Pipistrel Kit Manual

http://www.pipistrel-usa.com © Pipistrel USA 2004 Release 1.1 © of 154

Ki t Manua l fo r P ip is t re l S inus and V i ru s A i rc ra f t

Pipistrel

Sinus & Virus

Kit Build Manual



Table of Contents

Preparing the Fuselage .........................................................................................................................................3 Fitting the luggage rack and headsets ..................................................................................................................8 Fitting the fuel sight slots .....................................................................................................................................11 Fitting the ballistic chute – basic preparation ......................................................................................................11 Fitting the rudder pedals......................................................................................................................................19 Preparing the seat belts.......................................................................................................................................20 Airbrake lever.......................................................................................................................................................26 Fuel lines in cabin................................................................................................................................................26 Running the rudder cables ..................................................................................................................................27 Fitting the throttle assembly.................................................................................................................................29 Fitting the undercarriage......................................................................................................................................30 Fitting undercarriage to aircraft............................................................................................................................35 Fitting the Velcro for the seats.............................................................................................................................40 Fitting the rudder cables ......................................................................................................................................41 Preparing the elevator / rudder............................................................................................................................42 Fitting the windscreen..........................................................................................................................................46 Fitting the rudder assembly .................................................................................................................................49 Fitting the trim system .........................................................................................................................................55 Lower fuel system................................................................................................................................................56 Dashboard firewall setup .....................................................................................................................................58 Fitting the Control Systems .................................................................................................................................58 Fitting the chute – Step 2.....................................................................................................................................60 Strobes ................................................................................................................................................................66 Mounting the controls ..........................................................................................................................................68 Engine fitting........................................................................................................................................................72 Exhaust system ...................................................................................................................................................87 Engine Mount.......................................................................................................................................................92 Mounting the engine to the firewall......................................................................................................................93 Sound deadening material...................................................................................................................................93 Fitting the Tail ......................................................................................................................................................95 Wings.................................................................................................................................................................100 Fitting the cockpit carpet....................................................................................................................................104 Fitting the Wheel Spats .....................................................................................................................................105 Wing preparation ...............................................................................................................................................107 Fitting the front cowls.........................................................................................................................................109 Final fitting of the muffler ...................................................................................................................................114 Fitting the rudder ...............................................................................................................................................115 Fitting the electrical panel..................................................................................................................................116 Fitting the undercarriage leg..............................................................................................................................117 Fitting the cowling around the exhaust..............................................................................................................122 Finishing the rudder cables ...............................................................................................................................125 Propeller ............................................................................................................................................................126 Fitting the dash ..................................................................................................................................................130 Fitting the front wheel on the virus ....................................................................................................................132 Fitting the front wheel spat ................................................................................................................................133 Wings.................................................................................................................................................................134 Assembling the airbrakes ..................................................................................................................................147

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Congratulations on your purchase or evaluation of the Pipistrel Sinus or Virus aircraft kit, the Sinus and Virus are unique aircraft providing exceptional performance, unparalleled flying qualities and astonishing economy. The building procedures explained in this manual are aimed towards the abilities of an average person with basic tools, most of the precision manufacture has been performed at the factory under controlled conditions and this will provide the homebuilder with an aircraft which should be every bit as good as a factory manufactured plane. Most of the construction can be performed by the builder alone but you will require additional assistance for some tasks, possibly a friend or partner could assist you with some of the construction, for times where you need to rotate the fuselage or fit the wings you may need three people. By following these simple instructions and the accompanying photographs we expect around 250 to 400 hours of enjoyable construction to finish the aircraft. Should you have any questions with this manual or the construction techniques please contact Pipistrel USA for clarification. As we have just released the kit version of the Pipistrel Aircraft and this manual we would like your feedback and suggestions on the different tasks so we may improve the manual for future customers. Please email [email protected] with any of your questions They say a picture is worth 1000 words... so we have tried to incorporate this in our manual and let the pictures do the talking, with over 1000 detailed images to select from and print out you will probably find many answers to your questions in the photos and accompanying text. Time to build..... Lets start !!

Preparing the Fuselage Support the fuselage on a suitable stand and support the tail on a piece of foam to protect it from damage.




Mask the elevator pushrod with masking tape to keep out dust and debris from the pushrod bearings during the early fuselage preparation phases

Sand the cockpit openings smooth to remove the sharp edges from manufacture

Sand the windscreen edge to ensure a good fit of the lexan windscreen, paying particular attention to the section marked with ovals in the photos below, it is also important to make sure the edges around the windscreen are smooth and not sharp.




The sections highlighted below needs a little extra material taken off the inside edge to make sure the windscreen seats perfectly, please do both sides.

With a marker pen mark the center of the fuselage halves above the firewall section, check for the join marks from manufacture to assist in finding the center position, this is used for locating the windscreen brace




Clean the windscreen mounting areas with thinners or spirits to ensure they are clean and will bond properly, blow with compressed air and vacuum to ensure it is totally clean.

Paint around the edge of the windscreen with black nitro paint, this gives the edge of the windscreen a really nice black finish. It looks smart.

Drill holes in the floor for the cables and flaps and the trim slot, use the Dremel tool to cut the holes and then sand smooth with a file and sandpaper, same for the flap handle area and also the throttle nutserts. The factory will already have these positions marked for you in marker pen.




Dremel the holes and slots, use a vacuum cleaner to keep the dust under control when cutting.




Mask the windscreen with tape and plastic for painting, go to an auto paint supplier and purchase plastic which is already attached to the tape.... makes the job so much easier and all the mess goes straight in the trash when you’re finished.

Fitting the luggage rack and headsets Cut holes in the fuselage bulkhead structure for the luggage rack, there is a different position for the luggage rack if the aircraft is fitted with a chute so please lay the luggage rack if purchased inside the compartment for determining the best positions for the holes.

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Cut holes for the headrest with a Dremel

Mark and cut the hole for the windscreen support in the front of the fuselage, pay particular attention to the fact that the material is only 3mm thin and if you cut to close to the edge damage will result

Spray the back of windscreen with special bumper bar black paint, spray from a distance of around 500mm to get the best coverage and a slightly rough finish that doesn’t reflect, use 2 coats allowing a few minutes to dry between each. It’s best to use two normal layers of paint rather than one thick layer which can run




Mask inside fuselage for painting, paint with a brush using nitro black paint, pay special attention to the door lip and clean up with thinners if you have any spillage.

When paint dries remove the masking tapes. Paint the dash area and the main vertical support tubes which run down the sides of the windscreen




Fitting the fuel sight slots

Drill holes for fuel sight gauges in the fuselage wing root, start with a smaller hole and open up with the step drill - holes are 12mm diameter. Join the holes using a Dremel, file and sandpaper them clean

Step Drill – A useful purchase from most good electrical or larger hardware stores

Fitting the ballistic chute – basic preparation If you have ordered a chute with your kit, the factory will have marked the position and shape of the hole with marker pen on the top of your aircraft. Mask over the area with packaging tape to stop the surface getting damaged when you cut the chute opening with a jig saw.

Drill 4 small holes and slot to start the cut with a jigsaw, measure the jigsaw blade width and use a drill the same thickness as the jigsaw blade to start the cut. Make sure the jigsaw has the finest




blade teeth you can get, use blades made for cutting metals. Make sure to use lots of masking tape on the bottom of the jigsaw and hold it securely with downwards pressure so you don’t get lots of marks on the aircraft. Cut on the outside of the marked line, when using the jigsaw use safety glasses and hearing protection

When cutting with the jigsaw support the chute opening, especially when the cut is almost completed, if you allow it to flop around it will get damaged Sand the chute opening and the piece you have cut out to ensure good adhesion to the silicone when you mount the chute into the aircraft and close up the opening




The area where the chute gets mounted has a special covering like a light woven cotton to protect the material and keep the carbon surface clean, it is necessary to remove this covering from the chute opening and the area around the cut, it is also necessary to remove it from the bottom of the fuselage where the chute container gets bonded also.

When fitting the chute container the parts need to be thoroughly sanded, the actual fitting is a process which takes two days to complete because the end caps need to cure before the centre section is added. Firstly sand the fuselage top and bottom to accept the epoxy. Mix up about 100 ml of epoxy for mounting the top and bottom of the ballistic chute, add cotton flock and make the mixture quite thick. Apply a generous amount to the chute ends but leave two small areas without epoxy so we can use hot glue, apply hot glue and drop end cap into place hold it firmly in position for about 30 seconds for the hot glue to cure, remove any extra epoxy from around the chute container, repeat the same process with the top part of the container




When mounting the top of the chute container be sure not to pull too hard and twist the top end cap, wipe off the extra epoxy when finished and again in about 30 minutes as it will slowly seep out of the joint, do not leave it to seep out and go hard as it becomes very difficult to remove when fully dried. Allow curing overnight. Do not attempt to fit the centre section of the chute until the day after the end caps have cured properly With the Dremel grind the holes in the roof for fitting of the rescue parachute slings, the outlines are already marked on the roof by the factory

Carefully cut off excess epoxy around opening of the chute container top cap with a very sharp knife, use a cutting polish to take off the remaining epoxy, clean with spirits and mask the area with electrical tape and masking tape again.




