Monthly Construction Log - March 2010

Date  
1 No work.
2 Gathered parts for main gear fit-up.
3 No work.
4 Completed left main gear leg fit-up.
5 Completed fitting up right main gear leg. Radiused gear blocks and polished gear legs for priming.
6 Drilled slider plates to seat bottom frames, and counter sunk slider plates. Assembled seat slider blocks into fuselage seat deck. Veriprimed main gear and seat bottom parts. Touched gear block primer.
7 Epoxy-primed main/nose gear parts and seat bottom parts. Started seat bottom frame assembly and slider fit-up. Got right seat frame sliders shimmed/adjusted.
8 Started installing right main gear leg.
9 Transfer drilled seat pans to seat frames. Riveted lower seat back brace to seat back frames.
10 Started shimming/adjusting left seat sliders.
11 Finished shimming/adjusting left seat sliders. Drilled seat latch parts. Removed all sliders, and started prepping sliders and other seat parts for priming. Drilled holes in firewall mounts for motor mount and nose gear mount.
12 Deburred firewall mount holes.
13 Installed nose gear mount and nose gear. Upper mount points installed with temporary bolts until motor mount is installed. Had to remove one washer from nose gear stop bolts to clear nut on collar bolt. Started main wheel installation. Found that the brake caliper has very little clearance from gear leg when installed in proper position (behing gear leg, near vertical). Per RANS, it is okay to radius the gear leg for caliper clearance.

    

    

14 No work.
15 No work.
16 No work.
17 Continued seat assembly.
18 Riveted seat backs to seat back frames. (Per Ed/RANS, this is what they are doing at the factory now as well.) Put lacing wire into back cushions and melted lacing holes using an old soldering iron. Painted exposed area of seat back frame.

  
19 Collected parts for battery box, oil bottle mount, and gascolator. Installed right angle fittting into brake reservoir.
20 Radiused main gear legs for caliper clearance. Torqued all main gear mounting bolts. Fabricated bracket for mounting static line 'T' fitting. Installed clamps on right static port line where it crosses the fuselage. Installed main gear axles and put the aircraft on blocks while the wheels are being painted. Cleaned, dried and repacked the main wheel bearings.

  
21 Painted seat frames. Perpared battery box, oil bottle mount, and gascolator mount parts for priming. Drilled and riveted battery box front/rear pieces (previously primed). Drilled gascolator bracket mounting holes. Drilled holes on oil bottle mount to #11.
22 Drilled holes in firewall for brake reservoir. Drilled holes for brake line bushings and installed. Drilled brake line exit hole in belly skins.
23 Veriprimed and epoxy primed all parts. Touched up radiused area on main gear legs.
24 Painted just primed firewall-forward parts. Installed brake cylinder. Used AN3-4A bolts to get 1+ threads projection through tension nut. Re-installed seat slides. Assembled seat latches with temporary outer pin until I can press the roll pin in.

  
25 Pressed outer roll pin into seat latch mechanisms.
26 No work.
27 No work.
28 Reinstalled, adjusted, and tightened all seat slider blocks and seat latch . Had to remove some material from rear of outboard seatback gussets for clearance when installing seat into sliders. Riveted gascolator mount together. Finished seat assembly except final installation of seat bottom cushion until glue on velcro cures completely. Riveted gascolator mount to firewall. Page 13-01 in assembly manual shows six CCPQ-41, but outboard side needs to be CCPQ-42. Riveted battery box, oil bottle mount, and coolant bottle mount.Page 13-01 also lists incorrect number of AN3-11A - should be 7 vice 4. The lower outboard bolt in the battery box only goes the firewall sheet itself, not any firewall structure like the other bolts - installed an AN3-10A there instead of AN3-11A. Will talk to RANS about both tomorrow. Started motor mount installation. Drawing on page 13-03 does not show washer between upper nosegear mount and firewall that is shown on page 09B-01. Looks like it should be there - will confirm with RANS tomorrow as well. Upper bolts also do not have a full thread projecting beyond tension nut - might need to adjust washer sizes.

    

    

29 Talked with Ed/RANS - he confirmed the items I mentioned in yesterday's report, including that the washer needs to be between the upper nosegear mount and the firewall. He is sending needed fasteners. He also sent a PDF with the locations for the firewall fuel fitting and the coolant bottle mount (a bit too late on that one, but I'm close enough).

Replaced brake caliper bolts with AN4H-16A for safety wiring. Drilled 9/16" hole in firewall for fuel fitting and deburred.
30 Routed transponder antenna cable through spar carry-through. Removed fuel selector valve to install right-angle fittings on tank inlets (will need to order one from RANS). Drilled hole in fuel valve support angle for fuel line grommet. Riveted support angle to floor member. Installed bulkhead fuel fitting, with straight adapter on cockpit side. Drilled battery retaining bar and installed. Connected rudder cables to rudder pedals except cotter pin. Flagged with orange tape as a reminder.

    

      
31 Ordered fuel fittings from RANS Outlet to firewall uses 45 degree, inlets from tanks use 90 degree. Aso order 5/16 thin washers and two AN5-23A bolts to be sure to have the upper motor mount bolts correct. Drilled holes in fuselage side skins for fuel line and electrical from wings, installed grommets.Put bottom seat cushions on seats and bagged them to keep them clean. Started brake line installation. Started footstep installation.