Fuselage Construction

Ordered the QB Fuselage

May 1, 2003

You can see my comments in the General section of the logbook, but I also wanted to put an entry in here about our decision to buy the fuselage. Today I faxed in the order and start the fuselage on it's way. To complete the process I still need to ship my wing center-section back to Van's. If I had known for sure that I was going to go with a QB fuselage I could have told them in advance and they would have kept the center-section there at the factory. However, at that point I had not made up my mind. This means I have to ship it back before the next boat to the Philippines. The center-section needs to go to the Philippines because it needs to be built into the fuselage, and that is where the QB kits are actually assembled. If I ship it back now and catch the mid-June shipment to the Philippines then I'll get my fuselage back in a reasonable time frame. However, if I were to miss this boat we would add another three months onto the lead time waiting for the next shipment overseas! So ... it was time to order, and that is just what I did. :) UPDATE: We have an estimated delivery date of some time in December, 2003! That is just an estimate, but it is surely an exciting one! :)

QB Fuselage Ready to Ship

November 7, 2003

I just got word today that my QB fuselage was ready to ship! This is very exciting ... even if it is a month and a half early. :) I may have to find some place to store it while we finish up the wings. Oh well, we'll deal. The plan is to have it delivered to the ABF loading dock and I'll get our regular auto mechanic (who has a roll-back flatbed tow truck) to help us transport it from there. Right now it is a race to see if I can get the wings into the cradle and off the construction stands in time!

QB Fuselage On The Way

November 11, 2003

I got e-mail from Barbara today saying that the fuselage is on the way! I don't know whether to be excited or terrified since I am not ready for it! Oh well. UPDATE: I talked with the ABF folks, and even though the fuselage is going to be on the dock on Thursday, they'll let me pick it up on Monday. This will give us enough time to actually get the wings finished enough to put them in the storage cradle and make room for the fuselage crate! *whew* So, we pick the fuselage up on Monday, November 24. Wow.

QB Fuselage Comes Home!

November 24, 2003

The fuselage arrived at the loading dock last week, and we took the weekend getting the wings out of the way. With that done, and room in the shop, we could put the fuselage there instead of storing it elsewhere. I'm really glad we made the effort too! Note that while you can see some pictures here, the full set of pictures taken during the delivery are available at the Fuselage Delivery Album elsewhere on this web site. I have to admit that I was really nervous about the fuselage. Did it survive the shipping? Would there be any shipping damage? Would I be able to work out the logistics of having everyone where I needed them when the time came? Would we have any problems get it to the house? Getting it unloaded? Really having enough space? In the end, my worries were unfounded ... as the whole transfer could not possibly have gone better. :) A collection of us met at the ABF freight terminal in Durham, NC at 4:00. I paid for the shipping, and the actual weight on the crate was less than estimated .. by quite a bit (I hope nothing got left out!). Therefore, the final shipping charges were less than anticipated ... only $962.58 when it was all said and done. As it turned out, we needed no extra hands there as the freight guy was able to simply push it onto the tow truck with his forklift easily. We pulled the tow truck cable over the top of the crate just to secure it, and drove off. When we got back to the house we backed down to the garage and lowered the truck bed. At this point Pete and Mr. Eakes took some long poles and levered the lower end of the box up so I could put a dolly under that end. We were then able to nudge it down the ramp by lifting the back with the bars and "rowing" it forward. When it got almost to the bottom of the bed they levered it up again, and Theresa slipped the other dolly under the other end. At that point a few more nudges lowered it to the floor ... and we were able to wheel the huge box around the garage easily! It didn't take five minutes to accomplish the actual unloading of the crate. We then pulled off the forward right side panel of the crate. We did this following the instructions provided by Van's ... but the selection of that one panel (out of four possibilities) proved to be the lucky choice. All of the other panels had stuff attached to them ... with this being the only unused panel! This avoided damaging any parts stored in the box. We tracked down the packing lists, and then left everything else pretty much alone. We need to make more room on the shelves in the shop before we inventory and store all the components. Hopefully we'll get that done over the long Thanksgiving holiday weekend! And exciting, and memorable, day .. for sure. :) I want to thank all the folks who came out to help ... Marilyn Hays, Pete Beal, Chris Martin, and of course my family. This is an amazing step forward for the project!

Fuselage Kit Inventoried

November 27, 2003

Theresa, Christopher, and myself spent the morning unpacking the crate and running through the inventory. All parts accounted for (except for one bit of AL which wasn't on the packing list .. go figure .. we got a "freebie" I guess). We did not go into the bags themselves, only making sure that each bag was present. After the inventory we stored the parts, and I found space for them with less trouble than expected. Now they can stay safely out of the way while we work on the rest of the wings. That is it for the fuselage for probably another month or so (and we'll see if that prediction is even close when we get back to working in the fuse again!). NOTE: See the dates between this entry, and the one titled "Started Fuselage" and you'll see it was a few months ... about 12 of them, in fact, if you want to call that "few". The fuel tanks and control surfaces took MUCH longer than I ever anticipated, with the fuel tanks taking up the lions share of the time. Life intruded too, and along the way I finished up my instrument rating and had business and family duties take their share of time. I do NOT feel even remotely bad about the time it has taken. My goal is to just not quit, and to make steady (even if slow) progress. If I can keep that up, I'll have a plane when I'm done. :)

Fuselage Cradle Constructed

January 4, 2004

I could not let the holiday break go by without getting at least one specific task completed. I badly wanted to get the fuselage out of what remained of the shipping crate. I had thought of leaving it in the partially disassembled crate until starting work on the fuse, but ended up hating how much space (visually as well as physically) it took up in the shop. With much help from Christopher, I took the two furniture dollies and used them as the basis for the cradle. I build a 42" support on one dolly upon which the spar carry through could rest. I build another support on the other dolly upon which the tail (right at a handy bulkhead) could rest. The height of the tail was built (with a WAG at the correct height) to attempt to have the fuse sitting level .. and I was within 0.2 degrees of level when it was all said and done. The fuselage sits less than a foot off the ground, and can be wheeled around the shop with very little effort. I'm quite pleased with the final result. Time : 4.5 hours

Started Fuselage	November 23, 2004
I finally started work on the fuselage. I'm waiting for the weekend (when I'll have help) to finish the riveting of the inboard bottom skin on the left wing, so with nothing else on the wing to do ... I started on the fuse. Except for one small item, I have now completed the section of the manual entitled "Assembling the F-601 Firewall". Time : 1.0 hours

Inventoried Bags	November 24, 2004
The one thing I had not done earlier was inventory all the individual contents of the bags. I did that tonight, sorting most of the "generic" hardware into my small parts drawers. The rest I left in the bags, making notes on many of them so I would not have to go back and cross-check against the parts list TOO much to find out what was in each bag at a later date. :) Time : 2.5 hours

Fabricated/Riveted F-601TD

November 25, 2004

I fabricated the F-601TD brake line reinforcement bracket, drilled it to the firewall, cut the holes for the brake lines in both the bracket and the firewall, and riveted it in place. The firewall recess was dimpled and riveted together, though it isn't supposed to be installed yet so will go on the shelf. I also spent a little time doing a little more organizing and labeling of the new parts in the fuselage kit. I was stopped in my labeling efforts by the Kroy needing to have its batteries recharged. :) Time : 4.25 hours

Miscellaneous Work

November 26, 2004

I spent a little time going through the manual, checking off those items that are already completed on the QB fuselage. This takes a little care as I don't want to miss anything, requiring that I identify each assembly called out by first finding them on the plans .. then finding the completed assembly on the plane. Though a bit tedious, it is still MUCH faster than doing the assembly work myself (so I'm not complaining!). I got to the point where the seat adjustment brackets are to be assembled, and that is not yet done on the QB fuselage. I started to collect up the parts needed and then ran out of time. I'll get more done on that tomorrow. Oh .. yeah .. I finally put a "floor board" in the fuselage so I feel safe climbing in. I had to get in and make the obligatory airplane noises. :) And just to make sure the moment is never forgotten (as if it would be) I've included a picture. How embarrassing. :) Time : 1.5 hours

Seatback Adjustment

November 28, 2004

Today I cut the angle, shim, and plate needed for the seatback adjustment pieces. I'm hoping to take a look at Denny's plane before I do any drilling on the fuselage itself to make SURE I have it all straight in my head. If I can do that, I'll keep working. I was fortunate enough to catch Denny in, and I went and looked at how his plane (well, the seatback adjustment pieces) was put together. He has generously offered to come by any time to take a look ... and there is no replacement for looking at something actually put together if you have the chance. I can't thank him enough for his generous assistance, but feel that his gracious help is what I find best in the EAA family. I came home, drilled the angles for the seatback adjustment, and clamped the "shim" in place. I also got into the fuselage (for the first time!) to see how easily I can back-drill the shim. Looks like a piece of cake, and I hope to get to it tomorrow. (Might spend my lunch hour on it. *grin*) Time : 2.25 hours

More Seatback Adjustment

December 12, 2004

I've had a bit of a break due to various reasons, so did *not* back-drill the shim as quickly as I had suggested in the previous entry, but am back at it now. I finished bending and dimpling the .040 seatback adjustment top-piece and c-sinking the shim. I scuffed and primed those parts, and then drilled the seatback adjustment angles to the fuselage cross member. Bending those small pieces without a bending brake is a pain in the butt. I would like to find out an easier way to do it! Few folks go to that much detail on their web sites, however, and I just clamped-and-hammered it into submission rather than worry about researching it too much. They came out fine. Time : 2.5 hours

Yet More Seatback Adjustment	December 13, 2004
We are going out for dinner tonight, but I had a little time between finishing with work and going out ... so I worked on the plane. I got the seat adjustment angles preped and primed, and got the holes for the angles (in the bulkhead) deburred. I'm now all ready to rivet, and hope to get that done maybe as early as tomorrow. Time : 0.75 hours

Riveted Seatback Adjustment / Drilled Flap Blocks	December 16, 2004
I cut loose a little time tonight (weeknights are the toughest time to get out and work on the plane) to rivet the seatback adjustment parts onto the bulkhead, and drilled the holes into the flap bearing blocks. Time : 2.25 hours

Unpacked Fuel Pump / Confirmed QB Assembly Steps

December 17, 2004

I spent some time today unpacking and inventorying a fairly good shipment from Van's. This was my AFP electric boost pump kit, a flap control kit, and some other odds and ends. I also went out to the shop and spent some time verifying the next steps in the instruction manual, and making sure I'm not missing any steps I need to perform. It was only a half hour, but every little bit helps. :) Time : 0.5 hours

Started cutting the "Mouse Hole"	December 27, 2004
The Christmas busy season is finally past (we had a great Christmas, and I hope you did too!) so I'm back working on the plane. I pulled out my tailwheel spring assembly, and started cutting the "mouse hole". I'm tired of laying on my back on the cold garage floor, so am taking a break to get that creeper I have promised myself I would get. Back soon. Time : 2.0 hours

Finished cutting the "Mouse Hole"

December 29, 2004

I was under the weather the last few days, but was feeling better today (and the temps were MUCH nicer to boot) and I finished cutting the mouse hole. If I can get someone to help me hold the tailwheel spring mount in place I'll get it drilled today too, but we'll see if I get that lucky or not. With it being vacation/holiday time most of the crew are off doing their various own things. :) Time : 2.5 hours

Drilled Tailspring Mount

December 31, 2004

I carved out a little time from the New Year's festivities to do a little work on the plane. I drilled the forward-most two holes into the tailspring mount. Warning .... that steel is very hard stuff. I had dulled one of my 'E' bits before I knew what had happened. Eventually with care I got the holes drilled, and am very pleased with how it came out. Hopefully I can finish this particular assembly tomorrow. Time : 1.25 hours

Finished Tailspring Mount / Continued Fuse

January 1, 2005

I spent some time this afternoon working a little more on the tailwheel spring mount. I drilled it to the rear bulkhead, then preped (Scotchbrited, cleaned, degreased) and primed both the tailspring mount and the rear bulkhead. I did the bulkhead simply because it was out, available, and will see a lot of external weather and abuse. The decision was made to wait to perform final installation until I can determine if I want/need to drill an access hole in the bottom of the fuse to get to the tailspring nut. I think it makes sense to do this, but want to either look at an existing installation or talk to Van's. My uncertainty comes from seeing that an adequately sized hole that will allow a socket to get to the nut will be large enough to encroach on the bottom-most rivet on the next-to-last fuselage bulkhead. I might well go look at Denny's plane tomorrow to see what they did. I continued working through the manual marking off stuff done on the QB fuselage. I stopped when I ran out of time and got to some parts that look like they need fabricating. I really enjoy fabricating parts from raw stock though I also realize that it is a skill I am still developing. :) Oh ... and ... Happy New Year! Time : 3.25 hours

Mounting Tailspring

January 6, 2005

Tonight was spent mounting the tailspring, and almost getting it done. I had to drill out the bottom-most rear rivet from the next-to-last bulkhead and remove the tab from the flange through which that rivet passed on the bulkhead. This was so I could Unibit out a hole to clear the bolt on the tailspring mount. That went fine, but being a bit on the conservative side I really need to (now that I have it all bolted and clecoed together) open the hole up a little larger. As it is I can not QUITE get a socket onto the nut. Rats. So I'll have to un-cleco the rear bulkhead (again), pull it out, unbolt the tailspring mount (again), and open up the hole one more step with my Unibit ..... then put it all back together again. The upside is that at that point I'll be ready to rivet. :) But that is for tomorrow night at the earliest, as I have to call it a night tonight. Time : 2.5 hours

Finish with Tailspring / Forward Bulkheads

January 15, 2005

I pulled apart the tailcone again (or those bits I needed to pull apart) and opened up the mouse hole, as well as opening up (just a tad) the hole for the tailspring nut. I put it all back together again, and torqued the bolts. I'll rivet later when it is clear I won't need to pull anything apart here again. I started working on the F-796B angles. I got them measured to length and cut from angle stock .. and started to shape them. I hope to get them all finished tomorrow (along with their cousins the F-796C and D shims). Time : 3.25 hours

F-796B/C/D Fabrication

January 16, 2005

I was feeling very much under the weather today, but was determined to get some work done on the plane. This fact has good and bad aspects to it. The good is making forward progress ... the bad is making mistakes (and moving very slowly, in the process). I mis-drilled my first set of F-796B angles, so made two more. I was able to get to the point where they were clecoed to the fuse, and got them match-drilled with the holes in the fuselage side. I also cut out and cleaned up the .063 and .032 spacers, but have not yet drilled those two pieces. I'm quitting while I'm ahead, before I make any more mistakes which cause me to make parts over again! :) Time : 4.25 hours

F-796B/C/D Finished / Brake Pedals

January 22, 2005

I finished fabricating/drilling the F-796B/C/D components and set them aside as instructed. I then started on fabricating the angles for the brake pedals, and cleaning up the pedals themselves. This took a LOT of Scotchbriting, particularly since I have ordered the co-pilot side brake pedal option (meaning I have twice as many parts to prepare). It doesn't help that I feel anal and am using my small Scotchbrite wheel to polish out the insides of the lightening holes in the pedals rather than leave them rough from the punching done at the factory! Time : 4.5 hours

Brake Pedals (continued)

January 23, 2005

I finished preping the brake pedals themselves, trimming the angles and smoothing the edges on the angles. I also drilled all the parts together (all four sets of pedals), and countersunk those parts that needed to be countersunk. It doesn't *sound* like much, but there are lots of little niggly steps that consume time ... and if you don't take care with each step you don't end up with the kind of results I really prefer. If I had more time today (but I don't!) I'd scuff them with Scotchbrite pads, prime, and rivet. But, hopefully I can get that all done this next week. We'll see. :) Time : 3.25 hours

Assembled Brake Pedals

February 4, 2005

I cleaned and scuffed the brake pedal parts this morning, and got them primed. After lunch with the family I'll assemble them, then start on the rudder pedal assembly. The latest big break in work was due to my "Real Job (tm)" moving into an insanely busy mode, me being under the weather, and a get-away weekend to the GA mountains (without the kids!!). But, this weekend is looking good for airplane work, and I'm having fun. :) More updates after lunch, I hope. Ok ... its after lunch now. :) I finished assembling the brake pedals, and am *very* pleased with how they look. It took a while, slowly putting in all those rivets, but they are now four (I have co-pilot brakes too) complete assemblies. I pulled the rudder pedals out, installed them in the UHMF blocks backward, pulled they out of the blocks, switched them around, and eventually got it all clamped up on my bench at a handy working height. Time to go to a friend's for dinner, so work stops again, but I hope to be back at it tomorrow. Time : 4.25 hours

Mounted Brake Pedals/ Started Rudder Pedals Install

February 5, 2005

Today I clamped the rudder pedal assembly (bushing blocks, torque tubes, etc.) off the edge of my bench so it/they would be easy to work with. I then mounted (temporarily, as they'll come off again to be painted) the brake pedals on the rudder pedals, and finished up mounting the brake master cylinders. I drilled the bearing blocks, and cut the center one in half on my bandsaw. I trimmed the F-6118 center support bracket and got ready to drill the lightening holes. Unfortunately I'm out of time for the day, so am stopping here (just short of firing up the fly cutter!). Time : 5.25 hours

Drilled (Incorrectly) Longerons for Rudder Pedals

February 12, 2005

Today I was going to drill the longerons which support the rudder pedals. I had finally settled on a 1.25 inch spacing, with three positions. Since I have a QB fuselage, I match-drilled some scrap aluminum angle to serve as drill guides, and clamped them in place. The left side went without a hitch, and after I drilled the first two places on the right side .... I realized that I had made a mistake. My positioning of my marks was off by an inch! Damn. I re-measured and re-marked the longeron, and drilled the correct holes. It wasn't pretty, but I thought I could live with it since none of the holes actually intersected. I then went to drill the F-6118 center brace, and realized after I drilled the first two holes that my UMHV block was not quite positioned right! This was not my day, and I immediately quit working on the plane. I had not been feeling all that well all day, and clearly I was not on top of my game. It was time to cease cutting aluminum before I ended up with a plane that more resembled swiss cheese than a reliable airframe. *sigh* Time : 2.0 hours

Repaired Mis-drilled Longeron

February 13, 2005

I decided I couldn't live with the mis-drilled longeron. It was just a short piece at the forward-most portion of the cabin. While it is already riveted into the structure, the surrounding skin rivets are not installed (they are just tacked in place with a few throw-away pop-rivets) and it should be easy to get it out. So .... I'm taking it out, fabricating a new piece, and re-installing it. I realize this isn't *needed*, as what I have now will work ... but it pisses me off to have it be wrong and I want to fix it. We'll see how this goes. Time passes .... It went pretty well. I was able to drill out the F-719R without too much trouble, and fabricated a new one from some stock .063 angle I had. It is all fabricated, drilled, countersunk, joggled (what a pain that was), and is now clecoed back in place ready for riveting. I'll press Theresa into work sometime soon to get that done ... then I'll be right back where I was on Saturday morning! (Don't you hate it when you spend the weekend working just to end up back where you were when you started ... except with a few extra pieces of scrap aluminum??) Actually, that isn't quite fair. I *do* have the longerons drilled on both sides now for the rudder pedals. Unfortunately, I also still need to rivet the right side longeron in place ... so it really hard to assess whether any forward progress was really made this weekend. :) Time : 3.5 hours

