Match-drilled holes for the last line of anchor nuts. Riveted anchor nuts on and attached hinge to both sides. Looks sweet !
2.8hrs
Re-made the spacers for the rear landing gear fittings. Made a second brass bushing for the front fitting (to allow me to fit a 3/8" tube into a 7/16" hole.)
Jul 7
1.3hrs
Cut, squared off the ends and reamed to 1/4"... the four bushings for the flying wires on the elevators.
Jul 8
.8hrs
Finishing touches on the "jig" for the forward and rear gear fittings.
Jul 9
2.4hrs
Lined up both foward and rear fittings for the main gear and tacked them into placed. Completely welded on the back two, 2-pc fittings.
Jul 10
3.8hrs
Continued welding on the fittings; the front ones. Needed to trim them more... than weld... trim... weld. Should have used a 205, only had a 201 and a 203 tip so I worked through it... albeit... a little long. Will bring a 205 next time.
Jul 11
.7hrs
Revised the Rear Lower Spar Attach fitting drawing.
3hrs
Cutout patterns for both Rear Lower Spar Attach fittings, glued to .o90 4130, cut out, gound down, filed and sanded edges to size. Still need to bend and drill holes.
Jul 12
2.4hrs
Figured up bend allowance and set-backs for Strut Attachments and drew up on CAD.
1.5hrs
Cut-out, ground down, filed and sanded smooth... the Forward Strut Attachments.
Jul 13
3.6hrs
Continued welding on the Forward Gear brackets. Tried a 205 and a 207. The 205 worked best. Still needed a lot of preheating before welding. Still a little bit more to do before I'm finished welding these.
Jul 14
1.7hrs
Cut out, ground down and sanded to a 180 grit the two smaller Forward Strut Attachmet fittings.
Jul 15
2.4hrs
Cut out, ground down and filed four Rear Strut Attach fittings.
Jul 16
1.8hrs
Sanded edges of the above four Rear Strut Attach fittings.
1.2hrs
Cut, ground down, filed and sanded to 180 grit the two additional plates that fit up to the Rear Strut Attach fittings and re-made the two smaller pieces for the Forward Gear Brackets. All of these were cut from .o70 4130. Still need to bend and match drill these.
1500 Hours !
1hr
Whacked the bend in six fittings. Beautiful !
Jul 17
1.2hrs
Bent the smaller Forward Strut Attachment to the correct angle, outlined the shape, ground down, filed and sanded the edges of it smooth.
Jul 19
.8hrs
Bent the 2nd smaller Forward Strut Attachment to the correct angle, outlined the shape, ground down, filed and sanded the edges of it smooth.
.5hrs
Reviewing the R drawings. Saw that it was a little redundent; both Drawing 210 and Drawing 420 were very similar, but different. They had the same fitting, but they looked a little different. Reason... Drawing 210 is for the fittings on the R version. Drawing 420 is for the fittings on the Delta version.
Jul 20
2hrs
Spent about 4-5 hours thinking, and then doing this. Decided that I would route the three sets of four internal flying wire fittings. The two hours was spent making the three "jigs" and setting up the router table.
Forty years ago today... man landed on the moon. Beautiful !
Jul 21
4.2hrs
Finished with "boxing" in the Forward Landing Gear brackets. I can now move on to building the Landing Gear... as long as I haven't twisted the brackets with all that heat I needed to use to weld them on.
1.9hrs
Routed the first two of 12 Internal Flying Wire Plates. Worked out pretty nice. Still needed to do quite a bit of filing and sanding, but they're exactly alike !
Jul 22
3.5hrs
Routed out four additional Internal Flying Wire Plates. Have an additional two ready to route. Need to go out and purchase another carbide router bit. This one has had it from cutting all that aluminum. It's starting to grab the aluminum.
Jul 23
1hr
Went out and bought a new router bit. Routed out an additional set of Internal Flying Wire Plates.
2.8hrs
Starting on third set of Internal Flying Wire Plates, I fed them into the router too fast and chipped the new bit. DAMN ! Tried filing and sanding them to size... not happy with the results. I also damaged the wood jig. Wrote off the two I just messed up and wrote off the jig. Made a new jig for the final four plates.
