It's way past time for an update. I have been working steadily when time permits.
I got most of the dual stick conversion done. I need to get the wings mated before I can finish and I am waiting on that for now. I followed the plans here, the only thing I plan to modify is the control stick itself. Sonex supplies a 1 inch OD tube for the stick, I want a 7/8 inch tube for the grips I want to use, so I will be making 2 new ones from 7/8 tubing soon.
The cooling system is nearing completion. The radiator is mounted and I fabricated an outlet duct to dump the air under the belly. I will be building an inlet duct as well that will mate to the cowl with an inlet. There are 2 coolant tanks - an expansion tank and an overflow. They are both mounted on the firewall. I'm not sure I like the mounts I made, but they are strong and the rivets face away from the fuel tank. I also have a coolant based heater for the cockpit that needs to find a home. I am thinking about bolting it to the back of the panel, behind my ipad.
The voltage regulator is up on the firewall near the overflow tank, on the copilot side. The intake side of the engine is refered to as the "cold side" and is where I want all my electronics (the overflow tank only gets an ounce or two of coolant dumped in per flight and is generally cold). The stator and the voltage regulator are basically all that will remain from the original Yamaha electrical. The harness, ECU, engine monitor, and everything else associated with engine electrical is in fabrication by BD turnkey right now and should be delivered in May.
The oil system on the engine is a little bit different in that it is a dry sump with an external oil tank. It also utilizes a coolant to oil heat exchanger that can act as either an oil cooler or an oil warmer, depending on the operating condition. I am also planning on running a small air to oil cooler in front of the radiator. The air to oil cooler will be on a thermostat such that it only operates when the oil is hot. The factory Yamaha oil tank is very thin and oddly shaped for a snowmobile. Skytrax (the gearbox manufacturer) is now making a nice aluminum tank that I have ordered and should be receiving in the next few weeks. The cardboard box in the photos above is the shape and location of the oil tank. Once I get that I can mount the tank, oil cooler, and oil hoses.
For the throttle I have a little bit of a challenge. The factory throttle body is spring closed and the throttle cable pulls a bellcrank from the top of the engine. I ordered a MacFarlane veneer throttle cable. I am going to flip the spring in the throttle body to spring open, then I am going to run the MacFarlane throttle to the underside of the bellcrank, so that it becomes a push-pull that fails open just like a traditional aviation throttle. More on that soon.
to be continued...I can only upload 10 pictures.