Amorphous M7/M6 Rebuild Project

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asa
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Re: Amorphous M7/M6 Rebuild Project

Post by asa »

Onward. Billions of tiny sub-projects. A lot of time has been spent getting firewall forward how I want it, wiring transducers and such. Still haven't mounted the EGT probes but otherwise the probes/transducers are done.

Wanted to do something a bit different today so I knocked out the floorboards, carpet, and a couple more interior panels. Was able to re-use all the old floorboards with small improvements. Featherweight carpet from SCS is exactly what I was looking for and super lightweight - surprisingly so when you pick it up.

These pictures are how it sits right now.

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DavZeeMXT
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Re: Amorphous M7/M6 Rebuild Project

Post by DavZeeMXT »

Are you building in anything to meter air over the oil cooler for cold weather operations?
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asa
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Re: Amorphous M7/M6 Rebuild Project

Post by asa »

DavZeeMXT wrote:
Sat Nov 26, 2022 5:34 am
Are you building in anything to meter air over the oil cooler for cold weather operations?
I'm not planning to at this point although it would be nice.

Little things...

Got the rudder balanced (was in spec) and fully mounted with the tab, cables, etc etc complete and safetied. Rudder control system done. Aileron control system done and safetied (the section within fuselage at least).

Going without a headliner makes the back panel all the more important since it seals the tail off so got that knocked out. 5mm plywood with the remaining carpet on it.

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Got the pilot/copilot kick panels finished as well. Copilot one was going to be minimal, just to protect the cables/pulley and keep stuff out of belly because theres a window there. But then I liked it so I mimicked it on the pilot side too. The inside of the boot cowl will be painted flat black. Have been trying to wrap up a bunch of interior panels so I can get them off to powdercoat, never know what the lead time is there until you drop off... 2 days, 2 months...

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And a nice change of pace, building flap cables. Very nice to work on cables that fit on the bench instead of strung out on the floor. Unfortunately I had ordered the wrong turnbuckle ends so only got one of the 3 flap cables done. Seems stupid that they even make turnbuckles that don't work with the new style clips...

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maules.com
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Re: Amorphous M7/M6 Rebuild Project

Post by maules.com »

asa, good work.
That cold tailcone air does sneak up front along the left side and under the floor, so it does need to be sealed. The door catch outside protrusions also collect a lot of outside air.
Normally the control column gaitor has the laceing to the fore but maybe you'll like it aft instead.
Thankyou for the continued pictures.
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asa
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Re: Amorphous M7/M6 Rebuild Project

Post by asa »

maules.com wrote:
Thu Dec 01, 2022 4:18 pm
asa, good work.
That cold tailcone air does sneak up front along the left side and under the floor, so it does need to be sealed. The door catch outside protrusions also collect a lot of outside air.
Normally the control column gaitor has the laceing to the fore but maybe you'll like it aft instead.
Thankyou for the continued pictures.
Thanks for your wisdom Jeremy! The headliner-less interior is an experiment, we will see how I like it and if it freezes me out. All the headliner attch brackets are still in so I can revert after I get frozen by a drafty cockpit.

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Re: Amorphous M7/M6 Rebuild Project

Post by asa »

Both horizontals mounted! Stubs filled with silicone per Maule SB. New stainless struts. Everything fit up well, used anti-seize in the slip joints.These new couple pictures show what lighting change can do to the contrast of oratex tapes. Since the weave density is slightly different on the tapes vs the fabric, they catch the light different even though they are exactly the same color in person.

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Both elevators complete, balanced (didn't have to do anything, all 3 control in spec), and ready to be mounted. Waiting on hinge pins to arrive Wednesday.

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It's the small things... Like this little cable cover thingy. Maule just uses a little piece of leather, but since the cable moves up and down (rudder pivot is not vertical), it wears in the fabric. Idea stolen from Andy Young.

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Wing root/skylight closeout panels. Before/after.

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Re: Amorphous M7/M6 Rebuild Project

Post by asa »

Amorphous is the name of the game in Asa land. Every day I work on a few very different items. Keeps it interesting. Also I just upgraded from iphone 8 to iphone 13 so maybe the pics will get marginally better.

Did a dry fit on the large back seat patroller window. It's a little nerve racking bending the acrylic around that fuselage tube but if it works it works. Fabricated the angle surrounds that hold it in place so I could do a full dry run before painting the surrounds and RTVing the whole thing in place, hopefully in the next couple days. Paint is drying now.

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"Completed" the flap control system, at least until I can put the wings on. Everything is in place although I'll disassembly the torque tube when it's time to put the wings on. All new cables, new hardware, all parts fresh paint or powdercoat.

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Had the hole in the exhaust for the old EGT probe welded so have been waiting on finishing the EGT probes. Did those today and finished the EGT/CHT wiring finally. My middle cylinders have a long slip joint which forced me to put the probe 4.25" down from the flange. This is outside the recommended 2-4" distance, but ya gotta do what ya gotta do.

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Various progress/shop pics...

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(concrete blocks under tail are tied on so I don't accidentally nose it over while it's light on the tail. Although I think the tail would fit the ceiling first).

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Re: Amorphous M7/M6 Rebuild Project

Post by drak130 »

Did you stuff the wing root with insulation before installing the closeout panels? I am currently trying to close off some of that cold drafty air circulating above the headliner. Tough sledding with the headliner in place trying to shove insulation in through the zippers. Good thing girls dig scars.

Tim

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Re: Amorphous M7/M6 Rebuild Project

Post by asa »

drak130 wrote:
Wed Dec 07, 2022 6:29 pm
Did you stuff the wing root with insulation before installing the closeout panels? I am currently trying to close off some of that cold drafty air circulating above the headliner. Tough sledding with the headliner in place trying to shove insulation in through the zippers. Good thing girls dig scars.

