Mar 28, 2024     Elevator pushrod - (1 hour)       Category: Fuselage

I had previously made the elevator pushrod. It was time to set it into place with the elevators attached to the HS. Set the elevator bell crank to neutral and thread the end bearings in and tighten the jam nuts. This can now be removed until later. Inserting the little elevator pushrod looks to be an impossible PITA to get in, buuuuuut I found a hack that is suppose to work. More on that next time….

  Mar 28, 2024     HS drill and install. - (6 hours)       Category: Fuselage

Time to position and install the horizontal stabilizer. First I made the spacers that go under the front spar angle of the HS. Next was to position the stabilizer so it is equal, side to side and there is no sweep. Basically equal to the longitudinal line of the aircraft. With some careful measurements and the HS clamped in place, I drilled the outboard holes, which are very critical as they go through both supporting angles and the longerons, all of which must be centered with proper edge distance. Pilot hole to #40 first then upsize slowly from there. Since I measured carefully, the edge distance was great and I'm happy with the outcome.

Next was to slide the spacers under the front HS spar, align them and dril the holes through them. Bolt this down. Next slide 3/16 spacers under the center of the rear HS spar and drill through the thick bars at the rear. I was able to eyeball the center here and it turned out great. Put some keeper bolts in there.
Next to drill the inboard holes in the front HS spar. The measurements are on the plans.

  Mar 27, 2024     Static port install - (2 hours)       Category: Fuselage

I received the upgraded static ports from Showplanes and installed them after drilling out the supplied vans ones. This was very easy to do and the results look great. They are identical on the outside to the vans pop rivets which is important to the overall static system readings.

I am also going to do the system a bit different than the way the plans say. I routed the flexible clear tubing up to the center of the bulkhead where both sides meet the T. From there it will run foreword with the stiffer static line. This will improved the “no water in the system, system”.

  Mar 25, 2024     Back at it….. fresh air vents. - (3 hours)       Category: Fuselage

I made some small aluminum backing squares for the rivets to hold. Once that was complete I scuffed both the vent and skin, mixed up a small batch of pro seal and stuck the air vents on. I left them to set up/cure with clecos hold everything together. I came back 2 days later and riveted the few rivets securing the vents. Many people just use the sealant, but I opted for a couple security keeper rivets in addition to the sealant.

  Feb 28, 2024     Brake lines - (5 hours)       Category: Fuselage

Brake lines received from ACS after a slight adjustment in length due to me having the retrofit brake pedals. I temporarily installed the lines so that I could get the clocking angle correct. Removed the pedal system after this so that I can install them permanently. Tom at ACS was phenomenal to work with!!!!!!!

  Feb 27, 2024     Sub panel - (20 hours)       Category: Fuselage

Put sub panel together and clecoed it to the fuselage. All of the small angles were drilled in place.

  Feb 06, 2024     Foreword deck mock-up - (2 hours)       Category: Fuselage

Did a quick mock up of the foreword deck and panel. I also sat the roll bar and slider in place just for fun……. Next up is cabin systems, fuel vent lines, hoses, etc…

  Feb 03, 2024     Gear weldments - (12 hours)       Category: Fuselage

First thing to do here is to match the gear leg hole to the hole in the gear weldments and match/upsize the hole using a .311 reamer. I had to carefully sand off a little of the powder coating for a smooth fit, I also sprayed a little LPS2 for some lube.

Once that was done, I slipped the weldments into the fuselage put the bolts in and torqued them the best I could with the difficult access. One thing to note here. The bolts that are called out were too short for me (an4-12a) and I've read this on another build site or two so I was sort of expecting it. There were plenty of the next size up bolt (an4-13a) in the hardware bag. Maybe vans knows of the issue and includes them or I'll need to be ordering some bolts later on, oh well.
I put my #12 drill bit through hell drilling the 14 holes through the weldment for the an3 bolts. I also countersunk for the screws through the side fuselage.

