Final Assembly
page 2 (2011)

Page 1 - The Cub Project
Page 2 - Fabric
Page 3 - Firewall Forward
Page 4 - Firewall Forward (page 2)
Page 5 - O-320 Overhaul (for the Cub)
Page 6 - Final Assembly (2010)
Page 7 - Final Assembly (2011 page 2)
Page 8 - Final Assembly (2011 page 3)
Page 9 - Completed Aircraft
Page 10 - Later Updates and Modifications
Page 11 - MOGAS vs Composite Fuel Tanks
POH for Scott Grizzly Cub N143W


Jan 21, 2011 -  With the second O-200 completed and the O-320 for the Cub torn down, I'm back to
working on the plane itself.  Today I completed the Pitot and Static plumbing for the instruments.


January 22, 2011 - The same picture taken the next day.  The transponder and encoder wiring harness is now
completed.  One might also notice that the wiring running up either side of the windscreen posts is now enclosed
in spiral wrap.  It was an interesting day today.  I powered up some of the systems individually.  The strobes
worked well.  The right nav light was out.  I finally found a wire that had pulled out of a molex connector, so
replaced the molex pin.  The Whelen tail light apparently wasn't built to the same standards as was used for the
last 80 years, so I had to modify the rudder and tail light to marry them together.  As soon as I applied power to
the landing light circuit the WigWag control module went up in smoke.  I verified several times that it has been wired
correctly.  I have an identical unit in my other plane and have never had a problem with it.  I guess we'll call this an
infant mortality.  We'll see what Eric at Parihelion Design says.

Eric at Parihelion now recommends an in-rush current limiter for 100W lights, which he offered to ship me for free.  
He also asked me to check my wiring once more to make absolutely sure it is correct.  I sent him some $$ via Paypal
to cover the current limiters and for a second set of current limiters for my other plane.  He is shipping me a new WigWag
unit.  If I find that I made a wiring mistake, I'll send him another $78 to cover the WigWag unit.  Hey, on occasion, I do
make mistakes. :o)


January 29, 2011 - Added the in-rush filters to the landing lights per Perihelion's recommendation.  Installed
the new WigWag module today.  It promptly went up in smoke as well.  Once again, the wiring was verified
to be correct.  It took hours of troubleshooting, but the problem was finally discovered.  It turned out the little
lights that backlight the switches when in the on position only measure .2 ohms, which would make an initial
transient in-rush current of 60 amps, plus the inrush current of the landing lights themselves, which measure .5
ohms cold to make them 24 amps.  OK, so that's an 84 amp surge for a microsecond or two when one of the
landing lights flashes on with the WigWag unit, which will easily destroy the FETs in the unit.  Now I have to
order another. :o(

Feb 4, 2011 - Installed the third WigWag unit.  It works as expected.  It really was the transient amperage spike
to the backlighting in the switches that was blowing up the WigWag modules.  I unplugged the grounds from the
backlighting in the switches to disable the backlighting.  That's what I get for buying crappy AutoZone switches.


Landing lights sans wigwag module.




Jan 23, 2011 - Electrical testing continued today.  The radio and the remote head for the radio came up OK.
It receives well, but just transmits a hum.  I suspect the mic wiring is incorrect. I remember when I was wiring
it, I thought the directions for the mic wiring seemed a bit odd.  That was probably my interpretation of the wiring
diagram.  It's the same from both inputs, so I'd bet I'll just have to move a wire on the mike jacks.

The transponder didn't come up.  I found that the edge connector at the back of the mounting tray wasn't deep
enough into the back of the tray for it to make contact on the edge.  A trip to the hardware store for longer screws
and some nuts to use as spacers, and it now makes good contact.  The altitude display is correct (7100 ft),  so I
must have got the encoder wiring correct.

Jan 24, 2011 - As expected, the mic wiring was incorrect.  I now get voice transmitted and the intercom works,
but the hum is still present when it transmits.  It appears to be a grounding issue that I'll have to sort out.


1/25/2011 - Panel lighting.

I rang out the radio wiring this evening.  It is wired correctly.  The source of the feedback in the radio is a mystery,
although one headset is much worse than the other and the problem follows the headset..  I recall that I had some
wierdness with these Lightspeed QFR headsets with the radio in my Tomahawk as well, so it may be a headset
problem, which would be disappointing and expensive.  I'm going to ask for another set of eyes to check this over
for me, and will test with another headset as well.

1/26/11 - The source of the radio feedback was discovered.  I put a longer antenna lead on the radio and moved
the antenna few feet further away.  The noise went away.  I had the antenna laying on it's side on top of the wing
for testing with no ground plane and nothing metal between it and me.  It was inducing feedback into the radio and /or
headsets, and also was even causing the LED backlighting in the transponder to light up.  After moving the antenna,
all symptoms went away.  Of course we know that these antenna are somewhat directional as well, and with the
antenna laying on it's side about a foot above my head, I would have been right in the primary lobe where the signal
was strongest.  I also trimmed the gain on the mics of the headsets to balance them better.  This makes it quite clear
that I had better test my antenna location before I drill any mounting holes!


