Dec 31, 2021     Section 35 complete - (25 hours)       Category: Fuselage

The big items I got done here were the piano hinges, the air vents and the canopy release system.

One of my hinges the edge distance wasn't what I wanted it to be so I ended up remaking that side and was more careful on the second side. It's a pretty easy task although doing it on a curve made it a little more challenging to keep it aligned.

The jettison mechanism was pretty simple to install once I got the assembly together and greased it up. The righ pin is a little longer than the left pin but both pins go completely through so I don't think there's anything to worry about. Would like to know what the specs are for that.

I ended up fabricating my own air vent containers that were the same outline as the Vans air vents. I didn't like the way vans sandwiched the vents in between the fiberglass and the holder. I would prefer to just be able to remove the vents by removing the 4 screws. I painted it black to match although I still have not finalized a color scheme for the plane yet.

I've still been working on some odds and ends so my builders log is not as organized as it was before. Mainly I am just stalling for my wings to come in and I don't want to install my top skin without first installing my avionics so I am done with this section for now. I also got my sticks in from Aerontronics so I can go back and finish the control systems while I wait for my wings.

Wings are arriving sometime after January 15. So I'm very excited!

  Dec 25, 2021     Section 35 part 1 - (20 hours)       Category: Fuselage

This actually took me several days but I was too busy to update my builders log. Surprisingly this section was a little challenging with some of the rivets. It begins quite straight forward but I ended up using the offset and having to have my mentor help me set some of the more difficult rivets in the sub panel frame. Definitely need to pay attention to the order of these rivets and the lengths.

Once I got the sub panel assembly put together though, it was very satisfying to put into the plane. Seeing the cockpit take shape really gave me an appreciation for how beautiful this plane design is—the look that leads most of us to choose Vans' (along with its performance).

This is the time you need to install the canopy jettison handle. I am not planning on mounting this in my panel as it would interfere with my G5 but I am still installing the mechanism so that I can easily remove my canopy if I need to. I still have time to change my mind on this but I am not planning on doing any serious aerobatics and so I don't really think I want to have the option to jettison the canopy.

That said, making the pieces was quite fun. I began with a hacksaw along the CL of the aluminum tubing and then used the band saw (was able to slide the thing sand paper inside the slits) and just sanded down until the pieces fit nicely into the slots I had carved.

I also have decided to stick with the piano hinges and return the Skybolt fasteners. It sounds like it will be a pain in the butt to remove them but I really prefer the look of the seamless lines and also I don't like the puffing that occurs in between the cam locks as I have noticed on several RV's that have the Skybolt's.

Just need to put it all together and then I will be all done with this section!

So I have to finish the piano hinges and then dimple the rest of the top skin. I don't plan on riveting this on until after my panel goes in so that will sit on the side for quite some time.

  Nov 24, 2021     Section 34 - (34 hours)       Category: Fuselage

This is a short section but one you want to take your time on. Over two days I was able to get the flap torque arms and the motor (flap actuator) installed.

*note: The jig for this first step where you match drill the torque arms through the crank comes in the wing kit. If you don't have that, it's $15 from the Van's store ☺�

Once we got it lined up and measured it four or fives times (it's a little confusing as they have you line up the inside of the flange in the middle to the outside flange of the end. However, we got them both lined up and then drilled them out.

After that you upsize them to #12 to fit the an3 bolts. It was a little bit of trouble to drill through both holes so I found using a long #30 to make sure the holes are lined up perpendicular to the ground while I drilled made it easier to make sure I was in the second hole. The holes should center themselves but I am sure some people will elect to use the drill press here. I did not, and found no issues just using my hand drill and taking my time.

I also primed the insides using spray cans. I started by running a long drill bit with some scotch bright pads which helped clean up the insides of the tubes. I then repeated with some acetone and finally sent through some acetone soaked paper towels to clean out any residue left behind. Then I just taped off the edges and primed them with the SEM self-etching primer.

After that is complete you install it into the plane, torque the bolts and apply the torque seal (except for one bolt at the top that needs to turn freely and you use a nut castle and clevis pin).

There is one section where you have to drill a hole in the flap actuator which will allow you to attach safety wire which is part of a service bulletin for older RV's. This seemed like it would be hard but actually it was quite simple. Now I just need to get my safety wire back from my buddy and install it to be done with section 34.

Onto the sub panel!

  Nov 23, 2021     Section 33 complete - (15 hours)       Category: Fuselage

Most of this section was easy and super fun. That hourly count of 15 would have been more like 10 if not for 4 bolts! When you get to this section, you will know which four bolts! (I'll give you a hint, they connect the rudder cable sleeves to the cushioned clamps). Man these were extremely difficult to tighten. But we not only got them done, we got them torqued and sealed!

Finishing up the rudder cables and installing the guides was mostly uneventful. I did however have to drill out a couple of the pop rivets for the cable guides as the washer backing didn't hold while I squeezed due to the slight angle of the tunnel and the consistent force of gravity. Make sure you hold these washers tight against them until the rivet is completely squeezed.

I'm not entirely sure about these plastic hoses. Seemed easy enough to get them set but I really hope none of the fitting leak. This is my first time using these seals so I am putting my faith into Van's section 5 instructions.

