Michael – Page 67 – RV8-Hangar

Bulkhead Riveting

Posted on November 10, 2014 by Michael — No Comments ↓

Time: 4 Hours

Today I got to riveting the halves of the bulkheads together.

On the forward most bulkhead there are 2 slots for the passenger shoulder harness. These slots have backing plates that give them strength. The bulkheads get dimpled and the plates get countersunk for flush rivets on the forward side.

I finished deburring the remaining bulkhead tops and they are ready from priming as well. Since I need to rivet the seatbelt backing plates I primed those tonight so I can work on them tomorrow.

I spent a little time finding the parts for the next section which will be the rear baggage door supports as well as the lower passenger seatbelt attach points. I should get a start in those tomorrow.

More Bulkhead Work

Posted on November 9, 2014 by Michael — No Comments ↓

Time: 4 Hours

Today I took it pretty easy in the Hangar so I could relax and watch a little football. What I got accomplished was to finish detailing the remaining 2 bulkheads which consist of 4 pieces. As you move forward on the tail cone the bulkheads get bigger and bigger. The last 2 took a lot longer to debur all the edges with all their notched along with all the holes. The very forward most bulkhead has 3 areas that needed to have tabs cut out.

After all the edges and holes were cleaned up I scuffed and primed them.

For my painting process when the weather gets colder is to open the garage door about 3′ and turn my big barrel fan on to suck the paint fumes out. That requires me to hit the door button to start the opening followed by hitting it a second time to stop the door at the 3′ mark. I then turn on the fan and start priming. I have most of my home automated using a system called Vera. With that system I also have my garage door connected. Some cool things you can do is set up scenes of a million different possibilities. So why I was watching football I made a new scene for painting. I basically opens the garage door waits 4 seconds and stops the door at the same time turning on the fan via an outdoor plug that is part of the Vera system. So when I’m ready to prime or paint I open my iPhone app and click on “Painting” and the door opens to the right height and the fan comes on. I also have a scene that says “Painting Done” that turns off the fan and closes the door. Yes I’m a geek and I know it but I love this stuff! So not a lot done today but any work is good in the Hangar. I will be able to start riveting the bulkheads tomorrow after I fly.

Rear Bulkhead Work

Posted on November 8, 2014 by Michael — No Comments ↓

Time: 6 Hours

Today I had breakfast with the guys at our favorite pancake house, Juicy-O’s. I always come away from these breakfasts feeling motivated to continue the build. I think due to the fact that both of my friends are building but more to the fact that they are much farther ahead of me. So when I got home got right into the Hangar to work. Today’s items are the rear bulkheads, there are 6 of them starting from the tail end to the last that ties the mid fuselage section. The plans have you match drill the several parts of one bulkhead. Then scuff, debur, prime and then rivet before moving on to the next bulkhead. I decided to follow this plan as opposed to working on all the parts at the same time and priming all together to help break up the monotony. While waiting I between primer coats I worked on the next set and clecko’d the following sets.

I got 4 of the 6 bulkheads finished minus riveting which is only a few rivets connecting the left halves to the right.

Not a whole lot of pictures but a lot of work deburring all the edges and holes, another good day in the Hangar.

Rear Seat Throttle

Posted on November 7, 2014 by Michael — 1 Comment ↓

Time: 6 Hours

When you put the mid fuselage sides together including the arm rests the plans make a not that if you are going with the optional rear seat throttle now is the time to make the required cuts on the arm rest. I bought an after market throttle for the rear from DJM manufacturing. I had ordered the Van’s throttle so I would have all the extra parts needed to attach and mount the throttle. The new one I bought was not a “drop in” throttle and required a little bit of thinking and planning on my part. My plan was to have the throttle arm come up through the arm rest where the stock one would have. I also wanted the plate to be flush with the underside of the arm rest. The DJM throttle has a very nice anodized plate that has engraving on it for the labels. It’s a solid piece that has bolts that go thru it for mounting. Since the arm rest and the mounting plate are not a 90° angle I had to do some extra calculating to get the plate to sit flush. First up was to find where the plate will sit and mark the arm rest for cutting.

Then I cut the opening with the Dremel tool

I used several different parts from DJM and Van’s to get the line up just right.

I decided that I would mount the mounting plate on the outside or inboard side of the arm rest and vertical supports. It is supposed to go on the inside but I found that I would have a much easier time and it looks a lot better doing it this way. In order to do this I needed to trim the bottom bends of the mounting plate so that it would sit flush.

I put the plate in place along with the aft cover and the roll bar support piece to see how the fit was.

I then removed all the parts and tuned up the opening that I made in the arm rest. I then put all the parts back together and returned the parts to the arm rest area but under the lips of the arm rest and vertical supports. This allowed me to mark the screw holes on the mounting plate. I drilled all the holes to a #19 on the drill press so that I could clecko the whole setup in place.

In my planning phase I noticed that the mounting bolts would go through both the arm rest and the mounting plate. When removing the mounting plate I would need to unscrew the 7 screws as well as the 2 upper mounting bolts that go through the entire throttle. The nuts would be in very tight space between the throttle and the skin. So I decided to notch the arm rest so that the throttle would only be mounted to the mounting plate for support and the mounting plate would get its support from the 7 screws.

I made the notches large enough to go around the spacers I made out of aluminum tubing to get the throttle to sit just right on the underside of the arm rest. Here are a few photos of the throttle in place. It is a breeze to slide into place when I remove the 7 clecko’s. The rear side plate sits real nice on top of the mounting plate as well.

Overall I’m real happy with how it turned out. It took a long time but that’s because I don’t have a lot of fabricating experience and really have to think about all the dynamics of the moving parts. I’m getting better and really enjoy this process.

Aft Bulkheads Start

Posted on November 2, 2014 by Michael — No Comments ↓

Time: 6 Hours

Today I started on the aft end of the fuselage. First up was to cut and separate several parts for the elevator/rudder attach point along with the rudder stops.

The rudder stops are to limit the travel from side to side the rudder as you press on the rudder pedals. I decided earlier on in the build that I was going to use an internal rudder stop that goes between the lower rudder hinge. This stop is made by FlyBoys Accessories and is some type of plastic material. Since I’m using this I eliminated the rudder stops that Van’s gave me.

I then grabbed the two most aft bulkheads and the tail spring assembly. This assembly is what the tail whee connects to and provides shock absorbing. I separated the attach point from that assembly and made some measurements for a centerline mark. I also made that centerline mark on the forward side of the bulkhead.

With the two bulkheads clecko’ed to each other I used my hand seamer to bend the flanges of the forward one to match (parallel) the aft one so that it would be inline with the shape of the tail.

I then clamped the tail spring attach to the bulkheads lining up the centerline mark and the top mark. The top mark was measured by using the plans which are a little confusing. Luckily I found several references on the VanAirforce forum to help. I also found that there might be an error on the plans that shows a measurement of 7/8″ but several builders call for a 1 23/32″. I will do some more checking on that one.

I took the clamped parts to the drill press to drill two holes in the spring assembly by matching them to the bulkheads.

I countersunk those two holes on the aft side.

I then deburred all the edges and holes of the three parts. The two bulkheads need the 10 common holes dimpled for flush rivets on the aft side. I then scuffed and cleaned all the parts using MEK on the spring as it had some type of oil on it for rust protection. Then over to the spray table for priming.

I have a busy flight schedule this week and will rivet these bulkheads later in the week.

Another good day in the Hangar and it feels good to be back up and running!