Fuselage - Cabin

2006-10-29 - Control stick and rudder pedal assemblies. (3.5 Hrs).

Finished installing the control sticks, even though they are normally installed after the wings are on. I need to know how the control sticks move in order to get the correct cutouts in the seat cushions. Also, with the test seat cushions in place I just couldn't resist seeing how things felt.

I, also, temporarily installed the rudder pedal assembly to get an idea of how much leg room I will have. Although the pedals fit pretty good, it's going to be a cozy fit for two adults in the cockpit.

I sewed another test seat cushion and seat back, using this material that we bought a few weeks ago. My wife chose the fabric. All I can say is it makes great test cushions. BTW, I have chosen my real fabric. I found the fabric in Hancock's sale bin, where all fabric was marked as reg $6.88, 50% off. I got 5 yards for $3.44 a yard. That's less than $18. Keep an eye on my "extra credit" page to see what it looks like.
Control sticks installed. I know, it looks like both sticks are leaning outboard, but that's just an optical illusion, these sticks are parallel.
Dufus showed-up to try out the cockpit. He takes more than his share of the space. That boy needs to go on a diet.
You think he'll notice that I cut his head off? Look, the plane is on the ground, and he already looks like he's going to be sick. Notice the cut on his right arm. The idiot walked around the back of the plane and caught his arm on the skins. He didn't even know he was bleeding. It's not my fault, I did an excellent job of deburring those skins. It's just that they are so thin that it doesn't take much to slice through your arm. He should know better. Maybe that'll keep him out of my shop for awhile.
Temporarily installed the rudder pedals. I'm 6' tall, and the pedals are installed all the way forward. This seems to fit pretty good. Just a slight bend in my legs.
Let's be honest, ever since we saw that large curved piece of aluminum in the fuse kit, we have been wanting to install the instrument panel. Before we can put the IP on, we need to cleco on the FWD upper fuselage framework.
Ready for the IP, missing the middle rib.
IP cleco'd on--woo hoo!
Left FWD.
Right FWD, from above.