Does the engine (DA) mount flush to the firewall or does it use standoffs?

On my airplane, the DA-120 requires a 1/8" plywood spacer for perfect spinner/cowl distance. That means a DA-100 should fit well without any spacers.

I can't promise the production airplane will be exactly the same, but I don't expect that to change.

Originally Posted by hpapilot

On my airplane, the DA-120 requires a 1/8" plywood spacer for perfect spinner/cowl distance. That means a DA-100 should fit well without any spacers.

I can't promise the production airplane will be exactly the same, but I don't expect that to change.

That's good to hear! I am not a fan of stand offs on the 100 but a fraction of an inch here or there is minor.

Yeah, there has to be a compromise somewhere to allow for the different engine choices, but the 1"+ standoffs you see so often will not be necessary.

Okay... so here are some pictures from the build so far.

Notes... firewall comes pre-marked for the DA-100/DA-120 mounting holes.

A front pipe/can mount is already installed, and the rear one is included to be installed at the appropriate place for the length of your pipes. It also includes a pair of vented hatches for the bottom of the airplane. If you're running stock mufflers (like me), the places these hatches go (on the bottom of the fuselage) are still covered over, so you don't even have to mess with these.

All the hingelines have double hinges at either end, a nice touch for durability.

The wheelpants come just as shown, totally ready to bolt on. No dremelling out the slot, drilling, or installing blind nuts. Nice touch... I tend to hate aligning and mounting wheel pants.

I should take pictures of how the cowl mounts, but it only takes 3 screws... two above the motorbox inside the fuselage, and one right on the bottom of the cowl. It hooks on tabs and the screws retain it. The original prototype had this system and I loved it. Not only does it look clean and require zero work during the build, but because of the way it slides on, you don't need to cut large slots for your muffler stacks to clear during cowl installation... just a large enough hole to clear the stacks.

I really like the look of it. I bet it's the perfect mix of precision and 3D. EF will have trouble keeping these in stock.

Thanks for the pics RJ. I need to have cash ready for the pre order. First batch will certainly sell out before they hit GA.

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How does the canopy mount?

The canopy looks to me like it mounts no different than any other 50cc+ size EF plane. I can see where the screw holes are on the side of the fuse and the slots where the canopy tabs go in to.

The cowl looks like it might have a cowl ring so you don't see any screws.


*edit....I must be getting old, RJ lays out exactly how the cowl mounts....DUH

The hatch/canopy does mount similarly to the rest of the EF airplanes. One nice touch is this one comes with 4 thumb-screws for the canopy instead of regular allen-head screws.

That's nice. Although a nice touch would have been to make it magnetic or spring loaded for quick access but finger bolts are good too.

nice

Originally Posted by hpapilot

The hatch/canopy does mount similarly to the rest of the EF airplanes. One nice touch is this one comes with 4 thumb-screws for the canopy instead of regular allen-head screws.

What size are they? Will they fit any other EF planes?

They're (that general universal metric size)... I think 2mm? Honestly I don't know metric hardware sizes well. But they are the same diameter as all my other EF canopy bolts, and the length should work for all the 50cc EF planes at least.

Should I warn Curtis to expect lots of orders for "spare" canopy screws when the Extras come in??