Monday, February 25, 2013
Nut plate mayhem
Finished all the countersinking on the left wing spar tonight, then I attached the access panel nut plates and the single arm tank attach nut plates (going to have to wait for the proper nut plates to do the rest). I also prepared the aileron bellcrank brackets. Tomorrow night I'll get started on the wing ribs. Hoping to have everything ready to rivet the ribs onto the left wing this weekend.
Sunday, February 24, 2013
Wing spar
After some problems with the power supply at the airport, I finally got started on the wing today. I am unable to run my compressor normally since it will trip the breaker if it starts under load, and the panel is located in someone else's locked hanger. I guess the problem is that there are several hangers on the same 20 amp circuit, and in the winter a couple people leave their preheaters on 24/7. For the time being I'll have to start the compressor with the drain valve open and then it will run fine to cut out. When the tank pressure drops to below what the tool I'm using requires I'll have to drain the tank and start over. A serious PITA, but it gets me working. We're going to talk with airport management to see about running a breaker just for the one hanger as a permanent fix.
Thursday with the help of a friend I built a 4' x 8' work table. This thing is pretty stout, and I'm sure it will stand up to whatever it gets put thru during the build. I would still like to build a dimpling table for the DRDT-2, but will probably wait till I get to riveting on the skins.
Today I fabricated the J channel stiffeners for the left wing. I was lucky to see a post from another builder that pointed out the fact that you skip not only the plate-nut mounting holes on the lower stiffener, but also the skin rivet immediately next to them as well. He had found this out the hard way when he tried to cleco it to the top flange and finish drilling.
After fabricating the stiffeners I began countersinking the left spar. I got all the tank attach plate-nut mounting holes done, and was going to start riveting them on when I discovered a problem. The K-1100-08 plate nuts I was sent have both the screw and rivet holes dimpled, and from the details it appears that this is wrong, the rivet holes should not be dimpled. I checked the called out single leg nut plates for verification, and they did not have the dimpled rivet holes. I'll be calling Vans tomorrow to make sure, but it looks like I'll be slowed down slightly waiting for the correct hardware. I'm going to build the wings one at a time due to space constraints, but will fabricate the J channel stiffeners and prep the spar for the right wing while I'm waiting for the proper nut-plates to come in.
Thursday with the help of a friend I built a 4' x 8' work table. This thing is pretty stout, and I'm sure it will stand up to whatever it gets put thru during the build. I would still like to build a dimpling table for the DRDT-2, but will probably wait till I get to riveting on the skins.
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| Work table with the spars on top. |
Today I fabricated the J channel stiffeners for the left wing. I was lucky to see a post from another builder that pointed out the fact that you skip not only the plate-nut mounting holes on the lower stiffener, but also the skin rivet immediately next to them as well. He had found this out the hard way when he tried to cleco it to the top flange and finish drilling.
 |
| Match drilling the J channel stiffeners on the left spar. |
After fabricating the stiffeners I began countersinking the left spar. I got all the tank attach plate-nut mounting holes done, and was going to start riveting them on when I discovered a problem. The K-1100-08 plate nuts I was sent have both the screw and rivet holes dimpled, and from the details it appears that this is wrong, the rivet holes should not be dimpled. I checked the called out single leg nut plates for verification, and they did not have the dimpled rivet holes. I'll be calling Vans tomorrow to make sure, but it looks like I'll be slowed down slightly waiting for the correct hardware. I'm going to build the wings one at a time due to space constraints, but will fabricate the J channel stiffeners and prep the spar for the right wing while I'm waiting for the proper nut-plates to come in.
Friday, February 15, 2013
Inventory
Completed the kit inventory tonight and found a few missing items. Most of the missing stuff was minor hardware, a few missing nut plates, washers, and screws, but I am also missing a couple ribs. I'll be giving Vans a call Tuesday so they can get the right stuff out to me.
I've been going over the plans for a while now and I don't mind saying I'm a little nervous. After match drilling some stiffener the plans have you jump right in and start by countersinking and riveting the tank attach plate nuts to the main spar, the single most important (and expensive I'm sure) airframe component. There certainly isn't any easing into this project.
I'm just going to play with some scrap and then use the micro-stop countersink cage very carefully. Hopefully once I have the cage set for depth the rest of the holes will go quickly. I should be able to squeeze all the rivets also, which will give me more control. I'm still not a pro with my rivet driving skills, and I do not want to be drilling rivets out of the main spar.
With the Presidents Day holiday weekend I'm hoping to make some real progress over the next three days, I just need to work slowly so I don't screw anything up during my learning stage.
I've been going over the plans for a while now and I don't mind saying I'm a little nervous. After match drilling some stiffener the plans have you jump right in and start by countersinking and riveting the tank attach plate nuts to the main spar, the single most important (and expensive I'm sure) airframe component. There certainly isn't any easing into this project.
I'm just going to play with some scrap and then use the micro-stop countersink cage very carefully. Hopefully once I have the cage set for depth the rest of the holes will go quickly. I should be able to squeeze all the rivets also, which will give me more control. I'm still not a pro with my rivet driving skills, and I do not want to be drilling rivets out of the main spar.
With the Presidents Day holiday weekend I'm hoping to make some real progress over the next three days, I just need to work slowly so I don't screw anything up during my learning stage.
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
Wing Kit Arrives
My wing kit finally arrived today and is sitting in the hanger ready for work. There was a small bit of damage to one of the crates but nothing inside was damaged. I had other things to do tonight after work, but I will start inventory tomorrow.
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