Project: MikeSVelo173FG     -     Entry

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.


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