT and I have ever gone together, and what a great success it was for the both of us. It has taken me quite some time to design and build JT's instrument platform, and even longer to experiment and become comfortable with its new capabilities, but JT has delivered over and over, proving to be a worthy travel companion.
What an awesome machine Terry Lamp has built!
A few of weeks later with this trip very much in my rearview mirror, I received an envelope in the mail containing an unexpected and very thoughtful present.
