Brief Description: Riveted aft top bulkhead & fabricated canopy rail
Tonight was one of those Monday nights when I was so tired after work that I could barely drag myself down the stairs into the basement shop. Once I got down there, however, I was energized by the drone of the compressor and the lilting of the symphony music on the radio. I love this project! Tonight I riveted on the aft top bulkhead and then tackled a little aluminum part that is designed to hold the end of the canopy rail. The canopy rail recepticle is supposed to have a "joggle" in two of the flanges to allow for the thickness of the cockpit bulkhead flange. The only problem is the plans do not tell you how to make that "joggle". After some cogitation on the problem, I decided to use a scrap piece of aluminum (that was the same thickness as the bulkhead flange) to act as a backer so that I could pound the aluminum around it, thus creating a joggle. To keep everything together, I drilled through one of the holes in the recepticle flange into the scrap aluminum and into the workbench. I then clecoed everything together to keep it still. Last, I tapped an aluminum bar just beside the line where the scrap and the flange came together, beating out a little joggle into the flange. Worked like a charm. Then, I drilled the canopy rail recepticle onto the bulkhead and the top skin.
The plans call for a "joggle" in the flange
Canopy rail recepticle (top) clecoed to scrap aluminum sheet (.040" thick) to pound out a joggle
