Date:	10-26-2009
Number of Hours:	1.50
Brief Description:	Motor Mount Drilling / Spar Carry Thru Hole
Finally got back in the saddle on the airplane. Work has really been a struggle the past week; late nights - as in VERY late nights, weekend, etc. Then, when I was off yesterday (Sunday) I had a full day of catch-up type stuff - errands, yardwork, etc. So tonight I finished drilling the motor mount to the fuselage. Last week I had drilled the lower mounts to the fuse (remember, the fuselage is inverted at this point). I wasn't 100% satisfied with the shims I had for the upper mounts, so I took some time, made some additional shims, and re-combined some of the thinner stock to get a nice fit. Once in place, I pilot drilled (1/8") the upper mounts. Then, went over 6 of the 8 holes (2 per corner) and took them to 3/16". They need to go to 1/4" for the final hardware install, but I don't have 1/4" cleco's at this point. I did not want to do the nefarious lower holes because the wingnut cleco's I have are too long - they would have interfered with the landing gear tube that is part of the motormount. So I left these at 1/8" for now. Checking things out (see pic 2 below) I think I have just a tad more room than some builders, so it may not be too much of a struggle to get the nuts in there. Some builders have used low-profile nuts here, and some have had to cut down the machine screw portion as well. I then experimented on some scrap stock with the hole saws I purchased to make the control stick holes in the seat pan. Each stick has a triangle hole with one end formed by a 4.5" hole, and the base of the triangle formed by two 3" holes. The saw cut better than I thought in my hand drill, so that is satisfying. Lastly I cut the 1.75" center hole in the rear spar carry thru stock that I had done earlier. It's amazing how time flies by. 1.5 hrs to drill 10 holes (4 pilot, 6 updrilled) and a 1.75" hole.