The chute container is approx 1cm too long and needs to be trimmed off the top. Trim the top section and not the bottom because of two reasons, the top weighs more and it will make a lighter aircraft and the bottom is a very complex curve, the top is easier to cut. Sand the ends for bonding to the container end caps.




The container is held in place by epoxy and rivets, the rivet size is 4mm diameter and 10mm long, first sand around the base and check for bumps or left over epoxy, do a trial fit of the pieces, make sure there is at least 15mm vertical movement in the pieces. If you put them in place and cant move them 15mm up and down they are too long, if they are too long it will bulge the sides of the fuselage. Mix up approx 100 ml of epoxy and cotton flock, put epoxy around the base of the chute which is already attached to the aircraft, put epoxy on the top of the container side and slide the container side into place, it is necessary to bend the container side and this can be done without any problems as the material is quite flexible and will bend without breaking. Position the container sides approx half way so there is movement space top and bottom of the container, drill and pop rivet in place with rivets top and bottom, wipe off extra epoxy. When the chute mounting has dried for couple of hours spray around the base with black bumper paint, it is important to use bumper paint because it has been made for plastics and normal enamel or acrylic paints will not adhere to the surface, we do this to make it look good and not show the white epoxy colour. A useful hint while you use a spray can inside the fuselage is to use the vacuum cleaner also because it extracts the mist from the spray paint so it doesn’t settle on the aluminum parts, it keeps the plane much cleaner.




The finished chute opening when finally fitted looks like below details further in the manual on how to fit the actual chute and straps.




Fitting the rudder pedals Mark holes for pedals and rudder cables, when drilling the cables for the rudder it is necessary to have the drill laying on the floor of the cockpit to ensure the holes are drilled in the right direction, if they are on an angle it will cause unnecessary friction to the rudder cables, if the holes are the right direction there will be no binding in the cables

Drill the holes in the firewall for the rudder pedals, these must also go through on the same angle as the cockpit floor, of special note these holes must go through two layers of fiberglass, if they are done at the wrong angle they will come out the floor of the fuselage and not in the correct position




Preparing the seat belts Prepare the seat belt mounts, the outer anchoring positions have metal inserts embedded in the fiberglass, these need to be tapped metric 8mm, be sure not to tap he holes too deep or you will go through the outer layer of the plane and cause major damage, the factory uses an electric drill for the tapping but the factory recommends the home builder do this procedure by hand

Drill the center seatbelts mounts in the center of the aircraft and position centrally in the prepared pad, drill 8mm on both sides. Be aware if you drill too far you will damage the elevator pushrod so don’t push too hard

Drill the rear seat belt mounts just below the rivet installed by the manufacturer, hole size 8mm

Leave the fitting of the seat belts to much later in the process – its one of the last jobs and they will be protected from damage while fitting other items. Drill the rear bulkhead for the rudder cables 6mm hole, also drill the bulkhead underneath the seats in the marked locations




Rotate the fuselage upside down and support the tail on foam and the wing roots on a frame or saw horses with sponge foam to prevent damage

Use two part epoxy body filler to go around the openings of the windscreen and the skylight in the roof and fill in the small defects from manufacture. When the filler has hardened overnight it can be sanded and finished. Note this is only for cosmetics and provides no other use; be careful as the fiberglass is very thin on the canopy lip, do not sand too hard and don’t use mechanical sanders




Clean the sanded area down with thinners and blow clean with compressed air. Paint the rest of the fuselage with nitro paint to finish off the painting, brush is the best method

Paint the sanded and filled area with bumper paint when you have masked around the canopy lip and the skylight lip, use bumper paint as it has a good non sheen colour and the finish fills in small imperfections in the body filler




Fit carpet to the roof and sides of the cabin, use contact adhesive which is applied to both the fuselage sides and the carpet. Use the paint on type of contact adhesive for the fuselage and spray type of contact adhesive on the carpet, do this or the carpet soaks up a lot of weight with excess glue, allow both to dry until they are not sticky and apply together

Fit the carpet on the roof first, starting at the rear and working forwards, make sure the carpet is centered and does not run up the sides of the fuselage otherwise it will interfere with the carpet on the sides of the wing root and also interfere when fitting the wings to the aircraft




Glue the carpet to the sides of the fuselage on the wing roots, place the carpet in location and mark before gluing to know where to apply adhesive. When marked apply glue to both the carpet and the fuselage, allow to dry and position in place, this time start at the front and work to the rear. Push down firmly for the best bond.

Use the metal roof supports as a guide as stretch the carpet back as you go, make sure not to cover the rear hole where the ailerons attach through, finally make a small cut for the brackets which hold the fuel lines in place and push down firmly to complete the process

Cut the holes for the wing spars, the fuel sight gauges and the other connectors using a gas operated soldering iron with a sharpened point. You must use a soldering iron to both cut and seal the carpet in one go, if the carpet is not sealed it will start to fray from first flight




Cut down into the roof as shown in the photographs or the wing spars will not slide into the fuselage properly, it is important that this job is done properly

Fit the fuel taps using Loctite number 542 or 511 which is made for fuel and pressure fittings, use a washer and position in the bracket as shown in the photograph




Airbrake lever The airbrake lever must be accurately positioned to ensure proper operation of the assembly. The center bracket must be positioned to be 1mm off center; the longest side must be on the pilots (left) side of the fuselage, remember the fuselage is currently upside down so think about it. Position the part accurately and drill one 5mm hole only, insert the 5mm diameter bolt and secure in place using the normal washer under the bolt head and the larger washer under the nut in the rear of the fuselage, recheck the measurements and when satisfied it has not moved drill the remaining three holes and insert the bolts. Use Loctite 262 on these 4 nuts

Fuel lines in cabin Fit the fuel lines inside the cabin, you are supplied with three lines with quick connect fittings. Two are short and one is long, the long line is the fuel return line which is used later in the process. Install the two shorter lines onto the fuel cocks as shown and secure with the supplied hose clamps, position the clamps with the screw fittings close to the wing root to keep them clear of your hands etc in the cockpit and to eliminate any chance of catching clothing on them.




Drill an 8mm diameter hole on the left hand side only for the fuel return line to the left tank; this is used as the return fuel line to avoid vapor lock etc Note: It is only used on the 912 powered aircraft

Attach the supplied special aluminum fitting to the 8mm hole the larger of the two nipples faces the front of the aircraft and the smaller nipple to the tail. The washer fits on the front side of the bulkhead, do not over tighten as the fitting is made from aluminum and may distort

Tape over fuel line end fittings to keep dust and other debris from them during the rest of construction before the fuel lines are finally fitted. The construction is now completed for the fuselage in the upside down position; with help rotate the fuselage back to the correct position.

Running the rudder cables Mount the rudder cable outers using the supplied pressure hose, feed from under the seats towards the front holes and then feed to the rear bulkhead




Drill into the pushrod base area so that the rudder cables will cross, drill the top one touching the metal pushrod tube and the lower cable slightly lower so they don’t interfere the material you are drilling through is soft foam so take it easy. Use a vacuum to keep debris out of the bearings.

Put cable ties over the rudder cables where they come out of the floor and apply Loctite 460 or superglue to keep them firmly in place and stop the cable ties from coming off. When the glue has dried pull the rudder cable outers firmly from the rear to remove and slack, trim off the excess cable outer in the cockpit leaving about 1 cm exposed and in the rear cut off the tubes to about 75mm long behind the first bulkhead.

Fit the trim cable into position under the floor, the shorter cable faces the rear of the aircraft and the longer cable goes to the front of the fuselage where it does a 180 degree turn and then exits to the rear in the main center tunnel. Important is to make sure these cables are positioned not to loop around or foul any other cables or fittings under the floor, secure the trim mechanism with the supplied screws and fit the trim handle. When fitting the trim handle there are several important steps, firstly the cables which attach to the handle slider need to face down towards the bottom of the aircraft, the washer needs to be positioned between the cockpit floor and the slider, not on top of the cockpit floor and finally pack the whole slider arrangement with clean multi purpose grease, use lots of it because the trim runs aluminum on aluminum and without adequate lubrication the mechanism will wear out quickly. Cover the area with tape to keep the dirt and debris from the greased slider.




Fitting the throttle assembly Position the throttle assembly and mark holes for the throttle and choke cables, cut the holes with the Dremel tool, make hole where the cable runs through about 1mm bigger than marked so you don’t see the hole when the assembly is finally in place

Mount the throttle assembly, 4 screws and secure with red Loctite Mount the flap handle and check alignments, firstly push the assembly down and backwards. Drill the 4 holes in the base and then drill and bolt the 4 holes on the seat back using red Loctite. Note on some aircraft especially virus you will have to grind some material from the underneath of the floor tunnel to get it all to fit as it sometimes get made too thick. Remember to drill carefully not to hit the elevator pushrods.




