EAA Builders Log Site

Project: Voltar-S21 -
Listing for Category : fuselage

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Categories

Show All Entries - (825)
Research - (9)
Workshop - (16)
Empennage - (4)
Fuselage - (175)
Firewall - (19)
Tail Feathers - (70)
Wings - (190)
Controls - (9)
Avionics - (105)
Lighting - (3)
Instrument Panel - (72)
Landing Gear - (11)
Engine - (93)
Propeller - (5)
Fuel System - (6)
Interior Finish - (35)
Paint / Decals
Inspection - (2)
Tools
Suggestions - (1)


Builder Name:	Vern Little -

Project:	Rans - S-21 Outbound - VIEW REPORTS
Total Hours:	2310.8
Start/Last Date:	Mar 06, 2018 - No Finish Date

Friendly URL:	https://eaabuilderslog.org?s=Voltar-S21

Home or Last Project Picture

May 02, 2024 Canopy Ribs - (1.5 hours)

Category: Fuselage

Riveted canopy ribs in place
.

Canopy Ribs

May 01, 2024 Priming Canopy - (2.0 hours)

Category: Fuselage

Shot grey primer on canopy parts. Used Axalta Cromax V-2940S (formerly DuPont) primer/sealer for the top coat. Some parts use Super Koropon chromated primer for corrosion resistance, with the Cromax on top.

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May 01, 2024 Primer Prep - (2.0 hours)

Category: Fuselage

Scrubbed canopy and misc parts with Scotchbrite and Prekote clone (my own formula).

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Apr 13, 2024 Skylight Ribs, Spinner - (1.5 hours)

Category: Fuselage

Trimmed and deburred skylight ribs. Need to buy more primer so I can spray them grey.

The aluminum standoff started life as a 4-40 threaded unit from Digi-Key, wandering around my inventory of electronics supplies. I drilled out the threads with a #30 drill. A (very) long rivet will be used to attach the rib to the welded tab through the spacer.

Aluminum Standoff

Apr 12, 2024 Skylight Ribs - (3.0 hours)

Category: Fuselage

Completed tweaking skylight ribs. By using the wingtip ribs as templates, I accurately bent all three ribs. The forward ends I bent in a vise, which slightly creased them. However, the fit looks perfect.

The center rib needs a 1/4” stand off for the aft connection.

Rack O Ribs

Apr 11, 2024 Skylight Ribs - (2.5 hours)

Category: Fuselage

Bent Skylight ribs by matching up to wingtip ribs for rough bending, then following Rans instructions using wing to wing straight edges in the center section.

Straight Edges

Ribs Match

They all Match

Apr 10, 2024 Skylight install - (3.0 hours)

Category: Fuselage

Organized parts and fabricated straight edges for Skylight installation. Fabricated bending blocks and attached to workbence. Started bending skylight ribs to shape.

Skylight Parts

Bending Blocks

Sep 27, 2023 Oil Door - (3.5 hours)

Category: Fuselage

Drilled for cowling oil door hidden hinge. Reused existing flange, but changed it's orientation. Drilled for Camloc fasteners and fabricated a fluted stiffener to alow adjustment of door shape. Countersunk for solid rivets, both AN426 on the cowl and NAS1097 reduced head types on the door to attach hinge, fluted stiffener, and Camloc. I may also uses epoxy as a bonding agent.

The blue piece is an Alclad sheet, roughed-in as a strike plate to be attached later. The Inside View shows two rivets set as keepers that allow partial assembly for alignment before cowling holes were drilled

Outside View

Inside View

Sep 26, 2023 Cowling Work - (2.2 hours)

Category: Fuselage

Redrilled and countersunk the glassed-in holes on the L nostril. Trimmed cowling exit to provide more exhaust pipe clearance. Started oil door construction— using an Avery hidden hinge, and an RV-6 composite oil door, trimmed to fit. Plan on using one or two Camloc KM610 button latches. Can't reuse the metal door provided because of the extra holes, but the backing plate I can reverse and use for the flange.

On my RV-9A I used one Camloc, but it popped open in flight once until I tweaked the strikeplate. On my Rocket, I used two with no problems— but the door doesn't have any internal pressure because of a plenum doghouse. I will go with two on the S-21, since it will have internal pressure and to keep the fiberglass door flush. I will put a stiffener on the fiberglass.

Oil Door Mock-up.jpeg

Vans Composite RV Door

Sep 25, 2023 Fairings and Cowling - (2.3 hours)

Category: Fuselage

Attached bottom fairings with #8 screws. Shifted one quarter-turn fastener socket that was out of alignment. Now you can see why I clocked the original mounting— it leaves the option for a re-do.. Filled nostril holes on left side that are used to attach baffle seals. They were over- countersunk— need to redrill and countersink more accurately.

Bottom Fairing and Kilroy

Redrilled Socket

Sep 13, 2023 Cowling - (3.5 hours)

Category: Fuselage

Drilled and rivet for nutplates on cowling nose. These are not shown in the plans from my era, but is the current practice. I switched to #8 screws because I had the inventory.

Tidied up the avionics and clecoed the top boot cowl in place. Ready to install wings and tail soon, but preoccupied with smaller tasks and hangar cleanup (crate demolition). My new hangar is done, so I will have much more space soon.

Left

Right

Sep 07, 2023 Boot Cowl Rivering - (2 hours)

Category: Fuselage

Wet riveted the forward fuselage bottom, coanda fairing and boot cowl side panels in place. Will remove the top boot cowl to fine tune and test the avionics installation and calibration

Right Boot

Left Boot

Coanda

Sep 06, 2023 Coanda Fairing - (2.5 hours)

Category: Fuselage

AKA Firewall Exit Fairing. Installed exit fairing using stainless rivets and backing washers. Attached breather vent and fuel pump overflow drain to fairing. Since I planned the fairing from the beginning, I didn't use the supplied hardware to mount the drain and breather. The attachment to the fairing uses #8 nutplates.

Firewall Exit/Coanda

Sep 05, 2023 Nutplates and Paint - (3 hours)

Category: Fuselage

Attached bottom fairing nutplates to fuselage bottom skins. Sprayed epoxy primer on bottom fairings and firewall Coanda fairing. The green nutplates pictured in Bottom 2 were installed previously for the interior panels.

Bottom 1

Bottom 2

Bottom 3

Sep 04, 2023 Bottom Fairings - (3.0 hours)

Category: Fuselage

Drilled and deburred for all of the nutplates to attach the bottom fairings. Using #8 nutplates, lined up parallel with fairing edge so that attachment rivets will be hiddem.. Some minor modification to the fuel pump mount was made to allow access for one of the nutplates. The two forward nutplates lay partially under the floorboard, so deburring one hole requires a bit more effort with a chip chaser tool.

