Tail Fit and Fairing Finishing

Last post I talked about the "unscheduled" paint day. I stopped working on the ignition install and painted all of my interior stuff due to some unexpected nice weather. Well I have another "work detour". I have an opportunity to get my non fuselage parts painted. I'll explain...I was looking into having my plane painted, after I was finished building and flying, at a paint shop. They take around 12 weeks to paint the plane. I didn't like the idea of flying around "naked" without paint for the entire summer and then having the plane down for 12 weeks after I finally had it flying. Then opportunity knocks. A friend of mine, Kris, and his Dad, Donny, stop by to check out the plane. Donny has refinished cars and does body work and painting. Well, you can see where this is going, we reached an agreement to have him paint the plane. This works out to my advantage in that he can go ahead and start painting anything that is not attached to the fuselage in his shop and then come back to my shop and paint the fuselage. Saves a bunch of my time and I only lose out on the few weeks it takes to the paint the fuselage. But it does mean that everything needs to be ready to paint. So I changed gears again and went back to finishing up some things I had put off years ago to completely finish everything for paint.

I started back on the tail after almost 3 years. I never finished this before because it takes up a lot of room. I needed to install the tail and then install all the fairings to prepare them for paint. Tail step one...install horizontal stabilizer. After some simple measurements to ensure it is straight, just drill some holes and install.

Shim plates in place and drilled.

Thought I'd show how the elevator horns install into the tailcone.

Elevators in place and in clamped in neutral trailing position to drill holes into the elevator horns that mate up with the control tube inside the tailcone. At this point you ensure you have the needed travel on the elevators. They are supposed to travel up and down a certain amount of degrees. I just used my iPhone to take the measurements, simple, accurate, and effective.

Installed the vertical stabilizer and rudder. Then, after trimming, installed the fairings. I eventually made some pointed guide pins from #10 bolts to help install the rudder. Otherwise it was a pain to get the attach points to line up correctly. You have to install and remove the rudder several times during all of this so I suggest you just make them early.

Here is a picture of the transition fairing sitting in place. It's not trimmed yet. But looks good.

The horizontal stabilizer tip fairings take some fancy trim work to allow clearance for the elevator and its tip fairing through full elevator movement.

After trimming the stabilizer tip fairing, which results in a complex curve on both the top and bottom. I decided to use some scrap door fiberglass material to make the aft closeout. I first taped the closeout in place and then took the tip off the stabilizer. Then fiberglassed inside of the tip using flox to make a bead along the joining corners and then a layer of glass cloth over that. I then clecoed it back onto the stabilizer to ensure it dried in the shape needed to fit.

After drying I just sanded down the mating edges. Done. And looks great.

I trimmed down the intersection fairing and then drilled all the holes and countersinks.

The plane looked so cool with the tail on!

Window Edging

I've been holding off on writing this blog until I finished up the task. Well, it took A LOT longer than what it was supposed to. 

Dates and Times

April

Wed 30 -1.5hrs- finished light wiring 

May

Sat 3  -5.5hrs- window edging prep

Sun 4 -5.5hrs- window edging laid up

Mon 5 -1.5hrs- window sanding and disaster

Tues6 -1.0hr- sanding off old stuff

Wed 7 -1.25hrs- more sanding

Sat 10 -6.5hrs- window prep and laid up new layer of fiberglass

Sun 11 -3.0hrs- more sanding

Tues13 -0.5hr- more sanding

Sat 17 -2.5hrs- so much sanding

Sun 18 -3.0hrs- more sanding and cleaned out the shop

I started off masking and sanding all of the windows. I used the same tape as I did for the windscreen fairing.

A closer shot of everything taped off. I used the same little jig tool to draw a line around the window offset from the edge to place the tape. The radius's at each corner are from circles I printed off on paper of many different sizes. I then cut out the radius I wanted which made a good template for the curve.

Here is a shot of the edge of the door. You can see how I placed tape around the entire perimeter of the door, two layers of duct tape and a layer of electrical tape. I then cut it even with the outer skin of the door. This will result in an even gap around the entire door. You can also see in this picture how the door has a nice sloping curve and the cabin top does not resulting in a slight misalignment.

I then taped around the edge of the door and onto the outer skin to prevent fiberglass adhering to the door itself. In this image you can also see a flat spot on the cabin top in relation to the door....its right in the middle of the picture.

With everything taped up I laid my first bit of fiberglass. First I filled the gaps around the edges of the windows and then laid 2" fiberglass cloth down. The strips were cut from the same type cloth used in the windscreen. I only did around the top of the windscreen and the back windows at this point.

The next day I came out to start sanding everything down when I discovered that nothing was sticking. The glass cloth was peeling off in strips....not good.

This resulted in days of sanding and scraping to get all the old stuff off the plane. It was a major pain in the butt and very disappointing. This set me back a few weeks of work.

I think I know what happened:
1. Original: sanded with orbital sander and 60 grit paper. The orbital didn't "scratch" up the surface enough. New Layup: used 60 grit paper and sanded in 90 degree patterns creating a "scratched" cross pattern around the entire perimeter.

2. Original: cleaned with acetone and therefore smoothed out the ridges from sanding.
New Layup: cleaned with just water.

3. Original: Laid cloth down and applied a thickened epoxy. I was thinking of preventing runs but resulted in cloth not absorbing enough of the resin to harden and adhere properly.
New Layup: wetted entire perimeter with just epoxy and then did a very wet layup of the fiberglass using non thickened epoxy.

The second time I did this the layup looked much nicer than the first. Practice is everything.

This time I also picked up a flexible sanding block and adhesive backed paper. The sanding block is very important to getting a nice gentle curve. VERY important...basically not possible without it.

The second layup stood up to the sanding and trying to peel it off. So with my new sanding block I started sanding, sanding, and sanding. Here is a picture of the old intersection I showed above. Looks much nicer now.

An overall picture. So much sanding. I am not really enjoying this part. Fiberglass dust is awfull stuff.

I finally got a point that I can say I am finished for now. The dust was so bad in the shop dunes were starting to form. I just pulled everything out and blew it off with the air hose. My next goal is to finish a few things up in the tail so I can rivet that last skin on. Then I will finish the rest of the body work for good.

Cabin Top is Installed!

Sooooo behind on posts.

I finally got my overhead to a state that is acceptable to permanently mount to the rest of the fuselage. I think the paint turned out great and I finally got to see what the overhead looked like with the reading lights and the cabin lights installed....I am really happy with the results. The cabin top went in without much complaining or skewing from the plans.

Dates and Times
February
Mon 24 -1.25 hrs- Touched up paint on overhead.
Tues 25 -1.25 hrs- Sanded touch ups and installed one side of LED lights.
Wed 26 -1.0 hr- Installed other side of lights and glued some pieces in place.

March
Sat 1 -1.0 hr- Deburred and dimpled cabin top rivet strips
Sun 2 -6.25 hrs- Installed Cabin Top!


This is a picture of the front of the overhead with the eyeball reading lights installed. The massive cut out in the center is for the support post and will have a closeout panel covering everything. Also the unpainted parts in the middle of the top are the nutplates where the closeout panels go.

Here is a picture showing the cabin lighting. It gives a nice even glow over the entire cabin. Just imagine the headliner and closeout panels in!

Lights out to see how it'll look at night. Nice!

Ayla joining me out in the shop. It's great that she can walk now as she enjoys strolling around the shop.

Still Working on Overhead

You know, not really feeling very "bloggy" today so it's gonna stay short...
sanded, sanded, and sanded. Back filled with filler to smooth it all out. It's hard to tell but the panels are flush mounted. I plan to finish this thing up and prime this weekend.

Dates and Times
Wed 1st -3.0 hrs- worked on overhead, sanded overhead, cut access panels out, molded panels into place Thur 2nd -1.25 hrs- more sanding, removed panels
Sat 4th -5.0 hrs- sanded everything down, worked on front contour
Sun 5th -3.5 hrs- sanded more, drilled pilot holes into panels, finished forming edge around panels, clean up shop...dust everywhere 

Overhead Console, Brake Lines, and Fuel Lines

My last post was November 20th and since then work in the shop has been sporadic, not the steady pace I usually have. Visiting friends,Thanksgiving, travel, and all the holiday events create chaos in the shop schedule. We flew to visit Brian and Brandi over in Atlanta. It's a little over an hour flight for us, so not too bad. They usually fly over to visit us but their RV-10 is getting painted and we owed them a visit anyway. Departure was delayed due to nasty cross winds cutting our visit a little shorter than I hoped, but we had fun seeing them regardless. On the flight back home I lost the right vacuum pump, not a big deal since we were VFR. But I can't wait to finish the RV-10, it won't even have vacuum pumps!

We then flew up to St. Louis later that week for turkey and pumpkin pie in the rented Cessna. The trip up was with a 35kt headwind.....ouch. Of course, the winds died down for the return flight so we only had a 10kt tailwind. Baby Ayla slept both trips there and back the entire flight! I had to pick up an IFR clearance on the return trip and, when reaching our destination, leave the beautiful sunshine behind to descend through about 3000 ft of overcast. I was excited about possibly having to shoot an approach, but we dropped out of the clouds around 5000ft. So no luck.

My brake line and fuel line order from Bonaco arrived. The hoses look really nice. The brake line is the standard kit Bonaco supplies for the RV-10 and the fuel lines are custom sized per my order. All of my fuel lines are going to be flexible stainless steel to replace the aluminum tubing that are per plans. This makes the installation easier and should keep the fuel cooler as it travels to the engine. I didn't take any pictures of the brake lines yet...I'll try and remember to do that.

My fuel line measurements are:

QTY 1 - Straight to 45deg - 14.0in Total Length (Fuel pump to firewall)            

QTY 1 - Straight to Straight - 7.0in Total Length (Fuel selector to fuel pump)               

QTY 2 - Straight to Straight - 9.5in Total Length (Each side of fuel selector to Fwd Fuse Rib fittings)
QTY 2 - Straight to 45deg - 28.5in Total Length (Fwd Fuse Rib fittings to wings)

I think these measurements are going to work out really well, but I haven't attached the wings yet for a final fit so don't blame me if you order the same thing and it doesn't work out....: )

Dates and Times

November
Sat 23 -4.7hrs- Overhead fiberglass work. Curved fwd edge molded. Started Bonaco brake line install.

Mon 25 -1.25hrs- Worked on overhead console edge flange

Tues 26 -1.0hrs- same as yesterday, but the opposite side 

December
Tues 3 -1.5hrs- worked on brake line install

Wed 4 -1.5hrs- worked on brake lines and fuel lines

Sun 8 -4.5hrs- Riveted fuel pump mount, worked on fuel lines, cut insulation, laid fiberglass for lip on overhead. A buddy stopped by to help me rivet the fuel pump mount to the lower skin inside the tunnel. We also got some of the fuel lines torqued. Thanks Aaron!
Mon 9 -1.0hrs- sanded and applied layer of build up on one side of overhead

I wouldn't expect much more from me this year. Ayla is going to be ONE YEAR OLD in about a week! Wow already, I know. So were having a party of course and then Xmas, more traveling, food, holiday events, visiting, cold weather.....

Creating molding for where the overhead will flare out at the front.

I'm creating a lip running down the side where an LED light can be tucked inside and the headlines can tuck under.

I cut a piece of foam at an angle using the table saw and taped it into place. A small piece of the angled foam can be seen above. This forms the mold for the fiberglass lay up.

Beginning to lay the fiberglass.

Fiberglass and filler applied. More sanding and filling coming soon.

Torquing what I can on the work bench. I think the stainless steel flex lines are going to work out really well.

Working hard in the shop.

