Chapter Log

Step 0 - Materials
Status: Completed 
Est Time: 0.00, Actual: 0.00
Est Cost: $ 518.70, Actual: $ 1864.46
Date Completed: 10/16/2005

I ordered parts for Chapters 8-11 here, although I excluded the seat belts and brakes:

Aircraft Spruce - $1,502.49 + $140.09 shipping
Wicks - $76.14 + $34.01
Airtech International - $45 (Peel ply) + $7.24 shipping
eBay - $49.99 (4 Jaguar head rests) + $9.50 shipping

The head rests look very nice, although I haven't received them yet. They're from a 1996 Jaguar XJ6, and are a matched set of four. That should give me a consistent look when they're installed, without having to hunt around a junkyard. $50 isn't bad for four headrests.

Step 1 - Carving the Foam
Status: Completed 
Est Time: 2.00, Actual: 0.50
Est Cost: $ 0.00, Actual: $ 0.00
Date Completed: 10/14/2005

This step went faster than I expected, mainly because I skipped half of it. I'll be installing car headrests, like John Slade and some others are doing, so I skipped most of the foam cutting called for in this step. I'm also deferring installation of the canopy hinges until they're actually required, so I can use the canopy as a placement jig and position them better than I could now.

So, the only thing I actually did in this step was prepare the two pieces for the shoulder support, and install the wood inserts for the seat belt attach points.

Step 2 - Glassing the Inside
Status: Completed 
Est Time: 1.00, Actual: 1.00
Est Cost: $ 0.00, Actual: $ 0.00
Date Completed: 10/18/2005

Because I had already installed my shoulder harness nut plates, I modified this step slightly. Instead of simply glassing the shoulder support and installing it, I used the tip of an awl to separate the BID fibers where they would have sat on top of the nut plates. I moved the fibers around in each of the four spots to make a round hole large enough for the nut plate shaft to fit through. This way, I didn't need to cut the BID - the fibers simply go around the nut plates. I really doubt this area needs that much strength, but it was easy to do, and now I have a clean layer of BID across my nut plates, holding them in place.

The rest of the layup went to plans. I still think this step could use some tweaking, but I can't see any reason to spend more time here.

Step 3 - Glassing the Outside
Status: Completed 
Est Time: 1.00, Actual: 2.75
Est Cost: $ 0.00, Actual: $ 0.00
Date Completed: 10/20/2005

10/19/2005 (1 hour):
I had a little trouble with this step, so I decided to do it in two parts. When I cut the squares for the seat belt reinforcements, I had trouble keeping them square. Then, when I installed them, I couldn't squeeze them hard enough to make them flush with the top surface of the shoulder support without introducing air.

So, I stopped after installing the reinforcements. I laid peel ply and plastic over them, and got all of the air out. They still sit above the foam, but when I glass the outside I'll deal with this by fairing the area in with a bit of flox. I don't mind if they sit a bit proud, as long as they work.

10/20/2005 (1 hour):
OK, maybe it's not two steps. It's three. The text of the plans, and the pictures included, call for two layers of BID over the outside of the shoulder support, and then the step is done. But there's a modification to the plans in response to an accident that calls for 3 layers of UND over each seat belt attachment point. This is only described in the right-hand column, so it's easy to miss. I missed it until after my epoxy had started to gel, and I didn't want to risk pulling the glass off the foam by removing the plastic and peel ply I had on top of it. I decided to let the BID layup cure first, then do the UND wraps tomorrow.

10/21/2005 (0.75 hours):
The UND wraps are straightforward enough. I'm getting much better layup results now that I'm peel-plying everything. I do have one oversight here. There are SO many layers of glass on the seat belt reinforcements that I can barely see the original holes in the wood pieces to re-drill them through the glass. I may have to cut a small hole in the front face of the reinforcement anyway, so I can shine a bright light into the shoulder support to help highlight the holes. If you install the seat belt nut plates ahead of time, as I did, I don't think there's a good solution to this. I'm not really expecting much trouble, though.

Step 4 - Installing the Headrests
Status: In Progress 
Est Time: 0.00, Actual: 2.00
Est Cost: $ 0.00, Actual: $ 0.00
Date Completed: 00/00/0000

Because I will be using car head rests, I won't be glassing the plans head rests as called for in this step. Instead, I've reserved it to track the work involved in installing tubes to hold the car head rests I purchased. I'll install these later in the build process after I've had a chance to measure the location of John Slade's installation.

Step 5 - Installing Harness Attachments
Status: Completed 
Est Time: 3.00, Actual: 0.50
Est Cost: $ 0.00, Actual: $ 0.00
Date Completed: 10/17/2005

10/17/2005:
There are times when it appears as though the plans simply use any method that works, regardless of whether it makes sense. Here, you're supposed to install nut plates in the shoulder support for the seat belt attach points. After you install the shoulder support. By cutting slots in the shoulder support and sliding them in with big tabs, then cutting the tabs off.

