Fuselage

Today I got the new part in the mail from Vans that I messed up (see previous entry) so I could finish up the firewall. I deburred, drilled, countersunk the correct side this time, and riveted it together. The firewall is all finished!

I'm happy to report that the vertical stiffeners that were so poorly made, as I described several days ago, ended up being okay after all the work I put into them. As you can see above and below, the firewall skin lies nice and flat now without distortion.

I riveted the sides of the firewall recess to each other, but the recess is just clecoed on for now. It will be riveted on much later. Having this hole open will make it much easier later on in the project to be able to reach through and put some of the stuff together inside the cabin. The plans specifically say to leave this for now.

Moving on, I pulled all the parts for the next sub-project; the F-704 bulkhead. These are actually parts that came with the wing kit, and have been sitting on my shelf for over a year. The center section spars for this bulkead are match-drilled to the wing spars at the factory, so they come together with your wing kit. They're gold-anodized aluminum parts, heavy duty, and gorgeous! Shown here are the vertical parts of the bulkhead. I managed to locate and drill to size the holes for the snap bushings seen above. These holes will carry the rudder cables eventually. I also deburred the little parts, brackets that rivet to the front of the bulkhead.

<< Previous | Home | Next >>