Here I am sitting in a cheap motel room in Sacramento waiting for an early morning flight.  I’ll be heading down to Phoenix for the day to test fly a Rans S6 Coyote.  I’ll post more when something more interesting happens.

One of the funnest aspects of the airplane build is planning.  Half the stuff you want you can’t afford but it’s still fun to plan.  Since I would like the new aircraft to be able to be operated at night I will need navigation lights.  Since I would like the new aircraft to be operated during the day I will need anti-colision lights or strobes.  An aircraft builders group I belong to is offering a group buy on these:

They are pretty cool in that the power supply for the strobe and lights is built into the lights rather than having a separate power supply.  They are self-contained and come with a lifetime warranty.  Can’t beat that.

Two of my most favorite parts of building an airplane are picking the paint scheme and planning the panel.  I use a software program called XPanel.  You can download the program here Xpanel 5000.   Or you can use their Online XPanel Software for free.  Here is my first attempt at planning the Coyote’s panel.  What do you think?

It’s amazing the amount of ‘stuff’ you collect while building an airplane.  Today I started cleaning out my hangar at the airport (O27).  I found stuff that I had intended to put on the RV-4 but never got around to it.  Some of it I’ll save for the Coyote.  Some of it is just junk.  I didn’t get much work done because of all the talkers that stopped by to ask about my plane and ask what I’m doing next.

I’ve decided to go minimalist on my hangar.  Originally I was trying to make it a home away from home.  Now that our EAA chapter has a powered hangar with a kitchen and bathrooms (almost), I want to make my hangar just a hangar.  It will be a lot easier to keep the pests out.  With all the openings in the S-6ES it’s going to be quite a job keeping the wasps and mud daubers out.  Removing all the excess junk in the hangar will  really help. 

The first stage of building the next plane starts on Dec 5.  I will be flying commercial to Phoenix to visit the Rans dealer I’ve been talking to for the past few months.  I’ll be taking a ride in a Rans Coyote and if I still like the Coyote I’ll order the kit.  I’ll hold off ordering the engine as a hedge against losing my job or any other unforeseen bad circumstance.  In a year or so if all is still looking good I’ll order the engine.  There may be some deals on engines next year anyway if all goes well.

So begins the build log of my Coyote.

There was a question on the Yahoo group RANSflyers recently about a tailwheel that would not swivel freely.  I advised the pilot to check the pin within the swivel assembly of the tailwheel.  He then contacted Matco who advised him that the tailwheels are not pre-greased prior to delivery.  So remember to grease your tailwheels when you get them.  Here’s a link to a drawing of the tailwheel.