Fuselage Organization

Now that I have all this metal and small parts associated with the Fuselage kit, I am trying to get organized so I can be productive.   I hope to make some shelves out of the wood box that the kit came in.  Also, I have bought some organizers and am able to put the bags in them labeled appropriately so there will be no confusion down the road.   Hopefully by end of week I will be ready to go.  I will post pics as I get the opportunity.

Fuse Inventory Complete

Lots of fun stuff in this box to play with, unwrapping each butcher paper package is almost like Christmas Morning. !!  The first package of butcher paper I unwrapped unveiled the tail wheel..   I have never owned a tail wheel before..  This is just awesome  ! !

The inventory went really fast this time.  My mom was in town so was able to help as I tore into the box.  We discovered via the inventory that Van's actually sent me a wrong part..   I go two F-719-R's..  I was supposed to get One F-719-R and One F-719-L..  Will call them tomorrow to get it straightened out.

The one thing I noticed about the fuselage is the number of smaller parts.  You would think there would be lots of bigger parts, but all in all, there are tons of little pieces and bags with fasteners that eventually will go together to make an airplane..  I have no idea where I am going to put all this stuff.

The second picture here pretty much shows everything that came in the Fuse Kit..  Except for the tail wheel and tail wheel assembly which are sitting on the coffee table in the family room..  ;-)  (also some longer parts already in the rafters and a few skins up against the wall)

Fuselage is Here

The Fuselage came today via Fed Ex Freight.  Van's said it was going to ship on Monday the 21st.. They must have been speedy at packiing this thing because it shipped on Thursday the 17th..  Plus, since it was coming from Portland to Seattle, it ended up being an overnight shipment.  Happy day for me, its already in my garage..

Also, funny enough it was delivered by the same delivery guy as my wings.  He delivers all the Van's shipments in the area so he knows all the buiders around here, kind of cool.  It was fun to show him what came of the boxes he delivered about 9 months ago.  Two perfectly constructed Wings..

The fuselage box wasn't as big as I thought it would be, but I had a frendly neighbor over as well, just in case it was too big..  It realy is amazing how much stuff Vans can pack into thse boxes. 

Fuselage Update

VANS CALLED !

Fuse will be shipped June 21st, arriving on Wed/Thursday of next week  !

Not long now and I will be neck deep in a bunch of Metal..    

Now how do I tell Rebekah that she will need to park outside for a few weeks to get through the inventory....

Good thing the weather is finally nice around here..

F-704 While I am waiting for the Fuse

While I am waiting for the fuselage, I am actually starting on the F704 Bulkhead.  Traditionally this work is complete after the firewall, but since the parts came with the wing kit I am getting started, but not going to far so as I do something I might regret..

I started by opening up the holes for the Rudder Cables and electrical pass throughs to 5/8 inch.

Then I match drilled the Side Brace/Gussets and the vertical shear bars while using the AN bolts to make sure everything was on perfect center.   The vertical bars are thick and you have to drill all the way through them.  Its important to keep the drill clean and straight for this step.  Also, I worked on the 18 nutplates by counersinking the rivet heads and mounting the plates.   Note that the directions become much less clear..  Others have had issues in this area as well.  For me the big question was weather or not I countersunk where the #8 screw went on these nutplates.  It doesn't clearly say in the instructions and I have seen people actually countersink these on some other web sites.  The answer is No, only the countersink for the rivets, not the screws on F-704.  The forward seat floor covers this bulkhead and the screws are flat pan head screws that get used, so no further metal removal is necessary.

I also found out that it is recommended to dimple and then use the debur tool to remove a bit excess material when working with the side and bottom rivets to this bulkhead assembly, where it rivets to the skins.  Its a bit thick to dimple, but you want to get the strength associated vs. removing metal and reducing strength in this location.

ALL DONE - WINGS

OK, so you can't ever really say all done until its flying and painted, but I am as close as you can get for now.  Ailerons, Bellcranks, Flaps, Tip Lens, Tip landing lights, Wing wiring, Autopilot Servo, Pitot Mast and Tube, all done.

Exciting day for sure, now the garage gets torn apart, reorganized and prepared for the fuse which should be here middle of the month..

Right Flap Hinge drilled

Once I got the ailerons in place and secured on center I was able to mount the flaps with clamps, then drill the piano hinge supporting it.  At this point the right flap is done aside from riveting on the hinge.   Next flap tomorrow or Thursday.  By the end of the week I won't have anything to do..  Not likely.  ;-)