Oshkosh Week!

The week of Oshkosh has come and gone.  Fairly fast as usual.  I took the week off and did some building and I bought some more tools at Oshkosh.

Tonight I clamped bulkhead for station 114.75 in place.  Once my 300 Clecos arrive, I will start assembling the tail cone and epinage.  The bulkhead is on the center line and looking good.

I ordered a self leveling spinning laser level to check the horizontal reference line. (HRL)  It should be delivered this week.

During the times I was not at Oshkosh, I made some headway on the forward fuselage.  Made some final trim cuts on the side skins and the top skin.

Drilled #40 holes and Clecoed with the silver 3/32nd Clecos.  When the 300 copper  1/8th Clecos arrive this week I will enlarge the holes.

Once enlarged & Clecoed, I will be able to work towards the tail!

I have also been playing around with the placement of the header tank.  You can barely see the filler neck in this shot up against the upper skin.

Just about ready to drill a hole through the skin for the tank cap.

A new toy I picked up at Harbor Freight in Racine, Wi.  A 30" sheet metal bender.  It was pretty inexpensive and should come in handy for bending the tail doubler and other parts.

There was a pneumatic powered punch flange tool I am thinking of ordering.

Lots of fun, now it's back to work!

BWW

Progress so far...

So,here I am today.  July 22, 2012.  Still working on the forward fuselage.  It is getting tighter to get into with each part I add to the plane.


I am placing and marking where some of the top skin braces go.

You can see the header tank brackets attached to the firewall.


The floor is held in place by 10/32 bolts into anchor nuts.  The floor channels and tunnel are riveted together at this time.  The side skins wrap around under and are Clecoed to the channels.

The forward fuselage with many Clecos holding it together.  I have run out of the 1/8" copper colored Clecos again.  When I am at Oshkosh this week I will try and get 300 more.  (Probably 100 more of the 3/32" silvers.)


I have a few trim cuts on the side skins and top skin.  Don't know if I should debur, dimple, & rivet, or start assembling the epinage.  I will need to contact the builders group to see what others have done. 

Shot of the progress so far.  Lots to do!!!


I try and make a little progress each day.  Sometimes it is very hard to do.


Slow and steady wins the race!






Later,
Brian 

Can I fly yet?

July Up-date

Ok.It has been a while since I wrote anything in the blog.  So, here is some of what I have been up to.

Lots of work in the forward fuselage.  I took the lower channels off the plane and clamped them to the work bench.

I attached the bulkhead member between the lower channels and attached the rudder pedal support brackets to the forward fuselage tunnel.

Everything seems to fit OK.  When I actually mount the rudder pedals in the plane I will need to make some minor adjustments to the assembly.

I placed a milk crate on the work bench and used it as a seat to check the feel of the rudder pedals.  

I dis-assembled the pedals and placed them back in the box and up on the shelf. 

After deburing I corrosion protected the the pieces and assembled them together while the paint was wet.

After riveting on the rudder pedal support brackets, I realized I may (and did) have a difficult time riveting the forward tunnel to the lower channels. I am still working this problem out.

Here is the assembly Clecoed to the firewall.

I riveted the tunnel between the firewall and the lower firewall angle while I had it clamped to the work bench.

I have found the more I can assemble on the bench the easier it is and the results are better.

The rivets for the engine mount bracket to the lower channels was the most difficult.  I ended up making my own bucking bar in the mill to get around and under the channel.

You can see in this picture, the "wing" flap pieces of the firewall are bent at 90 degrees and slide between the lower channels and the engine brackets.

So far, this area of parts going together have been the most challenging to assemble.


Next I Clecoed and clamped the firewall and lower fuselage channels to the main spar.  I wrapped the side skins to the lower channels and clamped in place.

I had the side skins off and drilled guide holes for drilling the assemblies rivet lines when I clamped it all together.

Here is a shot of the skin clamped in place.

This I was able to complete in February and March.  I am further along then this.

I will be adding some more pictures and stuff in the near future to get caught up to where I am at.

Later,
Brian