Center fuselage bulkhead work

March 3, 2014 – I realized that I didn’t have a picture showing what these bulkheads look like and how big they are, so here ya go:

Center F704 bulkheads

I started by countersinking the rivet holes in the F704G blocks.

F704G block countersinks

 

 

I drilled the F633 control column mounts that attach to the forward bulkhead. Then I marked where the brackets will be trimmed for weight savings.

F633 mount

 

Nutplates are installed on the top flanges of both bulkheads. I countersunk the rivet holes and installed the nutplates.

center bulkhead flange nutplates center bulkhead flange nutplates center bulkhead flange nutplates center bulkhead flange nutplates

I drilled the F782 and 783 support ribs. Here they are clecoed in place:

F782 and F783 support ribs F782 and F783 support ribs F782 and F783 support ribs

The F782 ribs (the smaller ones) are backed up on the opposite side of the spar by stiffeners. I cut those stiffeners from angle stock. I drew a guide line on the backside of the angles to help to locate them correctly. You can just see the guide line centered in the hole in the photo below:

F704 stiffener

 

Here one of the angles is in position and drilled:

F704 stiffener

 

These angles get nutplates installed. Here they are drilled, and countersunk for the nutplate rivets:

F704 stiffener F704 stiffener

The last thing I did today was to do a couple of things on the F782 and 783 support ribs. The outer flange will have nutplates, so I countersunk those rivet holes. Fluid lines and wiring also pass through these ribs, so I enlarged the holes for snap bushings. I Pete-proofed it by writing the hole sizes next to the appropriate holes.

F782 and F783 ribs F782 and F783 ribs F782 and F783 ribs

I need to deburr, then clean and prime these parts before installation.

FULL DISCLOSURE: I figured out today that when I drilled the center snap-bushing holes in the forward bulkhead, I mislocated one of them by about 1″. I don’t believe it will be a problem because these appear to be just for wire pass-through, and I think that little jog can be dealt with.

bushing holes

 

Time: 3:05

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