Fitting the undercarriage Drill the main axle hole from both sides, drill half way in to avoid drifting when drilling, use a reamer drill if you have one available, remember the tighter the fit the better. Put the end of the axle through and lightly bolt the assembly to stop plates either side of the leg from rotating. Bolts go from inside to outside of landing leg, Loctite no 262




Next drill main axle again only half way deep, mark the drill do know how much to drill in, insert pins so they have 1 cm sticking out then slide the brake assembly on, make sure brake is properly seated, using a piece of pipe it is possible to drive it on to sit firmly. Fit washer and clean brake, slide wheel onto axle.




Note that there is a left and a right brake; they must be fitted so the hydraulic nipple is pointing to the front of the aircraft on both sides of the plane.




Apply plenty of grease inside wheel hub and also bearing, fit bearing and push in extra grease. Fit dust cover after greasing. Fit nyloc nut, note there is no washer as the nut is especially machined to fit, tighten up so wheel still turns freely, do not over tighten the nut or the wheel may bind, wipe off excess grease. Fit wheel spat spacer and secure with Loctite, when tightening the spacer be sure not to also tighten the locknut.




Go to other side of axle and tighten the other locknut, torque setting 6 Newton meters. Mark all nuts with red paint. Repeat for other side. Check tire pressures at 32 psi or 2.2 atmospheres Modification of the landing gear for the virus – the virus has a different way to run the brake lines and it is necessary to make modification to the tops of the landing gear legs, normally the brake lines come from the brakes and travel up the inside of the legs and enter into the cabin. In the virus it is necessary to modify the exit hole so the line actually travels the normal route but goes back into the landing gear leg and exits on the bottom where it then enters the cabin on the front side of the leg. The tube enters the base of the leg at the wheel and exits up top, on the top exit leave 1500 mm of tube out and on the bottom approx 150 mm




Fitting undercarriage to aircraft Virus must have the bolts and special washers recessed, it is important that the washer is seated properly if you make the hole too big it will allow the undercarriage to move around excessively if you make the recess too small the bolt and washer wont be seated properly. In Sinus there is no




recess, there are just normal bolts mounted with locknuts and a plate to hold the undercarriage in place. With the Virus if you drill the holes too big then it must be filled in with epoxy. Apply grease to bolt shaft and to head of bolt under washer and pour epoxy into hole, allow to dry and you have a good filler. It is important to have the washers seated properly to avoid future damage to the structure. Cover the tops of the landing gear leg with silicone before mounting, place undercarriage bolts into floor of fuselage and fit undercarriage leg, it is possible to have one person lift the front of the plane to do this as its not so heavy. Tighten the nylocs on the undercarriage to 5.5 Newton meters Mark the hole position for the hydraulic brake lines on the right hand side of the fuselage only and grind out with the Dremel, be careful not to go to deep or you can go through the outer shell of the aircraft, then clean up with a drill and sandpaper




Sinus gear mount bolt heads




Then you can start to fit the rest of the cockpit carpet as we have done with the roof, for the best adhesion push firmly.




Dremel the opening in the side of the aircraft for the brake lines to run from the pedals to the wheels, the position is already marked in marker pen by the factory.

Mounting the pedals, the pedals come assembled with the brake pumps and are fitted into place. First drill the marked hole 8mm diameter and mount the middle lower hole only with the nutsert. Bolt the pedals in place with the one screw only and use a spirit level to make sure the pedals are level in the aircraft from left to right. Mark the other two holes and drill through the inner layer. Do not drill into the firewall, use a drill 6mm diameter, again make sure the pedals remain level. When the 6mm hole is drilled open it up to 8mm and insert a nutsert in each hole. Then fix the front three holes of the pedals to the nutserts using Loctite 262, before tightening all the way check again the pedals have remained level and then tighten up all three bolts. Then do the rear pedal mount center the pedals, push down and drill one hole only, 6mm and insert bolt, check alignment of everything when satisfied drill the remaining 3 holes and insert the washers and nyloc nuts from behind, use Loctite, fit the co-pilots pedals using the same methods.




Make sure pedals remain level when drilling

Push down when drilling rear holes

Fitting the Velcro for the seats Mount Velcro onto the seat bases where they match with the pre made seats. Firstly clean the area with spirits and dry off, mark where Velcro is to be mounted and use 3M scotch mount adhesive primer to the surface to ensure good adhesion. Allow to dry for about 5 minutes and apply Velcro. There are 4 pieces under the seat base, one for the carpet near the pedals and three pieces hold on the headrests. Finally cover the Velcro with tape to keep it clean for the rest of the construction




Fitting the rudder cables Fit the rudder cables; firstly lubricate the cables with WD-40 and also the cable outers. Feed the cables through from the firewall and into the cabin, feed through the pedals and then into the cable outers and take the cables through to the rear of the fuselage, check them all for free movement. Take care not to damage or crimp the cables. They will be attached to the rudder later.




Preparing the elevator / rudder Elevator, first go along and remove any little bumps from the top of the posts. Sand the horizontal stabilizer in the middle lightly to allow mounting of the serial number, use Dremel again to tidy up the sides of the posts; they must be clean and unobstructed. Slot for posts and elevator clearance using the examples in the following pictures.




Then prepare the horizontal stabilizer mounting cap, first make a small mark about 1.5 mm down in the top mounting hole for securing the plastic cap in place, it only needs to be about 1mm deep.

Then grease the chamber where the locking mechanism fits, first place washer in hole then spring followed by the big bolt assembly, the locking circlip needs the ends ground down to fit properly, fit the circlip and check the operation of the bolt so it will lock when tightened. Unscrew the main mounting bracket on the horizontal stabilizer and check both bolts, secure with Loctite and reassemble, also check the positioning pin for tightness, do not put tools on the pin side because if it becomes damaged you will not fit the elevator unit to the aircraft.

Fitting the elevator hinge pins – there are 6 pins holding on the elevator 5 are pins and one is the locking pin, when screwing them on it is important not to scratch the pin as it will bind when fitted. Lubricate the pins with grease and position the elevator to the horizontal stabilizer, knock into place with a rubber hammer and check for free movement after each couple of hits. Move the elevator up and down about 50 times to free up the hinges and then remove the elevator, clean the hinges with spirits apply grease and refit to the stabilizer, repeat this process several times to ‘wear’ the hinges to allow for free movement of the elevator. When finished mark the pins with red paint.




Fitting the windscreen First fit the windscreen support bracket, is must be lined up in the center of the aircraft fuselage, then lay the windscreen into place and line up on the fuselage center line, the windscreen will only fit one way and not the other.

Secure the screen initially with tape to get the position correct, make sure there is an even gap around the windscreen of about 2mm; it will help if you have an extra person. Drill the holes with a 3.2mm drill starting on the center hole at the firewall and the center hole in the roof, then starting at the roof start forward to the firewall. Inset a small screw in each hole as you drill to keep the windscreen positioned correctly do about 8 hole then do a couple on the front; the idea is that you

eet in the bottom front corner. Between each hole drilled and screwed push the lexan down otherwise you can get ripples in the screen and the screen will not fit or be optically correct, when all the holes are done remove the tape. Make sure to leave the lexan protective covering on during these steps.

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NOTE: it is important to use a special fitting on the drill to limit drilling to 1 cm depth, around the bottom of the windscreen is ok but up the top there are two layers of fiberglass and you only want to drill through one layer, also the roof section has the double lip all the way around so the special fitting must be used there also, it will look terrible and require repair if you go through both layers. Double-check the windscreen fit for equal gap al he way around, ideal is 2mm, if it is too small a gap mark the screen for sanding. We now prepa e he windscreen for fitting to the fuselage. Use a

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light inside the cockpit and shine it to the outside of the aircraft, use the shadow thrown to markwindscreen mounting lip line, mark the screen with a marker on the outside, allow about 1mm extra because we use this line to paint the windscreen, this will give the plane a professional finish just like the factory ones.

Do the same with the roof section, first check the mounting lip for any traces of body filler and remove if necessary




To prepare the lexan screen and roof panels further drill all the holes 4.5mm. This is 0.5mm bigger than the rivets and will stop any cracks in the lexan screens, using a countersinking tool take the sharp edge off each hole top and bottom, this will stop cracks in the screen. Use a de-burring tool on the top and bottom of the screen and roof panel to give a nice chamfered finish. Pull back the plastic on the bottom side of the screen to expose the line drawn earlier, even though the line is on the other side of the screen it is still possible to see it ok, hold the plastic back with masking tape and then using electricians plastic tape carefully mark out the line for painting. It is important to sand the surface to be painted with 1000 grit sandpaper to remove all the shine, spray with black bumper spray, firstly one light coat, then another in about 2 minutes. If you leave it too long it will look a different colour to the first coat. llow to dry for at least one day, if y u don’t the paint will get scratched off when f ing the screen, A o itt

it must be allowed to harden, do not remove any of the tape until completely dry.




