More work on the landing gear

Primed the upper gear braces and gear attach angles.

Split the nose wheel. Stuffed the tube into the tire and semi-inflated it. Put the tire and tube on the heels and bolted them back together.

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Packed the bearings using my handy dandy bearing packer and reinstalled them into the wheel. Did a similar job on the main gear wheels. The main gear bearings were packed in a preservative grease. So I cleaned them with solvent dried them with compressed air, and repacked them with Aeroshell 22.

All three wheels assembled.

I upgraded the nose gear wheel and axle to Matco. The axle has a bolt that keeps the axle from rotating. So I drilled a hole in the fork to accommodate. I temporarily assembled the fork and axle to keep everything together.

I installed the gear attach angles and the upper gear braces. I loosely installed the gear attach bars. I should be able to just bolt the gear legs in and tighten them up.

Next step is to clean the garage and relocate the fuselage from the basement. It won’t fit through the door once the gear is attached.

Today’s Time (hours):	8.0
Finish kit (hours):	175.0
Total Time (hours):	909.0

Cut, deburred, scuffed, and primed the canopy frame parts.

Cut all the parts that needed parting.

Fabricated the canopy handles from aluminum angle.

Deburred and scuffed all the parts.

Primed everything.

Started assembling the canopy frame. Dimpled and rivered the hinge intercostals. Dimpled the skin. Fluted and fit the substructure. Started riveting the substructure together.

Today’s Time (hours):	6.0
Finish Kit (hours):	26.5
Total Time (hours):	756.5

Primed the control system parts and began assembly

Primed all the parts.

Bolted the elevator idle arm in place.

Assemble the stick link pushrod.

Riveted the elevator pushrod ends into the rods and added the rod end bearings.

Bolted the forward push tube to the control column.

Put together the elevator bell crank assembly. riveted the bell crank halves together with the flange bearing in the middle. Machine countersunk the the nut plate holes in the bell crank bracket and riveted in the nut plates. Bolted the bell crank angles to the bell crank and then to the bell crank bracket. Machine countersunk and riveted together the yaw servo bracket. The match drilled it to the the fuselage and installed the bell crank assembly together with the mid elevator push tube, pitch servo bracket, and yaw servo bracket.

Connected the forward and mid push tubes to the idler arm.

Final rilled the control stick bases to the control sticks. The installed the bases into the control column. Bolted the stick link to the right hand stick base. I’ll bolt up the other side after I’ve checked the alignment of the sticks.

Today’s Time (hours):	6.0
Fuselage Time (hours):	214.0
Total Time (hours):	669.5

Primed the roll over structure parts.

Primed all the roll over structure parts.

Today’s Time (hours):	1.0
Fuselage Time (hours):	208.0
Total Time (hours):	663.5

Primed everything and started assembling

Got all the forward fuselage parts primed.

Machine countersunk all the doublers. Riveted the stiffeners and doublers to the forward fuselage ribs.

Machine countersunk the doublers and riveted them to the canopy hinge ribs.

Riveted nut plates to the pivot block channel and riveted that assembly to the forward fuselage channel.

Riveted the map box doubler to the sub panel. Riveted the sub panel angle, canopy hinge ribs, forward fuselage channel to the sub panel. Riveted the forward fuselage rib assemblies to the sub panel. Riveted the instrument panel standoffs to the sub panel. Riveted the seal angles to the sub panel. Painted the aft side of the sub panel to match the interior.

Today’s Time (hours):	6.0
Fuselage Time (hours):	184.0
Total Time (hours):	638.5

Work continues on baggage area

Fabricated the seat back hinges and match drilled to the floor skins.

Deburred, Scuffed, and primed all of the parts.

Dimpled the floor skins and riveted the nut plates in place.

Installed snap bushing and routed the rudder cables, static line, and ELT wire.

Today’s Time (hours):	5.0
Fuselage Time (hours):	149.0
Total Time (hours):	603.5

Primed all the mid fuse side structure parts and began assembly

Primed all the mid fuse side structure parts.

Clecoed the mid fuselage to the forward fuselage section. Removed the bulkhead bars. Installed the angle fitting for the brake line into the landing gear brace with some thread sealant. Bolted the lower drag fittings and gear braces to the fuselage structure. Bolted the upper drag fittings in place. Clecoed the center section side plates in place. Clamped the side plates to the upper drag fitting in preparation for drilling.

Mating up the forward and mid fuselage sections was pretty satisfying. Starting to look like something.

Today’s Time (hours):	3.0
Fuselage Time (hours):	87.0
Total Time (hours):	541.5

Began work on Aft Fuselage Attachment (section 30)

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This section only has a few parts and I was setting up to prime all the parts for section 29 so figured i’d get these while I was at it. Picked and inspected the parts. Cut apart the ones that needed to be separated on the band saw. Deburred all the edges. Scuffed and primed everything.

Today’s Time (hours):	1.0
Fuselage Time (hours):	84.0
Total Time (hours):	538.5

Deburred, Scuffed, and Primed Forward fuse.

Did the deburring and scuffing last night. Neglected to take any pictures. Shot the primer this evening. My firewall parts order showed up so included those as well.

Today’s Time (hours):	2.0
Fuselage Time (hours):	57.5
Total Time (hours):	512.0

Primed the Firewall parts and started assembly

Primed all the aluminum firewall parts.

Machine countersunk the firewall angles and riveted on the support angle.

Dimpled the tunnel sides and riveted the nutplates to the top flanges. Dimpled the cover angle brackets and riveted nutplates to the top flanges. Then riveted the brackets to the tunnel sides. Riveted the nose gear brackets and firewall angles to the tunnel sides.

Today’s Time (hours):	3.0
Fuselage Time (hours):	51.5
Total Time (hours):	506.0