Apr 13, 2024     Elevator Fitting - (2 hours)       Category: Tail Feathers

Started fitting the elevators on the Horizontal Stab with the help of my dad. Unfortunately, I didn't read ahead in the plans. I was only supposed to put one elevator on at a time so that I can drill the control horn. It is difficult to get the bolts on. Now, I need to take them off. We got the second elevator off, but now, I'll have to suffer through getting the first one off later. That's the price of education.

  Apr 05, 2024     Elevator Rod End Bearings - (1 hour)       Category: Tail Feathers

Installed Rod End bearings into the elevators.

  Apr 04, 2024     Riveted hinges to front firewall - (4 hours)       Category: Fuselage

Riveted the hinges and shims to the right and left side of the firewall. Also, built up and fitted the air vents and NACA ducts to the cockpit. Silicon RTV'd in place an held with a clamp overnight.

  Apr 02, 2024     Front Fuse Hinge Fittings - (2 hours)       Category: Fuselage

Made the hinge sections for attaching the cowling.

  Apr 01, 2024     Cleaning up and planning for my next work - (4 hours)       Category: Fuselage

I spent some time going back through the plans and figuring out what to work on next. I took too long of a pause so I wanted to do some metal work to get back on the horse. I've been struggling with two decisions. One is to use sky bolts or hinges for the cowling and the other is Garmin vs. Dynon.

I think I'm going to do the hinges. I like the look and simplicity for most of the cowl. The top/aft might be a different thing, but I have time to make that decision. I found the parts and prepared the surfaces at the front of the fuselage to accept the hinges. I had to scrape a bit of fuel sealant off the inside firewall flange as I had sealed it before.

I also riveted the hinge reinforcement pieces onto the upper front fuselage panel. These used fuel tank sealant and 4 -2 rivets each. Those things were tiny. What a mess it was.

  Mar 31, 2024     Finishing Kit Inventory - (5 hours)       Category: Fuselage

Inventoried the finishing kit. Still need the exhaust, Cowl pin, and wheels.

  Feb 29, 2024     Upper Front Fuselage Skin and Canopy Jettison Arms - (3 hours)       Category: Fuselage

Dimpled and primed the upper front fuselage skins.

Fabricated the canopy jettison release arms from aluminum stock. I cut the slots first and then drilled them second. I'll reverse that procedure next time. I reordered this part to make again.

  Jan 29, 2024     Instrument Panel Frame riveted to fuselage - (4 hours)       Category: Fuselage

Riveted the panel frame assembly together. Riveted the assembly to the Instrument Panel attach points. Started putting together the canopy jettison mechanism. Trying to cross reference with the relocation kit. Installed canopy lift struts.

  Jan 28, 2024     Instrument Panel Angles - (1.5 hours)       Category: Fuselage

Cut out and shaped the instrument panel angles. Machine countersunk all the holes called out in plans in the angles and doubler. Primed the parts. cleaned up primer from CS holes.

  Jan 22, 2024     Instrument Panel Attach plates - (.5 hour) Category: Fuselage

Riveted on the inst panel attach plates under the upper longeron assemblies.

  Jan 21, 2024     Canopy Decking - (4 hours)       Category: Fuselage

Prepped all decking. Match drilled all holes into upper longerons. Cleaned up shavings. Riveted on wiring support channels.

  Jan 20, 2024     Wiring Channel - (1.5 hours)       Category: Fuselage

Primed and prepped the central wiring channel. Dimpled, and riveted on all of the nut plates. Riveted the channel into place.

  Jan 18, 2024     Front Assembly riveted on. - (1 hour)       Category: Fuselage

Riveted on Forward Assembly. Added latch bracket.

  Jan 16, 2024     Finishing the upper front Fuselage Assembly - (2 hours)       Category: Fuselage

Riveted the rest of the upper assembly. Primed and prepped parts. Riveted on the Instrument Panel standoffs.

  Jan 15, 2024     Sub Panel Assembly - (5 hours)       Category: Fuselage

Built up hinge and forward fuselage ribs. Made sure all rivets were flush to allow for smooth hinge operation. Primed all parts and assembled as per the plans.

  Jan 07, 2024     Riveted Forward Upper Fuselage Ribs and braces - (3 hours)       Category: Fuselage

Riveted the forward fuse brackets that will stiffen the ribs and connect to the canopy struts.

  Nov 20, 2023     Primed Upper Forward Fuselage parts - (3 hours) Category: Fuselage

Pulled, prepped, and primed the parts for the upper forward fuselage. Separated and demurred several brackets. Primed with SEM.

  Nov 19, 2023     Deutsch Connector install - (1 hour)       Category: Fuselage

JR helped me to install a Deutsch connector with all the correct tools and connectors. Installed plug on flap actuator.

  Nov 10, 2023     Flap Actuator - (3 hours)       Category: Fuselage

Installed Flap actuator. Drilled hole for safety wire. Torqued and sealed all bolts.

  Nov 09, 2023     Flap Actuator Assembly - (4 hours)       Category: Fuselage

Used the wing template to locate and match drill the holes in the flap torque tubes. Sized all the holes up to a #12 and fit the bolts. Primed the insides of the tubes. Cleaned the surfaces. Greased with Royal Purple Lithium Grease and installed in the fuselage. Twisted the central control horn in place and bolted the torque arms down.

  Nov 07, 2023     Rudder Cables Connected - (2.5 hours)       Category: Fuselage

Installed the adel clamps on the rudder cable sheath. Conncted cable ends to the rudder pedals. Riveted in the nylon rudder cable guides. Completed chapter 33.

  Oct 30, 2023     Rudder Cable Routing - (1 hour)       Category: Fuselage

Installed Snap Bushings and routed the cables to the front.

  Oct 25, 2023     Left Side Baggage Area Side Panels - (1 hour)       Category: Fuselage

Finished up the left side panels. Amanda helped buck the rivets connecting the side panels to the bulkheads. I used common head rivets instead of flush rivets because the plans never had a step to dimple them. The button heads look more consistent with the rest of the bulkhead panel as well.

  Oct 24, 2023     Flap Motor Channel and Right Side Baggage Wall - (3 hours)       Category: Fuselage

Riveted on the Flap Motor Channel and the Motor Brackets. Amanda helped me get the floor to bulkhead rivets. Finished the right side baggage wall.

  Oct 22, 2023     Finishing the Baggage Floors and starting the Flap Motor Channel - (4 hours)       Category: Fuselage

Finished up the nut plates on the step access areas and floors. Installed the baggage floor splice and put in the Flap Motor Channel.

  Oct 20, 2023     More Baggage Floor Riveting - (3 hours)       Category: Fuselage

Lots of rivets.

  Oct 18, 2023     Riveting Down the Right Baggage Floor - (3 hours)       Category: Fuselage

Started riveting down the right baggage floor.

  Oct 17, 2023     Finished Bottom Rivets of the Big Join - (3 hours)       Category: Fuselage

Finished the bottom rivets. Started Placing the baggage floor in the plane. Lots of vacuuming out of debris and dirt.

  Oct 16, 2023     More Fuselage Joining - (4 hours)       Category: Fuselage

Rotated the fuse on the side to get to the lower baggage ribs and bulkhead rivets. Riveted the side substructure and bottom baggage ribs to the skin. Just have the bottom seam to go. Henry and Amanda helped turn the fuselage. Henry helped with riveting.

  Oct 14, 2023     Side Fuse Rivets - (1.5 hours)       Category: Fuselage

Getting over the flu. Riveted some of the side and top skins. Got the pull rivets in the bottom of the floor ribs to the bulkheads.