  Jan 29, 2024     Completed flap components…. - (10 hours)       Category: Fuselage

Continued and completed the flap components. I had a bit of a binding issue with the rounded angle piece that supports the flap motor on the inside. The plans have to drill the hole before assembling the pieces together, well I guess my measurements were ever so slightly off because the bolt went in at an angle and caused a bind when tightened as well as being off center for the actual flap handle/bar bolt up. So I remade the rounded angle piece……. I recommend doing it the way I did the second time……. It's easier and made for a perfect fit.

Start by placing the rough cut to size angle piece in the flap motor cover butted up against side where the 1/4” hole was previously drilled, clamp it and match drill a 1/4” hole in the angle piece thusly making a perfectly in line hole. Now all that's left is to cut the angle to size and round it on the grinder, clamp and drill following the instructions. Took me longer to type this than doing it.

I also drilled the aft baggage flap brace, I also made certain the cross member was leveled and had to use some ratchet straps to hold in level while I drilled. I also drew edge distance lines on the brace just so I'd know I was in a good spot and it matched the plans… the dimensions are listed in the plans.

With all that completed and clecoed in the plane, I celcoed the side covers in and match drilled them. They were removed, everything cleaned up, deburred and nut plates installed where instructed. This piece is completed, removed from plane until further.

Flap rods were fabricated per the plans, drill out to #3 and tapped, rod ends screwed in and stored until later.

*Note- during the fuselage build, you will notice many things that could be permanently installed are being removed and stored. This is being done because of my current situation of being hangarless and needed to do as much as I can in the basement with a normal door opening as an exit. Hopefully before I'm too old to remember I even built a plane I'll get a hangar :/. It's been 3 years and counting of being on hangar lists at 4-5 different airports. The hangar situation in this country is abysmal. -end rant

  Jan 24, 2024     Flaps - (12 hours)       Category: Fuselage

Started working on the electric flaps… to begin, I had to cut down the center bearing block, drill #10 holes in it, cut it in half and cut a 1/16th” notch in the forward bottom piece, oh and up drill the holes to a 1/4”. The flap weldment was then placed in the fuselage, fit with the side bearing blocks that were fabricated earlier. Next was to match drill the #10 holes into the the floor skin and bulkhead flange. These will apparently get nut plates. Onto the SB for the flap motor/rod. I have to drill a small hole in the top and side of the flap motor rod so that I can put some safety wire in to prevent the jam nut from turning. I tried a super small bit and it broke off, so with a ton of effort and destroying a couple bits, I finally got the holes to meet. Definitely a very dumb fix. I'm thinking possibly a lock nut that matches the rod end threads would be better but I don't know, we will see how the longevity works out, oh well it's done. The baggage floor tunnel cover also needed a notch cut to prevent it from interfering with the center bearing block. I had to fabricate many little pieces to install the flap motor within its housing cover. Those were deburred and primed…….. More to come,

  Jan 19, 2024     Began covers in the foreword fuse - (10 hours)       Category: Fuselage

The foreword fuel pump cover, fuel selector and plate and the heater box were constructed over about 3 days. The most tedious part was the deburring of the flanges you bend out for the heater. Oh and drilling through the floor stiffener into the covers was a total PITA as well. Even with my 90 degree drill it was near impossible. So I decided to use my 12” bit to get into the tight spot. It worked. Started at a #30 hole and upped to a 19. Once everything was drilled up and deburred, the covers went together pretty easily. There are several plate nuts to install. This is for the AFP pump and filter from Vans. The heater tabs were bent out by slipping my seamers in there and gently bending out.

Oh and you may notice, I have elected to leave the “top portion” of the fuel selector plate that you are suppose to cut off if you did not install manual elevator trim. I left this intact because I intend to potentially use it to mount USB-C charging ports and possibly the Bose mic jacks. I can always lop it off later if I want.

  Jan 17, 2024     Seats completed - (8 hours)       Category: Fuselage

Seats have been completed, All the angle was primed with ez coat. These seats definitely took way longer than I assumed they would have.

Oh and I ordered my full interior from Lemke in Germany. A very great and easy company to deal with. I got the whole shebang, Nappa leather, perforations, seat heaters, seat ventilators, dual memory foam, carpet throughout and a tonue cover.

