Aft Fuselage Riveting Day 5 (4/7/12)
Posted by Ethan Jacoby in Aft Fuselage, Center Fuselage, Construction, Fuselage on April 7, 2012
1.0 Hours -
I really wanted to work much longer today, but, when I went to adjust the pressure in the air line, the regulator on my compressor broke (probably an internal o-ring). Rather than taking apart the regulator and trying to find replacement parts, I decided to just get a new one from Tractor Supply ($25). The quality of the new regulator seems to be a bit higher than the original. Although, I did received 3+ years of service from the original, so I can’t complain too much.
The new regulator is slightly smaller, easier to adjust and higher quality than the old one.
After installing and testing the new regulator, I decided to do a little riveting on the aft fuselage. Focusing on the left side, I riveted the side skin to the bottom skin from the F-707 to the F-708 bulkhead. Then, I riveted up the F-708 bulkhead to the upper j-channel.
Once again, I needed small breaks from riveting. During these breaks, I made two more F-716B seat rib access plates. The kit only comes with two of these, but a common modification is to make two more F-716Bs and modify four seat ribs instead of just two. This modification allows the control column assembly to be removed without disassemble. It’s an easy modification, and I figure it might save me a headache or two later on!
The bottom two F-716Bs came with the kit...the top two are copies I made from scrap aluminum.
Aft Fuselage Riveting Day 4 (4/6/12)
Posted by Ethan Jacoby in Aft Fuselage, Construction, Fuselage on April 6, 2012
1.8 Hours -
Today, I continued riveting the aft fuselage. Since I could reach all the side skin to bottom skin rivets from the F-706 to the F-707 bulkhead, I started at the forward end and worked back. Once I reached the F-707 bulkhead, I riveted the bulkhead to the side skins, starting at the bottom and working up to the upper J-channel. I stopped at the upper J-channel since the instructions say that the remaining rivets are installed later in order to allow the skin to be pulled back for longeron insertion.
You can't really see the completed riveting in this picture...I just thought it looked cool!
Once I got tired of bucking rivets, I set up my squeezer and riveted the autopilot pitch servo bracket to the F-706 bulkhead assembly. Five rivets + squeezer = quick work!
I needed a break from bucking rivets, so I squeezed the rivets that attached the pitch servo bracket to the F-706 bulkhead assembly.
Side view of the pitch servo bracket.
Aft Fuselage Riveting Day 3 (4/1/12)
Posted by Ethan Jacoby in Aft Fuselage, Center Fuselage, Construction, Fuselage on April 1, 2012
2.6 Hours -
Today, I finished riveting the J-channels to the aft fuselage side skins. There’s still a lot of riveting to finish on the aft fuselage, but at least the bulk of it is out-of-the-way.
A few rivet factory heads...no marring, no dings!
Whenever I would get tired of riveting, I would take a break by starting to work on the center fuselage. The first step for the center section is to fabricate four spacers. The F-916C spacers are simply rectangles of AB4 x 125 bar stock with a 1/8″ hole in the middle, so they were very easy to make, but it was a nice break from riveting.
The plans call for the fabrication of four spacers for the center fuselage.
I rough cut the spacers from the appropriate bar stock using my band saw.
The completed F-916C spacers. Making these was a good break from riveting today.
Aft Fuselage Riveting Day 2 (3/28/12)
Posted by Ethan Jacoby in Aft Fuselage, Construction, Fuselage on March 28, 2012
1.5 Hours -
I managed to get a little more riveting in today, but no pictures. I started riveting the main structure of the aft fuselage (tail cone). My plan of attack is to rivet the J-channels to the skins first, then the bulkheads to the skins and finish with the bottom skin to side skin. Today, I made it through the forward section of J-channels and about 1/4 of the middle section. Fortunately, access while working solo isn’t nearly as bad as I thought it might be.
Aft Fuselage Riveting Started (3/25/12)
Posted by Ethan Jacoby in Aft Fuselage, Construction, Fuselage on March 25, 2012
3.3 Hours -
I’ve had some other projects to work on, so the plane hasn’t been touched for a couple of weeks. However, today, I finally got around to starting the aft fuselage final assembly.
First, I started working on the F-779/F-711/F-712/WD-409 assembly. The plans are relatively specific about the order in which these parts are riveted, so I decided it was best to follow the instructions. The first step was to rivet the F-712 bulkhead to the F-779 bottom skin. The aft rivets could all be squeezed, as could some of the forward rivets, but I had to pull out the gun and assorted bucking bars for the rest of the forward rivets. Due to the poor fit of these parts (as I’ve complained about many times before), the riveting was a bit tricky at times. Needless to say, it got done!
