This past weekend I was able to get a few little tings done on the fuselage to keep checking tasks off my list.
The first thing was to finish installing the sliding seat protection bars that are attached to the fuselage tubes. This completed the sliding seat track update that I started last January or February before I started covering the fuselage. I’m happy with how it came out and it looks clean and professional.
We had family over this weekend, so my father-in-law helped construction. He removed all the over spray on the fuselage tubes that will be visible once the plane is finished. I was very impressed with how it turned out. To remove the over spray we used 0000 steel wool and also used some automotive polish/scratch remover on the steel wool. I can’t even tell that we ever did anything to the tubes and it looks as good as new. I think you may get more scratching if you are more aggressive in pressure, so maybe it’s something to experiment with on a hidden tube before going full speed.
The next bit we accomplished was installing the rudder cable guides and pulleys. I still need to install the pulleys that are located with the elevator push-pull tube. That brings me to the fact that we got the elevator push pull tube assembly finished and ready to go as well. I installed the elevator horn and torqued it down and then started to install the shorter push pull tube but realized that it would not fit inside the large tube and needed to be profiled to fit. That will be next weekend.
We also fabricated parts and assembled the flap handle assembly. One thing we did have to do on the flap side plate was drill a new mounting hole. The original hole from the factory was about 1/4″ off. We chose to drill a new hole in the rear of the side plate, but I later saw that RANS had drilled a new one in the front. RANS didn’t say if one was better or not, but that we would be ok with what we had.
To drill the new hole, we put a bolt in the front hole and then made a small mark with an awl through the fuselage bushing. We then used a center punch to make a better indentation on the work bench. After drilling the two holes in one side plate, we bolted the two plates together and transfer drilled through the the plates to make sure the holes lined up correctly. This worked perfect.
I am going to go along with what RANS does and use Sunbrella fabric for my interior. I bought a few yards of it a couple weeks ago and started laying it out on some of my interior pieces. I am going to also use it on my floor board and I’m now deciding on what to do for a rub plate of some sort for where your heels will be while flying.
Also, check out my Engine Monitor thread on www.ransclan.com in the Avionics section. I just got my screen in from China so I can continue to move forward on that project. I hope to have an update written about that in the next week or so.
It’s all coming together nicely!
(7 h)
