Fabricating the seat back assembly - 4 hours

 I've been putting the assembly of the seat backs on hold for a while. My plan is to order the Classic Aero aviator seats and they do not require the Van's seat back assembly. But seeing how the order lead time is considerable, when I do place the order...I won't have seat backs for quite some time. 

I better put these together, if not for permanent means at least I can use them for temporary means. 

I had all of the angles cut previously and all required notches and and radius's have been completed. All I needed to do was layout all of the dimensions and mark center lines.

 The fan spacer comes in incredibly handy here, I couldn't imagine the time it would take to make each hole by hand. 

The part that takes a bit of time is to mark the holes on the sides of the seat back assembly. I can't use the fan spacer as the holes are not equal distant, and they are totally dependent on the grooves of the seat back. I decided to make a drilling template out of scrap. I bent the scrap so that it would fit in between the groves in the metal and I carefully placed two holes according to the dimensions on the plans. Now I can use this drilling template to drill all of the holes. 

I managed to drill all of the holes to #40 and cleco the assembly together.

Fitting the Almost a 14 mod for the flap assembly - 3 hours

 In order to make the Almost a 14 mod center cap fit better on the flap assembly tower, I need to fabricate a new F-767 attachment plate. The attachment plate is a slightly shorter piece than stock. It also requires new mounting holes to be drilled. 

The fit is really good now. 

 

The aft attachment plate doesn't fit so good. There is a gap between the mounting plate and the flap assembly, as well there is very little clearance for the attachment screws. 

I was toying with a number of ideas to make this fit better. I was going to fabricate a new Aft mounting plate out of 0.063" aluminum, but on the advice of my local builder buddy Mike, I fabricated a small spacer. I will cut this down and shape it accordingly but it looks like it will work very well.

 

More messing the fuel selector - 1 hour

 My Aircraft Spruce order arrived with various AN fittings that I ordered to help with different installation options. I went to work trying the 45deg NPT fitting on the fuel selector. So close, but It won't work. Just about 1/2" too long and this is the tightest/smallest tube I can make. 

I decided to throw in the towel and just make a straight tube. This will ensure that the system will work. It's simple, easily made and can be replaced if needed. The gascolator sits a bit more forward than I want, but it is what it is.

I started to measure and sketch out the gascolator based on this final position, but as I lean into the plane and put some weight on the floor, I notice the floor has some flex/movement to it. If I commit to this setup/placement there is absolutely no give to the fuel tubing to account for any potential vibration or flex that I will have on the floor. It is likely that I will develop fuel leaks at this point. I'm beginning to see the benefit of having that "J hook" shape to the fuel line as it is more forgiving with respect to vibration and floor flex. 

I think I have to bite the bullet and order the proper fuel selector from Vans. Then I can get the exact installation I want. Crap...More money.

Installing the new Almost a 14 end caps - 2.5 hours

 My replacement end caps arrived from Anti-splat. Before when installing, I didn't make sure that these were level to the plane....They were clamped tight to the gusset and the longeron, but that didn't mean they were level across the airframe. 

This time, I installed the endcaps and made certain that they were set parallel and perpendicular to the centerline of the fuselage. I used a straightedge and spent a lot of time measuring and marking. 

Once I was satisfied with that placement, I placed a level across the plane and made certain that the end caps and gusset plate are level (perfectly horizontal). Once satisfied, I used the same drilling technique and template that I used before and finished all of the mounting holes. Note the blue lines showing horizontal level on the front of the end cap and the line on top of the end cap that aligns with the edge of the gusset plate.  

 

Messing with the fuel selector - 1 hour

 I ordered a 90deg fitting for Aircraft spruce to see if using this fitting will work for my setup. I tried bending a double offset tube, but in the end - Nope won't work....the space to work with is just too short. I need much tighter bends. 

I reached out to Tom at TS flightlines to see if he is able to make some custom tubes. I provided him dimensions, but after a couple days of trying things, he confirmed that the space is too tight for anything he can fabricate. (Just an awesome guy by the way. He tried everything).

I did come up with one possibility, but it would require a 45deg fitting at the bottom of the selector. I will need to order a couple more fittings to see if this will work. but it looks promising.

Bending 3/8" fuel tubing for the selector - 8.5 hours

 I am ready to start bending fuel tubing for the fuel selector. The plan is to install an Aerolab filter/gascolator between the fuel selector and the fuel pump. I want to install the filter/gascolator for a few reasons. It is debatable whether the gascolator is still a Canadian requirement (it was in the past, but recent information points it may no longer be required). I want to install one to avoid any issues down the road with Transport Canada wanting one. From a functionality standpoint, I think its wise to install one at the low point just in case there is water ever present in the fuel system. Its placement under the plane not in the engine compartment is a big plus. The fact that it is so easy to access and service from outside the plane is a huge bonus. 

Tom from TS flightlines provided me a sample pic of the type of tube he manufactures for this type of installation on a post I made on Vans Airforce. It will be my guide.

As I have never bent aluminum tubing before....I went to work. I bent a ton of different variations. Learning how to bend the tubes, what shapes I can do with my tools, etc etc. I used 25' of tubing in the end.

I ended up making my J tube. With the tools I have I am basically committed with a particular set of dimensions and minimum radius. The result is a very nice looking J tube, but ultimately the tube is too tall. It doesn't go back far enough to the spar web, but I am not too worried about that. The height is a big problem. 

It becomes very apparent that the NPT thread on the bottom of the selector means that with all the required fittings, valuable space is eaten away resulting in an extremely short amount of space to work with. I tried fabricating a simple 90deg bend to see if that will work. It does work, but it pushes the gascolator and the fuel pump quite forward. The fuel pump doghouse will need to be quite big to cover it all.

I tried everything I could think of to fit the gascolator further back to the spar. I even bent a unique shape tube to get the proper height and offset the gascolator to the side. Its a really desirable option since the fuel connection on my pump is offset to the side. But ultimately this will not work as with the bend radius I can do with my tools pushes the gascolator too far to the side and I would have to cut out the floor stiffener....not an option.

I will keep at trying to figure something out.

Fitting the Andair Fuel Selector - 1 hour

 Since I am waiting for some replacement parts to arrive on the flap assembly. I am moving on to fitting up the fuel selector. I bought an Andair selector a while ago from a local builder. Its similar to the unit that can be purchased from Vans for the RV7, but it has a NPT fuel out, and banjo fittings for the fuel in. 

 

I started drilling the F-983A fuel valve plate to accommodate the fuel selector. I chose to utilize #10 screws as that is the hole size in the Andair fuel selector. 

 

 After drilling the fuel selector, I installed the K1000-3 nutplates.