26 - Mid Fuse Lower Structure (finished section); 27 - Firewall (tunnel sides; cover angles)

The fuselage is starting to take shape - this week saw the completion of the mid fuselage lower structure, which encompasses all the seat ribs and all the baggage ribs, as well as two bulkheads, much of which was back-riveted to the center bottom skin (thanks to my wife, who bucked the manufactured rivet heads using the back-rivet bucking bar).  Here are the tasks accomplished this week:

- Assembled aft gear brace assembly; riveted seat rib angles to aft gear brace assembly; back-riveted aft gear brace assembly to skin; clecoed center bottom skin to ribs and bulkheads
- dimpled baggage ribs; fluted lower aft flanges of baggage ribs; played with pneumatic metal sheet nibbler
- riveted step attach brackets to weldments to outboard baggage ribs; riveted step attach ribs to outboard baggage ribs; riveted side frame assemblies to baggage ribs; riveted everything to become a larger baggage rib assembly with side frames; riveted nutplates to floor stiffener and power outlet brackets; riveted nutplates to weldments
- back-riveted seat ribs to center bottom skin; riveted baggage ribs to seat ribs and bulkhead; clecoed center bottom skin to baggage ribs
- riveted baggage ribs to bottom center skin; riveted floor stiffener to side frames
- separated deburred firewall angles; deburred and riveted nutplates and cover angles to tunnel sides; riveted support angle to left firewall angle

The new update to Apple's MacOS screws up the order in which photos are uploaded to Blogger ... so these are once again out of order (and it's more of a PITA to reorder them than it's worth).

Riveted seat rib angles to seat ribs:

25 - Fwd Mid Fuse Bulkheads (completed); 26 - Mid Fuse Lower Structure (bottoms skins; seat ribs; baggage ribs)

This week saw the completion of section 25 and the start of what seems to be a very long section 26.  The fuselage is coming along and it was nice to bolt and rivet the seat ribs, and thus form the skeleton of the structure where my rear end will eventually find its home.  I dimpled the large center bottom skin - it was tough to get all the rivets but with a little bending, the center holes were not as much of an issue as I had anticipated.  The following were accomplished this week:

- riveted cover ribs and final-torqued bolts on forward center section bulkhead; reamed .311 and .375 holes
- deburred and riveted doublers to outboard baggage ribs and baggage ribs
- dimpled, fluted, deburred and attached nutplates to seat ribs; attached bushing clips, routing angles and doublers to ribs; riveted crotch strap assemblies (incl. nutplates); fluted outboard seat ribs and baggage ribs to match curvature of center bottom fuselage skin
- bolted and riveted seat ribs to F-01414 bulkhead; separated, deburred and primed seat belt attach lugs; deburred baggage ribs, routing angles, and seat belt lug brackets
- riveted seat lugs and lug brackets to baggage ribs; riveted F-01405 bulkhead to inboard seat ribs and outboard seat ribs and bulkhead angle; assembled and riveted Idler bracket assembly to F-01405 bulkhead; clecoed and match-drilled forward bottom skins
- match-drilled forward bottom skins; cut-out rectangles for gear legs; deburred and countersunk large skin stiffeners; dimpled and deburred small stiffeners; primed all stiffeners
- deburred forward and center bottom skins; up-drilled a bunch of holes; dimpled K1000-06 rivets
- dimpled center bottom skin; back-riveted nutplates, stiffeners and doublers to center bottom skin; separated, deburred and dimpled seat angles; straightened gear brace bars; primed gear brace bars

Reamed inboard 0.311" and 0.375" holes in the spar flanges:

25 - Fwd Mid Fuse Bulkheads (Fuselage kit delivered; most bulkheads completed)

Big week - the Fuselage kit was delivered!  It took 8.5hrs to inventory everything, and a few small items were missing as usual (just blind rivets, bolts, and washers) ... but, even after receiving the missing items, 6 blind rivets were still the wrong size!  Lack of attention to detail that I haven't yet experienced from Van's.  Maybe they have too many orders to fill?   UPDATE - I found out from Van's that someone loaded the wrong rivet size into the bin specified for AACQ-4-3 blind rivets, and thus why my order was wrong (twice).  No worries, at least I was able to help them get to the bottom of this.  So, anyone with AACQ-4-3 rivets should check the length.

