May 17, 2024     Minor fixes to previous builders work       Category: Fuselage

The previous builder (original kit owner) did not finish a couple of lay up steps on the bulk heads so I added them. I use left over films from my screen printing business for laying up and wetting out glass. The smooth side makes a good smooth surface when cured. Unfortunately, I accidently used the ink side of a film so the graphics transferred into the wet epoxy as seen in one pic!
I haven't taken a lot of pics but have been doing a lot of work on getting the bulkheads and fuselage ready to start installing. Some of the bulkheads developed twists from sitting for 20+ years so I have worked on getting them out.
Installing the bulkheads and wire channels is a dance of marking the fuse, temporarely placing the biulkheads, marking areas needing sanding, pulling them out, sanding, and refitting.
Sometime after my kit was made in 1993, the factory started supplying preglassed bulkheads with a flange around them that makes installation much easier, but I am happy with the way mine are coming out.

  Mar 08, 2024     Various Tools       Category: Tools

Here are some of the various tools I have used so far. Many are just homemade or items that have been repurposed into a different use than they were intended for. I have been surprised (pleased) with the ability to get things done without a huge investment in specialty tools. I did purchase a quality aviation flaring tool for the fuel lines, that a past Velocity builder was selling but the majority of tools I have been able to use so far are ones I had lying around the house. Things like a hack saw handle I have had for 25 years with some quality hack saw blades has seen a lot of use so far in trimming cured fiberglass cloth. A dull 3/8" bit run through some scrap flooring and wood set to 2" deep made routing out the inboard tips a 20 minute process. A J hook battery holder from a 65 Mustang I had laying around made the perfect size channel for the rudder tubes in just a few minutes (the manual called for using a soldering iron to melt the foam but I didn't have the right size tip and I id not want to smell the melted foam). A few dozen dollar store clamps have been very handy. A half dozen wood yard sticks from Lowe's wrapped in duct tape were clamped to the trailing edge of the wings during curing and helped make super straight smooth edges.
The most expensive tool I have is the metered epoxy pump. It came with the project I bought. Unfortunately the previous owner never cleaned out all the resin or hardener. The resin seemed fine, but I drained it out and the hardener only has about a two year shelf life and it had been sitting for 20+ years. The pump piston was completed frozen and no amount of work was going to fix it. Fortunately the company that makes it is still in business and still makes that pump, so an email and a $100 got the new piston unit and some new o-rings and it works like a champ now!
I have a couple of t-squares that I use depending on the task.
I have 3 levels that I am using: a single bubble 12", a three bubble 24", and a four bubble 48". I put them all on a flat surface and found them to be close enough level with the naked eye that I am OK with it. Per Danny Maher in one of the old construction videos, I marked each with a TOP and forward end. That way I will use them in the same orientation every time. As he put its it "they maybe a little off, but at least it will be consistent through out the build".

  Mar 08, 2024     Various Category: Tools

  Mar 07, 2024     Starting on the fuselage       Category: Fuselage

Since
I got this project in July of 2020, I have been focused on the wings, canard, winglets, and everything else related to the foam core items that are assembled and skinned in fiberglass by the builder. The fuselage is a little different, in that it is a tub that gets more factory made pieces installed. I made a base for the lower fuse half some time back. Now that it is in the small shop (and the wings are now in the garage) I got it set in place and the tub leveled fore/aft and side/side. I will bondo it to the base for the next few steps to hold it in place. I 5 minute epoxied a couple of small line levels to insure that it level when I go to work on it. One runs side to side and the other runs fore/aft. the bulkheads were skinned by the original owner but never trimmed. I have rough trimmed them close to final shape but not completely. I also held a level up to the outside and drew a level line with a pencil for future reference. There is a bolt hole in the mold flange that is put there by the factory that I put a small bolt in to use as the starting point for the bulkhead location measurements. This is all done per the manual. I put strips of masking tape in the areas along the tub where you mark for the bulkheads. This allows the pencil marks to show instead of on the dark fiberglass. I made the marks per the manual. I also put a string down the center line. I will use a laser level to connect the lines side to side and make sure they are exactly vertical. Then I will trim the bulkheads to final shape and install.
I used the bulkheads set roughly into place to determine where the two wire channels are located, marked, and temporally installed them with cleco's. I can now take them out, sand and trim, then reinstall permanently.
The manual has you start with the speed brake install on the bottom of the tub, but I have seen several builder logs start by installing the ducts, and the bulkheads to give some rigidity to the tub to make sure the speed brake isn't twisted.

