progress-on-the-plane

January 2011

Sat, 01 Jan 2011 19:40:23 +0100

Hadn't realized that it had been so long since I updated progress on the plane. During the fall I got the rudder pedals welded up and mounted. I filled and sanded the Horizontal stabilizer and now have everything ready to fabricate the turtle deck. Those accomplishments finished my efforts in the garage so I moved the fuselage into the back yard, covered it with plastic and headed indoors for the winter.
Since moving indoors, I've built the outer spars, finished the wing ribs and now I'm finishing the elevators. As soon as I'm done with that task, I'll start on the main spar. It's 16' long but I've figured out how I can get it out through a basement window. I want to be ready to build the wing as soon as I can move outside.
If I have time, I'll start on the canopy frame. I think I've figured out how I'll mount it but haven't figured out the best way to latch it.

August 2010

Sun, 29 Aug 2010 20:11:53 +0100

    Progress has been too slow. I filled and sanded the fuselage bottom and the horizontal stab and then primed the bottom eill a filler/primer. It isn't show-plane smooth but doesn't look too bad. With the priming done, I flipped the fuse back right-side up and went back to work on the inside. The fiberglass mounter mount braces where tought - 8 plys thick and working in a tight space. Got them built but my-oh-my they're tought looking but solid.
        Next I built the rudder pedal deck. It's a lot of sanding and cutting to get it to fit properly. It's finished and once I get the pudder pedals back from the welder and can glass it in place.
        Cut the rudder pedals from 4130 3/4" tubing and made a welding jig. Gave them to the welder on August 26 and hope to have them back by September 1st.
        Fabricated the Rudder pedal mounting block out of 1/2" Nylon sheet. That stuff is a bear to work with. Ruined my first effort and had to start over from scratch. Finally made an acceptable set and then made fiderglass mounting pads for the nut plates> I riveted the nut plates to the fiberglass pads and will bond them to the bottom of the rudder pedal deck. Once that's done, I can bond the deck in place and my rudder pedals are mounted!
        I cut a 2x4 to span the fuselage and mounted it as a temporary template to locate where the main spar goes through the fuselage. I got real nervous about where the rudder pedals are located relative to the seatback. So, I mounted the spar template, made a cardboard seat bottom, pushed a chair upto the fuse and climbed in. The position of the rudder pedals is ok but the control stick is pretty deep into my crotch! Don't know what I can do about that now. I'll have to see if there's any way to gain a couple of inches whet I get to that task.
        I'm finally going to start on the canopy. I think I've figured how to mount it and hope it isn't too tough a job to get the pieces assembled.

July 2010

Sun, 29 Aug 2010 19:47:53 +0100

    I've ordered the canopy and am working to get ready for the complicated job of mounting it.
    Before I could start that effort, I had to attach the horizontal stabilizer. That was a tricky task and I didn't do as well as I had hoped. The specs call for a .75 degree negative incidence and when I was done, in spite or frequent fitting & checking, the incidences turnd out to be minus 1.2. Not a killer but it will add a little drag as I'll need a little nose-up trim for level flight.
    Once ther stab was fastened in place I had to work inside the tail to add fiberglass reinforcement. The easiest way to work was to flip the fuselage belly up. I decided that I would fill and sand the bottom and then prime it. It's likely that it will be awhile before I turn it upside down again - maybe never!
    I'm almost ready to prime and when that's done, I'll turn it right-side up and attach the verticle stabilizer. Then I can work on building the canopy frame.
    I'm feeling the pressure as summer is starting to slip away and I want to get the canopy mounted and the turtle deck in place before I have to stop work in the garage for the winter. If I can do that and have a little time to spare, I'll start on the main spar.

Fuselage taking shape

Sun, 13 Jun 2010 02:14:04 +0100

The weather has been spotty and I've been busy with other tasks but I've managed to get some work done. The short forward deck is installed as well as the control tunnel. I discovered a slight bow in one side of the rear fuselage when I started installation of the two rear bulkheads. It took some work to get things straight again. Anyway, the bulkheads are installed and things are pretty straight now. I just finished laying up the fiberglass for the rear access hole attachment flange. Once tat's cured, I'm going to start the process of attaching the horizontal stabilizer.

Getting Ready for Spring

Sun, 14 Mar 2010 15:20:57 +0100

3/14/2010 I'm almost done with glasing the wing ribs. Once that's done I have to pack the exposed foam edges with a mixture of cabosil, micro and epoxy and then final sanding to precise shape.

I'm also finishing up the seatback so I can install it once I can work in the garage. The seatback, rear bulkheads, control tunnel, horizontal stabilizer and vertical stabilizer can then be installed. At that point it will begin to look like a real airplane.

I'm going to order the canopy early in April so I can build a jig to make the tail cone. I need canopy measurements to determine the tailcone shape. I'm still pondering which one of several methods I'm going to choose to mount the canopy. Right now I'm laning toward a forward tilt with pivot points on the forward fuselage.

Horizontal Stab ready to foam - note "false spar on the front."

Wed, 24 Feb 2010 15:42:07 +0100

Working on the horizontal stabilizer

Tue, 23 Feb 2010 15:54:44 +0100

Progress pictures

Sun, 14 Mar 2010 15:22:11 +0100

Getting started by building a worktable.

February 22, 2010

Tue, 23 Feb 2010 04:09:31 +0100

    Finally got aropund to building a website and blog so I can explain what I'm doing building an airplane in my garage (durring the summer) and in the basement workshop (during the winter). I started in later summer 2008 by building a worktable that I could disassemble in the fall in order to get my car into the garage.
    In the time that has passed since that first effort, I've completed the horizontal stabilizer, the vertical stabilizer, the fuselage and most of the internal fusalage bulkheads. This winter, I've completed many of the internal metal idlers, bellcranks and brackets as well asthe wing ribs. By spring, I will be ready to finish the fuselage internals, attach both the stabilizers, the seat back and the turtle deck.
    As summer progresses, I'll begin building the main wing structure with a goal of having the wing complete by the time I have to move indoors at the end of september.