January 28, 2011 - Added the rub patches to the fabric where the cables pass through the fabric.






January 20, 2011 - I finally got the labels on the breakers.  I can't say that I'm happy with the way it turned out,
but they are there for now. Since they are vinyl, I can always stop in at my buddy's shop in Iowa to peel these
off and install a better set.


OK, now the panel wiring is completed as, are the primer lines.  I still need to install a "Alt Inop" light in the
panel for the alternator, but otherwise it is complete and ready for the boot cowl.


This wiring that's all rolled up here is all the wiring that need to go through the cowl to the engine compartment.


February 5, 2011 - Today's project was the brakes.  Slave cylinders were taken apart, honed and new O-rings
installed.  Torque pins had the rust polished off and were lubricated.  I ran the NyloSeal brake lines from the
back of the gear leg up to the master cylinders.  I'll fill with 5606 hydraulic tomorrow.  I found that the bearing
and races were all showing rust.  That was a case of sticker shock.  $300 for 4 bearings and races using the
Cleveland numbers.  I cross referenced the Timken bearing numbers and was able to find them for $200 from
SkyGeek.  Still seems a bit steep to me, but that was the best deal I could find.


February 6, 2011 - I  painted the throttle covers yesterday and added the vinyl lettering today.  I did the other
graphics below as well.  I also repainted all the window and door mounting hardware as it had a nice coating
of yellow overspray from when I painted the plane last summer.  I should be ready for the boot cowl, doors
and windows in the next week.  The picture above is the throttle for the rear cockpit.


The front throttle along with the mixture and fuel valve.


Carb and cabin heat on the right side of the cockpit.

February 10, 2011 - I've been really struggling with where to put the battery.  The front of the firewall is very
convenient, but the SuperCub drawings all show the battery mounted behind the back seat.  I made numerous
lay outs of the battery mounting on the firewall, but really didn't come up with anything I liked.  With the big engine
and the metal prop, I decided the aft weight might be a good thing.  Last night I routed that heavy #2 battery
cable that I was hoping not to run the length of the cockpit.  It and the master relay lead are wrapped in plastic
spiral wrap for abrasion resistance and will get some adel mounts in various places along under the floorboard.


Feb 12, 2011 - Fabricated and attached a tray to go under the baggage bag for the Odyssey battery.  Also
mounted the master relay under the tray.


Feb 12, 2011 - Wheel bearing problems.  I pulled this wheel last weekend and saw that the bearings and races
were badly pitted.  I put the wheel back together, then looked up the bearings and races via the Cleveland parts
in the Aircraft Spruce catalog.  $300 for 4 bearings and races!  OK, Chief shows a cross reference to the Timken
part numbers.  The best price I could find for 4 13836-20629 races and 13889-206329 bearings was $200 from
SkyGeek.  I went to change them out and found that the new bearings and races were significantly different from
the ones found in the wheels.  The ones in the picture are about 1/4" wider with larger rollers.  It turns out that the
left bearings and races were OK, so I repacked and re-installed them.  I punched the races out of the right wheel
and found that the races are stamped Timken LM29710 and the bearing is LM29749.  Both parts are commonly
available at autoparts stores and are used as a differential bearing in everything from a VW to a John Deer tractor.  
I was able to buy two sets of bearings and races for $28 from Rock Auto.


Feb 13, 2011 - The boot cowl is finally installed... hopefully for the final time.  The instrument panel is now
attached to the boot cowl and all the wiring is pulled through the firewall.  This is a major step towards flying.


Other side of the boot cowl.  Note the transponder antenna mounted to the bottom of the boot cowl.


Feb 15, 2011 - Tonight I finally got to install the back seat.  This is a picture of the battery and master relay
as they sit behind the back seat and under the baggage bag.


The back seat finally in place.  It sits substatially higher than the front seat, which seems a bit low to me.
Note: During early test flying, the front seat mounts broke.  I have no idea what they were welded with, but
it wasn't welding rod.  Anyway, I built a new seat frame and raised it 1 1/2".  It is much more comfortable to
sit in and gives much better access to the master cylinders for maintenance as well room for the rear seat pilot
use the rudders and brakes.

Page 1 - The Cub Project
Page 2 - Fabric
Page 3 - Firewall Forward
Page 4 - Firewall Forward (page 2)
Page 5 - O-320 Overhaul (for the Cub)
Page 6 - Final Assembly (2010)
Page 7 - Final Assembly (2011 page 2)
Page 8 - Final Assembly (2011 page 3)
Page 9 - Completed Aircraft
Page 10 - Later Updates and Modifications
Page 11 - MOGAS vs Composite Fuel Tanks
POH for Scott Grizzly Cub N143Ws