This is the new AIM AIR video that the On Field Media group put out this year.
All I can say is...fantastic.
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Monday, July 27, 2009
When can we fly it?!
That is the question that I will undoubtably be asked a whole bunch of times in the next week or so. Actually, I have already been asked it by many anxious pilots...
The reason that question has and will be asked is because we installed the propeller on 90U this week. It is a sweet looking new Hartzell Scimitar that is part of the Atlantic Aero IO-550-N installation. It really does look pretty neat.
We are waiting for Mr. Singh to come and install the fabric headliner in tomorrow morning. Then we will have Radio Base doing their final inspections, and we will have the airplane to ourselves again. Finishing off some interior installation and some touchups, and the plane will be even closer to being an operational airplane.
Meanwhile, here's some pictures of the prop being installed:
Here I am, torquing the prop nuts...you gotta make the the face when you're doing such a high amount of torque.
AIM AIR short term volunteer Kevin Blakeslee taking his turn at torquing the nuts...
...he had to really use a lot of his body to get into it. He's been helping me work on 90U.
Piston Fleet Supervisor Ryan Williams double-checking our torque...see, gotta make the face!
Kevin and the new prop.
Here she is, back in her corner by the stairs...but looking much better than a silver bullet.
Me and the airplane...as if you couldn't see that already.
The reason that question has and will be asked is because we installed the propeller on 90U this week. It is a sweet looking new Hartzell Scimitar that is part of the Atlantic Aero IO-550-N installation. It really does look pretty neat.
We are waiting for Mr. Singh to come and install the fabric headliner in tomorrow morning. Then we will have Radio Base doing their final inspections, and we will have the airplane to ourselves again. Finishing off some interior installation and some touchups, and the plane will be even closer to being an operational airplane.
Meanwhile, here's some pictures of the prop being installed:
Here I am, torquing the prop nuts...you gotta make the the face when you're doing such a high amount of torque. 
AIM AIR short term volunteer Kevin Blakeslee taking his turn at torquing the nuts...
...he had to really use a lot of his body to get into it. He's been helping me work on 90U. Piston Fleet Supervisor Ryan Williams double-checking our torque...see, gotta make the face!
Kevin and the new prop.
Here she is, back in her corner by the stairs...but looking much better than a silver bullet. 
Me and the airplane...as if you couldn't see that already. Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Another week...more work
So the end of last week and the beginning of this week, we have seen some good progress. We got the interior plastics painted and they have begun to be installed. Jerry is drawing to an end on his "rigging a 206" project. He is probably very happy to be close to being done, as he wants to get into flying soon. David Marwa has been doing some pitot static tests and is drawing his work to a close. We are awaiting a few parts to come so we can bring this project to a close soon.
Enjoy the pictures below...
Interior plastics after they were painted a light grey.
Interior plastic.
David working on some things under the instrument panel.
Looking like an instrument panel...
Getting better...
The panel is really coming together. I think by the end of the week, it will be complete.
Somebody said it looks like a Christmas ornament with the lights glowing through the paper on the windows.
Jerry Hurd...he's been working hard to get everything rigged correctly.
Sometimes, it takes a while to get something right where you want it.
Here's the first of the interior plastics after being installed. It's going to start looking like an operational airplane soon.
Enjoy the pictures below...
Interior plastics after they were painted a light grey.
Interior plastic.
David working on some things under the instrument panel. 
Looking like an instrument panel...
Getting better...The panel is really coming together. I think by the end of the week, it will be complete.
Somebody said it looks like a Christmas ornament with the lights glowing through the paper on the windows. 
Jerry Hurd...he's been working hard to get everything rigged correctly. Sometimes, it takes a while to get something right where you want it. 
Here's the first of the interior plastics after being installed. It's going to start looking like an operational airplane soon. Saturday, July 11, 2009
Keep on Keepin' on!
We are progressing slowly by slowly, as the Kenyans would say. Jerry is beginning to study for his Kenyan pilot conversion test, which Nate Killoren just recently passed. It seems to be extremely difficult. JH has been studying at breaks and lunch, and will begin working half days in the shop so he can devote more time to studying...blessings to him.
In the mean time, the AIM AIR short term volunteers have arrived and will begin working this week. We will keep pressing on and finish this project soon!
This is how I left the instrument panel on Friday afternoon. I installed the new instrument panel on the pilot side and put in the directional gyro and the heading indicator, along with all the vacuum hoses and a new vacuum filter. Also, you'll notice the new leather bound eyebrow (glareshield) installed...for those who don't know, it's the black thing attached to the top of the entire instrument panel. I also installed the engine instrument cluster on the right side, and Jerry has the yokes on for aileron rigging. Concerning the engine instrument cluster, we are not going to install an engine monitor yet; we want to see how the two different ones we are operating now do in African conditions. So, it will be stock Cessna for the next few months at least.
This is under the pilot instrument panel looking up. Notice the new wiring, the new vacuum hoses, new vacuum filter, new circuit breakers. We really try to make it a very clean installation.
...and the instruments with their new hoses, as well as the new instrument panel. You can also see a closer shot of the eyebrow.
Jerry has been working on control cable rigging. Here he is working with the rudder, rudder pedals, and nose gear steering.
Cessna tells you to lower the tail and raise the nose while you rig the rudder and nose steering systems. So here it is, with Jerry inside. Looks like its going to take off from the paint booth.
