Posts Tagged dimple
F-711 and F-712 Bulkheads Started (1/21/12)
Posted by Ethan Jacoby in Bulkheads, Construction, Fuselage on January 21, 2012
2.4 Hours -
Back to work on the bulkheads…
The F-710 bulkhead and F-710B angle received a coat of primer the other day, so, today, I riveted them together. Fortunately, all of these rivets could be reached with the squeezer, so it was an easy task.
The F-710 bulkhead and angle are riveted together.
Next, I finished up the F-711 bulkhead by trimming away a section of the bulkheads and making the F-711D angle. The bulkheads are trimmed to make room for the elevator pushrod, and it was an easy task to remove this material with the bandsaw. The F-711D angle was another easy piece to make because it just had to be cut to length, clamped to the bulkhead and match-drilled. With the angle made, I then prepped all the F-711 parts for priming.
A big chunk of the F-711 bulkheads gets trimmed away to make room for the elevator pushrod.
The F-711 bulkhead prep work is finished. After priming, this will be ready for assembly.
The F-712 bulkhead is the last bulkhead that I have to make. This one is like the F-711 bulkhead in that it is two halves that get riveted together, back to back. There are no angles or other parts to be made for this bulkhead, so it was as simple as final-drilling, deburring, dimpling and prepping for primer.
The F-713 bulkhead is made from two halves riveted back to back just like the F-711 bulkhead.
Finally, I put a coat of primer on all the F-711 and F-712 parts. Tomorrow, I’ll rivet these bulkheads together, and then it’s on to the dreaded task of bending the longerons!
The F-711 and F-712 bulkhead parts are ready for a coat of primer.
F-706, F-709 and F-710 Bulkhead Work (1/16/12)
Posted by Ethan Jacoby in Bulkheads, Construction, Fuselage on January 16, 2012
3.0 Hours -
Another day of bulkhead work…
My first task was to get some of the F-706 components ready for priming and riveting. However, before I could do that, I still had to match-drill, deburr, and dimple (as necessary), the F-706 base, F-730 plate, F-728 bellcrank channel, and F-729 bellcrank rib. Once that was done, I scuffed, cleaned and primed all of the angles and the F-706 base.
Another picture of priming. This is a few of the F-706 bulkhead parts.
Next, I started working on the F-709 and F-710 bulkheads. The F-709 was the easiest to complete since it is a one-piece bulkhead and it only needed to be deburred and fluted for now. The F-710 was a little more complicated, but not by much. The F-710 is also a one-piece bulkhead, but it also requires a small length of angle to be fabricated.
I would have made quick work of the F-710B angle if I could have found the correct angle stock. However, I spent well over a half-hour searching the garage for the 17 inch length of .125 x 1 x 1 angle stock that was listed on the inventory sheet. Since it was checked off the inventory, I knew it was hiding somewhere. When I was just about to give up, I finally found it buried deep inside the parts crate. For some reason, I didn’t put this piece of angle stock in the same place as all the other angle stock! Once the angle was located, making the F-710B was a piece of cake.
It took me longer to find the right angle stock than it did to make the actual part!
The F-709 and F-710 bulkheads after being straightened.
Firewall Dimpling/Countersinking Started (12/20/11)
Posted by Ethan Jacoby in Construction, Firewall, Fuselage on December 20, 2011
1.6 Hours -
I only briefly worked on the plane tonight, but I did manage to finish dimpling the firewall and start countersinking all the angles and gussets.
Since the firewall is stainless steel, I wasn’t sure how difficult it would be to dimple. Turns out that it dimples about as easily as aluminum does. I was able to use my squeezer to dimple anything it could reach, and then I pulled out the c-frame to finish things up.
I had to pull out the c-frame to dimple the firewall. The stainless steel dimples as easily as aluminum...no challenges there.
Not being able to put it off any longer, I started countersinking. Countersinking is one of the few times that I switch to an electric drill. For some reason, I get a lot of chatter when I use the air drill while countersinking, but no chatter with the electric.
There are both #40 and #30 countersinks that need to be completed. Fortunately, I have two countersink cages and could set-up both sizes and then just switch back and forth. Once I got both cages set to the proper depth, everything went pretty smoothly, but I only made it through a few pieces of angle before calling it a night. With the cages already set-up, I should be able to finish relatively quickly.
My countersinking setup. Countersinking is one of the few times I switch to an electric drill.
A picture of me having "fun" countersinking the firewall angles.
The finished product. The last hole on the right is a #30, the other is a #40.
Right Flap Final Prep Finished (4/22/11)
Posted by Ethan Jacoby in Construction, Flaps, Wings on April 22, 2011
Once again, I only spent a short time on the plane. I wanted to finish all the prep work on the right flap and possibly start riveting, but it was just too hot in the garage to keep working. That’s right, it’s only mid-April, but we are already hitting the high 90′s for our daily temperatures.
