Another headache of a weekend as far as this bird went...started fitting the retracts, not a task for the impatient
Started off with checking the fit of the mounting plates in the wing.
Fitting retract mounting plates.jpg (83.26 KiB) Viewed 54 times
Then started the rib cutting for the wheels bays. This is where the "fun" starts. These retracts get mounted at weird angles to get them in there and the indications on the plan don't help because the retracts on the plan are not the same as the Century Jet retracts
This process is therefore a SLOW and monotonous one consisting of cut, fit, cut, fit, cut...you get the picture.
Start of retract fitting (1).jpg (87.23 KiB) Viewed 54 times
Start of retract fitting (2).jpg (74.92 KiB) Viewed 54 times
Start of retract fitting (3).jpg (78.81 KiB) Viewed 54 times
Finally got what is looking like a reasonable fit (pants up) by using a sheet of 1.5mm ply tacked in a couple places to form the inside of the top wing skin. This gives me the tolerances for spacing between the top and bottom skins (bottom skins indicated with two steel rules taped to ribs). There is not much room for error here and the "rear" part of the axle will have to be cut shorter to fit inside the wing skins, although I won't cut it too short as I want to fasten the bottom of the gear door to it with some form of bracket.
The fit so far (1).jpg (76.88 KiB) Viewed 54 times
The fit so far (2).jpg (77.34 KiB) Viewed 54 times
The fit so far (3).jpg (61.68 KiB) Viewed 54 times
Next I must check the angle of the leg to the bottom of the fuselage as well as to the bottom of the wing with pants down. once all is fine I can then mark where the mounting plate goes, cut beech bearers, glue them in place and then glue the mounting plates in (or bolt them in, haven't decided yet)