More small steps

I had to wait in for a delivery this morning and after it had arrived I was able to pop down to les Briconautes in Montignac in search of the longer setscrews that I needed. Unfortunately, I could only find ones with a cross head that didn’t match the ones already securing 28AAD’s screen but I hope that when I’ve finished and everything is tightly secured I’ll be able to remove them and replace them with the shorter matching ones.

But at least I could then press on and finish securing the screen in place. I’ve not fitted all the fixings around as far as the door openings because I’ve noticed that although they were superficially the same, this pod isn’t the same shape as MYRO’s old one. I noticed several differences when I disassembled the Weedhopper that had led the last person who assembled it to use some unconventional rear pod fixings and door mountings that I’ll go into when I do them, as I’ll have to do the same.

But the screen is now sitting and looking well on the pod for all that.

And so also is the panel, which I was then able to mount permanently at last.

And because the panel was now in, I could also run the cables up the front tube and make the various connections that will eventually make the panel live.

And the last thing I did today was make what is called in France a ‘dedoubleur’ for the Weedhopper’s choke cable. I bought one a week or so back that turned out to be much too large for a little ULM like 28AAD as the next picture shows. I needed it because although the top components of MYRO’s old one were were recovered, its body and bottom had been lost.

Victor suggested that if I bought some short lengths of aluminium bar and tube of the correct dimensions, there was nothing to stop me making my own ‘dedoubleur’ parts, so that’s what I did and that’s what the delivery was this morning.

It didn’t take too long and although the results aren’t as pretty as a more competent engineer would have produced, the finished item, the left one of the two originals in the above picture, doesn’t look too bad and, more importantly, will do the job. So the new one will be going back soon for a refund.

The next job will be to make up new doors. One of MYRO’s old ones suffered damage and a tube of its frame was broken, and although both look better than those that were on the Weedhopper originally, they now look tatty against the other new plastic. The old Weedhopper doors both have good frames so I’ll be using them in conjunction with new plastic based on the shape that I developed for MYRO. But that’s for tomorrow.

That will leave only one major job, re-timing the engine, for which ideally I’ll need a dial gauge. I don’t have one so I’ll have to think how I’m going to get around that one.