Fuselage center section #16 - more baggage area part riveting

 Finished up riveting all the baggage area parts to date.  Also assembled a couple of sub assemblies that go in the area between the seat ribs.

Using those circle dots to cover the machined recesses for the bearings worked great.  Primer in here makes it very hard to insert the bearings.

Used the side grips to keep everything as tight as possible as I squeezed these flush rivets.

Next I riveted the bulkhead to the ribs.

And then the ribs to the bulkhead.

Then the ELT bracket assembly to to bulkhead.

Then the baggage compartment floor to the ribs in between the nutplates.

A couple of the nutplate rivets can't be squeezed so they have you install them with the nutplate rivets that get pulled. 

And then I installed the nutplates that get squeezed rivets.  The one in the corner has to be squeezed by inserting the yoke in the access hole.

Next I riveted the fabricated angles to this little plate.  I don't know what this guy does yet but I am sure I will find out.

Next I riveted these bearing brackets onto the ribs.  They get two different kinds of pulled rivets.  Be careful here to use the correct ones.  The flush rivets go against the web of the rib,

And then this one hole gets a nutplate.  Not sure why there is two holes but the KAI says on the one side gets one.

>3000 LP4-3 rivets have been consumed so far!

Pully bracket is assembled and riveted.

Next I riveted the flaperon mixer box together.

Installed the nutplates on one side of the arm.

And using the hardware called out in the KAI, I put this thing together.  I had to do some work to the aluminum tubes as they were too long from the factory.  I put them in the drill press and push them down on some coarse sandpaper to sand them down nicely.  This keeps them nice and square on the end and allows for some micro machining tolerances.  Just keep checking them with a set of calipers because if you go too far, the tube is scrap!  Also don't forget to grease the washers and bolts per the KAI.  Washer wrenches are your friend for stuff like this!  Keep making sure you are following the figures in the KAI closely and comparing what you are building with the drawings.  It would be easy to screw this thing up.

All done with the baggage compartment and a couple sub assemblies for the seat rib area.  This will likely be my last post before Osh!  We are taking the 5th wheel to Osh this year!  See you when we get back!

Fuselage Center Section #15 - baggage area riveting

 Got started riveting the baggage compartment parts I primed together.

The KAI has you rivet these aft wing spar stub socket assemblies to the aft bulkhead.  They call out inserting a rivet in all the holes before pulling.  I left 2 just cleco'ed to hold the stuff together till I got a few rivets pulled.

Other side.

Boom and

Boom.... all done!

Nice and consistent tails.

Then they have you attach this standoff using a pulled rivet.

For the first time they have you use a couple washers on the rivet tail.

After it is pulled.  I assume this is to allow for proper grip length.

Fuselage Center Section #14 - etching and priming!

 Etched all the parts for the extended baggage area as well as the parts I pre-prepped for the seat rib area.

Then I primed them!

It was super high humidity tonight and I ran out of primer on my first batch and rushed to make another batch.  When I did, I put too much water in the mixing cup.  It sprayed fine but then suddenly started to make runs on some of the parts.  I learned a lesson there and found the limits of this paint system.

Luckily I got most of the parts done with the first batch and the ones that have runs did not look too bad after the primer dried.  The couple that need rework can be fixed with a little sanding.  This primer is sand-able.

New wing spar arrived!

 The replacement right wing spar arrived yesterday.  This is the spar that was replaced by Van's because someone at the factory or a factory supplier goofed up some rework on the spar that engineering said was a no go!  Thanks Van's for the customer service!

Fuselage Center Section #13 - deburring

 Deburred all the parts I have fitted for the extended baggage compartment and the subkits for the seat rib area.  No pics of this boring and tiring task.

Fuselage Center Section #12 - parts for the seat rib area

Fitting parts for the seat rib area:

Cut apart the parts of the bearing block assembly.

Cleaning up the flashing and edges.

Cleaning up more parts for the mixer box.

Mixer box arms.

Countersinks for some nutplate rivets.

More edge prep.