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.