Started fuselage side skins

I got started on the dreaded section 29 - Fuselage Side Skins.


Longerons and roll construction angles ready for cutting

The first part of this is bending of the longerons, which is a lot of brute force with a mallet to get them to match the template:

Longeron matching template after bending

Time lapse:



Total fuselage side skins time: 6.4h

Mid-fuselage ribs and firewall primer

We finally did another batch of primer, after periods of heavy smoke, then business travel, then too-cold weather. This included parts from the mid-fuselage bulkheads/ribs and the firewall:

Some parts drying after washing with PreKote

All parts after PreKote

Ribs, firewall and inspection panel parts after primer

Ribs and firewall parts after primer

Ribs, firewall, ventilation ducts and inspection panel parts after primer

Ribs and firewall parts after primer

A less-than-amused primer applicator at the end of the day
With this, we can finally resume riveting for both sections!

Time lapse:



Total mid-fuselage ribs time: 48h
Total firewall time: 24.4h

Forward fuselage countersinking and inspection panel

I finished machine-countersinking forward-fuselage parts:

Machine-countersunk center section side plates

Machine-countersunk fuel valve flange brackets

I then continued to installing the tunnel inspection panel - this starts by drilling the rivet holes onto the tunnel rib:

Tunnel inspection panel rivet holes match-drilled

then marking and cutting the rib for the panel:

Tunnel rib with corners of panel opening drilled out

Cutting edges of the tunnel rib panel opening

Tunnel rib panel opening
After that I trimmed the hole slightly to make sure the cover plate fit nicely over the doubler:

Tunnel rib with backing plate clecoed on

Tunnel rib panel with cover plate on

I also got some work done on some parts that are officially done as part of section 28, but not used/installed until later for some reason:

Seat floor assemblies drilled, deburred and machine-countersunk.

Mid seat rail supports drilled, deburred and machine-countersunk
With this, most of these parts are ready for primer.

Time lapse:



Total forward fuselage bulkheads and ribs time: 34.5h

Firewall deburring and countersinking

I finished deburring and countersinking the firewall parts:


with this, most firewall parts are ready for primer:




Time lapse:



Total firewall time: 21.4h

Mid-fuselage ribs deburring

I spent quite a bit of time deburring parts for primer. No pictures, only the video below.

Time lapse:


Total mid-fuselage ribs rivets: 196
Total mid-fuselage ribs time: 44.6h