Fitting the rudder assembly First cut of the rudder cable outer to leave about 1cm showing in the rear of the plane, go inside the opening and check the tension of 5 bolts which secure the bracket, these are put in during manufacture but it is necessary to check and then mark them with paint. Check the movement of the main pushrod for the aircraft, it goes through several bearings and should move freely about 8 cm. Fit the bolt and nut in the rear where the pushrod joins the bracket. When fitting the rear bolt you must use the special 1mm thick washer as a spacer, there is a washer each side of the pushrod, attach the nut with Loctite. Then feed the pushrod for the elevator through he tail section and down to the rear bracket, again it has a bolt, with two washers as bearings and th ut with Loctite. Finally check the whole assembly for movement and mark the nuts with red paint. With Sinus now insert the tail wheel bolt and the Virus the bolt to secure the tail skid.

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If you fit the stainless lower rudder support bracket you will not be able to fit the tail skid or tail wheel because it interferes with the part make sure to fit the skid or tail wheel first. Fit the metal bracket which supports the rudder, there are 10 bolts, secure with Loctite. Remember to tighten these bolts after about 5 hours of flight because they do move a little when new. Fit the rudder stops and the nyloc securing nuts. Fit the rudder attachment bracket, apply grease to the bushing for lubrication and attach to aircraft, use Loctite on the nut..




Feed the rudder cables through from the middle of the aircraft, use a little WD-40 for lubrication, position the cable ends about ½ way between the bulkheads and mark the rear exit points of the cable on the center of the hole as shown in the pictures, swage with the fittings supplied and a nicopress tool. Check that the swaged end is not more than 5mm thick or it will not fit onto the bracket properly, if it is too thick it will need to be pressed down to be less than 5mm. Put grease on the cable ends and insert the small bush and position into the bracket, insert the bolt and nut with Loctite




Must be less than 5mm or it wont fit properly – use lots of grease

Make a bracket to keep the rudder bracket on the tail in position and to stop it from turning, in the cockpit fix the rudder pedals into the same position to keep the pedals in the same alignment, tape the pedals in place to stop them from moving, check the front firewall and make sure the ends of the rudder cables are seated properly. Climb into the aircraft and pull all the cables tight including the black outers which go into the cockpit. Mark the correct position on the 4 front cables and create loops in the cables using a double swage. Connect the cables together using the bolts, sleeves and

rge washers and of course Loctite the nuts. The Sinus has two cables from the front and one cable the rear, the Virus has an extra cable to the front to attach to the front steering for the nose

wheel. If you need to adjust the freeplay in the pedals it can be don’t from the adjusting screws on the firewall.

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Fit the top of the rudder support post, firstly find the location and mark with a pen then sand the back of the fitting and the area where it is going to mount and prepare a small amount of epoxy, the bracket must be left in place for 1 day to allow the epoxy to cure before it can be drilled and bolted (this will probably be fitted at the factory for safety reasons) wipe off the extra epoxy




Fitting the trim system

Remove the masking tape covers from the trim adjusting handle in the cockpit. Make sure the trim handle position is locked in the middle by turning the lockin knob. Position the trimmer assembly into the rear of the ircraft, it sits on top of the two bulkheads, it does not sit directly above the pushrod but to the ft hand side it is about 1 cm offset. Also the lever on the trimmer is also to the left to avoid hitting the pushrod, this is important. Drill the rear hole first and then the front hole when the trimmer is properly positioned. Push the pushrod back to the tail as far as it will go and mount the rubber clamp around the pushrod with about 5mm clearance, mount the rubber clamp at about 45 degrees to make it line up with the trim lever, then push the pushrod to the front of the aircraft and do the same mounting procedure but instead of 5mm clearance you now use 20mm clearance. Connect up the springs but be careful because of the pressure, use your whole hand to push on the lever, then connect up the trim cables to the top of the trim lever, pull the cables as tight as you can and also check they are still mounted securely in the trim unit in the cockpit.

hen happy secure the cables to the trimmer usin Loctite and cut off the extra cable, be sure to se a swage on the cable ends to stop the cables fraying, do not over tighten the locking screw or ou can cut into the cable and possibly break it, mark the bolts etc with red paint.

Put tape back over the trim handle in the cockpit to keep out the dust.

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ale

W g uy




Lower fuel system

ut 2 holes 22 mm diameter side by side into the firewall, use a Dremel to grind the center section so you end up with a slot. There are three parts to the fuel lines the first part has a T piece with 2 silicone tubes and rubber hose measure the silicone hose and the longer piece is the right side the shorter piece is the left. The rubber tube goes under the floor to the engine. The second piece is rubber and silicone which is used for the fuel return line and the third piece is in the engine bay which connects the gasculator and fuel filler/drain. Cover the ends of the fuel hose with masking tape to protect them from dust when going through the fuselage – feed them through the center tunnel and make sure they are clear of all controls and the trimmer cables, feed them off towards the left side of the aircraft, in the back the blue hose goes beneath all the other cables and control lines. The correct position for the join in the fuel return line will be somewhere beneath you feet. Use a piece of pod or wire and pull the fuel line through the aircraft from the firewall, keep the breather on the right and the fuel line on the left hand side. heck the T connection is hard on the tunnel on he left hand side, make sure there is no excessive

ay in the lines and they do not cross any control cables where they may get worn. Put a couple of cable ties around the fuel hose under the floor to keep them together, secure the lines to the floor with tape. The lines going to the wings are secured with plastic straps a washer and a rivet. 200 mm from the top is the first hole for the fuel line securing straps, they are spaced 200 mm down, 200mm down, 200 mm down and then finally 170 mm, they are all spaced about 30 mm from the edge of the cockpit and mount onto the bulkhead straight behind your shoulders. Use a 4mm rivet size and drill a 4.2 mm drill, the reason we drill a little larger is the structure has Kevlar and if you drill say a 4mm hole it closes slightly after you remove the drill and it makes it harder to get the rivet in, that’s why we drill 4.2mm

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Cfreepl

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Heat the hoses with a heat gun or lighter to make the fittings easier to get on




Dashboard firewall setup Using a template drill the holes for the different fittings including the engine mount and the electrical systems. The template will be drawn for you by the factory. Mount the encapsulated nutserts into the firewall to hold items like the electrical assembly in place.

Fitting the Control Systems The control system under the floor is made up of several parts.




The fitting of the control column is quite complex, but hopefully the attached pictures will help with the assembly. The flap handle attaches as shown, there is no washers in this fitting but it is Loctited, the pushrods which attach to the base of the control sticks are the front rod attaches to the left handle the rear rod connects to the right handle, the right pushrod has the larger spacer to the front and the left pushrod has the larger spacer to the left. The spacers are machined and one end is chamfered, the chamfered end faces towards end. The whole assembly is secured with blue Loctite; do not use red as you may occasionally ha e to adjust the fittings during the life of thaircraft

the rod e v




Fitting the chute – Step 2 The chute cables get looped around the metal roof structure, there are two loops at each end and the cable passes through the short loop and then it gets feed through the roof of the cockpit, be sure the seam on the bridles is down, this is important to keep the water out of the bridles. Do not pull the bridles all the way out, if you feel the bridles there is a double layer where the loop is made leave this inside the cockpit and only a single thickness comes out onto the back of the aircraft roof section. Keeping all the bridles straight connect to the third black line on the cute with the supplied carabineer and secure with Loctite. With a helper lower the chute into the holder you have already installed passing the deployment handle through first.




Secure the cables with plastic ties, put silicone inside the cockpit roof

where the holes are to prevent water leaking into the aircraft




Carefully lay the cables down and hold in position with tape and cable ties

Push some fo t wont rattle

am down into the sides of the rocket to squeeze tight in the holder so iaround in turbulence.

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phen finished refit the lid we cut out earlier and fi the gaps around the lid and the chute entry

oints with black silicone. Clean up and polish the surfaces.




To mount the blast tube push the tube right up inside the rocket exit and push the angled end of the tube against the fuselage, mark the position with a marker pen and remove, drill a few holes in the middle of the marked area for the blast tube and reinstall the blast tube into position hold it in place with some tape. Run a generous amount of silicone around the base and between the chute holder and the blast tube to hold it securely, allow to dry overnight and remove the tape.

Fit the handle of the ballistic chute to the roof of the cockpit as shown in the photograph. Put some silicone under the chute straps to stop them from vibrating while flying, use a neutral silicone with no chemicals that may affect the chute straps.




Using the holes you drilled in the fuselage side the fuselage and open up the hole to match the diameter of the cleaner to catch debris. Cover with the special vinyl stic r ‘rocket exhaust’.

as a guide grind from the outside ofblast tube, when drilling use a vacuum

ker and mark with the warning sticke




Place the pop rivet inside the fuse to secure the blast tube firmly; the chute installation is now complete

trobes ount the strobe box in the rear of the fuselage, there is already one positioning hole drilled by the

ormal mounting for the strobes, bolt and small washer on one side and the larger washer and nut with Loctite to the rear on the bulkhead. Connect the plug into the strobes, there are three wires coming from the connector, two are blue and go to the cabin to connect to the wings, the other is white and is the power supply, the cable used is German and rather than red and black they used blue and brown, where brown is earth and blue is power. Fit the rubber grommets into the holes where the fuel cable and the strobe lines come through to stop wearing.

