Completed Structure Overview (626hrs)

Time for an update to the big picture. I'm leaving the Fuel Tanks as "in work" until they get tested, so those are still highlighted red. And I'm starting on the ailerons tomorrow, so I went ahead and highlighted those as "in work" as well.

626 hrs Total Time Building
185.5 hrs of the total belong to the Wings (includes tank time)
75.25 hrs solely to the Fuel Tanks
440.5 hrs is a mixture of tail and fuselage, both still have work to be done on them

 

As always blue is completed and red is in work.



Finished Fuel Tanks

Well.....I finished building the Fuel Tanks. I still need to test and then install them. But, for now, I'm done with Proseal, MEK, and the slow process of tank building. I don't feel as excited or relieved as I thought I would be when I finally finished these things, maybe I'll feel that way when they are tested and installed. Other than being a complete PITA, the tanks assembled in a straight forward manner without much head-scratching. The one hang up I had with the tanks was the very last step when installing the Fuel Drain valves. In my mind the valves should have screwed all the way in, when in reality they leave about a 1/4" of thread exposed and kinda stick out from the tanks (sorry no picture). So, in an effort to monkey torque these in I galled up the threads a little....oops. I still have plenty of thread engagement and I installed them with Proseal so hopefully no leaking issues....there is always something that leaves you nagging in every section.



Saturday April 20th - 3.25hrs - Finished Vent line install, installed fuel sending units, finished fillet seal edges on last rib.

Sunday April 21st - 6.25hrs - Scuffed baffle, spread Proseal on baffle, riveted baffle, riveted mount brackets

Tuesday April 23rd - 1.5hrs - Finished sealing baffle and shop head of rivets.

Wednesday April 24th - 1.5hrs - Cleaned shop and wiped down tools with MEK to remove all the Proseal. I'm counting this as Fuel Tank time since the tools only required that level of cleaning because of the tanks.

12.5hrs to Fuel Tanks = 75.25 hrs Total Fuel Tank Time

LH Fuel Level Sending Unit Installed. Notice the extra bend near the float I needed to create so the wire wouldn't hit the bottom of the tank.

RH Fuel Level Sending Unit. Same as Left.

 



Getting ready to install aft baffle.

Fuel Tanks complete!

 

 

I slid the fuel tanks under the fuselage for safe storage. In a few weeks, when I know all the Proseal is cured, I will test them and mount them to the wing.

 

Tube Flaring - Fuel Tanks #11

April 17th 1.25hrs
Obviously this post is a little behind, but I've been busy, and secretly I'm further along than this post shows....but that's for another post on another day.

I flared the vent lines using this tool:

It's a Parker 212FB Rolo-Flair 37° Manual Rotary Flaring Tool and it works great! It comes with a small writeup of instructions, although, it's rather intuitive. Play around with the thing for a few minutes and you're a pro.

I checked the flare against this spec:

and it was dead on....a perfect flare.

I followed this spec for torque:

You can easily work on the vent line with the Inboard Rib in place.

Nice flare.

I cleaned the inside of the tanks with Acetone and inspected the seals and added Proseal anywhere I thought necessary.

Random pic of the baby.

APPLESAUCE!

Fuel Tanks Post #10

If my counting skills are correct I think this is the 10th post that deals with Fuel Tanks. Last night was a productive evening. I went through the tanks and applied extra sealent where I thought it needed it. I got the last rib prosealed and riveted in place. The vent line is cut, with my new cutting tool, and slid into place. The flare tool arrives today so hopefully tonight I can knock that out. If all goes well I might be finishing these tanks this weekend!

