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Project: JaxFirefly -
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Categories

Show All Entries - (110)
Research - (3)
Workshop - (9)
Empennage - (20)
Fuselage - (3)
Firewall
Tail Feathers - (13)
Wings - (34)
Controls - (2)
Avionics - (1)
Lighting - (2)
Instrument Panel - (2)
Landing Gear - (6)
Engine - (4)
Propeller
Fuel System - (1)
Interior Finish
Paint / Decals - (6)
Inspection - (1)
Tools - (3)


Builder Name:	Jax Hammond -

Project:	Firefly
Total Hours:	203.5
Total Expense:	$23275.11
Start/Last Date:	Apr 09, 2023 - No Finish Date
Engine:	Hirth F33

Friendly URL:	https://eaabuilderslog.org?s=JaxFirefly

Home or Last Project Picture

May 05, 2024 Tail Tube to Fuselage Mating - (6 hours)

Category: Fuselage

Used the fabricated H-bracket install tool, worked like a charm. Had a little adjusting to do to the H-bracket as it was being riveted in place, as the manual stated might happen, and came out fine in the end.

After H-bracket install, reattached tail tube to fuselage and secured at front of tube for final time. As the rear of the fuselage was being secured, I found the 6 3/8" bolt I should have received with the kit was in fact a 7 3/8" bolt, so I will have to look in to purchasing the correct one so I can continue that part of the assembly process.

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May 04, 2024 LH Elevator Complete - (.5 hour)

Category: Tail Feathers

Finished drilling and riveting LH elevator control bracket.

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May 02, 2024 Tail Tube Drill Jig - (.5 hour)

Category: Workshop

Had a buddy help drill holes in a steel bar so the H-bracket can be precisely drilled while mounted in the tail tube. No having to question if I am going to hit the bracket or not when drilling through the tube.

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Apr 28, 2024 Tail to Cage Work - (4 hours)

Category: Fuselage

After buying and opening up another Dremel, I amazingly found mine in a cabinet across the shop. Will just keep the other Dremel for backup I suppose.
Took my time and methodically ground down the tail tube until it was as close as I could get it to flush at front edge. RH side is very flush, LH side is close, within maybe 1/16-1/8 of an inch. Drilled all 6 holes and loosely fitted the connecting hardware to keep it all in place.
Next step was to raise the tail in order to properly drill the mid-point of the tube to mount the rear end of the cage. After many measurements, it looked pretty close, so I drilled. Thankfully the bolt went through both holes easily.

Can't end without a little bit of humor. Reading the assembly steps in the manual: Install bolts in holes and rivet in place..

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Apr 27, 2024 This is My BOOM STICK!! - (2 hours)

Category: Fuselage

Spent a bit of time reorganizing the saw horses in order to see how to fit the tail boom tube to the fuselage as I am waiting on rivets to show up tomorrow so I can finish rigging and installing the RH horizontal stabilizer / elevator.
Ended up swapping the sawhorses from under the fuselage to under the tail boom tube and vice versa. One set are height adjustable whereas the other pair are not, the tail needs to be adjustable.
With a bit of effort, I got the tail to mate up to the fuselage but it would not seat. After a bit of trial and error, I finally pulled the tube out and noticed the fuselage section had welds at 12 o'clock that prevented the tail tube from going all the way in. After conferring with the manual, I found a line that explained this possibility and that I will have to clearance the tube around the welds.
So, I have to figure out where I put my Dremel and I will work on the clearance that section next.

Initial fuselage / tube mating.

Mating surface at top.

Weld impact point

Apr 22, 2024 Supplies Category: Workshop

Due to having to rebuild the horizontal stabilizer, needed more 3/16 x 1/8 rivets so I can attach the RH horizontal. Also bought one AN4-17 bolt to properly hold the tail wheel pivot to the airframe... and some drill bits because you can never have too many 1/8 or 3/16 bits.

Apr 21, 2024 LH Horizontal/Rudder Install Pt. 1 - (2.5 hours)

Category: Empennage

Mounted front brackets on to tail boom for horizontal stabilizer to mount to. Also did the top rivets for elevator control horn into the elevator. Front and rear of horizontal stabilizer are both 7/8" from the tail boom tube, spare .875 tubing confirmed it prior to riveting horn in elevator.