The aft outboard nutplates are of the one-legged type, just due to convenience in mounting.

Forward Left Floor

mid Left Floor

Forward Right Floor

Mid Right Floor

Bottom Foreward Skin

Sep 02, 2023 Bottom Fairings - (2.0 hours)

Category: Fuselage

Carefully measured and drilled bottom fairings to locate nutplates. This requires removal of forward bottom skin, which is clecoed in place.

The measuring included locating fuselage cage steel tubes using small ring magnets, then marking with tape strips, The Left Side photo shows one of the ring magnets.

Right Side

Left Side

Sep 01, 2023 Fuselage Bottom Fairings - (3.0 hours) Category: Fuselage

Trimmed the R bottom fairing to fit. Cleaned up and moved the large crate under the S-21 so I could crawl under the fuselage and accurately mark the fairings for attachment holes.

Nov 17, 2022 Firewall Exit Fairing - (2 hours)

Category: Fuselage

Completed drill and deburring for the firewall exit fairing. The deburring of the stainless on the cabin side of the firewall was done with a sandstone grinding stone.

To demonstrate the Coanda effect, I taped a plastic strip to the fairing, then gently blew on the fairing with an air gun. You can see the strip wrap itself around the fairing as it followed the airflow. This helps to direct and accelerate the high pressure heated air in the cowling, which improves cooling airflow and directs the airflow aft, adding a bit of thrust.

No Airflow

Gentle Airflow

Exit Fairing Bottom

Nov 14, 2022 Exit Fairing - (2 hours)

Category: Fuselage

Began construction of Coanda fairing for lower firewall.

Coanda was Cool

Oct 27, 2022 Aft Baggage - (1.5 hours)

Category: Fuselage

Cleaned up, clecoed side boot cowl panels in place', touched up fabric glue, and secured aft baggage ribs with safety wire. It would have been better to have this riveted in place, but the instructions and drawings had no indication fir this.

Rib Bondage

Oct 26, 2022 Brakes and Fuel Shutoff - (3.5 hours)

Category: Fuselage

Rather than using safety wire, I used a cable clamp to secure the parking brake cable.

Added a fuel shutoff between header tank and filter.

The coiled fuel line between the header tank and the shutoff is designed to flex when the tank expands or shifts in position.

Cable Clamp

Fuel Shutoff

Oct 25, 2022 Rerigging Cabin Heat - (3.5 hours)

Category: Fuselage

Had to remove cabin heat box and drill out the actuator arm to 1/4” to accommodate the B-nut.

Discovered that the actuator arm was also too thick, so the cable would bind and prevent operation. Ground down the actuator arm thickness and everything works fine.

Pretty disappointed in the quality of this expensive item. Remachining should not be required, especially after mounting.... grrrh!

Fined tuned parking brake installation. I had originally made a mistake on which cable to use for the parking brake control, so I replaced it with the proper one, as shown below. I also figured out how to install the B-nut properly. Mine had a burr on it that prevented this, so once I fixed that everything came together.

I still need to safety wire or cable clamp the control lines in place.

Temporarily Rigged

Drilled and Thinned Actuator

Parking Brake Valve

Oct 24, 2022 Cabin Heat Box - (4.5 hours)

Category: Fuselage

Installed cabin heat box on firewall. Used an instrument punch for the big hole.

Rerigged parking brake valve cable— more work required.

Heat Box

Heater FW Penetration

Oct 23, 2022 Interior Stuff - (2.5 hours)

Category: Fuselage

Groomed Pitot/Static/AOA lines.
Added Velcro attachments for interior side panels to help hold them in place.

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Oct 22, 2022 Shunt, Vents, Static - (3.0 hours)

Category: Fuselage

Repaired faulty Dynon shunt base by replacing it with a shop-made phenolic base. I did this in my Harmon Rocket when the base melted, this time it just broke at one of the hold down screw bosses.

Attached the two NACA vents, riveted and bonded with Alex Plus sealant. Rerouted static lines, and added 1/8” in-line splices to simplify final assembly.

Faulty Shunt Base

NACA Vent

Static Junction

Left Static Connection

Right Static Connection

New Phenolic Shunt

Phenolic Base Back Side

Phenolic Shunt Base 2

Oct 17, 2022 NACA ducts and Static ports - (2.7 hours)

Category: Fuselage

Mounted the NACA ducts with clecoes and connected them to the cabin vents with spiral tubing. Located and drilled for the rivets used for static ports. Wet riveted the static ports in place and drove out the stems. Need to plumb the ports.

NACA & Static

Sep 28, 2022 Door Sealing - (25 hours)

Category: Fuselage

Used DAP Ultra Clear sealant to caulk the Lexan windows. Avoided silicone to prevent paint problems later on.

The photos demonstrate how clear the sealant is… almost invisible.

Ultra Clear

Sealant 1

Sealant 2

Sep 27, 2022 Door Latch - (3.2 hours)

Category: Fuselage

Attached left door handle and added weatherstripping to both doors.

Tweaked upper rear trim strip pieces to allow doors to open fully.

Little Wings

Foam Stripping

Weatherstripping

Sep 26, 2022 Door Latch (Original Style) - (4.0 hours)

Category: Fuselage

Added the door struts, both sides. Trimmed door trim on upper edges to allow full door opening.

Completed the door latch assembly on the right door. I made two new spacers, one internal and one external (between the handle and lexan) so that everything closes up tight.

Bonded the forward strike plates to the fuselage tubes as required.

Drilled the handle in place and enlarged the holes as required. Press fit the flange nut with a C clamp. I had to run a tap through the flange nut so that the 6-32 screw would engage.

Internal Latch

Handle Flange Nut

Handle Screw

Sep 22, 2022 Door Latches - (3.2 hours)

Category: Fuselage

Fitted the door latch mechanisms. Instructions are confusing due to overlapping revisions, but with some logical figgurin' it's working out.

I will likely need to make spacers to go between the external handles and the door to keep everything tight.

Latch Interior

Door Handle

Sep 21, 2022 Door Latches - (2.5 hours) Category: Fuselage

Finished riveting center strip of right door and dabbing primer on the rivet heads.

Started the installation of the door latch assembly. I have the welded tube version of the latch assembly, so didn't need to fabricate the pivot tubes.

Sep 20, 2022 Door Riveting - (2.0 hours) Category: Fuselage

Riveted Right door assembly, except for center strip.

Sep 20, 2022 Rigging Parking Brake - (1.2 hours)

Category: Fuselage

Reinstalled the Parking Brake control. I should have mounted it on a sub panel, because right now it has to be disconnected and pulled out if I want to remove the panel.

