Mar 06, 2024     Baggage door lift strut installation - (2.7 hours)       Category: Baggage Door

1. Removed the baggage door.
2. Marked the door and the cross-cabin firewall brace in the baggage compartment for the locations to be drilled.
3. Drilled three #30 holes in the right side of the baggage door for LP4-3 pull rivets.
4. Drilled #19 holes in the brace, then drilled the attach holes for two #8 nutplates. Countersunk the attach holes and deburred everything.
5. Riveted the nutplates in place.
6. Screwed the lower fitting of the lift strut into place and checked its fit and orientation, and verified clearances from the edge of the door opening.
7. I stashed the strut inside the baggage compartment while the painting takes place, and I'll rivet the upper end to the door later.

  Nov 17, 2022     Baggage door seam; Door sanding - (0.5 hour)       Category: Baggage Door

Finalized the baggage door seam by priming it, and touching up some of the sanding I did yesterday on the door itself. For all practical purposes, the door installation is now as good as I can make it. I think we'll call it done (except for painting the inside of the door).

  Nov 16, 2022     Primed inside of baggage door - (0.8 hour)       Category: Baggage Door

1. Sanded the filler on the top and bottom edges of the baggage door.
2. Roughed and cleaned the door surfaces.
3. Primed the inside of the door.

  Nov 14, 2022     Baggage door seam - (3.1 hours)       Category: Baggage Door

1. Spent a long time sanding the filler on the right side of the door, then checking the fit of the door, then more sanding, and so on. I got the seam looking really good, but I was running out of material to sand in a couple of areas, so I actually filed the edge of the door itself.

2. Filled the rivet holes on the top and bottom of the inside of the door with some finish filler. This will get sanded and painted, then the door will be done except for the hydraulic lift arm, which I'll install after the fuselage is painted.

  Nov 13, 2022     Baggage door seam - (1.5 hours)       Category: Baggage Door

Began the process of making the slightly uneven right-side door seam disappear on the baggage door.
1. Masked the area that the filler would be applied. Roughed up the contact areas. Cleaned everything, then re-marked the gap.
2. Laid down clear packing tape up to the marked line, on both sides of the gap.
3. Mixed up a very thick mixture of resin, flox (for strength), micro (for sandability), and cabosil (to prevent sagging).
4. Used a tongue depressor to apply the mixture to the gap. Pressed it into place, then used a small steel ruler to level it off. Peeled off the tape.
5. Let the mixture stiffen for a couple of hours, then came back and leveled the top and sides again with the steel ruler.

  Nov 10, 2022     Baggage door seams - (1 hour)       Category: Baggage Door

I removed the baggage door and marked the left edge with a straight line about 1/16" from the edge. This was my target trim line. I used a Vixen file, followed by a long sanding board, and then several grades of sandpaper and finally an edge scraper, to finish off the edge. The door now fits really nice on the left side.

The right side is next. It's slightly more uneven than the left, with a wider gap at the bottom, tapering up to almost no gap near the hinge. I think this happened because of a slight twist in the firewall that actually pulled the top skin away. I've been aware of this issue for a while, and in the next work session I'll starting fixing it.

  Nov 09, 2022     Baggage door skin bonding - (0.6 hour)       Category: Baggage Door

I revisited the baggage door for a while this evening. Back when I fitted the door, it fit best when the lower edge of rivets was left out (and several on the upper edge, too.) In order to fill the empty holes, and perhaps also restore the door to its full strength after removing the rivets, I mixed up a resin/flox/cabosil mixture, and used a paintbrush to fill the small space under the top and bottom lips of the inner skin. I also used it to fill the rivet holes. After applying the resin, I wiped the door edges, taped the potential contact points on the fuselage with packing tape, then reattached the door and locked it.

Over the next couple of days, after the resin has cured, I will remove the door, apply some SuperFil to the rivets holes, then sand it all and paint the inside of the door.

  Sep 15, 2022     Completed baggage door - (4.3 hours)       Category: Baggage Door

Today was one of those momentous days. After logging over 40 hours of work on the baggage door, I finished the installation! (Well, mostly...)