Because I don't have all the fancy jigs to hold everything in the perfect spots, I invented a new one, which actually worked pretty well.

Mockup after front installed

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Apr 20, 2024 Horizontal Stabilizer Fixed Pt. 2 - (.5 hour)

Category: Tail Feathers

Finished attaching the forward brackets to attach horizontal stabilizer to tail boom tube.

Confirmed that both horizontals are in fact the same dimensions this time around.

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Apr 19, 2024 Bigger Rivet Tool Category: Tools

Picked up a bigger rivet tool so I can actually rivet the 3/16" stainless rivets. Confirmed that it does the job very well.

Apr 19, 2024 Engine Back From Refresh

Category: Engine

Got engine back from Bill at Oregon Aircraft Design. Cylinder head replaced with a Maximo head and redrive replaced to adapt engine from a tractor to a pusher configuration, as well as just a general refresh.

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Apr 14, 2024 Horizontal Stabilizer Fixed Pt. 1 - (3 hours)

Category: Tail Feathers

Spent a few hours disassembling, remeasuring, cutting, and reassembling the horizontal stabilizer. It now matches the other side.

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Mar 24, 2024 Rearrangement - (1 hour)

Category: Workshop

Since I am now dead in the water until I get tubing for the horizontal, I decided to rearrange the shop again to make it more convenient for attaching tail boom to fuselage when I finally stop making mistakes.

Based on measurements and uncalibrated eyeballs, there should be enough room to put the tail and fuselage together where I have them now. I will have to remove the sawhorses but for the time being I can still work on both and am far enough from the wall to work on horizontals when I again get back to that point.

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Mar 24, 2024 Horizontal Drama - (3 hours)

Category: Empennage

Research and measuring. Finally think I figured out how these things are supposed to be attached.
Drilled and riveted on the stainless steel brackets where the leading edge areas attach to the tail boom tube. Then, on the offhand as I was about to take the picture of the pair, I found the horizontal tube of the LH to be about 1/2" shorter than the RH, which would explain the odd angle when I was attaching the elevator and hinges.

So.. I will buy yet more tubing to fix yet another mistake I have made. I have enough tubing to fix the inboard tubing but not enough for the leading edge. I may also have to make new cross-braces, I have extra of that too, thankfully.

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Mar 24, 2024 Tail Wheel Pt. 2 - (1 hour)

Category: Landing Gear

Little extra time to make sure I got the hole drilled right and still didn't get it dead on, but close enough. Took some time to find suitable hardware as well. Still have to drill a hole for cotter pin to hold the wheel on but will do that at a later date.

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Mar 21, 2024 Tail Wheel Pt. 1 - (.5 hour)

Category: Landing Gear

Since I had no idea how to in fact proceed, I went through and inventoried hardware and found the bolt needed to attach the tail wheel bracket to the aluminum rod. Drill press and some patience and that is now attached. Still have to do the forward end to secure rod to vertical bracket.

Note: The kit only came with a pair of these phenolic wheels and no rollerblade wheels so this is what went on. I also have the breakaway wheel assembly but will use this one for the time being.

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Mar 21, 2024 Brainstorming Next Steps - (1 hour) Category: Research

Not really sure how to proceed. Manual says in order to attach horizontals that the elevators have to be rigged and mounted, but in order to do that the horizontals have to already be installed, but cannot be unless the elevators are installed. Also, all of that cannot be done until control cables are attached but they cannot be attached because the tail is not attached to the fuselage and the manual clearly states that the tail does not get attached until all the empennage features are installed.

Mar 20, 2024 Engine Mounts - (.5 hour)

Category: Engine

Engine lord mounts received in the last week or so and hardware showed up a couple days ago. Decided to at least loosely mount the mounts with their respective hardware. Makes it look like there is a little bit of progress on the cage at least.

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Mar 20, 2024 Tail Build Pt. 3 - (1.5 hours)

Category: Empennage

Finished bracket mock up and alignment of lower vertical assembly. All holes drilled and cleco'd in place.

Going to have to buy more clecos, I have 5 left that are not in use.

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Mar 17, 2024 Tail Build Part 2 - (1.5 hours)

Category: Empennage

Upper portion of vertical and respective brackets now all drilled and aligned to center point of tube. Rolled tube upside down for bottom portion of vertical and marked for center point of tube.