I don't like the way the push pull cable operates, needs a better design. The Wire Swivel Nut is just not right. I think a set screw should be used on the flared end rather than the #8 screw I used. That way the push pull wire can be captured and not slip.

I now realize that i am using the wrong cable for this. I will swap out with the correct one for final installation.

Wonky Parking Brake Cable

Sep 19, 2022 Door Riveting - (3 hours)

Category: Fuselage

Riveted Left door. First, I made sure all of the holes in the steel frame were primed with epoxy primer. Also dipped the rivets used for the top aluminum trim piece on the interior. The plastic trim pieces were riveted without dipping (so the primer wouldn't attack the polycarbonate), but the heads were covered in primer afterwards. The top exterior row was riveted without dipping or coating.

The rivets that were indicated to be smashed on the inside, I subsituted with soft AN solid rivets, cut to length. I countersunk the interior plastic trim piece, the squeezed the rivets. The interior surfaces became perfectly flush. I also added a couple of rivets to keep the trim pieces together.

The center bar was riveted and attached with VHB tape. My plans just said 'Acrylic Tape', but the new plans call out (and provide) 'VHB Tape'.

Flush Rivet Tail

Soft Solid Rivet

Rivet Cutter

Two Rivets

Rivets Loaded

Sep 17, 2022 Door Final Assembly - (3.0 hours) Category: Fuselage

Peeled protective covering from margins of the door panels and deburred all lexan holes. Clecoed all of the primed trim pieces in place, ready for riveting.

Sep 16, 2022 Priming - (3 hours)

Category: Fuselage

Shot grey primer for door trim, subpanel and a few other bits.

Grey Primer

Sep 14, 2022 Door Paint Prep - (1.7 hours) Category: Fuselage

Deburring, cleaning and sanding/scotchbriting door trim parts. The plan is to shoot grey primer.

Sep 13, 2022 Drilled for Tinnermans - (.2 hour)

Category: Fuselage

Off the plans here.... I want to secure the interior panels properly, so I am adding some Tinnermans to the floor board. The Tinnermans are shown on the inside as drill templates, but will be mounted from below.

Tinnerman Soldiers

Tin Man

Sep 12, 2022 Door Hanging - (1.5 hours)

Category: Fuselage

Completed drilling of R door and hung in place. Clecoed together until I prime the parts for final assembly.

The center channel was drilled #40, then it was used as the guide to match drill to the center frame. Finally, I upsized the holes to #30.

Right Door

Doors Well Hung

Sep 08, 2022 Door Fabrication - (2 hours)

Category: Fuselage

Fit, drilled and trimmed L door Lexan pieces. Marking the cut lines on the center bow with masking tape as a cutting guide worked well.

Cutting disc in the pneumatic die grinder sure throws up plastic dust! Note the PPE.

Dusty

Left Door

Sep 07, 2022 Door Install - (3.0 hours) Category: Fuselage

Completed Lexan fitup on R door, drilled the two holes for the door latch mechanism, and began fitup on L door.

Sep 06, 2022 Door Fabrication - (2.5 hours)

Category: Fuselage

Worked on fitting Lexan panels to Right door frame. Still need to finalize the trimming down the center bow. The masking tape marks the final trim line.

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Sep 05, 2022 Door Fitup - (4 hours)

Category: Fuselage

Attached Door Trim pieces to L door frame, then trimmed both door front trim pieces to the station 2 tube centers (minus 1/32"). Since I haven't attached the boot cowl sides, I used my edge marking tool to find the center of the tubes, then traced this onto the door trim pieces.

Match drilled bottom R door window. I used a dulled #30 drill for this-- chucked the drill then spun it against a grinder to make a dull conical point. This prevents it from grabbing the polycarbonate, and the heat helps to anneal the plastic when it's drilled.

Conical Drill

Right Door Bottom Lexan

Sep 03, 2022 Door Fabrication - (3 hours)

Category: Fuselage

Drilled and deburred plastic Door Trim for right side door. Discovered that drilling near the corner welds would snap the drill bits, so I moved the holes. I'll put some plastic epoxy filler in the old holes.

Started left door by drilling top Door Trim into place and deburring holes. Shifted strip position to avoid welds, and not break any more drill bits!

Snapped Drill Bits

Right Door Test Fit

Moved Hole from Weld

Left Door 1

Left Door 2

Sep 02, 2022 Doors - (2.7 hours)

Category: Fuselage

Fabricating right side door. Adjusted hoop bend per the Figures. Test fit into fuselage and and made other minor bends to ensure the door closes with consistent gaps to the fuselage tubes.

Trimmed and drilled the top Door Trim, clecoed in place. Clamped bottom, forward and rear plastic Door Trim strips in place, ready for drilling.

I plan on priming the bits before assembly (coward's grey).

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Aug 10, 2022 Completed Flap Lever Housing - (2.5 hours)

Category: Fuselage

Fine tuned flap lever housing fit and added screws to center console.

Console.jpg

Jul 27, 2022 Flap Actuator Housing - (3.0 hours) Category: Fuselage

Fussing with housing fit and drilling for #4 screws. Need to re-rig mechanism for smooth operation and to refine the fit.

Jul 26, 2022 Flap Lever Housing - (3 hours)

Category: Fuselage

Fussed with the fit of the flap lever housing. Bonded on doubler. Shortened bolt and bushing length on flap lever to prevent interference with the housing.

Modified my custom flaps position sensor to use countersunk screw attachment, and minimize interference with the flap lever housing.

FlapHousing.jpeg

Jul 25, 2022 Foward Baggage and Console - (3.5 hours)

Category: Fuselage

Riveted all the required nutplates in place. Riveted stiffeners to forward baggage floor.

The angle that attaches the center console to the station 2 cover cannot be attached according to the plans. Instead, I used flush rivets, inserted from the back side so they don't interfere with the fuselage tubes.

ArmRestSupport.jpeg

Dimples.jpeg

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SupportAngle.jpeg

Jul 24, 2022 Forward Baggage Floor & Side Panels - (2.5 hours)

Category: Fuselage

Match drilled side panels, deburred all parts. For match drilling, I used 1/8" rivets with the stems removed, placed into the fuselage tang holes (or whatever hole that needed to be found). I then dabbed the rivet head with nail polish, waited a few seconds for it to gel, then pressed the side panel up against the rivet heads.

This transferred a witness mark on the back side of the side panels. I disassembled, drilled #40 in the center of the witness mark, then reassembled. Finally, I drilled the #40 holes to #30.

The best witness marks showed two concentric circles-- not well shown in the photos.

HolesToFind.jpeg

HolesLoadedAndMarked.jpeg

WitnessMarks.jpeg

Jul 22, 2022 Forward Baggage Floor - (2.2 hours)

Category: Fuselage

Fitted and drilled floor stiffeners and trial fitted. As mentioned previously, don't use the dimensions in the Figures manual... measure what you need as you go.