1. The baggage door didn't fit very well last night, once I had installed the bottom row of rivets on the inside skin. So today, I removed the door and drilled out the bottom row of rivets. I replaced the door back on the fuselage, and it fit great once again. I decided to leave those 7 rivets out for now, and get the rest of the door-fitting done. My plan, once it's done, is to bond the bottom of the inner skin to the door rib using some super-duper adhesive, fill in the gaps with filler, then sand it and paint it. The door is not structural, and it's actually plenty rigid with these rivets missing, but I'll make it look cosmetically good.

2. Now that the door fit well, I built up about 1/8" of masking tape on the inside of the firewall and front side of the avionics bulkhead, in the general location where the locking pins will go.

3. I put the door back on, duct-taped it tightly closed, and actuated the door lock a few times to make an impression of the locking pins into the tape.

4. Carefully marked the center of the impressions, then center-punched them and drilled pilot holes with a #40 drill bit.

5. Removed the tape and used a step-drill to open up the holes in the bulkheads to 5/16".

6. Sanded down the left nylon block to fit the available space, using a belt-sander with #60 grit sandpaper. Located and pre-drilled two #30 mounting holes in each nylon block.

7. Bolted the blocks to the bulkheads with AN5 bolts and nuts.

8. Used the nylon blocks as drill guides to drill #30 holes through the bulkheads. Up-sized all 4 mounting holes to #8.

9. Used long-depth clecoes to hold the blocks in position. Removed the AN5 bolts.

10. Re-fitted the door and tested the fit. The pins were really tight, and I wasn't able to fully lock the door, so I used a small amount of grease on the pins and the nylon blocks. This time, I was able to get the door locked!

11. Removed the door and the nylon blocks. Deburred the bulkhead holes, countersunk the mounting holes in the blocks, and chamfered the edges of the pin holes.

12. Re-installed the blocks, using the final hardware (AN365 nylocs).

13. Re-fitted the door, and all is well. The door closes really nicely, and generally fits really well. I'll need to do a small amount of bending on the aft lower corner of the door, and I will need to trim the edges of the door once the cowling is fitted.

  Sep 14, 2022     Baggage door drilling - (3.4 hours)       Category: Baggage Door

A big day! We got the baggage door final-drilled and riveted today:

1. Masked and painted a 5" x 6" area around the keyway of the lock on the inside of the outer door skin. (This is the section of the inside of the skin that will always be visible.

2. Prepped the tools and cockpit padding for the next steps. Added three clecoes to hold the inside skin to the door.

3. My friends Zac and Jim came over. Zac arranged the padding to suit him, while I taped the baggage door tightly into place on the fuselage. Zac climbed into the fuselage and somehow got himself into a suitable position.

4. I held the outside of the door while Zac drilled and clecoed the rest of the inside skin.

5. Zac climbed out and I removed the duct tape. Everything looked good so far, so I sent Zac home to take a break for a while.

6. I drilled and clecoed the rest of the holes Zac couldn't reach, then removed the clecoes and inner skin. Jim helped me deburr, dimple, and countersink the various parts.

7. Installed the lock assembly and lock pins.

8. Put a couple of blind rivets into the upper end of the inner skin to hold it in position.

9. Zac came back and squeezed into the belly of the beast again. I attached the baggage door again, and tightly re-taped it. Zac riveted as much of the door as he could reach, then climbed out while I pulled off the duct tape. The door still seems to fit well.

10. I blind-riveted the remaining holes in the door, and put the door back on. It actually didn't fit nearly as well this time. I will have to do some pushing and pulling to see if I can correct it a bit.

11. Found that the door support strip on the left side of the door opening was interfering with the plastic snap bushing and the left door rib, so I trimmed it and notched it. This solved the clearance issues, but not really the fit. (The door fits tightly if you push it to the right while you close it, so I'm hoping it will be fine once it's tightly locked.)

  Sep 13, 2022     Baggage door lock and inner skin riveting prep - (3.5 hours)       Category: Baggage Door

This evening I did a bunch of final preparation for riveting the baggage door, which will probably happen tomorrow.

