4 hrs. cleaning and priming parts.

All deburred and cleaned and ready for priming.

Priming done, now gathering the parts for the Rib 2 assembly and the next step, which is the tail cone assembly.

NEXT TASKS:

1. Rib 2 assembly.
2. Tail cone assembly.
3. Need to find the rudder and elevator guides for these assemblies as they weren't in the Rib assembly parts bags (I think I found them in the rudder cable bag - to be confirmed).
4. Fill bottom rivets of elevator and fillet the composite tips of it to the skin (to be done in "spare" time).
5. Rivet the one on the left wing's step rib that needs special handling.?? (to be done in "spare" time).

2 hrs. continuing the prep of parts.

Found out I'm missing the part RF-GUS-005-R-C-0.  The Left version is seen on the bottom left.  Hoping the factory can get it to me quickly.

NEXT TASKS:

1. Continue prep of parts.
2. Need to find the rudder and elevator guides for these assemblies as they weren't in the Rib assembly parts bags (I think I found them in the rudder cable bag - to be confirmed).
3. Fill bottom rivets of elevator and fillet the composite tips of it to the skin (to be done in "spare" time).
4. Rivet the one on the left wing's step rib that needs special handling.?? (to be done in "spare" time).

2.5 hrs. gathering parts for the next several steps and starting the prep.

Started moving fuselage parts under my build table so they'll be easier to find.  Spent at least 30 minutes looking for the longerons...  Looked everywhere... Several times...  Where are they?!?

...only to realize that they were in the nearly hidden long tube I hadn't opened...  And there they were...

All of the longerons with their plastic pulled off.  Many more parts to be done...  Including the first several skins to be riveted on.

NEXT TASKS:

1. Continue prep of parts.
2. Need to find the rudder and elevator guides for these assemblies as they weren't in the Rib assembly parts bags (I think I found them in the rudder cable bag - to be confirmed).
3. Fill bottom rivets of elevator and fillet the composite tips of it to the skin (to be done in "spare" time).
4. Rivet the one on the left wing's step rib that needs special handling.?? (to be done in "spare" time).

1.5 hrs. assembling Rear Ribs 4 and 3.

Figured out based on discussions with the factory about the holes of Ribs 401 L & R not lining up that those Ribs were mislabeled: L is R and R is L.  That was the only way things lined up all the way around (including the proper orientation of the corner pieces as per the instructions).  Here I'm cleco'ing the parts into the jig and placing the rivets ready to be pulled.

Once all the holes not going through the jig are pulled then it's time to take it out of the jig and pull the rest.

...pulling the rest out of the jig.

And Rear Rib 4 is done.

Rib 3...  If you look close in the instructions you can see it shows the parts with the flanges facing away...  So, I flipped it over and attached the jig from behind.  But, I found, the holes connecting the top ribs to the side ribs did not line up...  After starting over and trying every possibility, it turned out that again the top ribs were mislabeled..  L is R and R is L.  I'm sure of this since the hole patterns all the way around are unique and the corner pieces had to have their chamfered corner up, so the only way was to swap the top pieces.  Hey, I was the only kid to get 100% on the really hard final exam in my drafting class in high school, so I must be right. ;-).  I thought about it for a good 20 minutes before I said it must be and riveted it.  We'll see...

If anybody in the factory can look at this Rib 3 assembly and tell me it's wrong, please let me know!

NEXT TASKS:

1. Start to gather parts for the next several pages of instructions and start to prep them.
2. Need to find the rudder and elevator guides for these assemblies as they weren't in the Rib assembly parts bags.
3. Fill bottom rivets of elevator and fillet the composite tips of it to the skin (to be done in "spare" time).
4. Rivet the one on the left wing's step rib that needs special handling.?? (to be done in "spare" time).

4.5 hrs. working on fuselage sub-assemblies.

As I noted in my last post the holes in parts Rib 901 and Angle 6 did not line up and it turns out it was because the flange bend in 901 was distorted as you can see here.  I've found this kind of problem a bit tricky to fix in the past, so this time I made a tool to help...

A piece of wood with a slot in it to push down on the flange without bending it.

Before.

Some banging on the wood yielded a better bend.  Still required some more banging without the slot tool, but I got it to the point where the holes are reasonably lined up.

Here's after the miscellaneous banging.  Much better.

These rivet holes needed to be countersunk and I found that was easiest to do it with my deburring tool.

And all the rivnuts are installed!

Checking the fit of the tail cone sub-assembly.

 You do the Rib 6 assembly first so you can get the rivet gun in there (that is noted in the instructions).

And the rear rib assembly is done!

Here's the jig for the next set of ribs.

Rib 5 assembly in place.

