Date

Began working on the longerons by marking the critical dimensions on the right longeron and cutting to final length (173 7/16").  I put the drawing with the longeron curve on the floor to use for comparison.  I cut the notch in the aft end as well as the groove.

Bending was a true learning experience...Bend by "whacking" with a rubber mallet with the angle in the vise to a rough estimation and lay down on the floor to compare to the drawing...Bend some more and lay down on the floor...Over and over again.  No matter what you do, you WILL get some vertical deformity.  I ended up just using my hands and working the angle until it was relatively flat.  Another thing I did that helped me was to number each inch in the bend area.  This allowed me to know what area I needed to either "bend more" or "straighten out" when I checked it against the drawing.  After about 30-40 iterations I felt it was as close as possible (within 1/16" throughout the bend).

I clamped up the left longeron, cut to length and cut the notch and groove in the aft end.  I marked off the critical dimensions and began bending.

 

Next, I set up three saw horses and clecoed the F-706, F-707 and F-708 bulkheads as well as the tailcone assembly and F-710 to the F-778 aft bottom skin.

 

Next, I drilled the four lower J-channels by drilling and clecoing every fifth hole.  I drilled and clecoed fore to aft, left bottom, right bottom, right middle then left middle.  Next, I drilled between each hole and clecoed following the same regiment.  Lynne wanted to go for a walk so I will finish tomorrow.
 

ELT/Strobe Brackets- Some time ago I ordered the ELT and Strobe brackets from Vans.  By installing the strobe on the right fuselage wall and the ELT on the left wall I will essentially free up the floor and these brackets will allow easy access in the future.  Because of the way they attach to the J-channels, it will be much easier to drill them now and rivet when riveting the aft section.

I pulled out my strobe power supply and laid out the holes.  After drilling to #19, I then used my #8 platenut jig and drilled for the rivets. 

After deburring and dimpling, I set aside.  I don't have my ELT yet so I will install the pre-drilled platenuts and hope the hole pattern matches.  However, since the brackets attach to the J-channels with pulled rivets, I could rivet at any time in the future (as long as I already have the doles drilled).

 

After removing the side skins I was able to drill the ELT/Strobe brackets to #30. 

Removed the plastic along the rivet lines.  I deburred the bottom skin and dimpled and deburred the left side skin.

I assembled and riveted the F-711 and F-712 bulkheads to the F-779 tailcone skin and dimpled the J-channels.

I had been warned that later when I will be installing the longerons that they will not fit in the slots punched in the aft bulkheads.  I went  ahead and opened these slots with the Dremel tool.

I then assembled the aft fuselage and back-riveted the side skins to the bulkheads and J-channel stiffeners.  I took a couple of shots to show the difference of how the rivets appear when riveted versus back-riveting.  The first shot is a line of rivets after riveting and the second shot is a line that was back-riveted.

This is a really tedious job, especially with the June heat warming the shop to a toasty 85 degrees.  The tough thing here is that all the J-channel rivets are oriented such that you cannot "see" the rivet because it is blocked by the channel.  This is referred to as "blind riveting".  All in all it went well with only two "slips" where I didn't have the back-riveting holder on the rivet resulting in a slight skin dent.  Actually, it is an "outie".

I will need help riveting the bottom skin and will wait until Jim Olson can come over on Monday evening.
 

After lunch, Jim Olson arrived and we went to town back-riveting the aft fuselage and center section bottom skin.

On to the Center Section...
 

Began by cutting the F-916C spacers.  I then cut the section out of the F-916L & F-916R seat ribs as well as trimming the seat access ribs.  I used a unibit and enlarged the tooling hole on each seat rib to 5/8" for electrical wiring runs.  I deburred the seat ribs and dimpled for the platenuts.  I then installed the platenuts.

 

Next, I flipped the assembly over and clecoed the F-776 bottom skin to the center section.  The trick to getting the holes to match up is to start clecoing along the flange of the F-705 and then move fore and aft clecoing as you go.  I then flipped the assembly over again and drilled the F-623 L&R.  I used my soldering iron to remove the plastic along the rivet lines.

I also had to fabricate the F-623A-FWD and F-623A-AFT attachment straps in order to install the F-623 side pieces.  When I match-drilled the F-623, I was not happy with the edge distance I got on the F-623A-FWD straps so I fabricated new straps.  The original straps are on the bottom in the photo and the new-and-improved straps are on top.   These are much better.

I then bolted on the forward half of the F-904 Spar bulkhead and clecoed to the bottom skin.  Finally, I match-drilled the bottom skin to the entire Center Section as well as to the F-904 flanges.  I also drilled the F-904H Center Section Side Plates to the F-904 and clecoed.
 

I removed F-976 bottom skin and deburred the holes and edges.  I then started dimpling the bottom skin.

Lastly, I started match-drilling the ribs to the Center Section bulkheads.

 

For the smaller parts such as the small spacers and attach straps I scuff with soapy water, immerse in AlumiPrep for a couple of minutes, rinse with water, then immerse in Alodine for two (2) minutes, rinse with water and let air dry.  Finally, I shoot the small parts with a thin coat or self-etch primer.

This is such a boring detail that takes so much time, I am not taking any photos.
 

I flipped the center section over and clecoed on the bottom skin.  I also match-drilled the F-915 outside seat ribs using the centerline I drew on the rib flanges previously.

I got a call from Jim Olson this evening and he is coming over tomorrow so we should be able to finish all the skin riveting.  I went ahead and pop-riveted the ELT/Strobe brackets as well as drilling and installing the really cool static ports I got from fellow RV builder Mark Phillips at the Possum Works in Tennessee.

 

All went well and we finished by flipping the center section and clecoing the seat pans and baggage floors.

 

One question I have for other builders is how they trimmed the F-623 L&R corner ribs.

 

I also wonder about the 1/4" bolts that connect the fore and aft spar bulkhead.  Here you can see that even with the correct length spacer, the bolt appears too long.

 

I plan to install the side skins soon in order to see how well my bends turned out.

 

I re-attached the side skins and marked the flanges of the baggage side ribs.  After removing the ribs I rough cut the flanges with the bandsaw and cleaned them up with the bench grinder.  Next, I fluted the arm rests and clecoed them to the side skins.
 

I started by match-drilling the armrests, then removed and deburred.  Removed the left side skin and clamped the skin to the table.  I cut a 12" piece of .125 angle and drilled and clecoed to the skin.  I clamped vise grips to the angle and made the conical bend in the skin.

After the bend was satisfactory, I clecoed the skin to the fuselage.  I clecoed the F-623 baggage side ribs to the fuselage and clecoed the conical bend.

Finally, I installed and clecoed the aft canopy decks to the longerons.

 

Next, I drilled the longerons.  I also had to trim the front ends of both longerons to allow for a .75" clearance back from the ends of the side skins.

 

Total Hours this Page  

Total Hours Fuselage (as of 6/14/07)