Monday 15th - 1.25hrs - Sealed tanks, started bending fuel sending unit wire

Tuesday 16th - 2.25hrs - Sealed tanks, riveted last rib

 

3.5hrs to Fuel Tanks = 61.5hrs total on Fuel Tanks

Fuel Tanks and Flap Fairing

I've been driving an old truck for the past decade. The kind of truck that every component around the engine is new. You name it, I probably replaced that part on this truck at least once. As the truck approached 200,000 miles it just didn't run like it used to, so I stopped using the AC or else it would just not run at all. Well, eventually the AC just wouldn't run at all. So, I drove around for years without an AC....in ALABAMA. Yeah it's hot. I really needed a new vehicle but never wanted to spend the money. Then Ayla was on her way and this gave me the excuse I needed to just buy a new car. Of course my wife gets the new car and I get her hand me down car....so what, at least the AC works. Until I started driving it, I fired up the AC last week and nothing but hot air...go figure. Well, this AC I'm fixing. Busted out the tools on Saturday, pulled a vacuum on the system, added leak dye, and now she's icy cold.

After fixing the car's AC Saturday morning I went to work on the Fuel Tanks. Yay more fuel tank work! I'm getting so close to finishing these I can smell it, and it's not just the MEK fumes.

--
I forgot to post a little work I did last Monday night.
Monday 8th - 0.75hrs on the Flap Gap Fairing. Deburred and dimpled skins. The dimling is fast work with the pneumatic squeezer.
--

Saturday 13th - 2.5hrs on Fuel Tanks. Clecoed J-Channel and Attach Bracket eith Proseal, wiped down and scuffed edges of ribs for baffle install later. The J-Channel sliding into position wasn't too bad. I really see why you need to smear the Proseal on the tank skin first, it would be a real mess otherwise.
                       - 1.0hrs on the Flap Gap Fairing. Dimpled and riveted onto skin.

Sunday 14th  - 4.5hrs riveted all the above Prosealed stuff together.

7.0hrs to Fuel Tanks = 58hrs total on Fuel Tanks

OK kids this is the advanced Proseal application class....using an inspection mirror.

Fuel Tank attach bracket riveted in place.

 

 

Flap Gap Fairing clecoed in place.

Fuel Tanks and Lower Skins

A beautiful weekend here in North Alabama to work on your airplane. Of course, I had more work on the fuel tanks with that great stuff we call proseal. I was able to use the pneumatic squeezer on all of the rivets of the outer ribs. Although, the process is still really slow this was an improvement over riveting.
FYI
An example of all the steps involved on the fuel tanks for each rivet:
1. Remove prosealed cleco
2. Drill out hole to clean out proseal
3. Twist MEK soaked countersink in hole to really clean it out.
4. Wipe away surface of old proseal
5. Squeeze a little proseal in the hole
6. Carefully pick up only one rivet using a sticky punch dipped in proseal
7. Insert rivet and press firmly
8. Smear proseal flat
9. Set rivet and move on to the next one
You see.....it's just slow.

Since this fuel tank proseal stuff is so slow I decided to start on the wing's lower skins. This is some work that I can do for an hour here and there throughout the week. I'll get back to the time sucking fuel tanks next weekend. I finished up Saturday saying "you know these fuel tank things aren't too bad" then I began to work on the lower skins...no proseal, no 9 steps, etc....I realized the joy of building that I had been missing. Wow...look how fast I can go from one step to the next! No mess! This is great! By Sunday I was saying "you know these fuel tank things really do suck".

Friday 5th - Prosealed and clecoed outer ribs, Cap ring, Fuel Drain, other parts
  2.5hrs
Saturday 6th - Riveted all the parts clecoed on Friday
  4.75hrs
Sunday 7th - Started lower wing skin section with the flap closeout panels.
  1.75hrs

7.25hrs to Fuel Tanks = 51hrs total on Fuel Tanks

View looking down into the fuel tank with filler tab clecoed in place.

Outer ribs riveted and prosealed.

Inner rib and fuel drain clecoed and prosealed.

Tanks and Wing Skin...Again

Tuesday Night
I worked on some parts of the fuel tanks that didn't require sealant. I just didn't have enough time to mix a batch and get some work done. I also needed to complete these steps so the parts will be ready to cleco in proseal to the tanks. I dimpled and riveted the shims and bearings to the support bracket. I also worked on the wings a little, riveting the aileron brackets to the spar and rib.

