Time: 4 Hours
This last week I traveled to Orlando, Florida to attend the NBAA (National Business Aviation Association) annual convention. This is the largest aviation convention in the world and the 7th largest overall convention.
I attended various classes on several different topics including weather advances and fatigue management. Along with classes, seminars and presentations there is also a very large static display at the airport showing all the latest and greatest business aircraft.
Another thing the week did was to give me some down time away from the RV-8 build and Hangar to regroup and renew my build spirit after the huge mistake I made last week. So I had the new drive and ordered a new firewall and had it shipped for an arrival this weekend. So after running all the errands this morning I got in the Hangar to start the big job of disassembling the firewall.
If you remember all the parts on the firewall were riveted to it first before being riveted and ProSealed to the forward floor. I decided to leave the bottom support of the firewall attached to the forward floor so I don’t have to remove the old ProSeal. I looked at all the rivets and think I can get to them after the firewall is placed back into its position. So that row of rivets was the first up on the drill out schedule.
So now that the firewall was off the forward floor I put it on the workbench and started the drilling. I worked on one side and then the other so I could keep the parts organized. I drilled just deep enough so I could snap off the head and used the auto punch to pop out the shaft. All worked pretty good and I only had a few enlarged holes.
So all I have left to drill out are the 2 horizontal supports along with the various nutplates in them. I have an EAA chapter meeting tonight so that’s where I quit for the day.
Once I have all the parts off I will do some sanding and cleaning of the parts and put a fresh coat of paint on them. Hopefully the new firewall will arrive tomorrow and I can get to work finishing the edges and holes along with dimpling.