1. Scuffed, cleaned, and primed the inside of the inner baggage door skin.

2. Disconnected all four cables and removed the GEA24 Engine Interface Module from the avionics hell-hole area. Wrapped up the cable connectors with tape to protect them from flying aluminum chips. Covered the whole avionics bay with masking paper. Padded the cabin heat knob, so it won't rub against the right gear tower. Laid down some thick mover's blankets on the floor of the cockpit, and tried to pad the center seatbelt attach fitting and the front cockpit stick attach fitting as best as I could. (I'm still not sure how my gracious drilling/riveting volunteer, Zac, is going to fit down in there, but he's confident he can do it. I wrote him a motivational note on the inner door skin that he will find tomorrow. I also organized the tools we'll need for the job, and charged both the cordless work light and rivet gun he'll be using.

3. Spent some time finalizing the fit of the door so it is as tight and seamless as I could get it against the fuselage, even without pushing on it. I think I got it looking pretty good.

4. Drilled out the two lock pin holes to 1/2" to fit the snap bushings. Tapered the lock pins a little more, just to make sure they fit nicely. Test-assembled the entire lock assembly inside the door, to make sure it works smoothly, and to make sure there are no problems tomorrow, when I have to assemble it while Zac is waiting for me to finish. (After he drills and clecoes the door, I will disassemble, countersink and dimple various parts before I cleco it back together and send him back into the cave to rivet the door for good.)

  Sep 12, 2022     Baggage door outer skin riveting - (4.6 hours)       Category: Baggage Door

1. Removed part of the baggage door skin several times, and hand-bent it to improve the fit.

2. Drilled out and filed the lock assembly hole in the door skin. Test-fit the lock assembly.

3. Drilled the outer skin attach holes and the holes surrounding the lock doubler.

4. Disassembled the skin, ribs, and angles. Deburred, dimpled and countersunk everything as needed.

5. Sanded, cleaned and primed the skin, bottom stiffener, and side ribs.

6. While the primer was drying, I cut the square hole in the lock actuator plate to accommodate the lock shaft.

7. I also reamed the two snap bushings to accommodate the lock pins.

8. Riveted the outer door skin to the ribs and bottom stiffener. Put the door back on the airplane to check its fit. Two thumbs up!

  Sep 11, 2022     Baggage door fitment - (6.1 hours)       Category: Baggage Door

1. Un-clecoed part of the baggage door, and pre-bent the bottom edge of the skin so it will lay more flat to the fuselage. Also massaged some of the rib flanges for a better fit.

2. Begin getting a good fit on the door by trimming off almost 1/4 inch from the top end, so the hinge eyelets will have enough room. Block-sanded the top edge smooth.

3. Trimmed a thin wedge (about 1 mm maximum) from the top corners of the door so it will lay flat with the fuselage skin.

4. Spent a bunch of time analyzing how I can get the door to lay flat while also being equidistant from the skins on each side. I've known for a long time there is a slight twist my firewall, which in turn profoundly affects the fit of the door, especially at the lower portion. I decided to bring the firewall back into line by force. My first tactic was to hold the firewall in the proper position while drilling the remaining skin/Skybolt holes to #30 size. This took out about 3/4 of the alignment problem. I will use #30 “Oops” rivets in these holes.

I think I can take care of the remaining alignment problem by using the cowling itself to apply a bit of aft pressure on the firewall. That will depend on me drilling the Skybolt fastener holes in the correct location later.

5. Re-bent one of the tabs at the end of a door rib, then filed off a bit of material from the angle to get a better fit for the hinge attach angle. Clamped the angle, spacer and hinge to the door, then taped them in place with duct tape to check the general fit and hinge alignment. The door seems like it will sit pretty flat against the fuselage at this point, but I won't know for sure until I start cleocoing and riveting.

6. Drilled and clecoed the hinge, spacer and angle to the door. Checked the fit. After some little tweaks, it still fits well!

