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Build Diary

Finishing Up

 



The cowl is now finished and about to be painted. The engine is all but done except for the oil breather and fuel overflow pipes. The new Aerovee requires a 5/8" aluminium tube for the oil breather, which wasn't part of the kit and is extremely hard to find in Australia. I may have to order one from the states or better still buy one while I'm over there. 

The registration is now on and I am getting together with my TC to prepare for the AP inspection and final sign-off. Things are getting exciting now - although a one month trip to the States in late April will delay my first flight plans a bit. 

The oil breather line is 5/8" 5052 aluminium tubing, which I had to buy from the USA as no local supplies could be found. Bending it into shape took a bit of thinking, as my tube bender only accommodated tubes up to ½" outer diameter. My TC gave me a valuable tip for these situations – fill the tube with either fine sand or wax. I opted for the wax and used my blow torch to melt one of the wife's candles and pour the liquid wax into the tube. This enabled me to bend the tubing without collapsing the walls – it worked really well. As the engine is going to move around a bit, I decided to install some rubber hose along the oil breather line, giving it some flexibility against the engine's movement. The oil breather tube end was coated with high temperature sealant and inserted into the engine oil breather outlet.

 

 

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Be advised that this site IS NOT an official or approved site of Sonex LLC and is in no way intended to be a publication of Sonex LLC. These pages may contain ideas, opinions, and methods employed by me in the construction of my personal aircraft. They are not necessarily the most desirable method nor are they necessarily endorsed, approved or recommended by Sonex LLC. Many of the ideas and methods which may be discussed in the site represent a compilation of ideas and methods which other builders have used or expressed on other web sites and in separate correspondences. The photos, tips, if any, and methods presented on this site are provided only as this builder’s construction process, for information as a forum for exchange and the sharing of ideas and construction methods. NO responsibility or liability is assumed, expressed, or implied as to the suitability, accuracy, safety, or approval by me or any agency thereof. Any person using any suggestion, idea, method, example or material depicted on these pages, does so at his/her own risk and discretion and without recourse against the site owner or any other person and/or agency noted on this site.