Feb 26, 2023     Section 30 - Aft Fuselage Attachment 7 - WITH HELPER - (2.5 hours)       Category: Sec 30 AFA

Finished Section 30 today with help from my dearest wife :) Only 2 rivets out of 122 failed. And it was my fault on the bucking bar side :)

In this work session, I also worked a bit on the baggage floors, installing a few nut plates and getting ready to close the floors.

https://youtu.be/TWvV2UyarIo

  Feb 21, 2023     Section 30 - Aft Fuselage Attachment 6 - (3.7 hours)       Category: Sec 30 AFA

In this work session, I'm creating a cradle for the plane to hold it sideways and preparing everything for the final task of section 30 which is riveting the bottom skin/overlap joint. I think this will make my life easier while working in the airplane guts :)

https://youtu.be/mCfqFsKlWqA

  Feb 20, 2023     Section 30 - Aft Fuselage Attachment 5 - (4.2 hours)       Category: Sec 30 AFA

In this work session, I was able to conclude the riveting of both side skins except for the line of rivets that overlap the bottom skin, which is the last step of the section, and I also finished riveting all baggage ribs to the fuse bulkhead.

The side skin installation turned out very smooth. I did have to use longer rivets in a few places, especially on the bottom curled portion of the side skin. used a few 3-4 instead of 3-3.5. (see pic 238.13)

As for the bottom skin, I will need help to close that task. humanly impossible to reach the center rivets :)

https://nokialearn.csod.com/ui/lms-learning-details/app/curriculum/a42b638a-6ece-4afd-9fb9-b5db4cb3e701

  Feb 19, 2023     Section 30 - Aft Fuselage Attachment 4 - (4.3 hours)       Category: Sec 30 AFA

Spent some time rearranging the shop heaving in mind the final length with engine and feathers installed and started riveting the union of aft and forward fuselages.

https://youtu.be/fJyPo4ZcW6I

  Feb 16, 2023     Section 30 - Aft Fuselage Attachment 3 - (3.2 hours)       Category: Sec 30 AFA

The fuselage is huge. I think I will have to replan the workshop layout this weekend in order to accommodate all pieces. The mating of the two halves is not complicated and all pieces come together perfectly. I made sure I had as many clecos as possible and it seems like everything has perfectly settled together. The fuselage build is very solid. Even at this stage where I basically have no solid rivets installed. A small shake on the tail and the firewall will shake just as much. Very sturdy construction and no flimsiness whatsoever...

The installation of the oxygen tank and any work in the tail cone is and will always clearly be a challenge.

Installing rivets on the top bulkhead was very tricky because I am still not working from the inside of the fuse. Thus, I used a lot the phone camera to check the outcome of rivet installs as well as the rivet gauge.

https://youtu.be/X3hD0bcX-TA

  Feb 15, 2023     Section 30 - Aft Fuselage Attachment 2 - (4.7 hours)       Category: Sec 30 AFA

Today I have demurred, cleaned, and washed all parts for section 30 plus rudder servo brackets in this work session. After priming the parts, I installed the nut plates and then riveted the rudder servo bracket. Installing the servo bracket was not hard but it would have been very complex after mating the fuselage halves.

100ml of primer used.

https://youtu.be/76k9pgXyDpY

  Feb 14, 2023     Section 30 - Aft Fuselage Attachment 1 - (2.7 hours)       Category: Sec 30 AFA

Started working on Section 30. The number of parts for this section is small but it is a huge step in the build process because it is the step where the aft and forward fuselage portions are put together.

I decided to install a couple of parts for the rudder servo (see pic 234.2) as it will be harder to do it after the fuselage is assembled. But there is really not much that can be done because things would get in the way of the elevator pushrod in the future.

There are three main bulkhead parts that need to be installed in the process, as well as the seatbelts anchors.

In this session, I also replaced the stripped bolt from Section 29. All done there.

https://youtu.be/Jbo9zOD8MAI