Oct 30, 2021     Windscreen fairing - (6 hours)       Category: Doors/Window

  Jan 16, 2020     Windscreen - (1.9 hours)       Category: Doors/Window

I followed the advice in the AviPro manual and cut/bent three 3"" angles with 1"" legs out of .032 aluminum. I had to bend them to match the angle of the windscreen using the seaming pliers. With the windscreen clecod in place, I placed the angles where I wanted them and traced them onto the boot cowl. Then I removed the windscreen and drilled the angles in the correct place using a #30 followed by a #21 bit to ultimately accept a #8 machine screw and self-locking nut. During final install, I'll glue a strip of rubber to the face of the angles against the windscreen.

Then I removed the windscreen and drilled/deburred all the holes in it and in the fuselage tabs to 3/16th (ultimately I need to drill the windscreen to 1/4"" when I get a larget bit) and went around the edges with a sanding drum in the angle grinder followed by sandpaper. Minus drilling out the 1/4"" holes, the windscreen is ready to install. I'll start the fiberglass fairing when the material arrives in the mail.

  Jan 15, 2020     Windscreen - (1.6 hours)       Category: Doors/Window

Happy birthday Amber!

I went into the windscreen fitting thinking that as long as the side profile of the windscreen was smaller than the wing root I would be good and the fairing would cover it. Now I realize the fairing will still cover it, but it would be a lot easier if the leading edge of the wing was exactly aligned with the associated location on the windscreen. Unfortunately, I trimmed just over an inch off the top of the windscreen because there was a ripple there that I didn't want in the finished product.

Once this was trimmed, I trimmed slivers of material off the center bottom of the windscreen until it mostly contacted the boot cowel, except for the outboard foot or so...maybe more.

Once I was satisfied with that fit, I trimmed the sides to the center of the vertical fuselage member and drilled them to the tabs. They needed to be squeezed in a bit at the bottom so there is a small amount of residual internal street which I hope will not cause problems down the road.

  Jan 13, 2020     Windscreen - (.5 hour)       Category: Doors/Window

After the boot cowl was on, I tucked the windscreen in place. I had to trim about 1.5"" off the top and there may be more trimming required. I am also worried the forward fuel lines will interfere as i routed them outside the fuselage. Time will tell.

  Dec 23, 2019     Baggage door skin finishing - (1.5 hours) Category: Doors/Window

I tapped the holes in the baggage door frame for 6-32 screws, then drilled out the holes in the skins and deburred them. I also mostly deburred the outer edges and inside window edge.

  Dec 22, 2019     Forward baggage door pin - (1.5 hours)       Category: Doors/Window

This morning was spent on a variety of jobs that you don't typically figure into a program management chart. First off was the forward baggage door pin. I had been scratching my head for a while thinking that both washers on the pin were welded in place which is not how it was supposed to be. Then upon closer inspection, I realized the pin closest to the T handle was not welded, only being held in place by paint. I removed the paint on some of the shaft with a file and sandpaper until the washer could slide freely. Then I checked my spring drawer and found a spring that was the perfect diameter for the pin assembly. I trimmed it to length and installed it (which was it's own story). After lubing the spring and shaft with silicone, I installed it in the door and bent the tabs down for permanent installation.

The tab bending process removed more paint than I was expecting so the end result was not particularly pretty. I started by crimping opposing tabs down a little with Vise Grips, then used a screwdriver and hammer to tap them down the rest of the way. I started by doing every other tab, since they cannot lay perfectly flat if all are bent down at once.

I then did some experimentation on how to fasten the baggage door skins. I started by drilling and tapping a 6-32 screw into a steel tube and also tried a #6 sheet metal screw. Though it didn't take a huge amount of force to strip the threads on the machine screw, it seemed like it held it's strength for several turns before stripping out. For the sheet metal screw, I tried incrementally larger drill sizes until it threaded with a #32 bit. Even so, it didn't hold nearly as well as the machine screw. So after all that experimentation, I am going to build the doors according to plans. Fancy that.

  Dec 21, 2019     Forward baggage door - (1.3 hours)       Category: Doors/Window

I cut out the window on the front baggage door and filed down the edges. There were a few areas that needed a little tweaking, including cutting the slot for the door pin, but everything lined up nicely on the final product. Now I just need to decide how to fasten the skins to the door frame.

  Dec 20, 2019     Forward baggage door - (2.2 hours) Category: Doors/Window

I marked and drilled the forward baggage door skin and then drilled it to the door frame. I then trimmed the forward edge to align with the hinge line but it may require a bit more trimming. The aft edge was trimmed to be just shy of the pan heads of the 6-32 screws that will be in the forward post of the rear door.

I then trimmed the top and bottom of both door skins for a 3/8"" overlap. I know the plans call for 1/4"", but I have a big radius on the door sill and frame aluminum edges, so 3/8"" ensures adequate overlap in all areas.

  Dec 19, 2019     Forward baggage door - (1.4 hours)       Category: Doors/Window

I did the initial cut and fit of the forward baggage door. The following sequence seems to work well: rough cut the door, clamp in place, drill top and bottom holes in the part of the frame in the middle of the door opening, cut out hinge slots, bend to match stringer profile, trace frame onto back side of door skin, then mark centerlines and cut lines, drill the skin, then drill to the frame.

The one gotcha is the 3"" spacing laid a screw right through the part of the center post that the spring pin passes through, so that hole will have to be offset slightly.