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Mar 15, 2024 Tail Build Pt. 1 - (1 hour)

Category: Empennage

Mocking up the vertical fin. Got it on to the boom tube with a little effort and aligned it on to the end of the tube as flush as I was able to. Drilled the 2 holes for the control arm, and to assist in vertical assembly alignment.
Had to borrow a couple tools as I did not have any wrenches in the hangar; only cutting, drilling, and bending. Things to bring next time!

Next steps will be to work on mounting leading edge angle brackets that secure vertical to the tail boom tube on both upper and lower sides.

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Mar 13, 2024 More Supplies Category: Workshop

Bought some more hardware: nuts, bolts, washers, cloth covering practice kit. Ordered mainly so I had engine mount hardware but also extra if I need it, and to learn how the covering setup works.

Mar 13, 2024 Tail Prep - (.5 hour)

Category: Empennage

Set the tail tube on saw horses and kayak rack foam blocks, then secured with ratchet straps. Should be ready for figuring out how to mock up vertical stabilizer and then horizontals after that.

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Mar 10, 2024 Tail Hinges Pt. 2 - (6 hours)

Category: Tail Feathers

Installed all hinges for both horizontal/elevators and vertical/rudder. 7/16" bolts used as a spacer as it was the only idea I could come up with that was repeatable.

Hung rudder assembly back on the wall to keep the powdercoat protected. Masking tape to keep hinges from being weighed on by vertical stabilizer.

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Mar 02, 2024 Engine Checkup Category: Engine

Drove about 4 hours down to Oregon Aircraft Design to drop off the engine to get looked at.
When I bought it, I was informed that it had about 5 hours on it when it was removed to upgrade to more HP. I was tentative to believe that but it was confirmed that it did in fact appear to have low hours.
It was reported that some of the seals were beginning to show their age, from sitting for a few years, so they will be getting changed out. It appears that it will also be getting an adapter plate so that it can keep both recoil and the electric start for the pusher configuration; and I also opted to have him acquire the larger cylinder head for better cooling properties. Parts have been ordered.

Mar 01, 2024 Aileron Brackets to Power Coat! Category: Wings

Aileron control brackets back to powder coating shop to add 1/2 inch of coating per side. Once I put these in the ailerons during mounting, I found I would have bare steel exposed so chose to just take back to coating shop, they said they should not have to removed the rest of the coating and the 1/2 inch should be easy to coat. Find out next week.

Feb 25, 2024 Tail Hinges Pt. 1 - (.5 hour)

Category: Tail Feathers

Started mock up for horizontal / elevator hinge install. Mostly just moved the wings to safety and set up work area on a supported sheet of plywood to ensure it was flat.

Did notice that the horizontal is not exactly 90 degrees square like I thought it was, all measurements are correct however. I guess I will see if it is too far out to mount on tail boom and not bind. If it is I will try to remake it.

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Feb 25, 2024 Wing/Aileron Hinge Attaching Pt. 2 - (3.5 hours)

Category: Wings

LH wing. Mounted and drilled all holes for hinges for both wing and aileron. Everything lined up nicely.

Went back and took a look at the RH wing issues I thought I had and found it was a mistake on my part and nothing was wrong with it, I just had a clamp holding the bracket so it would not move.

Moved wings below ailerons while I work on empennage hinges next.

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Feb 24, 2024 Wing / Aileron Hinge Attaching Pt. 1 - (1.5 hours)

Category: Wings

RH wing. Testing my idea to hold aileron to wing and it worked pretty well. I think the ends might be off by maybe 1/16" of an inch but I am okay with that. 3/4" tubing used as required spacers between wing and aileron.

Hinges placed using the calibrated eyeball method, then drilled two holes at a time for clecos to hold in place. After 6 holes drilled and clecos put in, moved on to the next hinge and did the same. Once all was done, removed clamps and confirmed aileron has full movement. Reinstalled square tubing and a pair of clamps to hold aileron from flexing as wing assembly is upside down.

Next step will be to installed the inboard control horn once I figure out how to hold it at its proper angle.

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Feb 24, 2024 Tail Hinge Drilling - (3.5 hours)

Category: Empennage

216 holes drilled and manually deburred for vertical to rudder and horizontals to elevators.