Finished Rudder Pedal Brace

February 21, 2005

This last week folks have been under the weather in the house (ok, I have been under the weather), and this long holiday weekend we spent most of our time throwing a party for friends, and spending family time. However, I did get out and get back to work on the fuselage and finished up the rudder pedal center brace. It is all ready to rivet in, and the rudder pedals are ready to bolt in (however, I'll wait to do so until I get final paint the break pedals). Time : 1.5 hours

Fabricated/Finished F-757 Gusset and F-635 Bellcrank

February 26, 2005

I cut the square holes (for the tip-up latch mechanism to go through when the canopy is closed) needed in the F-757 gussets. I primed the gussets, and clecoed them into place. I'll rivet as soon as I can get a helper (and, yeah, I could do it solo ... but why if I don't have to?). I then pushed on to assembling the F-635 elevator bellcrank. I made the spacer, match-drilled everything together, primed the aluminum, and riveted. Nice and simple. While I was waiting for primer to dry I also trimmed the F-688 gusset as indicated on DWG 26. It finally got late/cold enough that I called it a night. But for a day that was a bit fragmented (went flying in the morning, did lunch with some of the family, had to make an emergency tux run for my son as he needed a vest exchanged and was running late for the school formal!) I still got quite a bit done. I'm pleased. Time : 4.5 hours

Gusset Work

February 26, 2005

I cut the square holes (for the tip-up latch mechanism to go through when the canopy is closed) needed in the F-757 gussets. I primed the gussets, and clecoed them into place. I'll rivet as soon as I can get a helper (and, yeah, I could do it solo ... but why if I don't have to?). I then pushed on to assembling the F-635 elevator bellcrank. I made the spacer, match-drilled everything together, primed the aluminum, and riveted. Nice and simple. While I was waiting for primer to dry I also trimmed the F-688 gusset as indicated on DWG 26. It finally got late/cold enough that I called it a night. But for a day that was a bit fragmented (went flying in the morning, did lunch with some of the family, had to make an emergency tux run for my son as he needed a vest exchanged and was running late for the school formal!) I still got quite a bit done. I'm pleased. Time : 4.5 hours

Fabricated Spacers :)

February 27, 2005

Most of my morning was consumed with making some changes to the stand where I normally store my kayak. This was technically to make progress on the airplane .... as I need to get the kayak out of the storage building where the finishing kit will be unpacked. But, I really didn't feel like that time was "loggable". I did find time to fabricate the spacers used for mounting the elevator bellcrank. These are small bits of tubing that needed to be cut and smoothed on the ends. Cutting was a particular joy today as I picked up a new 18TPI metal cutting blade at my local Lowe's (in the aviation department) for my little bench top bandsaw. It cuts like a dream. Time : 0.5 hours

Installed Bellcrank

March 6, 2005

If you are wondering why the big break between fabricating the spacers and now .... I've been sick and received my finishing kit. About a week and a half got consumed with a vague nasty exhausting virus (or so we are guessing). Then I got the finishing kit late in the day on the 4th, and spent Saturday and most of Sunday inventorying, organizing, and storing all the parts (see the finishing kit section for details). I'm not totally over whatever it was I had, but I had to get something done (other than inventorying and organizing, which needed to be done, but doesn't end up with anything actually put together) on the plane itself. So ... I installed the bellcrank. Took all of 15 minutes to make a final adjustment on the spacers, ream the hole, install the parts, and torque the nut. But, hey, it is forward progress. :) Time : 0.25 hours

F-774 Match Drilling Prep

March 7, 2005

I wanted to get my hands dirty tonight, and started the process of match-drilling the F-774 to the J-stringers, support ribs, and the F-757 gusset. HOWEVER, first I had to drill out the pop-rivets that are in the QB fuselage. I also needed to draw a centerline on my J-stringers, and was fed up with the Avery tool I bought (the ONLY Avery tool to not give 100% satisfaction) ... and I made one myself. It works MUCH better, even if it looks .. and is .. kinda kludged. Time : 1.0 hours

F-774 Ready to Drill

March 12, 2005

It has been a crazy week, and the weekend won't be much better. I unfortunately have pressing "Real Work ™" to do before Monday. However, as I was waiting with Theresa for her ride to arrive (she is going hiking this weekend) I finished clecoing the F-774 in place and double checked that the F-757 gusset was positioned correctly for drilling. The centerlines on my J-stringers wander a bit (the line is straight, but the stringers want to twist when unattached to anything) so I'll have to tug them straight as I drill .... but that'll be fine as long as I do not drill my finger while holding a stringer in place. I have not drilled a finger yet, and intend to be the exception to the rule that says everyone drills a finger sometime during a project. Note to self .. watch the fingers. Time : 1.0 hours

Drilled F-774 Skin / F-757 Gusset / Baggage Floor

March 13, 2005

Today is beautiful here in NC, and I'm out working in the garage. The only problem is that I've got a case of "tennis elbow" (and I don't even play tennis!) that is killing me. Clecoing and pulling the drill trigger all make the arm/elbow unhappy. However, I was determined to get the skin/gusset drilled. After drilling everything I pulled the F-757 gusset out and countersunk it for later riveting. I'll have to remember to NOT dimple the structure under the gusset, and intend to mark the holes to not be dimpled once I pull the skin back off again. I also drilled out the pop-rivets holding the baggage floor pieces in place to prep them for final installation. I need to countersink where the platenuts go to prep for platenut installation. It took a little bit of work to get those temporary pop rivets out, and then I had to do some careful head-scratching (and taking a quick trip to Denny's to double-check something on *his* RV-7, just to make sure my understanding was correct). Better to go slow, than screw something up. :) After confirming what I thought was the correct way to proceed by looking at Denny's plane (and thinking a bit more, and studying the plans for particular details) I think I got it straight. I clecoed the baggage floors back in, and started to match-drill. Shortly after that Theresa came home from a hike, Marilyn came over to see what progress had been made lately, and dinner was ready. My work-time was over for the day. :) Time : 6.75 hours

Match-drilled Baggage Floors	March 19, 2005
I had a little time today (and it might be the only time I have this weekend) and went out and got a little done. I finished match-drilling all of the various holes in the baggage floors. I countersunk a few rivet holes, and then had to quit for the day. Time : 1.0 hours

Started Seat Back Braces

April 24, 2005

It has been a really exhausting month. You can look over on the Wings section to see some work done (finishing up some riveting there) but otherwise it has been a dead week. Between a nasty bout of cold/flu that ran through the family (and had me down for over a week), Sun-N-Fun, and a death in the family (my wife's cousin), we have gotten little done. However, this weekend we got all the camping stuff out of the garage (from Sun-N-Fun), rearranged the shelves to have airplane-stuff down lower, threw out some stuff that needed throwing out, and generally got things in shape to get working again. Oh, and we had a house guest this weekend as well (not that his visited really got in the way of airplane work much, truth be told). Of course, none of those activities counts as time in the builder log! What I did get done is finding the seat back braces (F-638), did the layout of the lightening holes, and drilled the pilot holes for them. Rather than use my fly-cutter to cut all eight holes, I'm going to run out after dinner and get a 2 1/4" hole saw to do the job. Time : 1.0 hours

Seat Back Braces / Seat Angles

April 26, 2005

I spent some time tonight cutting the lightening holes in the seat back braces (F-638), and trimming the flanges on the end. They are all shaped, deburred, and ready to have the hinge installed. I also dug out the .125 and .064 angle I needed for the seat back reinforcements. I cut all the angle to length, rounded the tops and angled the bottoms of the seat side reinforcement angle, and buffed the ends up with my Scotchbrite wheel. I still need to file the .040 notch in the bottom of the side angles, and round the back of the top reinforcement angles ... but then it'll be time to drill. Time : 2.5 hours

More Seat Back Work	April 28, 2005
I radiused the angles which cross the top of the seat back, and then used my vixen file to cut the notches in the bottom of the four side angles. I cut the hinges for the set back braces and am ready to lay out the rivet holes for the hinge. Time to stop 'cause I have a meeting to attend to tonight! Time : 1.5 hours

More Seat Back Work (Again)

April 29, 2005

This afternoon I drilled the hinges to the seat back adjustment braces and then primed the braces. The hinges are now ready to rivet to the braces and I'll likely do that very soon. I also laid out the rivet holes on the seat side angles, and got two of the four drilled. I now need to finish drilling the other two, and then match-drill them to the seat backs. Maybe I'll get to that tonight, but more likely it'll be tomorrow morning. Oh! And my platenut order came in from Wicks, so I can finish up the baggage floor this weekend if I get time (and if I get my conduit installed under the baggage floor area). Time : 2.0 hours

Drilled Seat Backs

April 30, 2005

I finished drilling the two side angles for the seats, after having laid them out yesterday. Then I drilled the side and top angles to the seat backs. That doesn't sound like much, but took all the time I spent out in the shop. :) I still need to cut the bottom hinge, drill the bottom angle, and drill the bottom hinge. Once that is done I'll debur, prime, and rivet it all together. I sincerely believe I can get it all done tomorrow (since working tonight is done as I have to get ready to go out to dinner with my wife!). Time : 3.25 hours

Finished Seat Backs

May 1, 2005

I finished drilling all the hinges and angles for the seats. They are now ready to be deburred (what little I have not already deburred as I went along), the angles primed, and riveted. Unless something goes badly awry, I *will* have the seat backs finished today. Way cool! Ok ... lunch is done ... and I am back at it .... I finished deburring, priming, and riveting the seat backs. I also riveted the hinge to the seat back adjustment brace. I had to use my C-frame and a small 5-lb hammer to set the rivets on the set back adjustment hinge (the half attached to the seat back itself). The rest of the rivets went in easily with my pneumatic squeezer. The seats are now (temporarily) installed and look great! I'm quite pleased with how this all went together. Time : 5.5 hours

Dimpled Baggage Floors / Started Front Tunnel Cover

May 2, 2005

I dimpled the baggage floors, and then realized I could not find the MS21051 platenuts I needed to finish the job. (I ordered some from Wicks.) I also talked to Van's about running conduit under the baggage floors and got an uncertain answer. I'll need to think about it a bit more before I start to cut metal. So I pressed on to the center tunnel floor, and found the .040 which makes the cover itself, and cut the AZ6 for the support. As I was shaping the AZ6, however, I mis-cut the left support so needed to order more stock from Van's. Given that things are not going smoothly tonight I'm going to listen to the fates sending me messages and will quit for the evening! Time : 2.0 hours

Drilled Baggage Conduit / Riveted Seat-Pans and Baggage Floor

May 8, 2005

I ordered the missing platenuts (with dimpled ears, even) so am ready to get back to the baggage floor. I also called Van's and they confirmed (after some discussion, and I think a little mis-communication) that I can run the conduit like I want. This morning I started very cautiously drilling the holes for the conduit. I wanted to make absolutely sure that I would not accidentally cut the rear spar carry through bar. I made a drilling template, measured about a dozen times, compared my vertical positioning with the square hole in the center of the bulkhead (to make sure I used even less vertical space than it did, just to be safe) and then I drilled. I drilled to the closest size hole with my Unibit, opened it up a tad with my Dremel, and then filed the edges clean. Once my large Adel clamps come in I'll anchor the forward end to a seat rib. After lunch I riveted in the aft seat pans (which were partially installed on the QB fuselage already). I also riveted in the baggage compartment floor ... NOT forgetting to install all the various nutplates. I also (based on the assembly manual suggestion) ran a tap through all the nutplates which hold on the baggage compartment aft wall down at the baggage floor. The critical thing here is that I actually remembered to do it ... and before riveting the nutplates in place, at that. :) But .... my back is killing me. I've spent (as you see above) about six hours on the plane today, most of which was spent bending over to reach the fuselage floor. The fuselage is low to the ground, which helps, but .... my back is killing me anyway. Time to hit the hot-tub (and Advil)! Time : 6.25 hours

Fabricated F-741A / Rivet Layout on F-741B

May 10, 2005

Tonight was short night, but I wanted to get a little done. I screwed up one F-741A support by mis-reading one cut line .. and had to order some replacement Z-channel. However, I had enough left to fabricated at least one of the supports, and did so tonight. Doing it the second time around went much faster, even doing it right. :) I also spent a little time laying out the rivet holes on the F-741A top cover. I ran out of time to work on things tonight so that is where I stopped. More tomorrow night! Time : 1.0 hours

Fabricated Second F-741A / Fitted Tunnel Cover

May 15, 2005

This weekend (heck, the whole week) has been hectic, but I did want to "touch the project" at least a little today. I got my bit of replacement Z-channel and in very short order fabricated the second (right) F-741A. I then drilled both supports to the nutplates already in the plane, drilled the cover plate itself, and then drilled the cover plate to the supports. Once everything was drilled I countersunk the rivet holes in the supports and dimpled the cover. I've got to wait until it isn't threatening rain out there to prime the supports (since they are not ALCLAD), so I'm calling it a day. I have no plans for the upcoming week, or the weekend, so I'm hoping to get back on track with building. This last week was a washout due to family responsibilities and then needing (and wanting) to drive Theresa to Damascus, VA to attend "Trail Days", a backpacker gathering. It was lots of fun, and well worth the driving. Today I caught a little of the last day of the Lumberton fly-in, but came home early so I could at least get a bit of work done on the plane. I'm glad I did. Time : 2.0 hours

Primed Tunnel Cover Parts

May 16, 2005

I had almost NO time to work on the plane today, mainly due to a broken hot-tub heater I had to troubleshoot (the igniter module is dead, which happens .. of course .. to be about the most expensive part that could fail). BUT, while I was working on the hot-tub heater I took out a bit of time to prep and prime the tunnel cover parts. They are now ready for assembly. (And, I "touched the project" again today ... which is a "Good Thing ™". :) Time : 0.5 hours

Riveted Tunnel Cover

May 17, 2005

I had a little time while a work activity ran (and ran, and ran) so since my computer was worthless while it cranked on that ... I walked away and set a few rivets. :) Sad to say, even that didn't use up enough time for this particular activity to be done. So I'm making this entry while it finished. I need a new machine, and am due a refresh in September! Woo hoo! I can't wait. It is only May, of course, so I have to suffer just a little longer. What did I do? I set the rivets in the tunnel cover. Not a big deal, but another small step forward. I hope to get more done tonight if our regular Tuesday night "financial update evening" doesn't run too late. During the evening I got a little time to work, and installed the Adel clamp on the forward end of my under-baggage conduits. I've included a picture of how that went together. Afterward I started collecting up parts for the forward covers, including the altered parts needed for the high-pressure fuel pump for the fuel injection. Studying the plans it looks like no real problem making the alterations. Time : 1.5 hours

Trimmed Forward Fuselage Covers

May 24, 2005

I spent some lunch-hour time today working on trimming the front covers. These are the covers that go over the fuel lines from the fuel selector valve .. and which also cover the FI fuel pump. For the FI pump the supplied covers have to be trimmed and some new pieces have to be installed. This accounts for the larger size of the FI pump and filter. I have a little more trimming and filing to do, but am close to having them ready to install. Time : 0.5 hours

Drilled Forward Fuselage Covers

May 28, 2005

I drilled the various fuselage cover pieces (baffle, etc.) together. Since I couldn't prime (rain) I also started on the stick book retaining rings. I couldn't believe it, but after cutting out two I realized I picked up the wrong measurement off the plans ... and cut them too small. Sooooo ... I had to lay out another pair, and cut them. Oh well. I also spent a little time scratching my head over the AFP fuel pump. As I look at the plans, the "T" AN fitting that comes off the gold-colored check valve indicates that the leg of the "T" should come off pointing horizontal if the manifold on the pump is vertical. Mine, on the other hand, comes off at a 45 degree angle down. Unfortunately this causes the tubing to hit the filter, which will never work. Time to do some investigation. Time : 1.5 hours

Fabricated Stick Boot Covers

May 28, 2005

I finished cutting out the stick boot covers, and then remove the metal in the middle. A bit of drilling, nibbling, Dremel-ing, and then filing got the job done. I also talked to Walter Tondu, a builder who had the same problem with the AFP fuel pump fit, about my situation. In the end he felt mine was even worse off than his, and we concluded that the smart solution would be to call AFP and talk to them. Since they are just a few hundred miles away (145.5NM, to be exact) ... if need be, I could even go there and get my problem resolved (one would hope). We'll see what they say. I am going to include a few pictures here so you can see the problem I am talking about. Later in the day I found a little more time to work and made the last cutout on the forward cover, as well as getting the heat baffle primed. With a little more filing to clean up the latest cuts I'll be ready to assemble the baffle to the forward cover. NOTE: I did go to AFP, and they were fantastic. They adjusted the angle of the fitting and re-made the pre-fabricated line that comes with the pump. They also bench ran my pump and verified that it had no leaks and that it produced adequate pressure. GREAT SERVICE! Time : 3.75 hours

Riveted Forward Cover Baffle / Nutplates	May 30, 2005
I spent a little time on this Memorial Day and did a little riveting. I got the heat baffle riveted in place, along with all the nutplates on the forward cabin cover. Time : 1.25 hours

Fabricated Vent Line Fittings

June 2, 2005

I've been sick a week, and then after that went out of town for a week, and when I got back decided I really needed to do some reorganizing and cleaning in the shop. I spent some time today on that, and then wanted to make *some* small headway on the airplane .... so fabricated the vent fittings. These are the bulkhead fittings that go at the far end of the tank vent lines under the fuselage. I wrapped duct tape around the threads of the fitting and chucked it into my drill press. Then I used my vixen file to make short work of the threads, and cleaned it all up with some emery cloth. After that I made a quick 45-degree cut on the cleaned up end and neat-ened up the cut with my disc sander. A nice easy focused task, that at least let me log and hour or so of work on the plane for the day. Time : 1.5 hours

Forward Center Covers

August 7, 2005

I've not been out working due to the heat/humidity which has hit spectacular levels this summer, even for North Carolina. I went out and *forced* myself to work today, and made some forward progress. I got the mounting plate for my AFP fuel pump final-fitted and primed. I riveted on the angles and primed the assembly. It is ready to install. Time was also spent on checking the fit of other covers that go into this area with an eye toward final drilling and fitting of nutplates. I'm ready to have this annoying area completed. I finally had to stop due to the heat/humidity. I was soaked, and I was continually dripping sweat on the parts, the plans, and the assembly manual. Yuck. I also spent a little time .. while waiting for primer to dry .. fixing the alignment of my flap hinge on the right wing. Riveting has caused some mis-alignment of some of the hinge eyes, and sliding the pin in slowly from eye to eye identified the poorly aligned ones and a little tweaking set them straight. Time : 3.5 hours

