G-UFOX - Engine On
We have now mounted the engine onto the plane.
OK, it is far from being completely installed - still lots to do, but at least it is mounted onto the firewall.
First, all the bits need to be installed onto the firewall, such as the coolant bottle and oil tank, glands and cable feedthroughs. These were assembled onto the firewall; they would not be accessible once the engine is in place.
The frame is fitted to the engine block - this gave rise to some debate on how to torque up the final mounting bolt - eventually we made an extended long straight allen key by welding two ends of a key with a piece of steel bar in between. This allowed us to get the torque wrench onto the bolt. We also eventually decided that we had to remove one inlet manifold and water pipe to gain access. The other thing that took us a while to realise, was that the ignition unit rear fixing is undone and now moved onto the engine mount frame.
Ian and Tom then manhandled the engine to the firewall, and George and I bolted it on.
It feels like a bit of a milestone so we are happy with the progress.
I made a bit of a cockup during the week - I had the hangar door open a couple of inches and a strong gust of wind caught it and it swung wide open and bent the frame. Thankfully, George has fixed it.
We have also splashed out on some avionics - the Funkwerk ATR833 radio transceiver and TRT800 transponder - lovely bit of kit with OLED displays.