Fuselage November 2005 Updates
November 6, 2005
Longerons - 3 hrs

Time to notch the rear longerons and cut the notch for the HS brackets in the fuse tailcone. I used the empennage deckplate to mark the notch areas at the back of the longerons. Cut these areas out with a pnuematic hack saw. Filed em down and I think they are ready for the downward bend at the 28 1/4 mark.

I had to remove the canopy decks to fit the longeron into the vise snug at the 28 1/4 inch mark. Thanks again to Dan's famous website, he said to use the same method you use to do the big bend. In this case you hold down pressure and outward pressure as you wack it with the deadblow hammer. The outward pressure is used to hold against the inward bend as the flat top area bends down.

I used an angle clamped to the straight deck area to measure the 2 3/4 inch bend at the firewall end. Not quite enough on the first wack so remove the measuring angle and wack it again. Took about 3 attempts to get it right. Not to bad.

Then last I used a large cresent wrench to put the 17 degree twist. Just put the wrench on the very front of the longeron and twist. I used an inclemometer to check for accuracy. Hopefully this will match up with the angle in the firewall brackets.


This website was built to document my work in compliance with the FAA requirements needed to certify my aircraft.
My experiences and comments are by no means to be considered as instructions on how to build any aircraft.