Odds and Ends Day

August 13, 2005

Once again the heat (and work) last week kept me away from airplane work ... but I decided to brave the heat/humidity today to see if I could get a LITTLE done. (Of course, most of the day was consumed with shopping for a bathroom refinishing job we are undertaking!) I didn't want to get into anything heavy, so I did a number of odds and ends. I routed the rudder cables (before things were so closed up they would become hard to route), trimmed the mounting plate for my newly received Andair fuel valve, mounted the platenuts on the fuel valve plate, and Unibit-ed the mounting hole for the fuel valve. Note, to make the Andair fit as easily as possible I ordered one that had right-angle fittings for the two inputs (rather than the female fitting that comes by default if you order from Van's). I also got an Earl's adapter fitting. It was called a "-6 Female An Swivel on Run" fitting, part number 926106ERL. You can find them at many online hot-rod parts outlets. (I love the name .. as the image that a 'female swivel on run' conjures up just proves that I am a dirty old man!) Not cheap, but it has normal male -6 AN fittings on one arm and middle of the T, and on the the other arm of the T is an AN nut. That allows the fitting to be screwed directly into the output of the Andair valve making a very nice neat installation. Cool! :) Time : 2.5 hours

Cut 1" Hole for Andair / Trimmed Plate	August 26, 2005
While waiting for Pete to arrive so that I could put a bead on a piece of tubing for him ... I cut the 1 inch hole in the fuel valve mounting plate for the Andair fuel valve. I also trimmed the triangular flange from the end of the plate (since I'm going with electric trim, and don't need the flange for the manual trim) and deburred all of the edges. Time : 0.75 hours

More Forward Center Cover Work

August 27, 2005

I installed platenuts on the Andair fuel valve, laid out and drilled the mounting holes for the valve, mounted platenuts on the fuel valve plate, and primed the plate. I also drilled, dimpled, and primed the fuel pump cover pieces and are ready to rivet. You can also see the Earl's fitting in the pictures here. It is the perfect item to help make the tubing runs easy in this tight spot! A side note .. today is beautiful. Temps in the 80s and low (relatively) humidity. Maybe we are finally going to get back into airplane building weather again! Thank goodness. Time : 3.25 hours

More Forward Center Cover Work	August 28, 2005
I drilled the fuel pump mounting plate to the fuselage, riveted the fuel pump cover together, drilled it to the fuel pump mounting plate and the fuel valve cover assembly. If we weren't going to have guests in an hour I'd finish drilling the front cover to the fuselage, but I am outta time for today (for now, at least). Time : 2.5 hours

Finished Forward Center Cover Work

September 3, 2005

I finished up the forward covers, finishing the drilling, priming (now that I have a new stock of primer), and installing of platenuts. Hard to believe it can chew up 5 hours doing just those tasks ... but it is a lot of small tedious steps, each taking their own bit of time. We also had Tracy and Mike come over today so that Mike could use the plane as a "photo subject". We set up, took a few shots, went and ate Dim Sum, then came back and finished it all up. A nice little visit, and Mike even got pressed into helping me set a few rivets. :) Time : 5.25 hours

Installed Crotch Strap Kit

September 4, 2005

I started fresh on the crotch strap kit, and stripped the blue plastic off the parts this morning. By this evening (including a break for lunch and helping my wife with the grocery shopping) I pulled the last pop rivet. Nice to start and finish one whole assembly in a single day of work! I decided to detour and do this instead of installing the flap motor assembly just because it seemed a good thing to do. Tomorrow, with luck, I'll get the flap motor assembly installed. :) Time : 6.5 hours

Fabricated F-766B Flap Actuator Angle	September 9, 2005
I had just a little time before heading out tonight, so I grabbed a bit of angle and fabricated the part. I find it so satisfying to take a small piece of raw material and end up with a functional/functioning part. :) Time : 0.5 hours

Flap Actuator Assembly

September 10, 2005

Today was flap actuator day .. and I collected up the rest of the parts, drilled the flap torque tube clevises, and (after some consultation with my EAA Technical Adviser, who I caught over at Denny's) drilled the flap actuator itself for the rod end bearing safety wire. I only sacrificed two of my tiny drill bits ... but the safety wire hole came out perfectly. In the afternoon/evening (after quite a few family-related chores had consumed a bit of my day) I finished drilling the bearing blocks for the flap actuator torque tube. I installed the whole assembly in the fuselage, though I have not drilled the bolt holes for the center bearing block yet. I'm outta time for today, and will take care of that tomorrow. Time : 4.25 hours

Flap Actuator Assembly (continued)

September 11, 2005

I put the actuator weldment in place (with the ends in their respective bearing blocks), drilled the bolt holes for the center bearing block, installed the nutplates, and bolted the whole assembly into the fuselage. Tedious, and backbreaking since I've not yet resorted to putting the fuse on a "rotisserie". :) In the afternoon I worked on the F-766 assembly, getting the platenuts installed, the lower attach brackets riveted, all the parts drilled (except for final drilling the top attach bracket for the rivets), and all the parts (again, except for the top attach bracket) primed. I'm close to done with the whole assembly, but out of time for today. Time : 6.25 hours

Flap Positioning Sensor Installed

September 17, 2005

I am, unfortunately, sick with a cold this weekend and it is going to badly cut into my building time. I decided I could piddle on the plane as long as I didn't mess with anything that couldn't be fixed without ordering new parts. :) This means no drilling, no cutting, and no bending of metal. So I installed the sensor (mainly a notched rod, with some microswitches to sense the notches) for a flap position system on my flap actuator assembly. You can see in the picture how it goes on, and there was no way I could mess this up. :) As a note, the system is from a company called "Show Planes", and was purchased from Van's. It looks like a nicely done little system. Time : 0.5 hours

Flap Actuator Assembly (continued)

September 18, 2005

Miracle of miracles ... I woke up this morning feeling pretty darned good! So, leaping at the opportunity I worked on my plane. I installed the front and back braces (again), and after rectifying a small problem I put the side covers on and drilled the back brace to the side covers. The small problem was using universal rivets to hold the reinforcement plate for the flap actuator bolt rather than flush rivets. This caused a small interference problem with the side covers ... of course. Drilled 'em out, countersunk/dimpled, and put new rivets in. Problem resolved. I also fabricated a bracket for the flap controller. I created a couple of Z-brackets out of back-to-back light angle, and put #8 nutplates on so I could screw the controller box in place. This will be tucked inside the covers for the flap actuator assembly and will be nicely out of the way. I did much priming, nutplate riveting, drilling, fitting, and such activities today ... but did not finish. I'm close, though! At this point I'm feeling a bit tired and like I should not push it on the off chance my cold relapses. Time : 6.0 hours

Flap Actuator Assembly (continued)

September 22, 2005

My cold is finally on the way out ... and, it did relapse. I don't know why I got a break last Sunday but I'm not going to complain about it. :) I spent a little time tonight figuring out how to use the new crimper dies I got for my ProCrimper II. They are different from the other dies I've bought ... with a number of extra parts. There were NO instructions from Digikey, but I found a datasheet on the Mouser web site (bless Google!). With that in hand I was able to install it with zero problem, and it worked like a charm. I'm quite happy. If I didn't have to run back out to work tonight I'd finish the flap actuator installation ... as all I have to do right now is bolt/screw it all in place. Time : 1.5 hours

Flap Actuator Assembly (completed)

September 23, 2005

I confirmed (with Van's) about the hardware needed to attach the rod end bearing to the flap actuator weldment .. and finished up the install of the flaps tonight. I also got my shipment of slightly larger Mate-N-Loc connectors from Digikey and installed a connector on the end of the flap controller wires. It sure makes for a nice tidy termination of the wires. I now need to go finish up one small thing on the Wings ... the installing of the flap on the left wing. Ok, maybe it isn't small, but it does need to happen. :) Time : 2.0 hours

Flap Actuator Rod-End Bearing Safety-Wired

September 25, 2005

Ok, yeah, I know in the previous entry I said the installation was completed. I forgot to safety-wire the jam-nut on the rod-end bearing so pulled it partially apart to take care of that. Tedious, but not a big deal. I feel better making that small bit of extra effort since they do call it out on the plans. I'll just note here as well that I installed the one other piece of tubing on the fuel pump assembly that doesn't go "somewhere else". That is to say, off to the fuel valve or the engine. I'll install those pieces of tubing once I perform the final install of the pump in the fuselage. It only took me two tries to get this one piece of tubing fitted. :) NOW ... off to do a little finishing up work on the left wing. :) Time : 0.5 hours

Prepare to Trim Rear Spars

September 26, 2005

I wanted to first find the trim detail for the rear spars, and then lay out the areas to be trimmed ... and then walk away. Tonight gave me the perfect opportunity to do this as we are going out to dinner so I had a half-hour between the end of the work day and when we are thinking about leaving. I did a couple of things to help insure that I have the area laid out correctly. First I Xerox-ed the trim detail from the plans (sheet 38) and cut it out like a paper doll. I then used the dimensions from the plans to lay out the cut lines. To confirm my layout I took my "paper doll" and lay it on the end of the spar, lining everything up carefully. I confirmed that the area I had marked off aligned with the areas on the Xerox-ed paper ... and they did. I'm now going to call Van's, confirm that I'm doing the right thing, and ask advice on how best to cut the spars. I believe the way I'm going to do this is to clamp some "guard metal" in place outside the lines (say, maybe 1/8" to 1/4") and then cut the bulk of the material off with a cut-off wheel on my die grinder. I'll then finish up the remainder of the removal of material with files. The final clean up will be with a small Scotchbrite wheel on my die grinder to polish out any file nicks. I'll update this with the actual procedure (and how it goes) when done. Ok .. just talked to Van's, and the "hatched area" on the plans is the MINIMUM of trimming that will be needed. Gus felt sure I'd likely need to trim a little more. Therefore, the first cut can be done with a hacksaw and don't worry about polishing until the final fit has been made. This means that fitting the wings will be iterative, which is fine by me as it allows me to remove no metal other than just what is needed to get the fit right. Time : 0.5 hours

Prep for Wing Fitting

September 29, 2005

I spent a few hours today getting ready to fit the wings to the fuselage. The first thing I did (at lunch, not counted in the hours listed here) was pick up four 7/16" bolts. This is to avoid using my beautiful close tolerance bolts for trial fittings of the wings! This evening I took the bolts to my bench grinder and knocked off the threads to create homebrew "drift pins". I cleaned the grinding up with my Scotchbrite wheel and I think I'm good to go now. I also pulled the false spar out from the center section, so that area is now free to accept the wing spars. I also took the plunge and did the first bit of trimming on the rear spars. I have to say I was nervous, even though Gus said this was a first trim and would certainly not be the last. This initial bit is the MINIMUM that can be taken off, so worrying too much about cutting right to the line isn't worth the effort. I worried anyway, and was very careful about this trim. You can see the results (not very polished, as I took Gus' word that polishing was a real waste of time at this point) in the pictures here. I did take his advice in one regard .... I used a hacksaw on the end piece as it was the quick way to make the cut. For the underside I used my Dremel and a bit of filing to get to the line. Time : 2.25 hours

More Prep for Wing Fitting

September 30, 2005

Today was mostly spent running around picking up odds and ends to finish my wing fitting task. I got some wood to make some supports for the fuselage stand ... to get the wheels off the ground. You do not (I don't believe) want the fuselage rolling away from you as you try to install the wings. :) I also picked up a few more plumb bobs, a laser "chalk line" tool, another big Vise-grip clamp (to match the one I already have), and filling the real chalk line with blue chalk. Time was spent in the shop getting things cleaned up, stored, stowed, and generally made ready for lots of movement of big airplane parts. I also fetched the wing root fairings from the storage building to have them on hand for later. Generally I don't log my "running around time", but I did spend a bit of time in the shop today ... and am going to credit myself with an hour of work. I'll be doing little tomorrow as I believe we'll be going up to VA for the EAA fly-in there, but on Sunday we'll fit the wings (with help from a friend or two). Time : 1.0 hours

Wing Fit Questions / VA EAA Fly-in

October 1, 2005

I had a number of questions regarding the process of fitting the wings to the fuselage, as well as some bolt fit/alignment questions. We went to the Virginia EAA Fly-in this year, and ran into Mitch Lock (the east cost trouble-shooter for Van's aircraft, and all around good guy). Rather than delay 'til I could talk to Van's on Monday, I was able to get all of my questions answered by Mitch! Very convenient. Oh, and the fly-in itself was nice too. :)

Fit Wings to Fuselage!

October 2, 2005

This was a big day. In the morning I tapered my drift pins a little more on the advice of Mitch. Also, if you look earlier in the Fuselage log page you'll see that my fuselage is on a rolling dolly/stand. This is great most of the time, but sucks when you are trying to wiggle wings into the spar carry through box. I spent some time this morning making some "risers" that lift the stand up a few inches .. just enough that the wheels are off the ground. They worked great. I also spent a little time figuring out which holes in the lower skin are used for wing root fairing screws, and putting rivets in all the rest. I also marked three inches in from the center of each soon-to-be screw hole, and even created a little marking/drilling jig to make the job a little easier. After a break for lunch, Pete Beal came over to help fit the wings. We fiddled with setting up the fuselage, marking the centerline, and getting ready to actually plug in the wings. When we did that step we brought Theresa and Marie out, and they helped heft the wings into place. The first (right, sticking out into the driveway) wing plugged in easily, but the bottom drift pin was VERY stubborn. The second (left, pointing into the garage) wing didn't want to go in .. and we had to fiddle a bit before we realized the rear spar was hitting the rear attachment fork on the fuselage, and we had to wiggle things into place. Those drift pins went in very easily. We had to install/remove/install/remove the left wing a few times to trim the rear spar by a few 16ths. My new small vixen file made short order of the trimming. I/we also used a StraitLine laser line tool to make sure the wings/fuselage were totally square, and that the wings had NO sweep. We also used my SmartTool level to make sure everything was level within a tenth of a degree (overkill .. for sure .. but comforting). We are taking a break while Pete meets his wife for dinner, and when he comes back we'll do a final check on incidence and will clamp/drill the rear spar attachment bolt holes. Once that is done we will take the "driveway wing" (right) off and put it back in the cradle so we can shut the garage door again. I'll finish off the work (fuel line, vent line, tank attachment bracket, wing root fairing) on the left side first .. and then we'll swap wings. By doing one wing at a time I can keep the option of being able to shut the garage .. and otherwise, I'd be out of luck. We have a 2-car garage, and maybe if I had fewer benches we could fit it all, but I LIKE my benches. While Pete was at dinner I confirmed all the measurements, triple checked the angle of incidence, quadruple checked the edge distance, marked the location where I wanted to drill, and got everything ready for the actual drilling of the rear spars. When Pete got back we very carefully put drill to metal and slowly drilled the holes. I drilled a "dimple" with my long #30 bit, then drilled the initial hole with the long 1/4" bit. We then final-sized the holes with the 5/16" bit. Once that was done we removed the right (driveway) wing and put it back in the cradle in the garage. We lifted the tail so I could get my low rolling table back in the garage as well, and called it a night. Since I had taken the right wing back off (so we can close the garage door) I confirmed that I had PLENTY of edge distance ... so I am one happy camper. It was a long day, but we got a lot done. I see it as a real milestone day. Thanks everyone (Pete, Theresa, Marie, and Kat) for all the help! Time : 8.75 hours

Test-Run Flap Motor Controller

October 4, 2005

To get ready for cutting the flap control rod holes, I needed to be able to run the flap motor. I wired up a switch (through a Mate-N-Loc connector) as per my wiring diagram and gave it a try. I used my 12V power supply to run the whole deal, and it worked like a charm. A single down-click of the momentary switch runs it from one flap setting down to the next flap setting .. and flipping the switch up (and leaving it there, non-momentary) runs the flaps all the way up. Precisely the behavior I wanted. It was a small achievement, but gratifying. As a side issue it allowed me to test out all my new crimping dies as I had to crimp AMP pins/sockets, as well as PIDG terminals. Everything worked as advertised. Time : 1.25 hours

Drilled Belly Skin to Wing Screw Holes (not quite)

October 6, 2005

Ok ... by "not quite" I mean ... I didn't. I have a very very close fit situation at the back edge of the wing. I only have 5/32" of edge distance for the screw hole, and that isn't enough to fit the #8 dimple. I talked to Van's and got a variety of suggestions, but wanted to find out exactly how much overlap there was. I created a "feeler gage" from a bit of .025 and just bent a little "hook" on the end. I slid it between the wing and the belly skin, pulled it snug against the wing edge, and used a sharpie to mark the edge of the belly skin. I have a full half-inch of overlap so do have some wiggle room. On the front edge I have even more overlap, and in fact after moving just two holes from the rear I end up with enough clearance. I did some test dimples close to the edge of a piece of scrap .025 and discovered I could go as close as 7/32" and still have room to spare for the dimple ... and could get even closer without cracking (but I don't want to). What I'm going to do for those two rear-most holes is move over by a tiny 2/32" to give me the 7/32" I want/need, and then going forward just drill where they should go. I do NOT like having to "fudge" .. but .. I've not had to do it often, and so I guess I should not complain. I did want to rest on it all to make sure everything is going to work out and that I am not overlooking anything (though this *is* one of the suggestions I got from Van's). I spent a little more time studying page 36 for all the fuel/brake line routing, so feel ready to jump into that when I finish up with the wings. I also clecoed the tank reinforcement angles on the inside of the fuselage preparing to drill the tank support bracket holes. Time : 1.75 hours

Odds and Ends

October 8, 2005

We have company coming over today so I didn't want to get into anything too heavy. So I did a number of odds and ends. I drilled the holes for the brake lines to pass through in the center rudder pedal brace (after engaging in a hunt to find the darn thing, as it had gotten misplaced). I pulled out the control sticks and started to prepare them to be installed. I pulled down the aileron pushrods (previously fabricated) and the tubing to fabricate the elevator pushrod. I reamed out the brass bushings in the control sticks, and drilled the holes to clean out the power coating in preparation for running bolts into the holes on the control sticks as well. All useful stuff that had to be done, but nothing really concrete to show for a few hours work. :) Time : 2.25 hours