BaggageFloor_Fitup.jpeg

Jul 21, 2022 Forward Baggage Floor - (3.5 hours)

Category: Fuselage

Fabricating stiffeners for baggage floor. Plans dimensions are wrong, so I just measure against the cage and trimmed accordingly.

BaggageStiffeners.jpeg

Oct 03, 2021 Priming - (3.5 hours) Category: Fuselage

Prepping and priming various aluminum parts: ADAHRS tray, OnSpeed mount angles, comm antenna doubler, strut doublers, and miscellaneous dohickies.

May 31, 2021 Master Contactor - (1.7 hours)

Category: Fuselage

Swapped some contactor cables and ran master switch wire to panel. Routing not finalized. The ground wire is 2 AWG welding cable from another project that fits perfectly. This frees up the stock ground wire to be used as the power wire to the contactor.

Checked fit with mockup of the aileron cable, looks good.

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May 29, 2021 Battery Install - (2.0 hours)

Category: Fuselage

Installed master contactor and battery cables. I may swap the ground and battery contactor cables, just because. I am also planning to put a charging port connected directly to the battery, with access through a panel on the floorboard. I don't believe in ground power ports for jump starting (best way to kill an alternator), but charging is fine. 30 minutes on a charger will bring a battery up to a condition capable of starting an engine.

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May 25, 2021 Floor Boards - (1.0 hour)

Category: Fuselage

Fabricated additional floor boards. Added hinges to connect the baggage compartment boards. Note, a third hinge was added after this photo was taken, and the rear floorboard was trimmed to line up with the S5 bulkhead for easier access to the S5-S6 compartment.

FlloorBoardsHinged.jpg

FloorBoardsFolded.jpg

May 19, 2021 Floor boards - (2.5 hours)

Category: Fuselage

Fabricated floor boards to be used for installation of avionics and inspections. Used left over material from shipping crates. I will make one more board for the seat area.

Broke ground on my new hangar!

FloorBoards1.jpg

DiggerDigging.jpg

Apr 30, 2021 Fuel Lines - (3 hours)

Category: Fuselage

Roughed in my new fuel lines between the header tank and fuel shut-off. The line from the tank to the pump is design to flex if the tank shifts.

Also fabricated a backing board for drilling the panel.

FuelLines1.jpg

FuelLines2.jpg

Apr 13, 2021 Prepping battery box - (1.5 hours)

Category: Fuselage

Decided to use an AGM battery in the stock location. Also, tightened header tank clamps.

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Mar 31, 2021 Installing fuel pump and valve - (2.5 hours)

Category: Fuselage

Installation of fuel pump and valve. Unfortunately, fuel lines are missing and not on my inventory sheet. Correction: Somehow I received old parts, and the fuel lines from the header tank to the firewall are meant to be fabricated and attached with hose clamps. Not airworthy for a fuel injection system in my opinion, so I will be replacing with new high pressure lines at my own expense.

Close to $1000 in replacement parts to date.

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Mar 30, 2021 Drilling firewall - (4.5 hours) Category: Fuselage

Dave W 2.0 hrs. Drilled most holes in firewall with cobalt twist drills and unibits. The unibits really remove burrs nicely.

Completed fuel pump mount and riveted on nut plates as required.

Mar 29, 2021 Installing header fuel tank - (2.0 hours) Category: Fuselage

Fit tank into place and ran long stainless hose clamps into position.

Drilled and trimmed fuel pump plate and shortened pump assembly according to plans.

Mar 28, 2021 Fitting header tank - (2 hours)

Category: Fuselage

Riveted tank support in place. Marked and drilled for sump drain. Installed tank portion of sump drain fittings. Enlarged sump drain hole to 1-3/4” using carbide bit in rotary tool and half round file. This allows the large nut on the sump drain fitting to fit through the floor.

Instructions are cryptic/missing, in some cases refer to non-existing parts. Probably a residue from Rotax instructions.

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Mar 26, 2021 Pepping and priming - (1.5 hours) Category: Fuselage

Prepped and primed header tank support, autopilot servo trays, servo brackets, and fuel pump tray

Mar 25, 2021 Header tank fit up - (3.0 hours) Category: Fuselage

Drilled the three 3/4” fuel feed holes and assembled the fuel tank fittings and leak tested per the plans. Too bad Rans didn't mention that installing the aft AN nipples would prevent the tank from fitting into the fuse.

So I removed the AN nipples. Will have to leak test again much later in the project. Grrrr.

Mar 24, 2021 Mounting Header Tank - (4 hours) Category: Fuselage

Laying out position of full tank support and fabricating stiffener. Notched existing stiffener in fuselage bottom. Match drilled tank support to existing tabs. The tank support does not fit properly with the dimensions given in the figures. Adjustments made to ensure edge distance on rivets, but not totally compliant. Obviously another error in design or fabrication from Rans.

Mar 24, 2021 3/5 Category: Fuselage

Feb 20, 2021 Rerouting brake lines - (1.5 hours) Category: Fuselage

Rerouted the brake lines based on the current information. Needed to remove brake master cylinders and reclock the AN fittings so the flex lines routed properly.
definitely not what the plans recommended, but works well.

Feb 19, 2021 Brake lines and seats - (4.5 hours) Category: Fuselage

Dave W. 2.0 hrs. Attaching brake lines. Frustrated by poor instructions. Discovered later that the brake line routing diagram was wrong and that a new one was available. Once again, Rans document control is an epic fail. Need to remove brake cylinders and reclock fittings then reroute lines.

Also worked on construction of seats and prepping parts.

Feb 18, 2021 Brake master cylinders and seats - (6.0 hours)

Category: Fuselage

Dave W. 3.0 hrs. Attaching the brake master cylinders. Changed the washers as required to improve the fit on the pedals, and will be changing the top bolts out to AN3-12 to fine tune the fit. Deburring and prepping parts for the seat assembly.

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Feb 16, 2021 Parking brake install - (4.0 hours)

Category: Fuselage

Installation of parking brake and brake fluid reservoir. Can't locate the AN bulkhead tee and some other AN fittings. Part of Fuse kit.

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Feb 15, 2021 Rudder pedal rigging - (6.0 hours) Category: Fuselage

Dave W. 3.0 hrs. R&R floor board to drill additional bottom skin rivet holes to ensure skin lies flat at trailing edge.

Reinstalled rudder pedals and started assembly of elevator controls. Fabricated spacers and bushings for the assembly by using drill press as as a vertical lathe.

Torqued bolts and secured cotter pins.

