The Fuselage – Page 2

After station 2 was glued in, the firewall was mounted, the lower double longerons were covered with ply and the landing gear gussets were added. The cockpit rear corner bows were glued in place and the baggage compartment floor was fabricated and glued to the top of the fuse.

Once the baggage compartment floor was in place work began on the turtle deck formers. All three of the formers were clamped into place and the stringer stock was put into the slots to make sure everything lined up right. With only a slight bit of adjustment the formers were glued into place. In the pictures below the stringers are only temporarily in place. Also, the access hole for the elevator horn was cut into the left side of the fuse. Of course, between major sessions, sealer has been applied to the inside of the fuselage, especially in the rear section.

The holes in the tail post for the tail spring bracket were drilled and bushed with 4130 tubing that is ¼”OD and 3/16”ID. The tail spring bracket was made with a 13 degree slant and the vertical tabs were lengthened by an inch so that three bolts could be used instead of the two called in the plans. The underfin components were made, sealed on the inside and assembled.

Holes were drilled in station 3 for the wing wire supports. The forward cockpit corner bows were installed. The spacer between station 3 and the instrument panel bow was glued in. This spacer was not beveled on the panel side since I need it to stand almost vertical because of clearance issues between the instrument panel and my larger fuel tank. The 1/8” top ply was added and the slots for the wing wire supports were cut.

I have decided to have a metal instrument panel versus the wooden one in the plans. The framework is faced with ply just as the plans call but I cut out the inside portion. I may have to add the upright bracing later but that can be done very easily if need be. (Note the cutouts for the wing wire support bolts in the bottom of the instrument panel. Cutouts were also done in the spacer to match.) I decided to build the tank support system before installing the instrument panel permanently. The tank is a flat bottom tank. The beam supports and beams were glued in place. Two stainless tank straps are held in place by anchors which are bolted the fuse sides with ½” spacers between the fuse sides and the anchors. I also glued a ¾” square standoff against the firewall to restrict any forward movement of the tank. All areas where the tank will touch are covered with ¼” rubber.

The baggage compartment door is made of metal. It has a spring loaded, push button latch. The frame is wood. It is shown here with klecos still in place.

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