SMmanufacturer, it is easier to mount the strobe box before the chute container is mounted but it is still possible to do it afterwards. N




Drill holes for the cable ties and route the cables safely to the wings and power supply as shown. When mounting the cables be careful not to pull the connector hard as over time it my damage the fitting. Final positioning of the strobe cables, position the cables as if the wing was attached and route any extra cable inside the cockpit shell, clean the surface with spirits and stick the cable down with tape, if the tape is not black mist a light coat of bumper paint over the tape to make it blend into the background. Mount the fuel lines following the strobe cables from the bottom of the aircraft, put them in the holders and take them to the top of cockpit roof and connect to the fittings




Mounting the controls If you look carefully on the floor of the cabin you can see faint marks in the molding to mark theposition of the main control assembly, identify the positions and drill the holes 4mm diamet

er,

htly sand underneath the holes to remove any debris from drilling. Drill a 5mm hole in the cabin floor, underneath the aircraft to allow any condensation or water to drain from the aircraft, put the small red sticker supplied over the top of the hole to mark its location. Insert the control rod under the floor and locate the front ball end on the carbon support underneath the aircraft, the rear support attaches to the flap handle. There is a large washer each side of the carbon support and a Loctited nut. Mach sure when you do this that the flap handle is in the zero position.

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Important, when doing up the bearing at the front of the column you must use a spanner to support the front rod end otherwise it can rotate and damage the rod end. Then tighten the rear end. Use blue Loctite on these areas 243. Mark the front nut and the rear bolt with red paint. Insert the control handle support tube; note the shorter side goes to the left of the aircraft. It mounts onto the bearings which bolt to the bottom of the floor, it may be necessary to enlarge the holes slightly to get things to line up correctly and if you tighten up the end holders and the control becomes stiff you need to loosen one end off and move slightly to get the best alignment, when finished the control will be slightly firm but not hard and should rotate without any resistance. If the control stops touch the opening in the floor, use a Dremel and cut away about 1mm of material. If you need to cut away any material make sure that you grind the corners to leave a small radius, if you leave a corner square and sharp it may crack some time in the future, if you leave the corner round it will not crack. Mount the rod end on the end of the elevator pushrod, from experience it has been found to have the locking nut turned 3 full turns off the thread end as this will position the control sticks in a central position suitable for most pilots.




Virus only…. control lines for the front wheel, drill tow holes in the rear bulkhead one directly below the hole




, then drill holes in the seat bulkhead approx 10mm in from the edge of the tunnel again the same level as the existing rudder cables. The holes in the front are 100 mm from the flat area

as shown in the photo, drill 6mm hole and drop the drill to angle the exits for the cables. Push the cable outer from the seat bulkhead towards the front of the aircraft, be sure not to cross or go around any other cables under the floor, important… the rudder cables for the front wheel MUST cross so the cable from the left exits on the right hand side off the front holes, it is again secured with a cable tie and some super glue. The cables actually cross from left to right in the front of the cockpit forward of the under floor carbon support. When positioned run the cable outer through the rear bulkhead. For proper position the right hand side cable outer needs to go through a hole in the under floor carbon support. Leave about 25mm out the front side of the cabin floor, secure with a cable tie and a drop of superglue, on the rear bulkhead leave about 100mm out and secure the same way, pull the cable outers tight before final positioning, it is again very important to spray WD-40 into the cable outers for lubrication.

Engine fitting

Done by the manufacturer at the same level as the rudder cables already fitted, then mirror the other sidein

Firstly remove the carburetors and all the electrics off the top, mark the black boxes which wire goes with which wire, if it is wrong you may damage the engine, be careful not to drop any washers into the magneto end




Remove the water bottle and remove the rubber hoses and the metal fittings, put covers in the water lines to keep the dirt out. Drain the bottom of the water pump at the front of the engine, thhose clamps on the bottom of the engine mus

e t be rotated inwards towards the engine to stop hitting

t and the water pump is also modified. the exhaus




Remove the water pump but be careful not to damage the gasket. Heat with a heat gun the outlets of the pump to remove two and change the angle of one other, when assembling back use lots of blue Loctite. Reposition the flange unit to 90 degrees, heat and unscrew and use lots of blue Loctite also.




Mount the engine mount attachment modification fit the spacer and tighten all three bolts.




Fit the engine cooling scoop, there is a rubber strip across one end and three small rubber pieces attached to the ends as shown in the photograph.

Fit the propeller adjustment bracket, 4 screws with Loctite. Attach the bracket which holds the carburetor cables.

Fit the water lines in place. Fit the new water connection box; push the outer water line brackets down to hold the carbon air cover in position.




Refit the carburetor assembly, clean the modified water pump assembly gasket mounting area and refit to aircraft, note there is a bolt with a copper washer and this goes to the bottom of the water




pump. Slide the heat shield onto the bottom water lines on each side of the engine. Fit the lower engine mount brackets again use Loctite.

Use the old coil mounts for drill the nutsert out of the end. Camphor the two holes on the gearbox to fit the aluminum mounts for the oil cooler, fit the aluminum mounts and then fit the rubber shock mounts, these are too long and you will need to cut them shorter to fit.

ount the oil cooler, there are two small bolts which go into the rubber mounts and one large one Mgoes on to the engine block on the rear of the oil cooler.




Using the old coil holders and the new aluminum spacers fit the two coils to the original bracket. Apply the separate earth to the coils on the left hand side of the engine fit the rubber mount to the aluminum coil holders and mount to the engine.




Connect the electrical system extensions to the coil wires on both sides; these extend the coil wires to the electrics which are now moved into the cockpit, cable tie in place.




Fit the bracket which holds the throttle cables and choke cables.




Change the connector beneath the oil pressure switch for one with a nipple, use blue Loctite. Connect the oil line underneath, you will have to loosen the nipple and change the angle to suit the engine, leave the hoses on top of the engine for later connection to the oil bottle.

Modifications are required to the carburetors, first remove the brackets from the top of the carburetor then remove the brackets which the throttle and choke cable attach to, some of these are not used but the rest are modified by drilling out the centers to 7mm diameter. They are then reassembled on the carburetor as shown.




Fit the fuel lines as per the photographs, use clamps on the end of the hoses for security and cable tie for vibration.




On the 4 way splitter there is a special Rotax jet which is the return line for vapor lock, do not remove this jet as it regulates the fuel return to the left wing tank.




Fitting the fuel flow sender, make sure the direction arrow goes the correct way and when finished cover the sender in heat proof material.

The engine and engine mount can now be taken to and fitted to the airframe, this example is a Virus with nose wheel. Details further in the manual on how to fit.




First fit the EGT probes to the exhaust elbows, it is important to fit the copper washer and to fit Loctite anti freeze to the probe otherwise if it ever needs replacement it will be impossible to remove, also use the anti freeze on the joints which go into the engine exhaust flange, tighten the exhaust nuts but not to tight as they will need to be rotated for final fitting.

Exhaust system




Mark the probe cables with the cylinder number as it makes the job much easier when connecting up to the instruments in the cockpit. It is also important to route the EGT cables away from the spark plug leads otherwise they will give bad readings.

Connect up the cable for the oil pressure switch, it does not matter which cable goes on which terminal as they are not polarity sensitive. Group all the cables from each side into a loop and secure with a cable tie to keep them off the ground and any chance of damage.




Mount the carburetor cables; there are 6 cables, 2 r choke, two for throttle and two longer ones go to the cabin. If you group the 4 cables there are 2 short and two long, the shorter ones are for the right side and the longer two are for the left. On the right side the cable which is slightly shorter is the choke and the cable about 10 mm longer is the throttle, slide two pieces of heat shrink over each cable. On the left side the shorter cable is again the choke and the longer cable the throttle. Position the cables into the main cable holder the throttle to the right and the two chokes to the left. Cable tie the cables to the coil leads for added security.

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The cable connectors require pushing the two cables into the holder as shown, tighten the nnector, place flux in the fitting area and solder into the socket to secure the cables with both

solder and the screw. Position the cables as shown in the photo and check that all the cable ends are seated properly into the adjusters.

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First secure the throttle cables at the carburetor, then pull the choke cables tight, mark against the choke lever on the carburetor and cut off the correct length, fit the special cable end fitting and tighten the bolt to clamp on the cable. Fit the aluminum cable swages to the end of the throttle cables, leave about 3mm space between the throttle fitting and the swage as shown in the photo. Pull the cables tight and heat the heat shrink to secure the throttle and choke cable ends in the main holder. Now do a double check of the freeplay in the choke cables, they are the same and then lock off the adjusters and heat shrink the cable




Now we adjust the throttles, loosen the throttle st crews and put a piece of paper underneath the

op sscrew between the screw and the adjusting position, tighten slowly until the paper becomes firm andremove the paper and then turn the screw ½ a turn further, this adjusts the throttle stops or idleposition, now we pull the cable slightly and adjust the cable lengths using the cable adjusters to make sure both throttles are opening the same amount.