1.5hrs
Cut the four additional blanks for the remaining plates. Tried using the router bit one more time... ain't gonna work. Tomorrow I'll be buying another bit to finish them off.
Jul 24
2.2hrs
Bought the new flush trimming router bit, Porter Cable, the last one was some other brand that looked like a Porter Cable. Anyways... routed flush, filed and sanded smooth the four remaining plates !
Jul 26
1.1hrs
Started match-drilling the finished size holes in the Internal Flying Wire Plates; two down, ten to go.
Jul 27
3.1hrs
Started to drill the finished size holes in the 12 Internal Flying Wire Plates.
2hrs
Finished drilling the holes in the Internal Flying Wire Plates. All I need to do now is round the edges and deburr the holes that need deburring.
Jul 28
2.4
Review of plans... ordering more supplies.
1.5hrs
Duburred the edges of the twelve Internal Flying Wire Plates and filed/sanded the remaining edges of them smooth.
.6hrs
CAD drawing; Brake Back Plate.
Jul 29
1.6hrs
Cut the blanks for the Brake Backing Plates, cut the 1 1/2" inside hole for one of them. Took forever to cut that hole.
1.6hrs
Cut a 1 1/2" hole in the other Brake Back Plate. Trial fitted up the 1 1/2" axles to the holes... they're about 1/16" TOO BIG. EEEEEESH ! I'll need to buy an under-sized hole saw and then file the hole to fit. Spent the rest of the time working with a file and sandpaper to make the edges of one SB3PW-004 fitting smooth (for Wing Center Section.)
1hr
Filed and sanded smooth the edges on four additional Wing Center Section fittings.
Jul 30
5.2hrs
Let's just say I ended up with two holes that I was happy with; one in each Brake Backing Plate.
Jul 31
2.6hrs
Drilled all 12 holes (6 in each Brake Backing Plate) and cut the outer diameter circle and then filed and sanded smooth.
Aug 1
1.9hrs
Striving for excellence. Unhappy with one of the above Brake Backing Plates. Made one from start to finish today. Nice....
1.5hrs
Unhappy with the other Brake Backing Plates, that I was happy with the previous day. Started to re-make that one too.
Aug 2
1.5hrs
Finished up with the re-make of the 2nd Brake Backing Plate. Rough cut the two additional bushing that I need for the Main Landing Gear. Started to square them up in the lathe and then saw that the belt is begining to break in a few spots (I just got it not long ago ????) Took a look at the brakes to see how I need to weld the Break Backing Plates onto the Landing Gear.
Aug
3
1hr
Went over to Whitey's to discuss mounting the brakes and to show him the Brake Backing Plates that I had made. Took a few photos of the vertical, remote reservoir, brake cylinders that he has in his homebuilt Bellanca. (was actually over there for a little over four hours)
2.2hrs
Squared off the four bushings for the Main Landing Gear. Made a jig for the handholds that I will weld onto the sides of the fuselage. Tried bending .375" x .035 tubing around a .875" radius and it buckled. I'll need to find some that is .049 and try that to see if it works.
Aug 4
1.8hrs
Made a new pattern for the Handholds with the DeltaCAD. Printed out... glued it up and tried making these things again. Ended up with Handholds that are 1/4" x .049. Turned out real nice.
Aug 5
1hr
Review of plans. Seeing what fittings need to be made for the fuselage.
Aug 6
1.5hrs
Figured up bend allowance and set-backs for the Rear Flying Wire Fitting. Drew it up on DeltaCAD only to find that the hole is larger than the flat portion of the fitting. The fitting, per the plans, is made from a piece of rectangular tubing... bending it doesn't work. May need to make in three peices and weld together.
3.5hrs
Leveled up the fuselage again. Dropped and snapped the lines and leveled up the "jig" tube for the axles. Found out that Aircraft Spruce sent me a piece of 1" tubing instead of the 1 1/8" that I ordered. Need to call them tomorrow.
Aug 7
3hrs
Looking at the plans. Figuring out how I want to do the headrest. Figuring out how I'll be making the "section 7" on drawing 4 of 14. Decided, after looking at Steen Aero's site, to make it like theirs. Drew it up on DeltaCAD; both the headrest layout and "section 7."
