Fuselage - Cabin

2006-11-11 - Installing the front deck (framework parts). (4.5 Hrs).

I spent 3 hours farting around in the shop cleaning-up, stirring lumpy primer, mixing Plasti-Dip, etc., before working on the plane. I didn't include that time in the hours worked, since I was not actually doing any building on the airplane. However, the work was slightly related to building. I spent over an hour trying to get the primer mixed, and filtering the lumps that were left over.

The AFS primer will settle in the bottom of the bottle and get a little hard if you don't use it for awhile, and I haven't primed any parts for several months. Keep in mind, that the primer has a published shelf-life of 1 year, and I bought it 3 years ago. I still have nearly a quart left from the original gallon. Don't worry, I'll buy a fresh gallon when I go to paint the exterior, honest.

Starting on the F-7198B angle. Chop the end off of the 24" piece of AA6-.125x3/4x3/4.

On the other end, drill a 1/4" hole before cutting the notch at the end. Ok, I missed this a little, because I originally drilled the hole to 1/8" to get the 1/8" radius (right, 1/8" radius would be a 1/4" drill--doh).

After cutting and bending, the notched end of F-7108B should look something like this.

Make sure that the angle matches the attach point on the FW (I had to take a little of the bend back off).

F-7108C angle, probably the easiest part to fab in the whole kit.

Even easier than the F-721D angles, but only because there are two F-721D parts.

Mark the first hole on the F-7109 plate, then clamp F-7109 to the F-7108A center rib and mark the holes. Remove F-7109 and make sure the holes have the right edge clearance--they did.

Finish match drilling the F-7109 plate to the center rib.

The center rib is in place, with the F-7108B angle clamped to it. I drilled two holes in F-7108B to fix its position on the center rib. Now, I can remove the two parts and drill them on the bench.

The next step is to rivet the F-7109 plate and the F-7108B angle to the center rib. However, a few steps later, the instructions say to twist the F-7105A subpanel and fit the F-7108 rib through it. I tried twisting the subpanel, and it would take a lot of twisting to get the rib in there with the angle attached. I think I'll just rivet the F-7109 plate to the rib, for now.

	Starting on the F-7198B angle. Chop the end off of the 24" piece of AA6-.125x3/4x3/4.
	On the other end, drill a 1/4" hole before cutting the notch at the end. Ok, I missed this a little, because I originally drilled the hole to 1/8" to get the 1/8" radius (right, 1/8" radius would be a 1/4" drill--doh).
	After cutting and bending, the notched end of F-7108B should look something like this.
	Make sure that the angle matches the attach point on the FW (I had to take a little of the bend back off).
	F-7108C angle, probably the easiest part to fab in the whole kit.
	Even easier than the F-721D angles, but only because there are two F-721D parts.
	Mark the first hole on the F-7109 plate, then clamp F-7109 to the F-7108A center rib and mark the holes. Remove F-7109 and make sure the holes have the right edge clearance--they did.
	Finish match drilling the F-7109 plate to the center rib.
	The center rib is in place, with the F-7108B angle clamped to it. I drilled two holes in F-7108B to fix its position on the center rib. Now, I can remove the two parts and drill them on the bench.
	The next step is to rivet the F-7109 plate and the F-7108B angle to the center rib. However, a few steps later, the instructions say to twist the F-7105A subpanel and fit the F-7108 rib through it. I tried twisting the subpanel, and it would take a lot of twisting to get the rib in there with the angle attached. I think I'll just rivet the F-7109 plate to the rib, for now.