There's a bit of fabrication in section 44 before actually attaching the wings, so even though I'm not in the hangar yet, I got started with that.
I final-drilled the wing root fairing stiffeners:
Wing root fairings with stiffeners attached
and also fluted the fairing supports into the right curve, then final-drilled them:
Wing root fairing supports
I had hoped to use the TCW tech fittings for the fuel line exit hole, but detected that it'll cause interference with the lower wing fairing root support, so another solution will be needed (which may mean trimming both the fitting and the root support a bit):
Interference between TcW tech machined fitting and lower wing fairing root support
I also trimmed the flap pushrods to the desired length, but that takes some tuning after the wings are on, so I can't finish it yet.
With this, the rest of the section has to wait until I'm ready to attach the wings, much later.
After primer, I riveted and installed the idler arm:
Riveted idler arm
Installed idler arm
and reamed and installed the brass bushings:
Control stick bases with reamed brass pushings
I also drilled the pushrod ends (not yet primed):
Pushrod with hole template attached
Main elevator pushrods drilled for the rod ends
Main elevator pushrods with rod ends and bearings
I attempted to drill the pushrod end for safety wire, and failed miserably - the 1/16" drill bit is just too thin, and it broke in the drill press, destroying the material around the hole and leaving drill bit bits buried into the part :/
Failed attempt at drilling safety wire hole
I ordered a new one, re-drilled the tube into it, and drilled the safety wire hole again - by hand, this time, so I could feel the pressure on the bit, and it turned out to be surprisingly well-aligned:
Safety wire hole through rod end
Next steps are priming the longer pushrods and installing the whole thing. As of this writing I don't have the tailcone attached (and don't have the horizontal stabs or elevators attached to that), so I can't adjust their length just yet.
Time lapse:
Total control system rivets: 9 Total control system time: 10.2h
In order to reduce interference with the ventilation holes at the top tailcone bulkhead, I used different patterns for the inboard nutplates - one is slated so I only have to trim a small part of the vent flange, and the other is a single-lug nutplate facing away from the vent:
Alternative nutplate holes to accommodate vent holes
I cut out the baggage floor inspection panels near the step sites. I had originally hoped to use the Airward baggage inspection panel, but that just doesn't fit (you'd think they tested it?), and they didn't bother replying to my email, so those went to the bin and I used the parts from the stall warning inspection panel instead:
Positioning the baggage floor inspection panel doubler to not interfere with the stiffener
Cutting out the baggage floor for the inspection panel
Baggage floor inspection panel
Baggage floor inspection panel with doubler in place
Baggage floor inspection opening
I also made an opening for conduits - the space between the right baggage cover and the skin was just not enough unless I wanted to remove part of the rib flanges underneath, so I did that through the rear seat floors:
Marking for the rear seat floor conduit hole
Rear seat floor conduit hole
Rear seat floors with conduit holes
Conduits through the rear seat floor
I drilled the corresponding holes through the rib, and used some right-angle Panduit mounts (RAMH-S6-D) for routing it aft, attached with LP4-4s:
Conduit holders through the rear bulkhead
Conduit holders in place
Conduit holders in place
Riveted conduit holders
Riveted right-angle conduit holders
TAS antenna conduit path through the bulkhead
Conduit holders riveted on
For running the static pressure tube, there was, fortunately, enough space on the baggage floor, so drilled a 3/8" hole for a snap bushing, and used another Panduit mount for routing the tube:
Hole for the static line to go through the baggage floor
Right-angle mount to route the static line
Bushing for the static line to go through the tailcone bulkhead
Static line fitting through the tailcone bulkhead
I also did all the required deburring, so I can now prime and start riveting the floors.
Time lapse:
Total baggage area rivets: 24 Total baggage area time: 22.8h
I started working on the flap system, which is mostly the torque tubes and crank that connect the motor to the wings.
This starts by setting the torque tubes and horns in very specific angles/distances and match-drilling for bolts:
Flap horn, torque tube and crank in position for drilling
Drilled and bolted flap torque tube, horn and crank
Both torque tubes and horns drilled and bolted to the crank
These tubes are mounted into delrin blocks for alignment, so those had to be trimmed:
Delrin bushing blocks marked for trimming
Trimmed torque tube bushings
After priming the tubes, we installed them, which was actually quite a bit more work than expected given how tightly everything fits together (and the layer of primer doesn't help there):
Installed flap torque tubes, bushings and crank
Torque tube to horn attachment bolts, in a tight area
Horn, torque tubes, bushing and crank
With this, the only step left in section 40 is actually installing the motor, but for that I need to finish figuring out the bracket for the PHA motor (which also involves completing the last few steps of section 26)
Time lapse:
Total flap system rivets: 0 Total flap system time: 14.0h
I've been working on the baggage door slowly, whenever there's nothing else to work on.
This section is mostly straight forward - cleco everything together and final-drill:
Main door parts clecoed together and final-drilled
then the tricky part, which is making the hinge and drilling it on both sides such that the door is actually flush to the rest of the skin:
Marking the hinge holes for the door side
Marked hinge for drilling
I also used the common deviation from plans that involves cutting half the hinge eyes so that pins can be inserted from the center, allowing the whole hinge to be closer to flush with the skins:
Door hinge with 3 half eyes removed for pin insertion
Making the door hinge almost flush with the skin
Finally, the recommended method to drill the other half of the hinge to the fuselage involves modifying clecos so they fit inbetween the halves:
Specially modified clecos for the door hinge
then centering the door and match-drilling from the inside:
Door centered in place and held by tape
which, of course, went very wrong:
Accidental double hole when drilling the fuselage side of the door hinge :/
so I did the whole hinge over from the start, just reusing the door side holes and match-drilling the door to the hinge rather than the other way around. This time I was a lot more patient and careful in drilling the hinge frame into the hinge, so it went fine, and I countersunk the hinge:
Match-drilled and countersunk door hinge
The next steps are just deburring, primer and riveting.
I was also considering adding a baggage door sensor (microswitch or similar), but given how hard that'll be, it's probably not worth it.
I continued working on the access covers, first by getting the seat back brace closeout to actually go in and be final-drilled:
Seat back brace closeout in place for final drilling
After I primed some parts, I riveted the floor pans:
Floor pans with nutplates, ready to be installed
Installed rear seat right floor pan
Installed rear seat left floor pan
For the outboard row of rivets, where you have to buck in a tight area, it quickly became clear that solid rivets were not going to work very well:
Bad, removed rivets from trying to use solid rivets on the outboard row of the floor pan
so (after finding something from Van's saying that they're not load bearing) we switched to blind rivets and got that done quickly as well:
Blind rivets used on the outboard rows of the floor pans
Next was match-drilling the rear seat cover panel to the longeron, and installing nutplates there:
Machine-countersunk nutplate attachment holes on longeron
Nutplates installed underneath longeron
and finally, I realized I should have final-drilled and machine-countersunk the top flange of the forward fuselage bulkhead long before, so I did it now:
Machine-countersunk top bulkhead flange
Time lapse:
Total access cover and floor panel rivets: 286 Total access cover and floor panel time: 19.3h
