Tag: rivet

Work continues on baggage area

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

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Deburred, Scuffed, and primed all of the parts.

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

 

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

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

Began work on Fuel System (Section 31)

Took a break from riveting the the fuselage together. Jared’s lending me his engine-stand-fuselage-rotisserie. So I’ll wait until he drops by next weekend to finish the riveting. It’ll be a lot easier if we can roll the fuselage on its side.

So… Got started on the fuel system tonight. Picked and inspected all the parts.

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Separated the fuel line brackets and riveted to the cover ribs.

 

 

Disassembled the fuel selector valve. Oriented the fittings per the plans but couldn’t screw them in because I didn’t have the Loctite 648 that the instructions called out. Ordered some from Amazon. I riveted nut plates to the flanges of the valve. Finally I machine countersunk the screw holes in the face plate.

 

 

Crimped the connectors on the leads from the fuel pump. Added thread sealant to the fuel filter fitting and screwed it into the pump. Mounted the pump and filter into the into the fuselage.

 

 

Attached the AN elbows to the firewall and fuselage sides.

 

 

 

Today’s Time (hours): 3.0
Fuselage Time (hours): 136.0
Total Time (hours): 590.5

Joined up the back and the front!

Dimpled the bulkheads and riveted the nut plates to them.

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Joined up the front and back and clecoed together. Starting to look very airplane-like.

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I neglected to chamfer the top aft edges of the seatbelt lugs when I did the fabrication. So did that and Machine countersunk them. Then shot them with some rattle can primer and stuck them in the vise to dry.

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Today’s Time (hours): 2.0
Fuselage Time (hours): 131.0
Total Time (hours): 585.5

Finished the Forward Mid Fuselage Side Structure (Section 29)

Match drilled the side gussets to the upper longerons and Machine countersunk the holes in the gusset.

 

Riveted the cross brace to the fuselage.

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Riveted the gussets and intercostals into place. Bolted on and torqued down the roll bar braces.

 

Trimmed and scuffed the NACA ducts for the fresh air vents. The instructions recommended waiting until section 35 to assemble and install.

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This was a really long section but the result is really rewarding…

 

Next up I attach the aft fuselage! Exciting next step.

 

Today’s Time (hours): 2.0
Fuselage Time (hours): 129.0
Total Time (hours): 583.5

Finished riveting left side

Riveted the web stiffeners to the main bulkhead webs.

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Riveted the nut plates to the root faring angles and lower skin. Then riveted the root faring angles to the left side skin

 

Bolted the left bulkhead bar back in placed and torqued it down.

 

Removed the right landing gear bracket in preparation for riveting the right side skin to the fuselage.

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In other exciting news, my engine arrived from Lycoming!

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Today’s Time (hours): 5.0
Fuselage Time (hours): 123.0
Total Time (hours): 577.5