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 […]
Notice how I avoided calling these the “forward baggage walls,” which is more accurate, just to not have to go back and revisit calling the baggage area completed? Things have slowed a bit, but I did get these fit. Despite the instructions noting that these were difficult to fit, these were not difficult to fit. […]
Finish is such a strong word. I don’t feel like anything here is ever “finished,” always with things I have to come back and revisit. But much of the baggage pieces are installed. This is a bit of a “where’s the rest of the fucking owl,” (talk about a random reference–you’re going to need to […]
Time to get started on the baggage area. Baggage floors and rear baggage walls didn’t take much. There was some confusion on whether I had the ribs placed in the correct order, but later realized one of the plans was incorrectly drawn. If you, too, are confused, see Detail D on Sheet 25 for the […]
I wasn’t looking forward to these pieces. I was more-or-less dreading these pieces. Why? Well, I’ve long felt that pieces numbered 6XX are holdovers from the RV-6, a plane that offered less prefabrication and required more work to fit. I could probably verify this assumption with some quick research but I’d rather just continue on […]
Installing the sills and gussets (cabin… gussets, I guess–not the forward fuselage ones) was a lot of work, but not a lot of stress. Tight areas required the compact tungsten bucking bar (I’m not sure what you’re doing with your life if you don’t have a a few tungsten bucking bars). After some universal and […]
Priming the cockpit sills has offered some perspective on the white priming process. The “gloss” white primer has been a difficult aspect of the build since introduced to the project. After various thinning and application techniques, I’ve come so some realizations. At times, I believe I was overthinning MEK, lacquer thinner, and acetone all provided […]