Tim
This plane won't have a single bit of insulation in it, at least for now. The closeout panels are just mounted as a test fit. They'll get powdercoated and then won't go back on until after the wings are on. I did my oratex where the wing root is closed off from the wing, there are only holes where there need to be for wing mounts, fuel lines, etc. Hoping that helps with drafty air. On my last maule, the owner had pulled off the wing root fairings and shoved that full of insulation. one problem with shoving it up through the headliner zippers is that there's your aileron and rudder tab cables running right there at the wing root.

More progress...

Elevators are on. Built the elevator cables halfway in place, I'll go into the minutia on this in case anyone is curious about the smaller details of what happens. Had put one end on the cables and ran them through the fuselage prior to cover but hadn't crimped on the front shackle yet. Did this so was wasn't having to put in those 3 piece fairleads while crawling around in the tail. So I mounted elevators, adjusted hard stops to get the +30/-20 deg travel and set turnbuckles to middle of range. Assembled the front end of cable to the control horn and used cable clamps to hold the cable in a pseudo-crimped state. This allowed me to test control travel and all. Verified that the elevator stops in tail were hitting before the control column stops. Crimped cables and removed cable clamps. Used turnbuckles for fine adjustment and tensioning to the spec (25-45lbs).

Remaining work back on the tail... running trim cables, elevator gap seals, leading edge tape, N numbers.

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Also got the left rear window in with the freshly painted (flat black) surround angles. RTV'd it all in but the surrounds are just cleco'd for now. I think it looks good. I like the level of tint.

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Re: Amorphous M7/M6 Rebuild Project

Post by maules.com »

asa, for info, there is usually a chain keeper bolted to the middle torquetube support block, in casethe chain should get slack and drop off the sprocket. ie a hung up bungee cartridge or some such. Just a thought.
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Re: Amorphous M7/M6 Rebuild Project

Post by bobguhr »

After the fact but for what it’s worth I run the same center slip tube exhaust as yours and installed the egt probe through the slip joint, I drilled a larger hole in the inner exhaust tube to allow for expansion/movement etc. 650 hrs and no problems with it.

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Re: Amorphous M7/M6 Rebuild Project

Post by asa »

bobguhr wrote:
Thu Dec 08, 2022 5:24 pm
After the fact but for what it’s worth I run the same center slip tube exhaust as yours and installed the egt probe through the slip joint, I drilled a larger hole in the inner exhaust tube to allow for expansion/movement etc. 650 hrs and no problems with it.
That’s good to know for the future and for my curiosity. With a larger clearance hole, I can see that working really well. While I didn’t ask him directly, I sort of assumed my mechanic wouldn’t sign it off when the JPI manual says explicitly “do not install in slip joints” though.

That would’ve been nice though. My front ones were pushed slightly in the curve of the exhaust which is fine but looks a little off haha.

maules.com wrote:
Thu Dec 08, 2022 5:09 pm
asa, for info, there is usually a chain keeper bolted to the middle torquetube support block, in casethe chain should get slack and drop off the sprocket. ie a hung up bungee cartridge or some such. Just a thought.
I swear to god, when I posted that I thought “Jeremy or Andy Y are going to point that out”. I appreciate the attention to detail and the comments. I’ve got it here freshly painted and ready to go on, just left it out on the dry run since I was still figuring out the chain position.

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Re: Amorphous M7/M6 Rebuild Project

Post by asa »

Trim cables built. Had that all totally done but then put on the trim wheel and decided it had too much wobble for me so I ordered a new one from Maule. Am going to try to drill and install a bushing on my wobbly one but for a couple reasons that may not be totally fruitful.

Building the trim cables in place was fairly easy, but different since the movement stops are at the control, not at the trim tab. I set tab to middle of movement range (NOT neutral or aligned with elevator, middle is 13deg down since range is +12 to -38). Set sprocket/chain/control in middle of range as well as turnbuckles. Locked all that in place temporarily then built the cables and crimped. Tightened both turnbuckles the same amount to tension and they came out perfect with the right range of motion. I've loved learning about rigging an airplane through these processes. A year ago, rigging control surfaces sounded so foreign to me.

(In this pic the flap bolts do not have cotter pins)

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Had a late night end-of-work-day urge to sit in it for the first time so I bolted in the seat. I've decided upholstery will be phase 2 of the project, along with painting the wings. Current upholstery is in good condition but dirty and not the color I'd choose but not terrible. Goal is to get her flying in February and I think I'm good track for that with my current scope.

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Stop asking to buy my crocs, they aren't for sale.

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Re: Amorphous M7/M6 Rebuild Project

Post by Andy Young »

I was just about to comment on your Crocs, then I saw the note at the bottom of your post.

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Re: Amorphous M7/M6 Rebuild Project

Post by asa »

Finished the remaining sills for the big window which wraps up all the interior pieces. Final fit check with everything then pulled it all out to go to powdercoat. Haven't fully decided on color yet but my baseline is black to match the inside of the oratex. It will make the cargo area dark, yes, but also the whole damn plane is windows so maybe I'll survive. Sills around doors and windows will remain bare aluminum for now. Will browse through colors at the powder shop tomorrow and might change my mind. The pics below represent how the interior will be when done - nothing up top.

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Got my seats out, fixed the fiberglass on the pax seat, repainting frame, and cleaned the upholstery on all of them. They were disgusting from being a workhorse in montana. They won't match but they're in great condition!

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Leaving for a trip to South America tomorrow so no work for 10 days or so.

-asa

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