Making sure they're lined up perfectly with the jig.

Rib 5 assembly was done, but I forgot to take a picture.  This is of the top of the Rib 4 assembly and there's an issue....  Those two tabs have to overlap and the 4 holes should rivet together.  But, it's clear to see they won't line up...  Wrote to the factory to see what they say.

NEXT TASKS:

1. Rib 4 assembly issue resolution and meanwhile I can start on the Rib 3 assembly.
2. Need to find the rudder and elevator guides for these assemblies as they weren't in the Rib assembly parts bags.
3. Fill bottom rivets of elevator and fillet the composite tips of it to the skin (to be done in "spare" time).
4. Rivet the one on the left wing's step rib that needs special handling.?? (to be done in "spare" time).

2 hrs. priming parts and starting fuselage sub-assemblies.

Bought a set of precision hex wrenches.  There are many hex head bolts ahead so it's best to have a quality set (as opposed to the lower quality kind that have all the sizes in one hand-held piece).

Ready for priming!

First discrepancy with the instructions (Rib 9).  The instructions say 4mm rivets here, but these are 4.8mm holes.

But the attaching part is 4mm, so they had to be reamed out to 4.8mm.

And then when I attached the next piece...  These top holes don't line up... Grrr...

So, factory, what are the correct measurements for these parts, so that I can determine which one is incorrect?

Rib 8 went together easily.

Rib 7 also went together easily.

Four of the holes on Rib 7 were close to a flange so I bent the mandrels to better rivet them.

Here's my little hand-made widget for riveting bent mandrels.

And Rib 7 is done.

Rib 6 fit well.

Rib 6 done for now (some holes get riveted later).

Ribs 8, 7 and 6.

NEXT TASKS:

1. Start 5, 4 and 3 Rib sub-assemblies while I find out about Rib 9.
2. Fill bottom rivets of elevator and fillet the composite tips of it to the skin (to be done in "spare" time).
3. Rivet the one on the left wing's step rib that needs special handling.?? (to be done in "spare" time).

2 hrs. prepping fuselage parts.

My prep station.  A container with 2 parts water to 1 part Extreme Simple Green and then into a pure water rinse container.  Deburred and then did the 2-step cleaning.  Ready for priming!

Took the day off from building yesterday to do a hike up Cannon Mountain in New Hampshire.  This is a view of Lonesome Lake.

Me near the summit.

NEXT TASKS:

1. Prime fuselage ribs 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, and 3.
2. Fill bottom rivets of elevator and fillet the composite tips of it to the skin (to be done in "spare" time).
3. Rivet the one on the left wing's step rib that needs special handling.?? (to be done in "spare" time).
4. Start assembly of those sub-assemblies.

2 hrs. sanding elevator rivets and starting on prep'ing fuselage parts.

Other side done, flipped it over to do the other side (and the tips).  Will do that in-between fuselage work.

Rear Fuselage Ribs 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4 and 3 ready for deburring, cleaning and priming.

NEXT TASKS:

1. Fill bottom rivets of elevator and fillet the composite tips of it to the skin (to be done in "spare" time).
2. Rivet the one on the left wing's step rib that needs special handling.?? (to be done in "spare" time).
3. Prep rear fuselage ribs 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, and 3.
4. Start assembly of those sub-assemblies.

1 hr. filling elevator rivets and cleaning up a bit for the fuselage construction.

Got all the top rivets filled on the elevator.

Cleaned up the benches for the fuselage construction.  I'm going to start on it tomorrow even though it will take me a few days to finish up the elevator.

NEXT TASKS:

1. Fill bottom rivets of elevator and fillet the composite tips of it to the skin.
2. Rivet the one on the left wing's step rib that needs special handling.??
3. START ON FUSELAGE!

I've added a new page to this blog called Painting where I can show what my current thinking is in regards to that task.  Just a start for now.

2 hrs. Inserting and riveting in the composite tip of the elevator and putting the right wing on the shelf.

Test fitting of the tip.  Like the tip at the other end which I did over a year ago I had to file down the trailing edge to get it to fit.

Starting  in the middle you drill out the holes one at a time.  Work your way out from there adding clecos.

All the holes drilled and sized!

Took out the tip to clean all the debris from drilling.  Lots to clean!

Ready to rivet!

And it's done!

After reading parts of the maintainance manual (which I recommend you print out for reference before you start building) I realized there were several types of threadlock I didn't have.  So many types!!!

Some friends came over to help put the wing on the shelf.  Thanks guys!

NEXT TASKS:

1. Fill rivets of elevator.
2. Rivet the one on the left wing's step rib that needs special handling.??
3. START ON FUSELAGE!