Doesn't it sound like the original maker, ummm, forgot something? Then figured out how to fix it, and the plans were simply written that way?

I did this a little differently, and I'm glad I did. This took very little time to do ahead of time. I cut four aluminum pieces, and on the off chance that this makes ANY difference in strength, I ran them to the edge of the shoulder support, exactly where they would end if you followed the plans. I then riveted nut plates to them, and floxed them in place.

The catch is that I did this BEFORE glassing the inside of the shoulder rest area. Once the flox cures, I'll drill the holes for the shoulder harness bolts, and use some tape to protect the area from epoxy. THEN I will glass the inside, and install the shoulder support in the fuselage. This way, I'll have no messy nut plate installations and patching to do later, and the whole process went by very quickly with everything exposed on my bench.

Step 6 - Seat Belt Attachments and External Step
Status: Completed 
Est Time: 0.00, Actual: 6.75
Est Cost: $ 0.00, Actual: $ 0.00
Date Completed: 01/26/2006

12/6/2005 (4.5 hours):
I installed the plywood inserts, floxed around their edges to make a nice transition, and then installed the BID reinforcements. This is a fairly straightforward step. I wish the plans would split up steps that require you to wait for cure. It's annoying to do something and not be able to mark off the step as completed because you have one more thing to do (drilling for and installing the brackets).

12/7/2005 (0.25 hours):
I floxed on the seat belt brackets, but discovered that despite ordering ALL of the hardware, I was somehow missing the screws that go here. I have an order in to get them - guess I'll have to wait ANOTHER week to close this step. =( I also need to get a 7/16" counterbore for the heads of the screws.

Misc dates (3 hours):
This is a low-priority build item so I'm slowly getting it out of the way. I'm working on attaching the seat belt brackets, but it's not going well. I drilled the holes for the attach bolts, but they didn't go straight in, so I had to adjust things slightly to get the bolts to line up properly. Then I discovered that my bolts weren't long enough. I don't know what I did wrong, but it seems I needed something longer in order to ensure that I'd have the "three threads showing" above the nut once it was tightened down. I didn't want to drill the pocket for the bolt heads too deep for fear of drilling into and weakening the longeron. I ordered some slightly longer bolts from Spruce, installed the two that I had on hand, and am waiting for the others to arrive so I can finish the other seat belt attach locations.

Note that my installation is fairly simple because all four installations are identical. I'm installing a retractible step instead of the fixed unit. I'm actually glad I made this decision, because I've now also decided to copy the Cozy Girrrls' swept-forward strakes, and the plans step would be in an awkward spot anyway. I'm deferring the step installation until after the strakes are built, when I know better where, exactly, it should go.

Incidentally, one thing I don't like about retractible steps is that they're always round, which is hard on a foot if you have to stand on it for extended periods, doing maintenance or whatever. There's an easy solution - I'll fabricate a lightweight cover for it, a little larger than the original plans step (might as well make it comfy), and slip it over the retract's rod when it's extended. I'll use pins to ensure it stays put, which will also provide some safety so it doesn't depart in flight if I somehow forget to remove it.

1/27/2006 (2 hours):
I'm held up working on the nose gear because I ran out of birch plywood. While I wait for it to arrive, I'm doing some other tasks here and there. I've found it useful to skip around a lot, so there's always something to do if you're held up on a big step. This is a big project, and it can get frustrating when you constantly deal with very large, intricate steps that take 8 hours to do. Sometimes it's nice to just do a 1-hour job.

That's what this was. I received the longer bolts I needed from Spruce a few weeks ago, but hadn't installed them. Yesterday and today I drilled the recesses for their heads, installed them with flox, and tightened everything down. I have the recommended "three threads" showing above the nuts, and I didn't have to weaken the longeron. Problem solved.

4/26/2007:
In later chapters I installed the step. I found aluminum rod stock and tubing that had a very close fit, cut a slot in the tubing, and slid the rod stock inside it. A hole in the rod allows a handle to be installed through the slot in the tubing, controlling its movement and providing stops at each end when rotated. (The drywall screw here is just a placeholder - I tapped this for an AN3 for permanent installation, but didn't want to wear out the threads since I was removing it a lot.)

To hold the tubing in place there is a piece of foam underneath it, forming a support near the centerline, with fiberglass over the top of it and onto the floor. It looks messy here because it hasn't been cleaned up yet, but it's relatively light, very strong, and definitely nice to have. There's one on the passenger side, too, because I'll have a forward-hinged canopy.

Step 7 - Center Seat Belt Attach
Status: Completed 
Est Time: 1.00, Actual: 1.00
Est Cost: $ 0.00, Actual: $ 0.00
Date Completed: 04/26/2007

Seatbelt reinforcements were simple, just more fiberglass over existing work. Layup on plastic on bench, lay down, stipple out air, done.