Big Build Friday - Prime Time

Very productive five hours in the workshop today. I started by finishing the final two tail cone skins which took about an hour to debur and prepare for paint.

So on to paint and I started with the internal parts and did the smaller parts as before in my cardboard box spray booth!! Whilst the small parts were drying I started spraying the inside of the tail cone skins and reckon I mixed close to two litres of of primer this afternoon to do the job and I'm really happy with the results. Next stage of the build is to put the tail cone together which I hope to do over the next week or so.

Building a box of bits

Another three and a half hours in the workshop this afternoon working on metal preparation for the tail cone and tonight I only have 2 skins to prepare then I can prime the metal ready for assembly.

One thing I did today that has been an issue before was countersinking and I'm happy with the results having taken my time and made sure surfaces were level so this time around no mistakes which has to be a good thing as the bulkhead looks like an expensive part.

A productive 3 hours in the workshop today working on finishing the metal prep on the two remain fuselage frames. A fair amount of work to get a nice finish on the metal before it's primed and to think that once they are covered in the skins they shouldn't need to be seen again unless something goes wrong..... Hope not!

Also prepared the F1211G Tail Skid pictured above and again something that looked quite simple actually took an hour or so to finish. Preparing this part used a template for hole drilling, files and for the first time a drill tap, something I haven't done since I was at school many years ago in metal work.

Next work to be done is prep of various brackets, bulk heads and stiffeners. I'm happy to be back on the build and I'm still managing to fly as well, yesterday took advantage of UK Airspace being closed and flew my group Cessna 172 in Manchester International Airport a rare opportunity that just had to be done and I've posted some pictures and a video here we also got to look around Ocean Sky who do private jets for the great and the good of the world but still use wooden wheeled build tables like us RV builders do.

Back to the build - Big Build Thursday

After a few days off from the build enjoying myself flying and sorting out plenty of overdue jobs I got back into the workshop today and spent 5 hours preparing some of the skins for the tail cone. It was odd to be in the workshop today with no aircraft flying over the house as I'm only a few miles from Manchester International Airport as all UK airspace was closed today due to Volcanic Ash read more here.

I needed to track down a tool from Avery's Tools UK supplier to prepare some of the tail cone skin edges for lap joints, a whole new experience for me but I think it went well.... Guess I'll find out when I start to rivet things together! I've been surprised by how much work is involved in deburring the tail cone skins as it a manual job with a file and scotch brite pads. I've stripped the blue plastic from the Fuselage Frames and match drilled a couple of holes as well today and know they are also going to take some work to prepare.

My work benches are working a treat and I hope to be able to complete the tail cone on them as I have about 8ft/9ft of length to work with. I've also recycled the empennage packing case into a raised planting bed for my garden which looks great.

The Problem - The Solution - Moving On

It's been a busy few days and an interesting few days dealing with a problem of my own making. I was putting together the HS and adding brackets and bolting them in to a nutplate using my torque wrench for the first time........ And Snap!! I'd gone to far I should have stopped at the impulse but I was waiting for a click and got a loud snap B.gger!!

So I made a call to Nigel who suggested a screw extractor before drilling out 30+ rivets.... It didn't work so I drilled the rivets out and replaced the nutplate and reconstructed the parts I'd taken apart, all in all about 2 hours work although I need to wait for some additional CS4-4 rivets to arrive then all will be good.

Easter Sunday I spent 3 hours working on the HS Skin and now have a quarter of it done and will do the other quarter tomorrow before inviting Nigel my LAA inspector over to take a look at a fair few finished parts and then it's a major rivet job sealing them all up for good although I will fit and torque the bolts on the brackets on the VS before sealing it up.

Good news from Vans recently my next two kits the fuselage and wings ship from Seattle on April 10th arriving in London May 6th and then dropped off at mine on May 11th so I'd better get the empennage finished before then as I need the space.

I also decided to take my 'posh' digital slr into the garage today and are happy with the results. Total build time 61 hours to date more photos online

Making Good Progress

Spent 3 hours in the work shop today working on the Stabiliator Skeleton Assembly and as you can see from the picture above its taking shape quite nicely, most of the work to date on this part has been preparation deburring, filing, drilling, sawing and priming and I'm very pleased with the results on this section of the build.

Still one of the hardest challenges is setting solid rivets properly and of the 24 AN470AF4-5's I set for the counter balance brackets I drilled 6 out as I wasn't happy with how they were sitting. One positive is I used the right rivet tool and as a result haven't flattened the heads of the rivets this time.

I would imagine I'll have the HS ready for Nigel's inspection by the end of the Bank Holiday weekend, plus I have 4 other half skinned parts that need signing off so the rivet gun will see some action over the next week or so. If all the work is approved I'll move on to the last bit of the Empennage Kit the tail cone which is timely as I paid for the next two kits yesterday and the fuselage and wings will be shipping from Vans soon and should arrive end of April or early May.

I've also downloaded the wood cutting plan for the wing stands so once everything is finished I'll be building that and I'll also have some more room in the workshop when the weather improves as some of the over wintering plants will be able to live outside.

Building The Stabilator

Been a busy week with one thing and another going on but managed a fair bit of time working on metal prep for the horizontal stabilator.

Monday 22nd - 2 hours metal prep
Wednesday 24th - 1 hour and 30 minutes metal prep
Friday 26th - 4 hours metal prep
Sunday 28th - 6 hours priming the preparing metal and then starting to squeeze mainly solid rivets on the stabilator

Total time on the build so far 52 hours in just over a month so making nice progress and currently have 4 parts that are half riveted and awaiting final inspection by Nigel before I seal them up for good. I will invited him over once I've finished the horizontal stabilator frame and then its onto the tailcone and I aim to have the Empennage / Tailcone kits finished but the time the Fuselage and Wings arrive probably late April or early May...... That's the plan at least!!