Fuselage

Van's Aircraft offers a "QuickBuild" option for the fuselage. I decided that in order to have the airplane flying in the quickest time it would be nice to have the fuselage quick built by Van's quick build team called "Famous Secret" located in the Phillipines. We also ordered the quickbuild wings at the same time.

It took 8 months, almost to the day, from the time we ordered the quickbuild kits until we received them at our hangar.

A QuickBuild fuselage is approximately 75% complete. The majority of the aluminum structure is riveted together. All parts are primed before assembly.

Delivery Day!

We made arrangements to have our quickbuild kits delivered by Tony Partain. They did a great job and they really know what they are doing!

Here you can see our kits loaded on the truck. We were the fourth delivery that they made on this trip.

There is a hoist system built into the roof of the freight trailer.

The fuselage was offloaded using the hoist to set it down on a large dolly and we pushed it into the hangar...easy!

There were only three of us at the hangar to do the unloading: the driver, my wife, and myself. We had no problems.

*I wouldn't want less than three because the wings are unloaded by hand without the hoist and it would be very tricky to unload with only two present.

The fuselage was placed on a dolly that they had on the truck and we pushed it into the hangar.

The Van's packagers take every advantage of space as you can see they stuffed the fuselage with parts wrapped in paper!

There was another large box offloaded which contained smaller parts, hardware, and of course the builder's manuals.

*You can see the box I was referring to in the upper right hand corner of this photograph leaning against the hangar wall.

Now the unwrapping and inventory can begin!

This is one of the three mounds of paper that all of the parts were wrapped in.

This is what was in the box...

*Make sure to check every scrap of paper!

This was in the box too!

Better get more shelves...

This is the fuselage after it was emptied from all of those parts

*The RV14 fuselage kit is only the forward half of the entire fuselage. The aft half or "tailcone" is built in the empennage kit.

According to Van's Aircraft these "Quick Build" kits are built so that they are universal and it is up to each individual builder to do (or undo) the items that pertain to tri-gear or taildragger models so be sure to go through the builder's manaul and check each step to see what is left to be done in order to complete the front fuselage section.

As I am getting the aft tailcone section (located in our garage) ready to join to the front fuselage section (located in our hangar), I began to work on some of the small individual parts that will be attached along with the tailcone when it finally arrives at the hangar location.... they are 24 miles apart from each other.

If you have been following along with the build process some of these parts are described in the end of the tailcone section.

These are the shoulder harness lug clips (F-01406D). They need to be separated from each other.

*The reference page for this is on page 30-05, step 3 of the builder's manual.

Reference lines were drawn for guiding me when I do the cuts on the bandsaw.

Here I am making the cuts on the bandsaw to separate the shoulder harness lug clips (F-01406D).

Here are the separated shoulder harness lug clips (F-01406D). The holes and edges still need to be deburred.

Since I had the bandsaw out I decided to separate the shoulder harness lugs (F-01406E).

Again, I drew guide lines so that I could make the cuts on the bandsaw.

Separating the shoulder harness lugs (F-01406E) on the bandsaw.

Let there be two!

The shoulder harness lugs (F-01406E) still have to be deburred.

Might as well separate the brake pedal pads (CS-00018A) as long as I have the bandsaw out....I think there's a pattern here!

Page 33-02, step 1 in the bulder's manual is where they talk about the brake pedal pads.

I drew reference lines to guide me on the bandsaw.

Here I am separating the brake pedal pads (CS-00018A) on the bandsaw.

Now there are four!

Back to the shoulder harness lug clips (F-01406D), I final reamed the holes and deburred the edges and I scuffed the surfaces with ultrafine gray ScotchBrite pads in preparation for priming.

These are the shoulder harness lugs (F-01406E), the holes have been final reamed but the edges have to be deburred and part of the lug needs to have a 1/16" wide chamfer.

Here are the layout lines for the chamfer on the shoulder harness lugs (F-01406E).

According to step 5 on page 30-05 of the builder's manual there needs to be a 1/16" wide by 1/32" deep chamfer on the upper edges aft of the bends.

*I used a fine file to make the chamfer, it doesn't take too long to do.

This is what the chamfer looks like. I also scuffed the surfaces with ultrafine ScotchBrite pads in preparation for priming.

Next, the seven aft holes in the shoulder harness lugs (F-01406E) have to be machine countersunk to accept a .025" dimpled skin.

*Make sure to look on page 30-07 to see that there will be AN426AD4-4 rivets attaching these lugs to the aft fuselage assembly so use a #30 dimpled hole for your machine countersink reference.

Now the shoulder harness lugs (F-01406E) have been countersunk to accept a #30, .025" dimpled skin.

I washed all of the shoulder harness parts with acetone and then primed them with DupliColor DAP 1690 self etching green primer.

The ELT antenna bracket (F-14117) was the next item I worked on.

I final reamed the holes and deburred all of the edges of the ELT antenna bracket (F-14117) and scuffed the surfaces with an ultrafine ScotchBrite pad in preparation for priming.

After washing the ELT antenna bracket (F-14117) with acetone, I primed it with DupliColor DAP1690 Self Etching green primer.

After the shoulder harness parts (F-01406D and F-01406E) had dried for a day, I riveted them together with AN470AD4-5 rivets which were set using our pneumatic rivet squeezer.

Referencing page 30-06, steps 2 and 3 of the builder's manual, an AN4 .25" bolt was inserted into the large hole so that alignment between the two parts could be maintained while the rivets were being set by the pneumatic squeezer.

Now that the empennage kit has been completed we are "shifting gears" to focus on what needs to be done to our "Quick Build" fuselage kit to get it ready to join the two halves.

Beginning in section 26-01 of the builder's manual we begin to go through all of the construction steps to see what needs to be completed.

We got to page 26-10 and see in steps 4-18 we need to do some work to make this "unibuild" into a tri-gear RV14A. The arrows point to some of the to do lists.

The number 1 needs to have a square hole cut out for the main landing gear.

Number two needs to have the hole match drilled to #22 and then enlarged with a unibit to 11/16".

Numbers 3-5 need to have the center holes final drilled to #27.

*These steps have to be done on both the left and right sides.

There are step plate covers temporarily installed with pop rivets that need to be drilled out, these are for taildraggers and in tri-gear models is where the step plates go.

This is the (F-01484A-L and F-0148A-R) tail dragger cover plates that need to be removed.

There are several more items that need to be done, not many and we got to section 29 so far but still have more steps to review.

*From what we have seen so far, the construction and quality of workmanship has been excellent.

The left baggage bin bulkhead (F-01406A-L) needs to have eight K1000-08D nutplates installed.

The nutplates have been clecoed into place.

I clamped the bulkhead to the bench so that the riveting process can proceed.

