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Tue May 30, 2006
First two ribs riveted. Two more on hold
I riveted the first two ribs and worked on the next two. In addition I put in the drain and the fuel filler neck. I like this fay sealing method.
2.3 hrs
223.0 hrs total
85.8 hrs wings subtotal
[0] comments (408 views) | link
Mon May 29, 2006
Proseal round two - stiffeners and two ribs
Lots and lots of dimpling. Hammering away with the tank dimple dies. I forgot to mention that yesterday, a large portion of the time was in deburring and dimpling the ribs. Well, I finished the tank skin this morning. The insulation that the original owner of the house put into the garage deadens the sound. My wife said that from the back door, you can't hear my banging away at aluminum.
Standard postal scale protected by saran wrap. Mixed the white:black at 10:1 ratio by weight. I've seen written, where I'm supposed to get 90 minutes of good time with the sealant. I guess the hot weather reduces that by about a third.
Here are the stiffeners all riveted up. I used a q-tip dipped in proseal and swirled in the dimple, then press the AN426AD3-3.5 rivet into the dimple. This holds it in while I went down the row, backriveting all the way. On the inside I smeared a glob of the grey death onto the rivet tails.
Lalita came in to say hi. Didn't like the smell, but I had her snap a photo before she left.
Two ribs (3, 4) are clecoed in after doing the cake frosting thing on the top and bottom flanges. I think this is going to work out just fine. Thanks Rick. I just hope I get no leaks.
5.0 hrs
220.7 hrs total
83.5 hrs wings subtotal
[0] comments (88 views) | link
Sun May 28, 2006
Tank stiffeners
I took my first stab at prosealing the tanks. I'm trying the method that the pros use, suggested by Rick Galati. I'm also doing all the standard things, like lots of hand lotion on the arms, gloves and MEK handy, using one set of clecos, etc.
This stuff is way overrated. Not a big deal. Especially if you've every drawn a primary sample from an operating nuclear reactor. :)
2.3 hrs
215.7 hrs total
78.5 hrs wings subtotal
[0] comments (92 views) | link
Sat May 27, 2006
Tank misc. and Dremel repairs
I got clarification from Van's on Thursday about the anti-rotation bracket. The T-715 assembly here has four anti-rotation brackets with stars that fit the fuel line attach nut. This is the new way of complying with the tank Service Bulletin. In this photo, you can also see the fuel cap flange that I drilled. I also match drilled the drain. The plans say to countersink the drain flange, but as part of their continuous improvements in the kit, it is already drilled.
Had plenty of practice with the tube cutter and the flaring tool. (I had a major screwup with one of them. I slid the nut and collet down the tube, then bent the fuel line into place. Well, that prevented me from sliding the hardware back up to the fitting. Duh! Guess I'll have to buy about 8" more 3/8" OD tubing.)
My Dremel 300 died a couple weeks ago. I don't want to send it away for warranty stuff. It seems to be a simple electrical problem. The good news is that it opens up very easily - T15 fasteners and the nose collet. Voids the warranty, I'm sure. Promise not to tell, OK? No fuse, but one the negative lead looks loose. They are only secured by a friction fit on to the motor. Definitely substandard. I'm quite surprised, given their reputation. Anyway, it's fixed now.
Opening up the slots for basic screen fuel pickup.
A couple shots of the slots.
I'm thinking that I should cut a few more of these. I posted a question on what to do.
4.1 hrs
213.4 hrs total
76.2 hrs wings subtotal
[0] comments (124 views) | link
Tue May 23, 2006
Tank access plate reinforcement ring
I drew a circle around the inside of the ring to center the tank access plate in the hole (because you can't see the pre-drilled holes). Then clamp and drill #19 for #8 screws, confusing isn't it.
Dimpled the tank end rib and countersunk the reinforcement ring enough that it sat flush. Next, I used black clecos to hold the ring in place, and a silver cleco to hold the K1000-8 platenut in place to rivet. Simple, but everything takes time.
The next step in the plans calls for fabricating the T-915 anti-rotation bracket. However, I saw that there is a T-715 bracket that I found, listed in the inventory as such. So the instructions and plans don't match the parts supplied. Have to check with Van's in the morning.