Feb 11, 2021 Rigging rudder pedals - (5 hours) Category: Fuselage

Dave W. 2.5 hrs. Mounted reinforcing angle on firewall and rigged rudder pedals to rudder cables. Primed faying surface of angle.

Feb 10, 2021 Rigging rudder pedals - (3.0 hours)

Category: Fuselage

Mounting rudder pedal assemblies. Connecting cables to tail wheel assembly.

Removed powder cost from rudder bar to allow free movement in bushings.

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Feb 09, 2021 Deburring and pedal assembly - (6.0 hours)

Category: Fuselage

Dave W. 3 hrs. Continued deburring interior parts. Assembled and mounted rudder pedals to linkage. CCPQ-62 rivet stems would not break off, so I cut them off with a rotary disc.

Added thin steel washers behind cotter pins to protect nylon washers.

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Feb 08, 2021 Rudder pedal sssembly - (4.5 hours)

Category: Fuselage

Dave W. 2.0. Parts deburring and assembly/riveting of rudder pedals. Wet riveted the stainless rivets.

The back angles of the pedals were not bent to 90 degrees. Adjusted the angles by clamping in a vise and tapping the flanges with a ball peen hammer.

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Feb 06, 2021 Floorboard - (2.5 hours) Category: Fuselage

Applied weatherstripping tape to fuse floor tubes and platenut mounts for noise isolation. Attached forward bottom skin with clecos to check for clearnces. Rounded up rudder system parts and began deburring the aluminum components. Found minor packaging damage to one pedal, but it will see a lot more abuse in the future.

Feb 05, 2021 Installing platenuts - (2.5 hours)

Category: Fuselage

Installed platenuts for forward fuse floor attachment. Purchased foam weatherstripping for floorboard sound insulation.

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Feb 04, 2021 Deburring and floor install - (6.0 hours)

Category: Fuselage

Dave W. 3 hrs. Deburring of interior parts. Backdrilling forward floor. Several platenut holes were mot accessible, so had to use tape vectors to find hole positions.

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Feb 03, 2021 Deburring - (1.5 hours) Category: Fuselage

Deburring Interior parts. Repaired a minor dent in one sheet.

Feb 02, 2021 Inventory - (1.5 hours)

Category: Fuselage

Wrapped up inventory and stapled parts to boards. Most of the hardware I put in bin boxes.

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Jan 30, 2021 Inventory - (1 hour) Category: Fuselage

Inventory of interior parts.

Jan 29, 2021 Deburring - (2.5 hours) Category: Fuselage

Dave W. Deburring interior and FWF parts.

Jan 29, 2021 Inventory - (3 hours) Category: Fuselage

More inventory work.

Jan 28, 2021 Deburring interior parts. - (2.7 hours) Category: Fuselage

Dave W. Deburring various interior parts.

Jan 20, 2021 Cleanup - (2 hours) Category: Fuselage

Nuff said

Jan 19, 2021 Cleanup - (2.2 hours) Category: Fuselage

Reorganizing hangar and preparing for finishing kit arrival. Trimmed baggage floor and enlarged screw holes to #19.

Jan 18, 2021 Boot Cowl cleanup - (2.7 hours) Category: Fuselage

Disassembled bootcowl, deburred holes and trimmed edges.

Jan 17, 2021 Up-drilling firewall - (2.0 hours)

Category: Fuselage

Up-drilled firewall spacers and cowl attach strips to #30. Also drilled additional rivet holes to boot cowl where required to ensure skins lay flat. Now out of parts, awaiting next subkit shipment.

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Jan 16, 2021 Fabricated Cowl mounting strips - (2.2 hours) Category: Fuselage

Fabricated cowl mounting strips. Used precut and punched material included in my kit and ignored Text instructions which specify modifying 30" strips. Noticed that O-340 parts manual shows entirely different strips. Match drilled in place. May wait until FWF kit before final drilling to #30, in case they are different for the O-340

I am concerned that there are not enough rivets for the firewall mounting or to hold the edges of the boot cowl sides flat. I will likely add rivets to obvious places to ensure appearance and structural integrity.

Jan 15, 2021 Trimming boot cowl skins. - (3.0 hours)

Category: Fuselage

Trimmed boot cowl skins and spacer strips plus firewall tab to be flush.

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Jan 14, 2021 Trimming and drilling boot cowl - (3.5 hours)

Category: Fuselage

Drilled boot cowl sides to top, inserted and match drilled glareshield. Used a piece of hinge material to mark trimming forward edge of boot cowl skins at the firewall (hmm, maybe cowl attach with hinges?). Removed Right boot cowl skin and trimmed forward edge. Edge formed bottom edge to help it lay flat, and need to trim tab on panel bulkhead as well. May need extra rivets to hold the skin edge tight. Reinstalled.

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Jan 13, 2021 Drilling Boot Cowl - (2.5 hours) Category: Fuselage

Carefully drilling boot cowl skins to firewall tabs with spacers in place. Started with boot cowl sides, then up and over to top center of firewall, both sides.

Jan 12, 2021 Fitting boot cowl - (4.5 hours)

Category: Fuselage

Dave W. 1.5 hrs. Bent firewall and panel bulkhead tabs to allow boot cowl skins to lay flat. Deciphered installation of cowl spacer strips and fit them between firewall tabs and boot cowl skins.

Roll formed boot cowl skins using 6” PVC pipe. This helps them fit the curved shape of the forward fuse. Used ratchet straps to hold the skins tight.

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Jan 11, 2021 Boot Cowl Asembly - (3.2 hours)

Category: Fuselage

Fabricated stiffeners for side skins and drilled boot cowl side skins to floor bottom. Fit up instrument panel and top skins.

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Jan 09, 2021 Drilling side skins to tabs - (1.0 hour)

Category: Fuselage

I am considering mounting plexi windows as marked in the photo. They would be removable for access behind the panel, and will enhance visibility. The red line is the stiffener, the green lines are an approximation of the window.

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Jan 08, 2021 Fitting Boot Cowl - (5 hours)

Category: Fuselage

Dave W. 2.0 hrs.

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Jan 06, 2021 Fitting boot cowl - (3.7 hours)

Category: Fuselage

Dave W. 1.0 hrs. Drilled boot cowl floor and fabricated stiffeners. Trimmed side skins to fit around main gear.

The plans are ambiguous about the side skins-- the drawings do not show the actual pieces I was shipped. May have been easier to attach before the gear was mounted, but that's not the sequence in the Text Manual. I made a template for the area near the gear and trimmed one side to the template, then made final adjustments. This complete piece was then used as a template for the other side.

Once again, the failure of the instructions and drawings caused a delay in the project. That's why I can't recommend the S-21 for first-timers until a number of builders publish their build experiences (thanks to KitPlanes and the EAA for this).