  Jan 05, 2024     Baggage bulkhead cover and seatbelt anchors - (10 hours)       Category: Fuselage

Began fitting the baggage bulkhead correlated covers. The top portion has to have a 8.5 inch radius centered at a certain point that has to be cut off to fit. The rub blocks for the seatbelt anchor and the little hole in which the cable passes through was pretty simple. I used a 3/8” unibit and my bandsaw for the hole/slot. I drilled the holes from the cover into the bulkhead. These holes were also drilled for nut plates. Everything cleaned up and deburred. I wasn't able to get to the nut plate installation as I needed to go to bed for work, gotta pay for this all somehow :)
Oh and also purchased some black (5/32) clecoes to make this whole process easier.

  Jan 03, 2024     Braided teflon brake and cabin fuel hose kits       Category: Fuselage

The braided steel teflon hoses I had ordered from Aircraft Specialties arrived and boy are these things luxe. They are absolutely worth it and are basically lifetime products that are robust. Over the lifetime of the aircraft, they will probably pay for themselves with the time, money and maintenance required for the non teflon hoses.

  Jan 01, 2024     Tunnel cover pieces - (4 hours)       Category: Fuselage

Onto fabricating the tunnel cover pieces. This comes as a single piece of z extrusion that you have to measure and cut to shape for the side portions of the tunnel cover. The top piece is a simple piece of aluminum sheet that gets spaces holes and a 1/4” bend up at one end to secure it to the forward seat covers. Primed the cover supports and was able to back rivet it together, easy peezy.

  Dec 30, 2023     Seat hinges - (4 hours)       Category: Fuselage

Next was onto the seat hinges. This was simple to follow the plans and measure each piece to 15.5 inches long. I first drilled them to #40 and then match drilled them to #30. Cleaned up and rounded all pieces, cut the center two eye lets out and riveted them to the seat pan with 470 rivets. I had to put the seat backs in just to see what it would look like. Pretty cool indeed.

  Dec 21, 2023     Side steps - (15 hours)       Category: Fuselage

The side steps were next as this is a 7A. This was completed over a couple days. First I noted from a trial fit that I needed to remove about 1/4” of material from the length of the pipe in order for them to fit into the plane. After this it was a lot of off and on, bending and shaping. Once the many iterations were done and I was able to get the steel plate to match the curvature of the skin it was onto measuring out and drilling the holes into the steel plate. I drilled the holes first to a #40 and match drilled to the skin. Updrilled the holes to the final #30. I then had to work on the plastic blocks that secure the end to the baggage rib. Boy what a PITA this was. Trying the get the holes to line up and furthermore drill them in such a tight spot was a bit of a nightmare. Thankfully I was able to make it all come together after some significant head scratching. While I was messing with this and it took much longer than I was hoping it would, I decided to fabricate a doubler for the inside of the step. Because the step has holes on both sides of the bulkhead I made two pieces, one out of 040 sheet and the other out of 063 angle. This was pretty easy and I'm happy with the results. Hopefully it will provide some benefit, we will see. The steps were removed and stored until the plane is out of the basement. I don't believe it will go through the door with them installed. This also means I cannot install the baggage floors permanently yet, which in turn could be helpful for wiring runs.

  Dec 18, 2023     Gussets and top skins - (10 hours)       Category: Fuselage

The top aft skins were pretty simple although they are a bit stiff and it took a bit of force to hold it down and align the holes. I also clecoed the 656 gussets to the bulkheads but left them “free floating” over the longeron until the skins were on in order to make sure they were drilled in the proper location. Once the skins were on, I climbed in the back and clamped the gussets with C clamps. All the stiffeners and doubler plates were placed in place prior to putting the skins on. I final size drilled all the holes . The upper skin stiffeners were twisted, cut and drilled. This is a weird part in that a center line was drawn and it was just kind of a line up and drill hole by hole until it was done.

  Dec 14, 2023     Seatbelt anchors - (2 hours)       Category: Fuselage

Before heading off to work for 48 hours, I was able to finish up the day by placing and drilling the seatbelt anchors to the longerons.

I also riveted the 729 A/B together and to the 706 but I didn't get a picture. Oh! I also drilled the hole in the elevator bell crank that will accept the pushrod for the autopilot servo.

