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Pete's RV-8 Web Site
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Date: 8-23-2010
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Number of Hours: 4.00
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Manual Reference: 8-24
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Brief Description: Adding the tailcone to the forward fuselage
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Before beginning to construct the tailcone it was necessary to deburr all the edges and openings in the F-824 aft side skins, the F-842 aft bottom skin forward, and the F-828 aft bottom skin. The next step in the shop manual says to position the Forward/Mid fuselage assembly so that the aft end extends beyond the edge of the workbench. This step took some thought but I think my solution is going to work well.
You may recall that I originally built a fuselage jig like those required before the fully prepunched kits were available. When I discovered the jig wasn't necessary, I converted it into a 16' table using the plywood from the fuselage shipping crate. Well, today I removed one half the table top exposing the original open jig frame. The fuselage was easily positioned with its aft end extended beyond the table edge (see image 1 below). The open jig frame should give me good access to the bottom of the fuselage. It's a little early to tell but I think my jig/workbench is going to work out quite well.
Once the fuselage was positioned, I continued the tailcone construction by attaching and match drilling the baggage rib assemblies, clecoing the mid and lower longerons to the side skins, attaching the side skins to the forward/mid fuselage structure, adding all the bulkheads, and installing the aft bottom skin. The next big task will be to attach the bottom skin forward (you can see it laying on the jig frame in picture 2).
By the way, I found today's work session extremely satisfying and a bit exciting. Completing the major assembly of the empennage and wings was great but nothing quite equals seeing the fuselage begin to take shape in the workshop.
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Half of Tabletop Removed
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Side Skins & Bulkheads
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Aft Bottom Skin & Bulkheads
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