Today I worked on a number of small tasks that have been lingering for quite some time. I set the cockpit rails up for riveting, installed the nut plates required for the fastback on the longerons, cleaned and deburred the brake pedals (I plan to have them anodized), began fabrication of the throttle cable anchor and began working on a few other miscellaneous parts.

Unfortunately, there was nothing that really warranted photos, but here are a few.

In order to install the showplanes fiberglass rear seat top, I needed to remove the angle from the top of the seat back. Quick work.  

Showplanes instructed me to us a bit of 032 angle, but wouldn’t you know, I don’t have any? I couldn’t find any over in my annex across the way either! So I used the thinnest angle I could find. Yes, its going to way an extra gram. No, its not worth my time to find a thinner part. I cut the angle to length, match drilled, and primed. I also made the other parts to complete the attachment for the rear seat. I did not match drill them.

Next, I set about riveting the parts of the floor still remaining, beginning with the rear seat hinge. As I started to do this, I noticed a note in the instructions not to rivet the forward stiffeners on until later. I believe this is so that you can install the floors using a little flex, but I was able to figure out a technique to get them in there, so I’m not going to undo my work until I have no other option.   

Riveting the rear hinge with the AN470AD 4-4’s is really easy if you use the c-frame and rivet gun. Here’s a few photos demonstrating the technique. Easy and quick. Two of my three favorite words. (Free is the other one)
  

Then it was on to nut plates. Lots of nut plates.   
  

The footwells are fairly quick with the squeezer.

I back riveted the footwells to the front floor panel.   

More nut plates.

Finally, I installed my designer seat covers. Sexy, right? I want to be able to play around with the ergonomics of the cockpit, as I consider some customizations. It will be important for me to use the seats in order to get a proper feel for the geometry, before making changes. The trash bag covers will also allow me to make any modifications to the foam, prior to having covers made. For instance, I’m vertically challenged, so perhaps I will need a booster seat? I’ve also noticed that rear passengers in the -8 tend to sit a good bit lower than the pilot. My wife is 5’5″, and so she might like a booster seat as well!  

My final tasks for the night were not airplane related. I needed to fix two tires. One with a puncture, and another with a leak. Both took longer than expected.