Fuse Kit Shipping Delay

 So today was supposed to be the date that crating began for my fuselage kit. Unfortunately I was informed late last week that shipping is now delayed by 4-6 weeks, so my total wait could be like 3-4 months since I ordered. This is really unfortunate and I do understand the issues with the fires up there however it just seems like the message was a little off from when I ordered. Covid was already in full swing and the crating date was supposed to be today. When I asked about why the delays were 4-6 weeks more I was told it was because of the fire issues as well as Covid (I was expecting maybe a 1-2 week delay given they just started shutting down a week or two ago for the fires)

On a more positive note, this allows me to start working on fiberglass perhaps. I have to look more into what is involved in it as I was originally going to wait until the end of the project to work on it other than the canopy.

Waiting for the Fuselage Kit

 Progress continues, although right now is a bit of a lull in the project. I only have around 45 minutes of riveting to go before the tailcone is complete. Finding helpers has been somewhat of a challenge but this will be resolved soon. The only remaining rivets are the very top ones in the middle of the top skin. I plan on climbing in and having someone rivet from the outside. 

My current crating week is September 28, and I was hoping that somehow it would ship sooner but it is so unfortunate what is happening with all the fires out west that this looks unlikely. 

I have chosen for now based on advice in the forum to delay all fiberglass work until the end of the project, although if the Fuselage kit gets delayed a lot more I may reconsider that and work on the tips for the rudder and elevators.  Chapter 11+12 I find quite confusing as it seems like this is where you would mount the tail surfaces on a permanent basis and this is not at all what I want to do right now.

Stay tuned, it's time to clean the garage and take care of all the other projects while I wait!

Tailcone work continues - Ordered Fuselage Kit

I have been steadily working on the tailcone, and just finished the riveting of the side skins, installed the snap bushings in the bulkheads, and last night ran the rudder cables through the tail.

Horizontal Stab attach angle - Ended up reordering because I removed too much on the edges and the edge distance was insufficient

Side skin attach - Wires run as well

You really need to work on the overlap to ensure that there are not large gaps, had to take this apart a few times and use a seamer to bend a bit and "encourage" the edges to fit correctly.

In position to rivet (now complete).

Wiring/Avionics

Last week I had a conversation about wiring with a fellow builder, who just had his panel work done through Aerotronics . I contacted them to discuss wiring, and they gave me a great education on what needed to happen once we get to the panel stage. My plan currently is that I will not buy the Vans wiring harness, but instead either take advantage of the wire runs that Aerotronics provides when the time comes, OR I may actually run my own wiring. I had originally put $35K into my budget for the panel, but when I heard that his IFR panel similar to what I want was $50K I was shocked.

When it comes to using a vendor vs DIY there are two camps, and I totally understand both positions (I am grouping in similar schools of thought and reasoning into each grouping).

Do it yourself:

  You built the rest of the plane, you are going to install the engine yourself which arguably is a larger safety concern than the panel so why not do the wiring as well? Besides you will save $8-10K on the labor costs that are charged when you have someone else do it. It is a new skill to learn, and if you already have some interest and knowledge (I do) then why not invest the extra time?

Leave it to the professionals:

  Let's face it, this is a LOT of wiring, and even if you knew what you were doing it will look much better if a professional does the wiring. All of the thinking is done for you, you will get a nice wiring diagram out of it, and lots of after sales support.

  In addition, there is a lot of room for error when not only running the wiring, but getting the connections correct, and having everything function correctly (CANBUS for example with Garmin).  It is worth the extra cost for the acceleration of the build.

  Another variant of this line of thinking is: Wiring is scary, left to professionals, and is just a skill I don't have. (I don't subscribe to this however I get it).

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I haven't decided which path I will take - certainly buying some wiring and doing the runs through the fuselage while I consider what to do is a middle ground and I have plenty of time.  I am just about 100% certain it will be a Garmin panel when the time comes, assuming the market is not disrupted with new models/players.

