Fitted up capstrips and gussets for
2nd Upper Wing End Rib. Needed to cut some of the gussets for rib.
Jan-04
2.3hrs
Glued up capstrips and gussets on
above mentioned End Rib. Took inventory of what ribs were made, what had to still be made, including
the additonal ribs for the prop wash area to keep the fabric from drumming with the larger engine.
Also, read in the Skybolt Manual where, if skinning the leading edge of wings with ply, it would be helpful to
double up on the nose blocks where the plywood joined so that it could be butted instead of scarfed together. Thus
I have about another two weeks or so of building wing ribs. I'll start the aileron ribs at the same time.
Jan-04
N/A
Ordered the 4130 from Dillsburg for the tailfeathers.
It should be to me by next week. I'll start on the tubing while still working on the wings to change it up a bit. Need to
see about learning how to weld, or, seeing how much it's going to cost me to pay someone to weld it up after I cut all
the tubing.
Jan-06
.8hrs
Traced additional gussets needed for Lower Wing Ribs in prop wash
area.
Jan-07
2.3hrs
Traced addtional gussets for Lower Wing Ribs, cut out and
sanded to size. eeeeeeeeeeeeesh, thought I was done with this task years ago.
Jan-8
1hr
Started tracing Upper Wing Rib gussets.
Jan-10
1.2hrs
Traced
additional Upper Wing Rib gussets.
Jan-11
.7hrs
Began cutting out Upper Wing gussets.
Blade broken on the scroll saw and I didn't have a replacement blade. DAMN ! Hit 200 hours on the nose tonight ! Could I be
1/10th of the way through the project ? That'd be nice.
Jan-11-15
N/A
read read read read read.... a lot of reading
up on welding... still more to read
Jan-15
2.2hrs
Replaced scroll saw blade (which I had in a compartment
right on the scroll saw, duh !) Cut all Upper Wing gussets out, sanded about half of them to size. Just a few more to do.
Still need to mark and cut capstrips for Upper and Lower ribs.
Jan-17
N/A
Went to EAA Chapter 216 meeting. Great to be seeing all the guys
again. It's been quite awhile. Talked to Howard Bates about welding. I'll be going over there on Sunday to get a few pointers. He said
he had some scrap tubing I could have to practice on also. Started looking at the DVD on welding.
Jan-18
1hr
Sanded the rest of the gussets for the Upper Wing. Continued looking
at the DVD on welding. Great DVD. Low key... kind of like a workshop at OSH.
Jan-19-28
7hrs
Read and read and read, and watched a DVD about
welding. Spoke to a few people and asked many questions.
Jan-29
2hrs
Finally got the welding rig together. Over the past
2 weeks I've done quite a bit of reading on welding and watching DVDs on the subject. A lot more time building the
Skybolt than the hours you put into glueing and nailing up ribs and welding fuselages. MANY hours are spent learning
the processes. Two hours of actual practice; just the begining of the learning curve for my welding education. Felt great pushing that golden puddle around, laying in the glistening
droplets of molten metal. Working the flame over the ridge of metal you lay down, focusing on keeping the base metal a liquid
stream, finding where to hold the rod to keep it just on the brink of liquid bringing it to a drop just when you need to bridge
the gap of the two metals you are joining.
Jan-31
1.1hrs
Practice Practice Practice... working on the
technique of welding. Repeat of the above. At this point it feels strange. Attempting to lay a nice weld bead
and not getting a nice run with the rod, it's flat. Right or wrong ? I'll need to run a few beads and bring them
to the next EAA meeting and get the thoughts of the guys there. A lot of hours to go before I'm anywhere close to being
happy with the finished product.
Feb 1
1.2hrs
I think I've got the hang of welding, or at least
I have the concept of what I need to do to lay down a nice bead. Just a matter of another 100 hours of practice before
I can begin to weld the frame together.
Feb 4
.5hrs
Cut out additional blanks for the Lower Nose
Wing Nose blocks
Feb 4
.5hrs
Welding practice. Learning to get that
nice bead. Feeling much better welding. Not confident on a good weld at all. Still practicing on flat stock.
Feb 5
1.4hrs
Routed out 10 good Lower Wing Nose blocks.
The garage was 34 degrees. Warm compared to the outside temp of 11 with a wind chill of -3.
Feb 7
1hr
Traced and cut all the capstrips for the Lower Wing. I
can finally get back to making ribs. STILL too cold to go out in the garage to practice welding at night. Hope to get a
little time this weekend for pushing the puddle.
Feb 10
.5hrs
Fitted up capstrips to Lower Wing Rib
Feb 11
2hrs
Cut remaining gussets for Lower Wing Ribs. Glued
up Rib I started making on Feb 10th.
Feb 12
1.5hrs
Took the Lower Wing Rib out of the jig, flipped it
and glued and weighted the second side. Started the first side of the next Lower Wing Rib by fitting up and gluing the nose block, capstrips and gussets on an additional rib in the jig.
Feb 15
1.6hrs
Took rib out of jig, flipped, glued gussets and placed weights
on top of gussets. Fitted up and glued an addtional rib in the jig.
Feb 18
1.6hrs
Again... took Lower Wing rib out of jig, flip
and glued gussets on 2nd side. Fitted up and glued new rib in jig.