I am using our hand squeezer to rivet the K1000-08D nutplates to the left baggage bin bulkhead (F-01406A-L).

*The plans call for AN426AD3-3 rivets to be used which is okay, but I found that AN426AD3-3.5 rivets to be much better.

I used these size rivets for the installation of the nutplates on the rest of the baggage bin bulkheads too.

This is the setup that I used with the hand squeezer.

The eight nutplates have been installed on the left baggage bin bulkhead (F-01406A-L).

Here's a closeup, the rivets are AN426AD3-3.5

The K1000-08D nutplates have been clecoed to the right baggage bin bulkhead (F-01406A-R).

Just like before, I clamped the bulkhead to the bench.

The eight K1000-08D nutplates have been riveted to the right baggage bin bulkhead using AN426AD3-3.5 rivets.

K1000-08D nutplates have been clecoed to the center baggage bin bulkhead (F-01406C).

Here I am riveting the K1000-08D nutplates to the center baggage bin bulkhead (F-01406C).

The K1000-08D nutplates are in place.

The center baggage bin bulkhead (F-01406C) as viewed from the other side.

You may have noticed that one side of the bulkheads are primed and the other sides aren't. That is because when I prime the cockpit interior I intend to use a water based painting system and just want to have a different primer recommended to go under the topcoat paint.

Now the fluting process begins on the baggage bin bulkheads (F-01406A-L and F-01406A-R) so that proper hole alignment around the perimeters of the bulkheads can be maintained.

* This is called for in step 6, page 30-02 of the builder's manual.

Along with the fluting pliers I also had my "smooth jawed" duckbill pliers and my breaking pliers in case I needed them. I didn't need the breaking pliers but the duckbill pliers came in handy around the small tabs at the bottom of the bulkheads.

The left baggage bin bulkhead (F-01406A-L) was clecoed into position to check for fit first.

*You'll find that if you have primed anything that during the fluting process some of the primer will get scratched up so get ready for touch ups!

There isn't a lot of fluting that needs to be done as you can see here but make sure to check the fit in the area of where the baggage bin bulkhead tab meets the top longeron.

The left side didn't need to be adjusted any but the right side did on ours.

*Don't start cutting and filing yet, wait until all of the bulkheads are clecoed into place before you make any adjustments to the area where these tabs intersect the longerons.

Here I am fluting the left baggage bin bulkhead (F-01406A-L).

Next I clecoed the right baggage bin bulkhead (F-01406A-R) into place to check for fit.

All of the baggage bin bulkheads (F-01406A-L, F-01406A-R, and F-01406C) are clecoed into place.

*This is a good time to check the fit in the area I was talking about earlier where the baggage bin bulkhead tabs intersect the top longeron.

This is the right baggage bin bulkhead (F-01406A-R) and I had to open up the gap around the tab where it intersected the right top longeron (F-01418B-R) outside edges. It wasn't off by much but just enough that it was rubbing against the longeron and would have caused some problems later.

Here is one of the places I had to lightly sand (600 grit sand paper) and prime. There were only a few minor scratches but might as well take care of them now.

Step 8, on page 30-02 of the builder's manual instructs that these tabs on both the right and left fuselage skins (F-01473-L and F-01473-R) be bent outboard 3/32".

*I gently did this with my "smooth jawed" duckbill pliers using a line I drew as my reference.

Back to the brake pedal pads, there are several parts that make up the rudder pedals and brakes. These are the brake pedal "C" channels (CS-00018B) and the small tab at the right is the bearing block template which will be used later as a guide when drilling holes to mount the rudder system.

Step 2, on page 33-02 instructs that these parts need to be separated so I used our bandsaw to do that.

First I marked my cut lines.

Now I am using the bandsaw to separate the parts.

There are four brake pedal "C" channels (CS-00018B) plus the bearing block template.

Since I had the bandsaw out I decided to separate the two NACA vent brackets (F-14186-L and F-14186-R) as well.

*This is step 3, on page 29-21 of the builder' manual.

Here I am separating the NACA vent brackets using our bandsaw.

I deburred the edges and scuffed the surfaces with a ScotchBrite ultrafine gray pad in preparation for priming, which I will do later because I still need to do some work on these so that the flow vent can be installed with screws.

*The (SV-5) "Whisper Flow Vent" was not included in our kit and I asked another RV14 builder if it was in his kit and he said it wasn't in his either.

Apparently they are no longer available so I guess the (SV-6) aluminum vents from Van's Aircraft will have to be purchased separately. They are available in black or clear aluminum and are supposed to be a direct replacement for the (Plastic SV-5's) but they are expensive.

Back to the four brake pedal "C" channels (CS-00018B) which have been separated on the bandsaw, now everything has to be deburred.

All of the brake pedal "C" channels (CS-00018B) have been deburred, the #30 holes have been final reamed and deburred, and the surfaces have been scuffed with gray ultrafine ScotchBrite pads in preparation for priming.

*With all of those lightening holes to debur and all the edges to do, these took a couple of work sessions so I will prime them later.

Now it is time to "tackle" the brake pedal pads (CS-00018A).

These are going to take awhile to debur, there are a lot of lightening holes plus the machining process that was used to bend the sides left some marks that will have to be addressed; I think you can see the lines the tooling made on the top surfaces of these pads and there are additional lines along the sides. The good thing is, they are plenty beefy!

You might have noticed that I have been jumping from one section of the builder's plans to another and that is because part of our project is in our hangar 24 miles away and part of it is in our home garage. In order to save some mileage on the vehicles I work on smaller projects at the home garage and then go out to the hangar to work on the forward "QuickBuilt" fuselage to finish the several items that need to be completed before we join the front fuselage to the tailcone section.

The next task I want to do is cut out the areas (step 7, page 26-10) for the landing gear to be "slid" into on the front fuselage. This is going to be kind of tricky because most of the front fuselage is already together and the working space, if you are trying to make the cut from above looking down towards the bottom skin, is very limited so in order to cut out the rectangles for the landing gear I am going to have to make my cuts from underneath looking up....oh boy!

Luckily I saw a guy using Jilson Monodex Shears to cut inside holes so I bought a pair to do the cutouts for the landing gear. *These cost $31.95 and are part number JS12 from Aircraft Tool Supply.

I have never used Jilson Shears before so I thought I would get a piece of aluminum and set it up like I would if I were doing the actual cutout on the front fuselage before I did it for real.

First, I drilled #40 holes in each of the four corners so that I would have reference points for the rectangle. Then I took a fine line Sharpie and connected the dots to get the outline of the rectangle that was going to be cut. The blade that does the cutting on the shears is about 1/16" wide but you need to drill additional 9/32" holes inboard of the four #40 corner holes already drilled to manuever with. Then insert the cutting blade and make the straight cuts.