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Feb 23, 2024 Hinge Assembly Supplies Category: Tools

Seven 4-inch adjustable length clamps and three 3/4"x6-foot square aluminum tubing for the purpose of holding wings and ailerons together flat for initial mounting/drilling of hinges. Total of 15 clamps will be used if my idea works, find out soon enough.

Feb 21, 2024 Wing Hinge Drilling Pt. 2 - (1.5 hours)

Category: Wings

Finished drilling holes in wing hinges. Ended up borrowing friend's space heater and made my own little hinge drilling station, cozy!

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Feb 20, 2024 Wing Hinge Drilling Pt. 1 - (1.5 hours)

Category: Wings

Scribed lines on all hinge halves for location of hinge holes. 1/4" from ends and 1/2" spacing thereafter. 16 holes per half, 32 in total per hinge assembly. Spring punch at all hole locations

One hinge complete, 5 to go.

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Feb 18, 2024 Rudder Control installed - (1 hour)

Category: Controls

Installed the rudder control assembly on the rudder.

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Feb 18, 2024 RH Wing Pt. 8 - (1 hour)

Category: Wings

5 minute job turned into an hour but the final two brackets are installed.

Also looked at the wing lights next to the wing tip and the light is the correct width for the diameter of the tubing. I'll have to grab my rivet nut stash from home and see how it might look in some sacrificial tubing before attempting to drill the wing tip tubing.

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Feb 09, 2024 Final Lights Bought

Category: Lighting

Always forget about tax..

Bought a brighter than heck landing light and some wingtip lights so I can hopefully really be seen.
Both are from Aveo Engineering. Wingtips are the DroneV and “headlight” is the Pacifica NXT.

Wing lights shown to show size of these little buggers.

Definitely not cheap but think should suit the needs.

Got lucky and found a local distributor that has them in stock so should have them next week: Kestrel-Air.

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Feb 04, 2024 RH Wing Pt. 7 - (3 hours)

Category: Wings

Other than 2 easy brackets, the wing is done; will do the brackets on the next trip out. Final 2 upper false ribs bent, final lower rib bent, and transportation bracket set; all parts riveted in place. Also, clecos are very helpful.

Note: I still have a spare rib, did not break any.

Note #2: Weighed wing, minus the two little end brackets. Currently sitting at 23 pounds 14.1 ounces. Guessing it will be close to 24 pounds once brackets are installed. Very near same weight as LH wing. Current calculated weight is 133.66 pounds, before bracket install.

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Jan 11, 2024 Radio Purchased Category: Avionics

Handheld radio has been purchased. Will still work on buying an external antenna, but another item checked off the list.

Yaesu FTA 250L, and a Pilot PA-50 PTT adapter.

Dec 27, 2023 Upper False Ribs Received Category: Wings

Received ribs in the mail. Temperatures are showing frigid for the next few weeks so no working on bending tubing until it warms up a bit. I would rather the metal have some pliability.

Dec 04, 2023 Assembly Research - (1.5 hours) Category: Research

Reading through blueprints and instruction manual to determine next steps once RH wing is finished, such as how to attach the tail boom and all the assemblies that have been previously built.

Nov 19, 2023 RH Wing Pt. 6 - (4.5 hours)

Category: Wings

Made a mistake, seems that is becoming par for the course. Drilled a hole in an upper false rib before I was supposed to, went to do a bend, broke the rib in half. Knew better and yet I still did it. It was 45 degrees in the hangar so I was thinking more about my toes and fingers than what I was doing.

So, rear and side braces are done, and one upper false rib.

A message is off to Kolb to try to get a pair of upper false ribs so in the case I screw up again I will have a spare.

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Nov 13, 2023 RH Wing Pt. 5 - (2 hours)

Category: Wings

Wingtip tube installed with accompanying gusset supports.

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Nov 12, 2023 RH Wing Pt. 4 - (5 hours)

Category: Wings

Majority of false ribs upper and lower installed. Inboard support ribs installed.

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Nov 11, 2023 RH Wing Pt. 3 - (6 hours)

Category: Wings

Few hours remeasuring every thing on the wing to find why it was out of square by an inch. After measuring the LH wing I found my mistake: I measured the ribs off of the inboard spar from the inside of the fat rib rather than the outside where the fat and skinny ribs are identical. Ended up drilling out 5 rivets and moving the ribs over about 1/2", added a filler rivet to fill in the vacant holes, and marched on. Still not dead on square but it is as close as I could get it.