The parts list is daunting - far more items than even the wing kit -- this is going to be the most involved kit yet.  After finishing the inventory, I started working on the forward and mid fuselage bulkheads, which are nearly complete.  Specifically, I performed the following tasks this week:

- separated and deburred bulkhead bars; deburred and dimpled bulkhead side channels
- worked on F-01405 bulkhead assembly
- finished F-01405 bulkhead (riveted bulkhead bars together and then bolted to bulkhead)
- attached side angles to aft center section bulkhead; deburred, double-flush riveted, and primed both bearing bracket assemblies
- deburred, drilled, and dimpled cover ribs; riveted nutplates to cover ribs; assembled bearing brace assemblies; countersink flanges of forward center section bulkhead; riveted nutplates to upper flange of bulkhead; riveted and bolted side angles to bulkhead; bolted and clecoed cover ribs to bulkhead

She's finally here:  

17 - Outboard Leading Edge (complete); 20 - Bottom Wing Skins (complete); 22 - Ailerons (complete); 23 - Aileron Actuation (complete)

Big week - the fuselage kit will be delivered tomorrow, so I hustled to finish all non-fiberglass parts of the wing kit (it's DONE after almost 460hrs for two wings), and reorganized the workshop to make room for the fuselage crate.  Specifically, I did the following:

- finished last 29 rivets with my wife riveting and me bucking; attached Aileron trim wires to molex connector and connected to harness; attached access panel
- riveted trailing edge for left aileron (done)
- reattached torque tube-to-bellcrank pushrod (right); attached aileron to left wing; attached bellcrank-to-aileron pushrod (left)
- fabricated and installed landing light lens
- right aileron:  drilled all holes in stainless steel counterweight  through skin and through nose ribs; attached nose ribs to counterweight; deburred edges of nose skin; dimpled top and bottom skins in areas of stiffeners and ribs (did it right this time!)
- riveted ribs and stiffeners to top and bottom skins; drilled trailing edge; finished dimpling everything; countersunk trailing edge; riveted doubler to spar
- riveted nose ribs to nose skin; riveted spar to nose ribs; riveted top skin and bottom skin to spar and nose skin; riveted main (side) ribs together; riveted counterweight to nose skin; riveted main ribs to spar
- riveted trailing edge, and located hardware to mount (once wing assembly is placed on stand)
attached aileron to right wing (and attached flap to right wing; just put time here)


Attached aileron trim tab to access plate and screwed in place (pushrods are all in neutral position when final installed!):

OP38 - Aileron Trim (completed); 20 - Bottom Skins (almost finished riveting); 22 - Ailerons (nearly finished left; midway through right)

Lots accomplished this past week on the aileron trim for the right wing, bottom skins (right) and ailerons (left and right).  Specifically, the following were performed:

