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Stevens Web Site
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Date: 1-24-2007
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Number of Hours: 1.70
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Manual Reference:
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Brief Description: Fitting the bottom middle skins
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This is one of the few nights that I spent a great deal of time scratching my head to determine how parts fit. My task was to fit and drill the center bottom skins that reside just under the cockpit. You can't tell from the plans if the flange on one of the bottom skins faces down (into the slipstream) or up (into the cockpit). At first, it seemed logical that the flange would face up so that there would be a flat bottom to the plane. However, the plans said that you have to center a hole in the skins between the middle slot in the 806 bulkhead. You can't do this with both bottom skins on because the bottom skin prevents you from seeing the middle hole. After much examination and a little consternation, I went to the internet to see if other builders had photos which could shed light on this ambiguity. Most of the photos were inconclusive, so I studied the instructions again and finally concluded that the flange could only face up (out of the slipstream and into the cockpit). I centered the hole by leaving off the bottom skin and lining the top skiin up, as directed. Then, after drilling a few keeper holes with clecoes, I slipped the bottom skin under the top skin and clamped it all together. Then, I fluted the flange underneath the fuselage so that the skin would follow the curvature of the fuselage belly. At the end of the night, there were only a few clecoes holding everything together, but it looks right. Later, I will drill the skins to the skeleton.
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The bottom middle skins, fit to the fuselage skeleton
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Inside the fuselage jig, looking up (note the flange in the middle)
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