Zodie


I first drilled the frame by setting up the drill press

The piece of wood worked as a stop and ensured that the holes are all straight

Then lined up the skin and put a cleco on each frame

I drilled from inside. There was actually quite a bit of room.



All of the pilots drilled

View forward

I used a scrap piece of Al to determine the cutout in the top skin. This proved too close. It does not allow for removal of the tail.

I then Transferred the cutout to the top skin

I am having trouble installing the stab with the skin in place. At first I thought I might just be too tight on the skin and need to open up my cutout in the top skin. To get the forward attachments of the stab past the mounting plates on the fuselage I need more clearance and need to be higher before they drop down into place. The only way I see to remove the stab after I install the top skin is to either open up the cut out (about 12mm) which leaves quite a gap or to drill out the attach plate to the fuselage. This leaves too much of a gap. If I do this I will need to build a new fairing.

I am not happy with the seat belt attachments. It just did not seem stout enough. I also want to use a 4 point harness and this will be better with an aft placement. Here is the arrangement I came up with.

Here is how the belt will mount.

Another view. I also had my second EAA tech Counselor visit. It was a very beneficial visit. He was happy with the build so far and we had a good visit. One thing he suggested was to make sure to round all of the corners. Both inside and out. I had been rounding all inside corners and had only rounded some of the outside corners. Good Suggestion.

Well this may not look like much but it was kind of a devastating find. When I was working on the new seat belt attachments on the aft bulkhead I realized that I had misplaced the aft bulkhead on the right side. I had it clecoed in the wrong hole. So all of the holes on this side are off. Oh well. Off to the Yard store to get a piece of Al. It was going well. Really it won't be that bad to fix. Live and learn.

OK on to the middle top skin. Since I am not using this as the seat belt attachment I cut it down some.



I ended up making lots of small cuts till I got it to fit. Looks good. I double checked to make sure I had the correct one before cutting! Living and Learning



Looks Good

Again, cut a little bit at a time till it was the correct length. Once I got it close it had it clamped to the bracket that came with the kit. I really didn't like how it lined up. The angle was off. I checked everything and it was off a bit. So I decided to make a new one. One more thing that I almost forgot, the canopy rail goes underneath the bow. It won't make that much of a difference. But it needed to be installed.

A view from inside

Looking aft



When I put the canopy rail on I also needed to trim for how I placed the vents

Here is a view from the inside

I also got some 6061 from Spruce. They didn't really have anything that nice at the Yard. Used the old skin to cut most of the holes. Worked well

Everything I read said that this was hard to do. That is get around the compound curve. They were right. I found the best thing was to use the clamps to pull it in and allow the forward edge to slide inside the side skin. It worked ok.

Here it is with the holes drilled and clecoed. I have quite a few little bulges. But I guess this is normal. This is the worse side. The left turned out a little tighter. The thing to do is not look too close.

Well on to something else. I decided to move the antenna just aft of the bulkhead. It will be easier to get to with the hatch if needed. I built this section to support the antenna.

This will provide more support than what the plans called for. I am using a little more substantial antenna.
Here you can see how it mounts

Here is a look at the mid join.

I laid out the stringers on the bench. Drilled them and then installed

A view from inside

Before I close it up I want to mount everything and route whatever wires I need to. Here is the Transponder antenna. I mounted this behind the flap torque tube. I will route the coax along the passenger canopy rail.

Here you can see the Transponder antenna.

Here is the ELT antenna

Ok Back to the rear fairing. This is just a piece of scrap 2024. You can see the corrosion. I got a roll of it at the yard store. It was sitting out so you can see what happens when water is trapped between 2024. Glad to be using 6061. It is much less prone to corrosion. I am still priming everything that mates.

I used a piece of cardboard to layout a template.

Then transferred it to a piece of AL. I also put a slight bend on the leading edge so it will stay tight

Here it is bent around the gap. I really like how this turned out.

Another look. I think that there will be enough space so that it will not interfere with the rivet heads. If it does I will counter sink them. I will also use some nut-plates to secure with #10 fasteners.
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