Aileron Trailing Edge Work

Continued the work on the Ailerons. Ed worked on the Left Aileron.  The trailing edge aluminum was cut to length and the correct placement in relation to the spar was made.  Mike worked on the Right Aileron.  A custom tool needed to be made to dimple the trailing edge aluminum due to the tight space.  A 1/4" thick aluminum  piece was drilled and a counter sink was made to match a male dimple die.  Also, a countersinking depth guide was setup to countersink the aileron rib cap strips.  Once we were happy with the dimple and countersink on spare material, the holes were drilled through the aluminum and into the cap strip as indicated in the builder's manual.    The holes were staggered to avoid interference issues with the rivets.   Once drilled, holes were deburred and the aluminum was dimpled with the custom die, and the wood cap strip was countersunk using the depth guide.  Hours: 2.5

Tools: (L-R) Depth Guide, Male Dimple Die, Custom Female Dimple Die

Right Aileron Trailing Edge

We retrieved the flaps and ailerons that have been stored at the airport (Cox Airfield, NC81).  The aluminum trailing edge for the right aileron was trimmed to size. The distance (8.5" from aileron spar tube) was set and the location of the aileron ribs were marked.  The marks will be used later during the epoxy process.  Hours: 1.5

Setting the Aileron Trailing Edge distance

Battery & ELT Trays Installed

The battery and ELT trays were deburred and cleaned.  They were then placed in the fuselage on pre-installed weld points.  The holes were drilled, deburred and finally cleco'd in place. Time: 1 Hour.

Battery and ELT Tray in Place

Rudder & Push-pull tube cover

Trimmed, drilled, deburred, and temporarily installed (with Clecos) the cover for the push-pull tube.  This cover protects the push-pull tube from anything that is put in the baggage area. Hours: 2.5

Aluminum cover (center of pic) protects the push-pull tube

We reamed the hinge points for the rudder, installed plastic inserts, then installed the rudder with Clevis pins.  A few days ago we removed some shelving from the back of the garage which gave us the room to install the rudder.   The plane is getting bigger, and sometimes I swear the garage is getting smaller, too.  Hours: 0.5

Rudder Installed

Garage Cleanout

It's getting close to the time for attaching a wing to our project.  Our current garage layout will not work and we're having to remove a lot of the storage shelves to allow the wings to be installed and folded without hitting anything in the process.  We are distributing the displaced stored items among several locations.  There are also several wall mounted cabinets that will need to be removed and relocated for later use.  But putting a wing on our project is a very exciting thought.  Hours:  Not Logged.

Landing Gear Dolly

The garage is getting little crowded.  We are getting close to the point where we will need to attach the wings to the fuselage, so we were needing a way to move the whole project around the garage.  To allow this, a dolly needed to be constructed under each main landing gear wheel.  A quick prototype was made as a proof of concept.  The final version will be more wheel friendly, but the prototype seems to work great.  Hours: 1

Landing Gear Wheel Dolly Prototype

Brake Master Cylinder Installation

After allowing the paint on the Brake Cylinder attach brackets the two MC-4 and two MC-5 brake master cylinders were installed using AN3-12A bolts and matching washers and nuts.  With the brake cylinders in place, the location of the attach hole in the toe brake attach bracket was marked.  The parts were removed and holes drilled to 5/16".  The brackets were re-installed and the brake cylinders were attached using the nuts included with the cylinders. Hours: 1

Brake Cylinders Installed

Toe Brake Work

Had to do a little grinding on the rudder pedals to allow the toe brake brackets to fit correctly and allow free movement.  Once the brackets fit correctly, the F-0845.0 Bushings were fit with the correct orientation indicated in the builder's manual.  The F-0845.1 bushing stops were fit in place and drilled for a CCP-44 rivet (i.e. 1/8").  The parts were bushing parts were removed and prepared for painting.  The parts were allowed to dry overnight and then everything was re-assembled and the toe bushings tops were riveted in place.  The Matco brake cylinders were next to be fitted.  Due to an interference issues with the attach bracket and the brake cylinder attach point more grinding was needed.  about 1/16" was removed from the rounded section of the attach brackets on the fuselage.  Once the grinding was done, the exposed metal was painted to prevent rust.  Brake cylinder installation will have to wait for the paint to dry.  Hours: 2.5

Toe Brakes Added

Toe Brakes

The toe brake brackets needed to have the powdercoat removed so that they rotate freely on the F0845.0 Bushings.  This was done first with a reamer and then a 1/2" grinding wheel.  Hours: 0.5

Seat Belt Attach Points

The seat belt attach point holes were marked and drilled to 1/4" size.  A mistake in one of the shoulder harness attach points had to be welded over and re-drilled due to a slip during drilling.  Bolts, washers, seatbelt bushings and nuts were installed in the holes, but the actual seat belts will not be installed until final assembly.  Hours: 1.5

Seats and Cushions

A milestone was reached with the seats today.  We riveted the aluminum seat bottoms and backs to the seat frames.  Then we set the seat cushions in place so that we could try them out.

Seat backs and bottoms riveted; One seat cushion shown

Finally, we hopped in and gave it a go.  Found out that the seats are nice and comfy.  The right pilot's seat doesn't adjust smoothly when sliding it up or back, so we have a little adjustment to do there yet.  Here's a picture of the builders sitting in the cockpit for the first time, with smiles on our faces.  I may have made airplane noises, but won't admit it publicly.  (Hours:  0.8)

Builders flying around in the garage

Seat Backs

The seat back steel and aluminum parts were deburred and the holes reamed for mounting.  The seat back frames were installed using AN3-12A bolts and matching nuts and washers.  Bolts were tightened just enough to allow free movement of the back to allow access to the baggage area when folded forward.  Hours: 1

Seat Backs installed

Seat Adjustment Pin

The seats are locked into position using the F-2080 seat adjustment pins. These are installed in the front of the seat and are spring loaded to drop into the holes in the adjustment rail.  A 0.052" (#55 drill bit) hole is drilled in the pin to allow an AN416-1 safety pin to secure the spring.  Drilling the hole was a little daunting, but we found an excellent idea on Gary Steube's picture site that allowed us to drill the holes fairly easily. Hours: 1

Gary Steube's website:  https://plus.google.com/photos/117395836098651740243/albums/5703969215324681137

Seat Adjustment Pin Installed

More Seat Work

The seat adjuster rails were installed by drilling through holes at both ends of rail that match the fuselage brackets.  Paint in the bushings of the seat bottoms was removed to allow the seats to move freely on the mounted rail.  A stop ring was installed and secured with stainless rivets to prevent the seat from hitting the flap pulley on the passenger side and the elevator push-rod on the pilot side.  The plans mention an additional bracket for added strength.  Our fuselage did not have the welded bushings for mounting the bracket so a call to the factory was required.  We found that they no long used the bracket (p/n F-2090).  Hmmm, wish the build manual was up to date!

With the seat bottoms installed, the seat pin bushing was used as a drill guide to drill holes in the adjuster rail for varying the seat position.  Holes were drilled for the forward and rearward most seat position and 1" intervals between the two.  The holes were reamed and deburred to allow the seat adjuster pin to slide in smoothly.  Hours: 2.5

Seat Bottoms Installed with Adjuster Holes Drilled

Seats

Aluminum sheets for the seat backs and seat bottoms were trimmed, drilled, and cleco'd in place

Seat back and seat bottom

Four plastic slides (runners) for the two seats were also installed.  These were drilled and riveted into place.  Flush rivets were used, and these are counter-sunk.  Hours: 2.0

Center runners

Left runner