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Jan 05, 2021 Fitting Firewall - (3.0 hours)

Category: Fuselage

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Jan 04, 2021 Firewall - (7.0 hours)

Category: Fuselage

Dave W. 3.5 hrs. Fabricate firewall. Sealed faying surfaces with Proseal. Bonded fuse stiffener/dampers in place. Organized parts for boot cowl assembly.

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Dec 16, 2020 Riveting fuse. - (6.0 hours)

Category: Fuselage

Dave W. 2.5 hrs. Riveted side and bottom cage skins in place. Used a bead of Sikaflex on tops of side skins where they overlap the cage tubes. I am worried about catching an edge with a toe or cargo and peeling the side skins off.

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Dec 15, 2020 Drilling cage side skins - (6.0 hours) Category: Fuselage

Dave W. 2.5 hrs. Finished drilling fore and aft side skins to cage bottom and drilling gear mount holes (forward tail dragger position only). Fabricated skin stiffeners for cage floor and sides. Deburred and prepared for riveting.

Dec 15, 2020 C-GJVL Category: Fuselage

Issued a registration number for my S-21 by Transport Canada. Reservation due for renewal Dec 9, 2021.

Dec 14, 2020 Flipped fuse - (6 hours) Category: Fuselage

Dave W. 2.0 hrs. Marked fore and aft side panels for drill holes to bottom skin. Flipped fuse right side up. Using a roller, primered faying surfaces on skins and reassembled bottom skin and side skins. Center punched and drilled holes through side skins into bottom skins.

Dec 13, 2020 Drilled cage side panels - (3 hours)

Category: Fuselage

Drilled cage side panels and marked for rivet layout along bottom. Taped skins and panels to mask off areas for priming.

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Dec 12, 2020 Fussing with side panels - (2 hours) Category: Fuselage

Checking side panel fit, deburring, cleaning out seat belt attachment holes and torquing down seat rail attachments.

Dec 11, 2020 Attached seat rails - (4.2 hours)

Category: Fuselage

March drilled, then upsized cage holes to 1/4” and deburred. Used shop made rivnut puller to attach the rivnuts. Used JB-Weld with the rivnuts to help secure them.

Fabricated the 1/2” long spacers for the stops by cutting them with a hacksaw, then trimming in a drill press with files.

The rivnut puller uses a long #10 NF bolt or screw, an AN365-3 nut (not critical), an AN960-3 washer (again, not critical) and a 3/4" length of 3/16 ID hard aluminum tube (can be cut from the bushing stock provided). I damaged three nuts during the process, so have some spares handy. The nut threads stretch out and eventually strip due to the high forces needed.

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Dec 09, 2020 Drilling bottom cage skin drilling - (2.5 hours)

Category: Fuselage

Drilled bottom cage skin through tabs. Heated skin with heat gun before drilling to minimize oil canning. Fabricated templates for inaccessible tabs on sides. Drilled out two CCPQ-45 rivets on bottom longeron attachment to allow for side panel fit up.

Trimmed skins as required to clear rivet heads or skin interference.

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Dec 08, 2020 Flipped the fuse - (5.2 hours)

Category: Fuselage

Dave W 2.5 hrs. Flipped the fuse and placed on padded sawhorses. Dissassembled 15' workbench into three sections. Drilled aft edge of bottom cage skin and fit side cage skins.

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Dec 07, 2020 Completed tail cone riveting. - (3.0 hours)

Category: Fuselage

Completed riveting the tailcone as far as I can go until flipping the canoe. Spent some time cleaning to get ready to transfer to the sawhorses. Now I need to recruit some help.

Inserted shims for the S4 bulkhead riveting. Worked out fine.

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Dec 05, 2020 Riveting fuselage - (2.5 hours)

Category: Fuselage

Riveting top skin. Placing shims on bulkhead flange to minimize pillowing.

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Dec 04, 2020 Riveting fuselage - (2 hours)

Category: Fuselage

More riveting.

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Dec 03, 2020 Riveting fuselage - (2 hours) Category: Fuselage

Dec 02, 2020 Riveting fuselage - (2 hours) Category: Fuselage

Dec 01, 2020 Marking rivets - (1 hour)

Category: Fuselage

Deciphered plans and marked for rivets on fuse.

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Nov 28, 2020 Assembling Sawhorses - (.5 hour) Category: Fuselage

Assembled sawhorses that I used during my Rocket build. Plan to set fuselage on them for attaching the bottom cage skins.

Nov 25, 2020 Finalizing tail cone assembly - (6 hours)

Category: Fuselage

Dave W. 2.5 hrs. Finalized drilling and clecoing of tail cone. Checked alignment with digital level: twist 0.0, firewall angle 89.7, both sides. Began riveting along top longerons, both sides and S10 bulkhead.

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Nov 24, 2020 Finalizing upper skin fitment - (5.5 hours)

Category: Fuselage

Dave W 1.5 hrs. Painted exposed skin shims, window spacers and retainer rings with grey primer to match existing. Removed upper skins for trimming, edge forming and minor removal of dents and kinks. Clecoed back into position for riveting.

The top shim was remade using 0.040 stock cut from a scrap VS spar from an RV.

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Nov 23, 2020 Drilling for stiffeners and shims - (5.5 hours) Category: Fuselage

Dave W. 2.0 hrs. Completed stiffener drilling. Drilled for top and side shims down to top longeron. Replacing top shim with wider version to allow top skin holes to intercept. Marked top skins for trimming to provide a consistent overlap on the top seam and over the fuselage tubes.

Ran trim wires, serial data and power wires to tail through conduit. Serial data and power are for uAvionix TailBeaconX diversity transponder.

Nov 22, 2020 Top forward stiffeners - (3.2 hours) Category: Fuselage

Drilled the stiffeners for the top skins between S3 and S4. Discovered that the top shim was not wide enough to capture the front row of rivets along the top fuselage cage. Fabricated a new shim from 0.040 2024-T3 stock.

Once again, the plans/instructions failed me. There is no precise description of how to place top shim so that it can capture all of the holes in the top skins and the fuselage cage. Remaking the shim from stock on hand was the only solution. a 1.5" wide shim seems to wok fine.

Nov 21, 2020 Bending stiffeners - (2.7 hours) Category: Fuselage

Bent stiffeners and reinserted into fuselage. Trimmed shims where they interfered with the window spacers. Drilled #40 holes in top skins to #30 and clecoed. For bending the stiffeners, I stretched the metal on the webs at the point of the bend. I used a ball-peen hammer backed with a bucking bar clamped in a vise.
This stretches the metal and causes the stiffener to bend nicely without weakening it. The peening was a crescent shape, broad at the edge of the web and narrowing as it approaches the flange.

