Czech Trip + Oshkosh!
Yes, the Vtwin installation has taken forever. Had I known maybe I wouldn’t have started. But then we would not have such a nice 4-stroke, modern, and affordable engine for the Merlin. Plus, we decided to offer likely the most advanced avionics package to the aircraft. Biting off too much I suppose. Worth it? I hope so, even if it has damaged my delivery reputation. I trust most customers will recognize the huge effort this has taken and the financial investment Aeromarine has made, not to mention a couple years of my efforts and others. And all the trips to Dayton and CZ and Alabama. OK, enough rambling and on to the stuff that counts, like the update.
From the last blog you know that:
- The engine wiring harness is done, and more being fabricated. Plenty of Vtwin engines in our warehouse.
- The avionics’ wiring harness is done, except I just installed one and the headset jacks are about 3 inches too short. Easy fix.
- The main avionics circuit board is done and in stock. Needs to be populated with the components. Fuel circuit board has some upgrades. Supplier ships new boards next week. Avionics wiring harnesses and circuit boards in production.
- The wing tank pump fuel system is done, and bench tested. Getting installed now for flight testing. Retrofit kits produced. Retrofit installation protocol to be created on first retrofits in Alabama.
OK here we go with photo documentary:
We are finishing this Merlin in Olomouc, CZ for flight testing of VTWIN and everything else for that matter. We will also conduct a strength test of the new engine mount. The Merlin has Czech LAA certification with the 582, Verner, and HKS. Now we will complete the testing protocols for formal Vtwin approval. Above photos show the avionics tray before and after screwing down the remote components, then the addition of the wiring harness. Really fits nice! You can also see the new cabin vent system feeds from a NACA vent on the fuselage starboard side. 5 antennas plus OAT installed.
Some fine-tuning of the cooling system was also completed, and new custom radiator and cooling tubes will be ordered.
This photo shows new pass through for the throttle cable and the fuel supply.
Here are 2 more Merlin’s about ready to go to the paint shop. Next container ships maybe September. That gives us time to recover from Oshkosh then get a bunch of Merlin’s finished, both in our build center and those already in customers hands.
NOTE: We will be shipping all this new stuff to customers with lawn ornaments, I mean Merlin’s, in their hangar as well as slowly feeding our build center. Won’t be long before everyone has everything! But won’t happen overnight either.
OK here are the photos that you have been waiting for. Drawing shows how the retrofit kit works. Can be done without removing wing tank from wing. We will make a video as soon as we do it. Next photo shows all the pumps and most components. After that shows a complete retrofit kit laid out. Last photo shows stack of new ribs. I just returned last night from Prague. I packed 2 maximum-sized and max weight suitcases plus a medium one full of these and other part packed around dirty laundry. I made it to Tampa but bagless. One bag is in Vienna and the other two are in Washington DC. It was a flight from hell. I won’t bother you with details, but that baby behind me stuck up the place for 9:38 hours. Apparently, they ran out of diapers the first hour. Wasn’t the smell as much as the watering of my eyes!
On to our Oshkosh plans:
This is the first Oshkosh show for the TrueLite. It will be in our booth #195 just west of Building C in the main display area. Paul will come visit us from the Ultralight area for a couple hours a day.
Expect to see BOTH wings long and short along with the Merlin Lite.
We will have a HYBRID PAVILLION as part of our booth this year. You can see our functioning hybrid Predator power system, the nearly complete Vtwin hybrid, and our work-in-progress turbine hybrid.
The Hybrid Merlin Vtwin aircraft will be on display. It may be the world’s first on many levels, including an installed and functioning STARLINK MINI internet system so I can stream Netflix while flying.
Look closely to see Starlink on top of the Merlin. We quickly fabricated a Starlink Mini mount using 3D printing to match the wing curve.
And even more closely to see bomb bay doors which enable quick battery changes for hybrid Merlin.
And we will have the ultralight 750 floats to see. This will be a very interesting show.
OK, now on to big Merlin Lite production update:
The electric power system progresses. This is separate but parallel work to our hybrid systems.
Here is the liquid-cooled controller. And first ground tests. I am really looking forward to flying the long wing Merlin Lite which will be named the ‘Electrolite’!!!!!
We are assembling two Merlin Lites now for certification flight testing in CZ with both electric and gas power systems.
Here is a big dump of photos not only showing the finished Merlin Lite parts, but a lot of assembly’s riveted together. We will ship a LOT of Merlin Lite assemblies in the next container. That means USA final assembly in Alabama will go much faster. A lot of customers have ordered Merlin Lites, but many have cancelled due to the long lead time to put a new aircraft into production. These things cannot be rushed. Not with a product at this level of manufacturing sophistication.
See you at Oshkosh!
CHIP