  Dec 14, 2023     695 gussets complete - (2 hours)       Category: Fuselage

The 695 gussets were cleaned, debured and riveted to the longeron/firewall. I was able to squeeze all but 4 rivets here.

  Dec 11, 2023     Began positioning F-695 gussets - (2.5 hours)       Category: Fuselage

Began positioning and drilling the 695 gussets to the longerons and firewall angles. I made sure that the edge distances would be great on all the pieces that had to be drilled through. I first drilled the holes to #40 and then upsized to #30. The gussets had to be sanded down a bit on the front left edge so that it fit without being catty-whompus. With both gussets drilled to #30 it was time to call it a night.

  Dec 09, 2023     F-757 Gusset and side rails - (8 hours)       Category: Fuselage

The 757 gussets that connect the 705 bulkhead to the longeron were prepared for a slider per the plans and drilled to the longerons at the specified locations. For the slider, the aft rivets on the 757 are flush #4 rivets.

The rivets in the side rails were very tricky to buck. The squeezer would not fit and my old trusty tungsten bar would not fit. So I had to resort to a previously used trick. I used the yoke from my squeezer and it fit well, while my hands were much more sore, the rivets set fine.

I also made some clips for the static line and countersunk the screw hole for the tank attach bracket to #10 and installed/torqued it.

Oh and I also installed and torqued the bolts that connect the lower longeron and firewall.

  Dec 08, 2023     Riveted aft deck - (1.5 hours)       Category: Fuselage

Aft deck riveted. Some were squeezed, some were bucked.

  Dec 06, 2023     Aft deck - (5 hours)       Category: Fuselage

Began on the aft deck. The day previous I leveled the fuselage fore/aft, side to side. I placed the aft deck in position and checked for twist about a thousand times and another thousand times checking for all level. I used a laser level, my iPhone and a regular bubble level. All agreed, it was level without twist. Clamped that position carefully with several C clamps.

I made the spacers as per plans and taped them underneath the aft deck. I carefully began drilling the holes into the longerons, clecoing as I went while checking that I maintained no twist.

After I did the normal debur and such I began riveting the aft deck. I set a few with the squeezer and called it a night.

  Dec 05, 2023     FLIPPED THE CANOE - (1 hour)       Category: Fuselage

The day has finally come. After a few hours of banging rivets and before a late lunch, Nick and I flipped the fuselage over and took the “sitting in the cockpit” pictures. I cannot wait to actually be sitting here in a flying machine soon!

  Dec 05, 2023     Finished fuselage riveting - (6 hours) Category: Fuselage

My buddy Nick was able to make it out today, thankfully neither one of us were held at work. We finished riveting basically from the 704 foreword and the bottom skin. We flipped the “canoe” but that's going to get it own headline.

  Dec 01, 2023     3M Firewall sealant arrived - (2 hours)       Category: Fuselage

Firewall sealant arrived from aircraft spruce. Mating surfaces were scuffed and the sealant was applied. I put a cleco in every hole and left it to set for probably quite a while into the future.

  Nov 13, 2023     Began riveting side skins - (15 hours)       Category: Fuselage

I began riveting the side skins and the center section to the aft section spaced over a few days. I was able rivet a lot more than I thought id be able to. I definitely had some sore hands and abs after all this interesting position riveting. Thank god for a tungsten bucking bar.

  Nov 06, 2023     Beginning to rivet fuse - (4 hours)       Category: Fuselage

Pretty short and simple day today beginning to rivet fuselage components together finally. The firewall gussets, support angle and center floor stiffeners were installed. Notice in the picture that the last rivet in the center floor stiffener is a pulled LP 4. I tried and tried but could not get a way to buck or squeeze this rivet. I was going to try but I decided if I screw it up which was about 90% that drilled it out would be a nightmare. So I decided to go with one pulled rivet which I'm certain won't compromise anything. Heck, lots of people attached there wing ribs to the spar with nothing but these LP's and they haven't fallen out of the sky yet.

