Main Fuselage

Fuselage 2 (2.0 hrs)

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I managed to squeeze in some hangar time mid-week! It was perfect weather for it too. I have multiple projects that are just hanging right now. I need to finish the landing gear alignment, rivet the bottom skins, finish the second fuel tank, and install the flaps and ailerons. Since the landing gear and the bottom skins are going to require a second set of hands, and I’m waiting on proseal for the tanks, I decided to start work on the interior of the cockpit. First up, the pilot’s seatback.

The first step is to cut the seat back angles. This is very similar to the way in which elevator or tank stiffeners are cut. One end of the primary angle on each side needs to be notched. Again, done just like any other stiffener. There are two additional angles for the top and bottom. You can see all of them here after cutting and deburring.  

The setback itself doesn’t require much. There are two tabs that need to be cut off and cleaned up for the lap harness to come through. The dremel made quick work of these.    

Deburring the seat back edges is a little tricky with all the different corners and angles. If you have the softer scotchbrite wheel, this is a perfect use for it. If you don’t, get one! Mine made quick work of this. Then I had to setup the hinge for the bottom of the seat. One hole is measured and drilled, and that allows you to mount the hinge in parallel and match drill the remainder.       

The last step is to put it all together and match drill. After this, the next step will be priming and riveting. I will hold off on that until; 1) I have a lot of interior parts stacked up, and 2) I decide on the type of primer and paint to use on the interior. I’m planning a dark grey interior, and I will most likely use a locally available auto paint. I might however have a few of the high wear areas powder coated. My final act for the day was to set out the parts for the passenger seat. The top part cannot be completed until I receive the Showplanes Fastback kit, but I can still do the bottom part. I’ve got Jack Savage coming to help me on Saturday with the gear alignment. If I can get enough hands to do the bottom skins, I will be back to the cockpit in no time. June is going to be a slow month. Lots of work Travel.   

Fuselage 1 (5.0 hrs)

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While I still have work to do on the fuel tank, I decided it was high time I did some work to my fuselage! Quick-build fuselage construction begins on page 41 of the fuselage instructions and begins with mounting the gear. I will not mount it permanently at this time, but I will get everything match drilled and ready to go for when the time comes. I didn’t do any research on doing this before getting to the hangar, so it was slow progress and I quickly realized this is a substantial project.

The first step was to rotate the fuselage and then remove the gear access plates.

Next I found all the appropriate parts, removed their labels, and marked them accordingly.   

Here is the mounting point for the inside mounts on the gear towers.  

Next I needed to match drill the holes shown here. The rotating stand made this a breeze! 

I had to match drill the 804 inboard main gear attach brackets to each leg. First Van’s tells you to slightly round the corners to ensure a flat fit. This is rather unnecessary as the bevels are clean to begin with. Never the less I gave it a quick once-over. I ensured the brackets were firmly in place with a few light taps from my dead blow mallet and then I clamped it in place with the pictured c-clamps 

I carefully clamped, leveled and aligned the gear and bracket to the drill press. Use lots of Boelube!       

Next you use the inboard brackets to match drill the inboard wear plate to 7/16″. 

This is where things get tricky. Those gear legs are heavy, and attaching them with one bolt and only two hands… well lets say this. I was sweating profusely at the end! 

Now, the next step is where things get more… involved. I need to ensure the gear outboard edge is parallel to each other, and to the fuselage center line. Secondly, the gear should be perpendicular, that is to say, it should be equidistant from the tail. All of this is important for handling and toe angle down the line. The difficulty in my case is my rotisserie mount. I will likely need to remove the fuselage from the stand to complete the alignment. Never the less I played around with the Van’s method that calls for using four plumb-bobs and some measurement to accomplish this. There is an alternative method on VAF that calls for using some aluminum angle to accomplish this. I will likely take a look at both. This isn’t something to mess up! 

I also opened up the notches for the outer brackets in the skin. The quick build already had sizable notches, but they still needed to be increased. The Dremel made quick work of the project.