I appreciate that point of view, Jim. I probably will do this less frequently once I know how things are wearing (like next year). When I do pull the engine, I take it off with the engine mount attached. All of the wiring to the engine remains intact and everything unplugs from the firewall. This is why it doesn’t take me long to remove and remount it. For now I am content with having a good look at things. For example, some things are impossible to see with the engine attached, such as the condition of rotor and distributor electrodes. Just too tight back there. A couple of hours of additional time on the annual is not a big commitment to be thorough.

Sometime, I hope you will get to see my installation. Perhaps I will make a trip your direction this fall.

Cheers,

Jay

Good point, Charlie. But I am not doing any fixing, just looking thoroughly and doing the necessary wear checking. My installation is a one-off, so I treat it like a prototype with respect to inspections.

Cheers,

Jay

I am into my annual this month. I have set up my engine so that it takes about 1 hour to remove and same to put it back on. I have removed it for 2 of my 3 annuals so far. I generally ask myself why I am doing this as I am removing it, but once I get it off, I feel much better about it, because I can get a really good look at everything on the back of the engine, thus a thorough inspection.

For some of you that saw my plane with the engine in place, here is what the firewall looks like without the engine.

Cheers,

Jay  Tri-Q2 N8WQ 190 hours.

The N-number for my Tri-Q2 N8WQ has a bit of a dark past (# used to be on a Beech DH-50). Have a look under narrative section:

Eugen,

Additional to my last note, see page 10-5. The aft “elevator slot cores” are also removed along the line 33-F-G-H-I-32 for the remainder of the canard beyond the center section, but only AFTER laying up the elevator slots with one BID at plus/minus 45°. This yields a 78” long piece that will be re-attached to the aft edge of the canard after the canard is glassed. Glassing the canard before reattaching this piece creates a shear web from tip to tip just ahead of the trailing edge (hinge line) of the canard. Re-attaching the “elevator slot cores” establishes the aerodynamic fairing of the canard to the elevators outboard of the fuselage, but is not needed internal to the fuselage.

-David

Eugen,

Read the plans as though the following image is a single page. The first paragraph shown here refers to the LAST drawing shown here and a drawing not shown here that is at the bottom of page 5-3; by use of the word “faced” the authors mean the 1.2” dimension that causes the blocks to become parallelograms in top view. This paragraph also refers to the outboard canard cores that are shown on page 5-4 (not shown here).

You ask: “Is it correct that the width of the middle segment is 42"?” The answer is “NO.” The second paragraph shown here refers to the FIRST drawing shown here. This is the center section and is only 20” span (width).

These blocks are all made from 7” x 14” x 41” blocks that were supplied in the kit; there are extra lines on all these drawings that indicate the joints where blocks need to be glued together to achieve the needed block size before hot-wiring. If you are using source blocks of different sizes, your joint lines may differ, but I point this out to help eliminate the confusion that may be caused by these lines.

The third paragraph shown here has no associated drawing. The cut line 20-A-B-C-D-E-23 is shown on the hot-wire templates and should be self-explanatory.

The fourth paragraph shown here refers to additional drawings (not shown here) that appear on page 5-3.

Finally, the cut line 33-F-G-H-I-32 removes the aft part of the canard center section that will be contained entirely within the fuselage. The templates are the same as are used for the portions of the canard outboard of the fuselage thus requiring this aft part for aerodynamic and structural support of the elevators, but within the fuselage this part is not only not required but would interfere with the elevator control torque tubes if retained, so is cut off along the 33-F-G-H-I-32 line.