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.

  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..

  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 of that section next.