August 2010
Posted by David McCauley on Sunday, August 29, 2010
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.
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.
null