All main ribs are now riveted in place at leading and trailing edges, as well as along the main spar. Cross brace also installed and riveted in to place.

Next step will be upper and lower false ribs.

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Nov 09, 2023 RH Wing Pt. 2 - (2 hours)

Category: Wings

Some assembly. Not quite square corner to corner so have to find out why, think inboard rib may have a slight bend in it. All measurements are same otherwise so will find out the issue on next trip out with a good straight edge.

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Nov 07, 2023 RH Wing Pt. 1 - (1 hour)

Category: Wings

Temporarily mounted aluminum wing ribs on to wing spar prior to fitting to proper locations. Fitted inboard chromoly wing rib to wing spar. Drilled, and riveted upper half of rib to spar.

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Nov 05, 2023 Rudder Pt .2 - (4 hours)

Category: Tail Feathers

Finished assembling rudder. Also added rudder horn to bottom.

This was the final item that could be hung on the wall, but nothing else needs to now. Only thing left to build is the RH wing, which is next on the agenda.

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Nov 04, 2023 Rudder Pt. 1 - (3 hours)

Category: Tail Feathers

Started rudder build. First two ribs fabricated and installed. Will have to round on first rib due to forgetting to do it prior to riveting in place, just a little extra time to fix next time.

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Nov 02, 2023 Clecos Ordered Category: Tools

As it is getting near that time to start assembling some stuff, ordered a bunch of 1/8" Clecos and the pliers.

Oct 30, 2023 Vertical Stabilizer Pt. 5 - (1 hour) Category: Empennage

Made brackets to hold vertical stabilizer assembly to tail boom tube once I get to that step.

Oct 29, 2023 Weight - (1 hour) Category: Inspection

Chose to spend some time weighing everything currently built and the engine. Figured this is more or less an inspection process.

Still have to build RH wing and rudder, and perform full assembly.

Current total weight is 109.78 pounds.

The left wing weighs in at 24 pounds give or take a couple ounces.
Engine with incorrect mount base and no muffler (is at the house at present) weighs 41 pounds.

Oct 25, 2023 Vertical Stabilizer Pt. 4 - (1 hour)

Category: Empennage

Installed upper ribs and brackets, finished installing final gusset. Next step is making the brackets to hold upper and lower sections to tail boom tube.

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Oct 24, 2023 Vertical Stabilizer Pt. 3 - (1 hour)

Category: Empennage

Cut and fit tube for vertical stabilizer. Riveted at trailing edge on both sides. Mounted leading edge gusset to RH side. Once left side is done, will work on fabricating brackets to mount assembly to tailboom tube.

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Oct 21, 2023 LH Wing Pt. 12 - (1 hour)

Category: Wings

Cut and mounted strengthening angles to outer most rib assembly. Now the wing is as far as it can be until rigging purposes commence.

Also weighed the wing, comes out to 24 pounds +/- an ounce or two.

Put the wing up against the rafters to make space, ran out of places along the walls.
Edit: Replaced the sketchy way I had it mounted to rafters on 10/24 to a more secure way that before, updated picture with heavy duty zip ties.

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Oct 21, 2023 LH Wing Pt. 11 - (2.5 hours)

Category: Wings

Just remembered that I didn't put two little angles on the outboard rib, will have to do that next time.
Everything else is now done otherwise. Three inner support struts and the wing transport bracket installed.
When it is laid horizontally, the wing doesn't look very big, but when standing it up on end to remove all the shavings, it's quite a lot bigger looking.

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Oct 15, 2023 LH Wing Pt. 10 - (8 hours)

Category: Wings

Other than one storage bracket that still has to be made for the bottom, due to an oversight, the left wing is as far as it can be done until rigging commences. Last 3 outer false ribs contoured and installed, lower false rib installed. Spar to wing tip tubes secured with their gussets. Stiffening tubes cut, bent, and installed.

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Oct 13, 2023 LH Wing Pt. 9 - (2.5 hours)

Category: Wings

Finished riveting false ribs and cut, bent, and riveted wingtip tube structures in to place. Still have to rivet the tubes to each other and make some gussets to strengthen everything up, and attach to wing tip.

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Oct 09, 2023 LH Wing Pt. 8 - (2 hours)

Category: Wings

Lost track of time so guessing at 2 hours. Five lower false ribs installed, one to go after I pick up some more.063 sheet metal due to not enough being supplied. Building from scratch has its drawbacks at times.

