Header tank mounting bracket

I'm currently working on a V-shaped mounting bracket that will be welded to the top of the header tank.  The piece is more complex than I originally thought it would be, due to the fact that I have to account for the curvature of the tank and also the angles of the tubes that it will be attached to.  two pieces were made from thicker (3/16) aluminum, and then tacked together to get the angle correct.  Hours: 2

Mounting bracket cut and tack welded

Magnetometer Mount and Leading Edge Cuff

After a few days off, the magnetometer mount was completed.  The supports had to be re-worked due to a miscalculation in placement.  New supports placed and length were finalized and they were attached with solid rivets.

Completed Magnetometer Mount

Work on the leading edge wing cuffs has begun.  For a correct fit the fiberglass cuffs will need to be trimmed around the jury strut mount bracket and the main strut mount bracket.  The area around the jury strut was completed, and the area around the main strut bracket was started, but still needs additional fitting.  Hours: 4

Inboard Leading Edge Wing Cuff fit to Wing

Trimming Cuff for Main Strut Bracket

 

Header tank progress

Welded the bottom cap to the header tank, as well as the bottom bung for the fuel sump.  This completes all the welding of the bungs and the end caps, so the tank enclosure is complete.  I still have to weld on some mounting tabs, as well as pressure test the tank, so this part of the project isn't done quite yet.  Hours: 1.5

Ed working on the bottom of the header tank

Header tank with all bungs and end caps welded on

More header tank work

Over past couple days, I welded the top cap to the header tank, then welded on the three top bungs, two for fuel inlet from the wings, and one for the vent.  Then I started welding the side bungs.  Two of these are for a site tube, and the other two are for fuel inlet/outlet to the engine.  Still need to weld on the bottom plate and the bottom sump bung.  Hours: 3

Welding 3 bungs to top of header tank

Welded bungs for site tubes (front) and engine fuel inlet/outlet (top)

Rear Baggage Panel and Magnetometer Mount

To make it easier to access area behind the rear baggage bulkhead we decided to cut the existing panel into two pieces. A 1" overlap of the panels at the three middle attach points secures the panels.

Where there was one, Now there are two

We are planning on mounting the Garmin GMU-11 magnetometer in the wing.  A non-magnetic mount needed to be constructed.  A paper pattern was created, which was transferred to aluminum and cut out.  Hours: 2

Paper pattern and Aluminum part

Header Tank

Built a small wooden jig with notches to hold the header tank in a horizontal position during drilling.  Drilled holes for fuel inlet, outlet, and a site gauge tube.  Started welding one fuel inlet bung, and tacked the top lid on the tank for later welding.   Hours: 2.5

Drilling holes in side of header tank

One fuel bung welded, top lid tacked in place

Header tank lid and Access door

Planned out and then marked locations for the holes that will be drilled in the header tank for the fuel inlet, outlet, site tube, and sump drain.  Then drilled holes for fuel bungs (top of image) on the cap for the header tank. These fittings will be used for the fuel inlet to the header tank from the wings, as well as a vent line running back to one of the wings.  The holes have a slight step which will capture each bung nicely prior to welding.

Meanwhile, Michael started planning and cutting for an opening in the rear of the baggage compartment to provide easier access to the back of the fuselage.  Hours 1.5

Three holes

Windows and Welding

The right rear window panel was drilled in place and then deburred.  Both the left and right rear window panels were riveted in place with CCP-42 rivets.

Ed continues to hone his TIG welding skills.  Hours: 1

Windows and Header Tank

The left rear window plate was drilled and cleco'd in place using the weld-tabs that were installed by the factory.  The right rear window plate was made using the left windows as the template.  Like the previous work, the part was cut out using Andy snips.  The windows cut-out was marked and the corners were punched with 1.5" punch.  The rest of the cuts were done with a Dremel and cut-off wheel.  The edges were cleaned up with files.

Ed has started cutting out aluminum parts for the header tank.  Hours: 2

Both Rear Windows

Right Window Clamped in Place

More Welding Practice and Rear Window

Ed continues to practice his TIG welding skills. He's practicing on a small scaled version of the header tank using some of the same material we plan to use in the final header tank.

