Aug 21, 2021     Replace rivet under spoiler pulley - (0.3 hour) Category: Fuselage

Aligned spoiler pulley bracket with support angles and replaced the middle rivet in the floor that had been removed some time ago.

  Dec 12, 2020     Remove rivets from glare-shield support - (1.5 hours) Category: Fuselage

Drilled out all but 2 rivets on the firewall that attach the glare-shield support.

  Jul 11, 2020     Tail fairing - (1.7 hours)       Category: Fuselage

Additional rounding of the tail fairing on the edge of a table to get a better fit with the fuselage skin. Aligned three floating type nutplates to hold the fairing. The center nutplate will be removed and the through hole opened up. Located five securing holes on either side of the fairing, clecoing the fairing in place.
Marked the termination of the back of the fairing and used a hand file to remove 1/4 or so of material

  Jul 11, 2020     Replace Rudder Hinge - (2.5 hours)       Category: Fuselage

The distinctively more robust extruded hinge on the fuselage required removal and replacement of the rolled knuckle hinge on the rudder. The rivets were first prepared for drilling the heads by using a spring-loaded center punch to drive the rivet mandrel back. Driving the mandrel exposes the rivet to effect head removal with a 1/8in drill. A first replacement hinge part was discarded after trying to align the rivet holes with the old workpiece. The drilled aluminum ruler was used on a second attempt. Several holes on the rudder skin needed to be opened to accept a rivet. The tang for securing the hinge pin with safety wire was too long, contacting a bolt head. The tang was cut back and the safety wire hole relocated. Reassembling the rudder halves is a much tighter fit. A previously used piece of rudder hinge was tapped up from the bottom. A battery powered drill will be used to pull the slightly flattened end of the hinge pin through both hinge halves to open the holes.

  Jul 29, 2018     XNB-D04: Rudder Cable Fairings - (1.3 hours) Category: Fuselage

Trimmed flashing from cable fairings on disk and belt sanders. Sanded aft end of cable fairing to match angle, leaving the rear open. Aprehensive about drilling through the bottom longeron for fairing mount attachment.

  Jul 29, 2018     XNB-D04: Place Pushrod Fairings - (0.3 hour) Category: Fuselage

Purchased fairings from Sonex as they were not included in the kit purchase. Remove flashing from ABS ruddervator pushrod fairings. Aligned cable and push rod fairings, set in place with painter's tape.

  Jul 28, 2018     XNB-C05: Fit Ruddervator Pushrod Fairing - (1.5 hours) Category: Fuselage

Sanded port and starboard ruddervator pushrod fairings. Drilled 1-1/4" hole with a step drill rather than remove the aft end by sanding. Maintain the integrity of the four corners. May remove it later.

  Dec 17, 2017     Enlarge rudder cable pass-through - (1.3 hours) Category: Fuselage

Opened the holes in the rudder cable pass-through immediately behind the mixer assembly to alleviate cable chafing. Chafing occurred at extreme fore and aft control movements. Opened holes from 3/4 to 7/8".

  Dec 17, 2017     XNB-F21: Inspection Cover Nutplates - (2.0 hours) Category: Fuselage

Dimpled fuselage members and installed recessed nut-plates for mixer inspection cover. Installed nut-plates with solid rivets and a squeezer.

  Oct 22, 2017     XNB-F29: Rivet Rudder Stops - (0.8 hour) Category: Fuselage

Countersink and flush riveted rudder stop plates to tail-cone.

  Oct 21, 2017     Close Box - (1.0 hour) Category: Fuselage

Updrilled, deburred and riveted the bottom sheet of bulkhead box.
In hind sight, riveting this piece so early in the process was a mistake, and should have been left for later.

  Apr 02, 2017     Close Inspection & Prep - (1.0 hour) Category: Fuselage

Located and drilled out the 'red' rivets on bottom panel to remove panels set in place from the factory quick build.

  Jan 17, 2017     Receive Quick Build - (9.5 hours)       Category: Fuselage

Rented 26 foot U-Haul and met Partain's over the road driver Michael and his dog Bear. Transferred QB fuselage, wings and boxes in a large isolated parking lot 1/2 mile off the Interstate. Took two trips to transfer the QB kit to Hangar 40 at WV12.

  Aug 08, 2016     Initial Purchase - (2 hours) Category: Fuselage

Fuselage kit plus Quick Build service.