--> Europa-List message posted by: "David Corbett"
<david.corbett5@btinternet.com>
Robin James and I have today completed Mod 70 on our two aircraft, here
at Shobdon.
The first aircraft took 2 of us 5 hours, the second took 3 hours.
Why the differnece, you may ask? My aircraft was first; it has the
baggage bay mod - which makes working on your stomach in the aft
fuselage that much easier; but it also has one access panel for the rear
fuselage built to the instructions on page 24-3 of the Europa Manual,
dated 17/1/96; this called for a 4" OD diameter inspection panel, which
I knew all along would not let me work properly through that panel.
As a result, only one person could work at a time, and unbolting the 2
AN3 bolts from inside was a pain - but not nearly as difficult as
re-attaching the new TP 18 from inside, which was almost a nightmare.
Robin James's aircraft does not have the baggage bay mod, which made
working on the removable bulkhead more difficult, but his rear fuselage
inspection panel was large enough for me to be able to cut the wires out
and undo the 2 AN3 bolts through the panel - using masking tape to hold
the 1/4 AF spanner in place whilst slackening the AN3 bolt with a 3/8
ratchet. That was a doddle - but for some reason, having fed the new TP
18 in through the inspection panel, whilst Robin inside worked on the
bulkhead, and having successfully fitted the lower AN3 bolt using one
arm only, the top AN3 would not go in more than half way for either of
us (Robin is a higly experienced motor-bike restorer). In the end, he
chamfered the end of the top AN3 bolt and, while I waggled the front end
of TP 18 around from inside, he eventually got that bolt through.
Everything then went together without further problems.
I hope these few tips may be helpful to those of you still to face up to
the task - we did it today because my Permit is to be renewed next week.
Working right aft within the rear fusealge is not as claustrophobic as I
had expected that it would be - but I did find that, whilst trying to
get the AN3 bolts undone - and done up again - there was not enough room
for me to bend my head backwards to enable me to see what I was doing -
and therefore everything, including the wire cutting - had to be done by
feel. I emphasise that this only applies to aircraft that have a 4" OD
inspection panel that is not big enough to enable a thin arm to get
inside and work directly on the AN3 bolts. If your inspection panel is
larger, you will do the job easily without having to go right aft
inside. Robin's aircraft also has the small 2.5" inspection panel higher
up and further aft in the rear fuselage - but that was of very little
help - you cannot see the lower AN3 bolt through that panel.
Two final tips - when reinstalling TP 18, do not try to get the AN3
bolts straight back into place - use a smaller "drift", such as a
thinner drill bit, to locate the 2 holes before pushing the bolts home;
and - if you drill the 3 holes in the Tufnol strip as shown, the top
bolt will foul the glassfibre brackets to which the top of the bulkhead
is bolted. Consider drilling the top hole a little lower than shown??
Best of luck - I now feel very stiff, but also very smug!!
David
G-BZAM, UK 265
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