Here is my first go at it, not bad, not great, just remember to stay within the lines!

I got better on the second attempt.

Now for the real cut....you can see the space that I have to work in, it couldn't be done from above, it's too tight for my comfort level.

First I drilled the four #40 holes from above just like I did on the practice piece, then I drew lines underneath to connect the "dots" for my rectangle outline. The 9/32" holes were drilled for the cutter blade access and then back underneath I went to cut out the inner rectangle making sure to stay a safe distance from the edge marks. File work is next in order to finish the cutout.

Step 4, on the same page 26-10 of the builder's manual also instructs the builder to use a #22 drill to open up the large hole at the corner of the rectangle area (in the F-01483-L and F-01483-R bottom skins) and after that is done, for RV14A models, the #22 hole is then enlarged to 11/16" using a step drill and then the hole was deburred. *I did this also from below looking up!

If you look closely, you can see where some nutplates will be added later but before you add the nutplates the center holes have to be drilled larger with a #27 bit.

*There are five points that need to have #27 holes drilled. They are indicated in figure 1, and are step 12, on page 26-10 of the builder's manual. The holes were final drilled and all deburred for both the left and right side of the front fuselage.

Just like the left side, this is the right side and steps 7, 4, and 12 on page 26-10 of the builder's manual were completed.

File work will be done in a later section.

Van's temporarily "pop" riveted (F-01484A) cover plates to the fuselage but since this is going to be a tri-cycle geared airplane I needed to remove them. This is where the step to get up over the wing into the cockpit will be located.

There were also more temporary "pop" rivets added to keep the rear skins in place during shipment so I drilled them out and replaced them with 3/32" clecos to hold everything together temporarily.

The cover was removed from the left side too.

Back to deburring the brake pedal pads....As you can see the metal is pretty thick...about 3/16" I am using flat and round files to do the edges, the surfaces will have to be sanded.

In this photograph you can see the machining line that I mentioned earlier. The lines run from one hole to the other, I'm not sure if this could be a stress riser but I intend to sand them out.

These brake pedal pads have a lot of work to get them ready for priming and it took several work sessions to complete the task.

The machining line (indicated by the red arrows) is a little deeper on the sides and they definitely have to be removed.

Here I am final reaming the #30 holes and will debur them.

Step 3, on page 33-03 of the builder's manual instructs that the attach points for the hinge and master cylinders be final drilled to #12 size in each of the brake pedal pads (CS-00018A) and those were drilled and deburred at this time as well.

Remember the brake pedal "C" channels (CS-00018B)? I washed them with acetone and then primed them with Dupli•Color DAP 1690 self etching green primer.

Back out to the hangar...my wife final sized and deburred the left gear opening in the left bottom skin(F-01483-L). She used a combination of flat files to complete the task.

Step 6, on page 26-11 of the builder's manual instructs to enlarge a #40 hole, indicated in figure one to 9/16" using a step drill, the other two holes are to be final drilled to #19 size as per step 7, on page 26-11. The holes were deburred also.

Step 3, on page 28-07 of the builder's manual instructs that all of the #40 holes in the two cowl attach plates (F-14133-1) need to be machine countersunk to accept an AN426AD3 type rivet head.

*You have to make sure that the countersink will be flush from the bottom side so since the front fuselage is sitting on a stand and the cowl attach plates are already attached to it, I had to do the countersinking from below looking up!

Nice!

Finally, the brake pedal pads (CS-00018A) are finished being deburred and sanded!

I washed all of them with acetone in preparation for sanding.

I primed the brake pedal pads with Tempo A702 green zinc phosphate primer.

Step 3, page 33-02 in the builder's manual instructs that the brake pedal "Z" channels (CS-00018C) be separated into eight parts.

Here I am separating the brake pedal "Z" channels (CS-00018C) using our bandsaw.

All of the brake pedal "Z" channels (CS-00018C) have been separated and I have begun the deburring process.

As per step 4, page 26-11 of the builder's manual, ten (K1000-06) nutplates need to be dimpled so that they can be installed later onto the (F-01483-L and F-01483-R) fuselage center bottom skins around the area of the lower gear brace.

*I used a #40 reduced diameter female die set so that the body of the die did not damage the center portion of the nutplate.

Here is what it looks like dimpling the (K1000-06) nutplates on our DRDT2 dimpler.

These are the (K1000-06) nutplates after they have been dimpled.

Meanwhile, my wife continued to final size and debur the opening on the the (F-01483-R) right bottom forward fuselage skin where the landing gear is attached as per step 8, page 26-10 of the builder's manual.

Step 8, on page 26-11 of the builder's manual instructs that the aft edge of the (F-01484) bottom center skin be broken upwards so I used our hand seamers and broke the edge accordingly.

Here you can see both sides of the aft edges of the (F-01484) center bottom skin have an edge break.

As per step 4, page 28-07 of the builder's manual I riveted (K1000-08D) nutplates to the (F-14133-1) cowl attach plates using a hand squeezer.

*I substituted AN426AD3-4 rivets because the AN426AD3-3.5 rivets called for didn't seem to be long enough.

These are the (K1000-08D) nutplates installed onto the (F-14133-1) cowl attach plates.

Here's what they look like from the bottom looking up.
(This is the left side.)

Here's another view.
(This is the right side.)

As per step 10, page 26-11 of the builder's manual, the (K1000-06) nutplates that we dimpled earlier were riveted to the (F-01484) center bottom skin using AN426AD3-4 rivets which we set using our 3x rivet gun equipped with a swivel head mushroom set and a long bucking bar.
(This is the left fuselage side.)

The (K1000-06) nutplate called to be attached in step 11, page 29-04 of the builder's manual was also installed at this time as well. We set these nutplates with AN426AD3-5 rivets in substitution for the AN426AD3-4 rivets called for in the plans (detail A) on page 29-04 because as before the -4 sized rivets didn't seem to be long enough.

*This is the right fuselage side. Everything that we did above was done to this side as well.

Here I am final reaming all of the #30 holes in the (CS-00018C) brake pedal "Z" channels and then each hole was deburred.

There are eight (CS-00018C) brake pedal "Z" channels that need to be final reamed, deburred, and then the surfaces scuffed in preparation for priming.

These are the (F-1052B) brake pedal side plates.

All of the #30 holes were final reamed and deburred. Step 3, page 33-03 of the builder's manual instructs that all of the brake pedal hinge points and the master cylinder attach points be final sized with a #12 drill bit so that was done at this time and the holes were deburred.

#12 Drill bit.

Now all of the edges need to be deburred.

The edges are kind of rough.

