Brief Description: Continued match drilling fuselage
My number one son, Sean, came over early this morning and helped Connie and I move the partially assembled fuselage from the workbench to the floor using the newly fabricated stands. It just took a minute but wouldn't have been possible without Sean's help. The fuselage assembly is just too heavy for two of us to handle safely.
After getting the fuselage repositioned I continued with the instructions in the shop manual. The first task was to complete the drilling of the forward floor and center bottom skins to the spar box flanges. Most of these holes were easy to reach, however, an angle drill was needed to reach the four holes that are located inside the spar box on the bottom skins. There were also a couple holes at the ends of the forward spar box flange that had to be drilled from underneath using the angle drill.
Next the bulkhead tops were clecoed on and the aft skin installed. The aft deck was positioned, clamped, and match drilled to the longerons. The F-812B-1 angle, the F-811C-1 angle, and the F-811D-1 spacer were clecoed and match drilled. The two holes at the ends of the F-812B-1 angle were drilled to #12 and bolts installed.
Finally, enough clecos were added to the mid side skins to ensure they are flush with the upper longerons in preparation for installing the cockpit rails. The rails do not fit perfectly at the vertex of the longerons where they should be flush with the outer surface of the skins. This appears to be a common problem. I intend to consult with a fellow RV-8 builder before proceeding.