After I finished the brakes system I put a little silicon on the bushings that were modified as they wouldn't stay secured. I would have preferred tank sealant but didn't feel like opening up another serving just for these 4 bushings. Silicon should do just fine to make sure they don't pop out due to vibration.

I have been building my fuselage ahead of my wings (which I ordered quick build and are set to arrive in February). Because of this, I had to order the jig for the flap control arms which come with the wing kit. No big deal, just $11 and some days of shipping

  Nov 14, 2021     Section 33 part 1 - (20 hours)       Category: Fuselage

I had already installed the oil reservoir so that part was already done. This section begins with separating quite a few different pieces for the rudder pedals. It's fairly basic stuff.

I decided to prime and then paint the rudder pedals. I know they will get scuffed a lot but I plan to put grip tape on the part where you step to protect the paint a bit.

After I drilled, primed and assembled the rudder pedals I managed to squeeze all the rivets with my hand squeezer. It allowed the paint to remain perfect.

Then it was onto the rudder assembly attachments. It took me a while to figure out how to make the spaces but I ended up using a rivet to gently sand down the spacers until it matched in height. After that I used a soft hammer to gently bend the tabs so they were perpendicular and then went onto mount the rudder pedals. I ended up doing the first bolt using the washer recommended but had to make some adjustments with various light washers in order to fit. I tightened the castle nuts with my fingers and ensured the friction was minimal before installing the codder pins.

Ones the pedals were all done I got some thread sealant from Ted and installed the master cylinders. They are labeled left and right but there is only one way they can be installed so don't worry too much about labeling them. This was very satisfying to see how well them moved once installed.

Next it was onto the nylon bushings for the pedal mounts. This required using a template to drill 2 #12 pilot holes followed by a #10 final drill using the drill press into these 4” blocks. It was quite easy.

Before I installed the redial pedal mounts I used the 3M wheel to clean up the ends of the pipes that had some powers coat remains in it. Then apply some grease and install the assemblies. I found that using two washers in the center assembly allowed for less friction on the pedal mounts. There will be some friction no matter what, so I just installed them to where the friction of the nuts increased slightly signifying I had removed all the play in the nuts.

Next it's onto the brake lines!

  Nov 11, 2021     Section 32 - (40 hours)       Category: Fuselage

This is actually a very simple but time consuming section. You begin by constructing the bushings for the flap poles and then construction the seat positions out of piano hinges. This requires precise match drilling (use a punch here) and cleanup of the edges. Then I just primed all the parts and went to work.

You begin by attaching a few nut plates to the forward edge and then a couple to the access hole in the back end and then get your squeezer ready for a seemingly endless session of blind rivets. Luckily they are all LP4-3 so they are no very difficult. You will once again need the wedge piece for the ones on the corners but it's something that at this point everyone is pretty used to doing.

The final rivets in the aft bulk head are AN470-3-6 so you will need to get your rivet gun and bucking bar back there to finish this off.

I ended up making once smiley face on the second to last rivet. Very annoying but it is barely noticeable (to anyone but me 😌).

The last thing you do is add the flap motor mount which really strengthens the seat back bar (now you can sit on this and it doesn't even flinch) and then close the walls in the baggage area. I elected to just paint these with the gray SEM self-etching primer out of the rattle cans.

  Nov 11, 2021     Section 31 Complete - (10 hours)       Category: Fuselage

To finish this section I need to apply some tank sealants to the penetration points of the firewall. So to make this section more efficient with the rest of the parts that need tank sealant (the oil reservoir and also the bushing for the rudder cables) so I skipped ahead a little.

Once I got the ranks sealant applied and all the fittings set right where I can tighten them by hand with no gaps at all, I set out to torque these. I also torched the bolts that hold the oil filter to the firewall. I found that the friction torque to overcome the nut plates was nearly 20 in-lbs. They are an3 bolts so I ended up setting my torque wrench to 35 in-lbs.

Torquing the fittings was recommended to be between 70-120 in-lbs. so I chose 90. The aluminum tubing we use is softer and so you do not want to use the higher torque setting. It was pointed out in the plans but also it's in the standard Aircraft handbook with a pretty nice explanation.

How you actually do this is another story. I ordered crows feet since I didn't have any and they appeared to be perfect for the job. However, the space was so tight I ended up having to grind them down quite a bit. It's always nice to purchase new tools and immediately begin to sand them down ☺�

Once I got those to a reasonable dimension it was just a matter of patience and perseverance. Luckily I got them all done.

Onto the next section!

  Oct 30, 2021     Section 31 - (12 hours)       Category: Fuselage

Fuel systems part 1:

The first thing we have to do is install the plastic guides to hold the fuel system pipes. These are easily separated and form using a band saw and 3M wheel. The. You install them with pop rivets. You use a washer on the back of the rivet to hold the shop head. You will need to use a wedge piece to get the top rivet as the holes are too close to the flange for even a skinny cherry rivet puller. Not a big deal.

After that it's onto the fuel selector. Not a lot of work here, just a few nut plates to install, some holes to counter sink and then some screws to install using Loctite 948 to keep them from coming loose.

Once that is done you crimp on two terminals for the fuel pump electrical leads and tie the ground into the bolt using a washer (optional) o protect the lead from Tempe bolt head.