Drilled Belly Skin (Left) / Fit Fairing / Drilled for Tank Bracket

October 9, 2005

I spent the morning getting ready to drill the holes. This included arranging to jack up the fuselage a little further, getting all my tools in place, and then deciding I *still* can't fit under there easily enough to drill the holes while laying on my creeper even with the fuse jacked up. I'm went to Wall-Mart to buy another roll of the universally handy "blue foam pad" that I've used before. I could have just laid on the concrete, but I want to be as comfortable as possible so I get these holes *right*. Since I'm dealing with some picky edge distances I want everything in my favor. I got the bottom holes drilled (delaying the one that overlaps the wing-root fairing until fitting the fairing). I then fit the fairing and drilled it (after some fiddling and concern about hole position). With that done I bent and drilled the holes for the tank attach bracket. Finally, I slid the aileron pushrod into the wing for final fitting and adjusting, but then ran out of time for today. I'll finish that up one night this week. The only thing I have left after that point is to cut the flap pushrod hole, then this wing can come OFF. Time : 5.25 hours

More Odds and Ends

October 16, 2005

I had intended to finish up my left wing today (to be ready to pull it off and put on the right) ... but could NOT find enough of the flap pushrods AT6 material to fabricate them. Clearly I had not planned ahead and had either mis-placed a piece, or used it up for spacer material. I'll just order more from Van's. So the cutting of the flap rod exit holes could not happen this weekend. I did bolt the aileron pushrod to the bellcrank, so that is done. I also started installing the control sticks, and only stopped that process because I wanted to think real hard about how I wanted to attach my co-pilot control stick (I'd really like to NOT use a bolt, if possible, to make it easier to remove). I found all the parts needed for the next steps ... except for the above-mentioned flap control rods. I also got down the two elevator pushrods, and drilled the small one for its rod end bearings. I stopped short of finishing them up because that would entail coating the inside of the rods with primer, and I'm out of time for today. Time : 4.5 hours

Flap Pushrods

October 28, 2005

Yeah .. I had long break here. I was out of town last weekend and during the weeks work has slammed me with some urgent activities. I was also waiting on an order from Van's (you know how that can be). It came in today, and my replacement AT6-058x5/16x9 stock came in. This means I can get back to fabricating and installing my flap pushrods. I cut the two rods to length, and even got one threaded. My first attempt (a few weeks ago) at drilling and threading was not at all adequate. I had two problems. Drilling/tapping the hole straight was not achieved, and holding the tube in place well enough to tap it an inch deep was ... well ... a disaster. I'll tell you what I did to get past these problems (without resorting the the metal lathe I don't own). I asked some metal-fans I know of (the guys on a knife-making list) how they would approach the problem. The best suggestion I got was to take two pieces of hardwood (like some 1x2 oak, which is what I had on had) and clamp them on their sides in the drill press vise with a bit of paper (like a business card) between the two pieces. Then take a drill which is the OD of the tube, and drill all the way through the wood. Once the pieces of paper come out it is SLIGHTLY undersize, and will serve as a homebrew clamp all the way around the tube. After that it is easy. Step drill up to the size desired without moving the tube between bit changes. Chuck the tap into the drill press (making SURE it is unplugged or otherwise disarmed) and start the tap. Once you get to the point where the tap is WELL into the tube and it starts to get hard to turn the chuck by hand .. you can loosen the chuck and put a tap handle on the tap. You are already in straight at that point and it is just a matter of driving for a little more depth. I did use a countersink cutter to put a SMALL bit of a chamfer on the inside of the whole before starting the tap to help center it. The tap was a taper-style tap, but I think the chamfer helped get things started very centered. Works like a charm. My first one came out perfect. I now have three more to do, and it'll then be time to use my Dremel to cut holes in the fuselage. *shudder* Time : 0.5 hours

Flap Pushrods Finished / Left Flap Hung

October 29, 2005

The hour-count is so low today because most of the day was spent helping my daughter build a Lyre for a school project. To be clear, SHE did all the work with me supervising and instructing on how to use the tools. So far she has run the drill press (cutting out eight 2-inch holes with a hole saw), used a jig-saw to do some bulk stock removal, and a rasp to rough-clean some of the inside holes. She's doing great. :) During the time she was working solo, I worked on finishing up the flap push rods. That was done easily enough ... at the cost of one 1/4-28 tap. Yeah, I broke one. So it goes. I also got the left flap hung. Those hinge pins are a PAIN to install, but I did it. My hands may never be the same though. Now it is time to install the pushrods and I'll get to that this weekend *if* my daughter doesn't need too much more time (but working with her is a real joy, so I ain't passing it up for the world .. and the plane will just have to wait). Time : 2.5 hours

Sticks Installed / Flap Finished

October 30, 2005

I spent a good bit of time today getting the sticks installed. The amount of time expanded due to a number of things. One is interruptions with the continuing help on the Lyre project. :) Quite pleasant interruptions as I enjoy working with my kids. But it did cause me to stop and then have to pick back up work repeatedly taking more time. The other thing pushing out my time was the need to be able to work in the cockpit. I finally took out the shipping cross-brace, cleaned up the front cockpit, and put in my temporary "floor board" (i.e. an appropriately sized piece of plywood). Once that was done I could kneel in the cockpit to work on the sticks. They are now in, and the one aileron is temporarily bolted in place (to be taken off again when the wing comes back off). In the evening I finally cut the hole for the flap push rod. It wasn't as fiddly as I had feared it might be. It sure helped clearance when I finally remembered to put the star washer (with a regular washer under) on the CM-4MS stud. Until then the thin jam-nut was hitting the opening on the side of the fuselage. I am now finally ready to REMOVE the left wing, and start it all over again on the right wing. :) Time : 6.25 hours

Elevator Pushrods Primed Internally	October 31, 2005
I had just a LITTLE time before the ghosts and goblins started to show up, so I went out and ran some primer through the insides of the elevator push tubes. Now they can dry really well before I close them off. Oh, and ... Happy Halloween! Time : 1.0 hours

Elevator Pushrods Assembled

November 2, 2005

I went straight out to the garage to work on the plane after work-time was past, and got the two elevator pushrods drilled, and their ends installed. They both still need to be primed, but I need to do that when it is not so dark outside, and not so chilly either. I'll likely wrap them up this weekend (as since we are back to standard time ... it is really hard to get out and work *before* it gets dark and chilly on weeknights). Time : 2.0 hours

Redecorated Garage

November 4, 2005

Ok ... what I mean by that is we took one wing off, moved everything around, and put the other wing back on. I appealed to Marilyn to come help Theresa and myself, and she was (as always) a real champ. Theresa and Marilyn hefted those wings, hauled them around, and helped me wiggle the right wing back into place. This was, of course, along with having to try the fuselage in just about every orientation (except inverted) to get things to fit. In the end we put it in the orientation I had all along assumed we would have to use. Time : 1.5 hours

Drilled Belly Skin (Right)

November 5, 2005

Today was Christopher's 18th birthday, and we spent a good bit of time this morning celebrating (and will celebrate more later, but he is out with friends this afternoon). Therefore, I got started a little late this morning ... but made good progress. The belly skin (right) to wing root holes are drilled. After lunch I fitted the wing root fairing and the tank attach bracket. I also installed the aileron pushrod onto the aileron bellcrank (with the TruTrak roll servo). Tomorrow all I need to do is fiddle with the sticks a bit, install the flap, cut the flap pushrod exit hole, and adjust. Once that is done (and that is easily done in a light day of working) the wing can come back off. This round was MUCH faster due to having gotten it all figured out on the other wing first. Once I finish with the wings (installing platenuts, mainly) I may well store them off-site until needed again. That'll give me a LOT more room in the shop ... room I'll need for painting, canopy work, and eventually (in a year) the firewall forward effort. Time : 3.75 hours

Aligned Sticks / Carved Flap Hole / Shop Cleanup

November 6, 2005

I spent the early part of the morning getting straightened up, priming a part or two, and then aligning my sticks (finally). Before I endure another round of getting aluminum chips in my hair I'm going to go get some lunch ... then after lunch I'll install the flap, and cut the exit hole for the flap pushrod. I did cut the hole for the flap pushrod, and this time actually needed to trim the flap a bit to fit. It was just barely scraping along the side of the fuselage. A little file-work did the trick. I got that done and with the help of Dennis Roberts (a new RV-7 builder himself, who came to visit and spend a little time working with some of the tools) we got the wing off and back in the cradle. I now need to figure out my strategy for moving forward, as I think I really need to paint before I do any more work in the cabin. Sadly, I'm not ready and the right wing went MUCH faster than expected. I'll figure out how to use a little of my time up though .... there is plenty to do. :) Time : 4.5 hours

Fabricated Rudder Cable Exit Fairings	December 3, 2005
Well, maybe. I took a crack at making rudder cable exit fairings, and they came out OK but not "perfect". See Sam Buchannan's fuselage page eight, in about the middle of the page, for details. I need to decide if they are good enough or not, but lean toward using them as I think they are plenty good enough. We'll see. :) Time : 1.0 hours

Odds and Ends

January 1, 2006

A long while back I mis-drilled a forward longeron when installing the brake pedals for the first time. I solved the problem by drilling out the longeron upon which the pedals rest, and re-fabricating it. I've long needed to re-rivet it in place, but simply have had other things distracting me. Theresa and I finally installed the rivets today and did so in short order. I also set most of the rivets in the tailcone, mainly because there was no reason to not finish them up. Theresa will need to help me drive four remaining rivets (that look like a real pain to set). I started moving forward on getting the fuselage cabin ready for paint. All the random junk that had collected in the fuselage was removed, the cabin had the shop vac used on it, and I removed the flap actuator and torque tube. I also preped the side panels that cover the portion of the spare carry-through that runs up the side of the fuselage ... installing a few platenuts now in case I ever want to mount something later. I'll fill the holes with screws until needed one day, and I made them flush so they would be somewhat less obvious. Finally, I pulled all the parts (at least I hope I got all the parts) out of storage that go into the cabin and will need paint. This includes all the fuel pump covers, flap actuator covers, baggage are covers, and baggage area back wall. Each will need to be completely cleaned and preped for painting, and areas to not recieve paint will need to be masked off. Time : 4.75 hours

Building Paint Booth

January 8, 2006

I spent a bit of time this morning working on a "paint booth" for painting the inside of the cockpit. I'm building this from PVC and plastic sheeting and have had to make multiple runs to the hardware store as I have "evolved" my booth design. It is hard to judge how much time to log, so while I spent a lot of time at the hardware store ... I'm only logging those hours spent in the shop actually cutting/fitting PVC. :) Seems a reasonable compromise. I hope to get the booth frame (i.e. the PVC part) finished tomorrow. Tonight we have a birthday party to attend, so that cuts my Saturday short. Time : 2.25 hours

More PVC / T.P. Filter Installed

January 9, 2006

I cut/fitted a bunch more PVC today. Pulling it all together took longer than I expected .... and it didn't help that I was "designing on the fly". That always makes things go more slowly. I'll learn one day. I also installed (which is to say, I hung on the wall near the compressor) my Motor Guard M-60 air filter (aka: "toilet paper filter"). This will help me have my air as clean as I can, affordably, get it for painting. Not much to write, even if a lot of time went into the day (and aching muscles came out). Somehow this kind of work is NOT gratifying. I'm ready to get this painting behind me (maybe the painting itself will be fun??) and back to working on airplane parts themselves. Time for Advil now. Time : 5.5 hours

Acquired Paint

January 16, 2006

The family and I have been discussing cabin color for ages. I'm boring and have leaned in the direction of the usual grey one commonly sees in RV cabins. The family said "yuck, boring". I don't entirely agree, but since this has become a bit of a family project ... I thought it wise to at least listen. As we talked, they suggested a blue/grey as a compromise, and the more I thought about it the more I liked it. At Lowe's one day my daughter and I looked at paint chips just to get some ideas ... and we walked away with a few. Further consultation with family produced a choice and my son and I headed out to pick up the paint today. The folks at Finishmasters continue to be great. Don spent a lot of time helping me match the chip and advising me on how to shoot the paint ... more time than they'll ever recoup in money spent by me. I've scanned the final paint mixture for posterity (and so I can replicate it if need be) in the picture you see here.

Paint Booth Work

January 22, 2006

The big break here was due to me being out of town for a week, and once back we had plans for a party which consumed much of the weekend. We also had our end-of-the-year party/potluck for EAA Chapter 1114 (where I got a bit of a plesant surprise). Today I spent some time (after some party cleanup and recovery) knocking together a small frame to hold a heater filter ... for the outflow of air from the paint booth ... and pulling some plastic onto the booth frame. I'll need more plastic to finish the job, though! Time : 1.5 hours

More Paint Booth Work

January 28, 2006

Yet another day (week) consumed with real-work and family-stuff. That is not a complaint, just an observation. :) I did get some time this evening to get out and get most of the rest of the plastic on the paint booth. I should get that finished tomorrow .. and .. believe it or not .. maybe get a little painting done. Time will tell. The picture here shows the booth ready for business (in fact, was taken later after some paint had been shot in it). Time : 1.5 hours

First Paint in Booth

February 4, 2006

I finally got the last small odds-and-ends finished on the booth, and shot a little paint (primer, actually). I wanted to prime my elevator pushrods and used them to "test drive" the booth. It worked great. Lessons learned ... be sure to set up all the parts on ONE side of the small-sized booth. Otherwise it gets too crowded. Don't pull the Hobbyair hood on until you are in the booth, as you'll fog in moments otherwise. Make sure you mix enough material so you don't have to stop shooting in the middle of the job! Now you see why I wanted a "test drive". I've got family-plans for the rest of the day, but tomorrow I'll shoot some of my first color. We'll see how THAT goes. Time : 2.25 hours

Shot Some Color

February 5, 2006

Today I shot my first bit of color. It is still out in the shop drying, but I'm optimistic. I first shot primer on the backside of the panels (where I was NOT going to shoot color) and then, once that was dry enough, I flipped them over and shot primer on the front. I let that dry for an hour then shot color over it. I have a feeling that I laid it on too heavily, but that is why I picked some of the "less visible" panels for this first round of paint. We'll see how they look and will adjust from there. The picture here looks a bit dark ... and it is actually a nice blue/grey color. I'm pleased. UPDATE: I took one of my examples by Finishmasters (the great folks here in the Raleigh/Durham area who sell paint, and who have spent more time with me than they have made profit) to get their input. The painting-guru there seemed to think I had done fine job after all, with the one issue being not quite adequate surface prep. I should have known I needed to do a better job, but it takes making your own mistakes to really drive it home. That being said, he also felt that I shouldn't worry about re-shooting the stuff already painted as it was plenty good enough (particularly given I picked not-so-visible panels for my first attempt). I picked up some lint-free paper towels, some tack rags, and some surface cleaner. We'll see if a little more attention to surface prep will make the results even better. Time : 3.25 hours

Shot More Color

February 9, 2006

I'm trying to get a little painting done after work .. and am battling the cold to do it. The minimum suggested temperature for the paint is 55 degrees ... so I'm using my space heater (very carefully, and not when paint is actually being shot, and not near any solvent at ANY time at all) to try and keep the temps above 55 degrees. It is a battle and I doubt I'll try painting on a cold evening like this again. Then again, I had high hopes that I'll have quite good results so was excited about taking another shot (pun intended) at the job. It is all still wet now (and the space heater is still running trying to keep it warm for a while) so it'll be a bit before we know the final results. UPDATE: The pictures here show the results. I am very pleased with how it all came out. I think I have the painting thing figured out. Time to really get in gear now and finish up all the small parts since I seem to be getting good clean coverage. Time : 3.25 hours

Yet More Painting

February 12, 2006

More painting. What can I say? I had to re-shoot a few parts from the last session due to inadequate coverage ... and we'll see how that turns out. I'm quite optimistic. I think I'll have one more batch of "small parts", and then one round of painting a fuselage skin (inside) before I'm ready for the cabin. I _have_ discovered a few other parts that'll need paint and may try to get them taken care of in this round of painting too. I hope that "this round" is the "last round", but only time will tell. I'll include a pic of one of the parts shot in this batch tomorrow when they are dry. At least the outside temps are not so darned low ... so my space-heater can keep up easily enough and it isn't the battle it was the last time. Time : 2.75 hours

And Yet More Painting

February 24, 2006

Work has consumed all my time and energy over the last few weeks. We are into the final stages of getting a software release out ... and there is urgency to the assignments that is all-consuming. Thus, the break in the airplane work you see from the dates here. That being said, I went out after work today and did another round of small-part painting. I'm getting faster. :) Part of what made me make the extra after-work effort was the weather. It is a beautiful warm day and I could not let that go by without squirting some paint! I think I have about one more small batch to do, and after that have to paint the inside of the fuselage. Then I'll be (for now, but I know not forever) done! Time : 2.25 hours

Morning Misc / Afternoon Painting

February 25, 2006

This morning I needed to let the parts from last night cure a little more .. so did "other stuff". I got the louvers on the cabin head input bent outward. It was easier than I had anticipated. I simply clamped a bit of aluminum angle to the edge/corner of a bench, aligned the bend line with the edge of the aluminum, clamped a small block of wood on the back side ... and then using a little piece of wood (cut from a paint mixing stick) used a hammer to tap-tap-tap the bend in place. Worked great. I also drilled some angle for mounting my strobe power pack (I said this was a bit of "morning misc") and bent the stick boot flanges to match the bend on the seat-pan. I also pulled out all the rest of the parts I needed to paint, and preped them for an afternoon session in the paint booth. After lunch I pulled it all into the paint booth and shot some paint. We'll see how this batch turns out. :) I am *still* a bit heavy handed on the paint. I got a few runs from the session last night. I think that is my natural impatience working against me. I'm going to try to lighten up and maybe take two passes at the paint instead of trying to get it all done in one. (Yeah, I can hear you saying "Duh!" right now.) Time : 4.0 hours

Started Canopy Bow

February 26, 2006

Last night's painting came out great. But today I'm taking a break from painting and starting to work on the canopy bow. I got out all the parts and fabricated all the little angles that go into the structure. A bit tedious if one is in a hurry ... but I was just happy to be messing with nice honest aluminum again. :) The (slightly blurry) picture shows the results of a pleasant bit of time abusing aluminum. Time : 3.0 hours

Misc Canopy Bow Work

March 8, 2006

I have social obligations tonight (and the big break in the dates is due to going to Airflow Performance for a class ... look at the Engine section to read about that) so only could sneak in a little time. But a little is more than none, so I'm pleased. I pulled the plastic off of the join strips for the canopy bow and deburred/dressed the edges. They are nice and smooth now. I also cut the 1.5 inch access holes in the canopy bow rear pieces. Before doing that I confirmed with Van's that I can just use the tooling holes rather than be overly anal about getting the hole positin JUST RIGHT. In fact ... I made the Van's tech support person laugh about how they sometimes get a little overly anal with the drawings and truth be told it doesn't hardly matter WHERE those holes go as long as they do the job of letting you get a wrench in there. :) Time : 1.0 hours