Oh and I had to put the steps in just to check it out. The tubes will have to be ground down about a 1/4” to fit snug. Something I'm not familiar with….. a long tube problem ;)

  Nov 01, 2023     Completed fuselage prep after disassembly - (25 hours)       Category: Fuselage

Over the last couple of weeks I have been steadily working on the long, long list of things that I needed to complete before beginning to rivet the fuselage together for the final time. Included in this was the crap load of machine countersinks, debur all edges, dimple all holes, prime the pieces that need to be, install the 715 ribs, install the 623 and their corresponding clips and clean up all metal shavings that have found their way into the central fuselage. I also riveted the doubler plates onto the wing skin with the rivets around the inside.
The longerons were quite the undertaking to complete. Glad they are finally done.

  Oct 10, 2023     Completed fabrication - (26 hours)       Category: Fuselage

Over the last two or so weeks I completed the fabrication and match drilling of all the floor stiffeners as well as attached all the baggage stiffeners and covers layer out in the instructions. This now completes the fuselage to the point of complete disassembly, deburr , dimple, prime, etc. Not looking forward to this part, but it's necessary

I also fabricated a stiffener angle from scrap for the arm rests just as an extra insurance against deformation from myself or anyone climbing into or out of the cockpit. Accidents happens and it's best to give a little bit of support. Easy process. Note that one side of the angle had to be shortened from 3/4” to match up with the armrest flange.

  Sep 25, 2023     Rudder pedals drilled to the longeron. - (10 hours)       Category: Fuselage

Today I drilled the #10 holes through the rudder end blocks and clamped the system into the plane. I decided on holes drilled at distances used by other builders via Dan checkoway with a slight difference at the furthest location. I decided to drill the first hole at 3 3/16th” and then 1 1/16” at each position. Turned out great we will see how it feels way down the road. I'm hopeful it's great!
To do this I marked and clamped the blocks to the longeron then removed the longeron/block clamp up from the plane and drilled it while clamped to my bench. Move the block 1 1/16” and drilled another set of holes. This went smooth without issues.

Once this was completed and the rudder system was clamped back into the fuselage I began working on the ruder bar brace and the center block. I followed the plans here, drilled the holes through the block at the dimensions listed and trimmed the brace at the dimensions listed.
I drilled holes in the brace first that attach it to the firewall angle making sure I kept the holes offset from the holes that attach the firewall and angle together so not to have interference. An extra hole was drilled through by accident but I will leave it open and it shouldn't cause any issues.
Once it was clecoed in place I clamped the center block to the brace which I drew a line down the flange at the distance shown in the plans. I centered the line in the rudder block holes and drilled. I did the for each of the 3 locations from earlier. Don't forget to put a 960-10 washer between the cut center block for spacing.
With all the positions drilled in all the blocks/longerons/brace and everything moving freely, I removed the rudder pedal system and set it in a safe place until later. I will trim the brace later to make it a bit more pretty and to save a pinch of weight.

That's it for today, off to work for another 48. Gotta pay for this fun stuff somehow.

  Sep 12, 2023     Upgraded rudder pedals - (12 hours)       Category: Fuselage

I purchased the Risse racing upgraded rudder pedals which have a nicer look and finish. They also move the master cylinder to the back of the pedal which should do a better job at keeping the brake lines out of the way of my feet. Honestly the install was kind of a pita, but I was slowly able to get it together and mounted to the rudder bars. This took longer than I had anticipated.

  Sep 08, 2023     Tank attach bracket angles - (9 hours)       Category: Fuselage

Today I fabricated the angles that go on the inside of the fuselage for the tank attach bracket. F796B , C,D. C,D are spacers that sit under the angle. Basically I drilled the hole on the plans, clamped/held them in place and drilled. I then removed the build up and drilled the rest of the holes. This went pretty smoothly. The dimensions in the plans for this angle is for me at least a starting point. I had to install it and remove it a few times to get the fit right and edge distance as good as I could to acceptable. Lastly I up drilled the top and bottom holes to 3/16.

