Monthly Archives: November 2014


Hangar Cleanup

Last week, with the help of other EAA members, I was able to move the contents of my hangar from hangar 5 to my new residence in hangar 51. Moving is one thing, unpacking and reorganizing is another thing.

I took the opporotunity to take care of twho things that have been on my list for quite some time. First, I build a pegboard frame for behind my main work bench. I simply made a frame from 2x4s and 3 inch screws. Currently, the only thing preventing the pegboard from falling over is the workbench.  Its a very heavy and solid work bench, so its not in danger of falling, but I will need to secure it a little bit better.IMG_6220.JPG

Here you can see the shop after clean up.IMG_6224.JPG

Several months ago, I bought an air hose reel from Harbor Freight.  Unfortunately, I did not think to buy the additional hose required to hook it to the compressor at the time. Well after a long wait, I finally knocked out that small project too.  Having the reel is fantastic.  I love the new shop setup! I also bought a power strip with switches for each plug.  This way I can ensure I don’t pop a fuse and I can turn on lights and such with the flick of a central switch.IMG_6218.JPG

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New Hangar

A hangar with a concrete floor became available at the airport, so I jumped on it.  The location is better too, in that I’m now walking distance to the head, and facing west.  Supposedly ice is a problem for eastern facing hangars in the winter.  The new hangar feels much brighter due to the floor, and certainly makes things easier to move around! With the help of fellow EAA members, I was able to get everything moved in one day. There is still some organizing to take care of, and I need to move the empennage, but other than that, its close to completion.

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Wings 33 (4.0 hrs)

First day back in the shop for awhile. I’ve been doing a fair amount of travel for work.  Two weeks in Las Vegas, and a couple trips to Pittsburgh have prevented any work on the plane. Additionally, my MBA classes have started back up in the evening. It is very frustrating not being able to find more time to work on the project. In other news, I will be moving hangars!  A hangar with an all concrete floor opened up in one of the privately owned hangar buildings.  Its essentially the same size and faces West.  The best part… its cheaper too!  I plan to be moved in by December 1st.

Today I set about completing the flap and aileron gap fairings / brace for the right wing.  Additionally, I added conduit to the right wing, and removed both tanks.  There really isn’t too much to say.

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Just as before I had two rivets that I had installed prematurely.  I had to drill them out the reverse way of normal, starting with the shop head.  To do this, I use a center punch to make the center, and then I use that and a countersink deburring tool to get a nice even centered divot started. Then I simply drilled straight through.  Both rivets came out fairly well without any enlargement. IMG_6180.JPG

Next I cut the flap brace to fit the rear spar reinforcement angles. IMG_6179.JPG

I forgot to take pictures of the process I used to remove the fuel tank.  If you’ve ever installed laminate floor… you know the process.  I actually used an old piece of laminate floor I had in the shop to abut the trailing edge of the tank and then with Jack holding the tank, I used my dead blow hammer to gently nudge the tanks off. IMG_6184.JPG