1.4 hrs
209.3 hrs total
72.1 hrs wings subtotal
[0] comments (87 views) | link
Sun May 21, 2006
Tank root attach bracket and flycutter fun
I worked on the tank root attach bracket (T-405??) today. Many websites don't discuss this part much and it seems pretty simple. I've had a tough time with it, however. My bandsaw was really slow cutting it. Must be that the blade is optimized for wood and not metal. Worked a bit better with some Boelube on the blade. After one cut, I moved to the small coping saw. This worked much better, but with more muscle power. If fresh Boelube is on the blade, it cuts very nicely. Also cuts hands if you slip a bit. After the big cuts, I took a lot of time to shape it with the bench grinder and scotchbrite wheel in an iterative process.
For the life of me I couldn't find the T-410 reinforcement backing plate called out for the other side of the rib. Turns out two of them are stamped into the tank access plate reinforcement ring. I looked so hard I almost started to fabricate one out of stock. Then drill a few #30 holes for riveting later.
Next was using the flycutter to cutout the hole for the tank access plate. Attaching the rib securely to some scrap fiberboard and going very slowly is the key here. I don't like doing this. I probably will borrow or rent a panel hole punch for any round holes in the panel instead of doing this many more times for round panel holes.
3.7 hrs
207.9 hrs total
70.7 hrs wings subtotal
[0] comments (93 views) | link
Sat May 20, 2006
Tank drilled, follow the plans here
Drilled the left tank while still on the spar. I forget where I read it, somewhere in someone elses builder's website. He said he had no problem with drilling the tank on the wing. The plans, however tell you to remove it to prevent damaging the spar.
Below you can see the scratches, small but oh boy, my heart skipped a bit when I took the tank off and saw it. This is one area that I recommend following the plans. I wouldn't call those scratches damage exactly, but I need to sand them smooth and touch up with primer. Make sure you know you can deviate and believe all the boilerplate language about not being responsible for others using the information. That is just as true here as elsewhere - I am an amateur, if you read it here, it's probably an error. Don't do what I do. READ and FOLLOW the plans, ask questions and make up your own mind. This website is just for me to document all the errors I make. 'Nuff said.
1.2 hrs
204.2 hrs total
67.0 hrs wings subtotal
[0] comments (91 views) | link
Sun May 14, 2006
Z bracket prep fun
Started work on these Z brackets that attach the rear fuel tank baffle to the front of the main spar with AN3-4A bolts and platenuts. First off, mark the CL of the flange and the center to line it up.
After getting the center 3/16" hole drilled, I attached the z to the spar as shown below.
This shows how tight it is to backdrill this one from the rear of the main spar.
Have to countersink the top and bottom AN426AD3 rivet holes on the spar for the inboard most Z bracket (this one doesn't have platenuts on the bracket because there is no inspection hole to get at it from behind).
I fit the tank assembly on the wing and drilling out the attach plate holes for the leading edge to spar joint to #19. Then removed the leading edge to gain access to the outer tank rib aft flange. Drilled that and the inner rib to the Z brackets. Then removed most of the tank assembly to leave this to drill into the rest of the attach brakets with much more precision than the method in the plans.
6.2 hrs
203.0 hrs total
65.8 hrs wings subtotal
[0] comments (107 views) | link
Fri May 12, 2006
Tank skeleton first assembly
I'm going to alter the method of fitting the tank attach Z brackets the same way Dan and Kent did theirs. The first step is to assemble the tank itself. Much harder than it looks. I didn't do as good a job in fluting the ribs as I thought I did and the slight warps in the ribs were difficult to compensate for.
1.8 hrs
196.8 hrs total
59.6 hrs wings subtotal
[0] comments (95 views) | link
Wed May 10, 2006
Fitting leading edge
Fitted the leading edge to the left wing. Looks nice. This makes the wing look much more finished than it is. I've really just started. There's going to be lots of assembling, disassembling, DIMPLING and priming before these things get together finally.
1.6 hrs
195.0 hrs total
57.8 hrs wings subtotal
[0] comments (153 views) | link
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