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Oct 07, 2023 LH Wing Pt. 7 - (3 hours)

Category: Wings

More blurry blueprints to try to comprehend, not as much done as I wanted to get done because of that.
Either way, all but 3 false ribs located and installed. Last 3 require .064 aluminum sheet that was not supplied with the kit, so Monday will head off to buy some.

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Oct 05, 2023 LH Wing Pt. 6 - (1.5 hours)

Category: Wings

LH wing tip cut and riveted in to place, gussets made for trailing edge.

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Oct 02, 2023 Left Wing Pt. 5 - (1.5 hours)

Category: Wings

Aluminum wing ribs all located and riveted in place, 8 rivets per rib center. Some loose fitting how manufacturer made the flanges but everything fitting tight otherwise. Did use a ball peen to round some of the flange to fit around the wing spar circumference a bit better.

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Oct 01, 2023 Left Wing Pt. 4 - (1.5 hours)

Category: Wings

.125 thick cross brace riveted in place to spar bracket. All 5 aluminum wing ribs riveted in place on top side at 10 and 2 o'clock positions. Inverted wing assembly to start lower side of riveting process on said rib braces.

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Sep 30, 2023 Left Wing Pt. 3 - (3 hours)

Category: Wings

Drilled and riveted trailing arm tube to wing assembly. Set up sawhorses to put wing assembly on to keep ends at same angle. Looking down the current wing setup, everything looks pretty flush. Leading edge tube clamped in place for mock up purposes, still have some adjustment to do prior to final drilling/riveting.

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Sep 17, 2023 Left Wing Pt. 2 - (3 hours)

Category: Wings

Reading blurry drawings takes so long to decipher, especially when the instruction manual just directs you to read the drawing.
After lots of guessing, and a little readjusting for alignment, LH inboard wing spar rib is now riveted to the wing spar.

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Sep 16, 2023 Engine Purchase

Category: Engine

Had a buddy of mine send me an ad for an engine I want to try to run on this little kite. After asking if it could be done by both engine maker, dealer, and a few others, I decided this was the one for me. No 90lb Rotax 447 but a 40lb Hirth F33. I wanted fuel efficiency and flight time vs 20 minutes before needing to land and refuel. I also wanted creature comforts, like a windscreen.

It is a used engine but purportedly only has 5 hours on it. Will take it to a shop and have them take a look at it to see if anything needs to be replaced, and how to actually use it. Should have it some time this week.

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Sep 16, 2023 Left Wing Pt. 1 - (2 hours)

Category: Wings

Trying to understand drawings and what parts go where. Finally figured enough to mock up the first portions of the LH wing.

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Sep 15, 2023 Ailerons Pt. 6 - (1 hour)

Category: Wings

Finished LH aileron as far as can be built until wings are assembled.

Hung up all assemblies on the wall to keep them safe.

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Sep 15, 2023 Ailerons Pt. 6 - (1.5 hours)

Category: Wings

Continuing assembly of LH aileron. One cross tube left to install.

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Sep 13, 2023 Ailerons Pt. 5 - (1.5 hours)

Category: Wings

Installed lower ribs on LH aileron.

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Sep 10, 2023 Ailerons Pt. 4 - (5 hours)

Category: Wings

RH aileron as done as it can be until Kolb tells me at what angle the control horn is supposed to be mounted at.

Also finished making all ribs that need to be installed to the LH aileron.

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Sep 06, 2023 Ailerons Pt. 3 - (1.5 hours)

Category: Wings

Installed ribs in RH aileron.

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Sep 04, 2023 Ailerons Pt. 2 - (4 hours)

Category: Wings

Spent the day cutting, bending, drilling, and deburring ribs. End of the night, all lower ribs for both ailerons are done and ready for install. All upper support ribs for both ailerons are cut to size and deburred.

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Sep 03, 2023 Ailerons Pt. 1 - (4 hours)

Category: Wings

Deciphering blueprints most of the day, but did manage to finish the frames for the ailerons. Also finished one rib so I have an idea of what I will be confronted with tomorrow when I attempt to do the rest.

