Well, with some off-site-cross-country training under my belt, I’m hankering to get the plane ready for avionics. Not really knowing where I’m headed with the engine eliminates fuel systems and other components of the interior, so it’s not really out of order to hit this now… Parts fitting was, as usual, quite quick. Before that, […]
The interior is coming along, and looking sharp. Very exciting stuff. Seatbacks were primed and riveted together. A bit heavier on the primer wouldn’t have hurt, but they look fine. The rear skins (top) were removed to start work on the gussets, static system, and prep the same skins for installation. I created some keepers […]
I received a quart of new primer to see how it looks. Still using the old hardener, as I have little concern that anything has gone wrong with that. First parts out of the booth looked great–back to a little sheen, much easier to apply. You can achieve a high gloss finish with a slightly […]
A much easier process after learning the proper steps. The right weldment went in with only a couple hours of work. The only thing left here is some torque seal. With the right weldment came the final bolt for the right and the left–the one hidden by the flange on the forward rib/bulkhead seen center-bottom […]
Well, running out of things to do (there’s still plenty…) and thought I’d give the landing gear bracket a look. Pulled out the pieces at 7:00 am and one thing led to another… Next thing I know I’m knee deep in landing gear. First things first, getting the leg into the bracket for a test […]
Time for flaps. This step required fabrication a few little bits. Once the brackets were produced, things moved along fairly quickly. First was installing the flap weldment. This involved three bearing blocks, two which had already been predrilled to the 705 bulkhead, and the middle one that required holes and a cut down the middle. […]
Seats! Need somewhere to sit in this thing. I’ve been looking forward to seats for a while. They’d make visualizing flying this airplane that much easier. They’re a big step and look like a major accomplishment. I started with the four side supports. I rough, then final cut the .125″ angle stock, radiused one end […]
The tunnel cover was largely fabricated with the seat bottoms. The two pieces of Z-extrusion were cut to the specified dimensions, including several angled jogs (one is about 1/16″ off, and I think I’ll redo it–it bugs me that much). The bottom holes were carefully drilled by extending lines out (on tape, not the white […]
Continuing on, I “dry fit” the forward seat floors, checking that all the screws fit. They fit snug, with no adjustment necessary. All that’s really left for these pieces is to pull them, prep and prime, and add about 4 nutplates and then they’re ready. While they’re in I started on the center tunnel cover, […]
Seat floors were fabricated, including the seat back mounts (three hinge pieces riveted to bottom of seat). Fairly uneventful, and came out looking great. I also test fit the finished flap covers, which settle in place nicely. (One mounting hole required a small amount of filing. While adding the seat bottoms, I thought it would […]