  Sep 06, 2023     F684 gusset and firewall mount - (7 hours)       Category: Fuselage

Today I knocked out the F684 firewall gussets. I mounted them, clamped them and drilled them in place. This for me at least was pretty straightforward. I did have to peel the skin back so I could drill the holes into the longerons. I was able to keep the edge distances within acceptable limits and it's very tight and solid.

  Sep 03, 2023     Finish kit inventory complete - (7 hours)       Category: Fuselage

The finish kit inventory is complete except for 3 items all being fiberglass components that are on BO.

  Aug 25, 2023     Auxiliary and lower longerons - (11 hours)       Category: Fuselage

Began fabricating the auxiliary and lower longerons. This was fairly simple, although the joggle in one of the 713 auxiliary longerons was horrific so I opted to take page out of the RV6 build plans and attach the aft end of the longeron with an attach strip angle and a spacer. This ended up being very strong and working out well although it took more time than I wanted it to. The lower longeron was cut as per the plans, the aft end was cut angle to fit against the F704. It also required a slight outboard twist to nest with the WD602 firewall mount.

The auxiliary longerons required a small piece of angle to be cut and shaped to attach it to the firewall angle. I marked where the angle fits on the firewall angle and drilled with a 12” #40 first and then up drilled to a #30. I had to peel the skin back and drill the angle into the auxiliary longeron. Everything is tight and fits terrifically.

The lower longerons nested great so I clamped them tightly to the 602 and drilled the bolt holes at the listed measurements in the plans making sure that the edge distance is as acceptable as I could get them, I had to move the center line for the bolt holes inboard about a 1/16th to make sure edge distance is on point.

  Aug 22, 2023     Build selfie ;)       Category: Fuselage

  Aug 21, 2023     Gear weldmant through F772 - (6 hours)       Category: Fuselage

After cutting the template out from the plans I properly aligned it on the F772 skin and drew an outline. I. Did two different methods on either side to see which was easier. The first was to drill a single large hole and then use my dremel to cut around the outline to the second large hole. The second method was to use a step drill in the center until I got a hole close to the edges of the outline then use my Dremel to clean up the football shaped hole. I can confirm that for me at least, the second method was the easiest and worked the best.

Getting these weldmants to fit in the skin without interference took several iterations of off,on,off,on, but finally I got it and it actually turned out nicely.
Also I had to sand away a bit of the F704 flange. Be aware that there will definitely be edge distance issues with a hole on the skin and 704, but don't worry, this is apparently very normal and expected on the 7A. 5/8” hole drilled for brake line as well.

Oh and I had to stick a gear leg on just to see haha.

  Aug 20, 2023     Straps - (1 hour)       Category: Fuselage

I also made the straps that hold the F704 to the longerons. I found 4 perfect sized aluminum pieces of sheet amongst my materials. I sure hope this is what they were suppose to be used for but if not I am going to have to fabricate something from scratch later on. This was pretty straight forward and didn't take much time.

  Aug 20, 2023     Fuselage work continued - (10 hours)       Category: Fuselage

Removed the excess amount of the longeron that was prohibiting me from getting the proper 5/8” spacing. With the spacing correct and everything measured and checked 100 times, I began drilling the firewall to the skins. This actually wasn't too difficult with a slow RPM and some boelube. After the firewall was drilled to the skin, I drilled the longeron to the upper firewall angle, making sure that the edge distance was acceptable. Make sure to use some longer AD4 rivets to keep the #30 holes aligned while drilling. I used some electrical tape to keep the rivets from popping out.

  Aug 16, 2023     Began fitting firewall - (3 hours)       Category: Fuselage

I had a little time today to begin fitting the firewall. I will need to do a little tweaking to include a little more twist in the longerons as well as shorten the front edge one the pilot side longeron. It is interfering with the firewall angle and is not allowing the firewall to nest fully giving me the 5/8” displacement. But, I need to eat and head to bed for work. This weekend, as Mike Patey says, “Back to work”..

  Aug 15, 2023     Finish kit arrived!       Category: Fuselage

Today the finish kit arrived, well most of it. I am still missing several pieces due to back order.

