Lower Brake Lines; Aileron Pushrods

Today, I built the lower brake lines and connected them to the calipers.

I also built the small aileron pushrods that connect from the bellcrank to the aileron.

Brake Lines; Fuel Valve; Wheel Pant Nutplates

Yesterday and today, I built and then rebuilt the left side upper brake line and routed it differently than before, as completed yesterday, to avoid going into the area that was previously modified that will have a flat plate on it. I didn't want to go into that new plate. I also built and routed the upper right side the same way. I drilled a hole in the forward side of the "tunnel" and installed a grommet so the brake tubing will not chafe. The first photo shows the original way that is in the plans and the other three photos show the new installation.

I also completed the fuel valve installation with the new plate. This took quite the accurate measurements to avoid having non-round holes in the new plate.

The nutplates for the wheel pants were installed as well.

The last bolt in the engine mount was also installed.

Engine Mount Mounted

Today, I drilled the holes for the engine mount and put it into place except for one lower bolt. I had to "move" the holes that were already drilled into the firewall just a bit. I also ruined three 3/8" drill bits while drilling these four holes. Thank god I have a Drill Doctor, but they are never the same as a new one.

Moved RV-8 to My Shop; Battery Box; Pitch Servo; Fuel Lines

Well, since I began this post on Christmas last year, I have actually done a few things to this RV-8. Kirk and two of his boys moved the plane to my shop on February 19th, 2012 on his trailer.

Fuel lines were tackled first and completed about Feb 23. I also ran and completed the fuel vent lines as well.

The Tru-Trak pitch servo and battery tray were built next and both were just completed today. For the Tru-Trak servo, the original brackets had to be removed from the airframe and the new ones installed. The battery tray was modified to take the Odyseey battery instead of the original Concorde battery that were in Van's plans, although it would be relatively easy to remove this battery and replace it with the Concorde if you ever wanted to. The paint used was Rust-Oleum Smoke Gray.

The Beginning of a New RV-8 !!

Today, I am beginning the blog of an aircraft that I am helping build for a friend of mine. This will show the process and photos of the build. The RV-8 has already been started and is a little past the Quickbuild stage, but no avionics, engine or instruments have been chosen as of yet.
More to come in the very near future!! And Photos will start on the next blog.