Two of our side plates had some long scratches that needed to be addressed as well.

Back to the (CS-00018C) brake pedal "Z" channels, after they all have been deburred, and the surfaces scuffed, I washed them with acetone in preparation for priming.

I primed the (CS-00018C) brake pedal "Z" channels with DupliColor DAP 1690 self etching green primer.

It was a good day for painting so I painted the four (CS-00018A) brake pedal pads with DupliColor DA 1600 gloss black acrylic enamel.

Nice!

I also painted the four (CS-00018B) brake pedal "C" channels with DupliColor DA 1600 gloss black acrylic enamel.

Nice!

After the (F-1052B) brake pedal side plates were deburred, I decided that I wanted them to have some "bling" so I polished them with the buffing wheel and will later coat them with clear finish.

I also fabricated four (F-1097) spacers from AT6-058x5/16 6061- T6 aluminum tubing as instructed in step 1, page 33-03 of the builder's manual.

Might as well polish them too!

Nice!

I painted the eight (CS-00018C) brake pedal "Z" channels with DupliColor DA 1600 gloss black acrylic enamel.

This is the "brush-on" Everbrite "ProtectaClear" coating that I used to finish the four (F-1097) spacers and two of the (F-1052B) brake pedal side plates with.

*I have used this product before on smaller parts that I have polished and it worked really well.
It is self leveling and smoothes out with no brushmarks but I wasn't sure if it would work as well on a larger part like the side plates. That is why I only coated two of the side plates at this time.
There is an aerosol version of ProtectaClear, I want to try it on the remaining two side plates.....right now I am waiting for it to arrive from the shipper.... stay tuned!

This is the aerosol version of Everbite's ProtectClear.

I painted the remaining two (F-1052B) brake pedal side plates with this.

*I did not like the aerosol ProtectaClear, it left "air bubbles" in the finish coat that was unacceptable so I ended up having to go back and sand the bubbles out with 1000 grit sand paper and recoat the side plates.
I did not have to do this with the "brush-on" version which ended up giving me much better results.

Of course this could all be a result of user error but I would have to recommend the "brush-on" ProtectaClear.

As per step 2, page 29-03 of the builder's manual, (F69-F-04x02) brass elbows need to be installed onto the (U-01402) lower gear braces.
If you look at figure 2 on that same page you will see that these brass elbows need to be clocked to a 6.9° angle. In order to do that I put a piece of masking tape opposite to where the brass fitting attaches to the lower gear brace, then, using a protractor I drew index lines corresponding to the desired angle so that when the brass elbows are tightened into position the centers of the retaining nut will line up with the mark.

Using some Loctite 567 thread sealant applied to the (F69-F-04x02) brass elbow, I finger tightened the elbow onto the (U-01402) lower gear brace and then using a crescent wrench tightened the elbow further about (three quarters to one full turn further) to line up my index marks ensuring a 6.9° offset angle.

*This essentially makes the (U-01402) lower gear braces left and right direction specific now.

It is important not to overtighten these fittings by more than two turns past finger tight.
This area will need to be inspected periodically in the future for hydraulic leaks since the brake lines will be attached to these fittings.

I will probably change these elbow fittings in a later session because I have heard that the standard plastic brake line hoses can leak. There is a better brake line hose system made by Aircraft Specialty Flight Lines, they are a little pricey, I need to research this a little more....Click here to see what the leaking plastic brake lines look like.

This is the Loctite product that I used. I had to order it on the web because none of the local stores in our area had it in stock.

Next, I switched my focus on trimming the (SV-10) NACA fresh air vents. According to steps 5-10, page 29-21 of the builder's manual they each need to be trimmed to final size.
The first step is to trim 3/4" from the forward part of the vent.
I drew a reference line and used a stationary disc sander to remove the material.

The next step you have to be careful to how you orient the (SV-10) NACA fresh air vents because 1/4" has to be trimmed from the top of the vent.

*To this point orientation was not important but now you are essentially creating a left and right "direction specific" NACA vent so be careful! You don't want two left or two right vents!

I marked each (SV-10) NACA fresh air vents being careful to note orientation and using the stationary disc sander trimmed away the extra 1/4" of material.

There are two sets of AN6 bolts that need to be removed at this time so that the (U-01402) lower gear braces can be installed.

(You can see the heads of these bolts in the highlighted section of this photograph.)

The outboard bolts were extracted without much effort but the inboard bolts were a different story....we needed a different strategy because they were not going to come out easy at this point!

These are AN6-46A bolts, and according to Van's Aircraft they are not close tolerance bolts but they sure are acting like they are!

Van's Aicraft recommended using brass drift punches to help drive the AN6-46A bolts out so I got a set but still was unable to remove the bolts.....something else needed to be done! I'll take a break and think about this for awhile.

I want to make a rotisserie to hold the fuselage and still be able to work on it and not be standing on my head while doing it so today I cut out a "tailcone" plug so that I can mount this to an engine stand in the back, I still have to make a front support to attach the front end to a second engine stand....this is a work in progress so stay tuned!

Step 3, page 33-12 of the builder's manual, instructs that the four (CS-00015) cable links be separated.
These are the cable links, they are used to attach the rudder pedals to the rudder cables.

I separated the (CS-00015) cable links using the bandsaw.

They aren't very big.

They are separated now, next they will have to be deburred and painted.

Since I had the bandsaw out I might as well separate the eight (F-01498) fuel line brackets as indicated in step 1, page 31-02 of the builder's manual.

This is what they look like before separation, they are all on one sheet of black plastic like material.

I laid the cutout lines with a silver Sharpie so I could see where to make the cuts.

Now for the cuts...

There are eight fuel line units. They will need to have the edges filed to further remove the "tabs". The plastic material is super tuff.

The (CS-00015) cable links are made out of steel so they have to be edge deburred, the holes deburred, and then the surfaces sanded lightly in preparation for priming.

These surfaces have been washed with acetone, the next step priming...

I primed the four (CS-00015) cable links with DupliColor DAP 1690 self etching green primer as indicated in step 2, page 33-12 of the builder's manual.

I painted the four (CS-00015) cable links with DupliColor DA 1600 gloss black acrylic enamel.

*Step 3, page 33-12 of the builder's manual also says to final drill the eight holes in each of the (CS-00015) four cable links, this is to insure that excess primer and paint is removed.

The eight sets of the (F-01498) fuel line brackets have had all of the edges deburred.

I want to put some wing walk material on the treads of the (CS-00018A) brake pedal pads so I masked off where I want to prepare the surfaces with light sanding before applying the wing walk "brush on" paint.

*I used 320 grit sandpaper here.

The four (CS-00018A) brake pedal pads are now ready to apply the wing walk material.

I painted the treads with Randolph's X-1567 black wing walk compound.