Michael cut out the window opening in the rear window panel.  There still needs a little tweaking to get the shape perfect.  Hours: 1.5

Rear Window taking shape

Dynon Pitot Static AOA Kit From Aircraft Spruce Arrived Today

Fuselage Rear Window

We received our 2'x4' sheet of 0.032 Aluminum today from Aircraft Spruce.  I traced out the two window panels using the template made earlier.  The panels were cut-out using Andy Snips and then cleaned up with the long Vixen File.  Once satisfied with the shape, the internal window cutout was traced onto the panels from the template.  The three corner arcs are 1.5" diameter and a punch was used to make perfect holes in the corners.  Hours: 1

Using 1-1/2 Punch in three corners

 

Header tank practice

Took a left-over piece (only about 5" long) of the 6" diameter aluminum tube that will be used for the header tank, and then made a 6" alum. cap (1/8 inch thick) to fit on top.  I used a band-saw to rough cut the circle, then a belt sander and deburring wheel to turn it into a better circle.  I tacked the alum. cap to the top of the tube in 4 spots in preparation to TIG weld the entire seam.  This is basically a practice piece for the real tank which will be made from the same tubing, but is much longer (19").  Note to self:  make sure to keep plastic Sharpie markers away from welding table.  Hours: 1.0

Practice tank with alum cap, next to a slightly melted Sharpie

Header tank planning

Did some initial planning on the header tank today.  We will be fabricating the header tank using a 1/8 inch thick aluminum tube that is 6" inner diameter.  We wanted between 2 and 2.5 gallons, so settled on a tank length of 19" which will fit nicely on a vertical support behind passenger seat and give us a capacity of about 2.3 gallons.  We cut the tube to length as shown in the picture, and the left-over piece will give me the opportunity to practice up TIG welding before making the real tank.  The bandsaw did not have the height capacity to cut the tube in one pass, so we fed the tube part way, and then rotated it slowly to finish the cut.  This worked great as we got a nice straight at the end of the tube.  Hours: 1.0

Cutting 6" diameter tube for the header tank

Rear Window, Welding, and Guests

The rear windows template was finalized.  We settled on a a 1.5" Aluminum border with 1-1/2" diameter arcs on the three corners. He had to order more aluminum as the largest sheets we had as 24"x24", which was a tad too short.

Template for Rear Window

Ed worked on his aluminum TIG welding skills some more.  We're trying to determine between welded on bungs, welded on flares, or tapping the aluminum after creating thicker areas for more thread engagement.

We also had a visitor to the shop.  A local Just Aircraft SuperStol builder, Dan Moore, and his son stopped by to check out the project.  Dan's got his own blog detailing his project, http://farmerflier.com/ .  We are getting a good amount of Just Aircraft builder in the area.  Two Highlanders, two SuperSTOLs, and one completed SuperSTOL.

Build Time today..... 1.5 Hours

Wings Cuffs, Fuselage Window, and Welding

Today we did a lot of various things.  The remaining two wing leading edge cuffs received the lightening holes.  Again, the holes were 5/8"spaced 1" on center.  Ed has been honing his TIG welding skills in preparation of creating a header tank. Finally, a template was created for the  aluminum that will hold the windows located behind the cockpit area.  Hours: 2.5

Leading Edge Cuff

Drilled more holes in the 2nd of 4 wing leading edge cuffs.  Again 5/8" holes spaced 1" apart on centers .  Hours: 1

Leading Edge Cuff

Ed and I decided we would purchase the wing leading edge cuff from Wild West Aircraft (Steve Henry).  The parts arrived from a fiberglass fabricator in Georgia, and the parts are very nicely done.  In order to keep weight addition to a minimum, we started looking at removing some of the fiberglass.  What we ended up with is drilling 5/8" holes spaced 1" on centers.  The four seven foot pieces weigh 4.5 lbs before and looks like we'll get it down to 4 lbs.  Every ounce counts! Hours: 1.5

Before (on Left) After (on Right)

Right Butt Rib Completed

After allowing the varnish to dry overnight the right butt rib installation was completed.  This included riveting the front t-bracket, putting Hysol epoxy on the T-bracket flange and finally riveting the butt rib in place.  The F-2200 read windshield bracket was cut down to fit between the two sides of the fuselage and deburred.  Hours: 2

Right Butt Rib installation Complete