Fuselage

Well, today was a big day around our house. We have been hosting a foreign student, Naomi, from Japan. She is a lovely girl, an excellent student, and a delight to have in our home. Today was her high school graduation. Congratulations, Naomi! She had many honors, including a 4.0 gpa. Her parents travelled all the way here from Japan to be at her graduation, and we had a wonderful time having them as guests in our home. They didn't speak english, so Naomi had lots of opportunity to practice her translating skills as we visited with them. Her father is a vice-principle in a school, and her mother is a teacher. News of my airplane project must have travelled to Japan, because the first thing they wanted to see was the airplane!

So I took them out into the shop and we had a great time. Naomi commented several times that her Dad was extremely impressed and interested. Indeed, I had his total attention as I showed him everything I could about the whole project, including the use of my tools and the things I was currently working on. It's nice to know we have new friends in a far away place, and that we made a big impression on some very nice people. Who knows... maybe another RV kit will find it's way to a new builder in Japan. Do they build RV's in Japan?

We all posed for this shot today after the graduation commencement. We had a wonderful time with these nice people.

Later on, back in the shop, I found more work that needed to be done before continuing with the dismantling of the fuselage. Just a couple of little items, but they need to be done, nonetheless.

These 5 rivets, on the outermost left and right sides of the center section, need to be "double flush" rivets. That means no dimples. Both sides need to be countersunk. The flush rivet heads go on the outside and the insides are bucked flush into countersinks like we did on the rudders' trailing edge. So I took care of this little chore tonight. The reason for this is because the gear leg bracket needs to sit flush in this spot, and the bucktails of standard rivets would stand proud and get in the way.

Next, before pulling the side skin, I realized that now is the time to drill and ream out these two holes. They are for the flap actuator rod. I'll probably be enlarging the top hole some more, but at least this much is done for now. Then, I pulled off the side skin. I just pulled the right one for now. The best storage place for the left one while I work on this one is to just leave it in place for now. So I'll do all the prep work on this skin, then pull the other one off.

Right side skin lying on the work bench, ready for all the prep work.

It looks kinda funny to see the fuselage like this again. This is progress? Sure is!

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