ProfLooney

Here is the nose section all put together with the hatch in place. Just look at all that room for an engine in there. The width is actually I believe 10" wide.


Btw in one side photo you will notice the formers on top dont line up with bottom thats just because I had it flipped around and didnt notice. as all top formers are the same it doesnt really matter other than for looks

ProfLooney

Now we set up for the fuse sides. Since there are a lot of guys out there that may be new to the hobby or just not have the resources to invest in having some nice jigs made I thought I would detail a cheaper alternative that works just as good as having special items made etc. The only difference is you have to just take your time with my method and double check everything as you lay it out.


In the first picture here you see the main brunt of my jig. it is an 18" shelf rack bar. You can get these in most walmarts lowes home depot what have you. They are really cheap too just couple bucks each and you should have like 6 of them in the shop as they come in handy.

I personally like the heavy duty ones as they are thicker material which means they stay straight. Here you can see I just screwed one of them down to my table across the leading edge of my fuse. This gives a nice straight surface to butt my sides to.

I like to show these alternative methods I use to show the new guy without a lot of shop equipment, that you dont need fancy jigs etc at the start to build a plane you can be inventive and come up with a lot of different ways to skin the same cat.

On my plans the former right in front of the fuel caps is where the rear half of the fuse starts.

ProfLooney

Here I placed another shelf bracket on the outside edge of my fuse as this stretch runs straight.

Because I need cross members I use short sections fo 1" x 2" wood as "Clamps" to clamp my fuse side to the shelf bracket. You can put a lot of pressure against the bracket with the wood clamps and there is no way your fuse will move until you unscrew the clamps.

ProfLooney

As you can see here once it is all clamped together the fuse sides will stand on their own and though you will have to stabilize them they stand pretty straight.

Gutaaaooo

Nice jig ProfLooney, i've only got a couple of sig wonders and a patriot under my belt, I can see where I could have used this jig method, maybe even have some stuff come out a bit more strait and true

Tks, I'll use this in the future

ProfLooney

The First thing to do is to is lay town the Bottom Crossmember for the flat run. there are 5 of them. Use the bottom of one of the fuse formers to give you the length of the first 5 crsossmembers as they are all the same length. The first 3 top crossmembers go along the backside of the fuse formers as can be seen in the next 3 screenshots.


NOTE: The fuse formers will not go to the top edge of the fuse framework. they are recessed 3/32" so that the sheeting is flush with the fuse sides.

ProfLooney

Here in the next couple photos I tossed the Nose section on the front of the fuse. because of the metal bar for framing it up I couldnt fully position it.

ProfLooney

Now after we have the first 5 crossmembers in place and the front 3 fuse formers, I jump to the rear section and place my Elevator mount Board in place. After This dries I will insert my trailing edge of the Fuse. You can walk the crossmembers down the fuse if you like, I just like to get the rear board in place as I feel it helps eliminate any twisting and shifting of the fuse in the back.

ProfLooney

I placed the fuel tank holder in 2 different positions for the next 2 photos. I did this intentionally as everyone has their favorite method of mounting items and this way the builder can choose his own location without having to alter any parts.

Gutaaaooo

Hey ProfLooney, is everything ok? Been a while since the last update. I'm checking in every day!

foodstick

you know you're building big when the cabinet making tools come out !   Though sometimes they are handy on small jobs as well.

ProfLooney

lol sorry for the delay guys I just got back in town 10 mins ago had to go to bumyou know the rest Iowa to work at an ethonol plant. Update is Jaime called me yesterday on my cell and said my metal fittings shipped priority mail yest. somewhere in my 673 emails is supposedly a pic of them. after I sort through my mails I will post tonight or tomorrow pics of the fittings.

Joe

ProfLooney

Today my Press Brake arrived from Micro mark will get some photos of it and fittings soon. I have been prepping up some fittings and getting things organized for the next stage of the build so I can do like the first part and keep going without stopping until this phase (the fittings and internal wires) phase is done like I did on the framing phase.

 

ProfLooney

Ok guys here are some not so great pics of my fittings and my new bending press which I got from micromark for $29 it was a great investment and works like a charm

ProfLooney

ProfLooney

Ok I got my fittings pretty much cleaned up and painted here is a series of pics of the fittings so far. Once they are all on I have to add the 1/32 music wire bracing as the full scale used solid wire rod rather than braided cables. sorry for quality of some pics I wasnt using my tripod and was trying to get some close up shots.

ProfLooney

Chevelle

My Feedback: (2)

Wow. What a project. Looking great.

ProfLooney

Ok here ya go. since I was asked about how the bending machine works I  used the best example I had for a fitting and that is the fitting for the Landing skid as it forms a box.

ProfLooney

ProfLooney

1bruno

Joe your fittings look magnificient. I have been looking for that same machine on their web site but can find it, where did you hide it? Are you going to stain your longerons?

Glen B.

ProfLooney

here ya go Glenn its under vices and anvils and benders here s direct link to it
http://www.micromark.com/MINI-BENDING-BRAKE,6702.html

ProfLooney

I will probably stain the cockpit area dunno abt whole thing

ProfLooney

Hey guys Well today I been working on my bracing wires. I made those little coiled Ferrules. its a pain I made a little setup and coiled a bunch of wire around a 2-56 pushrod which was a perfect size.
 
So with out further adoo Here is a closeup of one of them I found a pic  that wasnt the greatest but it looked like there were 5 coils to a ferrule thingy so thats what I made them