Engine Mount Next mount the engine mount, fit the engine rubbers to the top mounts and the same to the bottom, use blue Loctite and tighten firmly the bolts, this mount is the virus with the nosewheel attached but the sinus is almost identical. The engine mounts in 4 places to the engine mount. Pull the electrical cables up from the engine




Mounting the engine to the firewall

Firstly cut away the firewall material where the engine mount goes, use the mount as a template and mark around the fittings, carefully cut with a sharp knife and peel the fireproof material away, you need to do this to mount the engine against a hard surface if you go over the top of the fireproof material it will compress over time and allow the engines to move

Insert the bottom engine bolt, it will need to be secured from behind and pushed forward, it is necessary to squeeze epoxy into the hole and around the bolt so when the epoxy hardens the hole is a neat tight fit, when finished clean off the extra epoxy and apply light grease to the mount area and the threads of the bolt to make sure you don’t bond the en ne mount to the firewall w th epoxy. Mount the final bolts to hold the engine mount to the airframe.

Sound deadening material

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de of the firewall, use spray glue on both surfaces, be c to protect it from overspray, cover the steering yoke

n the front wheel with tape to protect it also from overspray. Spray the carpet also with spray glue, allow to dry. With a helper carefully position the carpet starting at the bottom and working to the top, pushing and making sure there is good contact.

Mount the noise deadening carpet to the insire to mask the cockpit with tape and plastisu

o

When finished heat a knife to cherry red and burn holes through the carpet to correspond to the openings in the firewall




Fitting the Tail

irst step is to trim the tail to accept the elevator assembly, using a Dremel grind out as shown in the photos

F

Drill and attach the top rudder post, the nuts are difficult to fit and require patience, try not to drop nything. The actual posa

t assembly is already epoxied in place in an earlier section.




Its time to fit the elevator assemble and trial fit the control horn

Fit the bracket to the horn with plenty of grease, Loctite in position make sure the hinge is free and easy to move with no binding

Sand this seam clean and remove any bumps otherwise the control horn wont fit nicely




Push the control horn onto the elevator and check for alignment, grind little bits away as necessary il there is full and free movemeunt nt.

It’s possible to bend the tab slightly to get a nice fit.




When satisfied the position is correct drill the mounting bolt holes

Cover the bolts in blue Loctite and fit the large washers and nyloc nuts




Attach the pushrod, grease and Loctite

Cover everything in grease and mark with red paint




Wings




itting the cockpit carpet Using spray adhesive spray the insulation material and spray the carpet which goes on the inside of the firewall, allow to dry then position and mount the carpet. When dry using the soldering iron with a knife blade cut the openings in the carpet for the additional holes.

F




Fitting the Wheel Spats Prepare the spats for fitting, when they are fitted to the aircraft they should not touch the landing gear leg otherwise they will wear the paint off the legs and the wheel spat.

Positioning is important as the wrong spat angle looks bad, the correct angle is found by measuring the rear tip of the spat to the ground level. The Sinus is about 13cm and the Virus 20 to 22cm approximately.




Using a rubber hammer gently bend the aluminum mounting plate in at an angle to match the same angle as the wheel spat. Slide the spat over the wheel and loosely fit the bolt on the outer side of the wheel then after positioning the spat centrally and rechecking the angle it is then ok to tape the spat into position with heavy tape, check the spat is centrally positioned on each side of the landing gear leg and the top of the cutout in the spat does not touch the landing gear leg.

Drill the holes using the plate mounting holes as a guide, usually draw a line and come in 10mm and down 10 mm for the positioning, then drill the hole 2mm repeat for the other 3 holes. Remove the tape and remove the spat, then using a 7mm drill open the holes in the aluminum mounting plate being careful not to drill to far and hit the brakes.




Inset 4 nutserts i utsert turning in the aluminum bracket use green Loctite no 620 when n a 5mm tap through the nutsert to clean up the thread. Drill the remainin and mount the spat with the 4 screws on the inside and one on the

nto the holes, to stop the nfitting the nutsert. Ru

g holes in the spat 5.5 mm outside using blue Loctite

Wing preparation Sand the join with 1500 wet and dry to get a pe finish if there are any little holes fill with white flexible polyester filler.

rfect




There will be a join line between the two halves which needs to be covered, use a small spray gun for this. Prepare the tail or wings for spraying, make sure the surface is immaculately clean and dry and mask the leading edges with tape and plastic for overspray.




Mix the special paint with acetone to thin it for spraying then add 2% to 5% of hardener. Fill a small spray bottle filtering through say a stocking. Use the required safety equipment including a respirator and gloves. Carefully build up several thin coats of the pigment and allow say 1 minute drying between going over the same spot twice. When dry remove the tape and buff the joint.

Fitting the front cowls First identify some small marks on the cowling where the holes are drilled and mark with a pen, put the two halves together on a bench and pushing from behind join the two halves together and hold with tape. Drill a 3mm hole and secure with a small screw. Repeat this for the remaining holes, turn and complete the other side.




eparate the two sides and drill the top cover only 6.2mm for the quick connect screws, the screws hen fitted must slide freely, run a light round file through the hole to open up a little if it doesn’t

s fitted put on the special split washer to stop the quick connect

Swslide, when the quick release screw ifrom coming off.

The lower cover is 11.5mm hole for the bottom fitting, it is vital the holes are drilled centrally and they do not wander. The hole needs to be chamfered so the lower fitting fits perfectly, it cannot extent past the cowl or it will wear rapidly, keep adjusting the depth of the countersink until its in perfect location. To secure the fitting use the spacer and nut to tighten the fitting in place, use blue Loctite to secure each holder. There are separate screws for the top of the canopy cover and the sides of the canopy cover the screws on the side actually slide in the cowling where the ones on top are fixed in place with a different washer.




The position of the cowl is important because if it is off center it will look terrible with the spinner, and if it is really out of alignment it will hit the spinner! When mounting the cowl to the aircraft first if it’s a virus, cut out the section for the front landing leg until the cowl fits on without big gaps, do the hole rough for now and trim in the final fitout. Mark the center by eye and mark with a marker pen.




You may need to trim some material off the air vent if it interferers with the radiator, when happy with the rough fit secure the cowl with masking tape. Mount the spinner backplate and check for alignment, if off center the cowl will have to be adjusted to fit the best, mark the side of the cowl where it needs to be trimmed, always refer to the center of the spinner back plate for the central position of the cowling, the fitting of the cowl will take some time but it is important not to rush, if you take off too much material you will get a big gap between the cowl and the spinner.

Also mark the air entry holes for the front of the cowling and tidy up the holes making them marginally bigger, sand the rear of the cowls with a large sanding block. The gap must be the same all the way around the cowl and the backing plate of the spinner. The hole between the top air duct and the oil cooler must be at least 1cm wide. Mark the hole positions for the cowl after final fitting starting at the top center.




h side.

For drilling the cowling to the fuselage mark the center position and mark the top cowl 20mm up from the join, divide the remaining distance into 4 and mark the hole spacing, the holes are forward of the main line on the fuselage 13.4 mm drill the position in the center and insert a screw, like the windscreen you must push down between each hole drilled, drill the remaining holes and screw asyou go otherwise you will get ripples in the cowling which look terrible. With the bottom cowling, measure down 20mm and drill a hole and another 130mm and drill the second hole on eac

Remove the cowls and drill a 6.2mm hole into the top cowling to fit the quick connect screws, these have a star washer instead of the split washer to secure the quick connect screws, to fittings on top are held secure and the ones going to the propeller are designed to move in and out to get the cowling off easier. To fit the quick connect fittings to the top of the upper cowl you need to support the fitting in a tube, place a tube in the vice and insert the head of the quick connect fitting, slide the star washer over the top and gently tap into place with another tube, slotted to clear the prongs on the quick connect fitting. Tap the washer down until firm, in the end we have secured fittings in the top of the upper cowl and the horizontal seam going to the propeller has loose fittings.




On the bottom cowling open up the two smaller holes from the original 3mm to 7mm to take the special fittings, the bottom cowl is held on with special nicopress inserts as the fiberglass is quite thick in this location it is necessary to Dremel it thinner, insert the tool from behind and attach to the Dremel and work it backwards from behind the fiberglass to make the wall thickness thinner, if it stays thick the nicopress will not take up and it will slip. It is also necessary to remove any firewall material from behind this fitting as the nicopress needs to sit square and at 90 degrees otherwise the screw will go in crooked. Also with the center top fitting on the fuselage, it must be connected using epoxy mixed with cotton.

