Air vents, assembled and ready for mounting:
Tuesday, March 24, 2020
29 - Fwd Mid Fuse Side Str. (attached air vents; fuselage complete!); 12 - Empennage Fairings (trimmed bottom rudder fairing); planned wing transport to hangar
The last couple of weeks hasn't seen much work because I am finished with the first 3 kits, minus the fiberglass work and attachment of the tail fins and wings to the fuselage, and am waiting for the Finish kit. I spent some of the time placing a few orders, to make sure that I have everything before COVID-19 takes over the manufacturing and transport industries (okay, probably not). I also received the propeller - that's quite a large item, still sitting in its box in the living room. I secured a hangar, and will be moving my wings there in a few weeks. In order to move the wings, I had to design a set of transport cradles, which I did during this down time. I'll post the cradles and details of the wing transport in a few weeks. I finished attaching the air vent assemblies to the fuselage using RTV silicone, and then cleaned and reorganized my area in preparation for some initial fiberglass work. After 1 hour of trimming the rudder bottom fairing, and getting fairly itchy, I doubt a mostly fiberglass airplane is ever in my future. The best news is that I received the bill of lading from the transport company for the Finish Kit today! Hopefully, I'll get that delivery in the next 7-10 days, because I'm eager to get back to building. A few pics, below:
Air vents, assembled and ready for mounting:
Air vents, assembled and ready for mounting:
Saturday, March 7, 2020
29 - Fwd Mid Fuse Side Str (air vents); 37 - Roll Over Structure (finished); Firewall Fwd kit (inventory)
I received the FWF kit this week - damn, there are a lot more parts than I had anticipated. Only one part was slightly damaged (flange of oil cooler was bent), and The Mothership said I could either gently whack it back into shape, or send it back for a replacement. I might try a gentle whacking - and yes, that does sound bad.
The remainder of the time since the last post has been to install and paint the roll bar and roll bar brace, do a few odds-and-ends, and figure out how to mount the air vents. Surprisingly, the air vent assemblies have NO rivets! I guess RTV silicone will be enough to hold them in place in most instances ... but, that just doesn't sit well with me. So, I decided that one single blind MK-319-BS rivet that attaches the aft vent flange to the side skin would be apropos. Most importantly, it will help with alignment when attaching - I've seen a few vents that were attached crookedly, or slid down as the silicone (or proseal) hardened, and I just didn't want to take that chance. At any rate, here are details of what has been accomplished since the last post:
- Riveted roll bar assemblies to roll bar straps and window shims; attached bushings and bushing doublers on aft roll bar assembly; clecoed roll bar and roll bar brace to fuselage; match-drilled #30 holes into roll bar bases; deburred holes; reinstalled roll bar on roll bar bases; primed and painted roll bar brace (since tough to spray underside once attached to fuselage)
- Riveted roll bar and brace to fuselage; attached fwd bushing doublers and bushings and covers; masked for painting; separated, dimpled and fluted skin stiffeners
- primed and painted roll bar and brace
- riveted skin stiffeners, and finished working on control column travel to get both sides to hit stops at the same time. Have ~15deg travel forward and 23.1deg aft
- received new air vents (SV-10) since the old ones were too short; re-prepped the vents, test-fit, scuffed, and am figuring out the best way to attach (likely with a few pop rivets that center the vents prior to applying clear RTV - this is a paint without rivet holes, so I’m going to put at least one in the alum. flange and 2 in the plastic vent
- Received FWF kit!!! inventory for FWF kit (started)
- inventory for FWF kit (finished); emailed Van’s regarding missing/damaged items (very few); inventoried Airwolf remote oil filter package, too
- figured out attachment for air vent assembly, which involves one MK-319-BS pop rivet to attach the aft flange to the skin (will aid in alignment); cut vent assemblies; primed and painted vent assemblies
Match-drilling roll bar bases:
The remainder of the time since the last post has been to install and paint the roll bar and roll bar brace, do a few odds-and-ends, and figure out how to mount the air vents. Surprisingly, the air vent assemblies have NO rivets! I guess RTV silicone will be enough to hold them in place in most instances ... but, that just doesn't sit well with me. So, I decided that one single blind MK-319-BS rivet that attaches the aft vent flange to the side skin would be apropos. Most importantly, it will help with alignment when attaching - I've seen a few vents that were attached crookedly, or slid down as the silicone (or proseal) hardened, and I just didn't want to take that chance. At any rate, here are details of what has been accomplished since the last post:
- Riveted roll bar assemblies to roll bar straps and window shims; attached bushings and bushing doublers on aft roll bar assembly; clecoed roll bar and roll bar brace to fuselage; match-drilled #30 holes into roll bar bases; deburred holes; reinstalled roll bar on roll bar bases; primed and painted roll bar brace (since tough to spray underside once attached to fuselage)
- Riveted roll bar and brace to fuselage; attached fwd bushing doublers and bushings and covers; masked for painting; separated, dimpled and fluted skin stiffeners
- primed and painted roll bar and brace
- riveted skin stiffeners, and finished working on control column travel to get both sides to hit stops at the same time. Have ~15deg travel forward and 23.1deg aft
- received new air vents (SV-10) since the old ones were too short; re-prepped the vents, test-fit, scuffed, and am figuring out the best way to attach (likely with a few pop rivets that center the vents prior to applying clear RTV - this is a paint without rivet holes, so I’m going to put at least one in the alum. flange and 2 in the plastic vent
- Received FWF kit!!! inventory for FWF kit (started)
- inventory for FWF kit (finished); emailed Van’s regarding missing/damaged items (very few); inventoried Airwolf remote oil filter package, too
- figured out attachment for air vent assembly, which involves one MK-319-BS pop rivet to attach the aft flange to the skin (will aid in alignment); cut vent assemblies; primed and painted vent assemblies
Match-drilling roll bar bases:
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