More Misc Canopy Bow Work

March 9, 2006

My parts from Van's arrived today! Woo hoo! Tonight I cut a piece of plywood upon which I can lay out and drill my rear canopy bow pieces. I measured (and measured and measured) to make sure I had the layout marks right, then clamped the two rear bows to the plywood. I fabricated the two join plates ... which consisted of just laying out the pattern of holes, deburring the edges, drilling the holes, and then deburring the holes. I drilled the two plates together since the hole pattern is the same on both. I then drilled the rear plate to the rear bows .. and called it a night. Time : 2.5 hours

Drilled Canopy Bow Join Strips

March 11, 2006

This morning I jumped into marking the bow for the rivet holes and drilling it to the join strips. Tedious, but easy. I hope to get it all drilled today (but the rest will have to come after the family gets back from our lunch together). After lunch I finished drilling the canopy bow to the join straps, as well as the front center join plate. This is slow tedious work marking, centerpunching, and drilling all the spots .. particularly as there is a need to cleco incrementally each step of the way to make sure the join straps snuggle up against the canpoy bow pieces as they should. But ... that part is done! Now I just need to make sure the height is on the money, and then disassemble it all and deburr spots that need deburring, and countersink where the rivet factory heads need to go. All in all a successful day in the shop. Time : 6.5 hours

Assembled Canopy Bow

March 18, 2006

I spent the morning drilling the rear angle to the canopy bow, deburring all the holes (and boy are there are lot of them for such a small part of the airframe), and countersinking the rivet holes. As of lunchtime I had just primed the rear pieces and was letting them dry prior to assembly. After lunch I finished the assembly of the canopy bow. This included priming the rest of the parts, finishing up a bit of the countersinking, and setting all (200+, if you can believe it!) the rivets. Tomorrow ... it starts getting fitted to the plane. :) Time : 7.0 hours

Started Fitting Canopy Bow

March 19, 2006

Today I started fitting the canopy bow to the plane. This is an area in the plans that are not 100% clear. I checked various builder websites and I get conflicting information from them too. I did file-and-fit a bit and am pausing before I go too far. I'll talk to Van's tomorrow to confirm how it should all go together. I -think- I know, but want to be sure before I make too much metal go away. Time : 2.5 hours

More Canopy Bow Work

March 25, 2006

I did confirm with Van's how much to trim and how the F-631C angle should fit into the F-631 rollover bar. I finished trimming the one side I had started, and then trimmed the other side to match. I drilled the two sets of angles for the "keeper rivets". Since I have a quick-build fuselage, I had to go in and trim the tail end (like, the last 2 rivets worth, detailed on page 25 of the plans) F-721B. Following a suggestion from Van's tech support, I used an Exacto saw to trim the bulk of the material off (putting a bit of protective scrap under the saw cut). I then used my Dremel to -gently- carve away the forward bit of metal (see the detail in the plans) as well. I cleaned it up with a small Scotchbrite wheel on my die grinder, and it looks great. I'm now waiting for the F-631C/D angles to dry after having primed them. Once they are dry I can rivet them and start looking at drilling them to the fuselage. Joy. :) Time : 2.0 hours

Riveted F-757 (finally!)

March 26, 2006

Parts I had been holding off riveting for ages (don't rivet until you absolutely must!) are finally attached to the fuselage. I had to put these in place to prepare for the drilling of the canopy bow attach angles. After lunch I spent a lot of time fitting the roll bar/canopy bow to the fuselage. I wanted to go slow and trim only what was needed. It took a few iterations but I got it right. I'm going to wait to drill while I let what I did sink in a bit ... to make sure I'm happy with the current state of affairs. (That, and I'm tired!) The pictures show how it fits to the fuselage ... though the parts are just sitting there, and are not clamped in any way. However, I get exactly 17 7/8" to the top of the roll bar, which is what I wanted. :) Time : 4.75 hours

Odds and Ends

April 9, 2006

Theresa and I got back from Sun-N-Fun yesterday, and after a bit of unpacking and other needed chores were completed I got out into the shop and "touched the project" a bit. After asking the folks in the Van's tent how to buck the eight (four per side) rivets on the rear bottom inside bulkhead on the fuselage (they are in a tight area under some J-stringers) the answer was .. as I expected .. to just use blind rivets. So I did. Drilled the holes out to 1/8", opened up the countersink a bit, and installed CS4-4 rivets (all as per instructions from the folks at Van's). Done. I also set the four top rivets on the side longeron (just behind/under where the canopy roll bar angles will be bolted) since I picked up some longer rivets at Sun-N-Fun. That took all of 5 minutes to wrap up now that I had the right parts! I also tried out the Avery drill jig I purchased for drilling items such as AN nuts. My first test piece (on a throw-away nut) was a piece of cake. Came out great. My second one on a nut already on a flaired piece of tube (i.e. if I screwed it up, the whole assembly would have to be tossed) caused me to break the bit. Darn it. I was able to tap out the broken part of the bit and salvaged the part. *whew* I also spent a little time getting ready for final fitting/drilling of the roll bar ... but refrained from actually taking a drill to the parts since I am still not 100% rested up from the crazy drive back from Sun-N-Fun! All in all, it is great to be back home .. and great to "touch the project" again after a week of being gone. Time : 1.25 hours

Drilled Roll Bar Mounting Angles	April 12, 2006
I finally satisfied myself that I had the angles set up right, and the fuselage ready to be drilled. So I did it. Clamping them was challenging so it took much longer than it should have to drill four bolt holes. But they are done, and everything looks perfect, so I'm not going to gripe about it taking a few minutes more than I might have liked. :) Time : 1.75 hours

Canopy Bow Work (again)

April 16, 2006

Trimmed the canopy bow angles to match the curve of the fuselage side. Drilled the rear brace to the fuselage bulkhead, and to the canopy bow itself. Drilled the spacer, and riveted it to the rear brace. Drilled the side angles at the front which attach the sides of the brace to the canopy bow, and riveted them to the brace. Drilled the top angle which attaches the brace to the canopy bow. Drilled the rear holes, and countersunk them for the AN509-10R10 screws. In fact, I've done all the drilling -except- the match-drilling of the skin to the #30 holes at the back-side of the brace, and drilling the bow attach angle holes into the canopy bow itself. Time : 4.75 hours

Canopy Bow Work Finished

April 22, 2006

Today I finished up all the various bits of drilling on the canopy bow (roll bar) structure. I drilled the rest of the holes through the attach angle, as well as through the skin. I tapped the appropriate holes in the angles. I'm now ready to dimple and paint the skin (painting just the part that "shows" when installed). Once that is done, I'll be ready to paint -everything- that is left, and then take down my paint booth. FINALLY! I now have to play taxi for my daughter. More airplane work tomorrow! Time : 4.25 hours

Dimple F-774 / Prep For More Painting

April 23, 2006

Today didn't seem particulary productive. However, I did get the F-774 skin dimpled, including remembering to dimple correctly those few holes which were for 1/8" rivets, and those holes for #8 screws. It was a very awkward skin to dimple ... particularly since I'm working in a reduced amount of space. I am on track to fix that little problem, though. I now have -everything- done that needs to get done for my final round of painting. Thank GOODNESS! I hate painting, but have a handful of misc parts to paint ... then we reconfigure the paint booth and paint the cabin. And that phase of my life will be OVER! (Can you tell I hate painting? Oh .. yeah .. I said that just a moment ago. Didn't I? Well, it is true.) Time : 4.5 hours

Fix Mis-Drilled F-631C

April 28, 2006

I realized shortly after drilling my first forward hole on the F-631C that I had grabbed the clearance drill for a #8 screw and not the one used if the hole is to be tapped! Doh! I double-checked with Van's and they agreed it could be opened up to accept a #10 screw. I only did the lower one (leaving the upper a #8) but did do it on both sides so that the plane would not be out of balance. :) (YES! That is a JOKE! Though I did do both so as to avoid confusion later in life if I ever needed to replace the screws.) This was a good way to spend a lunch hour. Beats long lunches with co-workers who only want to talk about ... *gasp* ... work! Time : 0.75 hours

More Painting

April 29, 2006

Today was a day of getting back in the saddle with respect to painting. I have been finding excuses to not paint for weeks. I ran out of them today. I pulled out parts that had been stored, and generally spent a whale of a lot of time getting everything ready. This included masking off all the areas (most) of the F-774 just so I could shoot a little paint on the small bit of that skin that will be visible inside the plane. I really dislike painting. It all seems like black magic. I'll surely be glad when I'm done (soon!) and will be able to get back to simply abusing aluminum full-time! Time : 4.0 hours

Yet More Painting Prep

May 6, 2006

I spent some time this morning making a fixture to hold the seats and the roll bar for painting. I hope to get the last of the "small stuff" painted today, then tomorrow re-work the paint booth and get the cockpit ready for paint. I _may_ get as far as shooting the cockpit paint tomorrow, but am not holding my breath. We'll see how it goes. I do hope to get the "small stuff" painted this afternoon after the family gets back from lunch. Watch this space ...... .... but I never got back to working on the plane after lunch. I went and looked at cars instead, and purchased a Volkswagen New Beetle TDI. It is blue and looks like a blueberry on wheels. My intention is to run biodiesel in it, and I'l fascinated by the whole process of fuel conversion so will likely at least join the local co-op and learn to make my own fuel. Way cool. (Yes, I'm crazy.) Time : 1.5 hours

Yet Again More Painting Prep

May 13, 2006

I had a huge break in airplane work due to car-stuff and work-stuff. This weekened I am back at it and am trying to get a few more parts painted. This -should- be the last batch of "small stuff" (though a few parts are kinda large, actually, like the seat backs). For a few parts I had to make some holders/jigs for painting. With that done I just need to prep the parts and shoot paint. That'll all have to wait until I get back from a birthday party for a friend's little girl though. Time : 2.5 hours

Shooting More Paint

May 14, 2006

I got all the various parts scuffed and cleaned and into the paint booth this morning. I can't believe it took over 2 hours to do that, but I am being slow and careful on parts prep. Oh well. After lunch I'll shoot paint and then it'll be time to prep the fuselage cabin for painting! Wow. After lunch .. and I painted. I hate painting. I'm no good at it. Or maybe I picked a poor interior paint .. but no matter what I do I either get bad coverage (and have to paint again) or runs. Frustrating. I need to have a paint mentor ... but, I'm about done and intend to never paint again if I can help it (unless I find someone who will help me who -really- knows what they are doing). I'm good at a lot of things, but painting isn't one of them! :) UPDATE: The painting came out better than I thought it would based on the early assessment when looking at it wet. It still ain't anywhere near perfect, but it isn't as bad as I thought it would be. :) Time : 4.5 hours

Final Painting Prep?

May 20, 2006

My plan today is to prep the last bit of parts to be painted. The reason it will take a bit of work is that the "last bit" is the fuselage interior itself. I need to clean (started already), mask, and scuff for painting. I got a little done this morning (after the EAA 1114 meeting) but am stopping to head to lunch with the family. It is a birthday celebration lunch for my daughter, who just turned 15! Woo hoo! More after lunch ....... .... except, I went to LBT for the fly-in instead. Oh well! Time : 0.5 hours

Really Final Painting Prep?

May 21, 2006

I spent today re-configuring the paint booth to fit the fuselage, hung more plastic for the larger paint booth, taped and masked massive amounts of the fuselage where I don't want paint, and started to clean and prep the aluminum for paint. The problem is that the aluminum is -filthy- (this is a QB, and I can't figure how HOW Van's gets them so dirty in shipping). I have cleaned and cleaned and cleaned ... and I still feel it needs more cleaning. I'm not going to get finished today, as I am exhausted from all the bending over to clean (and clean, and tape, and mask, and clean). I may take a day off from work tomorrow to wrap it all up JUST so I can be DONE! (Have I mentioned that I hate painting? Well .. I do. *sigh*) Time : 5.5 hours

Final Cockpit Paint (Hopefully)

May 22, 2006

I took a day off of work to try and wrap all this painting mess up. I spent the morning cleaning ... and cleaning .. and cleaning some more. Why did I need to clean so much after cleaning yesterday? Well, it was -that- dirty. I then scuffed the aluminum, and cleaned again. Then using lint-free rags I used some special cleaner .. and you guessed it .. cleaned again. I then shot some primer, then shot a light coat of paint. I waited a bit for the paint to get tacky, then came back with another coat to fill in the light areas and built up the coat. We'll see how it does. If I ended up with some thin areas still ... I'll shoot another coat. I am crossing my fingers that I do NOT have to do that (I want to be done .. badly), but will shoot more paint if needed. Time : 6.5 hours

One Last Coat

May 26, 2006

Now that the first round of painting has had plenty of time to dry, I went and evaluated the coverage. I found it a little lacking in some areas and thought I'd shoot one final coat ... with a focus on the thin areas. I also sanded out a few small runs while I was at it. I used up the LAST of this batch of paint .. and it was exactly what I needed to get the job finished. I feel good about this latest round of painting, and now that I am done I think I _might_ finally be getting the hang of it. Isn't that how it always goes?? :) But, with luck, I am THROUGH PAINTING! Time : 1.5 hours

Paint Booth Comes Down

May 27, 2006

There is ONE spot on the plane where I'm really not happy with the paint, but it is (a) small and (b) can be taken care of with a touch up gun. So the booth comes DOWN! Finally. Painting has been a much more extended exercise than I ever expected. Oh well. As long as I don't quit ... I will STILL have an airplane when I'm done. Tomorrow I finish the shop cleanup, and get back into building out the fuselage. Time : 2.5 hours

Post Paint Progress

May 29, 2006

Yesterday was spent in a major shop cleanup, so much so that it really could NOT be considered "airplane work". So while I spent quite a few hours in the shop, nothing could be logged. I did some sweeping, a bit of compressor maintainence, and re-storing some airplane parts, putting up all the tools scattered around, and collecting up much of the painting paraphenelia (like the HobbyAir) for storage. Today I started re-installing stuff that I had to pull out of the fuselage for the painting exercise (flap stuff, mainly), and then moved forward with new work too. I did re-install all the flap mechanisms, then moved to getting the API boost pump installed. I reattached the pump and filter to the mounting plate, installed the fuel valve, and fabricated the line that runs from the filter to the fuel valve. Ok ... I fabricated it three times, with the third one being the charm. :) I understand everyone goes through this fouled up fuel line fabrication phase at first. My second line, fron the check valve to the fuel valve I got right the first time, though. I was pleased. I also installed the fuselage tank brackets, which have been waiting for final installation for ... well ... too long. I got that done in short order and then moved to installing the AN fittings in the firewall for the brakes. I stopped short of installing more fuel lines waiting for an answer to a few questions fron the RV list. All in all ... a good post painting progress day! Time : 5.5 hours

Started Vent Line Fabrication/Installation	May 30, 2006
After work today I spent a little time puzzling out some firewall penetration issues (and based on Ken Scott's input ... decided to just delay it until I had the engine) then pressed on to fabricating the vent lines. I drilled the holes for the vent fittings, and then started bending up the first (left) vent line. I'm 90% done, but out of time. More tomorrow. Time : 2.0 hours

Vent Lines, Continued

June 4, 2006

Remember how I said in the previous entry I was 90% done? Well, I had 100% left to go, unfortunately. As it turns out I worked from the easy end to the difficult end, and realized that in doing that it wasn't possible to -complete- the difficult end working it in that direction. I set it aside and then tackled the right side. I started at the difficult end and ... repeatedly ... worked on the bends/fittings, then when it was clear the path I was on wouldn't work, I cut that first six inches off and started over. I had at least three false starts before I got the right set of actions. For one, I learned that if the bends at the fitting are really close/tight, you have to put the AN nut collar on FIRST, then do those close bends by hand. I got a lot of use out of my spring bender yesterday. I got to the end and am quite happy with this right-side vent line. It took a LOT more time than I had hoped, but I think I learned a good bit in the process. I hope the new left side will be much easier. I also installed the vent line elbows in the fuselage, got the screens (from a sink faucet aerator) attached to the final vent line fitting with some JB Weld. So I _did_ do more than just fiddle with one single bit of tubing, but not much. It was just one of those days. Time : 3.5 hours

Vent Lines Finished, Brake Lines Started

June 10, 2006

I went out this morning and cleaned up my vent line termnation fittings and got them installed. I then bent up my left-side vent line and it went MUCH faster now that I've done it once and knew how the flow of fabrication should go. Adel clamps are in, fittings are torqued, and we are done with those. I then screwed on the Aeroquip hoses for the brake lines, and riveted the center rudder pedal brace in place (finally). I've set the rudder pedals in the fuselage, and need to bolt them in when I find two lost AN-22A bolts (darn it) ... or "snitch" a couple from my friend Marilyn tonight. With a little more work I'll have the rudder pedals in place for good, and will be done with running the brake lines as well. Time : 3.25 hours

Brake Line Fittings Installed

June 11, 2006

I spent a few hours today (all the time I had available) figuring out (and finding) the fittings to go to the master cylinders. I also had to track down both my Van's-supplied brake fluid reservoir and my Matco clear reservoir and figure which I wanted to actually use, and out how I wanted to install it. After talking with Mark Phillips I am leaning in the direction of using the Matco _if_ I can modify it a bit. We'll see. Time : 2.25 hours

Brake Pedals Installed / Fluid Reservoir Mods

June 13, 2006

Tonight I fiddled with getting the rudder pedals installed. I tossed in the pilot-side seat and some cushions (stolen from the couch!) to do a bit of test fitting. I'm a 5'11" guy so thought the most-forward setting would be good .. and I think that is about right. I did have the seat back as far back as it would go, so if I need to get closer I can move the seat easily enough. I'm gonna bolt them in there for good tomorrow. I also modified my Matco brake reservoir .. or prepared to. I wanted to run a bolt up from the inside of the reservoir (if you have one you'll know what I'm talking about, if not I'll have some pix soon) with a hole drilled through it. The idea is to let -that- be be the vent line so I can put some clear tubing to vent overflow. It'll make it easier to bleed the lines when I need to ... and the clear body will let me check the fluid level during preflight (*if* I install it where I can see it with the canopy tipped up). Note, also, that with a threaded end on the top I can find/fabricated some sort of fitting to make it easier to add brake fluid once installed. The normal vent hole (visible in the Disassembled picture above) will be filled as it is now no longer needed. Time : 1.25 hours

Pedals Installed / Brake Lines Finished	June 23, 2006
This entry is actually a collection of short bits of fiddling in the shop over the last week all added together. It has been very hectic lately and working on the plane has come in 15 and 30 minute increments. But the pedals are bolted in place, and the brake lines (except for the ones to the reservoir) are installed. Time : 1.25 hours

Started work on HS Installation

June 24, 2006

I started fabricating the small parts (angles, shims) needed to install the HS today. I am also working on getting the elevator control rods installed. Bolting the lower control rod to the bellcrank is a pain in the butt. It does not help that it is 90 degrees and 99.9% humidity today! After lunch I got back out into the (HOT) shop and got more work done. The first task was to attach the elevator pushrod to the control sticks. That is a -really- tight spot there! But I got it done. I then finished fabricating the small parts for attaching the HS and VS to the tail. I cleared space to being the HS and VS down from the ceiling, and then brought them down. Dusty! I clamped the HS to the tail of the plane and started measuring and tweaking and measuring and tweaking (and measuring and tweaking) to get it straight. Once done, I decided to wait before drilling. I want to get the drilling right the first time, and at this point I am hot and tired and didn't want to tackle it without being in top shape. Time : 5.5 hours