Final fitting of the muffler Attach the rubber mount underneath the aircraft and attach the exhaust elbows to the exhaust pipe headers using the Rotax springs, be sure to use Loctite anti seize on the exhaust joints, safety wire the oil drain and other connectors underneath the aircraft, fit the muffler can and fit all the remaining springs. Safety wire and swage the s rings to the muffler and check for a good fit of the whole assembly.

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rus rudders, the sinus rudder is strengthened in the base to mpensate for the attachment of the tail wheel rudder springs, you need to grind a little material

n the top of the rudder where the top mount is, it is normal to take about 3mm away from the sides to allow for full movement of the rudder, it is necessary to get 30 degrees movement in each direction and the limiting stops get adjusted on the large stainless bracket on the bottom of the rudder post. You will also need to grind away the base of the rudder. Fit the zigzag rudder tape on the rudder.

Fitting the rudder The rudder requires little preparation as it’s almost ready to fit when you receive it. There is a little difference between the sinus and vicoaway o




Fitting the electrical panel Make sure the dash carpet is burnt thro es, fit the plastic cable grommets to stop the cables getting cut through, mo ectrical panel which includes the fuse box, regulator, battery and CDI uni cables through the dash for connection to the instruments.

ugh on the remaining holunt the pre assembled elt, pull the electrical




Fitting the undercarriage leg Put epoxy in the top of the holes in the cockpit, this makes the large locating washers sit perfectly in the holes, put a light smear of grease around the bottom of the washer and the bolt shaft stop the epoxy sticking to the metal parts. Place the landing leg in place and drop the bolts through, use red Loctite and a washer and nut tighten to 5.5 Newton meters, the epoxy will come out so it is necessary to wipe up the excess, again in 24 hours it is necessary to retighten the bolts again to 5.5 Newton meters to allow for the epoxy to come out while it is drying.

to

Brake lines – push the brake lines through from under the floor, and into the floor cavity, it is important to leave a loop in the ends under the landing leg, if you pull it too tight you may damage the brake lines on the edge of the drilled hole.




Drill a hole just forward of the rudder cables in the center tunnel for the exit of one brake line, diameter 10mm the hole is offset 10 mm to the right of center, the other brake line comes out the long slot on the right hand side of the cockpit floor, it is important to make sure the lines do not interfere with other cables under the floor, it is necessary to run the brake cables on the floor beneath all the other cables, hold the brake lines down with tape and silicone. The right side brake line gets feed through the floor and through a small hole in the side of the cavity under the floor and exits the slot on the right hand side of the cockpit. Slide about 350 mm of fuel hose over the right hand brake line to stop the brake line wearing out on the slot in the side of the cockpit and under the floor, when positioned correctly add a small dab of Loctite – super glue to hold in place and fit a rubber grommet to the brake line in the middle of the aircraft and super glue in place to stop it wearing out.




Attaching the brake lines to the wheels is straight forward, use grease on all the threads and place the fitting vertical, do not pull the brake line too tight allow a little freeplay, remember the brake fittings have o rings and are made from aluminum so please don’t overtighten. The brake lines which come from the floor of the cockpit go into the bottom of the right hand pedals, again grease and do not overtighten, the top of the brake cylinder transfer the tubes to the left side pedals as shown in the photos. When completed add oil to the system.




Fitting the cowling around the exhaust This task requires your creative judgment, position the cowling to the aircraft and mark the exhaust position, imagine where the exhaust will come through the cowling noticing that the outlet is angled and the end position won’t be where the hole position will end up. Try to have about 1cm around the exhaust for freeplay, when happy grind a hole with the Dremel and sand smooth, as with all holes like this run some black silicone around the opening to seal the hole off from contaminants etc.




Fit both cowling halves on the aircraft there needs to be about a 2 to 3mm gap in the bottom cowl where it meets the fuselage for a proper fit, then fit the bottom supports for the lower cowling half. You need to have the top cowl fitted to do this as the bottom cowling it at this moment only held on by two screws on each side and there may be some movement opportunity which will cause a bad fit. Mark the cowling in line with the oil cooler and extend the curve on the bottom of the cowling opening and cut away the material with the Dremel. Also fit the front air vent for the cooling system, position and mark the scoop with the holes for the exhaust clearance and the fuel pump cooling slots, fit self adhesive foam to the outside of the scoop to ensure an airtight fit when the cowling is in place, this will direct the most air into the engine for cooling. Mark the positions on the bottom cowl for the fuel drain exit and the fuel pump filling location the fuel drain is drilled 45 mm and the fuel pump is drilled at 57 mm diameter. Refit the canopy and drill and mount the final positioning brackets as per the attached photo, not the virus with its nose g doesn’t have a bracket in the le




iddle of the fuselage. Finally grind away the final fit for the nose leg, have clearance of 10 mm on the sides and 20 mm to the front, have the same for the exhaust opening. Use sand paper rolled up to do the final clean up of the holes, clean up the odd bit of firewall fluff by cutting with a sharp knife, run a small bead of black silicone around the holes and nose leg openings and work it in with your finger to seal the heat proof material and the fibers of carbon.

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Finishing the rudder cable For the Virus aircraft it is nece steering yoke which comes through the firewall, mark the es in the fittings after securing the rudder to be perfectly straight el is straight, double swage using a covering between the firewall and the rudder cables, hold in place with screw with Velcro; fit the bolts to hold the cables and Loctite wit nd the holder where it meets the floor of the aircraft.

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ssary to fit the pedal connectors to the cable position into the center of the hol

and also making sure the front whenicopress. Fit the carbon

s, the lid of the cable tunnel is held onh red Loctite. Use silicone to seal arou




Propeller First fit the hub, spacer and spinner to a balanc g stand. Check for balance, if the hub rotates pull it ff and rotate the backing plate or the spacer and try again, keep repeating until the prop stops

rotating.

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Mark the position with a marker pen on all three units, the propeller hub, the spacer and the backing plate. Pull the hub apart and check it the pushrods will fit properly, they must be free in movement, the longer one must have a little freeplay to ensure smooth operation, check the levers on the end of the blades for free movement, these levers adjust the blade angles, fit the bolt through the two blades and through the center, be sure to fit th brass washers in place and Loctite the nut, do not overtighten, check for free movement of the blades they will not be smooth but they will rotate.

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Check the clearance on the end of the bolt, if it is too close cover the prop and file it down, make sure there is at least 1mm clearance. Put on the top half of the hub being sure to align to the marks on the hub. Assemble the hub, the spacer and the backing plate and put assembly back on the prop balancer and check with the blades in place. Ch ck blade movement again, they should move freely ut not loose, there will be resistance if they are set up normally. If there is a little resistance use

ebvalve-grinding polish and put on the spleen and work the propeller for a few minutes. Remove the propeller from the stand after adjusting the blade angles to be the same. Separate the prop hubs by tapping some bolts to break it open.




It’s now necessary to clean the grinding paste out you must mark the blade and the hub to make sure you don’t reassemble the blades 180 degrees out and upset the balance. Insert a grub screw with Loctite 180 degrees opposite where the blade levers attach. Grease the internals of the prop, reassemble and mount back on the stand. Double check the blade angles and inserts the 4 bolts to lock the hub, also insert the grub screws into the adjusting rings on the blade ends. Mount the spinner and mark for blade movement how much to grind off with Dremel for clearance, remount and check again. If the propeller is out of balance you can apply some black nitro spray paint to the lighter blade for balance, in really bad cases you an use a small nut and bolt, firstly use tape to hold it in position and check several locations for the best position, when you are checking for balance tap the stand to vibrate the bearings to help the propeller turn.

Fitting the dash All the instrument installation and wiring should be completed outside the aircraft for ease of assembly / installation, there are two types of dashboards, the standard dash and the new larger big instrument panel, for people who want to fit lots of instruments the larger panel will be necessary, if you plan a basic aircraft use the smaller dash to save weight. With each dash the montage is the same, the larger dash will require two people to install, move the dashboard into the aircraft and position it centrally, it is necessary to push the dash forward and downwards at the same time to position it to both the firewall and the floor. The dash is secured in place with screws, when the dash is in position mount the foot first where the dash connects to the floor and then mount the other screws around the dashboard. When drilling the screws it is important not to drill too deep as in the floor you can hit other cables and on the cockpit sides if you drill too deep you will come out the side of the fuselage. When the dash is mounted remove the front panel with the switches and the instrument and finish the wiring for the individual instruments that weren’t finished on the bench like connecting up all the cables to the Brauniger.




