August 12, 2015 – It’s been a while since I posted anything. The last work I did was just before Oshkosh. Then we got back and it’s been too hot to do much of anything.
I did get my throttle quadrant at Oshkosh. Got the DJM center mount throttle quadrant. I also ordered an Andair fuel selector valve.
I started on the baggage compartment floors. I realized that I had installed the nutplates in the two center ribs where the tunnel covers go, so I had to remove those nutplates.
I made sure all the holes in the floor panel were drilled, then I primed and painted them. Here they are clecoed in place.
These floors are pop-riveted in. That was pretty straight-forward. The aft flanges are solid-riveted and have nutplates installed.
I decided to try to get in and lay on top of these panels for easier access. In hindsight, I should have put a board in place for a little more support. It went OK, but there is one small buckle in one of the panels. The rest of the structure is OK. I ended up taking off the top skin so I could reach over to get better access.
I took out the four gussets between the longerons and the two bulkheads. I cleaned them up and painted them. They can go in anytime.
After the floor panels were in, I started on the aft bulkhead panels for the baggage compartment.
The lower panel is simple; just screw it in at the bottom and drill the holes through to the F706 bulkhead.
The upper panel is a little more work. It is just a raw piece of aluminum that’s already corrugated. The corners have to be trimmed to a 8 1/2″ radius. I marked that radius…
…cut it to shape, then cleaned up the edges.
I marked the locations of all the screw holes, and the locations for the cutouts where the shoulder harness cables will pass through. I piloted the holes to #30, then clamped the bulkhead in place and back-drilled the holes to the F706 bulkhead.
That was a good place to stop for the day.
Time: 8:20