To finish the top skin, all I had to do was dimple a few holes. Most were dimpled with a c-frame, but a few had to be done with my Avery pop-rivet dimpling tool. After all the holes were dimpled, I clecoed the top skin to the bottom skin/rib assembly and mounted the flap in my v-brackets for riveting. Hopefully I’ll find some time to rivet the flap during the weekend.
The right flap is clecoed together and ready for riveting.
Another view of the right flap in the stands.
Right Flap Top Skin Prep (4/21/11)
Posted by Ethan Jacoby in Construction, Flaps, Wings on April 21, 2011
0.7 Hours -
Once again, I only had a short amount of time to spend on the RV project. No pictures, but I started to prep the right flap’s top skin for final assembly. I managed to get the edges and holes deburred, and I started to dimple, but I still have a couple dozen holes yet to dimple. I should have time to finish this up tomorrow.
More Right Flap Final Prep and Riveting (4/17/11)
Posted by Ethan Jacoby in Construction, Flaps, Wings on April 17, 2011
1.0 Hours -
I only had a little time this morning to work on the plane, so I didn’t make a lot of progress. If you add up the hours, I really haven’t spent that much time on the flaps, but they are starting to feel like a never-ending sub-assembly. At least I was able to rivet a few things together today.
I wanted to get a few parts off the workbench, so I started off by riveting the FL-706A angle to spar. After that, I also riveted the FL-706B plate and nutplate to the inboard rib. Both of these assemblies are easy to rivet since all the rivets could be squeezed.
The FL-706A angle is riveted to the right flaps forward spar.
The FL-706B plate and nutplate are riveted to the inboard rib.
Next, I deburred and dimpled the bottom skin. With the bottom skin prepped, I could rivet the aft ends of the interior ribs (and shims) to the aft spar. Again, these rivets could be squeezed.
After preparing the bottom skin, the aft ends of the ribs are riveted to the aft spar. All other rivet holes are left open for now.
Another view of the aft end of the ribs riveted to the aft spar.
At this point, all that remains is to deburr and dimple the top skin, then rivet everything together.
Right Flap Final Prep Started (4/16/11)
Posted by Ethan Jacoby in Construction, Flaps, Wings on April 16, 2011
2.0 Hours -
Today was a full day of aviation and airplane building. I started off by going for a short flight in a Cessna 172. This was the first time that I had flown since January, and it was the first time I flew a C-172 in over 2 years! To top that off, I was flying with a new instructor out of an unfamiliar airport. The airport is Boerne Stage (5C1), and I chose to fly there because it is relatively close to our house and they also have the cheapest rental rates around…$88/hr wet for a C-172!
The first takeoff was ok, then we did a couple of steep turns…also ok, but my first landing attempts were horrible. On both attempts, I was way too high on final. After that, things started to get better. No more high approaches, and mainly smooth landings. I’ll still need a couple more flights before I feel comfortable as a solo pilot again!
When I returned home, I decided to do a little work on the RV project. I hadn’t worked on the plane for 10 days, and the right flap, clecoed together on my work bench, had been calling my name every time I went into the garage. All that is left to do on the right flap is to deburr, dimple/countersink, and rivet. Today, I made it through all the parts except the skins. However, it should only take me another hour to have the skins deburred and dimpled.
Surprise, surprise, another primer picture...I probably took an identical one for the left flap.
My workbench is a mess with spar parts and tools. I definitely need to do some cleaning/organizing once the right flap is finished.
With my benches a mess, the best place to store the flap skins is on the aft side of the wings.
Left Flap Work…Again (3/30/11)
Posted by Ethan Jacoby in Construction, Flaps, Wings on March 30, 2011
1.5 Hours -
I’m now ready to either start riveting the left flap together or take it apart and figure out a better way to do things. Again, despite what Van’s says, the flaps are not the easiest control surfaces to build! On another note, sorry about my poor photography on this post. I think the various flap parts I had on the table were, sometimes, causing the flash to bounce around too much, filling some of the pictures with way to much reflected light. Unfortunately, I didn’t realize this until I was resizing the pictures in Photoshop, so what’s done is done!
To start off the evening, I finished dimpling the left flap skins. The top skin is a bit odd since it has a partially curved leading edge, and the trailing edge is bent and continues about a quarter of the way back to the leading edge where it mates with the bottom skin. Because of this shape, every dimpling tool in my arsenal had to be used.
Next, I clecoed the ribs to the bottom skin and squeezed the single rivet that attaches the 4 internal ribs to the aft spar. This has to be done now, otherwise there is no access.
The flap ribs must be riveted to the aft spar first, otherwise, you can't access them.
Another view of the rib to aft spar rivet.
Then, I assembled the flap with clecoes and placed it in the wood, v-brackets I built for assembly. At this point, the forward spar is removed from the structure in order to gain access to the inside of the flap for riveting.