- attached aileron trim springs to pushrod, using inboard skin as a guide - it was somewhat difficult to get perfect "neutral" position of pushrod
- deburred edges of inboard bottom skin; deburred, dimpled and riveted flap gap and aileron gap fairings; tried to attach pins on micro-molex (got 3 good ones, 2 crappy ones that have to be redone - ordered more micro-molex pins and redo)
- deburred edges and holes of outboard and inboard bottom skins; final-drilled #19 holes; filed down and primed forward overlap of inboard/outboard skins
- attached springs to servo trim arm; attached 3 of 5 wires (with micro-molex pins) to micro-molex connector body
- riveted inboard bottom skin to wing assembly and riveted all nutplates onto inboard bottom skin; also had visitor (Terrell Y.; also constructing an RV-14A) and showed him how I rivet bottom skins
- riveted 90% of the outboard bottom skin - what a pain in the ass
- finished riveting everything on the bottom skins (including access nutplates), except for 29 rivets near skin junction (need wife to help with these); drilled, deburred and dimpled access plates
- deburred holes (4 skins) and edges (2 of 4 skins) of aileron skins for both wings
- finished deburring last 2 aileron skins; dimpled everything for the left aileron and also for parts of the right aileron (prematurely for trailing edge of skins, but this should still work - might be better; UPDATE - the ailerons are very straight, so I might choose this tactic for the right aileron); clecoed together left aileron assembly; reamed trailing edge @ ~8 deg angle (performed outside trailing edge since I already dimpled the trailing edge portion of the skins); disassembled left aileron
- riveted nose skin to nose ribs, top skin and bottom skin to spar, counterweight to skin, and side ribs to each other

Flap and aileron gap fairings clecoed to right wing assembly:

18 - Fuel Tank (installed final screw); 19 - Wing Systems Routing (completed right wing); 23 - Aileron Actuation (torque tube, pushrod, bellcrank); OP38 - Aileron Trim (fabricated EA-10, checked clearance); OP56 - Garmin AP Servos (installed Roll servo)

Van's charged my credit card for the remainder of the fuselage purchase, so in about 3 weeks, I hope to have that kit in my garage!  Exciting, but the clock is ticking for me to get most of the wing kit completed.

This week saw the attachment of the right fuel tank to the right wing, the start and completion of wiring the right wing (including 25' of RG400 for an eventual Bob Archer antenna in the wingtip), fabrication of all parts of the aileron actuation pushrods, bellcrank and torque tube (all but installing the bellcrank-to-aileron pushrod), installation of the roll servo to the right bellcrank, and fabrication and initial checks of the EA-10 aileron trim motor.  Details follow:

Wired the autopilot servo molex connector, and added a little silicone wrap to reduce stress at the bend:

16 - Top Wing Skins (finished); 17 - Outboard Leading Edge (finished); 18 - Fuel Tank (attached to wing); 22 - Ailerons (started fabricating, up until stiffeners)

I haven't posted in ~2 weeks, because of a little trip to NYC to watch the US Open and eat at a few restaurants that only NYC can provide.  We just beat Dorian, which is now a Cat 2 hurricane and likely to miss our house.  In honor of Dorian, I worked over 6 hrs in the shop today, as well as a bunch the days prior to our vacation on a total of 4 sections:

- riveted skin to all ribs, mounting bracket, splice strip and j-channel; drilled 3/8" hole for tie-down
separated, deburred hinge brackets; deburred, buffed, and dimpled nose rib flanges; countersunk and riveted hinge brackets to nose ribs; riveted nutplates to nose ribs
- separated, deburred, dimpled and riveted main ribs to hinge brackets; deburred spar and nose skin edges; clecoed nose ribs to spar and nose skin; match-drilled 6 holes in the stainless steel counterweight.  THAT by itself took well over 2 hrs, a lot of swearing, some boelube and water as lubricants, and a broken drill bit
- match-drilled #40 the remaining 8 holes in leading edge to SS counterweight; final-drilled #30 all 10 leading-edge holes to SS counterweight; final-drilled #40 holes in skin stiffeners
- Riveted right top skins to 4 ribs, skin overlap, and main spar (my wife used back-riveting bucking bar)
- Riveted top skins to rear spar
- riveted outboard aileron to spar and outboard rib; riveted inboard rib to skin and nutplates
- cut and deburred 32 aileron ribs (for both sides)
- riveted j-channels with my wife; top wing skins done
- attached leading edge skins to right spar (my wife helped buck the top flange); blind-riveted ribs to spar;
- attached right fuel tank to right wing … all nuts final-torqued and screws; except for ONE screw, b/c Van's provided me a nutplate that has no threads - time to order a tapping toolkit and tapping fluid

Riveted the last parts of the right outboard leading edge: