October 25th & 26th, 2002 ~8 hours
I wasted a lot of time trying to decide how I was going to support the plane. I couldn't find the correct combination of wood that would add up to exactly 1 7/16". I wish I had a planer but I don't. I ended up using a 2x8 and sanding it down with a sander.
I
took one of my saw horses apart and used the legs off it for to support the 2
by. This also allowed me to level the spar by adjusting the distance
between the legs to raise or lower which ever side needed adjusting. Once
I got it set, I screwed a board across the legs to keep the distance
constant. Worked well and very stable.
And
here is shot of the inside.
My
objective today was to get the plane level and stable and then get the rear deck
installed. Well, I ran into a little trouble. The F-710B angle was
too long. This is the angle at the top of the 710 bulkhead (the next to
the last one). This angle pushed the longerons out too wide at this
point. This was only apparent to me once the aft deck was in place.
The edge distance around the aft deck just didn't look right.
I was fortunate that I was trying to get ahead of myself and do this before riveting the top 4-5 rivets on the top of the fuselage skins. I was able to push the top of the 710 bulkhead forward to create a little space between the 710B angle and the longerons. I had to go buy a flexible snake to fit on my Dremel tool, but I was able to carefully trim the 710B to fit.
SO, I regrouped and fabricated all the stuff on drawing 27A.
Here's
the 711B.
Fabricated
spacers.
Rudder
stops.
Enough for the day. Next time I'll pick up the rivet gun and finish riveting the rear fuselage.
I spent the first 3 hours or so finishing up riveting on the fuse. I hadn't riveted the rear fuse above the upper J channel and up to the longerons, I had skipped over the cross members that attach to the skin in the baggage area and I needed to set a handful of rivets where the baggage ribs attach to the 706 fuse bulkhead.
Next I attached the rear deck to the longerons. This was time consuming as I wanted it to be perfect so I spent a lot of time tweaking to get this exact.
I finished up the afternoon by attaching the F-757 to the F-721B and the F-705.
Nov 16th, 2002 4.5 hours ( I've got some more pictures but my camera doesn't want to upload to the computer. If I get it figured out, I'll add some more later.)
I drilled the F-695 forward fuselage gussets to the longerons and the
firewall
Drilled the holes for the shoulder harness anchors. Make sure you have enough edge distance before drilling the holes. I was more concerned about edge distance of the holes than using the measurements given in the drawings. You could always use a file to trim the bracket if it interfered with the skin. (it doesn't)
Next up was finishing out the F-728A & B, riveting them together and the top of the 728A to the F-706 bulkhead. If you don't rivet the 728A to the bulkhead before you rivet the 728B angle, it will be a pain to set the rivets in the bulkhead. (So how do I know this. I riveted the 728A & B together first and it was going to be a pain to drive the AN4 rivets. I ended up using CS4 rivets in the bulkhead instead of attempting to drive the AN4 rivets.)
I fabricated the needed F-635B & C spacers for the F-635 elevator bellcrank assembly.
Just a note on how to get the tubing spacers the correct length and perfectly square. Cut them a 1/16 or so long, then chuck them up in your drill press. Place a file on the drill press plate and run the tubing down to the file. This will shave off the extra length and also square up the ends. Do it to both ends of the tubing.
All that was left to do was to rivet the bearing, the 635B spacer and the arms of the bellcrank together. Piece of cake.
Made the little 707B angle clip and clecoed the F-787 stiffener in place between the 706 & 707 bulkheads.
Finished up the afternoon by drilling the F656 gusset plates to the longerons
and the bulkheads.
I need to take the time to prime these and some other pieces so they can be riveted in place.
Nov 22, 2002 5.8 hours
I managed to slip off from work this afternoon to spend some time on the plane. First thing that I had to do was to get all these parts that I had accumulated over the last few weeks preped and primed. Then I started riveting them together.
Riveted the turtle deck in place. I also riveted the tie down bracket on
the rear bulkhead.
After getting the "J" stringers in place, I started clecoing the top
skins on. I did have to trim the forward edge of the stringers more than
the plans call for in order for the skins to align with the bulkheads.
Top skins drilled in place. Don't forget the gusset plate that goes on top
of the 706 bulkhead.
F-707B angle bracket clecoed to the 787 & 707 bulkhead.
F-695
forward gusset riveted in place.
After getting the the skins in place, the next thing on the plans is starting on the inside of the fuselage. The F-650 ?? is the first piece that goes on the inside of the baggage area. Fortunately for me, I realized that I was starting to close up areas before I was ready. I need to route the rudder cables through the snap bushings before riveted this thing in place. It was a pain as I should have done this before putting the top skins on. (Actually, I think I could take the skins off but it looks so cool with them on.) I had to take the snap bushings out as the head of the cable wouldn't fit through the bushings with them in the holes.
I
also realized that it was time to put the steps in place. I was hoping
that I could wait till the end as I know I'm going to skin my shins on these
many times. You have to do a little finessing to get these things to fit
correctly. Here it is at the start.
Notice
the fit, or lack thereof.
The
intersection of the grid is where the holes are drilled. I drilled pilot
holes with a #40 and finished with the #30.
The
fit is better now. Football game is on TV (Alabama vs Auburn) so I'll
finish the right side and try to get the left side done next time.
(Should have kept working on the plane. 'Bama lost.)