With the spar removed, I decided to rivet the FL-706A angle to the inboard end of the spar now rather than wait. It attaches to the spar with 5 rivets, all of which can be squeezed, and it felt good to finally assemble something on the flap!
The FL-706A angle is riveted to the spar with five rivets. The three open holes will be used to attach the inboard rib with blind rivets.
Next, I removed the inboard rib from the flap assembly and riveted the FL-706B plate and nutplate to the rib. The plate and nutplate must be riveted before the rib is riveted to the flap, otherwise access is extremely limited.
The FL-706B plate and nutplate are also riveted to the inboard rib now while access is still available.
Another view of the inboard rib with FL-706B attached.
At this point, the flap is ready to be riveted together. I played around with various bucking bars for a bit to see how I will access the inside of the flap. I have big hands, so I was having trouble figuring out a way to access all of the rivets. One tip I have seen is to use a squeezer yoke as a bucking bar since they are heavy and thin. This may be my best option. The other thing I’m considering is to take the flap apart and rivet the ribs to the bottom skin while they are separate from the rest of the structure. Once this is done, I could cleco everything back together and have far fewer, difficult to reach rivets left to buck.
More Left Flap Work and Aileron Installation (3/27/11)
Posted by Ethan Jacoby in Ailerons, Construction, Flaps, Main Structure, Wings on March 27, 2011
4.0 Hours -
About half of my time in the garage today was spent deburring the left flap skins and dimpling anything I could reach with my squeezer. However, I got stuck on about 4 holes on the top skin. I can’t find any way to dimple the aft-most holes because the bend in the skin is so tight that nothing I have can get in their. So, as I thought about what to do, I moved on to other items including priming the FL-706A & B (these will be the only flap parts that get primed) and installing the ailerons on the wings.
On the ailerons, I decided to start by installing the bellcranks even though I don’t have any of the push tubes completed. To install these, I had to remove both bellcrank brackets and re-drill them to 1/4″. Apparently, the drill bit I used originally was slightly undersized and the AN4 bolt wouldn’t go through. I was going to have to remove at least the top bracket anyway, so removing both wasn’t such a big deal.
After re-drilling the brackets, I reinstalled the lower bracket, then slid the bellcrank bolt through the top bracket, bellcrank bushing, bellcrank and lower bracket. Before installing the bushing, I lubricated it with some Aeroshell 33. Van’s just says to use your preferred grease. Since I don’t have one, I decided on Aeroshell 33 since it advertises itself as and all-purpose airframe lubricant.
The aileron bellcranks were easy, but time-consuming to install since parts of the bracket have to be removed to insert the long bolt.
Next, I installed the ailerons on the wings. First, I had to make a spacer for the lower end of the inboard aileron bracket. This spacer was just a piece of tubing stock cut to the appropriate length. Actual installation of the ailerons was simple, but sliding all the washers into place is a bit of a pain. It was nice to see the ailerons in place. For some reason, they make the wings look more like wings!
The ailerons are attached to the inboard bracket using a spacer and several washers.
The aileron is attached to the outboard bracket using several washers and there isn't much room to work.
The outboard end of the wings with the ailerons installed.
Another view of the aileron on the right wing.
Left Aileron Prep Finished/Assembly Started (3/12/11)
Posted by Ethan Jacoby in Ailerons, Construction, Wings on March 12, 2011
3.0 Hours -
After three hours in the garage, I finally had the left aileron built to the same stage as the right. Both are now ready to have the skins riveted.
The left aileron was no different from right. I spent most of my time deburring and dimpling all the parts. Once this was done, assembly was started.
The first step was to rivet the nose ribs to the counterbalance pipe using pop-rivets. Then, the counterbalance assembly is riveted to the spar. This time, I decided to rivet the assembly to the spar prior to clecoing the leading edge skin in place.
Unlike with the right aileron, this time I left the leading edge skin off until after I riveted the nose ribs to the spar.
Once the counterbalance and nose ribs were riveted to the spar, I decided to build some stands in attempt to help make riveting the ailerons slightly easier. I can’t take credit for this idea as I saw it first on Chad Jensen’s build site and then again on Brad Oliver’s site. Each stand is made by screwing together two 2×4″ blocks. The aileron spar is then stretched across two stands, and screws are inserted through the aileron bracket holes. The stands can be clamped to the table, and they are also small enough to make frequent repositioning of the aileron convenient.
Once the aileron was in the stands, I set the first few rivets on the top side. After the fifth rivet, positioning started to get awkward, so I decided it was time to quit. My Dad is coming over tomorrow and I’ll have him help me finish riveting the ailerons.
I built a couple of wood stands to hold the ailerons during riveting. A big thanks to builders that have gone before me and figured out all these little tricks!
The left aileron is ready for the skins to be riveted.
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