1.0 Hours -
With a Penguins hockey game and two NFL playoff games on TV today, I only planned for short work session. Priorities, right!
Since I had already primed my F-711 and F-712 bulkhead parts, all that was left was to rivet them. The F-711 needed the bulkhead halves, as well as the F-711C bars riveted together at this time. The F-711D angle won’t get riveted until later in assembly after the skins are on. All of the bulkhead rivets could be reached with the squeezer, so I was a happy camper.
The completed F-711 bulkhead. The F-711D angle doesn't get riveted until after the skins are on.
A side view of the F-711 bulkhead.
The F-712 bulkhead was even easier than the F-711. For the F-712, just the bulkhead halves are riveted together (it’s a bit more complicated if you’re building a tri-gear model). As with the F-711, the squeezer could reach everything, making my short work session that much easier.
The F-712 bulkhead is riveted together with flush rivets on the aft side.
A side view of the F-712 bulkhead.
With these two bulkheads done, all of the bulkheads are finished (for now), and it’s time to move on to something new. Unfortunately, the next step in the plans is to cut and bend the longerons. This seems to be an area where a lot of builders get stressed out, but end up with satisfactory results. To make this a bit easier (I hope), I bought some longeron bending dies off a Vansairforce.net member some time ago. The dies are milled out of a relatively hefty chunk of aluminum, and the idea is to squeeze the longeron in the dies using a vise to make the gentle bend. I’m sure it will be a fun process.
Up next is longeron bending. I bought these dies a long time ago to assist with making the shallow curve.
The longeron dies bend the longerons by squeezing the dies together in a vise.
