There are few things that are slow as building an airplane, or as frustrating. However, it is rewarding as well. Mrs YM has been helping a great deal. She spent 3-4 hours labeling the panel last weekend. It came out great. I really appreciated her attention to detail and my countless suggestions. She even managed to slip in a funny while I was occupied elsewhere.
We had our first inspection since before the fabric was first put on. We have made a couple of additions and a couple of minor changes. The biggest was the addition of safety cables on the landing gear. I "borrowed" the design after a friend certified Producer. It's very simple and will receive the final length once the engine is on and the plane is in "flying" weight. It allows the tire to come out only 4" (from centerline) and still accommodates normal gear travel. We calculate that the prop would still be 9" off the ground in the event of a gear/oleo failure.
We've begun the fabrication of the Kydex interior panels, removed the enormous generator and replaced it with a B&C 30 amp alternator located on the vacuum pump gear pad. That was a 19# savings.
Above all, despite everything done, we received a thumbs up from the IA and zero squawks!
Hanging the engine this weekend with the help of Young Squire. Nothing like having your own personal Atlas to help with the heavy lifting and good company to boot.


The white is a posterboard template we're making for the Kydex panels.


The new alternator. Yes, the firewall had to be modified for clearance.

Safety cables

Gear leg attach point for the cables

Cables attach at the gear leg at the oleo and run across to the aft gear leg attach point. Because I run skis, the bolts will have to be longer (NAS -42) to accommodate both the safety cable and the ski tab. The bolts shown are not the final bolt.

The cables under the belly. They will be zip tied and have chafe protecting when done.

Piper fly wires on the bottom. More robust, no edges to get dings and listed on the original drawings (And TCDS) for the M4

The original tapered upper wires. I don't have SS and they were rusted. Sand blasted, inspected and Ceracoated. Not as sexy but very functional. They will never rust.

LED, nothing better

The Kydex going in.


Soon, very soon!

That gear looks awesome. You could be in possession of the world's coolest M4.

Love those B&C products.

Careful with sandblasted flying wires. Inspect them well.

I'm really liking the kidex and the cables. Can't wait to see the final product. I have to tell you that I am more than a little jealous of all the carbon fiber.... Nice idea with the lighter alternator. All those #'s should add up nicely!

Just installed the lower Piper flying wires last night. More robust indeed!

Kurt, do you have a template for the panel? Butch

are all these improvements legal, or are you going experimental?

Hey Butch!!
No, I don't have a template e for the panel. That is a molded panel strong enough to support instruments and radios. Yes, we have the molds😏
Plowboy, great care And research has gone into this to stay within the TCDS. There are a couple items that are field approved but I wanted to NOT go experimental. There will be a couple of changes once the Part 23 "non commercial" rules go into effect

Hey Butch!!
No, I don't have a template e for the panel. That is a molded panel strong enough to support instruments and radios. Yes, we have the molds😏
Plowboy, great care And research has gone into this to stay within the TCDS. There are a couple items that are field approved but I wanted to NOT go experimental. There will be a couple of changes once the Part 23 "non commercial" rules go into effect

So you have the molds, but the million dollar question is can a person inquire about having you lay up a panel for them. I just called for a price last week from Maule as mine is a bit hacked up. I love options so.....

yeah my mechanic rolls his eyes every time he looks at my panel which really does look like fecal matter...i think that's the next big improvement... involved in my longest annual ever... starter adapter overhaul... exhaust overhaul..(cracks) removal of superfluous fecal matter from the engine.. brake cylindar overhauls..etc etc.....i like the kydex too... has to be lighter and is definitely a cleaner look than all that rug and vinyl on the floor and side panels..

What are your plans for insulation? i don't see any sticking out from behind the panels. Looking good i bet the excitement is building!

There will not be any insulation. We're focused on controlling airflow.
One of the things that We had observed was that any corrosion found was where there was still insulation. The R-value is of little help if you have uncontrolled airflow.
Insulation for the ourpose of sound deadening is via ANR headsets😚

Airflow is key. I don't feel that the "metal building" style insulation helps with airflow at all. I do think that the firewall, boot cowl and underside of floor panels could benefit from some type of thin, dense insulating material.

iceman wrote:yeah my mechanic rolls his eyes every time he looks at my panel which really does look like shit...i think that's the next big improvement... involved in my longest annual ever... starter adapter overhaul... exhaust overhaul..(cracks) removal of superfluous shit from the engine.. brake cylindar overhauls..etc etc.....i like the kydex too... has to be lighter and is definitely a cleaner look than all that rug and vinyl on the floor and side panels..

I can swear along with the best of them, but this kind of language just seems really inappropriate for this forum

YellowMaule said

One of the things that We had observed was that any corrosion found was where there was still insulation.

+1 on this. When I recovered my M5 the fluffy pink stuff that Maule had installed had done a fine job of holding moisture against the wooden stringers (belly stringer gone) and tubing.

Have yet to figure out the airflow solutions, but am happier with the trade off of a bit more noise for less corrosion.

When I was at the factory in the late 90's there was a seaplane version of a M7 they were building for a Florida customer who had specifically specified no insulation due to past experience with salt water operations.

TD