Once the F-712 bulkhead was riveted to the bottom skin, I riveted the WD-409 tailspring weldment to the F-712 using the two keeper-rivets previously drilled.
The F-712 bulkhead riveted to the F-779 bottom skin. The tailspring weldment is also attached with two keeper rivets.
Next, the F-711 bulkhead was slid into place and riveted to the bottom skin. Almost all the rivets had to be shot/bucked, and some of the ones near the tailspring weldment were a bit tricky to buck. I think I used every bucking bar I own. Once the bulkhead was riveted, I bolted the WD-409 weldment to the F-711. These bolts shouldn’t have to be removed again, so I torqued them and applied inspection lacquer at this time.
After riveting the F-711 bulkhead to the bottom skin, I torqued and marked the nuts on the WD-409 tailspring weldment.
At this point, it was time to, once again, reassemble the aft fuselage structure. It isn’t hard to assemble, but it takes a lot of clecoes and time, so it’s not much fun! I did stray from the plans a bit here. The plans say to reassemble the entire structure and then rivet, but I decided to cleco the bulkheads and J-channels in place, then rivet the bulkheads to the bottom skin before attaching the side skins. My reasoning is simple, I could rivet the bulkheads solo with the skins off…with the skins on, I would need to find a partner.
I riveted the bulkheads to the bottom skin and then clecoed the side skins to the bulkheads/bottom skin. Since everything went back together perfectly, I think it is safe to say that my alteration of the plans worked out OK. It took me a long time to get the side skins clecoed back on, so I decided to call it a day. Next session, I’ll see how much of the structure I can rivet solo. If there are rivets I can’t reach, I think my wife, Amber, is going to get her first lesson in bucking rivets!
I started riveting the bulkheads to the bottom skin.
The aft fuselage got clecoed together one last time.
Aft Fuselage Prep Finished (3/12/12)
Posted by Ethan Jacoby in Aft Fuselage, Construction, Fuselage on March 12, 2012
0.5 Hours -
Final prep of the aft fuselage parts is finally finished.
Today, I quickly finished dimpling the right side skin (I didn’t have many dimples left to make), and then I cleaned and primed the rivet lines on the inside only. Next up, riveting!
Aft Fuselage Final Prep Almost Done (3/11/12)
Posted by Ethan Jacoby in Aft Fuselage, Construction, Fuselage on March 11, 2012
3.5 Hours -
Another semi-long work session, but there’s still a bit more work to do. I finished the j-channels, including priming the mating surfaces, and finished most of the work on the right side skin. All that is left is to finish about half the dimples in the skin and then prime the rivet lines. After that is done, I’ll finally be back to doing some assembly!
Still More Aft Fuselage Prep (3/7/12)
Posted by Ethan Jacoby in Aft Fuselage, Construction, Fuselage on March 7, 2012
3.0 Hours -
The three hours I was able to work on the plane today was the longest amount of time I’ve been able to put in, during a single day, in quite some time. Even though I was only deburring, dimpling and priming, I still enjoyed it.
As stated, I spent most of my time deburring and dimpling, with a little priming mixed in as well. My main focus for the day was the aft fuselage bottom skin. Once the bottom skin was finished, I moved on to the J-channels. I was able to complete three J-channels before deciding to finally call it a night. The good news is that, with only one J-channel and a side skin left, I think I will be able to finish the aft fuselage final prep with one more long work session.
It's been awhile since I've taken a picture of me working on the plane. So, here's the latest deburring "action" shot.
More Aft Fuselage Prep (3/4/12)
Posted by Ethan Jacoby in Aft Fuselage, Construction, Fuselage on March 4, 2012
1.5 Hours -
There’s a limit to the number of deburring/dimpling pictures I can take, so no pictures today!
Most of my time was spent finishing the final prep on the left aft fuselage side skin. I used my c-frame to finish the dimpling tasks, then scuffed, cleaned and primed, the rivet lines on the inside of the skin only. Since I was spraying primer, I also primed the WD-409 tailspring weldment.
I also spent some time disassembling the remainder of the aft fuselage and deburring/dimpling the bulkhead flanges. This still leaves the final prep for the bottom skin, right side skin, and j-channels.
Aft Fuselage Final Prep Continued (3/3/12)
Posted by Ethan Jacoby in Aft Fuselage, Construction, Fuselage on March 3, 2012
2.2 Hours -
Two hours of deburring and dimpling and I’m still not finished with the first aft fuselage side skin. Getting the aft fuselage ready for final assembly is definitely going to take some time. For today, I removed the left skin and deburred all of the edge and holes. I also started dimpling, but I only made it through all the holes that could be reached with my squeezer. The c-frame will have to wait for tomorrow.
Prepping the aft fuselage's left side skin.
Prepping the aft fuselage's left side skin.
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