Builder Tips, Tricks, and Modifications

This page will contain your Builder Tips and Tricks. Please share your thoughts on how best to organize this information. I think by aircraft system is probably best, rather than by submitting user, but I'm flexible. Here are some beginning categories.

Specific Tips

Air Filter Installation
Cabin Heater
Custom Cowling

Dual Throttles
Flush Fit Windows
Fixed Gear Replacement Bumper
HID Landing Light
Main Gear Booties

General Tips

General	Controls	Paint	Fuselage	NACA Ducts	Emergency Procedures
Wings	Engine	Avionics	Interiors	Test Flying	Tow/Tug
Prop	Spinner	Finishing	Landing Gear	Electrical Power	Nose_Wheel_Shimmy_Dampener

Unique Aircraft Modifications

Side Sticks	Yokes	Throttle Quadrants	Strong Pitch Trim	Forward Hinged Doors	Really Big Hatch
NACA Inlets	Draggage Pod	Extended_Strake_Elbow	Retractable Nosewheel	Mishler Nose Lock	Screwless Cowl (Piano Hinge)
V8 Engine	V6 Engine	Subaru Engine	Franklin Engine	TIO-540	Mazda Engine

Oil Cooler Turning Vanes

Not great pictures but I managed to stick my phone into the nose of the airplane to get pic of each side of the oil duct.

What I did was remove the duct, do a micro fill & sand job on the inside to smooth it up. Mine was really rough and had numerous bumps and edges inside..

Then carve curved matching slots in the two sides of the oil duct. Just thick enough to slide thin aluminum through.

Then cut out aluminum vanes. Each aluminum piece slides through both sides of the duct slots creating turning vanes. Slots are about 1 inch apart. I left tabs on the ends of the vanes that were then folded against the sides of the oil duct. Then a few layers of bid over the tabs and sides of the duct to seal the slots to the vanes and restore the oil ducts strength.

The shiny squares you see in the pic are the aluminum tabs

Scott

Here's the side towards the gear
Heres the side away form the gear

Toe Brakes

We've retrofitted our XL to use the toe-brake option from the factory. We will eventually add the cast aluminum pedals, but currently have the two separate pedals on both sides. The pilot side master cylinders go to the brakes on the lower end, and the tops go to teh copilot lower master cylinder connections, and the copilot upper connections run to the new resevoir. Note also that the new system requires Mil-Spec 5606 fluid (like the retracts use in the hydraulics).
Installation Instructions