Rotisserie almost finished

Wade has been putting pieces of steel together to make a rotisserie to allow the wing to be rotated while we are covering and painting it.  I showed some pictures a few posts back of how the wing root would be connected.  The wing tip is more complicated as there is not much to connect to as you can see below.  Wade put threaded rod through the tie down support and then welded in a second round tube for a second threaded rod.  This provides two points for attachment.  Wade’s welder had issues late in the day, so there is a little more welding work to complete.  Once the other upright is on, they will attach to a horizontal bar like the other end to allow for adjustment in both directions.  Great progress!

Instrument panel adjustment

I brought the drawing I made about a year ago in Seattle of the instrument panel for the V-77 home with me to Wichita.  I wanted to make one last check of clearances and other factors.  It is a good thing I did that as I found the control columns to be more of an interference than I thought.  So, I moved a lot of stuff around.  I also decided to have the engine controls, switches, and circuit breakers all on the main panel instead of a sub-panel as previously planned as I had plenty of real estate.  This extra room is because I am using an engine monitor which combines about 10 gauges into one.

I was also concerned the airplane might not be built exactly as the drawing from the Smithsonian indicated as far as the mounting holes for the panel.  I had a thin fiberboard panel that Ed (the guy I bought the airplane from) had made as he dreamed what his panel might look like.  I decided to back drill that one and then lay it on top of my drawing to transfer the hole locations.  Almost all of them were off a little.  My assumption is when it was built, they probably welded the brackets in place and then back drilled the original panel......as there was probably some build variation and that was the easiest way to solve it.  It may not be true, but at least I now know this one will fit once we make it.

Next step is get the drawing digitized and then cut the panel out with a CNC router at my friend PR’s shop.  In other news, my valentines gift from Debbie showed up just before I left for Seattle.  New wire strippers and a crimper for various size connectors.  These will be very useful when wiring up the V-77.

Instrument panel layout.....hard to 

see unless you blow it up

Crimper on left and wire stripper

Stinson journey to Tulsa

Wade and I flew the Stinson to Tulsa yesterday morning to pick up some engine parts for his Cessna 172.  He is in the process of doing a bottom overhaul to the engine.  We had about a 34 knot tailwind heading down initially.  It slowly dropped and we had a pretty strong headwind coming in to land at Tulsa.  We parked at their Beechcraft dealer and then walked to the engine shop.  The Beechcraft hangar is made from limestone and an impressive site to see.....very old school.  We were soon back in the air and made it in 2.5 hours round trip (1 hour down, 1.5 return).  Always fun to get some flying in....even better when there is a purpose.

Wing stand

Wade sent a few pictures of the wing stands he is making for the V-77.  You may remember from previous posts we bought some engine stands and wheels.  Add to that some square steel tubing and mix in some Yankee ingenuity and you’ll get what you see below.  This is at the root of the wing.  He will make another for the wing tip, though attaching it to the wing will be more challenging.  These stands will make it easier to transport the wings and also cover them.