Tail Cone
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31 October 2007 Section 10: The Tail Cone While we waited for a few parts to arrive for the completion of the elevator we decided to move on with the section initial steps. (10-2 steps 1-3): Tail cone assembly went well and we ended the day with several cuts to make the stiffeners that run along the tail assembly. I might mention that one of the attachment bars did not show up in the kit. Another part to order. My bad on the inventory because I had actually marked that we only had one but failed to notify Van's with the 30 day window required to get a replacement part for free. Just so you know I did not even ask I just ordered a new one since it was my fault. (10-3 step 1): We don't have a tap & die set yet so I'll skip ahead a bit… 1st step… "unbending" the horizontal stabilizer attachment bars appeared to be simple but took much more time than it should of. (10-4 thru10-7): As we progressed through the cutting of the stiffners we found we had miscut 6 of them and re-ordered the spare parts. However we continued building the bulkheads and readied the longerons for the tail section. The hobby horses were constructed which aided the match drilling and initial piece together of the tail cone for the first time. (10-7 thru 10-10): Once the J-stiffners arrived and slid into place we commenced the final drilling of those newly arrived pieces to the tail cone section. The F-1011 and F 1012 bulkheads and the elevator stop fabrication was complete and cleco'd into place as well. Its starting to look like an airplane piece. Note: We ordered the wings and fuselage but got word from Barbara that there are no kits in stock and we will be waiting for the boat from the Philippines to arrive which best guess is Jan-Feb 2008. This is not good news but will allow for some research to take place for those sections. We'll continue and hope for the best.
29 Nov 2007 Section 10: The Tail Cone (continued) (10-10 thru 10-20) I hate this section. Ok, I said it. Starting around page 10-10 Final drilling seems to last forever. That part really wasn't that bad because it was close to Thanksgiving and a number of helping hands showed up to help the bad part was that in true Van's fashion once we were finished it all came a part again. Small fabrications happened, deburring, priming, dimpling (oh the dimpling) and finally let's put it all back together again. In the course of this last month we have also taken the head coaching job for the St Dom's High School. This all volunteer job has consumed a significant amount of extra thrust we may have had and thus we are slowing down somewhat but still applying 8-12 hours a week at the hangar. Winter is here and some of those practices might get cancelled due to snow...those will be bonus days for the project. Overall we are not too worried as the QB kit will save us all...we look forward to hearing from Van's when the kits finally gets on the boat. Below are a few shots showing the initial stages the re-build just prior to riveting. 12 Jan 2008 Section 10: The Tail Cone (continued) (10-24 and Empennage attach started) We have finished up up the riveting of the tail cone section and anxiously working our way towards the final attach phase of the empennage. In fact we were so excited that we decided to order the Quick Build wings, fuselage, and finish kit. We decided to use Partain transport for the shipment and Tony tells us that the third week in January might work. We'll pray for good weather. This new phase has given us a little shot of motivation to get moving again (Post Holiday Blues) and get the empennage put together. We also have started to make bigger decisions on things like not going with the factory static ports. Naomi provided nicer static ports and slipped them into my Christmas stocking... Since I'm getting lazy I'll highlight the initial stages of the attach phase....attaching the elevator. This was a very rewarding experience as everything is starting to look like a real airplane. One last thing...the range of motion measuring (for the elevators) is somewhat ambiguous in the plans. I think we figured it out but it takes a little thought to make sure you have it right. on to section 11........ |
Documentation
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