  Aug 13, 2023     Bending conical bend F770 - (3 hours)       Category: Fuselage

Figured out a plan as to how to bend the conical curve on the F770 side skins. Looking in the back of the instruction manual I was able to get some clues on how the factory did it, albeit they are horrible black and white pictures. Using a scrap piece of AA6-125 and a long angle that came with the fuselage kit (not sure what it is for yet but it was not going to be damaged, just clamped to the table plus it had a nice radius). I matched drilled. The holes in the skin to the angle. I skipped the first hole in the skin because that is what I saw in the instruction pictures. You are suppose to use your thumb to gently bend this part, I was unsure how this would work to make a 90 degree bend. I also removed a piece of the angle flange on the top side because that is what the picture showed.

So to begin I enlarged the radius between the skin and the bend slightly to about 1/8-1/4 inch to relieve stress. Next I used what I believe was a good trick and possibly key to no cracks was to use a heat gun to warm the skin and area to soften it before the bend. I haven't seen anyone else do this but I like the idea. With everything tightly clamped and heated, I put the vice grips on to the angle and began slowly but consistently bending while using my thumb to provide bending to the front area. In less than a minute the bend was complete WITHOUT CRACKS. This was a wonderful outcome and I couldn't be happier to have it done without cracks, especially knowing that a ton of builders get cracks here. The skins were trial fit to the fuselage and they were darn near spot on with just minor massaging with my hands to complete the fit. I also placed an 1/8” dowel at the bend to see if that would help, I'm honestly not sure if it did anything, but why not.

Also, ream the holes for the bend and dimple them, this will make the fit much much better and easier.

  Aug 11, 2023     Center section and aft - (20 hours)       Category: Fuselage

A few pictures I found of the center section assembly and joining it to the aft fuselage.

  Aug 10, 2023     *PHONE AND BUILD PHOTOS GONE* Category: Fuselage

So there is a gap in my build log thanks to me being an idiot in several ways. I dropped my cell phone in the Shenandoah River and it's gone forever. The other issue is all the pictures up to this point since June were on that phone and I had not backed it up to the cloud. So it's a very, very unfortunate situation. So to summarize to where i am now…..

I assembled the aft fuselage and riveted it together. I also constructed the center fuselage section and seat ribs, the crotch brackets were installed. Crow seatbelts were ordered.

The center fuselage section was fitted to the aft section which took a little bit and some fuss.

I think that summarizes the last month and a half, if I think of anything else I will add it here….

  Jun 11, 2023     706 bulkhead complete (autopilot) - (6 hours)       Category: Fuselage

Assembled the 706 bulkhead and riveted all the holes that are suppose to get rivets per the plans(look closely at the plans). I almost forgot to locate, drill and rivet the pitch Servo mount to the bulkhead. The Garmin manual says a minimum of two rows of four rivets, so I went one more row of four rivets just to do over minimum. Rivet fan came in handy here too! 706 complete for now.

  Jun 09, 2023     706 bulkhead - (10 hours)       Category: Fuselage

Next in the line up of bulkheads was the 706. This was a very flimsy piece to start out with. Many little intricate pieces go together here with many specifics so read the plans carefully. Especially when you got to rivet them together. I also deburred, fluted, prepped and primed the other bulkheads for later on. I wash the scuffed metal in a bath of dawn before rinsing the crap out of them drying and wiping with naphtha. The small angle at the top gets countersunk for that front plates dimples.

  Jun 08, 2023     Rudder block - (2 hours)       Category: Fuselage

I had some time today to square up and carefully drill the rudder end blocks to the bulkhead. I used the dimensions for one hole, squared it up and drilled a small starter hole about a quarter inch deep and then took it to the drill press to drill all the way through. Worked perfectly, but we will see how perfectly when I install the rudder assembly.

  Jun 07, 2023     705 bulkhead rivet and finish. - (8 hours)       Category: Fuselage

With everything primed and prepared, it was time to cleco everything and rivet. This went smoothly, DONT FORGET THE FLUSH HEAD RIVET FIRST UNDER THE BOTTOM BAR. It was a fun and productive day as well as fun to be riveting again. Also a pic showing myself and the finished product.

