Cabin Vent
To get enough fresh air into the cabin, I installed a NACA inlet in the front. CAT ducting transfers the air flow to the cabin. The inlet I used is …
Polyurethane Windshield Adhesive
A fellow builder from the Netherlands recommended this Sikaflex 295 UV adhesive to me. He uses it to fix acrylic windows in the yachts the company he is working for …
Windshield Installed
Today I installed the windshield. It was a relatively easy job. I used butyl tape (I still had this tape from building the house), Würth Scheibendicht and Sikaflex 295UV. …
Retainer Done
Retainer is ready for installation. Surface is clean and smooth. I do not paint the retainer, since I will paint it in the general aircraft color …
Smoothing Retainer Surface
As written in the manual I used Auto Body Filler to get a smooth retainer surface. This Auto Body Filler really works great. After 3 layers of this filler and …
Retainer Raw
The photo shows the retainer in the raw format. It looks really ugly. You don’t think to get a nice smooth retainer at some point of time.
Peel Ply
Last layer is this peel ply layer. It helps to get a nice, non waxy surface.
Preparing Retainer Epoxy Work
The windshield and other parts are coated with duct tape. On top if this tape the fibreglass retainer will be built. I used duct tape instead of wax paper. It …
Cockpit Ready To Fly
Instruments Panel has been installed this weekend. As you can see, there is an EFIS installed (TL-6624). This EFIS includes also motor control, so the panel is not so …
Top Retainer
The top retainer is from aluminum as well. It will be installed with 8-32 screws and additionally glued with PU.
Windshield Install
Picture shows the right retainer, fabricated from aluminum. The lower retainer will be created from fibreglass.
Windshield Paint Done
The paint is done. I am satisfied with the result, easier than expected.
Preparing for Paint
Before installing the windshield, the covered parts have to be painted. Since everything is installed, it’s necessary to do it in the garage. Therefore the garage need …
Cockpit Finish
Unpainted rivets on the painted cockpit parts give a nice finish. It looks really cool and will stay like this.
Instrument Panel Painted
Instrument panel is finished. All holes are done, all parts painted. The instruments itself will be installed later. We decided to build removable panels. This way with a lot of …
Painted Panel Parts
With the help of some friends the parts for the instrument panel were painted. 2K color from Mipa worked well and give a strong surface.
Windshield Vents
I installed two computer fans for venting the windshield. A very easy installation. Seemed simpler to me than installing special ducting outlets. Below you can see the picture from the …
Brakes working
After the brakes were filled with fluid, I tested them. I put pressure on it and checked every connection. No leak occured. The parking brake is working well. Even after …
Bleeding Brakes
Filling the brakes with hydraulic fluid was a job I often thought of. Having done this never before, some consideration was made how to perform it. In the end …
Modified Pedal Spring Mount
The manual says to insert the pedal return springs into a hole at the side of the motor mount. I did this first, but was absolutely unhappy with this. …
Parking Brake
We installed a parking brake in the Rebel. There is a very good description available online from Roee Kalinsky (http://www.kalinskyconsulting.com/rvproj/parkingbrake.htm). I copied this design with some modifications.
Pedal Positions and Brake Cylinders Fixed
I decided to go with 4 brake cylinders. A lot of alignment work to get the pedals totally aligned. Although prepared before I had to wait for this step until …
Motor Mount Fixed
Finally the holes for the mount are done, the engine mounts in place. It was a lot of fiddling work. I wanted to be very precise here to have …
Motor Mount View
The picture shows the unsymmetric construction of the mount to withstand the turning forces of the motor.
Test Fitting Motor Mount
Our motor mount was produced by a small company in Germany. We had luck that the Rebel is such a great plane. It is so great that there is a …
Doors Finalized
This picture shows the finalized right door. As you can see we decided to go for a full Lexan door. The view will be great from inside.
Slot in door frame
This is the slot in the upper door frame, where the upper door lever fits in. I deliberately did it asymmetrical. Thus when closing the lever the window is tightly …
Door Mechanism
We built the door exactly as noted in the manual. Although I got several recommendations from some other builders, I decided to stay to the original design. In the end …
Door Lock
This simple lock is installed inside the left window. The lever on the back holds the window.
Upper Door Lever
Finalized upper door lever. This lever is closed from inside and fixes the window. I used a simple black knob from the hardware store (1 Euro) as handle point. Works …