  Feb 24, 2024     EAA 1475 group visit to the shop/project day       Category: Workshop

Three years ago I did a presentation for my EAA chapter at the airport on my Velocity project I had just rescued. I did a a sample layup, showed off some of the factory made parts, and talked about the plane in general. Last year I had made some progress (canard, winglets, elevators etc) that were too big to transport easily so I invited the chapter to my house to show everything. It was well received, so I did it again this year. I had the wings skinned and moved to the garage and the fuselage moved to the shop to start on it. A few came that had been at the past presentations so they could see the progress. It is a great incentive to get things done so I am not showing the same thing over and over. Maybe by next year I can have a group sanding party!!

  Feb 24, 2024     Trimmed inboard ends ready for rib lay ups       Category: Wings

Got the inboard ends of the pilot wing trimmed and routed out in preparation for 3 layers of coarse Bid layups to close out the ends. Milestone day as I moved the wings to the garage and the fuselage to the shop. This way, I can jig the wings up and begin to install the winglets. I am going to do both wings at the same time. And I can start on the speed brake on the belly of the fuse, then move on to the bulkheads, and start installing the windows in the fuselage top. Unfortunately, the shop is two inches too narrow to allow installation of the center spar so I will have to swap things back when the time comes. Sidenote: the locker you see in shop is a Cessna employee locker with a tag dated 1948.
the whole thing only weighs about 20 lbs and appears to be made from surplus airplane materials as the cross bar inside to hang a coat from is aluminum strut material.

  Feb 18, 2024     Skinning the top of the left (pilot) side wing - (4.25 hours)       Category: Wings

Skinned the top of the pilot side wing. Everything went pretty straight forward. This is the forth and final wing surface so I had a good idea of how much slurry (roughly 32oz of mixed ez poxy and roughly 32oz by volume of micro balloons), and how much straight epoxy (roughly 64oz of ez poxy) to mix. I will let this cure for a day or two, trim the ends and route out for the inboard end ribs, and make the mounting bolt hole. Then this wing will be at the same stage as the right wing. Then on to mounting the winglets!!

  Jan 29, 2024     Left wing continued - (4 hours)       Category: Wings

Skinned the bottom of the left wing. It went a lot faster than the right because I had a better idea of how much epoxy/micro balloon slurry to mix and how much straight epoxy to mix. And I had a better idea of working time, so I didn't feel like i had to rush, and I knew what tools I would need and had them ready to go. I tarted putting the slurry on the foam about 4 pm on a Sunday and had everything up through the trailing edge straight edges clamped by 7:30ish. I checked on it a couple of times over the next few hours before shutting it down for the evening. This morning I went out and removed the clamps and straight edges, and knife trimmed the TE to the aluminum I beam fastened to the bottom and trimmed the inboard and out board ends roughly. I will go ahead and cutout and skin the wing bolt access hole while the wing is upside down and easy reach, and then let this all cure another 24 hours at least, before flipping it upright to prep the topside for skinning.

  Jan 09, 2024     Left side wing prep for skinning comtinued.       Category: Wings

I was able to glue on the I-beam to the trailing edge and trim the foam core in preparation for skinning. The TRIAX fiberglass skin will carry out on to the I beam. I took careful measurements from the right wing that the previous kit owner started and I am doing my best to match those numbers so the wings are as identical as possible. One pic is a shot right down the I beam as I was waiting on the 5 minute epoxy to cure. That is pretty flat/straight down a 14" ish run!!. The I beam isn't quite long enough for the entire trailing edge, so I glued a small piece of scrap wood to the end of the outboard end to give the cloth a smooth transition like the rest of the TE. some of this will get cut off when I start to install the winglets.
I find I have a much higher level of confidence as I progress. I had the I beam taped, marked and glued up and weighted down in just over an hour this time. On the other wing I bet I spent 5 hours over thinking it and then doing it! I will start filling in seams and gaps and sanding everything today and hope to skin it this weekend.
Also, added a second VHF antennae so there is one in both wings for redundancy. I think that is the first time I had t use geometry since high school in 1988!

  Jan 04, 2024     Milestone moment!       Category: Wings

Got the right wing to the point I could move it to the side and start setting up the left wing for skinning! Cleaned the shop up, and moved all the left over foam core billets to storage. I won't throw them away because I can use the scrap foam pieces to make other items as needed. Now i have more room to work. I already started making necessary markings on this wing from measurements I took off the first wing.