We had great weather in Seattle over the weekend for the first time in ages. I worked here and there on the project this weekend so we could all enjoy the outside as much as possible.
Tasks Completed:
Tonight I started marching through all the remaining parts prep. The center section is proving to be quite tedious. There are a bunch of little items to do and you have to pay attention to the plans much more on the fuselage. I am reading the plans over and over to avoid drilling the wrong hole on these parts.
I almost plowed ahead with drilling a third hole in the small cover support rib before really seeing how it goes together. Also Ken Scott confirmed for me that you actually dimple the web of the forward bulkhead. I had initially assumed this would be countersunk! If I can get a good day’s work in later this week, I should be ready to prime the firewall and center section parts as soon as the weather is good.
Tasks Competed:
The right side control mount didn’t turn out to my liking. It didn’t sit flat with the bulkhead because the holes are slightly off 90 degrees. I ordered a new part and moved on to riveting the forward bulkhead and arms together. A couple of rivets look suspect. I’ll drill out and redo tomorrow.
Also I spent time with the plans trying to figure out whether to countersink the bulkhead for the web stiffener riveting or dimple it. The bulkhead is .040. Technically for an AD4 rivet the material should be .050 thick. But if I dimple the material I am afraid I will enlarge the hole on the .063 web stiffener angle. Time to write Van’s.
Tasks Completed:
Tonight Annabelle helped me finish the dimpling on the stainless steel firewall.
Tasks Completed:
I finished all the countersinking tonight on all the stiffeners and gussets. The hard wood jig I use to hold the part while using the microstop in the cordless drill is working great. I started to dimple the firewall, but after a few holes trying to holding the part and dimple by myself I thought better of it. I’ll get Annabelle to help out later this week.
Tasks Completed:
My fellow builder Jason (who started an -8 about at the same time I started my -7) came over with a close quarter 1/8″ dimple die after church today. I needed it to dimple one last hole in the outboard trim tab bend that is unreachable with a regular size dimple die. Build on!
Tasks Completed:
Note: A couple of the rivets for the horn did not seem to seat well. I will need to review with the tech counselor. Also getting everything dimpled and riveted together in the trim is a BITCH! I made a couple of cosmetic booboos to the skin trying to get dimple dies and a squeezer in there.
A lot got done today on the left elevator. I went over to a friends shop to get a good cut on the oak I planned to use on the sking tabs and trim tabs. I marched through the riveting of the skeleton and even the tab bending went quicker than I tought it might. Even with the doublestick tape I had trouble keeping the very end of the wood inplace for the bend. Overall I am pleased with the results. I hope to improve my tab bending art when doing the trim tabs.
When riveting the skeleton I waited to rivet E713 and 714 together. Instead, I first riveted the inboard rib to the spar and then riveted the outboard rib to both of these. Getting to the rivets that mount the ribs to the spar is WAY easier with this method. I also replaced the original counterweight with a new one because I had cut the original down. Getting the holes to line up with the counterbalance skin holes and the ribs holes was a pain. I highly recommend not screwing this part up in the first place. With a little body english, I finally got the bolts to fit.
Tasks Completed:
Tasks Completed: