1/20/2012 – 3.2 Hours
Picking up where I left off yesterday, I drilled the pilot holes out to full size in both the fuselage and the roll bar and made the funky shims that help clamp the roll bar to the F-721B, aft canopy deck. There are two on each side and they’re different and the left and right sides are mirror images so, in short, all four shims are different. I then checked to see if the roll bar is square to the fuselage and it was close but I shimmed both sides to get it near perfect. Next I started on the roll bar brace. After making some progress, I realized the bar needs to be shortened, and decided to call it a day.
Hopefully I’ll be able to finish the brace tomorrow, bolt the entire unit together, and then built the tracks and rollers for the canopy frame. When that’s done, I have the pleasure of bending the frame to fit the fuselage. As near as I can tell, it is a pretty good fit already but I won’t know until all the parts are in place. Bending the frame to fit is almost always frustrating and has stalled many a project. No one has ever figured out a quick and direct way of making the bends. Should I say, “I have an idea that I’ve never heard tried”? I’m optimistic that I can do this task very well without too much frustration. Then the question is, sikaflex or pulled rivets to hold the canopy on?
And I forgot to mention – I’m already having empty shop anxiety. So yesterday I jumped on an offer someone made for the preview plans for an RV-3. I will not start until my 9 is flying but already I’m thinking, build it light, VFR, day. Simple avionics. One EFIS, no steam gauges, one radio, and a transponder. An aerobatic tail-dragger that gets better than 30 mpg. I think I could live with just two planes.
1/19/2012 – 2.0 Hours
During the course of riveting the top aft skins there were a couple of rivets that could not be installed until after the skin was riveted on in order to avoid physically blocking the rivet and bucking bar. I riveted both of those and a couple of rivets associated with the bulkhead behind the luggage compartment. A couple I’d just never put in and one that I did put in, I wasn’t happy with, so I drilled it out and squeezed a new one.
After that little bit of clean up duty, I officially began the finish kit by laying out the roll bar location, drilling pilot holes, and bending the roll bar to fit.