Fitting the front wheel on the virus Fit the metal tab to the rear of the front wheel leg and bolt in place, place Velcro around the tab area and the bottom of the landing gear leg and place the leg cover into place on the leg, use a marker to mark the position of the Velcro in the leg cover and attach the Velcro. Carefully position the cover to the leg and when happy push down on the Velcro to seat the landing gear leg, then fit the sealing strip to the back of the gear leg, it will go on easy except where it has to go over the tab and you will need to tap it lightly with a hammer to get it to seat properly. Be sure to have the landing leg cover in the correct position becausethe aircraft.

if it is offset it will act like a big trim tab and yaw




Make sure to install the joining (trim) strip on the rear of the landing gear leg cover

Fitting the front wheel spat Drill two holes in the back of the front wheel spat to stop the build-up of mud and debris on the lane

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Fit the aluminum bracket into the front wheel and position by eye for the best fit, when happy drill one hole only and recheck the alignment. Drill remaining holes, the spat fits between the base of the landing leg and the bracket which supports the tire, use blue Loctite on the nuts. Insert the front wheel and the main wheel axle; cove the head of the bolt and he nut with the plastic covers for aesthetics.

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Wings Attach the counter weights to the bottom of the ailerons as photographed, remove colour from the rea where the weights go so epoxy will hold, the metal weights are held by epoxy and rivets, they

attach to the bottom of the aileron. a




When fitting the metal counterbalances they must be epoxied and riveted to the flap, the surface of the flap and the metal must be roughened up to ensure a good bond and the rivet comes from the plastic side and the end is in the metal, hole the metal in place with vice grips until riveted and use a 4 mm drill, use rivets 4mm by 13mm Drill two 5 mm holes in the base of the brake slots for drainage. Mark and drill 3 holes in each wing, one for the door pins and two are drainage holes, note that the positions are different on each wing because of the main wing spar positions. Open the door hinge holes out to 8mm. Remove the colour from the wings around the door latch position, be very careful because the wing surface is very thin. Roughen the door pins to allow good adhesion of epoxy.




On the right wing locate the position for the pieto tubes, Dremel a slot to fit the base of the pieto and check for fit, then lining up on the leading edge of the wing at 90 degrees mark the hole positions and firstly drill at 2.5 mm and then at 7 mm. Find the pieto and static lines inside and using a small wire with a hook pull them through to the surface, insert 4 nutserts into place and hold with epoxy, open up the tie down holes to accept the plastic covers if required.




Cut the wing tips if strobes are to fitted, locate the strobe cables, if no strobe wires are there locate

e tunnel and run the wires through to the wing route. Mount the air brakes stops, use blue Loctite. Position the cam stop so there is 4mm of clearance when the airbrake bar is horizontal.

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Fit the ball end in the flap slot and using a special tool mark where the rod has to be cut, release the end of the rod near the wing root and remove the tube from the slot, this is important, if you remove it from the wing root you will break a special bearing inside and stuff the wing requiring a major repair, slide it through the slot and onto the top of the wing, it is not removed all the way just enough to cut it off and fit the rod end. Using the special tool drill the 4 holes 4 mm for rivets and fit the rivets after locating the rod end back in the tube. The rivets are 4mm by 7.5 mm long. Pull up the airbrake arms and mark the center on the boxes, Dremel out for clearance. Fit the actual air brake use the bolts only and no nuts, slide the brake down into the box and mark each end and cut off. Mark the sides of the cover and using a large sanding block sand down the top of the airbrake until it fits. You need to adjust the brakes to ha 0.8 kilograms force to open or close the brakes; this is done my rotting the rod end in brake box.

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Mark the position of the fuel level gauge on the wing end. Drill hole 2 mm first and use a vacuum cleaner because this is the fuel tank, sand the area for epoxy. Then drill out 5.5 mm and countersink the holes to accept the fuel fittings. Mix up some epoxy and glue the fuel fittings in place, hold with a strong tape and leave overnight. Wipe off extra epoxy before it goes hard.




Heat up and fit the fuel sight line, secure with cable ties both ends to stop leaks. Fit a plugged line over the breather outlet and create a vacuum in the tank using a pressure gauge. Allow it to sit for 4 hours and make sure there are no leaks in the fuel tank before it’s filled with fuel.




To find the fuel tank cap locations look for a small indent in the wing and using the Dremel to grind out, make sure to use the paper fitting and not the metal fittings on the Dremel, only go about 3 mm down or you may damage the thread of the cap fitting, open up the hole to meet the edge of the cap fitting and always use a vacuum to keep dust from going into the tank. When finished fit the cap and the breather fitting, use epoxy on the breather fitting and rotate the end to be at 90 degrees to the leading edge and with the vent holes to the rear.




Grind out with a Dremel the end flap hole which is used to secure the whole flaperon to the aircraft. Also open up the other holes on the rest of the wing a few mm on the bottom side only to allow for more flap movement in the downward position.




Fit the fitting closest the fuselage which locks the flaps in place on the aircraft. Turn the wing upside down and fit the flaperon by locating the flaperon onto the pins in the back of the wing, to fit the flaperon can sometimes take a little work to line up all the pin locations. We now need to check the angles of the flaps with the template. If the angle is not 28 degrees up and 33 degrees down. If the flap doesn’t go the proper distance give the flap a good hit and mark the surface, this way you can see which position is hitting, all you need to do is grind it out

Also check the trailing edge of the wing for interference; on our wing we needed to sand off about 2mm from the trailing edge on the lower surface near the wing root, this is not alw s necessary. ay




Assembling the airbrakes First give the holes a very light file to remove the paint, first use a tap to clean the epoxy from the thread of the airbrake tops, clean around the base of the bolt with a knife to remove the extra epoxy. Thread the supplied brass spacers onto the bolts in the airbrake tops the threaded part goes to the top and the unthreaded part against the plastic. Nip them up with pliers – do not ov rtighten the spacers or they can break off. There is a slight shorter bolt at one end and that lines up with the lower side of the airbrake. There must be free movement of the brake on the spacers. Put on the springs, the short one goes on the short bolt, there are special washers that go on top which have a larger area to push on the spring, use nuts 4mm and blue Loctite to secure into place. Tighten the nuts till they stop on the spacers; do not overtighten as you may strip the bolt from the plastic. Place two long spacers on the pins in one from each end, secure with Loctite, nip up with pliers. Place the angle brackets over the spacers and be sure they slide reasonably well, position about 5 mm from the end of the spacer as shown in the photo. Drill a 3.5mm drill, and secure with a rivet with the larger head. Mark the nuts with red paint.

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Mark the ends of the wings where the end plates go for the fuel connectors and strobes etc, drill the hole 3mm and tap the hole out to 4mm. Then fit the fuel hoses internally to the wing, the left wing has two fuel lines, one for the drain or supply line and the other for the bypass or return line back from the engine, he right wing has one line only, the tubes are around 300 mm long. Heat the tube and slide onto the fuel pipe outlets secure th three cable ties pulled tightly. Cut the strobe wires off with about 100 mm protruding from the end of the wing, make up the end plates using the fittings and the foam spacer, hold the spacer in position with hot glue to make positioning easier later in the assembly. Attach the fuel lines, strobes etc and finally fit to the aircraft with 5 mm screws. On the right wing there is only one fuel line and perhaps the strobe but this wing has the pieto and static lines as well. Pull the lines out of the wing opening and cut off at about 80 mm, if you leave them long they will wear or interfere with the airbrake controls

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The flaps are also a little longer when manufactured than they need to be and sometimes it is necessary to Dremel a little off the wing end as shown in the photograph. To get the correct position it is necessary to have the pin and the mounting pin secure and hard up at the wing root like in the photos and the other end will require the wing being cut to have a clearance of 3 mm.




When finished weigh the turn moment of the flaperon by fitting to the special stand and lining up the aileron to be level, then weigh the weight of the aileron on scales. Fit the aileron with grease on the pins, using a magnet get a washer and nut onto the end securing pin and tighten up and secure with blue Loctite. When getting the nut tension correct, tighten it up fully then back it off 1 full turn to allow free and unobstructed movement.




Clean the wing with thinners to apply tape to the upper surface of the wing. The tape is applied in three layers first the base adhesive is applied pulling firmly but not stretching the tape, the base

pe is applied with 1mm clearance to the trailing edge of the wing. Apply the actual wing tape, it is positioned evenly both sides of the join so it ends up leaving approx 2 mm of the first tape exposed. This is done for a couple of reasons but the main reason is for aerodynamics, the two layers of tape are stepped so there is a gradual climb to the tape rather than a large step which can affect the aerodynamics. Clean the tape again before applying the top layer to remove dust and oils from your skin which have transferred while you applied the tape, contaminants will affect the adhesion of the top tape. Apply the top tape again pulling firmly but not stretching the tape. It is applied about half / half over the other tape, repeat the same for the other wing.

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Clean up the trailing edge of the flaperons, they often have a lip along the rear edge, use an electric tool first and finally a wooden sanding block about 1 meter long to get a smooth and perfectly straight finish. That’s it…. We have completed building our aircraft, I am sure there is still lots to do and then the enjoyment of test flying the aircraft. Be sure to stay in touch and we would love to get some photographs of the plane when you’re finished and airborne. Regards, Michael Coates Pipistrel-USA and the Pipistrel Team.


Pipistrel Kit Manual

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Transcript of Pipistrel Kit Manual