What is surprising is the intensity of the heat. We currently see temperatures persisting that are more known in the Phoenix area (which is always hotter than Tucson). We are seeing 105 in the day and barely cooling off at night with 76, maybe 74 if you're lucky. Tomorrow we're expecting 108. That's too much, even for me.
Last year was easier to handle as I was mainly working in the shop with the doors closed and I could cool the area at least a bit.
This year I need the door open as I am in and out of the shop, mainly working outside on the fuselage that sits on the patio. So, all I could get accomplished was putting a few hours in here and there and that was it. Thus, not a lot of progress since the tailcone joined the forward fuselage.
I received some louvers from Van's that usually go on a -10. Reason I ordered them is to take a look at the dimensions (there was no photo in Van's web store) and they were cheap enough to order them for inspection ($5 each). With all the talk about the Rotax running too high oil temps and the recent temperatures around Tucson maybe becoming normal, I want to make sure I have more oil cooling I will ever need (you can always shut a hole. Opening one up might look ugly). The louvers have to get bent to final shape but the dimensions look promising as the RV-12 cowl is pretty small and doesn't have a lot of areas where a louver could get installed. The part is called F-10109 and the size is about 7 x 5.5", not quite rectangular in shape.
I worked on the fuselage a bit more and clecoed the turtle decks on. Reason here is to get the tank done which requires some custom fit of the filler neck which attaches to the right turtle deck.
Then I could throw in some shop work and drill the filler neck flange that goes on the top of the tank and put together the whole filler neck assembly. The hose clamps are just tight enough to hold the hose is place and still allow for some adjustments.
There's no template for drilling the flange and I was too lazy to make one, so this is the result of a free hand approach as to marking those hole centers and pre-punching them. Drilled on the drill press. Slight deviations from a perfectly even 8 hole pattern hopefully won't do anything. I felt the holes were a little close to the inside but I checked multiple times with the instructions and they said to place the center of the hole 5/16" from the outside of the flange.
I also found a visible leak in the fuel tank where an edge relief wasn't filled with Pro-Seal when I originally put it together. Now, I wasn't sure how to deal with it, so my attempt was to clean the area and just smear more Pro-Seal over it from the inside and out after scuffing up the inside a bit where there was bare aluminum. I hope that this will connect well and not vibrate loose later, creating a seeping leak. The tank will now get covered on the inside to catch some chips when match drilling and cutting the top for the filler neck flange.
Tomorrow I'm heading towards Phoenix staying a night at Denny's home and then we leave at dark to get to the airport in Deer Valley and fly his RV-12 to Corning, CA for an ELSA Repairmen Course. Flying back on Saturday/Sunday, so there won't be a lot of progress on the plane during the next days either.
Sigh! And I am not even sure if I will really go the ELSA route yet. The most recent price increase on the Rotax engine kit from Van's reminded me again how ridiculously priced this engine is. Considering that it still has carbs with all the adjustment and maintenance that comes with it, I feel that a Viking engine with fuel injection and for about half of what a Rotax costs would be the far better solution.
Well, I still have time to make up my mind ...
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