*I am really disappointed with how this turned out.
I have used Randolph's wing walk compound in the past with much success.
This was a new can of paint and the texture wasn't near as gritty, nor did the paint self level like it did in my previous experiences so maybe Randolph's changed the formula....who knows....but I am going to sand out what I just did and repaint the treads with something else.

So disappointed with Randolph's X-1567 would not recommend it!

After several days of windy conditions we finally had a break so we moved the empennage section to our hangar.

We're all loaded up and ready to go!

Waiting to be joined to the front half!

Nice!

Remember those stubborn AN6-46A bolts that needed to be removed in order to install the (U-01402) lower gear braces?

I got to thinking that maybe the top of the center section carry through was spreading ever so slightly that it was pinching the bolts and not letting them to be extracted so I put a clamp on the top of the center section and snugged it up.

That did the "trick", we were able to remove the bolts without much trouble!

I ordered new AN6-46A bolts to replace the ones we took out just for safety though...can't hurt, right?

Left side AN6 bolts out.

Right side AN6 bolts out.

There is excess glue that I want to remove from the (SV-10-L and SV-10-R) NACA fresh air vents before I prime them.
You can see the black glue lines here.

Got to clean up this excess black glue.

I started on the (SV-10-L) NACA fresh air vent and got the excess glue cleaned up then I sanded the surfaces with 320 grit sand paper, followed with 400 grit sand paper, and then a final scuff with gray ultra fine ScotchBrite pads.

Both of the (SV-10-L and SV-10-R) NACA fresh air vents are ready for priming but I still have to wait for the two (SV-6) eyeball vents that I ordered from Van's Aircraft and that UPS lost....it's been 30 days now.

*I need the "eyeball" vents so that I can complete the final assembly instructions found on pages 29-21,22 of the builder's manual.

In step 1, page 33-05 of the builder's manual, a bearing block template needs to be aligned and clamped to the top of two (F-1039A) bearing blocks so that a #12 hole can be drilled.

These blocks secure the rudder pedal assembly to the sides of the fuselage so the holes have to be accurate and drilled with a drill press.

The bearing block template has been taped into position which was aligned with center marks I drew with a silver Sharpie pen and then everything clamped to the drill press.

I set the drill press depth guide to 1/8" and as a back up put a piece of masking tape on the drill bit for reference and drilled the #12 holes in the tops of the bearing blocks (F-1039A).

Drill away!

*Now I have to wait for a #10 drill bit to arrive to finish drilling the bearing blocks as described in part two of step 1, page 33-05.

The #10 drill bit will be used to drill a #10 hole completely through the block (from the bottom.)

Now I am on page 32-02 of the builder's manual and I laid the cut lines in order to remove excess material in the fabrication of two (F-1030) UHMW outboard bushings.

*I used a silver Sharpie so that the edge lines can be seen.

Back on page 32-02 of the builder's manual and I laid the cut lines in order to remove excess material in the fabrication of two (F-1030) UHMW inboard bushings.

*I used a silver Sharpie so that the edge lines can be seen.
I still have to draw the radius lines yet.

One radius is a 1" line drawn with a compass measured from the center of the large hole in the bushing.

The remaining two holes have a 3/8" radius drawn around them.

According to step 3, page 33-05 in the builder's manual, the (F-6115) rudder pedal bearing block needs to be aligned with the edges of the (F-14104) support angle, which is located under the instrument panel.

*The red arrow shows the support angle that they are talking about, but you can also figure it out by referring to page 33-06 in figure one but also take a look at page 33-01 to get a better idea, it shows a more "zoomed out" view of the angle.

Here is a closer view of the (F-14104) support angle.

The edges of the (F-6115) rudder pedal bearing block are supposed to be aligned with the edges of the support angle and then the locations of holes one and four are to be marked so that they can be final drilled using a drill press.

I used some masking tape to hold the (F-6115) bearing block in place while I marked the positions of the holes.

This is the (F-6115) rudder pedal bearing block with the one and four hole locations of the (F-14104) support angle that I marked.

*I used a silver "Sharpie" to make the marks easier to see against the black color of the bearing.

I also drew some "witness" marks so that after drilling the block to final size and cutting it in half with a bandsaw it could be reassembled in the original orientation.

We installed the (U-01402) lower gear braces and initially left the nuts loose because Van's only gave us one AN6-46A bolt for each of the foward attach points but there are supposed to be two bolts per side so we had to wait for the bolts to arrive and then we torqued the bolts tight.

*This is a quick build fuselage and the wrong sized bolt that had been installed was the right diameter but the wrong length and we didn't discover this until the time the lower gear braces were installed.

This photograph shows the bolts of the (U-01402) lower gear braces as they protrude throught the wing spar. Both bolts are AN6-46A bolts.

This is the right fuselage side showing the installation of the (U-01402) lower gear brace.

The red arrows show the AN6-46A bolts of the (U-01402) lower landing gear brace as they protrude through the wing spar on the right side of the fuselage.

As I mentioned earlier I had to wait for a #10 drill bit to arrive in the mail and now I finally have it!

As per step 1, page 33-05 of the builder's manual, #10 holes were drilled through the (F-1039A) rudder bearing blocks using the drill press.

I also drilled #10 holes completely through the (F-6115) rudder bearing block using the previously marked holes as guides. (Step 3, page 33-05 of the builder's manual).

The top of the (F-6115) rudder bearing block has a #12 hole drilled 1/8" deep drilled into it also done on the drill press.

As per step 4, page 33-05 of the builder's manual, the (F-6115) bearing block was cut in half using the bandsaw.

As per steps 1 and 2, page 32-02 of the builder's manual, excess material was trimmed from the (F-1030) UHMW inboard and outboard bushings using our bandsaw.

Since I had the bandsaw out I might as well separate some more parts.

I started out with the (CS-00011) Idler Arms.

As per step 1, page 36-02 of the builder's manual I drew cutout lines onto the (CS-00011) idler arms as indicated in figure 1 and separated them with the bandsaw.

Here are the separated (CS-00011) idler arms, I'll debur these later.

Moving along to the next parts to be separated are the (F-00067) bellcrank, it has to be separated into three parts.

The two big pieces will be called (F-00067A) and the smaller piece will be called (F-00067D).

As per step 3, page 36-05 of the builder's manual, the three parts have been separated as indicated in figure three using the bandsaw.

*Two (F-00067A's) and one (F-00067D) small spacer.

The next item to be separated is the (F-00067BC) bellcrank spacers.

These are fairly small spacers so for now I labeled them because they are different. One piece will be (F-00067B) and the other will be (F-00067C).

As per step 4, page 36-05 of the builder's manual, I separated the two parts using the bandsaw.

