Monthly Construction Log - January 2009

Date  
1 Finished riveting instrument panel frame. Riveted vent scoops to forward fuselage sideskins with aluminum backing washers. Continued deburr/polish of remaining forward fuselage parts.

   

2 Installed connectors on trim servo and aft end of 5-conductor cable. Started wiring cable through aft fuselage assembly. Installed baggage closeout nutplates into bulkhead #1. Started assembling flap handle mechanism.
3 Finished trim servo wiring in aft fuselage. Using nylon cable straps with stainless steel backing washers, and sleeving cable when passing through bulkheads. Finished forward fuselage parts prep. Mated center and aft sections of fuselage for skin fit-up and transfer drilling.

   

 

4 Continued fit-up of center and aft fuselage sections. Sanded flap handle bearing blocks, and assembled flap release tube.
5 No work.
6 Transfer drilled center fuselage side skin bends to belly. Drill side skins for 1/2" grommet for nav/strobe wiring. Detached aft fuselage section, and disassembled center section. Began prepping parts for priming.
7 Primed center/forward fuselage section parts.
8 Started reassembly of center fuselage section.
9 Primed center fuselage skins and remaining parts. Continued assembly of center fuselage section.
10 Continued assembly of center fuselage section.

 

11 Continued assembly of center fuselage section. Did initial assembly and some basic testing of electrical load controller. (The unit is being redesigned already to split into 2 units, but it is being used to verify functionality of the circuitry.)

 

12 No work.
13 Partially assembled LED landing light circuit board to test power control before installing LEDs.
14 Completed flap handle fit-up. LED landing light power control tested good, so assembled LEDs and optics for initial tests. Initial tests confirmed excellent light output with ~10W input power. Still need to install heatsinks, fabricate enclosure, and do more testing. Will be installing one light in the leading edge of each wing.

 

15 No work.
16 Disassembled flap handle mechanism. Drilled for pushrod bolts, prepped and primed. Started assembly of stabilator forward push-pull tube.
17 Painted flap handle.
18 Continued reassembly of center fuselage section.
19 Started control stick wiring. Found that there was no hole to get the wires out the bottom of the tube. Sent email to Ed at Rans for advice. Finished riveting of fuselage center section and reattached aft section. Started riveting center and aft fuselage sections together. Riveted stabilator forward push-pull tube. 

   

20 No work. Got answer from Ed to drill hole in side of control stick above bearing for wire exit, as shown in the pictures below from Rans.

   

21 Completed control stick wiring. Drilled 1/4" hole for wire exit and installed rubber grommet. Sleeved the wires with some network cable jacket where it leaves the stick for protection. Note - remember to put the foam grip on before you pull the wires through... :-)

   

22 Started fitting up control stick assembly.
23 No work on aircraft. Did thermal testing of LED landing light prototype - heatsink performance is acceptable.
24 Finished riveting side skins of center/aft fuselage. Riveted center belly skin except when forward fuselage overlaps. (Note that a small relief is required for one belly rivet that is too close to the side skin.) Riveted baggage deck and installed flap handle. Left the seat deck skins clecoed in case they need to be removed. Riveted aft top skins together. Transfer drilled seatbelt gusset and seatbelt angle to top skins, then started top skin installation.

   

       

25 Primed stabilator forward push-pull tube and seatbelt angles. Primed overlap areas for aft top skin assembly. Finished top skin fit-up and started riveting.

   

26 Installed stabilator forward push-pull tube and control stick torque tube.
27 Riveted aft top skins. Continued control stick assembly.

   

28 Finished control stick assembly. Assembled forward rudder cable pulleys onto rudder cables.

 

29 No work.
30 No work.
31 Started fuel shut off valve assembly. Mounted trim torque tube and trim servo.