Drilled Forward HS Attach Bolt Holes

July 13, 2006

We spent all last week in Amsterdam on a family vacation. Had a GREAT time, but lost two weekends of airplane working time. Thus, the latest gap in the entries here. I'm caught up at work, caught up on sleep, and can now spend evenings (it is 11:30PM as I write this) back on the plane. After lots of worry and fiddling and careful measuring (with the HS taken off the plane and clamped back in place a good number of times) I drilled the bolt holes. I made good edge distance in all spots, and the "pancake" drill attachment I picked up at the Fly-Mart one SnF finally came in handy! I still need to drill the shims, but they are trivial compared to worrying about getting the edge distance right on hidden angles. I'm quitting for the night as it is late (for me) and stopping before I screw something up seems wise. :) Time : 2.5 hours

Finished Drilling Attach Bolt Holes on HS	July 14, 2006
I had -very- little time to work on the plane today, but did get the remaining HS bolts drilled. I'm going to have to back up a little (i.e. take the HS back off the fuselage) to mount/align/drill the elevators. It seems I got ahead of myself a bit, but I'll do that tomorrow and then re-mount the HS and install the VS. I hope, in fact, to finish the tail tomorrow. Time : 2.0 hours

Fitted Elevators to HS

July 15, 2006

I had skipped this step way back when I was doing the empennage, but the time had come to get it done. I fit the elevators to the HS, drilled the center hinge holes, and drilled the pushrod holes. I did it all as per Van's directions, and (aside from having to trim the HS a bit to clear the counterweight arms on the elevators) it all went pretty easily. I now need to fit it all to the fuselage, but will leave that for the next day of construction work. Time : 4.5 hours

Attaching Vertical Stab	August 5, 2006
We put the HS back onto the plane, and then set the length on the F-790 elevator pushrod, and then drilled the VS attach plate which connects to the forward spar on the HS. Between spending time with the family, and then in the afternoon feeling very much under the weather, that was it for that Saturday. Time : 2.0 hours

Attaching Vertical Stab (cont)

August 6, 2006

I continued working on the VS, getting the elevator up-stop drilled to the fuselage, getting the VS drilled to the up-stop, and then getting the forward attach plate drilled to the forward spar of the VS. I have a little more to do, but am out of time. (Spent time today driving with my daughter who has just got her learner's permit, and is learing how to drive. She did great, too!) Time : 4.25 hours

Fixed Mistake

August 9, 2006

Ok ... confession time. I blew it. I thought I had things positioned well so that I could drill my elevator control horn for the AN4 bolt through the bearing ... but I blew it. I got too close and the bolt would just not go without grief. I talked to Gus at Van's and he had a number of alternatives. I could grind down the bolt head and use a thinner nut. Or I could weld a patch on the control horns and re-drill. Given that there is *plenty* of room for a patch, that is what I did. It'll let me better position the rod end bearinings and get things done right. And ... as long as YOU don't tell anyone, nobody will ever see/know that I had to patch this up. These control horns are hiding inside the fuselage once the world is buttoned up. I got a friend who is building a Dyke Delta (lots and lots of welding for that project) to weld some small 4130 patches on my control horns. It took a little time to wire-brush off the power coating, cut the patches, weld the patches, and then bury the hot metal in sand to allow it to cool very very slowly. But once done, it was done. Now I just have to re-drill the holes (after, of course, adjusting the rod end bearings a bit!). I hate it when I screw something up. You know I do. :) Time : 2.25 hours

Cleaning Up Horns

August 12, 2006

I finally got some time (crazy week, as usual) to get out this morning and clean up the elevator horns after welding the patches on. I got one taken care of already, but now have go to a "last weekend at home" for my son. He heads off to college next Friday! Hard to believe. After lunch I shot some primer on the first elevator horn, cleaned up the second elevator horn, and got it primed as well. This puts them back in the "ready to drill" state. I did take a die grinder to the welding to blend the edge of the weld into the center of the patch so I had no high spots. Hopefully that will allow a washer to sit flush. Time : 2.75 hours

Installed Rudder / Start on Static Ports

August 13, 2006

This morning I went out and created a drill template to drill the final three bolt holes at the bottom of the vertical stab. I got those drilled then hung the rudder. It looked so good I re-hung the elevators so I could get a picture! I need to get the right size AL stock to make the rudder stops (it is a long story why I don't have the right stuff on hand now). Once that is in I'll really be done with the rudder. I still need to pull the HS off, rivet on the forward attach plate, rivet on the elevator up stop, trim the HS rear spar to allow full down travel on the elevator, and re-drill the elevator center hinge point. I already adjusted the rod end bearings to give me more clearance for the bolt and it looks good. It sounds like a lot of work, but it really is just a few odds and ends needing cleanup before calling it done. I also started installing the static ports. I measured the location for the ports, drilled the holes, drove out the mandrel from the pop rivets, and RTVed the pop rivets to the tubing. I had to carefully tape it all in place so the tubing would stay put while the RTV cures ... and had to walk away from the plane for the night to give it time to cure. Time : 3.5 hours

Fabricated Rudder Stops / More RTV

August 22, 2006

First .. the break in work was due to needing to get my son ready to go to college, then heading up to the mountains of NC to take him this last weekend. It all went great, and I think he is settling in fantastically well. I also had needed to order a piece of AL angle to fabricate the rudder stops as I appropriated the original piece when I screwed up another part. I had THOUGHT that I already ordered it earlier, but then realized I got the wrong size AL angle! Dang! So I had to wait for Van's to shoot me a new piece anyway. Tonight I cut and fabricated the stops. Easy, simple, almost mindless work that was soothing after a long crazy day at work. I also took OFF the RTV I used earlier, as I realized I got the wrong stuff and it was not setting up the way I wanted/needed. Dang, again! :) Fortunately MEK took it off with almost no effort. I got new RTV and have squirted out a "test blob" to see that it is going to cure right ... but after an hour it is already in better shape than the other I purchased. I'll re-do the static port installation tomorrow night. Time : 1.5 hours

Finishing Up Tail (Almost Done)

August 22, 2006

I finished up the rivet holes for the rudder stop (final drill, c'sinked), and confirmed that I had them cut correctly. I then started to pull apart the whole tail for the final bit of work needed. I riveted the VS attach plate to the forward VS spar. I trimmed the lower flange of the HS rear spar to allow the elevator control horns to have a full range of motion. I super-glued (I hope) the washer to the rear side of the elevator up stop as called for in the plans and instruction manual. It doesn't seem like much when I write it all down here, but it was a good few hours of work. Every little bit helps! Time : 2.75 hours

Tail Work Finished

August 26, 2006

I wrapped up the few remaining odds and ends on the tail this morning. I re-drilled the elevator center hinge bolt holes through the control horns and had -plenty- of clearance this time. I cleaned up a problem area on a VS bolt hole. I mounted the rudder stops. I JB Welded the washer that was previously super-glued, but didn't hold. I also used a dab of JB Weld on the static port pop rivets because I didn't feel that a little bit of RTV would hold them adequately. I'll have to let that glue dry over night before I finish up the static port install. A bit of my afternoon was spent helping another builder, Ernest, put together a radio tray assembly and testing out some radio wiring. I also built a cradle for the HS and VS (now that I'm done with them) so I could store them at a friend's hanger rather than suspending them from the ceiling in the garage again. I'm going to get started on the forward upper cabin effort tomorrow. I'm ready for a change of pace! :) Time : 4.25 hours

Forward Upper Cabin Started

August 27, 2006

Today I started work on the forward upper cabin. As always starting a new section it was a sesson of finding/collecting/fabricating the parts for the assembly. I got most of them ready except the LONG angles. They are cut to length and the v-cut locations are marked, but are not yet trimmed. I figure I'll spend various nights this week working on them. I did get the other various parts cut to length (i.e. the hat section, for instance) and got the small attach angles fabricated and drilled (except for the holes that need to be drilled in assembly). I wasn't sure how much I would get done today given I had to take my daughter out to practice her driving quite a bit today, but in the end the day felt very productive. Time : 3.25 hours

Drilled Hat Section and F-703B Angle

August 28, 2006

I got home late-ish tonight, but wanted to do a little work on the plane. Every hour of "touching the project" moves me that much closer to flying! I first RTV-ed the static tubing to the static ports since the JB Weld had long since dried. I then drilled the "hat section" to the sub-panel. With that done I drilled the apex holes in the F-703B angle (the piece that is the reinforcement angle along the top of the F-703 panel). Time : 1.25 hours

Cut F-703B Angle / More on Static Ports	August 30, 2006
I carved out some time to work, and first secured the static port line to the bulkhead. I still need to drill/route the rest of the line to the forward cabin area. I also cut the 15-degree angles on the F-703B reinforcement. I was able to rough-cut them on the bandsaw, but then had to file and scotchbrite to clean them up. Tedious, but done now! :) Time : 1.75 hours

Fluted and Drilled F-703C Angle	September 2, 2006
Most of Saturday was a "family day", but I did work in a little time in the evening. I got the F-703C seal angle drilled and fluted. I also drilled it to the sub-panel. Those pieces are now ready to rivet. Time : 1.0 hours

Drilled Stiffener Angle to Panel

September 3, 2006

This morning I drilled the stiffener angle to the top of the panel. I had to trim a little from the ends once fitted as I (intentionally) cut it slightly oversize so I could get a perfect fit. I discovered that I drilled a wrong-size hole in the side angles, so am just going to fabricate another pair. Oh well. More after lunch (and taking my daughter to practice her driving) .... I finished up cutting/drilling the seal angles for the right/left sub-panels. I am NOT thrilled with how these are fitting, and am going to take a break to make sure I'm not screwing something up. I'll be glad when all these various angles are finished, and fitted. They are somewhat "fiddly" to mess with. Time : 3.75 hours

Odds and Ends (Slow Day!)

September 4, 2006

My biggest flaw as a builder is I can't bring myself to totally ignore my family. :) Today was spent doing some more family activities, but I did get out in the shop a bit. I also took Marie to see a friend's RV-7, mainly to look at how the seats were upholstered. She is going to try to cover my seats, and we felt looking at a finished set would help. I also got my forward upper deck trial-fitted in place just to make sure I _knew_ how everything went together. I also wanted to see if the spot indicated for the engine controls would really do the trick. When I first measured it out, I said "NO WAY!", but after I put the panel in place and looked at it a bit .... I think it may well be a dandy spot. I should have measured where Denny's falls, and may when I get back from San Jose in a week. (Yes, I lose a week of airplane work traveling for my job. Doesn't that suck! At least I get back on Friday, and don't blow a weekend too.) I also went and got some clear poly tubing with a 1/4 ID. I pulled it over the static tubing where I'll jump a longeron as an anti-chafe measure. I hope to keep the static line from even touching the longeron, but if it does the cover tubing will recieve the abuse and not the inside tubing. On that note, I'm done until next Saturday. Oh well. I did include a shot of the upper deck clecoed in place. Man .. it looks good! Time : 1.25 hours

Re-fabricating Side Seal Support Angles

September 22, 2006

Ok ... I've lost weeks and weekends due to travel, and then a torn muscle in my back. But, I'm back at it again (if still a bit stiff). I went by the dimensions on the plans for cutting/drilling the angle ... and it was significantly too long when I fit it to the side sub-panel! Frustrating. So I re-ordered material and am taking a different approach. I'm going to cut/drill all except that last hole ... which I can then put right where I need it after double-checking the length of the angle. Hopefully that will help. I now have social obligations, so will be cutting tonight's work session a bit short. Even so, it is nice to be back out in the shop! I've got to watch my back else I'll re-injure it, but as long as I avoid that I think I'm back in business again (since I have NO MORE travel planned until the November trip to Superior for the engine building class). Time : 1.25 hours

Upper Deck Construction

September 23, 2006

This was good day of work. I got the seal supports finished and riveted to the sub-panels. I got the sub-panels riveted to the upper deck ribs, and cut the rib in front of the pilot so that it can be moved to the left (facing forward) once I know how far it needs to move. All in all a good long day of (somewhat tedious, and not worth talking about in great detal) work. I hope to finish the upper deck tomorrow if I can resolve one mistake I made without having to order more parts. :) Time : 5.5 hours

More Upper Deck Construction / Cabin Heat Control

September 24, 2006

While I discovered that I _do_ have to order some parts to resolve a mistake I made (I guess I could sorta-kinda salvage the parts, but there would be issues and I like things to be as perfect as I am capable of making them) I still got a lot of good work done today. Except for the stubby-ribs on the center sub-panel (since they are what I screwed up) I got the top deck skin completely drilled to the sub-structure. This includes drilling to the firewall. I also got the angle brace which lives at the far end of the center rib (against the firewall) drilled. Lots of tedious drilling, but all done and done nicely. I'm pleased. Now it is time to do some "Family Stuff (tm)". Maybe I'll get more work done later tonight, but it is doubtful at this point. We'll see. Ok ... I did get back out in the shop a bit tonight, even with the terrible humidity. I decided to do something "light" so I assembled the cabin heat control box I've had on my shelf for months. A nice simple but rewarding (due to the immediate gratification a small job like this gives) task. Time : 5.0 hours

More Upper Deck Construction

September 27, 2006

I got home late (after wrangling a ride in an RV-7 for a good friend, Wally Dixon) but snagged a quick bite to eat and got a little work done on the plane. I fired up the iPod (an 80GB iPod on shuffle will keep you company for a loooong time) and drilled the panel attach angles to the F-721A deck. Once I get my replacment short ribs I'll be ready to wrap up the upper deck and move onto the finishing kit! Woo hoo! Time : 1.0 hours

Yet More Upper Deck Work

September 28, 2006

I spent a good bit of the day fiddling around on the last details of the upper forward deck construction. I'd have finished it up if I had not spent a good bit of time trying to figure out how I wanted to install my handy-dandy Wemac eyeball vents. They are NICE, but since they are not the regular thing there is no standard approach to installing them. I'm close, but am not completely happy with the current iteration of my design. I'll get it figured out, though. While I fiddle on this (virtually the last thing I have to do on the upper cabin deck) I'm going to start on the finishing kit work a bit. Time : 5.25 hours

Fuel Line Plumbing

February 28, 2009

Ok, it has been a LONG time since I did anything that needed to be logged in the Fuselage section. For various reasons I delayed installing the plumbing in the fuselage, but it was time to get it done. Then I discovered why I delayed it .... because it is frustrating/annoying. :) I got the main fuel line from the fuel pump to the firewall in place with little trouble. But due to the geometry of the Andair valve, the lines on the fuel pump assembly, and how the line needs to exit the area under the valve, I ruined a bit of AL tubing. A frustrating day. Time : 2.25 hours

Purge Line Plumbing

March 7, 2009

I spent a bit of time before lunch working fabricating the purge line from the firewall to the point where it splices into the supply line from the right side tank. I got it mostly done, except for trimming to the final length and flaring the end. After lunch I had a message from George saying he had a short window in which we could go fly. Given I've not flown in a month-an-a-half (long story, which I might share later) I jumped at the chance. That pretty much killed the RV building for the rest of the day. Time : 1.5 hours

Purge Line Plumbing / Vents / Static Ports

March 8, 2009

Today I finished the purge line, and am pleased with the result. Now I just have to finish the fuel lines in the cabin and I'll be able to not think about plumbing again for a little while (until I do the brake lines, I guess). I also did a little more work on the static ports. I installed the cool fittings from SteinAir and will finish up the static line work here soon. Finally, I fabricated the panels into which I'll install the SteinAir eyeball vents. I had some vents I got off of eBay, but was never happy with how they were going to be installed. The ones from SteinAir are easy to install, and look nicer. (They are also .. *sigh* .. a bit more expensive. Of course.) I want to finish up a lot of this fuselage/cabin odds and ends so that I can rivet the forward top skin on, so I can get started on the cowl. There are only a few more things left to do, and after that I'll have to be content with working in that area by laying on my back because the top will be closed in for good! Time : 3.25 hours

Riveted Upper Forward Fuselage

March 14, 2009

I clearly have too many things going on, but did carve out time to work on the RV this Saturday. In preparation for closing out the upper forward fuselage area (so I can work on the cowl) I riveted most of the upper forward structure. I have a few rivets I'll need some help with, and no help was available on Saturday. I also spent some time fabricating the right-hand eyeball vent mounting bracket, so that is all ready for final fitting and drilling. [UPDATE: I did not rivet on the top skin _prior_ to working on the cowl after all. After talking to the folks at Van's I realized that it was adequate to just cleco the skin in place to do the cowl fitting. This left me the option of taking the skin back off to finish work on the forward cabin area ... a -huge- win. 5/16/2010] Time : 2.25 hours

More Upper Forward Fuselage Riveting

March 28, 2009

See my comment above about having too many things going on? Well, the trend continues. Frankly, there are things work-related which are killing my ability to carve out time for the RV, but today I got back to it. I continue to try and wrap up the forward cabin area so I can rivet on the forward top skin. Today I worked on a pair of different areas, but all related to the upper forward fuselage area. The first was finishing up work on the mounting plates for the eyeball vents. This took a bit of final fitting, drilling, countersinking and riveting. Joe Sumakeris stopped by again to lend a hand, and his assistance was -greatly- apprecaited. Once I finished fitting and drilling the mounting plates for the eyeball vents, we riveted the side angles in place. I then final-drilled for the screw hole on the panel and mounted a platenut. They are now ready for a final coat of paint (which will have to wait until after the rain passes us by) and I'll do a final mounting of them in the plane. With Joe's help I also final riveted those areas in the upper forward fuselage structure which could not be accessed with the squeezer. A lot of this was -very- -fiddly- riveting, and Joe was a champ bucking partner. He ran out of time, so we have 6 rivets left to drive to consider it all -finished-. He said he would come back on Wednesday to wrap up that operation. Thanks Joe! Time : 6.5 hours

Cabin Work

April 4, 2009

Today I continued working on odds and ends which I had either been putting off, or had not completed yet. I shot a few coats of black paint on the parts into which the vent eyeballs will be mounted. They look great. I went ahead and screwed the eyeballs in place and set them aside for final mounting later. Since I have more stuff to do in the forward cabin I don't want them in harms way. I mounted the firewall cable passthrough eyeballs too. Those tiny little screws are -tedious- to work with, but I got them in. I also _finally_ finished routing the static line. I have no idea why I've let this languish so long, but now it is done. I did put some extra tubing over the static line itself where it passes over the structure rising up from the spar passthrough. I didn't want the inner tubing itself to rub on the top edges of those parts (whose part number I'd call out here if I weren't too lazy to go dig them up). I then got back to installing fuel line tubing in the cabin. Talk about tedious! But I now have the 'Y' fitting in place where I want it, and all I have left is the two lines (right and left) which lead to the tanks themselves. That SHOULD be no big deal. I only need to figure out how large a hole to drill in the fuselage side to accomidate the grommet that is used. I'm honestly tempted to use a bulkhead fitting instead, but am going to bow to experience as embodied in the plans and do it "Van's Way". I don't know how this ends up being 5 hours of work. But it does. Time : 5.25 hours