As per figure 1, page 36-06 of the builder's manual, this is how the individual parts will be laid out to prepare for final drilling but before I do that I want to deburred the edges of the (F-00067A) bellcrank halves.

As per step 1, page 36-06 of the builder's manual, I clecoed the (F-00067A), (F-00067B), (F-00067C), (F-00067D), and (VA-146) bearing together as indicated in preparation for final drilling.

I final drilled the #30 and #12 holes through the bellcrank assembly.

After final drilling the #30 and #12 holes, everything was disassembled so that I could deburr the edges and holes.

*I marked the position of the (VA-146) bearing so that it would be able to be placed back into the same position before riveting.

The (F-00067A) bellcrank halves were deburred and then scuffed with ScotchBrite ultrafine gray pads and then washed with acetone in preparation for priming.

The two (F-00067A) bellcrank halves were primed with Tempo A702 green zinc phosphate primer.

The bellcrank spacers (F-00067B, F-00067C, and F-00067D) were deburred and scuffed with the ScotchBrite pad and then washed with acetone in preparation for priming.

The bellcrank spacers (F-00067B, F-00067C, and F-00067D) were primed with Tempo A702 zinc phosphate primer.

The (F-14139) bellcrank mount was the next part to be deburred and scuffed but in addition to that, the #40 holes need to be machine countersunk to accept the head of a AN426AD3 type rivet. This is done so that K1000-3 nutplates can be installed later.

I started out by deburring the final sized holes with the hand debur tool.
After deburring the holes I scuffed the surface of the bellcrank mount with a gray ScotchBrite pad.

It's time to machine countersink the sixteen #40 holes on the top side of the (F-14139) bellcrank mount where the nutplates will be installed and the AN426AD3-4 rivet heads will set flush.

*Be sure to take note of the orientation of the (F-14139) bellcrank mount as shown in figure 4, on page 36-06 of the builder's manual, because you don't want to countersink the wrong side of the mount!

I like to use our hand debur tool equipped with a #40 countersink bit installed when doing small jobs like this. I made a small drill guide with two #40 holes drilled in it spaced the same distance as the holes are on a nutplate. The drill guide is then clecoed into position so that when I'm using the hand debur tool it keeps the countersink bit oriented 90° to the surface of the part being countersunk. It also helps to eliminate "wobble" as the bit gets deeper into the countersink operation because the nipple on the countersink bit is riding in the deep hole of the guide beneath the surface of the part.

Here is what the guide looks like on the back side of the countersink operation.

This is the #40 Countersink bit.

Here I am countersinking the sixteen #40 holes into the (F-14139) bellcrank mount.

Nice!

I then washed the (F-14139) bellcrank mount with acetone in preparation for priming.

We are installing an autopilot in our airplane so I ordered the Garmin autopilot servo kit from Van's Aircraft.

This is the (F-14184) autopilot pitch servo bracket that comes with the fuselage kit.

*Don't worry, the (F-14184) autopilot pitch servo bracket is included in the fuselage kit, it is used to mount any autopilot servo.
The Garmin autopilot servo kit has extra parts and electronics specifically used for a Garmin AP servo.

This is how the (F-14184) autopilot pitch servo bracket will sit when mounted atop of the (F-14139) bellcrank mount (see figure 1, page 36-08 in the builder's manual, or figure 1, page 56-03 of the Garmin autopilot servos instruction sheet).

As always the bracket will need to be deburred and there is some modification to be done to the bracket as well.

Our bracket had some tooling marks that had to be removed so make sure that you check the bracket for marks.

This is the Garmin autopilot pitch servo and how it will be oriented when attached to the bracket.

As per step 6, on page 36-06 of the builder's manual, some excess material has to be removed from the (F-14184) autopilot pitch servo bracket.

I marked out the guide line as indicated in figure 3, on page 36-06 so that the excess material can be removed from the bracket using our bandsaw.

There is an option to create an additional lightening hole in the bracket if you want, I have chosen to add a 3/4" hole, 1 1/4" seems to be too big for my comfort zone!

I removed the excess material with the bandsaw.

I had to use some support blocks to keep the bracket side tab from scraping the table on the bandsaw.

Here is what it looks like with the excess material removed, I still have to final drill all of the holes and add a 3/4" lightening hole and then debur everything.

I deburred all of the edges, and final drilled the #10 holes that the AN3-4A bolts used to attach the servo to the (F-14184) autopilot servo bracket with and deburred them.

A 3/4" lightening hole was added to the bracket and then deburred. The surfaces were scuffed with a gray ScotchBrite pad and then washed with acetone in preparation for priming.

*Don't forget to get the tooling marks out, they definitely need to be removed with some sandpaper.

Ready for priming!

The (CS-00011) idler arms where edge deburred and the surfaces scuffed with a gray ScotchBrite pad.

All of the holes were final sized and deburred as well. The parts were washed in acetone in preparation for priming.

The (F-14184) autopilot pitch servo bracket was primed with Tempo A702 green primer.

The two (CS-00011) idler arms were primed with DupliColor DAP1690 green primer.

*Some have asked, why two types of primer? The answer is simply that I want all of the parts in the aft empennage to match the green color of the Tempo A702 that I originally used from the beginning of the project. All of the parts forward of the bulkheads will recieve DupliColor DAP1690 since I like using that primer better and they won't be seen.

As per step 3, on page 36-06 of the builder's manual, all of the parts for bellcrank assembly are to be clecoed together and then riveted.

The parts are: (F-00067A, F-00067B, F-00067C, F-00067D, and VA-146).

Everything is ready to go but the AN6-46A bolts have arrived for the final installation of the (U-01402) lower gear braces so I'm off to the hangar to install them.

The front AN6-46A bolts have been installed on the (U-01402) lower gear braces and final torqued according to the values published on page 5-18 of the builder's manual and adjusted for friction drag. *I used 14 foot/pounds for the front two bolts and applied torque seal.

The aft two AN5-10A bolts installed were final torqued according to the values published on page 5-18 of the builder's manual and adjusted for friction drag. *I used 144 inch/pounds for the aft two bolts and applied torque seal.

These are the installed and torque sealed bolts for the right side (U-01402) lower gear brace.

As per QBF fuselage instructions page QBF-2, step 4, there are four holes that were left open for cover plates (they assumed that this was to be a "tail dragger"....all QB kits are made this way), but since this is a tricycle geared aircraft, the holes now have to be filled with AN426AD3-3.5 rivets.

*The holes that the plans are referring to are found in figure 1, page 26-14 of the builder's manual.
The two holes can be seen in this photograph, they are the top two holes just forward of the horizontal rib.

This is another view of the two holes that need to be riveted. They are the two holes shown aft of the horizontal rib in this photograph.

