Back to Work!

Had a few days of milder temps that allowed me to get some work done. Had Chris come work on wiring and made a few more decisions. He got the headset jacks all wired into cannon plugs. 

Meanwhile, I worked on getting the final finish tape on the vertical stabilizer. I had to take the fuselage off the rotisserie so I could get the tape all the way down the back. Once done, I put the fuselage back on the rotisserie. I also made up some doilies for the rudder stops and the flying wire tangs on the bottom of the fuselage.

The next task was to install a couple of inspection ports on the tail for the elevator. These ports will allow easy checking of the elevator push rod nut attachment to the elevator. It also allows me to install the elevator which will be handy. I purchased these from the factory (a pair - one for each side). These were meant to be installed with the Poly Fiber fabric system, and would have been overlapped with fabric and glue kind of molding them into place. With Oratex, they would have to be glued on the exterior, not as secure. So, I wanted to come up with a way to make them more secure. I decided to make another set and use them on the inside of the fabric as a backer plate. After tracing them and cutting them out I drilled the holes for lock plates and dimpled the holes for flush rivets. I needed the pieces to "nest" flush so when installed they would sandwich the fabric providing a much more secure hold on the fabric. It worked well and I'm happy with the result.

I began by gluing the outside piece on the fabric in position using super glue. Once it flashed off and I was happy with the bond, I cut out the center section of fabric making a hole that I could insert the backer plate into the fuselage. I did have to cut a small piece out of the backer ring because there was fabric glued to fuselage structure. Once in place I used cleco's to align and hold the rings together. I then placed the lock plates in place using the same cleco's working my way around until all lock plates were temporarily installed. After riveting the plates in place, I moved on to the other side and repeated the process.

 

Once finished, I installed the Lexan covers I had cut out using the outside ring as a template.

The next day, I cut the holes needed for the elevator attachment. I still have to cut a slit or channel so I will be able to remove the covers when needed with the elevator attached. I'll ponder that and wait till I reinstall the elevator to decide how to proceed.

Next up, I removed the panel to get it powder coated, I also removed the side door panel that the panel attaches to. It is also out for powder coating. I had a little clean up sanding and rounding of corners with all four door jamb pieces. Before dropping all the pieces off, I had to drill and install lock plates in the top flanges of the panel to accept a glare shield. I didn't get any pics of that but will take some when the panel returns this next week.

Another small detail, after removing the panel and door jambs, I painted the shock mounting brackets that are welded to the fuselage. The door jamb pieces will be black and the outside pieces surround the shock mounts, so I painted them black to match.

Then it was on to the butt ribs. I needed to install lock plates to enable the removal of the butt plates later for powder coating. So, I drilled and installed them and screwed the butt ribs in place.

I built up the top windshield attach bracket. I had already fabricated the factory piece but since I changed to the extreme windshield, it required some modifications. I had to add a wide plate to provide a flange for the windshield and the skylight to attach leaving an 1/8" gap between them for heat expansion. This piece would rivet onto the factory piece making it much wider. Once it was cut and positioned, I drilled for lock plates and rivets. I checked for fitment and needed to bend the factory piece to align with the curvature of the Butt Ribs. Once bent into the correct position, I drilled all the lock plate holes required for both the top of the windshield and forward edge of the skylight. Then it was time to rivet the pieces together. Once done, I cleco'd it in place and began fitting the skylight to it. Since I don't have my wings on, I can't drill for the lock plates along the Butt Rib edges however, I can drill the front and rear edges. So, that's what I did on the front edge.

I left the skylight a little wider on the sides and longer in the back so I can trim it as needed. Oh, and obviously I'm leaving the protective film on both sides of the Lexan until I'm completely finished. 

I'll install lock plates and screws next. Phoenix is under an EXTREME HEAT ADVISORY for the next 5 days, 108-112 degrees everyday. Probably won't get much done for a few days...