Now comes the fun part. Quite a bit of cutting and bending and flaring (all things I needed to borrow tools for). You begin shy straightening the tube on a flat surface. I found it much easier to cut it into length first and then straighten it more accurately.

It took some time to completely understand the bends but if you use the plane to guide you it's actually pretty intuitive.

This was one of the most fun exercises I have done so far in the build.

  Oct 30, 2021     Section 30 - (68 hours)       Category: Fuselage

This section was the grand section of them all! (So far). Joining the tailcone with fuselage.

This began by removing the tail feathers. I was able to do it in about 2 hours and stored the small parts under my bed and the Horizontal is in my living room against the wall.

After that I rearranged my garage so that the two pieces would line up. We used saw horses and a short table (the crate they sent me the kit in — now reinforced and with wheels) and some towels to get them to match. Wasn't very difficult really.

I had already prepped the bulkheads where they joined but I needed to add the nut plates and enlarge a hole with the stepper bit. Then it required a little fluting. This probably could have been easier if I realized how difficult it would be to pass each rivet through the hole that had, in some spots, 4 pieces of metal to join. However the clecos went in fine.

Man of the stringers and longerons could be done alone. But when it came time to get to the bottom skins and the ones aft of the bulkhead it required assistance. My mentor was in Colorado so my wife gratuitously gave me a hand and we knocked it out over the weekend.

After that I rearranged my garage again. Amazingly I was able to cut down using all 3 car spaces to just one now. I even folded up and put away two tables I had been using for a very long time. This was a very exciting section!

I got a little carried away and ended up re-organizing and labeling all my hardware. I got sick of searching for the bag number in the inventory list and then finding the hardware from the bag. I took each bag and placed the hardware with all the other hardware that was the same and labeled each drawer. It was actually very satisfying.

Time to start on the fuel system!

  Oct 16, 2021     Section 29 Complete - (150 hours)       Category: Fuselage

After we finished the rest of the rivets (which by the way were NOT easy, we decided to order cherry rivets for the aft most river between the skins and the bulkhead that resides just beneath the ridge of the lower longeron. Basically impossible to set it with a bucking bar and not sure what else to do, so we calculated the length of the appropriate cherry rivet and ordered it. It was CR3212-4-4 and it connects the lower longeron to the wing box.

Then I added the seat rest bar which included 3 rivets that I do not rivet until after the next step when I insert the intercostals. Congrats Van's you got me again! Luckily I am an expert at removing rivets so this was a non-event. 🤫

After that I am supposed to do some work on the vents but they did not send me all the parts. In fact, I do not even see it on the inventory list. In fact, when I search the store I have never seen this part before in my life. I'm going to have to contact Van's and see what I am missing here. The missing part is VENT-SV5.

So it's on to section 30! A short section but the holiest of all—joining the fuselage with the empanage. To prepare for this I removed all the tail feathers and stored them in safe places Ed around my house.

  Oct 10, 2021     Section 29 part 5 - (8 hours)       Category: Fuselage

Almost finished is something you never want to say in this project. You may often feel “almost finished” but I assure you that you are not.

A thorough inspection of our work revealed several areas of concern. First and foremost the cherry rivets that are called for in the bottom longerons where the box meets the engine mounts need to be removed. I found it very easy to drill out these cherry rivets as they are flush head and the pins can just be punched out and then drill out the mass of the rest of the rivet with a #31 drill bit (these are CR3212-4-5's. The dome head ones that we used on the inside would require you to grind off the head before being able to punch out the mandrel. However since these are flush rivet sets and the heads broke off the mandrels before they were fully set.

I did wonder why they used these cherry rivets instead of solid rivets and then when you inspect the back you realize that the heads of the inside cherry rivets (that are 5's) are in the way. So using the cherry rivets will be easier and since they are structural there's no problem using the pop rivets here. (Assuming they set correctly).

After we fixed those we noticed that the after fairings were not laying flat and there were not a lot of fluting options to make it both line up with the holes in the skins and match the curvature of the side skins. There was really not way to make it perfect (though we tried!). After several adjustments and a little “un-fluting “ with the hand seamer I managed to get it to lay relatively flat agains the skins and the holes lined up decent enough to make me feel comfortable with the fit, not a lot of stress on the clecos.

After we finished those off and riveted them to the skins we added the remaining nut plates. Then we re-installed the after wing attach bars )which were literally the first part you make in this fuselage kit!) and we realized that the holes in the skins were not quite big enough. A little filling and sanding and we were back in business. We added some alodine to the skin surface to help avoid corrosion.

Next it is onto the bottom skins. Incredibly difficult to get the bucking bar inside the longerons flange and over the head of the rivet. It took finding just the right bucking bar to do it (picture below). The final rivet is a AN426-4-6 rivet but the bolts in the way and it's impossible to get there and also not crack the rivet head due to the longerons flange and so we decided to stop and order a cherry rivet for that rivet.

Lastly, I am including a picture of the whiteboard I have dedicated to keeping track of all the things that I am missing and need to finish up. It's a beast to try and keep track of all the things that need to be finished and it's a great idea to write them down. Previously I had been making notes in my plans and then crossing them off when I got back to them. This make it a lot better and keeps these tasks in the front of my thoughts so I remember to finish these various tasks.