1.5 hrs total
0.75 to wings
0.75 to fuel tank work = 43.75 hrs total on Fuel Tanks

Wednesday Night
I posted a while back about a good friend of mine stopping by to help rivet the RH wing skin. Well he is such a great friend that he stopped by again to help finish it up. Thank you Devin! I now only have a small row on the outboard side of  the skin and the RH upper wing skin will finally be finished. As a note, I have found that the row of rivet that attach the skin to the spar set a lot better if you install them the normal way, i.e. not using a back rivet bucking bar. Trying to install these with the back riveting bar will result in the skins not being flush with the outboard leading edge skin.

1.25 hrs to upper wing skin

We moved the LH wing off the side table to the stand, where it belongs, now that all the rivets are installed!

 

Fuel Tanks Post #6

More Fuel Tank fun. What more can a guy ask for? I think I'm now over the hardest part of the fuel tanks (at least I think so) with another weekend of installing the ribs. It is truly amazing how much the proseal slows things down. I'm typing this post a day after working on the tanks and I will be honest, I hurt a little, muscles aching and tight from the prior days labor. See comments under the pics for more detail of this weekends work.

23rd     3.75 hrs     Clecoed prosealed ribs into place, alodined parts, nutplates, filler tab
24th     6.25hrs      Riveting ribs with proseal

10 hrs on Fuel Tanks = 43hrs Total

The only fillet seal I felt worthy of taking a picture. I've learned that Proseal is not my craft.

I'm making a fuel tab to hang down inside the tank. This will aid in depth perception when filling the tanks and provide another reference point other than empty, full, and somewhere in between. How much fuel will be in the tanks when filled to the bottom of the tab? Good question. I won't know until I try it out, but it doesn't matter. It's somewhere in between full and empty, but this will provide a defenitive point of reference while filling the tanks.

View looking down into tank. The tab is 3.5" long.

The ribs clecoed in place. A cleco in every hole.

Installed nutplates on all the fuel tank attach brackets.

 

Another weekend on the fuel tanks with all the center ribs riveted in place with proseal.

I received my Gretz pitot mast in the mail. I needed this before working on my lower skins. There isn't much to it. Can't say it's worth the $100 it cost, maybe the special shaped tubing that makes the mast is expensive. Regardless, I need the thing to mount the Dynon AOA/Heated Pitot I will be installing.

Attack of the Sealant

It was a normal day, as normal can be, for a man building an airplane in his backyard shop as I began to work on the dreaded fuel tanks again. It all started with mixing the Proseal as its peculiar sulfuric scent filled the air of the shop. With the use of multiple layers of gloves and open windows and doors I began to rivet the ribs into their final resting place. Squeezing and spreading more of the thick black caustic goo onto the tank ribs. I was doing well until I noticed some had gotten onto the work bench. I quickly wiped it up and carried on with my work. Then I noticed a black smear on my shirt, curious 'How did that get there' I thought. No wait it is now on my jeans. I quickly changed gloves to a new clean pair to prohibit the spreading of the sticky black goo. This appears to have only angered the substance as it is now spreading even faster; my gloves, shirt, jeans are covered, the workbench may need to be burned to rid it of the goo. It's moving farther now onto the floor and to the other work bench. It appears to be beyond my control. I'm beginning to fear the worst. For the safety of my family and all of humanity I'm locking myself in the shop, closing all doors and windows. This self quarantine may be the only hope we have for survival as a species. The black goo is taking over...

This may be my last post......build on without me.


16th   2.0    Clecloed ribs in place with Proseal
17th   5.75  Riveted ribs in place with Proseal

9.75hrs on Fuel Tanks = 33hrs Total

Fuel Tanks Post #4

The fourth post to include work on the tanks with many to follow I'm sure.