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Sep 03, 2023 Blueprint Translating - (2 hours) Category: Research

Started looking at wing construction. Due to the pages being copied so many times over the years, dimensions were closer to black smears than numbers. Spent a bit of time calculating what the numbers should be in order to plan next moves on construction.

Sep 03, 2023 Construction Supplies - (2 hours) Category: Workshop

After walking around and unplugging and plugging in one power tool at a time, then realizing wing construction could not be done on one small table, went home and collected supplies so no more interruptions in the building process. Extra extension cords, surge protectors, table, and a chair to sit on.

Sep 03, 2023 Wings Pt. 1 - (1 hour)

Category: Wings

Leading and trailing edge tubes for wings, and leading edge tubes for ailerons cut to size and deburred.

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Sep 03, 2023 Vertical Stabilizer Pt. 2 - (2 hours)

Category: Empennage

More vertical stabilizer finished, did everything that could be done until the ordered tubing arrives in a week or two. Lower tubes cut to length, drilled, and riveted in to place.

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Aug 30, 2023 Kit and Tools Moved - (6 hours)

Category: Workshop

My friends and I got a hangar so we have more space to build our kits. They are building a Quicksilver Sport 2S so there may be some background pictures of theirs as time goes.
Spent the last couple weeks getting everything moved over to the hangar. Life got in the way so have not had much time to work on the kit. That will change this weekend if I can help it.

Hung the horizontal stabilizers and elevators on the walls to keep them safe. All larger powder coated parts are on the moving blanket on the floor.

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Aug 21, 2023 Tubing Ordered Category: Workshop

.750 x .035 and .875 x .035 tubing ordered for the purpose of finishing vertical stabilizer, rudder, and any other areas that may require it.

Not cheap stuff.

Aug 20, 2023 Vertical Stabilizer Pt. 1 - (5 hours)

Category: Empennage

Started vertical stabilizer. Bit more nerve wracking when the steel section isn't as replaceable as the aluminum tubing is. Either way, minus one mistake on an angle, which shouldn't be a problem, I'd say it's about halfway. Did one wrong cut on the original diagonal tube so have to head to metal supply store to order more to finish the lower tubes.
Tape used for mock up purposes, but is doing a fabulous job.

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Aug 18, 2023 Horizontal Stabilizers Pt. 5 - (2 hours)

Category: Empennage

LH horizontal stabilizer now done. Forgot how I did the first one so I made one small mistake that I can deal with, it is not in a stressed area.

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Aug 15, 2023 .032 Sheet Metal Category: Empennage

Ran out of sheet metal to finish brackets for the support ribs of horizontal and vertical stabilizers. Picked up some extra today.

Aug 08, 2023 Horizontal Stabilizers Pt. 4 - (3 hours)

Category: Empennage

Finished RH horizontal stabilizer. LH stabilizer frame finished. Going to buy more .032" aluminum sheet tomorrow to finish making rib support brackets for LH vertical stabilizers.

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Aug 07, 2023 Horizontal Stabilizers Pt. 3.5 - (2 hours) Category: Empennage

5 support rib brackets made, bent, drilled, and 3 mounted on RH stabilizer frame. Not enough material to make the remaining 4 needed.

Made all the support tubes for both sides and then saw the small side picture showing to not crimp the tubes, which I did. So, I will be remaking them tomorrow and starting that whole process over..

Aug 05, 2023 Horizontal Stabilizers Pt. 3 - (2.5 hours)

Category: Empennage

Right hand horizontal stabilizer frame cut to length and riveted on both sides. Inner frame next.

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Aug 04, 2023 Horizontal Stabilizers Pt 2 - (2 hours)

Category: Empennage

Made a couple very lucky mistakes so figured it was time to stop for the night. Inner and trailing edge of RH horizontal stabilizer are now riveted together on both top and bottom at 90 degrees with its respective gussets.
Cut leading edge tube to rough size.

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Aug 03, 2023 Horizontal Stabilizers Pt. 1 - (2 hours) Category: Empennage

Prep work to start assembling horizontal stabilizers. Cut inner tubes to proper angle. Added internal sleeve for future hinge placement, and riveted in place per instructions. Drilled vertical hole not quite perfectly vertical for cable hold down for RH side; appears I can adjust for this down the road with washers.

Aug 02, 2023 Elevators Pt. 5 - (5.5 hours)

Category: Tail Feathers

Other than one oversight due to going too fast, which will be resolve once finding the Dremel, the left elevator is done.

