Trip out West and Army Buddy Reunion

 We took a trip out West starting in St. Lewis, then out to Pomona Kansas to see my closest Army buddies.  Made a stop at a old missle silo that is being converted, then on to Moab Utah for Arches National Park and Canyonlands National Park.  Then we traveled up through Salt Lake City on to Yellowstone National Park.  Finally we traveled to Mount Rushmore then headed home.

Oshkosh/AirVenture July 19-24th

 Annual trip to Oshkosh/AirVenture

Great week at AirVenture.  Started out with a bit of excitement but it all ended as well as it could have.

July 8th Interior Painting

Finishing the fuel system part 4

Next I plugged the tank lines, connected the two engine fuel lines together and then pressurized the system to 45psi.  I found some leaks in easy to get to places and I had also forgotten to torque the fuel filter bypass line.

Once the big leaks were fixed, I checked every connection with SNOOP (glorified soapy water).  Detected a couple very small leaks and once those were fixed, the system held pressure for 24hrs.

Thankfully the two fittings that go thru the firewall behind the rudder pedals were not leaking.  I used a borescope to inspect the SNOOP coated connections. 

During this process, I realized that air will not flow backwards thru the pump assembly and obvious check valves.  I had a leak on the suction side of the pumps and this went undetected by the original pressure gauge installed in the fuel pressure transmitter block.  So I added another pressure gauge to the low point drain block.  This worked great.

Finishing the fuel system part 3

Next was installing the fuel line that feeds fuel to the pumps from the tank.  This is a pain to install.

Next is this short fuel line.

Then the low pint drain block.

Then the Andair pre filter.

Then the fuel line between the filter and the low point drain block.

The the line from the filter to the fuel pump assembly.  Make sure the orientation of the pump assembly is correct.  It is critical.

Then goes in the line that spans from the check valve to the banjo fitting.  This serves as a fuel filter bypass in the event that the filter gets clogged.

Finishing the fuel system part 2

They have you remove the fuel pump assembly from the Rotax provided stainless steel box.  Not sure if this voids the warranty or not but it has to be done.

Next I assembled the Rotax fuel filter to the fuel pressure transducer adapter block.  Van's provides a washer that has a vulcanized seal attached to the ID of the washer.  The ID of the washer is bigger than the fitting that goes into the fuel filter.  This means you have to somehow center the washer on the fitting while torqueing the filter to the fitting.  What a pain in the rear!  I just had to hope I got it good enough.  

Then they have you drill this 1/4" hole a 1/4" from the end of the fuel shutoff valve lever.

And install the valve with these fittings in the valve bracket.  They also have you rivet the bracket that will hold the fuel shutoff valve actuation cable to the valve bracket.

Next was loosely assembling these banjo bolt fittings.  They use the same kind of washer with a built in seal.  Rotax provides copper crush washers for this but apparently Vans found these washer better for this application.  These fit this side much better than the inlet side.