Nov 20, 2020 Match drilling forward top skins. - (4.2 hours) Category: Fuselage

Drilled R forward top skin. Drilled window angle to skin and fuse cage Rans and top longerons. Drilled both skins to S4 bulkhead and bent stiffeners by peening stiffener angle web at bend point

Nov 19, 2020 Mounting forward upper fuse skins - (3.5 hours)

Category: Fuselage

Dave W 1.0 hrs. Shortened R window angle brace for better fit. Match drilled window angles to fuselage cage gusset to key in aft tail cone. Attached fwd top skins with clecoes and clamps. Drilled left skin to window angle, longeron and fuse cage.

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Nov 18, 2020 Fitting top tailcone skins - (6 hours) Category: Fuselage

Drilled for S4 closeout nutplates into baggage floor and sides. Trued up the fuselage tail cone and fit the forward top skins into position. Adjusted L window angle by trimming length by about 1/8". R angle still needs trimming.

Nov 17, 2020 S4 Closeout - (3.5 hours)

Category: Fuselage

Drilled #12 in S4 closeout in 2 places. Fabricated and through drilled spacers and glued them to S4 closeout with two AN3 bolts providing clamping force. When glue hardened, removed bolts, fit closeout and match drilled #12 into S4 bulkhead. Drilled for -3 nut plates and riveted them in place.

Fabricated skin shim running across top of cage. Edge formed bottom of top skins. Cleaned up.

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Nov 16, 2020 S4 close out - (3.5 hours)

Category: Fuselage

Trimmed and fit pvc close out panel. Top piece trimmed differently than plans to improve appearance.

Trimmed forward end of stiffeners to approximately aft tube of top tailcone location. The instructions are silent on this, but it's pretty obvious. A bit more rigour in the instructions or plans would save a lot more time in the shop.

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Nov 15, 2020 Clecoeing tailcone - (3 hours)

Category: Fuselage

Tailcone skins clecoed to aft fuse, along with stiffeners. Ran conduit into tailcone for wiring. Big pain to cleco top stiffener because skin holes #40 and stiffener has #30 holes. What genius came up with this? Drilled a couple of skin holes to #30 to support the stiffener, but need to do all of them eventually.

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Nov 14, 2020 Wiring and bolting - (3 hours)

Category: Fuselage

Tack glue trim servo wiring using hot glue. Epic fail. Hot glue did not stick. Going to rip it out and install conduit Also, tightening all tail dragger bolts to 15 in-lb. Replaced AN3-5 boots and AN960L washers with AN3-6 bolts and AN960 washers to get proper grip length for this critical attachment at S9.

Drilled through the fittings for tail spring attach. Two holes are 3/16 at S10, and one is 5/16 at S9. Managed to pilot drill the S10 holes to #30 and the S9 hole to 3/16 using 12” drills on hand. Will complete hole drilling from below.

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Nov 12, 2020 Trimming top fuse stiffeners - (3.5 hours)

Category: Fuselage

Trimmed stiffeners, formed edges on top skins and ran TailbeaconX wiring. Photos herein are from Al Auclair's build.

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Nov 10, 2020 Frustration - (3 hours) Category: Fuselage

Managed to pull three rivets to secure R window angle. Spent most of the time trying to decipher the plans and instruction for the top skin stiffeners. One set of plans show three, another five and the instruction say ‘stiffener' which means one. Where do the stop? Instructions say S8. Drawings show extra short stiffeners beyond S8.

Nov 09, 2020 Baggage floor - (3 hours)

Category: Fuselage

Riveted floor bottom stiffeners. Attached platenuts using flush solid rivets Riveted aft end of L window angle brace. Temporarily clecoed top forward tail skin in place to check fit.

My friend and building buddy Dave W suffered a heart attack yesterday. I hope he fully recovers and is back soon.

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Nov 06, 2020 Fitting baggage floor - (5.5 hours)

Category: Fuselage

Trimmed baggage floor stiffeners. Drilled for platenuts. Edge formed upper edges of floor skins. Dave W 2hrs.

Will be covering baggage panels with lightweight fabric. Estimate 1.5 yards.

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Nov 05, 2020 Trimming baggage floor stiffeners - (.7 hour) Category: Fuselage

Trimmed baggage floor stiffeners. Current plan is to trim off the webs fore and aft as required so that the flanges extend over the plate nut tab and S4 bulkhead flange. This will provide a bit more rigdity to the floor.

Nov 04, 2020 Fitting baggage compartment sides and foor - (5 hours) Category: Fuselage

Dave W. 2.0 hrs. Fit and drilled the baggage sidewalls and floor. Need to shorten stiffeners.

Nov 03, 2020 Finalized aft rudder cable rigging - (3 hours)

Category: Fuselage

Redesigned Rans method of rigging the rudder pulleys in the aft tail cone. Used a castellated nut and safety wire on the top bolt, reversed the AN365 nut on the vertical bolt to allow a better fit.

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Nov 02, 2020 Fuselage angle braces and rudder rigging - (7 hours) Category: Fuselage

Fabricated second window support strut, rigged rudder cables in aft fuse and drilled baggage compartment side panels. Dave W 3.5 hrs.

Oct 31, 2020 Fuselage angle braces - (3 hours) Category: Fuselage

Fabricated one angle brace. Organized parts. Attempted to install hangers for rudder pullies at station 10. Discovered that many ANxA bolts need replacing with ANx bolts and castellated AN10 or AN20 nuts plus cotter pins to be compliant with MDRA building standards.

Oct 30, 2020 Tail Cone Attachment - (5.5 hours) Category: Fuselage

Attached baggage supports, drilled for rudder cable bushings, trued fuselage for Wing alignment. Dave W 2.5

Oct 29, 2020 Skin Doubler shim fabrication - (8 hours)

Category: Fuselage

Fabricated skin shim strips. Instructions ambiguous about position and required much analysis. Dave W 4 hrs.

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Oct 28, 2020 Tail Cone Attach - (7 hours)

Category: Fuselage

Fabricate mid and bottom reinforcement angles. Drilled mid angles and bottom left angle. Fuselage cage tab fit best when sandwiched between the longeron and reinforcement angles. Dave W helper 3.5 hrs. The photo shows how we pinned things together wile drilling bottom reinforcements.

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Oct 27, 2020 Connecting Cage to Tailcone - (3.2 hours)

Category: Fuselage

Spent 3 hours aligning tailcone to cage. 20 minutes of Match drilling fuselage tangs through tailcone longerons. Achieved perfect alignment. Used Avery right angle drill for lower connection.