Ahhh, a source of warmth. I was doing the plastic interior last week and was using the heat gun to sometimes help mold the pieces where I needed them. Well, it sure helped keep us warm in the cool mornings, too. With all of the insulation already installed, it was like a little cooker in the plane. Nice...
The beginning of the AIM AIR logo on the tail.
...and here I am putting the words on the tail.
Me with the finished product on the tail of 90U...almost a completed AIM AIR plane!
Thursday I was making sure we had all the cargo tie downs that we need and of course, we came up short. I had to make a bunch of the pieces on the right, which mount underneath the Brownline buttons in the roof and are where the seatbelts attach. It was a fun project...but one that a person only wants to do every now and then. Except maybe if you're an aspiring sheetmetal mechanic...right, Liz? :)
In the mean time, the AIM AIR short term volunteers have arrived and will begin working this week. We will keep pressing on and finish this project soon!
This is how I left the instrument panel on Friday afternoon. I installed the new instrument panel on the pilot side and put in the directional gyro and the heading indicator, along with all the vacuum hoses and a new vacuum filter. Also, you'll notice the new leather bound eyebrow (glareshield) installed...for those who don't know, it's the black thing attached to the top of the entire instrument panel. I also installed the engine instrument cluster on the right side, and Jerry has the yokes on for aileron rigging. Concerning the engine instrument cluster, we are not going to install an engine monitor yet; we want to see how the two different ones we are operating now do in African conditions. So, it will be stock Cessna for the next few months at least. 
This is under the pilot instrument panel looking up. Notice the new wiring, the new vacuum hoses, new vacuum filter, new circuit breakers. We really try to make it a very clean installation. 
...and the instruments with their new hoses, as well as the new instrument panel. You can also see a closer shot of the eyebrow. 
Jerry has been working on control cable rigging. Here he is working with the rudder, rudder pedals, and nose gear steering. 
Cessna tells you to lower the tail and raise the nose while you rig the rudder and nose steering systems. So here it is, with Jerry inside. Looks like its going to take off from the paint booth. Ahhh, a source of warmth. I was doing the plastic interior last week and was using the heat gun to sometimes help mold the pieces where I needed them. Well, it sure helped keep us warm in the cool mornings, too. With all of the insulation already installed, it was like a little cooker in the plane. Nice...
The beginning of the AIM AIR logo on the tail. 
...and here I am putting the words on the tail. 
Me with the finished product on the tail of 90U...almost a completed AIM AIR plane!
Thursday I was making sure we had all the cargo tie downs that we need and of course, we came up short. I had to make a bunch of the pieces on the right, which mount underneath the Brownline buttons in the roof and are where the seatbelts attach. It was a fun project...but one that a person only wants to do every now and then. Except maybe if you're an aspiring sheetmetal mechanic...right, Liz? :)Saturday, July 4, 2009
HITS
Wow, thanks for the hits!! I was just watching my Feedjit Live and saw like 6 hits just after posting the last post. Hits from Mississippi, California, Texas, Pennsylvania, and more!
Thanks for visiting Project 206!!
Thanks for visiting Project 206!!
Interior and Exterior...
We continued working hard this week on 90U, and got some good things accomplished. I got the rear part of the interior plastics fitted and ready to be painted. Now I just have to do the pieces to be installed in front of the cargo door and the pilot's door and they will be ready to paint and install. Jerry has continued working on the flight control systems. David Marwa has been doing some finishing touches on instruments and avionics and Timothy Nzomo has been doing all sorts of odd jobs keeping the project going.
Keep watching for more pictures as we start coming together with lots of stuff...sorry I haven't gotten too many pictures lately. I will do better, no worries.
Jerry Hurd, with his head buried deep into rudder pedal land. We replaced the rudder torque bars due to corrosion and JH installed them this week.
And here he is connecting the rudder torque bars to the steering link connecting it to the nose gear assembly. This is part of the interlinkage between the nose steering, rudder pedals, and rudder control. It is a very complex system and if it is not rigged correctly, the whole steering system can be crooked.
Here's the back section of the cargo area and into the tailcone. The radios and ELT are located around the perimeter of the empennage as you can see. 
And here's what it looks like when fitting interior panels. We use interiors panels from Vantage Plane Plastics. They come pre-molded and fit pretty good for the most part.
Vortex generators on the wings. Three sets get painted red where they correspond with the fuel caps. This helps the fuelers and the dispatch guys to use caution when refueling the aircraft.
Keep watching for more pictures as we start coming together with lots of stuff...sorry I haven't gotten too many pictures lately. I will do better, no worries.
Jerry Hurd, with his head buried deep into rudder pedal land. We replaced the rudder torque bars due to corrosion and JH installed them this week. 
Looks good! In this area, we service the master cylinders, replace any bearings or bushings in the rudder torque bars that need replacing, and service all the chains and pulleys. It's a pretty detailed inspection.
And here he is connecting the rudder torque bars to the steering link connecting it to the nose gear assembly. This is part of the interlinkage between the nose steering, rudder pedals, and rudder control. It is a very complex system and if it is not rigged correctly, the whole steering system can be crooked. 
Here's the back section of the cargo area and into the tailcone. The radios and ELT are located around the perimeter of the empennage as you can see. And here's what it looks like when fitting interior panels. We use interiors panels from Vantage Plane Plastics. They come pre-molded and fit pretty good for the most part. Vortex generators on the wings. Three sets get painted red where they correspond with the fuel caps. This helps the fuelers and the dispatch guys to use caution when refueling the aircraft.
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