7. Marked the left edge of the door, then block-sanded it a bit to further improve the fit.

8. Added a thin shim under the right side of the door hinge to allow the hinge pin to slide in and out better.

9. Disassembled the hinge, spacer, angle and shim. Deburred all. Reassembled with clecoes and checked the fit again.

10. Disassembled everything again. Countersunk the angle and dimpled the skin. Reassembled and riveted the hinge to the door.

  Sep 11, 2022     Baggage door hinge; Baggage door fitment - (2.7 hours)       Category: Baggage Door

1. Cut a new hinge pin, slightly longer than the previous one. Tapered the aft tip so it inserts easier. Bent the end 90 degrees.
2. Cut one eyelet from a scrap piece of hinge to make a pin keeper. I have seen several hinge keepers, and they are usually located so the bolt for the screw is inside the C-channel hinge support. I wanted to do something different, so I made the screw hole behind the C-channel, where it can't be seen when the door is open. Not sure if I like the look of the keeper, but it is what it is, and it works.
3. Riveted the hinge assembly to the top skin.
4. Riveted the ends of the C-channel support to the firewall and the avionics bulkhead. [NO PHOTO]
5. Laid the door on the fuselage for the first time, just to see how the fit will be. As expected, I will have to trim some of the door skin at the inboard end to create a 1/4" gap to allow the hinge to show. I marked the 1/4" trim I will make. I won't trim it all at one time -- I'll sneak up on it.
6. Disassembled the door and bent several flanges a bit to begin massaging them into a better fit.

I can tell there will be a lot of work to do on this door, and it will have to be slow and iterative. For instance, the edges of the door will have to be trimmed carefully, and I may have to get the right-upper Skybolt cowl fasteners to help hold the right upper firewall in perfect alignment to help the door fit perfectly.

  Sep 09, 2022     Baggage door hinge - (2.2 hours)       Category: Baggage Door

1. Drilled a baggage door hinge access hole in the firewall, but even after making it a bit oblong, and as high up as possible, the hinge still didn't fit comfortably into the hinge eyelets. I checked the plans carefully to make sure I had everything aligned and the spacers stacked correctly, I did, but there simply was no way the factory plans were going to work. So I solved a problem and perhaps even improved things by cutting out two new spacer strips out of 0.032" scrap aluminum, then drilled and clecoed one of them between the hinge and the C-channel mount. This lowered the hinge a bit, and I could get the pin in. (The other spacer strip will go under the other half of the hinge, in the door.)

2. Test-fit the hinge halves and trimmed some notches in the side door-support strips to allow the hinges to clear as they open and close.

  Aug 31, 2022     Baggage door hinge mount and hinges - (1.6 hours)       Category: Baggage Door

1. Fabricated the 0.032" spacer that will go between the baggage door hinge and the fuselage skin.
2. Fabricated the 13-1/2" support angle the the door hinge will attach to.
3. Cut the 13-1/2" hinge.
4. Marked the location where the avionics access door will have to be notched to accommodate the baggage door hinge support channel.
5. Studied how the rest of the door will be assembled.

  May 02, 2022     Baggage door assembly - (3.2 hours)       Category: Baggage Door

1. Trimmed the lower edge of the skin spacer piece that sits under the outer baggage door skin.
2. Fabricated the 2 lock rods.
3. Test-fit the rods to the lock arm.
4. Assembled, drilled and clecoed the outer baggage door skin, the two door ribs, and the outboard angle strip/lock reinforcement.
5. Just for fun, I laid the newly-created door frame on the fuselage. It appeared to fit really nicely (but I know there's a lot of work ahead to make it fit well!).

  May 01, 2022     Baggage door initial construction - (3.8 hours)       Category: Baggage Door

Began construction of the baggage door:

1. Removed blue plastic from todays' parts and inspected them.
2. Prepped the side ribs by fluting them so they were as flat as I could get them.
3. Marked the flange centerlines.
4. Clecoed the outboard stiffener / lock reinforcement to the outside skin.
5. Clamped the side ribs in place to the outside skin to check clearances and dimensions.

6. Fabricated the lock arm in accordance with the plans. (Noticed that the drawing, despite being "full scale," is actually about 5% off from real size.)