  Dec 18, 2019     Baggage doors - (2.1 hours)       Category: Doors/Window

I was in the basement for other reasons and saw the baggage door latch parts so I took them to the garage and drilled out the door sills for the latch. To do this, I positioned the door where it should be and found a drill bit that was snug in the door latch guides on the top and bottom door frame. I pushed the but through the guide on top and bottom and twisted it to make a mark on the paint. I then removed the door, center punched the mark, and drilled it to 1/8"". Note the door latch does not travel perpendicular to the door sill. I slowly drilled it out to an H size bit, ensuring after each size that the holes were still where they needed to be.

Next I went to install the front baggage door, but for reasons beyond me it is now too close the the rear door and won't close. The latch pin was also slightly misaligned. The quickest solution is to weld the hinge holes shut and re drill them while the door is properly places. I got as far as welding the old holes shut this morning.

I also cut the window hole in the door frame and deburred the inside.

  Dec 17, 2019     Rear baggage dooor - (2.2 hours)       Category: Doors/Window

After another unsuccessful attempt to bubble the round window over the kerosene heater, I turned my attention to the rear baggage door skin. To fit the skin, I aligned the straight edge of the aluminum with the leading edge of the door. Once alignment was satisfactory, I clamped and drilled the top and bottom hole through the skin and door frame. As best I could, I traced the hinge cutouts on the outside and cut the initial slots. I widened them a little at a time until the skin laid flat on the frame around the welds. There is only a small bit of daylight through the bottom cutout, but the final product will be sealed. Then I marked where the bends should be in the skin to match the fuselage contours and bend the skin slightly with the homemade brake.

I marked the centerlines of the door frame and took the skin off to trim the outside and drill the screw holes. Not all the centerlines followed a straight line, FYI. Finally, I laid the skin back on the frame and drilled with a #40 bit to start with. I marked for the round window cutout so it would be exactly opposite the left window.

  Dec 16, 2019     Left window and baggage doors - (2.2 hours)       Category: Doors/Window

I made a form to bake the left rear window in the oven using the actual aluminum frame as the guide. I baked it at 310. The small test piece I made started drooping in 3 minutes. This was in the oven for 15 minutes before the outside corners started bending down.

I started on cutting out skins for the baggage doors. After I got the rear door skin cut and clamped in place, I realized I was using the wrong thickness: .032 instead of .025. Thats a 3 lb difference overall so back to the basement for .025.

  Dec 15, 2019     Left rear window - (2 hours) Category: Doors/Window

I cut out the aluminum frame for the window and smoothed down the edges and drilled it to the fuselage. I plan to fasten it with 1/8"" stainless pop rivets. I also drilled the left middle row window to the aluminum part of the frame but not yet to the steel. It is quite floppy so I will attempt to bubble it out for stiffness before moving to thicker acrylic.

I lost track of time so got no photos before running off to wake the family up for church.

  Dec 14, 2019     Left side rear window welding - (3.5 hours)       Category: Doors/Window

I had some extra time yesterday so I cut and welded the circle closed and bent the top part to match the contour of the fuselage side with the top stringer. I also pop riveted the fuel selector guard in place.

This morning I clamped the circle in place and welded it. I also traced it onto .032 aluminum for the frame. I calculate the total weight of this window (extra steel, aluminum, acrylic, screws) to be 1.5 lbs.

  Dec 13, 2019     Left side rear window - (2.2 hours)       Category: Doors/Window

I notched the J channel for the fuel selector guard and drilled it to the floor. At the end of the day, I painted it white and will rivet it in tomorrow.

Next was the left rear window frame. I was aiming at 12-13 inch diameter, and the air compressor proved to be a nice die to bend around. The final bend was much larger than I desired, so I wrapped the compressor in aluminum scrap and heated the tube with the welding torch as I tightened the bend around the compressor. The final product was almost perfectly sized. A little tweaking tomorrow and welding the circle shut and it will be ready for the fuselage.

  Dec 11, 2019     Left window frame - (2 hours)       Category: Doors/Window

I started by filling the fuel lines with gas up to the top of the tube forward of the firewall. Two hours later, the fluid level had dropped about 1/4"" with no detectable leak on any joint. I topped it off, capped the lines, and left it for the day to see if evaporation was a factor.

After, I squeezed the rivets of the left window frame to the door and window flange, then pulled the stainless rivets to permanently attach all left-side door and window flanges to the fuselage. I also pre-drilled the holes in the window frame through which the machine screws will hold the acrylic in place. I left this piece bare aluminum as I would rather the fabric adhere to scuffed aluminum than primer in this area. I have no science to back up that preference.

  Dec 10, 2019     Left window frame continued - (1.5 hours)       Category: Doors/Window

Finished trimming, drilling, bending, deburring, and dimpling of left window frame aluminum parts.

Questions for Bob:
1) use of .062 acrylic for windows and doors
2) Sufficient fuel flow using system as designed
3) Cargo pod design concept
4) Adequacy of .025 on cargo doors
5) Lightweight stringers
6) Shoulder harness attach options
7) tail wire size/type

  Dec 09, 2019     Left window frame - (1.7 hours) Category: Doors/Window

Started fabricating the final aluminum frame for the left middle row window. I'm using .032 aluminum riveted to the window flange on the bottom side and the door flange on the front side. The back end will be pop riveted to the steel structure underneath.

  Dec 06, 2019     Rear window planning - (2.2 hours)       Category: Doors/Window

I literally spent two hours on the rear windows without lifting a tool: thinking, measuring, planning, thinking, measuring, planning, and finally cutting a piece of .032 for the finalized rear window frame. The third row windows are still up in the air. I'm oscillating between round and triangular design.

Update: The family has voted for round! This could be one of the most distinctive Bearhawks flying thanks to a very cool round ""Helio style"" rear window.