With the falco shipping to the USA I wouldn’t want to spend all of my precious leave from work re-building the plane so I need to make the whole process as painless as possible. The tail will need to be removed in order to get it into the container. That will involve removing the rear fuel tank and disconnecting the rudder and elevator control cables. That becomes an issue getting a duplicate inspection when I reassemble but I should be able to get authority for a local from the EAA to sign that off.
Getting the tank out is a pain and I don’t want to create leaks in the system so I may look for some quick disconnect I can install in the line beforehand. The rest of the wires there should be easy enough to put connectors in the lines. Radio antenna and strobe light cables plus the elt antenna.
Up front the engine will need to come off. Looking at it, I think the best way is to remove the mount and everything attached to it at the four main bolts plus one in the drag link for the nose gear. Then I can retract the mains and the upper drag link without disturbing the gear timing. There are a couple of other feed wires to the alternator and starter that need to come off, a manifold pressure tube, a fuel line and a bunch of electrical items. I figure that if I put circular connectors in the lines for the electrical ancillaries then I can save a bunch of time right there. The biggest pain in the bum is the 4 control cables, namely manifold pressure, Prop and mixture along with cabin heat. I may be able to change the cabin heat method or even remove it just for the trip since it will be summer. I mean it was 39 degrees in Kansas City on the way back this year so I doubt I’ll need heat.
For now I’ll work on the electrical connectors and maybe ideas will pop into my head as I am working in there.
The only other item to remove would be the canopy.. not a big job.. just needs to be handled carefully.
Of course in all this will be the need for other sets of hands.. especially when it comes to rotating the fuselage to fit it in the container and ditto with the tail..
More thinking required but hopefully something will pop into my head.