Friday Night
I had a small can of proseal left over from a while ago so I just mixed the remaining amounts of the two parts into the larger can. I then smeared the proseal onto the stiffening angles like peanut butter covering everything. Then clecoed them in place. I'm following the method posted here...
http://www.vansairforce.com/community/showthread.php?t=7602

Saturday
After working on several other parts of the fuel tanks; deburring, dimpling, etc. It was time to rivet the stiffening angles into place. I used popsicle sticks to measure my mixture of proseal. It's a 10 to 1 ratio so 10 scoops of the white stuff to 1 scoop of the black to make a beautifully smelly gray paste that we call Proseal. Then I scooped the mixture off the paper plate into a ziploc, squeezed it all to one end, snipped off the tip and had myself a nice Proseal applicator. A pastry chef would be proud. Clean out the rivet hole with a drill then add dollup of Proseal and slide the rivet in. Fill all the holes in each stiffener. Lay the set up down on a back rivet plate and finish the job. Clean up and move on to the next set of stiffeners. Then add a filet to the edges and another dollop on the shop head of the rivet and your done. No big deal....but it takes three times as long as you would think.

Sunday
Same as Saturday with the addition of making plugs for the ribs tooling holes. When the ribs are made there are holes about 3/16" in size in each of them from the hydroforming process they go through to be made. I have found through experience that usually when there are holes in something they tend to leak : ). So I made a patch from some thin aluminum to be held in by Proseal and two small rivets just to make sure they will never come off.

Date                Time
Friday 8th       2.5hrs    
Saturday 9th   4.25hrs  
Sunday 10th   4.25hrs

11hrs on Fuel Tanks = 25.25hrs Total

Tanks and Wing Skin

Taxes are complete so I can go back to enjoying being alive and building my airplane.

We had a little snow and cold weather this past weekend so starting the day was delayed until the shop warmed up. I dimpled the RH upper wing skin and have it hanging in place with a few clecos. Now I just need someone to help rivet...

The rest of the weekend was spent on the fuel tanks. Since all the holes are drilled out I marked the parts and disassembled the tanks. For a large part of the time the whole family was in the shop building the airplane. Jess was deburring parts and Ayla was sleeping, which is the best way a 10 week old can contribute : ). The skins and several parts are now deburred dimpled. Looks like it's almost Proseal time! Read the following statement ripe with sarcasm...Yay I'm so excited.

Date Time
2 3.0 Fuel tank and wing skin
3 4.75 Fuel tank

5.25 on Fuel Tanks = 14.25hrs Total

Fuel Tanks

I worked a little on the fuel tanks this past weekend. I have all the parts clecoed together and drilled out, with the exception of the cracked attach bracket. Not much to report although I'm finding, again, its sometimes better to slightly reorganize the plans to become more efficient at the build. Small, little time savings steps that may add up to a respectable amount of time. Although, now that I am at a decent stopping point I decided to put my tools down for a while and do my taxes : (. I hate this time of year.

22 0.75 countersink tank attach zees, cleco baffle
23 1.75 drill, countersink tank skins

Started Fuel Tanks

I officially started the fuel tanks this past weekend and then became very busy this week, resulting in a delayed post. I plan on keeping track of the hours I work on the tanks specifically. I want to do this because I've seen people log over 100hrs on these things and I want to know how that happens. I'm sure it will add up pretty quick.

This past weekend I made all the little stiffeners that go in the tanks. Clecoed together a majority of the parts and then drilled them out. As I was unwrapping the protective blue plastic from T-1005-L Tank Attach Bracket I noticed a 0.25" crack in a hole that is in the bend radius. Not good. So I called Vans and they will be sending me a new one. I will definitely be deburring these holes very well as there are probably a lot of small barely detectable cracks along the edge. It's a really poor placement of a hole along a bend radius unless you drill after bending. I also installed the fuel caps, which was easy. I used a little bit of double sided sticky tape to ensure they didn't move while drilling the first two holes. It worked out well. I hope to get back at it this weekend. I also have two quarts of Proseal coming from Vans.

Date Time
17 2.0 started fuel tanks, cutting stiffeners, clecoing parts
18 4.5 fuel tank work, clecoed ribs, drilled out parts, clecoed fuel cap