Overhead Console Work

This is only the first step to making the overhead console. There will be multiple steps and parts that need to be made before this thing starts really looking like a finished product. So far it's been a lot of fun. I have some cool ideas for this overhead which is what finally drove me to making my own instead of ordering one. I often have a very specific thing I want something to do or have and when I can't find it on the market I make one. The "I'll just build it myself" decision is usually a very quick one for me to make and I make it often. Most of the time it's furniture..."they want how much for that?!! Wow I could make that for a fraction of the cost and it will last a lot longer! OK I'll just build it" Yep the decision happens that fast and I'm off sketching plans and buying hardwood. Well, the plane isn't any different. If a product is fairly priced and it would be laborious for me to make on my own I'll buy it and not think twice. The overhead though, I had something in mind, some exact details I wanted. Details I would see on the jets I used to work with. So the decision quickly became "I'll just build it" and, so far, it's been a lot of fun!

Dates and Times

Wed 13 -1.5 hrs- removed cabin cover, drilled backup strips

Sat 16th -5.0 hrs- prepped cabin, cab-o-sil gaps, made foam mold and taped to cabin, spray foam filler

Sun 17th -5.0 hrs- started fiberglass for overhead console, two layers
(The times for Sat and Sun are estimates as I wasn't watching the clock. They also include a lot of planning and trial/error time that is normally not done in the shop.)

First I roughed up and cleaned the cabin cover and then filled in voids in the cover with West Systems Epoxy Resin with 205 Hardener and Cab-O-Sil Filler to thicken it up. After filling in voids in the cabin cover I made my mold for the console. The "mold" is made from foam insulation from Lowe's. It's tacked together with glue and then wrapped in tape so the fiberglass doesn't adhere to it. I also filled in the empty space of the forward door frame with spray foam. After the foam dried I cut it to the height of the rest of the structure and then cut out the area needed to install the visor mounts.

I then added a fillet of the filler mixture along the edge of the foam and coated and filled the empty/cut open cells of the foam. I then laid my first piece of fiberglass while everything was still tacky.

I put two layers on the overhead mold and one layer on the sprayed in foam.

Fiberglass laid in place and drying.....step 1 complete.

Starting the Cabin Cover

Fiberglass! I am actually excited to start fiberglass work. I was productive last weekend. I cut out the cabin top and then had the first test fit. I found a lot of places that needed additional trimming with the test fit. With the top back off I trimmed up the noted places of interference and then tried to fit the cabin again. This time it slid right into place, success. On Monday (holiday off from work) I started all the match drilling and countersinking into the fuselage. All in all, the whole process went a lot faster than what I thought and was much easier than what I expected. Actually, it was a lot like wood working but without worrying about wood grain.

I also did a lot of brain storming about my overhead console and how to do fiberglass work. I got a lot of good pointers from a buddy of mine that stopped by Sunday and Brandi pointed me in the right direction to the West System's Website and their products. Most of their products can be bought from Aircraft Spruce and you can do a lot of research and learning on their very informative website. Instead of forking over $1000 for the Aerosport console, which isn't exactly what I want anyway, I want to build my own overhead console. With an order of fiberglass and epoxy from Aircraft Spruce on it's way I hope to start this coming weekend. In addition to the overhead console the cabin cover is going to take a lot of work filling voids and shaping the structure to actually look decent, but I'm ready to get started.    

Dates and Times
Sat 9th -4.0hrs- Cut cabin top
Sun 10th -3.75hrs- Cut and shape cabin top
Mon 11th -6.0hrs- Brain storming overhead ideas, drilling holes with helper Kris, countersinking etc


Marking the places to cut. The existing scribe lines are hard to see and usually not straight.

    Going into battle with fiberglass gear on.

The cabin top trimmed and ready for test fit.

The tools I used: Cut off wheel, Angle grinder with cut off disk, hand held belt sander with 80grit paper, drill gun with sanding drum and 80 grit paper. I mostly used the angle grinder with the cut off disk and the belt sander. The disks I used were standard metal cut off disks from Harbor Freight and it cut right through the fiberglass without a problem.

The leftover trimmings.

I used a pulley attached to the ceiling to hoist the cabin top above the fuselage. Then I would move the fuselage under the cabin and slower lower the cabin top into position.

The cabin top trimmed and in place.....looking even more like an airplane! 

Match drilling to the fuselage and countersinking holes. I used all the normal tools here, nothing special.

I drilled the attach holes for the center post.