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Oct 26, 2020 Fuselage Riveting - (8 hours)

Category: Fuselage

Riveted side skins to bulkheads. Flipped canoe onto workbench and lined up cage. Trimmed center longerons to 4.2" from last forward holes. Dave W. 3.5 hrs.

When I started building airplanes, I had brown hair and a red moustache. What happened?

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Oct 24, 2020 Fuselage Riveting - (3.5 hours)

Category: Fuselage

Modified sawhorses to fit inside the upside down fuselage. Riveting fuselage bulkheads to bottom skin. Clecoing plate nuts to inspection panel rings.

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Oct 23, 2020 Riveting and Assembling Canoe - (5.5 hours)

Category: Fuselage

Dave W. helper (2.5 hrs). Completed riveting stiffeners and longerons to bottom skin. Clecoed Bulkheads in place. Riveted stiffeners to side skins and clecoed in place.

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Oct 22, 2020 Riveting stiffeners and longerons to bottom skin - (5 hours)

Category: Fuselage

Dave W. (2 hrs). Fabricate saw horses and riveted longerons snd stiffeners.

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Oct 21, 2020 Fuse Stringers - (2.7 hours) Category: Fuselage

Trimming and attaching bottom fuse skin stiffeners. Ready to position on sawhorses.

Oct 20, 2020 Tailcone Bottom - (3 hours) Category: Fuselage

Riveting access panel rings using solid flush rivets. Laying out stringers.

Oct 19, 2020 Riveting Bulkhead assemblies - (2.7 hours) Category: Fuselage

Riveted fuselage bulkheads and adjusted bottom flange anglles to 97 degrees.

Oct 18, 2020 Preparing Bulkheads - (.5 hour) Category: Fuselage

Clecoeing fuse bulkheads together.

Aug 13, 2020 Priming Fuse skins - (6 hours) Category: Fuselage

Finished shooting green primer on fuse skins, plus grey primer on the interior surfaces of the cabin parts. D. Watkins 3 hrs of slave labour.

Aug 12, 2020 Scuffing and cleaning parts - (3.0 hours) Category: Fuselage

Help from D. Watkins 1.5 hrs

Aug 11, 2020 Drilling new rudder ribs and spar - (1.5 hours)

Category: Fuselage

Match drilled replacement rudder ribs and spar. Weighted rudder down and carefully levelled prior to drilling. The instructions say to rivet as you go, but I needed to disassemble for priming the new ribs after match drilling. The assembly also needs to be left partially open for inspection by the MD-RA.

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Aug 07, 2020 Organizing parts for priming - (1.5 hours) Category: Fuselage

Long fuselage skins ready for cleaning/priming. Other parts marked for grey interior priming.

Jul 17, 2020 Scrubbing and Priming - (2.5 hours)

Category: Fuselage

Scrubbing many small parts and shooting primer for fuse and tail.

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Jul 16, 2020 Shooting Primer - (2.5 hours) Category: Fuselage

Mostly larger sheets, fuse and tail parts.

Jul 15, 2020 Scrubbing Parts - (7.5 hours)

Category: Fuselage

Pepping parts for priming. D. Watkins 3 hrs.

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Jul 14, 2020 Priming - (2.2 hours) Category: Fuselage

Priming more parts with Super-K

Jul 13, 2020 Prepping For Priming - (6.2 hours) Category: Fuselage

More scrubbing for primer prep. D.Watkins 3 hrs.

Jul 07, 2020 Shooting Primer - (3 hours)

Category: Fuselage

Shot Super-K on fuselage and tail parts.

Somebody please shoot me if I ever plan to prime an airplane again. I'm trying to prime all of the fuse and tail parts before assembly of any of the subkits. My theory is to do the priming in the summer and assembly in the fall, but this means a lot of prep and spraying without the positive feedback of putting stuff together.

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Jul 06, 2020 Prepping parts for Primer - (6 hours) Category: Fuselage

Prepping fuse and tail parts by scrubbing with Scotch Brite and degreaser. 3.5 hours for myself and 2.5 hours for D. Watkins.

Jun 29, 2020 Primed Elevator Pushrod - (1.5 hours)

Category: Fuselage

Cleaned and scuffed interior of pushrod by using 'Scotch Brite on a Stick' and Prekote. When dry, sealed one end with tape and sealed the drilled holes as well. Poured in Super-K, swirled around and drained excess. Removed tape and cleaned excess primer from off tube exterior.

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Physical-Distancing-2

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Jun 26, 2020 Shooting Primer - (2.0 hours)

Category: Fuselage

Setting up tables, mixing Super-K and spraying primer on tail parts. That's 5.5 hours total prep/priming time for one table's worth of parts. Probably ten tables worth of parts total, so may take the rest of summer to complete, include other distractions, including the installation of my OnSpeed display device in my Rocket.

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Jun 25, 2020 Primer Prep - (3.5 hours)

Category: Fuselage

Preparing parts for priming by using Prekote and cross scrubbing with purple Scotch Brite.
Summary of process:

Deburr all parts.
Remove labels and clean label residue with solvent.
Clean and scuff parts by spraying with Prekote (or equivalent) and cross-scrubbing with purple Scotch Brite pads. Do not let the PreKote dry on the parts.
Flush parts with copious amounts of water after scrubbing. Shake off water and store parts so the water drains off.
Let the parts dry thoroughly. Cover them with plastic or cardboard if you aren't priming immediately.
Within 24 hours, spray-prime parts with Super-Koropan, according to PPG's directions.
For certain parts (inside of folded skins) and touch-up, it's OK to brush on the Super-K. Not pretty, but serves the purpose.

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Jun 20, 2020 Removing labels and inspecting parts - (2.5 hours) Category: Fuselage

Touched up deburring, peeled labels and cleaned tape residue off of parts with solvent.

Jun 19, 2020 Deburring Fuse parts. - (2.5 hours)

Category: Fuselage

More drudgery. Finished deburring all fuselage and tail kit parts. Selfie, showing the effect of long hours of deburring...

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Jun 16, 2020 Deburring Fuse and interior parts - (1.5 hours) Category: Fuselage

Jun 15, 2020 Deburring Fuse and interior parts. - (5.5 hours) Category: Fuselage

Dave Watkins helping (2.5 hrs) +me

Jun 12, 2020 Deburring Fuse and interior parts - (2 hours) Category: Fuselage

Jun 11, 2020 Deburring Fuse parts - (6 hours) Category: Fuselage

Dave Watkins helping (3 hrs) + me

Jun 10, 2020 Deburring Fuse parts - (5 hours) Category: Fuselage

Dave Watkins helping (2 hrs) + me

Jun 09, 2020 Deburring Fuse parts - (1.5 hours) Category: Fuselage

Jun 08, 2020 Deburring Fuse parts - (2.5 hours) Category: Fuselage