An example is the bottom row of rivets for the battery box. There's nothing urgent about finishing these but I simple could not set these without a 7.5” off set flush head for my rivet gun. I finally got this and now just need Ted to come back as this would be hard to do alone. So it's still on the board!

Oh, I also prepped and primed the parts for section 30! That's where we join the aft fuselage with the main fuselage. No will need to remove my tail feathers and re-arrange some things but it's gone be great!

  Oct 08, 2021     Section 29 part 4 - (36 hours)       Category: Fuselage

These skins are long but a lot of them can be done alone. The tar for the tank sealant is once again a pain in the butt to deal with. It's very annoying to set these rivets

I have noticed on several occasions the wrong rivet sizes are called out. I also have noticed absolute errors in the plans. For example they tell you to countersink a part that is supposed to be dimpled and the party below it requires to be countersunk to receive this dimple. I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me but then I realized that the plans are simply wrong. I checked my resources (other builders logs) and confirmed that the plans are just “mistaken”. It's quite annoying but I think that since these mistakes are so obvious that nobody is reporting them and they just keep them in there.

At any rate the fuselage is almost complete. The next section we will connect the empennage to the fuselage. Before I do this though I will have to remove all the tail feathers.

There are quite a few fabricated parts in this section. It's quite rewarding. It feels very good to watch pieces you make line up perfectly (almost as perfectly as the machined parts from Van's). Most of the parts you fabricate are not incredibly crucial in terms of precision, but it's fun to try and be perfect anyway and be rewarded by pieces that look like they came out of a factory.

Tomorrow we will completely finish this section and prepare for the empennage attach.

  Sep 25, 2021     Section 29 part 3 - (40 hours)       Category: Fuselage

I finally made it through all the parts needed for section 29 to be finished and got them prepped and primed. Once I got them primed, I went back and started building the upper and lower longeron assemblies that hold the engine mounts. For some reason you end up using cherry rivets in combination with the solid rivets. I don't know why but I followed directions.

Then you back rivet the stiffners and double for the wing spar support. It was pretty easy after the firewall session last section.

Once I was done I went though all my nuts and bolts and checked that they were all properly torqued. Then I used torque seal to easily identify which ones are done and if there are any changes due to vibrations in the future.

Then I just rebuilt the skins and cleco'd it all together. I used temporary bolts for both upper and lower longerons even though the plans only specifically say to bolt the lower longerons.

I also noticed that the firewall flanges were never dimpled and clearly they need to be since they received the dimpled skins and go into the counter sunk piano hinge. But I checked on the forums and found that indeed this step is not in the plans but you need to do it.

I also noticed that the two rivets just forward of the wing spars are very difficult to line up. Make sure you cleco these first and then worn your way around the rest or you will end up having to remove all the clecos in order to get this on straight.

Tomorrow my mentor is coming over as it's time to do the skins and this will be a two man job.

  Sep 12, 2021     Section 29 part 2 - (40 hours)       Category: Fuselage

After you have finished the bottom skins, it's time to install the control stick. You will need to get some geese to help stick the washers and shims together so that you can get the bolts in just right without any play and without too much pressure. I ended up just using 1 light washer and 1 regular washer and no shim. But I think almost every builder ends up with a slightly different combination so trial and error is really the only way here. By the way, once you torque the bolts you will notice a slight amount of resistance (I mean super slight). I decided to torque to the bottom of the range (20 in-lbs) and the control column moved freely with 0 play.

After you get those installed it's time to work on the longerons. Get ready for some major match drilling, deburring, and countersinking. All fairly easy stuff but time consuming. I ended up making a jig for all the counter sinking in the longerons. Super helpful. Thank you Steve out in the UK for the tip 👍.

Oh and you will also need to get your deemed out to trim the longerons. It's not bad but hopefully you have a lot of cutting wheels as they will not make it through all the longerons you will need to cut (they are quite thick).

The side skins also get some very interesting love in this section. Not just your standard deburring and dimpling. You end up having to feather one corner and the radius the portion that will meet the canopy. You start to really get an idea of how this is all going to work.

If you are like me and ry and prime everything together you may find this section a bit tedious. If I had to do it over again I would prime after each step instead of skipping each time the plans call to rivet (like when you are supposed to rivet the engine mounts to the longerons). Dealing with clecos throughout all of this is kind of a pain.

A big time soaker is the piano hinge. I decided to stick with the piano hinge for the firewall attachment that will be used to connect the cowl. This was not a crazy hard task but it definitely slowed me down due to the fact that nothing I had was riveted so I had to cleco everything together to make sure I had it right. As normal, the plans call for a length of 20 1/8” which will give you the EXACT edge distance you need. Not that there is a slight curve and this will affect the line up, so I recommend starting with the top hole and not the pilot hole. Otherwise you may have to make a new piece (like I did) unless you happens to be perfect and account for deburring in your measurements. Or, make yours 20 1/4” instead of 20 1/8” so that you will have a little room for error. You will end up countersinking these holes too, so that means you need 2.5 x's the diameter of the rivet.

After that there's going to be a lot of pieces that get separated and dumped and deburred. Make sure you label everything as they look very similar to each other after they are separated and cleaned up.

