Sep 28, 2020     Top Skin       Category: Fuselage

In my SEP 12 entry I noted that I had to remove the top brace for the rudder. This past weekend after removing the top brace I (mostly) cut out the top 1/16th inch ply skin and spliced it to the 1/8th inch ply skin after of the main fuselage. Because this top skin will seal in the main fuselage I tacked it to the longerons and used my router to trim. I used masking tape on the underside of the skins so next week I can varnish it without varnishing the wood to wood places. I also cut the 1/8th inch aft section of the top skin and glued the two pieces together. It did take me some time to figure out how to trim 1/16th off the 1/8th ply to splice the two parts together. Finally, by carefully setting my table saw to 1/16 inch depth I cut a couple "guide" grooves then used a very sharp chisel and trimmed off the excess. The photos show the two skins being glued (spliced) together for one long top skin. Next I will remake the top rudder brace with the 2 1/2 inch rudder tube bushing hole and fit it all together. the expenses listed above are for a gallon of spar varnish and more nuts and bolts from A/C Spruce.