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Nose Lights |
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Given that I live in the great with north, and, I was
concerned about the cold air that would come in the cockpit using the plans
landing and taxi light installation method, like many other builders I tried
to find a way to install them in the nose. I did this via the following
steps. For the record, I had installed a 'second' NG-31, below the
normal one, with aluminum slugs installed and drilled/tapped in a
location/size that would mount the two 'Walmart automotive' lights I
purchased.
Anyway, you have to start by making a blank for the flange that will
support the Lexan cover I'll make for this compartment. In this
picture I have covered the nose with plastic wrap, then, added two plies of
BID, then covered that with more plastic wrap and taped the whole thing into
place for curing. |
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Next, I marked the fuselage bottom on the nose for the skin
I would remove. This skin will be replaced by a heat-molded piece of
Lexan. Note the two holes in the plywood piece. These are in
aluminum slugs installed for a replaceable (I hope I never have to) nose
bumper. |
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I cut the skin piece out using my
Fein Sander tool. |
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After the blank made above had cured, I trimmed it to its
overall basic shape and test installed it. In a weird way, since this
is so transparent, it demonstrates what I have in mind for the clear Lexan
cover. |
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Here's the flange blank after trimming the inside to its
basic shape. |
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To heat mold the Lexan, I'm told I need a plaster of paris
mold. This was created by making a corrugated paper box on the nose,
sealing it with plastic wrap, then filling it with wet plaster of paris and
letting it cure/dry. |
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My first couple of Lexan heat-mold attempts didn't go so
well. This one, ended up with some double-folds in it somehow.
Back to the drawing board.... |
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I tried making another mold, assembled as shown here, to
see if I could get a better result with the Lexan. Here's the mold
after making it and testing it for leaks (it's easier to clean up water than
plaster of paris......) |
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Here's the mold after pouring in the plaster of paris and
letting it cure. |
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This mold didn't turn out so well, either, and after a
couple of test molds it cracked so it went in the trash. |
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Mold number three, or four, I lost count. I have
since re-read the instructions I found on heat molding, they recommend some
fabric in the mold. They actually make their molds in layers, if you
will, fabric wetted out with plaster of paris, layer after layer, until you
get the strength you need. Oh well - maybe next time. Let's hope
this mold works. They also recommend using a squeeze method, if you will,
squeezing the heated plastic between the mold male and female parts.
I'll do that next time. |
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I realized that the middle of the clear cover would need
fixation to the aircraft. So, I added these aluminum slugs to the
NG-32 piece, after drilling and tapping them. |
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Once again, I used a paper pattern to make a correctly
shaped/sized wetted glass layup. This layup covers the 'second' or
bottom NG-31 as well as the sides of the interior of this space. The
foam side didn't need carving, by the way, I purposely didn't micro them to
the pieces next to them. Remember, this gets filled with foam
pieces/layers in Step 9, Piping the
Pitot & Static System. I simply located the foam joints where I
wanted them, micro joining most of them but skipping a couple spots. |
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One ply of BID was used to cover the inside of the space,
also, the sides of NG-32 after installing those aluminum slugs. NG-32
already had one ply on either side, I used a bit of flox to fill the space
on either side of those slugs, as well as the extra 5-minute epoxy used to
install them. |
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Once the interior layup cured and was trimmed, I used the
Fein Sander tool again to create a slot around the entire edge. I then
cut a slot in the flange blank and test installed it after cutting its
inside to basic size and shape. |
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Attempt number four! After the lower, female plaster
of paris mold was heated in the oven for about 45 minutes @ 375 degrees, the
assembly was removed from the oven, and the male mold (the fuselage skin
with some cured pour foam on it for support) and some weight was added.
This works great! The shape of the Lexan cover is exactly what the
mold dictates. It seems Lexan won't heat mold just via heat alone, you
have to press it into the mold. For the record, I will make one more
clear Lexan cover, this one has a couple flaws in it where the backing wrap
on the Lexan stuck to it or the mold then distorted the surface of the Lexan.
I think if I add a layer of parchment paper between layers next time, I
won't get any sticking. |
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Here's the final clear Lexan blank. It still has its
protective plastic wrap on it. You can see a couple spots near the
front where the wrap either stuck to the mold or the Lexan itself. |
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After slowly, carefully trimming this to the correct size
and shape, it's clear (no pun intended) this piece fits the compound curves
in this area pretty well. |
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After removing the protective plastic wrap, you can't even
see the clear cover! My son took about 6 or 8 photos of the thing,
installed, and you simply can't see it too well. Sorry. |
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It's on there, trust me. See the blue tape
preventing it sliding off onto the floor and scratching itself? |
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You can kind of see it here, via its front edge which
reflect light. |
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You can definitely see it here, there's a reflection in it.
Like I said above, I will make another one, using the same mold and adding
some parchment paper, but, this one works well enough to be considered a
spare. |
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Here's a shot of the lights installed. I like the
idea of two, one for landing and one for taxi. I'll adjust one to
shine lower, down the glide path, for landing, and one to shine pretty much
straight ahead for taxi. |
| I have to find a way to run the wires, also,
install some nutplates in the flange (and drill holes for the screws in the
clear cover) but construction here is pretty much complete. |