  Sep 12, 2021     Section 29 Part 1 - (40 hours)       Category: Fuselage

This section has been going on for a while. I just was too busy to update my log.

The beginning of this section requires connecting some major pieces together. There's going to have to be some re-arranging of the work space to accommodate the large pieces going together.

After you get them in and bolted together there's a TON of match drilling, clecos and deburring. This will later be met with endless counter sinking. 🤫

Then you install the step brace with the brake fluid brass elbow that will need to be at 7Degrees off square. I used a clever little iPhone app to make this easy. Also use plenty of boelube and make sure you support the back end of the belly or the step brace will not go in.

Once you are ready to start riveting you will need to mount the belly on its side, so you create a job using a wooded block through the bulkheads where the wing spar will be. This cause me a lot of anxiety sleeping and having a nightmare of the thing crashing down. So I personally mounted it with clamps and then jigged it's agains the wall to ensure it could not move. Many builders have done similar things.

Before you rivet you get to add more tank sealant. Yippee…I never get sick of that stuff 😳. At any rate, I'm getting a lot better at using the black tar so I suppose it's not terrible.

Then you install some #5 cherry rivets that actually broken my rivet head. I had to order a new one and ended up using my cheap ARROW rivet gun to pull these monsters. Access was not a problem for these so I recommend using the cheap rivet gun.

After this was finished my mentor and I put in a couple good sessions to rivet the entire bottom skins together. It went very quickly with two people but you will need to remove the step braces and bolts so don't bother torquing any hardware until you finish this all.

Oh and that long skinny bucking bar you use on the elevators, make sure you have that ready for whoever is on the bucking bar. There's quite a few obstacles in between those bulkheads.

  Aug 04, 2021     Section 28 MISTAKE - (10 hours)       Category: Fuselage

After I realized in section 29 that I had put the cover plates on wrong (the picture is very difficult to tell).

This required me to drill out about 30 rivets and then reset the cover plate. Not a big deal but sure would have been nice to know this ahead of time.

I hope this post helps someone avoid this mistake in their own build. Turns out this is a very common mistake and a lot of builders (on Van's recommendation) leave the mistake alone.

  Jul 29, 2021     Section 28 Complete - (10 hours)       Category: Fuselage

So I finished the firewall. There were quite a few “puzzles” to complete in this one.

You will notice that I added an additional Spherical Grommet into the cable penetration parts to the firewall. This will actually house the throttle and mixture cables and the existing grommet will house the cowl-flap cable. The prop will come from the pilot side of the firewall.

I've attached a picture for those who are also going to be installing the IO-390-EXP119 which was introduced last year (specifically designed for the RV-14).

Here are some of the things I learned with the conclusion of this section.

1) Stainless steel rivets are VERY hard to set and even if you set it perfectly straight, the shop head of the rivet will not look as nice as the aluminum rivets.

2) The left and right side vent assemblies ARE NOT mirror images. This is a very good “gotcha” moment that luckily I avoided thanks to the very specific directions from Van's.

3) If you are now an expert at back rivets before this section, you will be after. Even when I was assembling the vents (stainless steel rivets) I found it necessary to back rivet.

4) The bottom flange of the battery box interferes with the bottom row while countersinking and whole riveting. This could have been avoided if the holes were moved up 1/8”. There is plenty of room for this. I sent a note to Van's to have their engineers consider it. Since it was pre-punched, this was not an option for me. I ordered a 7” long off set flush set for my rivet gun. You could also do this by back riveting these by holding the bucking bar firmly while having a friend back rivet the shop head, but that is not an ideal situation and I did not want to risk having to drill those out so I ordered the new set from Aircraft Spruce ($25).

5) When you are doing the bottoms skins, you can move the firewall assembly in many different configurations and still find it easy to secure and quite stable.

Now I need to rearrange my garage to prepare for the next section.

  Jul 17, 2021     Section 28 part 2 - (20 hours)       Category: Fuselage

I bought two single use tank sealant carriages from Aircraft Spruce to make it easier to deploy. I took my time and prepped as much as I could but that black tar gets everywhere. This specific section makes doing the Quickbuild almost worth it alone. That said, pretty happy with how it came out.

First thing I did was cleco it all together and make sure I knew what was going where. Then I taped all the edges (both sides) wherever there would be tank sealant going in between two flanges. Turns out you don't really have to hurry. The sessions took me several hours to finish and the tank sealant in the gun continued to be useable all the way to the end. So my biggest tip is to take your time. I felt like there was a clock ticking and so I kept trying to get everything done before the sealant cured.

The back riveting session was surprisingly hard. Given the additional soft material in between the flanges and the odd angles of the e tunnels, I ended up setting a bunch of rivets high that needed to be drilled. I opted to complete them all first and get to the center muffler shroud and install the billet (before the tank sealant became unusable) and then went back the next day to remove the high rivets and replace them with new one. Even with the three pieces connected, back riveting was not a big problem. The only problem I found was that when you drill out a rivet with tank sealant around, every chip you make ends up in the sealant. I opted to wipe the chips off with a rag and acetone and then re-taped and re-applied a billet to all the seams. Probably labor intensive but it was a good seal.

