Baby Steps of Progress

It has been a few weeks since I have updated....so I though I had better get something up.
I haven't accomplished anything major but have gotten a few things done.

First of all I located the battery.  My A-10 has an electric start, making it easy to shut the engine off in flight to take advantage of any soarable lift, with the ability to restart when necessary.  There is a forward compartment on the main pod, accessible through a small hatch.  I pulled the cover and inside I found a couple of things.  One was the battery.  The terminals were still connected....so it is doubtful that the battery is still any good.  But I pulled it and brought it home and we will see if it will take a charge.

Inside the compartment I also found a heavy set of wing tie downs.  I pulled them out for the moment, but will probably be putting them back in before flying as they may be part of the CG balance.(which we will check before flying)

Secondly I installed my winch.  It took a fair amount of engineering to get it set up properly, but I think it should work very well.  I had purchased a worm-drive unit which I installed on the rear of the trailer.  This way I can raise and lower the A-10 while being fully clear of the aircraft.  The winch cable is led forward underneath the A-10, and then is turned 90 degrees via a cable pulley to attach at the front wheel fork.  A medium size vertical pulley was also installed just aft of the wheel wheel to guide the cable as the aircraft is lowered.

Lastly I put on the prop.  A very nice composite 3 blade Powerfin Prop came with the A-10 but was not installed.  I first gave the prop hub a cursory cleaning along with the prop surfaces to insure a proper mating.  After a little scrounging in the part boxes I was able to come up with the 6 AN bolts and washers for mounting.  I cleaned them up as well and then mounted the prop.  According to the Manufacturer specs I applied 175 Inch-Pounds of torque to each bolt.  The proper way to mount a prop is to make very small incremental turns on each bolt, very slowly increasing the torque....working in a cross bolt pattern like you would when replacing a wheel on a car.

I should have some new photos shortly to show the progress.