Cabin Work

April 5, 2009

Today the -bulk- of the day was spent doing some cleaning in the shop. It was a pit, and I finally got tired of it. There is more that I can do, but the worst offenders are now straightened back out. I also laid out and drilled the holes for the engine control cables. The parts also got a coat of primer, and the piece into which the cables mount facing the cabin got a coat of paint. All good stuff. I also -finally- started working on installing the fuselage gussets which mount just forward of the spar carry through. I also remembered why I decided to put them off way-back-when. They are a pain only because getting bolts into the holes so I can do the match-drilling is a total pain. I stopped before I got it done because (a) I was getting tired, (b) I didn't want to screw it up because I was getting tired, and (c) it is almost dinner time. :) Time : 3.25 hours

Finish Upper Forward Fuselage Riveting	April 12, 2009
This entry is short and sweet. Joe came by to help me finish those six rivets. With him climing into the cabin and bucking, with me shooting, we got it done pretty quickly. Now I can consider that bit of work -done-. Thanks Joe! Time : 1.5 hours

Brake Pedal Upgrade

May 16, 2010

You'll note a huge jump in the dates from the previous entry to this one. I left a handful of things undone in the cabin, and now that the firewall forward work is about complete, it is time to get back _into_ the cabin and finish these odds-and-ends up. Today it was the brake pedal upgrade. I pulled out the old plastic hose that ran between the two brake pedals (pilot and co-pilot), and replaced them with steel braided lines from Bonaco hoses. The next upgrade was to swap out the old two-bolts-per-brake-pedal arrangement and install the long-bolt option (see the VAF thread on the subject). This was a bloody pain in the ass to do solo, and with the rudder pedals already installed. It particularly bites when your rudder pedal weldments are such that nuts won't turn because the hole in the weldment is so close to the downtube! There was one pedal I thought would require removing the assembly from the plane and doing some grinding to make it work ... arggggggh! But I got lucky and got the nut started. Once that happened it was just a matter of stubbornly cranking it into place. *whew* Doing all this while crammed under the panel ... well ... frankly, it hurts. I'm too old for this crap! But I did it, and I'm very pleased with the results. Another task that can be checked off the list of things to do! Time : 3.0 hours

Brake Reservoir Location Drilled

May 20, 2010

Tonight I was going to have a friend (and fellow builder, building a Dyke Delta not an RV) come over to give me some fiberglass pointers. While I waited for him to get to the house I finally got around to drilling the mounting holes for the brake reservoir. Why am I doing it now?? Well, I had various ideas about doing various different things other than using the plain-jane brake reservoir that Van's supplies. In particular, I thought about using something clear so I could see if I had brake fluid, and putting it in the cabin so I could check it easily during preflight. Then I thought about all that red goo getting loose in the cabin, and decided to go to the firewall mounting location after all. Then I thought about how pointless it was to put a nice clear plastic reservoir (maybe risking it not surviving well in the FWF environment) when I likely wouldn't be able to see it during the preflight anyway. So ... I'm using the plain-jane reservoir that Van's supplies after all. Unfortunately, I'm having to drill and mount it AFTER my firewall is .. shall we say .. cluttered. :) But it'll get done. Time : 1.0 hours

Brake Reservoir	May 23, 2010
I got the reservoir installed with little trouble, carefully positioning and opening the hole in the firewall for the fluid fitting. Then I went to try and connect the plastic tubing to the reservoir .. and had nothing but frustration. Much of it my own doing. Suffice it to say that by mid-afternoon I decided the smart thing to do was walk away. Tomorrow will be better. Time : 1.5 hours

Brake System Finished	May 24, 2010
All the frustrations of yesterday vanished today. I realized in the middle of the night (this should scare me) exactly what I was forgetting. Today I pursued that thought, and now all the in-cabin brake lines are installed. Go figure. Time : 1.0 hours

Cabin Heat Boondoggle

May 29, 2010

After I worked on the cowl ramps a bit more, I decided to figure out how I wanted to mount my cabin heat control. I thought it was worth a try to enlarge my fresh air inlet on the pilot site to make room to include a cabin heat control. In the end, I was not all that happy with how it turned out. However, sometimes fabricating things that you throw away is like a type of Zen meditation. Your meditate to the shaping of the AL, and after time Enlightenment comes. What Enlightenment did I get today? Put the cabin heat control over on the passenger side of the compartment. :) I will fabricate that mounting piece tomorrow. Time : 2.0 hours

Cabin Heat/Fuel Exits/Right Brace

May 30, 2010

First I re-fabricated the plate for the fresh air inlet, with the extension beneath it for the cabin heat. This time .. on the passenger side. I think this will work better in terms of cockpit layout and cable runs. While it waited to dry from painting I launched into drilling holes for the fuel line exits from the fuselage side. These need to be 1" to accept the big grommet designed to go into this location. Fortunately, I have a large size unibit and got it done in short order. The grommets are in, and I now just need to finish fabricating the lines. Then I started working on the thing that took .. well .. forever. There are two triangular braces which should have been installed long ago, but got missed. They go just ahead of the spar down in the lower left-hand and right-hand corners (imagine them just behind your outboard heal if you were to pull your feet back while sitting in the seats). I discovered some time back that I had more interference between the forward spar plates and the center spar bars which made it difficult to get bolts in (short of hammering). The large bolts used to align the wings for the rear-spar drilling go in without _too_ much trouble, but the partner AN-4 bolts do not, I discovered. Talking with Van's about this they said .. basically .. go in and file/sand/cut away a little of the outside plate, just do not cut the large spar bars. This has been frightening enough an exercise that I have been putting it off for some time. :) But today I did the right-hand side, and that part of it all went fine. The fit of the right-hand brace was not as good as would be nice, so I had to take a needle file and open up the holes just a SMALL amount. With that adustment done I was able to drill for the 5 AN-3 bolts that run down the side of the fuselage and attach to the brace. Deburred, cleaned, and then primed, the brace was bolted in place (temporarily, as I think the AN-3 bolts will have to come back out to get the outboard AN-4 in when it is time to attach the wings. Oh joy.) The other work done today was on the top cowl where I did a little more glassing work. to get some more work done there. Time : 3.5 hours

Fuel Lines

June 5, 2010

No glassing was happened this afternoon, mainly because it was so hot I did not want to handle that stuff sweating like I was. Yuck. So I crawled into the cabin and worked on the fuel lines. Even that was too hot to do for long, so I did it in two small sessions. The heat/humidity seems particularly exhausting today, for some reason. I did re-fabricate the purge valve return line. My new good one was done in a third the time it took to do the old bad one I am replacing. Or that is my memory. Maybe experience does count for something. I also "staked" the screws on my Andir fuel valve. This is a process where you use a punch to distort the edge of the screw into a little slot molded into the body of the valve. This distorted edge causes the metal to extend into the slot, and serves as a locking mechanism. Like some others on VAF it seems I missed (or didn't have) instructions directing us to stake these screws, but a VAF thread pointed out the need. The Internet is (sometimes) a wonderful thing. Maybe tomorrow won't be so hot. (In my dreams, only, I fear.) Time : 1.0 hours

Fuel Lines

June 6, 2010

Today I got a little more work done on the fuel lines in the cabin. It was terribly hot, but not as bad as yesterday. That said, with everyone else in the family out traveling this weekend I also did not want to neglect the dog too much .. so spent time with her today as well. Even so, I did finally get the right side fuel lines finished. There was one short line from the fuel valve to the "T" for the purge valve return line, and then the line from the "T" to the fuselage side. Aside from having to crawl in/out/in/out of the cabin a lot again, it all went fairly well. Time : 2.0 hours

Left-side Corner Brace Fitted

June 12, 2010

For starters ... I got my medical today! This may not seem like much of a big deal, but a year ago I had to get a special issuance medical due to obstructive sleep apnea. After the initial song-and-dance with the FAA subsequent re-issues of the medical supposedly could be done by my AME as long as I had adequate documentation. Still, until I went through it once I had a fear that _some_ sort of _snafu_ would crop up. But it went like clockwork, particularly since I had all my needed documentation which certified compliance with the treatment. (As a side note, using a CPAP has me sleeping and feeling much better. Just saying.) Ok ... after that (and lunch, and shopping with Theresa) I got a bit of work done on the RV. I launched into the dreaded exercise of getting the second inside corner brace installed .. the left side. Once again I had to "tweak" the facing AL plate on the spar carry-through (and I hasten to say, that this is what Van's tech support said I should do, and that it was not at all uncommon to need it .. so don't freak). Even so I had to file a little on the holes of the brace to get the bolts to clear without having to resort to a sledge hammer (in fact, they could go in with finger pressure ... noting that these were regular, not close tolerance bolts, used only for clamping and fit-up, and not to be used when the wings are installed). It was slow, and tedious, and hot, and cramped ... but it is all done except for the final bolting in place. And that will be a piece of cake compared. That'll be work for tomorrow. Time : 2.5 hours

Left-side Brace and Fuel Line Installed

June 13, 2010

I got a very late start this morning due (mostly) to the fact that we needed to pick Marie up from the airport last night MUCH later than planned. Modern air travel is, still, a wonderful thing. But storms all across the middle of the country can play havoc with schedules! That said, I got the left-side corner brace installed (finally!) in the cabin. It is great to have that out of the way. Another item on the list of "stuff to do" I can mark off. :) I hope to get more done today ... but am headed out for lunch now, and need to meet folks at the airport at 4:00 to move my wings from the friend's hangar where they are currently stored down to my hanger where it will be possible to finally do the fuel pickup SB that Van's has suggested everyone do. After moving my wings and running some errands this afternoon I (mostly, there is a small bit left to do) installed the left-side fuel line. It went much more easily than I thought it would. I need to do a final install of the boost pump, and trim the stub on the left-hand side to 3.5 inches, and fuel line installation in the cabin will be done. Time : 1.5 hours

Fuel and Vent Lines Finalized

June 19, 2010

Today I wanted to finalize the fuel and vent lines in the cabin. Finalizing the fuel lines simply entailed putting the fuel pump in place and seeing if my last round of bending/flaring fit. It did ... quite nicely. I then trimmed the stub sticking out the left-hand side, and called it done. I then pulled out my old AL tube vent lines and installed the Bonaco hoses. That was tedious and took a good bit of time, but I got it done. It was also the time to re-install the vent fittings on the bottom of the fuselage, now that the cowl is trimmed. I had taken them out when there was still a significant overhang for the bottom cowl, but that has long since ceased to be the case. Time : 3.0 hours

Fresh Air Eyeball Mounts

June 20, 2010

I was going to finish up running some cables in the cabin, but I've ended up with something wacky going on with my knee today. Rather than crawl in-out-in-out-in-out of the cabin under the panel, I thought I'd tackle something else instead. I've started to install the plates for my fresh air eyeballs, but find that I need a 5/16 open end wrench (which I do not happen to have) to get into a tight spot. I need to tighten a locknut on a #6 screw .. so it is off to Sears I go. Once back from Sears (fortunately they had one at the local Sears just a few blocks from my house, so this did not end up being a full blown expedition) I got the fresh air vent mounting plates installed. I also got the vents themselves screwed into place, and started figuring out the cable run for the cabin heat (which will be mounted just below the passenger side fresh air vent). I also spent a little time head-scratching on where/how to route the alternate air control cable. I think I have it figured out. I did NOT want to give it prime panel space because it is one of those controls that you should never need to use. That said, it needed to be in a convenient spot. And I think I have found just what I need. :) I will have more to say about it later as I noodle on it a bit more. I also did some work on my purge valve return line (which has some issues that I am not happy with). Notes on that work can be found in the firewall forward entry for today. Time : 1.5 hours

Fresh Air Scat / Heat Cable

June 26, 2010

Today time was mainly spent on installing the fresh air SCAT tubing and noodling on the cabin heat cable. I ended up going to Lowes to get some fiberglass screen (like you would use in a screen door) to use on the backside of the NACA inlets. This is to keep bugs and nasties of that nature out of the cabin both when parked, but even more important when flying. Two circles of black screen were cut out and the SCAT was pushed over it and clamped in place with hose clamps. I also fiddled a bit with installing the cabin heat cable, and am close to being done. The one thing holding me up (aside from a bad headache from the heat) is the lack of an appropriate sizedthreaded shank drill. In a vaguely related activity (I am sharing a bolt with an adel that I am using to secure the cabin heat cable) the battery box finally got re-installed. Time to start pulling everything together as I try and move into the final stretch. Time : 4.0 hours

Cabin Heat Cable

July 3, 2010

Today I finally finished up the install of the cabin heat cable. After deciding that a 13/64th hole was the _perfect_ size for the cable, I said screw it and drilled to 1/4 deciding that was close enough. As it turned out if I had cut it any tighter the cable might not have wiggled through easily at all because of its curved path down to the hole. I added a spacer to the bolt holding the right-hand end of the cabin heat control box to space the adel clamp a bit off the firewall, and this positioned the cable almost perfectly to align with the hole as it traveled on its way to the control arm. I am _very_ happy with the results, and glad to be done with that bit of under-the-panel work. Time : 2.25 hours

Alternate Air Fiddling

July 4, 2010

I am still pondering how/where to install my alternate air control. I do not want it to go through the panel, and in fact want it a bit out of the way (though easily at hand, and available if the engine starts to falter). One location I particularly like is low and forward on the left-side vertical stringer (where the tank vent line is mounted, and the rudder cable goes though near the bottom). The only problem is that it will be somewhat recessed so I am fabricating spacers to mitigate that issue. That said, after a bit more work (trial and error, is more like it) I am still unsure that I like this approach. I am going to set it down for now .... because, frankly, it is time to head off to a 4th of July party anyway. :) I am going to revisit another idea in the morning before I commit one way or the other. Time : 2.0 hours

More Alternate Air Fiddling

July 5, 2010

The idea I mentioned above that I was going to revisit. I didn't. I had an entirely different idea on the way to the party, and that is what I pursued today. Even better, its going to work out. I fab-ed a angle plate which will screw to the vertical forward stringer (in line with the sub-panel) and has a slot to span the horizontal stringer that runs down the length of the fuselage. (I suspect I need a picture here.) The part below the horizontal stringer will have the alternate air knob, and the part above will be the mount for the headset plugs. I had wanted them low and forward anyway, and this works out perfect. Therefore, I had to fab a matching piece for the passenger side. Both are mostly fabricated now, though need just a bit more work to be completed. I also need to mount the platenuts which will get done after lunch. Post-lunch update ... the platenuts are mounted, and the plates are finished, and drilled. I would install them but need to let the paint dry first. Left to do is to drill for the cable to pass through the stringer and the firewall. I then have to route the cable and secure it. That may be tomorrow nights bit of fun and games. Marie and I bought a Yudu screen print system today, as an experiement. She wants to see if she can use it to paint patterns on material. I want to see if I can use it to silkscreen my panel. This is a _total_ experiment, so stay tuned and we will just see how it goes. I do have the fall back of just getting the labels from Stein. They look great too. Time : 3.0 hours

Alternate Air Cable Installed

August 8, 2010

After the morning work on the heat muff, I launched into finishing up the install of the engine alternate air control cable. This has been a fiddly thing to get right, mainly because I (a) wanted it accessible, (b) wanted it out of the way, and (c) did not want to install it in the panel itself. I am pretty happy with final solution. It is down under the panel basically just back and above where my knee will be when flying. I will use the same panel for my headset jacks. Time : 3.0 hours

De-install Old Flap Controller

August 9, 2010

One of the things I needed to do, now that I have decided to go with the Vertical Power VP-X system, is de-install the old flap position controller. I pulled it out today, which was a little tedious since I wanted to avoid completely de-installing the flap motor and actuator. But its done now. I need to get a RC model control rod clevis (on order) before I can install the new Ray Allen flap position sensor. That should happen soon, though. Time : 0.75 hours

Ballast Box

November 25, 2010

I have long had a 50 pound bag of play-sand up on the rear deck as ballast to keep the plane from falling over on its nose. That was handy because it allowed me to still move the plane around. Now that I'm needing to pull wires into the back, it ended up being in the way a bit. So I assembled (from scrap) a box that I could hang from the tailwheel spring and pour the sand into. It took a little fiddling to get it built, but now I can reach into the back of the plane as needed. Handy. Time : 1.75 hours

Rear Skin Prep / Fuel Line Padding

November 26, 2010

The evening festivities consisted of getting the last top skin (just behind the rear window) ready to rivet. It needed cleaning .. badly. I also needed to dimple the three stringers that the skin rivets to as that had not been done yet. I also cut and fitted a piece of craft foam under the fuel tubing that runs from the firewall to the boost pump and fuel valve. It is a nice fit and should help avoid chafing (but I dread to see what happens to it if I ever have a fuel -leak- in the tunnel). I'm also trying to put a set in the baffle seal, and used a heat gun and have clamped weights to hold the seal material "bent over" all night in hopes the set will take. We'll see. Time : 1.5 hours

CreativeAir Ditched and other Misc

January 2, 2011

Last night I went to start installing the wires for the CreativeAir strobe system I bought lo these many years ago. After I purchased it I concluded one should buy nothing that has electrons running through it until they are absolutely positively needed .... but in my zeal, early on, this was a purcahse I made. First, I went to dig up the owners manual and could not find it. No problem, thought I. A quick trip to the CreativeAir website would fix that problem. Oh, yeah, CreativeAir morphed into Whiskey Victor and the old CreativeAir website vanished. Hmm .. looks like Whiskey Victor has vanished too, as has Bill's personal website. Odd, but the upshot of this exercise convinced me that Bill has abandoned the market. I realize that the strobes are just repackaged Nova units, and I could go to Nova for the information I need. But, in the end I decided that I was a shmuck to have bought these so early and I'm just taking my beating on the decision and am going to switch to LED strobes. They are the way of the future anyway. While I'm at it I might ditch Bill's position lights too. We'll see. Right now the only thing I _had_ to do was pull the old strobe power supply out of the airplane (and LED strobes don't need a big heavy power supply, so that is another win). It would have been an easy exercise except two phillips head screws didn't want to do anything but strip. So out came the die grinder with a cut-off wheel and I sliced a slot into the screw heads and got them out with my big blade screwdriver. While I was in the mood to do various fuselage odds and ends, I finally installed the Adel clamps to hold the rudder cable fairleads (little plastic tubes at the back-end of the plane) in place. That is such a tight spot, and Adels are so annoying, it took a while to get it done. But now .... its done. I should put this last item in the Firewall Foward section, but it was a small bit of work .. and I'm tired. :) I added three L-shaped standoffs around the sump to which I attached Adel clamps. I'll be running various wires through those clamps along the stretch of space that is not quite as crowded as some other areas. The standoffs are from Airflow and are nicely anodized. Looks great! Time : 3.5 hours