After I completed the attachment of the firewall to the bottom skin assembly, and clean up any excess tank sealant, I began to rivet the center of the bottom skins to the tunnel. This was another time to modify the instructions according to the OP-62 KAI for the new engine.

For the IO-390-exp119 there will be a cowl-flap in the belly that will attach with #8 screws to the skins. So instead of riveting the entire center section, I installed 5 nut plates in each. This was a bit of labor and again I had to prevent metal chips from going into my tank sealant. This time I placed tape over the seam so that it blocked Ben and then vacuumed them up before removing the tape. Tank sealant is a big pain to work with, even several hours after you finished setting it.

I have to now install these nut plates and then rivet the rest of the assembly but I am %90 of the way finished with this section.

By the way, a couple tips for tank sealant.

1) You have plenty of time. Move slowly and don't rush.

2) Have plenty of acetone and a rag (not just paper towels) you can use to clean. Rags soaked in acetone work very well, just avoid contacting the billets or seams you mean to keep.

3) Have popsicle sticks and q-tips ready to detail the cleanup. Works wonders.

4) When you finish, you can re-tape and apply a nice straight line if you notice that your seam doesn't have a clean line or a spot that doesn't have any sealant sticking out.

5) clean off the rivet heads after you squeeze or buck then before you measure them with the gauge. The tank sealant will give you a false sense of the diameter of the shop head.

Oh, but my biggest tip of all: Pay for the Qucik build. Let Van's do the table sealant ☺�Only partially kidding).

  Jul 14, 2021     Section 28 part 1 - (10 hours)       Category: Fuselage

For this section I decided to purchase the one time use fuel tank sealant form Aircraft Spruce. I also made a mistake on the piano hinge and had to order a new one. Lastly, I could not find the antennae doublers anywhere, so I went ahead and replaced those as well from Van's. After a week of prep, we have begun.

After dimpling, countersinking and priming all the parts I began by riveting the doubled and stiffer a to the skins and then the muffler shroud covers for the tunnel. Put another dent in the bag if k1000-8D nut plates too. Still about half a million nut plates to go….

One thing I struggled with was countersinking the battery box. This requires you to use an extension for your counter sink bit, which means you cannot use the cage. Even though this worked fine, the bottom set of holes were further interfered with by the flange in the bottom fold. I ended up forcing it open just enough to get the counter sinks in. They were not perfect but they will work.

I also began to modify the pieces to fit the cowl flap for the IO-390-EXP119 engine I am planning for. This also required another piece from Van's (CT-00102) which is a double spherical grommet and cost me an additional $75. I thought this came with the kit, as they know I am planning on the EXP119 engine but it was not in my inventory so I put in the order from the web store.

As for the plans for the IO-390-EXP119 I took them down to Office Depot and had them print them out in color. That cost me $11 but was well worth it to have full size plans which I inserted into my current plan book.


**It's worth to not that this is the first time you actually have to use the KAI OP-62 instructions.

Tomorrow I will crack open the first tube of single use pro-seal.

  Jul 08, 2021     Section 27 complete - (16 hours)       Category: Fuselage

Back rivet for the win! I really was not found of back riveting so many AN4 rivets but after this section I consider myself to be quite the expert.

I ended up using every bucking bar I could to get to all the heads of the rivets including my tiny tungsten bucking bar which is my main bar. I used it for the 70 degree angle that allowed me to get into the center section perfectly without having any high rivets.

I ended up drilling out about 15 rivets total but I managed to do this without messing up any holes. Many of them probably did not need to be drilled out but once you established perfection on the flush head it's difficult to allow any high set rivets to stick around no matter how close to flush it may be.

A few nut plates (k1000-4) are on b/o so I wasn't able to get this completely done. But I will be able to get those done later when they come in.

For thes center section I ended up using a piece of woof between the two angles to apply pressure in the backplate. I even talked my wife into climbing up onto the workbench and placing her foot on the wood to allow me to use two hands on the rivet set.

There's actually a handful of rivets at the bottom that I was not really able to back rivet without a long back rivet set. If I had that I could have done them all, but instead I will wait for a friend tomorrow and we will just buck them with the swivel head.

The final step was to ream the 6 holes for the engine mount. I used the drill press on the work bench and placed the fwd side face down on a plywood table while I matched the drill press to make it a right angle.

Onto section 28!

  Jul 06, 2021     Section 27 Part 2 - (4 hours)       Category: Fuselage

Today was a long back rivet session. To pick up where I left off I decided to use the long bucking bar used on the elevators and mount it on the other corner of the table to get those hard to reach rivets while back riveting.

Couple tips:

1) Set one rivet then check that it's flush. If one is high, they will all be high (learned that the hard way)

2) Remove every cleco. Sounds weird but those clecos can do more bad than good. Instead of relying on clecos, get the rivets taped in and lined up on the back rivet plate or bucking bar and use a clamp to make sure it's flush.

3) TRIPLE check that your angles are completely flush before setting. When I noticed a sliver of air between the dimples on one of the angles I pulled out my “dimple” checker and noticed that two of my counter sinks were not deep enough to fully allow the angle to set flush. So I rechecked them all and luckily only had to counter sink two holes total (since I had already primed this wasn't perfect but I put some alodine over it).