  Jun 04, 2023     705 bulkhead - (5 hours)       Category: Fuselage

More work to the 705 bulkhead. Installed the seatbelt brackets. I also trimmed them after a trial cleco of the seat ribs. Honestly this was a little trickier than I thought it was going to be and the inboard right bracket came out a little crooked and will most likely have to be trimmed a bit more on the bottom later on. I also purchased a brake so that I could bend the top portion that slides under the angle. The brake made this a non event. I fully recommend buying a cheapy like I did from HF.

I also drilled the holes on the rear angle piece, I forget the part number currently. I got a little happy with the new rivet fan I purchased and drilled twice as many holes as I was suppose to(17 instead of 9). I should have skipped a hole every time, oops. I called vans and asked if this was ok and the answer was yes, it's fine, “I over engineered it and made a bit more work for myself, but it won't be a structural issue at all”. Excellent, no harm no foul, build on! Everything drilled, disassembled, deburred and primed.

  Jun 01, 2023     705 Bulkhead begin - (7 hours)       Category: Fuselage

First I had to draw a center line down the spar bar, line it up down the holes in the lower bulkhead, center it and match drill the #30 & bolt holes. Easy just time consuming.

Next was to square up the I believe they are the 605C bars and match drill them to the spar bar. Be careful on which holes to drill and the length of the pieces. It is best to wait on trimming the taper and ends until the holes are drilled so that you can verify proper edge distance.

I also cut the tiny spacer with the grain going the correct direction. The plans have you notch a tiny bit into the spacer, like 3/32x 1/64 deep, tiny. The best method for this was to use the big file with the line to cut off against a scrap piece of aluminum from the spar bar. (See photo) . This worked wonderfully and gave me a nice little notch.

Everything clecoed and aligned, I drew a centerline down the spacer piece. Aligned it in the bolt hole, clamped the crap out of the hole piece and carefully drilled through the spacer. It worked great!! That's it for today.

  May 30, 2023     Completed center section - (6 hours)       Category: Fuselage

Finished up work on the center section spar. Cover supports drilled to spar, holes enlarged as needed, snap bushing holes upsized and installed. The smaller cover support gets a angle stiffener on the opposite side that is flush riveted to the center section and has nut plates that the support screws into, I assume so you can easily take it off for wire runs, maintenance, etc. once everything was cleaned up, primed what was needed, items were riveted and or bolted per plans.

The two center spar sections were temporarily placed together with the spacer tubes in place to make sure it was ok. Seemed good to me, oh and btw, the spacer tubes are already made to the correct length. Look in your wing kit hardware bags.

  May 24, 2023     Firewall complete - (4 hours)       Category: Fuselage

Not much to say on this other than the firewall was riveted together and completed. Most of them were bucked but a few lucky ones were squeezed.

  May 23, 2023     Began spar center section work - (8 hours)       Category: Fuselage

Pulled out all the components and got to work. I had to fabricate I believ it was 633 for the control column. I chose not to cut the “extra” off to save weight. It's only like an ounce or three, so not worth it. Drew a centerline, drilled one hole per plan dimension and then back drilled the other making sure everything was square. Also drilled the shear bars 704G after putting some bolts in make confirm alignment. The front face of the shear bars had to be countersunk per plans for a 426 rivet.

I also attached (not permanent) the 610/11/12 control column pieces and figured out the proper washers needed. I think I got it close. This did take some filing and sanding to get everything to operate smoothly, much like the ailerons, it has a brass bushing with the steel rotates around. Everything disassembled and primed as needed. The control column mounts were bolted and torqued to the center section.

  May 09, 2023     Fuselage started! Firewall. - (3 hours)       Category: Fuselage

Today the fuselage has begun. To start, I have to install, fabricate the angles that go on the cabin side of the firewall. Everything laid out and clecoed so that I know what I'm working with.

I also deburred and softened the edges of the firewall so that I don't slice my arms off.

  Jan 23, 2023     Annnddd the arduous inventory has begun       Category: Fuselage

As it says, inventory begins. Ugghhh

  Jan 05, 2023     Fuselage kit has arrived!!       Category: Fuselage

The fuselage kit has made its way across the country and is now sitting in my impromptu plane shop. I need to find the time to inventory this beast.