Holiday vacation build-a-thon
If you haven’t figured it out yet, I post the pictures then try to write sequentially based on the pictures, so follow along:
I took about twelve days off of “real work” during the holidays to pretty much just build. I haven’t taken that much time off in years, so it was pretty cool. I’m not sure I was as productive every day as I could have been, but that wasn’t the idea, I had a blast nearly living in the garage. Many thanks to Tanya for keeping me fed. Ok, blah, blah, what did I get accomplished…
First off, a courtesy picture for the FAA. Yep, that is me, very comfortable with a pair of cleco pliers in my hand. I decided to drag out the electric aileron trim stuff. Yes (David), this would be much easier to setup and install while working on the center section up on the bench long ago, but I was feeling lazy that day, so now is the time, before I install the aft seat floors for good. I ran the servo to both of its limits to identify the mid point, then ran it back to the mark. I fabricated all of the little parts under there (not pictured) and setup the seat ribs for mounting. This was a no brainer all around. It is very cool how easy this basic construction stuff is getting.
Side note: As you can see, I have completed most center and aft fuselage tasks. I think the height that I have the fuselage set off of the floor is nearly ideal for working in it without having to climb in. I have only been in this thing once or twice, and pretty much only for the fun of it at that. Everything, so far, has been very easy to do over the side. I think the bottom is about 14″ from the floor at the spar.
After much deliberation, I went ahead and riveted the baggage compartment floors on for good. I was definitely thinking that I should have sprung for a pneumatic pop rivet puller, but I didn’t. Tanya cut the sound proofing (1/4″) for under the seat bottoms and I glued that into place.
Next up was the aft seat bottoms. I first cut all of the hinge stock for the bottoms and the seat backs all at once. I used the right angle grinder with a cutoff wheel to cut to length. That worked great. I marked and drilled all of the hinges to the seat bottoms. I noticed, just before riveting the hinges on, that I had marked and drilled all of the bottom hinges about 3/8″ too far over. I had measured from the wrong location. After the normal personal deliberation, I got to work moving them. I just re-drilled new holes in the correct location in the bottom skin. So there are some “extra” holes under the hinges, no big deal.
Once I hade the seat bottoms ready, I decided to go ahead and fabricate the seat backs. They are very simple, but nothing is pre-punched… So I spent the majority of two days working on just the seat backs. One of the vertical support pieces (1/8″ x 3/4″ angle) calls for a notch to be cut out to clear the bottom hinge. I easily took care of the notch on the band saw. That was fun. I never knew I could cut a paper thin piece of aluminum on that thing. With all the parts fabricated, the riveting was quick and easy. I did use the C-frame to rivet some of the middle rivets for the brace hinge.
I took nearly a full day deviation from building to do a little upgrade of my shop entertainment. My garage radio was previously a little alarm clock thing that was very lame in the audio department. I finally broke down and got a new XM radio. I also ran up to Best Buy and picked up one of the cheapest real receivers that they sold and a good pair of Bose speakers. The speakers cost more than the receiver. I did some hacking of the cabinet above my work bench to provide a home for all this stuff. Now I have real audio that sounds great (for a garage).
Back to our regularly scheduled program. I riveted the aft seat floors down for good. Things really start to stiffen up when these floors go on. How about a full test fit of the seat backs? Ok, that is very cool. I couldn’t resist jumping in and making some airplane noises. Once I was done messing around, it was back to work. Next I fabricated the forward tunnel cover. It had some minor clearance issues when I got around to installing the flap housing.
The flap actuator mechanism and housing was next. There are a number of small parts to be fabricated for this setup first. I made the correct angle in the upper attach bracket with the vice and a big hammer. It is surprising how much force is required to bend AS3 .063. I also drilled the hole in the actuator for safety wire. The drilling of the hole is really more like drilling two holes that meet in the middle. Mark, clamp, drill, deburr, rivet nutplates, just like it is depicted on the plans (instructions?, we don’t need any stinking instructions at this point.) I’m not finalizing the flap hardware yet because I’m going to remove all this stuff when I get ready to paint the interior later. I ran the flaps up and down with a battery. Yep, it all works just like it should. After I completed the flap assembly, I found from other’s experience that there might be a clearance issue with the rivet heads on the upper forward bracket and the canopy latch mechanism. So, I pulled it out and replaced the 470 rivets with flush 426 rivets. I couldn’t find anywhere on the plans where these rivets were specifically defined.
On my last day of this build-a-thon, I was somewhat perplexed as to what to do next. The instruction sequence has you do mounting and fitting of the empennage and wings, but those are all nice and tucked away in the house right now. I don’t really feel like dragging them out just yet. Surely there is some other stuff to do. I have kind of passed a point were construction sequence has become very blurry. Ok, I decided to go back and fabricate and setup the brake pedals and brake master cylinders. I got all of the parts fabricated, drilled, and deburred. Another short session will finish the brakes and rudder pedals. I won’t be installing them until much later though. Then, I think I’m going to build the roll bar next.
After I get the roll bar completed, I’ll be moving on to the forward upper fuselage (read Instrument Panel!). Oh, I am also considering when I want to do the main gear mounts. I would prefer for them to not be bolted in place when I get ready to paint the interior. I might try to do a pre-fit for drilling and such. We ordered the finishing kit a few weeks ago. It is supposed to ship the “week of” February 13th. It is going to be time to really start getting stuff together for the instrument panel before long. I’m planning on a three display GRT EFIS with a panel cut by Affordable panels. This will be nearly an exact copy of Walter’s panel.
Back to the real world and “real” work.