4) If you are going to use the bucking bar you need to make sure the rivets in the center. Don't try and do both lines. Just do one line, unclamp, move it over a little and then do the other line. I also used a wood shim to maintain the edge distance and kept checking that the rivets I was doing were in the middle of the bucking bar (see picture).

5) I had to use a long mushroom tip to get those deep ones where the angle interferes with the back rivet set. I don't have a long back rivet set. Although I had to set them longer, I found that the quality of the rivets were very good.

6) Do the gussets last. They are actually the easiest ones to do.

Hope this helps someone else down the road. I'm glad I took time to think this over. I've seen blog's where people used the C-frame for this section. That wasn't necessary at all in my experience. I recommend just using the back rivet plate, the long bucking bar and plenty of patience. This is not the time to rush 😉.

  Jul 05, 2021     Section 27 Part 1 - (10 hours)       Category: Fuselage

Prepped all the parts for the firewall today. This included a lot of countersinking. I mean A LOT. Some people use wood to support their pieces but I just used my hand. It's a method I have been using all along as I have pretty much always done it this way. You get a good grip on the cage and can hold it perfectly square and you can just let the bit do the work.

Albe very careful about what you counter sink and what you don't. There is a double on the left side that will be countersunk on the opposite side of the firewall, so you don't need to dimple the the holes in the angle that intersect those rivets. Same think on the right side with the battery cage at the top of the firewall. What I did was I looked at the next section to get a better picture of what will happen and why some are dimpled and some are not.

After I finished that I primed everything and began dimpling and prepping the stainless steel parts (which do not need to be primed). I found the 3M wheel worked the best on the edges so as not to ruin my deburring tools.

There are a few simple assemblies before you begin the very difficult back riveting section. I actually was not able to finish the backrivets with my set up. Due to the geometry of the firewalls that have ridges in them as well as flanges. I am considering using my C-frame to get the missing rivets.

Things I did learn were to take out all the clecos. Do not leave ANY space at all or they will set high. Also, the AN425-4-4 rivets are correct size. If they are not legal then they are either over driven or they are not sitting perfectly flush.

So far so good. Hopefully I will figure out how to finish the rest tomorrow.

  Jul 03, 2021     Section 26 complete - (10 hours)       Category: Fuselage

It's done! There were SO MANY difficult rivets to finish here. Not only did I need to use the offset we had to go raid my Mentor's hangar for his bucking bar assortment. It took longer to do the ribs than to do the skins. But in the end, we got them all in and we finished the skins without a single dent. I ended the day doing a final touch up of some primer and then taped the rivet lines on the bottom with painters tape to protect the belly skins from scratches as I move forward with the next few sections. This piece is big and bulky and will be taking up a lot of table space.

One tip about the seat belt attachments. They didn't fit easily through the slots so instead of overdriving the rivets that kept them from passing through, we just filed down a little but on the middle where they can pass. (See picture).

Onto section 27 (Firewall) beginning tomorrow!

  Jul 02, 2021     Section 26 part 5 (Bottom Skins) - (8 hours)       Category: Fuselage

Today we tackled the bottom skins and the baggage compartment assembly connection. Made it through with only a few rivets that we needed to drill out and ended up putting in two additional blind rivets where the seat belt attach bars are and the bucking bar was very difficult to get in.

After that I began working on the aft ribs assemblies that contain most of the seat belt attachments. I found that the rivet used in the seatbelt attachment was difficult to pass through the small slit in the bulkhead so I ended up squeezing it a little more than it was. Still legal, but slightly overdriven. I could have also drilled it out and replaced it but since the rivet was still legal I left it.

Another issue I found was the plans called for some difficult AN470-4-5's when assembling the step step assemblies to the power coated attachment. Some builders alter the build order here but I found that I was able to squeeze the em all just fine (see picture). On the opposite side I used 2 cherry rivets and bucked the middle one (was not able to buck the top and bottom fwd rivets. So I used Cherry Rivets per the plans instructions.

I ended the day where the plans call for riveting the assemblies to the main assembly (which will be followed by the skins next. Tomorrow we will (hopefully) finish this section.

  Jul 01, 2021     Section 26 part 4 - (20 hours)       Category: Fuselage

There was a ton of prep left to do here. Ended up going back to the Epoxy primer (AZK0) for the bottom and fwd skins and the stiffners and miscellaneous parts.

There's a lot of back riveting done on this section and getting the seat ribs aligned, squared and parallel took some time and care.

This is not something I would have been able to do alone. The skins are so bulky that I had to ask my mentor Ted to come and help me the last couple days.

I also used some Bonderite alodine to cover the surface of the anodized bulkheads that were countersunk. This was expensive ($100) to purchase but it gave me piece of mind.

Additionally I back riveted the nut plates for the gear brace. I used the step drill on several occasions. Little but if reaming and a little bit of match drilling. Don't forget to “whang” the gear braces in the vice (per section 5 instructions—they literally say to hit it with a hammer in a vice until it's straight). Lastly I had to grind down 40 rivets from AN426-4-5 to 4-4.5 because they didn't come in my kit. Perhaps consider purchasing m 4.5's to save yourself the hassle.

