The Notorious B.E.N. Flying/Building/Repairing Blog

Notorious B.E.N. · **Posted:** Mon Jul 04, 2022 12:40 pm

The elevator linkage is done and I also started sealing the hinge gap with some Blenderm. However I was not able to finish since my roll ran out and I came up about 3 inches short.

So now I am looking at buying from Amain or Amazon since it doesn't appear to be available locally.

Notorious B.E.N. · **Posted:** Sun Jul 17, 2022 9:18 pm

I got the pull-pull cable done for the rudder on the AJ Raven this weekend.

The first go around seemed to be just fine and I'm still not sure what happened but I couldn't get all of the slack out. It's like something gave after being caught up because I was pretty much done and then I wasn't.

It's just as well because in the process I discovered the cables were going over a former in the fuse. I had a set of cables that appear to be the same diameter from a previous plane that I upgraded to the kevlar with (Extreme Flight Edge I'm guessing) and some crimps so I redid the whole thing today.

Now I have a tight, but not too tight, pull-pull setup for the rudder.

Notorious B.E.N. · **Posted:** Sun Jul 24, 2022 8:17 pm

I got the fuel tank and the choke bellcrank installed in the AJ Raven over the weekend. These were 2 items along with the servo horn for throttle that I needed to make sure there would be no interference. The VVRC 35 is also installed on the standoffs with blue loctite.

I also managed to make it out for 3 flights on Saturday morning. It was warm but do-able and I get the feeling we won't be needing to mow the field for a while.

Notorious B.E.N. · **Posted:** Sun Jul 31, 2022 9:01 pm

I realized that I needed a hole in the firewall for the fuel line to the engine so I drilled that and sealed the wood with thinned epoxy. And I had to reinstall the engine after that on the standoffs.

Tonight I got the choke bellcrank screwed down and the fuel tank installed again. After that I ran the fuel line from the tank to the carb.

Notorious B.E.N. · **Posted:** Sat Aug 06, 2022 9:45 pm

The club had a meeting this morning but I had an appointment at 11 so no flying. I got to see the very nice Vixen 2 in person before I left though.

This evening I worked on getting the cowling of the AJ Raven mounted and then I also worked connecting, protecting, and securing the wiring.

I'm actually feeling like it's getting close but then I also discovered that I need to move the tank forward another 1/2" due to a former on the canopy. I may cut the cross pieces but then I would need to build a reinforcement that would add weight. Or I may look into using the tank the plane came with.

Notorious B.E.N. · **Posted:** Sun Aug 07, 2022 8:34 pm

Half of the ignition kill is installed. I also cut the hole for the on/off indicator light and glued it in.

Notorious B.E.N. · **Posted:** Mon Aug 08, 2022 9:47 am

I went ahead and ordered the VVRC Twin 40 Exhaust Extensions and a 4-40 threaded rod from VVRC. So that should be the last of the items I need to complete.

After I ordered my next thought was maybe I should think about a canister....

Notorious B.E.N. · **Posted:** Sat Aug 13, 2022 9:14 pm

I got three flights in this morning. It was hot outside even for the morning but thankfully the club was able to get the new roof on our shelter at the flying field this past week. The crew that put it on did a great job and we won't be having to plan work days to replace the wood purlins on a regular basis.

The other special thing for me is I was the one who wrote up the project to get an AMA grant to help fund it.

Notorious B.E.N. · **Posted:** Sun Aug 14, 2022 8:03 pm

My package from Valley View RC arrived so I was able to get the choke pushrod cut and finish setting up the choke.

I went next to the throttle and discovered a bind so I broke out the Rotozip bit and made the hole in the firewall much bigger. While undoing the engine from the firewall again, I noticed the muffler was hitting the lip sticking out from the motorbox and ground that down for some clearance. Thankfully I was able to seal everything with one batch of thinned epoxy.

Notorious B.E.N. · **Posted:** Sun Aug 21, 2022 7:12 pm

Despite finally getting some rain and a good amount at that, I did some flying yesterday. Jeff was out with the Vixen 2 doing his thing and another member into the FPV thing were just some of the other people out having fun.

It makes me appreciate the club I'm in because there are different interests and everyone gets along the majority of the time with very little friction.

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