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Bending the upper longerons
I made a simple jig to form the upper longerons.... I thought it would
be easy, but I ended up finishing the shaping using a method I borrowed from
Bruce Brockius. I simply hammered the extrusion on one side, then the
other. Still, my simple jig accelerated the work considerably.
Both longerons are exactly the same shape. Here is a closeup picture of
the jig:
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Ready for the big rubber hammer
The firewall is formed using the same technique as for the ribs.
The 0.020" galvanized steel sheet is installed between two plywoods (one
of them to exact shape and with a bend radius). Then, I used a hammer to
form the flange and my home made fluting pliers to make the notches at
pre-determined locations. |
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And... here is a new kit part!
I stored the firewall on the center wing until I am ready to work on it. |
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Firewall assembled
I made just a few modifications to reinforce it. The fuel tank support
stiffener is replaced with a 0.040" L angle. I replaced the L angle
on top of the "shelve" (the one 520mm) by a full width 0.040" L
stiffener. All the assembly for the nose gear is moved 3mm forward
(holes, parts) to accommodate a 1280HD bungee (instead of the 1080). My
bungee fits real tight and I think I would have been better moving the
assemblies 1 or 2mm more. |
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Primed and "Mostly" reassembled
I riveted everything except the top shelve, which I will re-install only later
after I don't need the line (rope) for fuselage alignment.
As seen on this picture, I also made the fuselage floor which is formed and
drilled to match the firewall.
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The rivets from inside out
I don't know if this is necessary, but I was afraid that the bungee would be
affected by the rivets should they have been inserted from outside-in. |
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Forming the fuselage floor
The sequence manual calls for a complete variety of tubes to adequately
form that part. I used a 2" (which is really 2-3/8" OD) ABS
tube. Then, I finished with a 1-1/2 ABS tube and a 1" OD steel bar. |
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Assembling the fuselage attachment channels
Two channels are installed to the rear Z and join the rear fuselage side skins
with the forward fuselage side skins. The spacing at the bottom is
1056mm as per plans (1055mm in my case) and spacing at the top is
1038mm. The top is at the bottom on this picture :-)
To make this, I attached some pieces of wood on my table to act as
guides. I then clecoed the parts together and later cut them to final
size.
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