Aft Fuse Assembly

Working along slow. Over the last several days the Aft Fuselage has come together. The first task was to make a level surface. This garage is terrible. It is a wonder people don't fall down as the floor is so uneven. Check out all the shims to get this right!!!



Next the bottom skin is laid out with the middle bulkheads.




Now the sides, front and rear bulkheads are clecoed.




Now the 4 length wise stiffeners are shaped on each end.



Tail cone is assembled and attached.



Now that all pieces of the rear fuse are attached, all holes are drilled.




With that finished it all comes apart in order to debur all holes and edges. Then dimple before priming and riveting.


Will keep you posted.

Main Longerons

OK, ok, I have been working. Just not posting. I would rather work than post. Over the last few days I have been working on the main longerons. These are two angle aluminum pieces which run the entire length of the plane. These two parts need to be bent into the exact shape on the contour of the body.

To get the shape right, I created a cardboard template from the full sized plans to transfer to the angle.


 

Now using the bench vice and a dead blow hammer to make the two sides.

F704-Spacers - New Trick

Here is something new I learned today. When cutting aluminum tubing, it is difficult to get a perfectly square edge. The method in the Plans worked out great.

First make a mark where the length should be. You can see the dot here.


Chuck the tube up in the drill press and spin a line around the tube with the sharpie.


Make a rough cut with a hack saw leaving some extra space as the cut will never be perfect.



Put the tube back into the drill press and spin it on some sand paper until down exactly to the line.



And there are two perfect spacers  1  and 28/64 (or 1 and 7/16)

Finishing Up F704 Main Bulkhead

Rivets are now in the F704 Main Bulkhead

F704 - Main Spar

After finishing the Spar behind the seats, this spar (F704) is the main spar which contains main wing attach points and is located under the knees of the occupants. All priming completed. and nut-plates installed.

F705 Bulkhead

Continuing on with the F705 Bulkhead, I have primed all parts (previous post) and have assembled the pieces.

Rear Wing Spar attach points:



Flap Control System bushings:





and Seat Belt attach points:

Assemble F706 Bulkhead

After priming, I can assemble and rivet the F706 bulkhead. Again this will live at the back side of the baggage compartment.