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Thatcher CX-5 Build Log
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Date:  4-28-2019
Number of Hours:  4.50
Manual Reference:  
Brief Description:  Rear Seat Ribs and Reinforcements

Yesterday I got to see John E's CX5 and shop. He is another builder in town, an A&P, and his airplane is a thing of beauty. His shop and garage are mouthwatering. And he's picked up a Limbaugh engine which I think will move his CX5 quite well. Today I got a chance to go flying in the morning, which was outstanding. Out over Folsom lake, over downtown Sacramento, and out to Lake Berryessa. Then back to the garage for some metalworking.

I've removed the temporary bracing, and filled the holes with flush rivets. Ribs C3 and C6 were prepped and installed with flush rivets into the rear spar and brackets attaching them to the main spar. I also got the reinforcing angles in place, anchoring the tops of the rear seat ribs.

I spent some time working out the logistics for the armrest floor supports and the rear seat safety belt anchors. That's a bit fiddly, but shouldn't be too hard. Famous last words. I also worked on the geometry of the canopies, roll support, seat, and how that'll impact entering and exiting the plane. When I tried out the prototype CX5, the cockpit was spacious, but the canopy lock trapped me inside and sitting down was ludicrously awkward. I really want the user experience to be positive from the ramp onward, so I want to iron those problems out. I also worked on the instrument panel. I keep going back and forth on how complicated to make it. I'm going to try to keep it clean and simple, and reign in my natural inclination to Gucci it up.

The next tasks will be the bulkhead between ribs C4 and C5, wrapping the rear spar, and skinning the seats as much as possible. Once those are done, I can flip the fuselage, get the last of the bottom skin rivets in, drill the main gear, then flip the fuselage back right side up.
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