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Longerons positioned
The upper longerons are clamped in place. They fit nicely.
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Initial fit of the baggage compartment floor
It's been a lot more work than planned to center that correctly.. but it is
worth it as after that, the fuselage assembly is laterally very
stable. |
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OH... some ventilation
I noticed in my friend's CH-601 that air is coming in through the NACA vent,
but does not flow very much around the head. The air exits the cockpit
through the lightening holes in the center wing. I wanted to allow air
to flow around my body and head and therefore, I copied the idea of one friend
in Sherbrooke who did exactly this. |
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Suite of previous picture |
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Drawing the cut line
I'm pretty nervous about cutting the center wing nose skin to fit the shape of
the fuselage. So far, I used a plumb line to trace the shape following
the upper longeron... I don't yet know if this is an acceptable method and if
you know better, please tell me! |
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Baggage compartment floor riveted
All stiffeners are riveted. I added cross stiffeners to the front
stiffener as this part is pretty weak and most people have the reflex of
holding the edge of that baggage compartment when boarding the plane... That
won't be a problem with my plane!
I am copying the design from Jeff Small who sent me pictures of that part
of his plane... (not yet on my web site as of Sep 22, 2001). |
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Initial fit of the side skin
I tested the fit of the left side skin... not bad, but I had to open the joint
between the cabin floor and the center wing leading edge skin. This
should be specified in the assembly manual. I also had to trim the
bottom of the front portion of the skin around that joint so I would have a
good fit at the top of the longeron. |
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8mm missing!
The side skins were cut to plans specified dimensions. Not good! At the
aft location, there is a noticeable gap between the skin and the top of the
center wing rear Z. I noticed on some other builders' web sites that
this situation is not unique to me.
I made new side skins on which I made the rear cut 10mm lower. I then
trimmed them for a perfect fit.
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Installation of the uprights
I installed the uprights as specified, except for the upper gusset that I made
with 0.040" material instead of specified 0.025". By the way,
it is nice to have some 3/16 clecoes on hand. |
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Drilling and clecoing
I first drilled the upper longeron. Notice the area with no cleco...
this is where the top fuselage skin will overlap and I decided to wait for
drilling that area (except for one hole where I'll put a tack rivet).
I also installed the formed L angle at the joint of the side skin with the
top center wing skin. I look forward to try to rivet that! (there is not
a lot of clearance in the corner). |
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Talking about the formed L angles
If I had a metal stretcher, I could have done a nicer job, but it goes fairly
well with a hammer and a dolly. It took about 20 minutes per L angle to
form them to the shape of the wing and the side fuselage (simultaneously). |
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Seat back side channel
I made the channels about 15mm wider than specified in the plans. This
way, the two rivets in the corner stiffener are better spaced.
Also, it bring the inner flange past the point where my added cross
stiffener starts (at the front of the baggage compartment floor). Other
kit builders installed corner gussets at the top to achieve the same
reinforcement goal. |
