More prep for lower fuselage covering

We found we had a minor issue with the installation of the floor underneath the rudder pedals.  We had not created notches in the floor around the rudder attachment brackets, which means that we would not have been able to remove the floor easily once the bottom was covered.  So we removed the floor, created notches for the brackets, and then fabricated some thin spacers for the brackets in lieu of the floor. After checking to make sure everything fit properly and the rudder pedals still moved nicely, we reinstalled the rudder attach brackets and bolts, torqued them to the correct values, and re-applied orange torque-seal.  We also prepped and cleaned the bottom stringer and steel fuselage tubes to prepare for fabric covering.  Lastly, we measured and cut a long piece of fabric for covering the bottom of the fuselage.

We were originally planning on covering part of the interior and installing fabric to finish off the interior, but after talking with Billy Payne, we decided to simplify the installation by foregoing this step which will reduce weight a little bit and help performance.   Hours: 3.0

Prep for Fuselage Covering

In preparation for covering the bottom of the fuselage, we are taking care of things that would be more difficult to do once the fabric is in place.  Some of the rudder pedal bolts will be difficult to access once the covering is completed, so we torqued the rudder pedal bracket bolts to the correct specification, and marked it with orange Torque-Seal.

Rudder pedal bolts torqued and marked

We also fastened some of the wiring that runs to the ELT more securely, and added protective plastic guards to aluminum metal edges to protect against inadvertent chafing if the wire should contact it.  In addition to this, we also torqued and marked the bolts that secure the ELT to it's tray.

Hours: 2.5

ELT wiring secured

Fabric for baggage door opening

We added a little fabric around the baggage door opening that makes a nice little shelf area for the transition into the baggage compartment. Hours: 3.5

Fabric around baggage door opening

Landing gear opening, baggage opening, tail access plate

Haven't taken the opportunity to append the blog for a while, so here is a consolidated update.

We ironed the fabric for the landing gear opening to tighten up the fabric that was previously glued down.  We then created several unique doilies for the openings in the fabric for the many protrusions that pop through the fabric in the landing gear area., then glued them down. Also applied a fabric finishing tape to one of the seams.

We found a few additional small unpainted spots on the fuselage that had a bit of rust, so cleaned them up, then applied epoxy paint to protect the areas.

Holes were drilled to accommodate the bottom access plate for the tail.

Lastly, two small brackets were made for the latches that will keep the baggage door closed.  The lower bracket slipped while drilling the second hole which messed up the alignment, so we decided to  fix this by shifting the bracket down a bit and redrilling.

Hours: 8

Top view of fabric around the landing gear

Holes drilled for baggage door bracket.

Fabric covering of landing gear opening

We are in the process of covering the area around the landing gear, primarily for the purposes of prevening air infiltration around the openings for the Grove landing gear.    We first attached a flat piece that will sit right above the landing gear (using Superflite U500 adhesive) and shrunk it in stages until nice and taut.

 Next we started working on the two angled side pieces.  These pieces are much trickier because of all the strange shapes and protrusions, and everything seems to get in the way (including the floor for the baggage area)... but we have an approach that seems to be working and have made some good progress.  The fabric for those side pieces has been cut to shape and mostly glued into place. We still need to take out some wrinkles before shrinking the fabric.
Hours: 7

Fabric work around landing gear area

Fabric work around landing gear area II