I installed a nutplate to hold the center console side panel:
Nutplate to hold center console side panel
We used the windshield (even without trimming) to mark a line of the inside of the top forward skin so we want to apply primer/paint on it (and later do a first cut of the glareshield material to it):
Windshield in place to mark glareshield area
Forward fuselage top skin with glareshield area cleared of vinyl for primer
Forward fuselage top skin being protected with tape in non-primed/painted areas
Painting the visible parts of the forward fuselage top skin
Primed and painted forward fuselage top skin
Forward fuselage structure assembled together
Forward fuselage structure riveted together
Cooling/defrost fan doublers riveted in place
Panel attachment flanges and nutplates riveted in place
With this, section 31 is complete, except for the bracket that holds engine cables which I'm not yet sure I'll need. Actually attaching the panel to the fuselage is part of the later section 41, which I'll do after the firewall layout is complete.
The wheel fairing brackets had lost quite a bit of primer on their tips from the fitting and filling process, so we touched that up, along with priming a few other parts for other sections:
Fairing brackets and other parts ready for primer (just touching up the brackets)
Fairing brackets and other parts after primer
I then riveted the nutplates to those brackets and reinstalled the brackets and the wheels (hopefully for the last time):
Fairing brackets with nutplates riveted on
Wheel and fairing bracket reinstalled in place
Wheel and fairing bracket reinstalled in place
I also started making progress on attaching the nose gear leg fairing, which was going quite well...until I trimmed the hinge to the specified size (31 1/2") and it was sticking out even though it was supposed to fit inside the fairing...that's when realized I applied the cutting template in the wrong location, and the 27 1/32" distance from the tangent point to the edge of the aft opening was actually 24" instead :( I went back to the video of when I did it, and looks like I aligned the 27" mark with the aft end of that opening rather than the forward one - which is not exactly the error that the manual warns ("Double check that the measurement was taken to the cutout (shaded area) and not to the forward edge of the template...") but not too different...so I'll get back to this part after I receive a new part from Vans.
The last remaining part of section 28 (Forward fuselage ribs, bulkheads and bottom skin) was to rivet the front seat floors, even though they don't get attached until much later (in the Finish kit), so I deburred, primed and painted those, then riveted them:
Primed, painted and riveted seat floors
Time lapse:
Total forward fuselage ribs, bulkheads and bottom skin rivets: 954 Total forward fuselage ribs, bulkheads and bottom skin time: 136.3h
We primed quite a few parts from various fuselage sections (and even some from the empennage attachment, and for rebuilding part of the vertical stabilizer):
Various fuselage parts after scrubbing with Prekote
Primed fuselage parts on the floor (ran out of space elsewhere)
Primed fuselage parts on the workbench
Primed fuselage parts on top of the fuselage
This unblocks a ton of work, so expect many more posts in the near future.
Time lapse:
Total time: 6.5h (but I'll count it towards each section instead)
We had noticed some rust forming on the steel parts (e.g. for the control system and flap system), so we decided to prime all of those, as well as some other parts that would be helpful (like the floor pans):
Primed bolt access plate, floor pan, idler arm parts, tailcone shims, pushrods, flap torque tubes, landing gear mount and control stick base
Primed floor pan, control sticks, control stick base, flap horns, and step blocks
For a change, I'll include the times and videos with each section for which we did this.
Finally coming back to this section and making progress!
I took a step from section 44, and drilled the mid fuselage skin nutplate holes to size - the goal is to attach the two forward-most nutplates before riveting the skin on, since they're in somewhat tight spots after the skin is installed. The others should be easy to squeeze rivets for later:
We finally primed the bottom skins:
then proceeded to remove the vynil from both for riveting:
We then dimpled the skins, and next will start riveting them on.
Unfortunately in that batch of primer I forgot to include the TAS antenna doubler, which is way easier to rivet on before the skin is in place (because the heat tee goes over it), so I'll do that batch before continuing with this section.
Also related to the TAS antenna, I was thinking of cable paths for it, and wondering if I could put the TAS in the tailcone and run the 4 cables straight back (so exiting the tunnel to the right, then going through the rear spar bulkhead. The main question I had was about drilling a big (1/2" or so) hole through the rear spar bulkhead, so I contacted Van's support and send them this annotated picture, and they confirmed it's OK to do so:
Rear spar bulkhead hole location for running cables to the back
Time lapse:
Total mid-fuselage ribs and bottom skins rivets: 412 Total mid-fuselage ribs and bottom skins time: 85.4h
I deburred all the mid-fuselage ribs to prepare for primer, then primed them:
Priming various parts including mid-fuselage ribs
Some primed mid-fuselage ribs
I riveted the outboard seat ribs and their intercostals:
Outboard seat rib
Outboard seat ribs fully riveted
then the inboard seat ribs:
Inboard seat rib partially riveted
Inboard seat ribs clecoed to aft center section
I haven't touched the bottom skin yet - those are the holes I'll work on after primer, to ensure exact alignment (this is too many interlocked parts accumulating small differences in thickness between the plastic and the primer). This means priming the rest of the ribs, which in turn means defining what modifications to them I need for the conduits.
Time lapse:
Total mid-fuselage ribs rivets: 132 Total mid-fuselage ribs time: 31.9h
We primed all the mid-fuselage bulkhead (and some of the mid-fuselage rib) parts:
Washing parts for primer with Prekote
Priming parts
Primed mid-fuselage (bulkhead and ribs) parts
More primed mid-fuselage (bulkhead and ribs) parts
Even more primed mid-fuselage parts
and then started riveting them:
Riveted mid-seat rail supports
Center section bulkhead with the doubler installed
Rear side of the center section bulkhead doubler
Mid-seat rail supports in position
Most center section parts are also bolted on, so I torqued those properly:
Torquing mid-seat rail supports to the center section
I did the same for the aft center bulkhead:
Aft center-section bulkheads with doublers installed
After clecoing those parts to the bulkhead, I torqued all the bolts:
Aft center-section bulkheads assembled with bolts torqued
and riveted the plastic wear strip:
Wear strip pop-riveted to aft center section bulkhead
I riveted the rear spar side channels:
Rear spar bulkhead side channels with gussets and nutplates installed
and started riveting the rear spar attach bar, only to realize halfway into it that the shop heads were supposed to go on the other side :(
Rear spar attach bar, with rivets on the wrong side :(
After replacing those rivets, I finished riveting the spar attach bars and the idler arm brackets:
Riveted rear spar
Finally, I riveted the fuselage bulkhead (rearmost bulkhead, just before the baggage compartment), which has surprisingly little done to it at this stage:
Riveted fuselage bulkhead
Time lapse:
Total mid-fuselage bulkhead rivets: 413 Total mid-fuselage bulkehad time: 53.6h