We were able to set two of the four rivets but because there is a seam along the edge of one of the holes we need to get a small flat set for our 3x rivet gun in order to clear the seam and still set the remaining two rivets.

Now for the exciting part! We are ready to cleco the aft fuselage assembly to the forward fuselage assembly.

First we aligned the two assemblies close to each other as described in steps 1-3, page 30-03 of the builder's manual.

In step 4, you have to lift the aft fuselage slightly higher than the front, as seen here, in order to get everything aligned.

In steps 5-13, on page 30-03 of the builder's manual the tail then has to be elevated so that the forward section pivots in a downward fashion and then you just start clecoing everything into position!

*Looking back it did take a few "read throughs" of the directions but in reality everything went together fairly easily, you just have to constantly watch the two long "arms" in the front of the empennage section so they don't move to the inside of the front fuselage.

Here is what it looks like on the inside.

Another view of the inside intersection of the two halves.

The baggage bin bulkheads, shoulder harness lugs, and the ELT antenna bracket are the next items to be clecoed into position as described in steps 1-5, on page 30-04, steps 1-2, page 30-05, and steps 5-6, page 30-06 of the builder's manual.

Here it is all ready to be riveted together!

*There are some areas that do not get riveted right away so they will have to be marked and there is a certain order to do the riveting so take note of these.

Back to the bellcrank assembly, it needs to be riveted together as directed in step 3, on page 36-06 figure 1 of the builder's manual.

I used our pneumatic squeezer to rivet everything together.
I substituted AN470AD4-6.5 rivets for the AN470AD4-6 rivets called for in the plans....the 4-6 rivets seemed a little too short.

Here it is!

Nice!

#12 holes were final drilled and deburred in the two (F-1037A) bellcrank angles as per step 4, on page 36-06 of the builder's manual. (There are eight holes to be final sized.)

As per step 5, 0n page 36-06 of the builder's manual, the elevator bellcrank assembly was aligned between the two (F-1037A) bellcrank angles making sure that the longer portion of the bellcrank assembly was "pointing" up. Using the hardware called for in figure 2, on page 36-06, the parts were attached to one another.

*Be sure not to final torque the MS21042-4 locking nut yet because when this assembly is mounted to the (F-14139) bellcrank mount it is easier and lays flatter when the parts have freedom to move.

Eight K1000-3 nutplates were attached to the (F-14139) bellcrank mount using the pneumatic squeezer. I used AN426AD3-4 rivets here, again, the AN426AD3-3.5 rivets called for in figure 4, on page 36-06 seemed too short.

Nutplates Installed!

These are the bolts and washers needed to install the bellcrank assembly to the bellcrank mount (F-14139).

*These are AN3-4A bolts as per figure 1, on page 36-07 of the builder's manual.

*Note that the washers are placed under the head of the AN3-4A bolt.

Now is a good time to final torque the MS21042-4 locking nut. I torqued the nut according to the values published on page 5-18 of the builder's manual and adjusted for friction drag.
*I used 99 inch/pounds. There were 5 threads showing which is allowed according to page 5-18 of the builder's manual.

As I mentioned earlier in this section, I was not happy with the way that the treads looked on the four (CS-00018A) brake pedal pads so I sanded the Randolph's Wingwalk Compound off with 320 grit sandpaper so that they could be repainted with truck liner paint.

After sanding the four (CS-00018A) brake pedal pads, I washed them with alcohol in preparation for paint.

The temperatures are too hot to paint anything in the afternoon here so I have to wait until early morning to paint the treads.

I laid out four wood plugs so that I can cap off the ends of the aileron torque tubes so that primer can be "sloshed" around the inside of the tubes. They need to be primered soon.

I bevel ground the four plugs on the disc sander for the upcoming torque tube priming session....hope they work!

Back to airplane parts!
These are the air vent assembly parts that need to be clamped together as per step 11, on page 29-21 of the builder's manual. Some of the parts need excess material removed and there are some holes to drill.

The parts are: SV-10 vents, SV-6 flo vents, and F-14186 vent brackets.

First, all the parts were clamped together with spring clamps as shown in figure 4, page 29-21 of the builder's manual.

*Be sure to keep the parts oriented correctly, remember there are right hand and left hand parts here!

Using the #40 holes in the (F-14186) vent bracket as guides, I match drilled #40 holes into the (SV-10) NACA fresh air vent clecoing each hole as the drilling progressed.

After the #40 holes were drilled, they needed to be enlarged to 9/64" as indicated in step 3, page 29-22 of the builder's manual. I enlarged each hole, one at a time, through the (F-14186 vent bracket, SV-6 flo vent, and SV-10 NACA vent) but reclamped everything with the spring clamps and then used a 1/8" cleco in each hole as the drilling progressed.

*The 1/8" cleco will hold but it is not tight so don't rely heavily on their holding power at this point.

After drilling the 9/64" holes, I outlined the border line of the (F-14186) vent bracket onto the (SV-6) flo vent so that excess material can be removed by the bandsaw as per step 4 and figure 2, on page 29-22 of the builder's manual.

The (SV-6) flo vents are thick aluminum and need to be trimmed on the bandsaw.

I cut close to the line but will final size the flo vent with a file...they are expen$ive and I don't want to mess anything up!

This morning it's cool enough to paint so I painted the four (CS-00018A) brake pedal pads with DupliColor BAA2010 Bed Armor paint. They turned out great!

After final trimming the (SV-6) flo vents I sanded the forward sides with 100 grit aluminum oxide sandpaper because these sides will eventually be adhered to the (SV-10) NACA air vents with silicone adhesive.

This is what the front sides of the (SV-6) flo vents look like after final trimming.

Everything has to be reclamped together because the outlines of the (SV-6) flo vents have to drawn onto the (SV-10) NACA vents so that they can have excess material removed from them as per step 4, figure 2, on page 29-22 of the builder's manual.

I used a stationary disc sander to trim the (SV-10) NACA vents to their final size.

Since I had the stationary disc sander out I final sized the (F-1030) UHMW inboard and outboard bushings.

I washed the (F-14186-L and F-14186-R) NACA vent brackets with acetone in preparation for priming.
The surfaces of the vents that should not be painted were masked off because they will eventually be adhered to the fuselage side skins with adhesive.

The vents were primed with DupliColor DAP1690 self etching green primer.

The (SV-10-L and SV-10-R) NACA fresh air vents were washed with alcohol and then masked off in preparation for priming.
These NACA vents will be adhered to the fuselage side skins and also the (SV-6-L and SV-6-R) flo vents with adhesive and that is why they need to be masked off.

The vents were primed with Krylon MAXX 9188 primer.