Aug 8
.5hrs
Went to the airport and discussed, with Whitey, making the Rear Flying Wire fitting in three pieces. He said not a problem. Said to fit the pieces at their point so that I will get a "full" weld on each piece. Alll riiiight !
.7hrs
Drew the 3-piece Rear Flying Wire fitting up on DeltaCAD.
1hr
Cut the pieces for the two Rear Flying Wire fittings out of .100 4130. Still need to file/sand smooth the edges, drill holes, then weld together.
Aug 10
4.1hrs
Filed/sanded smooth the edges of the Rear Flying Wire fitting pieces. Drilled the 5/16" holes in the bottom two pieces. Pilot hole for the vertical pieces (one side.) Welded them up.
Aug 11
.3hrs
Re-drew the Upper Front Spar Flying Wire Fitting. Slightly dfferent than the Standard Skybolt Wing fitting. Will need to re-make these.
Aug 12
1.1hrs
Made new wood jig block for Upper Front Spar Flying Wire plate. Cut all four blanks out of the .125 aluminum. Ready to drill and be routed. Began drilling holes through the wood block jig into the aluminum plates.
Aug 13
4.4hrs
Drilled all holes and routed/filed/sanded the outside edge on all four plates.
2+hrs
Review of drawings. Made a list of some of the things I'll need to do in the coming week.
Aug 14
.5hrs
Took the 1.125" tubing over to Denise's to re-align the tube on the axle jigs. Uh... it was a 1/125" tube on the jig (I thought I measured it and it was 1".) OK... slipped the axles on the tubing and they hung on there... not a good fit. It should be 1.25" tubing. Took the rest of the time to make sure that the
tailpost was vertical. Also dry fitted the bushing for the gear. The two front need to be taken down about 1/16". Guess I'll be coming back again with a 1.25" tube and re-aligning the front and snapping the lines.
Aug 15
(.5hrs)
Received the new belts and cutting bits for lathe. Went to cut down the two front bushings for the Main Landing Gear... the motor seems like it's over reving and the bits aren't cutting. What the heck ? Plan B... go to Whitey's tomorrow and use his lathe. I'm ready to get this gear marked off my list !
Aug 16
.8hrs
Drew up the Stab Wire Attach Strap on DeltaCAD.
.3hrs
Used Whitey's lathe to square up the two front Main Landing Gear bushings to just under 2 7/16".
.5hrs
Took measurement for the second Stab Wire Attach Strap. Dry-fitted the front bushings for the Main Landing Gear. Ready to start the Main Landing Gear. Alll Riiiight !
Aug 17
.5hrs
Drew up the second Stab Wire Attach Strap on DeltaCAD.
2.3hrs
Cut both straps, filed/sanded, drilled and bent to 27 degree angles.
Aug 18
1hr
Spent more like four hours on this... but only accounting for one. All ready to build the gear and did a check to make sure that the front gear fitting is in-line with the back. One side is good... the other is off 3/64ths. What to do ?
Aug 20
1.1hrs
Aligned the "ears" on the forward Landing Gear Fittings (welding them played hell with them.) Made sure that they were inline with the rear fittings too. By the way... 3/64 off, as mentioned yesterday, I made mention of it in my blog.
3.1hrs
Leveled the fuselage (again) Dropped plumbobs, made marks on the floor, drew lines, scratched head, drew lines again. Tailpost to landing gear marks are within 1/32" to 1/16" (I guess that's 3/64ths.) Not too shabby for welding with O/A.
Aug 21
.5hr
Discussed placement of axle with Whitey (where the notches would go.) and put one of the front Main Landing Gear bushing to the lathe to trim a little bit.
2hrs
Review of Landing Gear plans (comparing R to S,) checking on correct size tubing to use, review of Skybolt Builder's Manual Landing Gear chapter.
Aug 23
.5hr
Looking at widening the gear by 12". Seeing what I need to do in order to do that.
Aug 24
3hrs
Laying out the widened gear on DeltaCAD. Seeing the amount of tubing needed (to see if I can do with the tubing I already bought for the Main Landing Gear.) I'm better off just making the measurements on the actual jig and seeing if it will work.
1.5hrs
More comparing of S to R plans. Deciding on stab connectors, extra tubing needed at station 142 for stab wire strap, etc etc.