Flap Position Hardware Installed

February 27, 2011

Today I wanted to work on some hardware, rather than pull wires. I had gotten my 4-40 threaded rod in from McMaster Carr while we were down in Florida watching the shuttle launch, so I decided to get the flap position sensor pushrod installed. This took a lot of fiddling to get arranged so I was happy with it. Multiple iterations of where to position the adel clamp and how to orient parts ensued before a satisfactory solution was found. Along the way I had to run the flap motor up and down and near the end I had a classic failure. Even though I had tried to safety the rod end bearing (well, actually, it is the actuator rod that needs to be safety wired) it wasn't adequate to keep the actuator rod from rotating and eventually unscrewing the rod end bearing. So .... I took more severe measures. I drilled the rod end bearing to accept some safety wire, and now have a positive safetying of the actuator rod. I also completed the installation of the flap position sensor pushrod. I can't believe I spent 5 hours on this operation, but sometimes when you are designing-on-the-fly it just takes time. Oh well. Next! Time : 5.0 hours

Aileron Trim Install Started

March 12, 2011

I started work on the aileron trim today. Actually, that started last weekend and I got the bearing block trimmed and drilled fine, then I screwed up (mis-measured in the most classic of ways) the bracket. I got a replacement from Van's and trimmed it (correctly this time) this morning. I also drilled the bearing block to the bracket and marked it for drilling to the seat pan. However, now it is time to go fly. I'm getting another round of transition training into the Mooney this afternoon, and think I'm going to take the Citabria around the patch first. So time to grab a bite of lunch and head for the airport. Its a rough life, but someone's gotta do it. :) Time : 0.5 hours

Aileron Trim Install Continued

March 14, 2011

Tonight I got a bit more work done on the aileron trim. In fact, it is almost completed. I got the bracket completed (drilled, dimpled, primed, and nutplates installed), modified the arm as indicated by the plans and instructions, installed the arm in the bearing block, and installed the bearing block on the bracket. I also found the neutral point on the servo and installed the connecting arms. I now need to stick it in the plane, drill for the servo mounting, connect the wires that will run forward, and do the final install. I'll likely leave out the springs for now, as I'll be pulling the sticks out again before we are all done. The springs can go in at that point. Time : 2.5 hours

Aileron Trim Install Finished

March 18, 2011

Well, it is almost finished. I intentionally didn't install the springs because I didn't want that stuff to be in the way of other things like routing the stick-grip wires. The sticks are going to have to be pulled out for that anyway, so I'll install the springs when it all goes back together. I also routed the wires from the servo up to the front of the plane, and connected it to the VP-X. I should log that in the electical section, but to heck with it. This is good enough. :) I also preped for a visit from a fellow RV-7 builder tomorrow, Dennis Roberts. He is going to help me rivet the rear turtledeck skin on. I am done (I hope and pray) in the rear of the plane so it is a fine time to put that skin on. Time : 3.25 hours

Fuselage Turtledeck Skin Riveted

March 19, 2011

Today Dennis came out and helped me rivet that turtledeck skin on. It meant I had to crawl into the rear of the plane (for the first time, if you can believe it .. given I did a quick-build fuselage). I was able to get in .. and more importantly, was able to get out again too. The riveting went _great_, and I'm well pleased with the results. There were a few spots that simply could not be gotten to with the bucking bar, and I'll be putting some pop-rivets in those places. No problem. Thanks Dennis!! Time : 3.5 hours

Pitot Line Run

March 20, 2011

Today was spent running the pitot out to where it is dangling outside of the fuselage at the wing root. I had to swap out some adel clamps as the ones I had selected had become too full to fit the pitot line. That resulted in some lost skin and blood. I also opened up some holes to take some larger snap bushings (in the supports forward of the spar, but not in the spare carry-through box itself ... yet). I shouldn't stop there, but I'm pooped. I flew last night and finished up my Mooney checkout, and didn't get home until 2am. I'm getting too old for that kind of crap. :) Time : 2.5 hours

Riveted Lingering Rivets

April 16, 2011

There were a set of rivets up along the upper rail of the fuselage (where a cool pilot would rest his arm while taxiing) which were not riveted at the QB factory. The rear-most ones left open are in a very tight spot where none of my standard bucking bars would fit. So I called a good friend, Ernest, to come over and help me make a "redneck bucking bar". The pictures show the results. With that bar I could slide the tongue up into the narrow space and buck the rivets. I'm VERY pleased with the results. Amazing what you can do with a little scrap, a welder, a grinding wheel, and a Scotchbrite wheel. Time : 2.5 hours

Canopy Fiberglassing Prep

May 24, 2011

With Theresa's assistance (the dog was there too, but not much help) I lay down the electrical tape that will define the line for the fiberglass on the canopy. The bottom layer was done with red electrical tape (to serve as a warning in case I sand through the top layers of tape) and on top of that we put two more layers of black tape. Now I just need to get out there and start sanding and glassing. Time : 0.75 hours

Canopy Fiberglassing Filler

May 25, 2011

Tonight I went out and did my first round of real glass work on the canopy. Given that the Sikaflex wanted some gap to work best there were some spots along the front edge of the canopy which were not nice and smooth. I felt that rather than have the fabric try and bridge the gaps I'd first trowl in some Superfil. I put the first round of Superfil on tonight, and will sand it down during the next session out at the hangar. Time : 0.50 hours

Canopy Fiberglassing Filler

June 10, 2011

I should have logged each day I spent time out there .. but I've been slack. I've had multiple turns of sanding and Superfil-ing on the canopy transition over the last week or so. It was only a little time each time (which is why I think I was slack about logging it) but at this point I have about an hour and a half in getting the transition nice. Should I really be messing with this? Beats me, but I like the results. Time : 1.50 hours

Canopy Fiberglassing Filler	June 12, 2011
I spent a little more time out at the airport sanding on the canopy. I think my philler-phase is done. Next, it will be time to lay down some glass. I'm hoping to get to that this weekend, but it may be tough as the weekend is going to be very very busy. Maybe I'll carve out a night this week. Time will tell. Time : 0.50 hours

Rudder Cable Exit Fairings	June 25, 2011
I did an initial round of trimming on the Avery rudder cable exit fairings I purchased a while back. They look good, and are drilled for rivets. I just need to match-drill the fuselage, dimple, and pop in a few rivets to hold them in place. Maybe tomorrow. Time : 0.50 hours

Pitot/Static Manifold Mounted

June 26, 2011

A long time ago I decided to use the spiffy pitot/static fittings that are available from folks like SteinAir. I've had a pair of manifolds (i.e. multi-outlet distribution block) in hand for quite a while, and had been holding off on mounting them until I had a good feeling for how busy the sub-panel was going to be. With the bulk of the wiring done now seemed a good time to mount them. I made a quick trip to the aviation department of the local Ace Hardware to pick up some long #4 screws, and installed the manifolds. This also allowed me to trim the pitot/static lines to length and get them terminated at the panel. Now I can pick off pitot and static lines for the individual instruments. I'll need pitot/static inputs for the EFIS, the backup EFIS, and the altitude encoder. I think I'm set. It is my hope that this will tidy up the usual rats nest of pitot/static lines one finds behind any panel. Time will tell. :) Now I'm off to go take a friend flying. Should be fun! Time : 1.75 hours

Rudder Cable Exit Fairings

July 2, 2011

This morning I got out into the garage and wanted to tackle a simple focused task that I could complete in short order. So the rudder cable exit fairings came to mind. I already had them trimmed to size and drilled, and I just needed to match-drill them to the fuselage, dimple and rivet. Simple enough. And it was simple enough. I got them on and they look -good-, really good. These were Avery-supplied fairings (the ones I fabricated so long ago were just too big .. the Avery ones were perfect). They are on, and that task is checked off the list. We have old friends visiting tonight (I need to pick Jenn up from the airport, in fact) so that'll be about it for RV-work today. Time : 1.5 hours

Canopy Fiberglassing

July 4, 2011

No time like the present, I figured, so it was off to the airport to finally work on actually laying glass down on the canopy. I had a friend who wanted to come out ... so I put Joe to work. While we were in the middle of that exercise another friend stopped by who has a -lot- of glass experience. Mark jumped in and helped guide us, though he felt we were basically on the right track anyway. All in all it was a HOT day to glass, but we got a lot done. Now I just need to walk away from it long enough to let it cure really well. Time : 2.5 hours

Canopy Fiberglassing	July 16, 2011
I spent a little time out at the airport working on the canopy today. I had two goals .. the first to install a few pop-rivets to mechanically attach the 'glass to the aluminum, and to lay on a bit of SuperFil to start the smoothing process. With that done I walked away to let the SuperFil cure. Time : 0.75 hours

Canopy Fiberglassing

July 17, 2011

After SuperFil-ing yesterday I went back and started sanding. I'm using the Norton 3X sandpaper, and that stuff is perfect for fiberglass. It cuts great and doesn't load up. Fabulous. I did an initial round of sanding to start getting the shape right, and then decided to lay up one more strip of tape over the areas where the pop-rivets were installed. Also, it seemed that I needed to build up a little in the "swale" where the transition is made from the canopy bubble to the aluminum. All in all a good round of work at the airport on the canopy today. I am very happy with how this is coming along. Time : 2.5 hours

New Panel

July 20, 2011

I know .. I know .. I have not even flown the plane yet, and I have a new panel. After getting the first iteration cut I realized that there were some things I could do to optimize the layout, so had Paul at SteinAir make the tweaks and cut me another one. I'm glad I did because a few things that had been compromises based on some assumptions we had to make got rectified. Of course, I had to cross my fingers that I wasn't tightening things up so much that I'd need a _third_ panel cut. I finally got time tonight (in 100+ degree heat!) to swap the panels. The new one is perfect. Fabulous. Everything is falling exactly like I had hoped it would. I am _very_ pleased. The next time that panel comes out will be for final paint. Now I just need to finish my last switch wiring, fabricate/drill/finish the radio stack rails, and I'll have everything done I can prior to getting the avionics. All good stuff. Time : 1.5 hours

Canopy F'glass Sanding

July 31, 2011

We just got back from Oshkosh today, and I decided to go out to do a bit of work on the canopy. I did a lot of sanding of the previous round of layup work, and that ended up looking pretty good. I don't have the profile I want yet, but we are getting there. I added another round of SuperFil to the forward edge starting to work on feathering the 'glass into the aluminum. I need to do more sanding to get the profile smoothed out the way I want it, but we are getting close. I have to go ferry the Citabria back from Siler City tomorrow night so might also do a bit of sanding thenas well. Time : 2.0 hours

More Canopy F'glass Sanding

August 2, 2011

I was out at the airport tonight so did another round of fiberglass sanding on the canopy. I continue to be pleased with how this is going. Once that sanding was done, I applied another round of SuperFil on the areas that needed more filling. I assume I'll just keep doing the "add SuperFil and sand it back off" dance until I have results that I think are worth going with. Eventually it'll be Smooth-Prime time, but I'm not there yet. :) Time : 2.25 hours

More Canopy F'glass Sanding	August 5, 2011
This was yet another round of fiberglass work. There was a little sanding, and another application of SuperFil. Yes, I'm being picky and going nice and slow at this. So sue me. :) Time : 0.75 hours

More Canopy F'glass Sanding	August 11, 2011
You know the drill ... sand, sand, sand, with a dash of sanding. Tonight I did start to pull some of the tapes, and only have the bottom layer left on at this point. It is coming out great! I want to soften the edge, and then need to tape/mask some other areas for a bit more work with SuperFil I want to pursue. Yes, I'm being picky, but it is going so well I figure why not. :) Time : 1.5 hours

More Canopy F'glass Sanding

August 14, 2011

Yep, more f'glassing. Fun! Today I softened up the edge of the glass where it meets the window, and then pulled the tape. It came off _fairly_ well, but there were a few spots where I had to work to get tape nibblets out of the epoxy. Annoying. I then spent some time masking down the sides and applying some blue-goo (aka: SuperFil) to fair in the gap for the Sika down the side skirt. I think I'll have to re-mask a bit higher up to make the fillet less severe but this was a good first round of building the fillet. I may head out Monday night to do what I hope might be the final round of applying blue-goo with another round of final sanding having to come after that. I _may_ get this crap done this week. (But it'll be a short week because we head down to Florida on Thursday.) Time : 1.75 hours

More Canopy F'glass Sanding

August 28, 2011

Not only did the week mentioned in the previous entry end up short due to needing to take my daughter to school in Florida, I also ended up with a cold which slammed me for a week. I was able to (mostly) work, but by the time the work-day was over I was exhausted. So there has been a bit of a break in making forward progress on the RV. The good news? Daughter is moved in and off to a great start at UCF. I am well pleased. Today (and, actually, a time or two earlier which I neglected to log) I spent some time doing some more work on the canopy. I am still slowly filling down the side of the skirt to account for the gap needed by the Sika adhesive. That said, it is looking -really- good. I'm close to done, I think. Time : 0.75 hours

More Canopy F'glass Sanding

September 3, 2011

More filling around the edges, and more sanding. My last round of filling moved things forward, but I think it needs a little more. Also, after a long discussion with a local fiberglass expert, I want to expand the area where I'm spreading the SuperFil. He felt I was on a good track and the pointers he gave will get me closer to that nicely finished final result. I didn't have time to do more filling today, so that'll be tomorrow. Time : 1.25 hours

SuperFil Frenzy

September 4, 2011

Today was spent applying tape to define my next line, and then mixing up a LOT of SuperFil to move into the final stages. I picked up some of the little Bondo filler spreading squeegees (suggested by Mark), and they worked great. As it turns out, Mark happened by as I was starting to apply the SuperFil and he jumped in to help. He did a lot of squeegeeing while I mixed SuperFil and slathered it on. Most of this will be sanded back off again, of course, but the final result should give me a very smooth finish. Time will tell. Gotta go buy more sandpaper, too! Time : 3.25 hours

Sanding My Fingers Off	September 5, 2011
Good grief. Sanding .. and sanding .. and sanding ... but it is looking great. My glass-guru came back out and inspected my work and gave me more pointers. I swear I think he is as excited about how this is turning out as I am. But there is more to go, and the end may be a glimmer in my eye at this point ... but it isn't really quite in sight. Its closer, though! Time : 4.25 hours

More Sanding My Fingers Off

September 7, 2011

Tonight I did another round of sanding, and moved to 250 grit quickly, as was suggested by Mark. I was afraid that the 250 grit would bring progress to a halt, only taking off minute amounts of filler for every pass of the sanding block. I shouldn't have doubted Mark's advise. It cut fine, and once I moved to using the flat of my sanding block the filler leveled quite quickly. It is looking MUCH better, and I'm actually starting to rather enjoy the work. I'd not want to do a whole plane built out of glass, but so far the little glass-work I need to do on the RV has been enjoyable. There will be a big break in work coming up. I've talked myself into going to the Triple Tree flyin on Saturday, then Monday morning I'm off to San Jose, CA for a week. I'll leap back into RV-work when I return. Time : 3.5 hours

More Sanding My Fingers Off	September 17, 2011
I was back to do more sanding and SuperFil-ing. I had filled some low spots and it was time to come work the filled areas back down again. You know the drill by now ... sand, and sand, and sand, then sand a bit more. But it is coming along -very- nicely, so I'm pleased. Time : 2.0 hours

Avionics Mounting Angles

September 18, 2011

Joe wandered by today and gave me a hand with fabricating the mounting rails/angles needed for the avionics. Actually, the angles had already been cut to size and I just needed to match drill them and install the platenuts. It was fiddly work, but easily done. The fiddly part comes only from the fact that there are a load of holes to drill. There were five screw holes per angle, and each screw hole ended up needing two rivet holes for mounting the platenuts. That adds up to 30 holes. Tedious, but not hard. Time : 3.25 hours

Finishing Canopy, For Now

October 2, 2011

I have hit a point where I'm done with fiddling with the canopy for the moment. It looks really good. I shot some cheap primer just so I could sand it all back off looking for low spots. There were some slight low spots, but I decided it was good enough. I did use them as a guide to do a little last sanding, then shot some more primer just so the thing didn't look like it had leprosy. Time : 2.75 hours

Brought Canopy Home Again

October 3, 2011

We brought the canopy back home because I need it to fit the rear window. We loaded it up (on its storage frame) in the back of the Rav/4 and drove it home. We waited until the next morning to put it on the plane, but 10 minutes of work there and it was on. Man oh man, does it look great. I think I really must make the effort to get a picture and upload it. I've been remiss in taking pix lately. Time : 1.25 hours

Rear Window Installation

October 30, 2011

Today I started work on installing the rear window. Finally. I spent some time working out the screw spacing (but think I'm going to tweak it a bit before I commit to drilling holes). I also spent some time tweaking a part I made on a friend's lathe, and am quite happy with it now. (No, I didn't log that ... I've missed a few rounds of work and have to get back into log-every-action mode again.) It has been a hectic month or so. There has been a lot of travel and work stress has ratcheted up quite a bit. But it was good to get my hands back on the project today and I want to swing back into high gear. I would have spent more time today, but instead I helped Ernest work on getting his engine running. It is a Mazda-based rotary, so isn't like the usual run-of-the-mill Lycoming engine routine. Very cool stuff ... and very very different from what I'm used to. Time : 2.25 hours

Odds and Ends

November 5, 2011

Rather than leap back into the rear window, I wanted to get a number of lingering odds and ends out of the way. Along with getting the ELT remote cable fixed, and the remote hooked up (logged elsewhere), I also completed running the static line to the altitude encoder (via a bulkhead fitting I turned on Ernest's lathe ... probably more trouble than it is worth, but it was fun to play with the lathe) and installed the center latch on the canopy. Now it is time to get cleaned up so we can take my son out for a birthday dinner. Time : 2.5 hours

Weather Stripping

November 20, 2011

I don't have a lot of time today because I've invited a lot of former co-workers (and drinking friends) out to the airport to go fly. I have about 10-12 people planning to show up, including a few kids. Kinda cool. But I wanted to do something on the plane this morning, so went and installed some weatherstripping purchased from McMaster on the canopy. Honestly, I think it is too thick and isn't going to work. I can't fully close the canopy now. Good grief. I _know_ it worked for another RV-builder, but my canopy may be fitted too tight (not really a bad thing, but it means that this weatherstripping ain't gonna work). Time : 1.25 hours

 

Total Time : 555.75 hours 

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