Now we just have about 500 rivets to set in the morning :)

Couple days away from have this section complete!

  Jun 25, 2021     Section 26 part 3 - (28 hours)       Category: Fuselage

Riveted the seat belt attach lugs to the baggage ribs. Added the routing angles in center for the systems.

Attached the F-01405 (first part in done insection 25) bulkhead and bulkhead angles to the assembly.

Did a lot of dimpling for the nut plates on the ribs as well as all of the bottom #40 holes where it will mate with the skin.

Did NOT install nut plates here. Looked ahead in the plans and there are some that come in later but a lot of them do not appear to have nut plates deep into this build. All keep you posted when the nut plates go in (so far plans only have me rivetIng the nut plates in the ramp of the ribs.

***NOTE*** There was one bolt on the outboard bulkhead from the previous section that I noticed called for 2 washers (bolt-washer-bulkhead-doubler-washer-nut) where the others did NOT include a washer between the bolt and the bulkhead. However, if you do this you will need to upsize the bolt to an AN-14A instead of the AN-13A per the directions as you will not have enough protrusion to be sure the nut is gripping the bolt. (See image)

The fuselage is beginning to look like a big piece of the airplane!

  Jun 23, 2021     Section 26 part 2 - (120 hours)       Category: Fuselage

A lot of prep work again. Putting a small dent in the enormous bag of nut plates waiting for me. Couple things I learned this time.

1) If you are using the SEM self etching primer, dimple the edges first. When I used epoxy you could prime and then dimple, but with the self etching primer the primer cracks on the dimple if you prime before dimpling.

2) Squeeze as many rivets as you can, but you will need to buck some regardless. Increase the pressure about 15-20 psi if you are using the off-set rivet set.

3) When fluting to match the curvature if the skins, just flute the whole edge lightly to start. The first one I did hole by hole and then had to “un-flute” a little to relieve the curve that set in too deep by the end. The second-fourth edges went perfectly when I just did the entire curve and slowly brought in each one. No need to cleco them, just line up the holes and you will be able to make more, light adjustments without having to cleco each time. Then when you do cleco at the end you should be very pleased with the result.

Ended the day with a bunch of bolts. Little tired today so I will begin tomorrow with the rivets.

  Jun 21, 2021     Section 26 part 1 - (8 hours)       Category: Fuselage

Today I spent about 2 hours sorting my parts by section number. I am doing the standard fuselage kit. There's a LOT of sub kits and a LOT of parts. Several of them needed to be primed (welded steel or other steel part-not stainless). I set up my computer and used the parts index to sort them all by section number. This was a long, tedious task but it will make the upcoming sections a lot quicker to gather the parts. Also, the same index list shows the material each part is made of so if you need to prime something that's deep in the build, this is a good time to check if it needs to be primed now or not.

After that, I got to work on the many, many ribs and doublers that are waiting for me.

I do enjoy this part so it was a very enjoyable day!

  Jun 20, 2021     Section 25 complete - (20 hours)       Category: Fuselage

Finished the first section of the fuselage (FWD MID FUSE BULKHEADS).

There were a lot of difficult rivers for this seemingly short section. I ended up using the offset rivet set for most of the rivers at the end but even with that I needed to push the cover ribs off to the side while setting the rivets.

I also needed to use a 90 degree drill to set the screw at the end. Already I am beginning to see the difficulties that come with this more advanced kit.

I switched to SEM self-etching primer for these parts. I still have some epoxy primer left from the last kit but I plan to use that only on the skins now. The SEM primer does a decent job, is quick and easy and is very fast. So it's probably the way I would go from the start if I did the entire project over again. The only thing I do not like about the self-etching ‘rattle cans' primer is the quality. It comes off easily even with the cleco's. That said, touch up is simple and easy so I think I will continue with the SEM rattle cans.

One last thing. I also got several bags with tons of AN bolts that were very similar in size. I did not separate them on the inventory, perhaps I should have. It was quite a boring job measuring them all out. I ended up spending 4 hours putting my hardware into the appropriate slots. I found that Van's did make some mistakes on some of the washers and miscellaneous parts. For example a K1000-06 nut plate is NOT the same as a K1000-6 nut plate. Something that they are very good at fixing when you let them know, however. Just give them a call or email and they send you the right hardware, even months after the kit arrives ☺�

On to section 26!

  Jun 10, 2021     Section 25 - (18 hours)       Category: Fuselage

Aft center bullhead and forward center bulkheads countersink and assembled. Bearing brackets and cover ribs primed and assembled. Missing the angle (F-01441-L&R) so I ordered an angle online and will fabricate my own.

Tricky plans with only the left side shown. Often the right side is identical but sometimes it's mirrored and so you gotta be slow and take your time.

  Jun 01, 2021     Fuselage Inventory - (16 hours)       Category: Fuselage

Fuselage standard kit, crate, delivery and tax. Inventory was tremendously long. Got myself set up and ready to begin. Section 25 begins with the FWD MID FUSE bulkheads. Those things are massive.

Just a heads up, I am still waiting on QuickBuild wings that should around in December. I skipped to the fuselage to allow myself to keep building over the summer. I was unable to do any work these past few months as there were major delays in shipping due to COVID-19.

Expect this build to continue as before.