Started fitting the Baggage Bulkhead - 2.5 hours

I am ready to start fitting the F-751 baggage bulkhead. I cleco'd in the baggage floors and baggage side covers and celco's in the baggage bulkhead. I started checking the fit, making sure all was sitting correctly. 

 

I wasn't loving the fit...the holes along the F-728A bellcrank channel sit just a bit inboard toward the vertex of the channel, as well I want to make sure the bulkhead is sitting level at the top. A few things may help my cause. I still have some riveting to do at the bottom of the bellcrank channel. As well I still need to install the nutplates for the baggage bulkhead along the bottom of the F-706 bulkhead.

 

 

Re-made the F-707B angle - 1 hour

 Small day building, I re-made the F-707B angle and made it slightly longer than the original. I took my time and trimmed it to fit the angle/radius of the F-787 stiffener web.

 

Final fitting of the F-7112 Aft top skin - 5 hours

Started the build session by messing with the fluting on the F-706 bulkhead and now I have a great fit. With all holes nicely cleco'd I match drilled everything (with the exception of the holes along the longeron. I'll do those later).

I am not ready to fit the F-656 gusset plates. Using the same method as before, I clamped everything in place.

Once the #30 holes for the gusset plates are set, I was ready to partially un-cleco the top skin to access the F-707B angle. I drilled the angle, and then noticed that the fit isn't as nice as I would like it to be. I'll have to re-do this part.

To finish off the evening, I riveted the gussets to the longeron and bulkhead.

 

 

 

 

More fitting the F-7112 Aft top skin - 4 hours

 The fit of the F-7112 top skin is really tight. To help with this I de-vinyled top skin.

Next, I need to adjust the J-stiffeners cause they are just a tad long and they do interfere with the bulkhead. They need to be trimmed about 1/8" give or take.

 

I had the F-707B angle fabricated some time ago so I cleco'd that on and installed the F-787 stiffener web. 

I still need to play with the fluting on the F-706 bulkhead to get the fit right. I'm surprised by the amount of flutes needed on these, its more than I thought I would need. But the fit is looking really good.

Fitting the F-7112 Aft top skin - 3 hours

 I spent some time tonight tweaking the fluting on the F-707/F-708 and F-709 bulkheads to ensure the best fit possible. I now have every hole clecoed and checking the flange on the inside, the fit is very good.

 

I am ready to fit the F-7112 top skin. Like the rear top skin I really need to adjust the fluting on the F-706 bulkhead to get all the holes to align. Since the fit at the top is really good. I match drilled the J-stiffener. However I need to trim the forward end a bit as it appears that there is interference with the bulkhead.

 

Fitting the F-775 Rear top skin - 5.5 hours

 The F-775 rear top skin was ready to go on. I managed to get the top/middle of the skin cleco'd on just fine. however getting the holes to line up on the bulkheads as they get closer to the longerons was not easy. Looks like I will need to flute more on the bulkheads. Since things were lining up well at the top, I match drilled the J-Stiffeners.

I then used masking tape to make note of which areas needed more fluting. It took me a few tries to get it all lined up and cleco'd 

 

Next I placed a straight edge across the bulkhead which would allow me to set the final placement of the F-656 gusset plates. Once I had the gussets clamped, I removed the top skin and then drilled the #30 holes.

I noticed that the fit of the F-786A J-stiffener with the F-708 bulkhead wasn't great. I needs a little trimming to clear the flange. I checked the fit and took measurements, verifying that the area of interference was much less than the dimensions shown on Drawing #18. I trimmed the Stiffener just enough to clear the flange.

The top skin was ready to go back on, but still seems like minor adjustments are still required.

 

Riveted the F-728B angle and fitted the bellcrank - 1 hour

 Using my pneumatic alligator squeezer, setting all of the rivets in the F-728B angle was a breeze. Accessibility of the lower most 3-4 rivets was a bit tough as expected but I managed to set all of the rivets with no issues.

I then fit the bellcrank assembly. Perfect! I did notice thought that the bolt slips in place much better going from the right side to the left, rather than the left going right. I still have to set that top missing rivet...I'll wait until I get the baggage floors and top skin fitted to make sure alignment is good.