Posts Tagged fuselage
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.
Aft Fuselage Final Prep Started (2/26/12)
Posted by Ethan Jacoby in Aft Fuselage, Construction, Fuselage on February 26, 2012
2.0 Hours -
I’m back to deburr, dimple, scuff, clean, prime. This will be the theme of the next several entries as I work on getting the aft fuselage ready for riveting.
I decided to fix some of the aft-most holes in the F-779 assembly by enlarging them slightly to #30. This is an easy fix for my oval holes, and it will also allow for installation of slightly stronger rivets in the tail where a lot of stresses will probably occur.
Upon inspection, I found a few holes that were a bit oval. For a fix, I enlarged the holes to #30 (copper clecoes).
Once the holes were enlarged, I started disassembling the aft fuse so that the individual parts could be deburred, primed, etc., for final assembly. For today, I removed the F-779/F-711/F-712 assembly and deburred the edges on any parts that hadn’t previously been deburred. I also deburred and dimpled all the holes.
Finally, I decided to give a little extra protection to the F-779 skin. Since I’m building a taildragger, and plan on landing on many grass runways, this skin could see more moisture than the same skin in a nose gear model. With this in mind, I decided to give the inside of the skin a coat of primer followed by a coat of sealer.
After deburring and dimpling the F-779 skin, I decided to prime it and give it a coat of primer sealer. Being a taildragger, this area could see more moisture than the rest of the plane.
Autopilot Pitch Servo Mount Work (2/25/12)
Posted by Ethan Jacoby in Aft Fuselage, Construction, Fuselage on February 25, 2012
1.0 Hours -
Even though I haven’t chosen my avionics yet, there are a few things that I want to get installed before the fuselage is fully assembled just so access is easier. The first of those items is the mount plate for the autopilot pitch servo. I ended up getting the pitch servo mount kit from Dynon. The reason for this choice is that I have, more or less, limited my avionics choices down to Dynon and MGL. Fortunately, both companies use the same dimensions for their autopilot servos, including the location of the mounting holes. By buying the Dynon mount, I’m still able to make my choice between Dynon and MGL.
The Dynon pitch servo mount is pretty basic. The MGL and Dynon servos are the same size, so I still have the option of using either.
They servo mount kit includes an aluminum plate, push rod, misc. hardware, and the instructions. The mount plate is positioned on the F-729 bellcrank rib. Three rivets had to be removed from the rib so the mount plate could be flush against the rib. Once the rivets were removed, it was a simple matter of clamping the plate to the rib and match-drilling through the holes left by the removed rivets.
Three rivets had to be removed from the F-729 bellcrank rib.
Once the plate was drilled to the rib, I removed it and marked a center-line on the bottom flange of the plate. I then laid out a rivet line and drilled several #40 holes. I re-clecoed the plate to the rib and then match-drilled holes in the bottom fuselage skin using the holes in the bottom flange of the plate as guides.
I measured and drilled a rivet line on the bottom flange of the mount plate.
The servo plate was match-drilled to the F-729 bellcrank rib and the bottom skin. I'll probably put a couple more rivets in the middle of the plate as well, but those holes can be drilled later.
That was it! I’ll probably add a couple more rivets in the middle of the plate, but that can be done when the assembly is removed from the fuselage for final prep.
The back side of the mount. The servo will be bolted to this side.
Aft Fuselage Final-Drilled (2/20/12)
Posted by Ethan Jacoby in Aft Fuselage, Construction, Fuselage on February 20, 2012
2.0 Hours -
After two hours of work today, I finally finished drilling the aft fuselage…including the annoying tail section. In order to get the F-779 skin and side skins to line up, I ended up removing the F-779/F-711/F-712 assembly one more time. With the assembly removed, I drilled the last few holes in the J-channels using the side skins as a guide. With the J-channels now fully match drilled, at least I would be able to see through the holes in the F-779 skin.
Once I reassembled the tail section, the holes still didn’t line up perfectly, but I was able to coax them into position by clecoing every hole and getting a lot of help from an awl. Once everything was clecoed, I removed one cleco at a time to final-drill the holes. The very last hole on each side still didn’t want to line up very well, and I think the holes got a little oval. I will probably go back and drill these holes to #30 and use a 4- rivet. I may do this to a few more of the aft holes as well. The bigger drill will help make sure the holes are round, and the bigger rivet will only strengthen the structure.
It was a lot of work to get everything to line up in the aft-most section of the fuselage. I'm happy to have this done!
With the tail section finally drilled and clecoed, I proceeded with final-drilling the rest of the holes in the aft fuselage (except for the F-706 bulkhead). This was an easy enough task, but drilling the holes on the bottom of the fuselage wasn’t much fun! Of course, now that everything is drilled, the next step is to take it all apart for deburring and dimpling.
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