I also decided I am going to go with FlyLeds when the time comes as well assuming they are still on the market in the future. I am deferring all lighting and avionics decisions as long as possible as things do change in the marketplace.

Ordered the Fuselage kit!

I pulled the trigger on the fuselage kit. It should be shipping at the end of September so that gives me plenty of time to finish up the tailcone, perhaps work on some fiberglass although I may wait until the end of the build for that, and certainly contemplate what paint for the interior I will use.  If I really have lots of extra time I will think about the panel as well.

One thing is for sure, I am going to really clean the garage before it gets here!

Working on the very aft of the aft fuselage

I've been making progress over the last month or so on quite a few parts of the aft fuselage. The kit really comes together quickly at this stage, however I did have some challenges.

Backriveting worked well for the wings, and many other parts but when I started backriveting the floor of the tail, several of the rivets did not set well due to a bit of wobble that my table apparently developed over time. I switched to bucking the rivets and that went much better.

   Rudder stops came out great, you just need to go slowly.  Unfortunately the Horizontal stab attach angle I was not pleased with so I order another one. The amount of material that you remove on the edges is very small and it is easy to go overboard like I did and end up with too small an edge distance. This is a very important part, and replacing it is the right thing to do.

The bulkheads rivet together well, I used the c-frame to get perfect rivets.

I ended up having to use the flat seamer here to bend a bit more so that the overlap between the side skin and the aft bottom was tighter.

I have also been riveting the aft tailcone bulkheads. These are the most difficult I have come across so far because the angles are just tough to work with especially solo.

I am back to building yet again

This blog is mostly inactive (sorry), but I am back to building. I have been at it for the last month. Most of the inactivity was due to some life changes and just lack of desire - End of a long relationship, plus having another plane to fly.

I am working through chapter 10, and am setting up some timelapse video which I intend on posting here on the blog as I complete sections.

Replacement parts arrived - elevator riveting resumes

Over the last week or so I received a new bottom skin for the right elevator as well as a replacement left spar. The material is thin, and after drilling out a few bad rivets the holes were enlarged and metal actually was bent enough to make me abandon the repair and order new parts.

Now I am back where I need to be to resume riveting. The riveting on the rear spar on the right elevator is challenging as it is tough to secure the assembly and maintain the angle required to set good rivets. In addition the .016 skins are quite fragile.  Hope all goes well.  The holidays have slowed the progress down a bit for good reason, however I have had a chance to get to the garage a few times over the Thanksgiving break.

I am starting to think a bit more about the fuse kit and when to order. In addition, I am considering the QB fuse, simply to move the project along a lot quicker. Although that would certainly force the finish kit to be ordered at the same time and I am not mentally ready for that. Especially since it was just a couple of months ago that I was considering selling the project and building an RV-12 ;)

Day by Day :)

Elevator riveting has started

The elevator riveting has started. I was finally able to finish all of the part prep and had a single session of priming with P60G2. I really like the primer a lot as the preparation requires is minimal and I find that it adheres very well and leaves almost a thin plastic like coating on the parts. Obviously the protection is less than a full Epoxy primer, but the prep time is half.

I have decided to reorder the left spar and a few related pieces as the initial riveting bent the flange enough that I was uncomfortable upsizing the rivet and/or bending back in place. I would normally fix mistakes which are minor or cosmetic but absolutely no tolerance for fixing those sorts of things on a spar.  The right spar went perfectly after learning my mistakes on the left one.

The elevator horn which I have heard has some alignment issues for other builders did not for me. Granted it is a tight fit as it should be however it is one of those parts that appears like it will not align but as you put the clecos on it begins to take shape. Those rivets came out perfectly.

As I work through the elevators and progress on to the tail cone I will have to start thinking about the fuselage kit order and assess the project as a whole. As many have noticed I was on the fence about moving forward for the rest of the project.  I do think that building the fuse will take place and am starting to feel better about continuing on this build.