Not a terribly difficult page. The spars pass through the side skins, so there must be a hole for them to do so. The factory cuts the same hole on both sides, but leaves it too small for either. The spars aren’t quite symmetrical either, since the spars pass in front / behind each other. All I had to do was (double & triple check before starting) cutting the appropriate openings.
Left Skin w/ Spar Cut-out
Right Skin with Spar Cutout
OK, I’m going back to “book order” of assembly. I’d like to do the wiring, but most of the wiring originates on the upper firewall / instrument panel and that can’t be installed until there’s a skin in place. Plus, I’m wary of missing something that is a skin dependent installation and making it difficult to something else. As far as access is concerned, the most popular solution via VAF is to put the fuselage on its side in some sort of cradle. I’ve already built two cradles for the tailcone & wings, so it shouldn’t be too hard to make a 3rd one.
With that decision, I’m back onto chapter 23.
Right Side Supports
Left Side Supports
The hard part of doing the brake lines is putting on the damn fittings. Sometimes the tubing is too tight to allow the compression fitting to slide over the part of the tube with the ferrel. I’ve used creative cussing, some judicious shavings and novel applications of cleco pliers to squeeze the last few mm of hose into the nut. Whew! Anyway, back to business...
Aft terminations of main brake lines
This is a pretty cool shot—you’re looking at the L brake line as it exits the mid bulkhead and is terminated by the nut for a 45° elbow. I put tape over the end to keep debris out.
Brake Line Installation
This pretty much sums it up. Installing the pedals onto the firewall shelf while they were on the table was easy. I’m sure I could have installed the pedals in to the cockpit with the shelf in place (and the skins are supposed to be on, too) but it would have been a bit more difficult.
Rudder Pedal Assembly
Recall that I had installed the fuel system earlier. This step was omitted because the firewall shelf wasn’t secure, so I didn’t attach the fuel return line to its fitting. That’s now been accomplished.
Return Fuel Line Fitting
This is a view from the bottom of the fuselage looking up at the bottom of the fire wall. The masking tape was just a quick way to prevent the sleeve & nut from falling all the way down the fuel return line.
Using the same stir stick, I applied a thin layer of Proseal to the top edge of the lower firewall section and mated the firewall shelf and lower section. (The shelf was a bit heavier, since I had also installed the rudder pedal assembly.) I clecoed every other hole to get good pressure on the sealant. Predictably, the LP4-3 rivets didn’t go in smoothly or evenly so I had to use the #30 reamer first. That got sealant all over the reamer, but I was able to clean it off with rubbing alcohol before it cured. I also cleaned all of the gunk off of the clecos and salvaged them from being glued shut.
Proseal between shelf and lower firewall
This shows a close up of the bead of Proseal. This section is representative of the bead along the entire length of the seam. I’m actually kind of proud of the way it turned out.
Firewall and Shelf assembly
Just a view showing the firewall shelf in its final position.
I received the small bottle of Proseal from Van’s last week, and finally had a good day to put it to use. I accomplished several steps that had backlogged while waiting for this stuff, so this is the first of 4 or 5 posts in a row.
Proseal on boarding steps
I placed a bit of cardboard in the openings seen on the inside of the steps (from Raison Bran, if I recall correctly) in order to have a surface to smear stuff on. I just used the wooden stir stick that came with the Proseal and gooped it and smoothed it out as best I could.
