Parts Prep

I am starting the dreaded edge prep, deburring, and dimpling of the aft fuse parts. Nothing exciting to report other than I missed match drilling 3 holes on the floor pan.

One final note regarding the match drilling. I didn’t like how some of the holes became elongated near the tail end of F-779. I decided to drill and ream the holes out for 1/8 flush rivets instead of the standard 3/32 flush rivets. I’m including picture showing where I am talking about exactly. This was a very difficult area to get to line up even with the pre-punched parts so take your time.

I’ll be spending the rest of the Memorial Day weekend near Anacortes. I’ll pick it up again Monday night. Hopefully I’ll get some decent weather this week so I can get some priming done.

I will be using 1/8 rivets in 8 spots total way in the back underneath the tail. I doubt any will notice the different size rivets unless I point them out.

Aft Fuse Drilling Parts 2,3 and 4

Drilling the countless holes took about 3 more sessions this weekend. It was pretty tedious. I took my time on the rear most bulkheads as well. I am pretty sure all the holes turned out well. I am still debating whether to drill the F-711 and F-712 holes to #30 and use -4 rivets. I’ll inspect if any of the #40 holes got elongated in the match drilling process.

I was not looking forward to crawling around on my back to get to the bottom holes or flipping over the whole shebang without the longerons in place. When I stopped at sears to pick up a couple of punches, I almost tripped over one of those auto mechanic’s dollies that let them slide under the car. I took it as a sign and picked one up for $30. It certainly made the bottom holes easier to get to!

Next up is to take all this apart; debur it; dimple it; prime some of it; and put it all back together.

Tweaking The Fit

I made final adjustments to the aft fuse assembly before match drilling.

Dynon Visit

I’ve been real intrigued with the new Dynon Skyview system. Kirk Klienholtz of Dynon gave me a tour of the factory outside Woodinville, WA and walked me through a working Skyview demo unit. It’s a pretty solid value and very upgradable as new tech comes on line. I’m even more impressed now. So much so, I went ahead and ordered the AP servo brackets since I am at the point in both the fuse and the wing to go head and install. Speaking of the wing I am hoping to get through as much of the QB wing build as I can in my stay-cation coming up in mid-June. I am aiming for 60 build hours that week. I think I’ve heard it takes around 80 hours for the QB wings. Gotta have goals right?

Aft Fuse Drilling part 1

I started drilling on the aft fuse tonight. I was tired already from taking the family to GA Day at Paine Field, So I only got part way done with the J-stiffeners. I’ll hit it again tomorrow. I looked at the side skin, F-779 and J-stiffener interfaces and decided to wait on those holes. I am going to remove F-779 and drill those holes separately. I’ll match drill the J-stiffeners in place and then put it all back together.

I didn't like trying to line up all three pieces in these holes, so I will be drilling F-779 separately.

J-stiffeners and F-711 interface. Line up worked out very well.

I was concerned these flange tab holes wouldn't line up when drilled but they turned out pretty well.

Drill Baby Drill!!

Sorry- I just couldn’t resist the title. Looks like I’ll be able to drill the j-stiffeners this weekend. Most everything has lined up well so far including the F-779 tail cone which just took patience to line everything up. The only issue for me is getting the F-712 bulkhead and the WD-409 tailspring mount to seat nicely. There’s a bit of a gap at the top between the two parts. I think it might just be needing to provide some clearance in the tailcone cut out but it can wait till I match drill the stiffeners. I’ll post pics later of this issue and the drilling.

Small Stuff

I logged some good time in today on the project and took care of some loose ends. As is the case when I’ve let the project sit for a while, I spent a good hour just cleaning up the workshop and wrapping my head around where I left off. I took the temp assembly apart bulkhead by bulkhead and angled the flanges. This helped the fit BIG TIME. If you read this before getting to the aft fuse assembly, do this first and everything should go together much easier. YMMV. I also finally cut and prepped the replacement j-stiffener and riveted the small piece of angle to the F-706 assembly I held off on. Everything is clecoed back together and ready to be checked for alignment before drilling. I need to go get a couple of plumb bobs and some wedges but ran out of time this weekend.

Tailcone Time

F-779 aka The Tailcone is started. Lining up the 711 and 712 bulkheads is a bear. I have cut the slot out for the tail spring and drilled the holes for the steel tail spring mount. I’ll try more bending and praying tomorrow for better overall fit.