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Aug 01, 2023 Elevators Pt. 4 - (2.5 hours)

Category: Tail Feathers

Right elevator now built as far as it can be until rigging steps can commence, per instructions.

The blue tape is holding the two bars in their respective places until elevator horn can be installed.

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Jul 31, 2023 Elevators Pt. 3 - (7 hours)

Category: Tail Feathers

Added lower ribs to right elevator. Lots of tubing bender work and trying to get the right angle I was striving for, long and tedious work.
Finished the night making the center 4 upper ribs for both elevators.

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Jul 28, 2023 Elevators Pt 2 - (1.5 hours)

Category: Tail Feathers

Picked up a "new to me" bench grinder and a new deburring wheel so I could actually clean up and contour the ends of the tubes.

Crimped ends of elevator tubes to required 3/16" thickness and deburred afterward. Drilled holes in both the tubes and their leading edge counterparts. Manual rivet gun used to assemble tubes to leading edges.

Edit: After reading the supplied manual that came with the kit, I realized the inboard rivet is not to be put in yet. It will be removed for future install of elevator installation.

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Jul 19, 2023 Elevators Pt. 1 - (.5 hour)

Category: Tail Feathers

Grabbed tubing bender and chose to do the most advanced alternative technique for elevator construction. I didn't like the look of the sharp corners so chose to clean it up some. I left a little extra material at inside length for fine tuning but otherwise both sides are now cut.

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Jul 18, 2023 Deburring Horizontals / Elevators - (1 hour) Category: Tail Feathers

Amazing how quickly time goes by while doing tedious work. The 6 tubes and 12 hinges are all now deburred.

Jul 17, 2023 Horizontals / Elevators - (2 hours)

Category: Empennage

Started cutting the materials to length for horizontal stabilizers and elevators. 7/8" tubes are now cut to length, as are all the hinges. Did get ahead of myself and cut the hinges for the flaperons but figured since I was cutting hinges that I might as well. An aluminum cutting blade for the "new to me" miter saw cuts pretty nice.

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Jul 13, 2023 Final Chromoly Parts Powder Coated Category: Paint / Decals

The last few parts I overlooked were picked up from powder coat today. Hopefully that is all for the time being. I suspect I may do some of the aluminum details but time will tell what I decide to do.

Jul 13, 2023 Minor Controls Installed - (1 hour)

Category: Controls

Took some time due to having to talk to manufacturer about obsolete steps in blueprints vs what has been upgraded from 30 years ago.
Control stick installed, less cotter key. Control stick foam handle put on to protect powdered cage. Cable pulleys installed, nuts are loose until cable install. Throttle handle installed to smooth feel. Rudder pedal cable brackets installed per drawing angles.

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Jul 12, 2023 Gussets - (4 hours)

Category: Workshop

Took a bit of time to get one of the dimensions but finally got it figured out.
Used my vinyl cutter to cut the patterns out in, you guessed it, vinyl. Proceeded to lay those out on the aluminum sheets in a somewhat orderly manner, then cut out on a band saw. Afterward, fully deburred the edges and points. Now all marked as to which is which and ready for when I finally start working on framework, which will be soon, I hope.

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Jul 06, 2023 Red LED Lights (Belly 'n' Top)

Category: Lighting

Bought these from a shop in Australia. I liked that they were small but extremely bright. Planning to put one on the bottom and one up top somewhere.

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Jul 01, 2023 Spindles & Wheels Mounted - (3 hours)

Category: Landing Gear

Wheels mounted to brake assemblies and spindles mounted to legs. Spindle bolt holes became a little oblong while trying to drill back hole, will have to weld a tiny spot to make them both round again; going too fast and it bit me. Thankfully this is just mock up, I won't be able to get it out of the room if left on.

Wheels & brakes are mocked up, now to fix my mistakes and carry on.

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Jun 27, 2023 Landing Gear Struts, Part 1 - (1 hour)

Category: Landing Gear

First part of landing gear install: inner cage / landing legs drilling. Found the drill bit I had for initial cage drilling labeled .250 was in fact .257. I drilled the legs with a true .250 and found my home bit did not fit, hence the .257 discovery. Thankfully I had another that was new and did fit the.250 and finished drilling the cage back hole. Now bolted together loosely.

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