Baggage Compartment floor

Here is the floor of the baggage compartment, behind the seat.

There's some structure underneath.  The only somewhat tricky issue with this piece is trimming it to fit between the curved longerons.

Below is a view from underneath the floor.  I traced the outlines onto the bottom of the baggage floor, and then cut the holes.  There's a Z angle and an L angle supporting the floor.

Here is a picture of how the L angles from the seat back center piece attach to the baggage floor and hold it all together.  The baggage floor acts as the back of a shelf unit, and fixes the front of the fuselage into shape nicely.

Same piece viewed from the front.  Seat back is at bottom, and the seat back center piece is in the middle.

With all these supports attached, the baggage floor and the rear seat feel pretty well connected.

I took a little trip to Mexico, MO to the Zenith Aircraft Company open house and 20th anniversary celebration.  While I was there, I got a chance to check out a Zodiac fuselage that was mostly assembled (the quick-build kit).  I also got a chance to talk with William Wynne about the the Corvair engine, and saw two nice examples of Corvair installations, courtesy of Lynn Dingenfelder and Dave Gardea.

Here are some pics I took at the event:

The three pictures below highlight the carburetor / cabin heat.  The box surrounds the exhaust pipe on the right side, and the air flow changes direction depending on whether the hot air is being drawn from the engine housing into the carburetor using engine pressure, or from the outside air scoop through the heat muff into the cabin or engine compartment.

Dual fuel pumps with a pressure sensor.

Fuel Flow meter - Dave Gardea has this because his glass panel measures fuel flow this way.

Lines to the oil cooler

The oil cooler

The Nason switch - shuts down the fuel pump in the event of loss of oil pressure.

Exhaust temperature sensors.

Baffles seen thru nose bowl.

Alternator - on front of engine.

It was very helpful to have a chance to talk to folks who have successful Corvair installations on their Zodiacs.

Corvair Engine

Here's what's going on the firewall:  a converted Corvair engine, courtesy of Mr. William Wynne.

Note below the Wesseman 5th bearing (pretty silver gizmo behind the toothed flywheel):  it helps isolate any side load from the prop from the main bearings on the engine. Part of what makes it airworthy.  

Just looks like an airplane engine, doesn't it?

Made from a 164 LM corvair engine. Rated for 100 HP at 3100 RPM - both significantly derated from the auto application which accounts for a major safety margin.