2 hrs. misc center fuselage.

Priming some firewall forward parts.

Installed M4 rivnuts on the side of the console.  I think two more go on top, but I want to double check first.

Joystick end of pushrod (both sides) done!

Started pulling stuff away from the firewall since I need to rivet some things down.  Took the firewall off after this photo.

3 hrs. removing the side skins (again...), installing the copilot joystick and gathering firewall parts.

Got my BSH-010 parts from CA so I could finally finish my copilot joystick assembly.

Side skin off...

The washers are lightly glued to the locnuts for the joystick assembly.

Good lighting is essential!

The hands of a surgeon and the patience of a monk are required for this assembly.  Which means I did a lot of cursing...

But, it's done!  Connecting the cross-fuselage aileron pushrod took half an hour...  Couldn't imagine doing that with the side skins on, so I'm glad it's done.

Other skin off and engine mount retrieved from storage.

Gathering firewall parts...  Seems I'm missing FF-SPC-001-X-A-0 (Bracket Spacer).  Need 4. Looked everywhere and can't find these.

Testing out the pushrods.

I've updated my Firewall Forward Page with my latest thinking on that subject.

2 hrs. reinstalling the rear closing brackets and cleaning/priming GUS-007.

Speaking of GUS-007, those parts are part of a bunch of parts for moving the rear seats forward.  But, the big question is, am I going to do that?  Checking my inventory it seems I don't have most of the parts to do that modification.  I wasn't going to do it if I used the 915 because it's heavier.  But, do I really need to do it if I use the 914 or the modified 912?  My avionics suite is going to be chock full of boxes so I will already have a heavier front-end.  I could also make sure to put my ELT as far forward as I can.  Time to write the factory....

I've extensively updated my Task List...

EDIT: Good thing I just looked at the Firewall Forward Manual...  There are things that need to be done before riveting the center fuselage skins on...

This part, CF-ANG -026, is not shown in the manual.  This is where it goes.

Bottom view.  I mentioned the other day that the bottom holes don't line up between the side skin and the firewall and I heard from another builder that they just drilled extra holes to make this connection.

Getting this torque tube to fit well, tightly, but not too tightly, so it still moves easily.... Pain in the ass....

But, I did it and it rotates easily, but has no play.

.5 hrs. deciding I wasn't in the mood today to work on it too much...  Mostly for the reasons below.

The holes between the skins on firewall seem to be misaligned for the bottom few holes.

Bottom view.

Gathering some parts, including the two trapezoidal parts on the right which will need to be installed into the rear fuselage (requires drilling out some rivets).  These parts are part of the modification to move the seats more forward.  I wasn't going to do this if I was using the 915 (heavier), but if I go with the 914 or modified 912, then the seats need to be in the forward position.

Some rivets in there that can only be done with the side skins out of the way...

3 hrs. on side skins and closing brackets.

Right side skin mostly on for fuselage join.

Other side view.

Cleaning and priming the panel rib and top skin for the center fuselage (not shown here).

The closing brackets for the rear elevator torque tube was a bit too loose for my liking so I removed them to do them over (fortunately I have 3 spares).

1 hr. putting the left skin back on in prep for the fuselage joining.

I put one of the cross-fuselage jigs back in to make sure things stay in proper place when I join the center and rear.