*Be careful not to wash any plastic parts with acetone, it will harm the plastic.

As per step 7, page 33-03 of the builder's manual, the (CS-00018A) brake pedal pads, (CS-00018B) "C" channels, and (F-1052B) brake pedal side plates need to be clecoed together for riveting.

*Be careful to pay attention to the orientation of the parts and refer to figure 2, on page 33-03 to help you out because there are right and left pedals being created here!

All clecoed up and ready for riveting.

*There are several different rivet call outs here so be careful.

I am using our pneumatic squeezer to set the rivets in the rudder pedal assembly. I have a shallow 1/8" cupped set installed on the ram side of the squeezer and a mid sized flat set installed on the 4" squeezer yoke.

Here I am riveting the pieces together with the pneumatic squeezer using the rivet callouts described in figure 2, on page 33-03 of the builder's manual.

Rivets that will be used are: AN470AD4-8, AN470AD4-7, and AN470AD4-6.

First phase of the rudder pedal assembly is done, next comes the "Z" channel installation.

The (CS-00018C) brake pedal "Z" channels were clecoed to the rudder pedal assemblies.

The top and bottom edges of the "Z" channels will have AN470AD4-6 rivets set with our pneumatic squeezer, but the middle holes will recieve LP4-3 rivets that will be set with our CherryMax G-27 hand rivet gun.

All of the rivets have been set, the rudder pedals are complete!

The view of the rudder pedals from the back side.

The elevator pushrods (CS-00001, CS-00002, and CS-00003) have had the ends deburred and are ready to have the insides primed. The ends have the wooden plugs installed and ducted taped to help manage the messy priming process.

This is what the wood plug looks like before the duct tape appication.

The inside walls of the pushrods were primed with PTI camouflage gray zinc phosphate primer using the slosh method. Just pour some paint down the inside of the pushrod and shake! *It's pretty messy!

I hung the pushrods vertically and let them drip dry into a baking pan.

After the primer dried in the elevator mid pushrods (CS-00002 and CS-00001) they were scuffed with red ScotchBrite pads in preparation for priming.

I deburred the ends of the (CS-00003) aft elevator pushrod as per step 1, page 36-04 of the builder's manual and then scuffed the surfaces with red ScotchBrite pads to make things a little easier later when it comes time to prime the pushrod.

I reproduced the forward, mid, and aft pushrod drill templates found on page 36-17, of the builder's manual out of manilla folder material so that I wouldn't have to reuse the cutout from the manual over and over again. It saved some time because I could just tape the template on the pushrod ends and not have to worry about being careful to tape and then un-tape the template as the center punching process progressed.

*Be sure to double check the accuracy of the printed scale on the page for your dimensions before you use the templates.

As per step 1, on page 36-03 of the builder's manual, I aligned the pushrod drill template with the ends of the (CS-00001) forward elevator pushrod and then secured it with clear tape.

I did the same thing with the (CS-00002) mid elevator pushrod.

Yep, the (CS-00003) aft elevator pushrod got the drill template secured to it's ends as well!

With six pushrod drill templates taped to the ends of all of the elevator pushrods it was a simple matter to center punch the "crosshairs" in a timely fashion.

There are six holes per end that need to be center punched. (36 holes in all.)

On a side project, I was wondering how I was going to prime the outside of the (CS-00003) aft elevator pushrod so I built this simple stand so that the pushrod could be painted without having to move it around much...Happy Festivus!

All of the crosshairs have been center punched.

As per steps 2-5, on page 36-03 of the builder's manual, #40 pilot holes were drilled into each of the ends of the (CS-00001 and CS-00002) elevator pushrods, making sure to keep the drill lined up with the "crosshairs" of the drilling template.

On the onset I debated whether to leave the template in place as I drilled the pilot holes, so I took the template off and just used the center punch holes as guides on the first set of holes.
I quickly decided that it was much easier to see where I was drilling if I left the templates in place plus the tape and paper of the template kept my drill bit from wandering so for the rest of the pilot hole drilling step, I just left the templates attached.

The holes are all drilled for the (CS-00001 and CS-00002) elevator pushrods.

All of the holes and edges were deburred after drilling.

Now time to drill the (CS-00003) aft elevator pushrod.

As per step 3, on page 36-04 of the builder's manual, six #40 pilot holes were drilled into the ends of the (CS-00003) aft elevator pushrod.

Each of the elevator pushrods will receive a rod end fitting which is supposed to be inserted into the ends of the pushrod and have six #30 holes drilled into them; before I do that I want to debur each one and scuff the surfaces so that they can be primed later.

There are four (CS-00016) rod end fittings and two (VA-101) rod end fittings. These are the four (CS-00016) rod end fittings. They will be attached to the (CS-00001 and CS-00002) foward and mid elevator pushrods which are 1" in diameter.

After the deburring and scuffing process was done I used a sharpie to mark reference lines on the rod end fittings where the elevator pushrod end should line up with the fitting.

*Step 3 and figure 2, on page 36-03 of the builder's manual, show that the proper engagement is when the end of the pushrod coincides with the edge of the taper in the rod end fitting (which is 1/2").

These are the (VA-101) rod end fittings that will be placed at the ends of the (CS-00003) aft elevator pushrod, which is 1 1/2" in diameter. I deburred and scuffed these also.

The rod end fittings have been deburred and scuffed and I have the reference lines marked on each so that it will be easier to keep proper alignment during the match drilling operation.

According to figure 2, on page 36-03 and figure 2, on page 36-04 of the builder's manual, this is what the proper alignment should look like. The taper of the rod end fitting coincides with the end of the elevator pushrod.

Now it's time to match drill #30 holes into the rod end fittings using the previously drilled #40 holes as guides.

Clecos were inserted into each new hole as the drilling progressed around the circumference of the pushrod.

I used a tube cutting jig clamped to the table to help support the pieces as I match drilled the #30 holes.

Six holes drilled, 30 more to go!

All of the elevator pushrods and rod end fittings have the #30 holes match drilled now.

*Don't forget to mark the ends of the pushrods and the rod end fittings so that everything can be diassembled, deburred, and reassembled in the correct order!

After I disassembled all of the parts and deburred everything, I washed all of the parts with acetone in preparation for priming.

This morning I am priming the (CS-00001, CS-00002, CS-00003) elevator pushrods and the (CS-00016 and VA-101) rod end fittings with DupliColor DAP 1690 self etching green primer.

Nice!

This is the (CS-00004) stick link pushrod. It connects the two (CS-00007-L and CS-00007-R) flight sticks together which is described later in step 1, on page 36-12 of the builder's manual.

For now it needs to be deburred and scuffed so that it can be primed.

The (CS-00004) stick link pushrod was deburred and the surfaces scuffed with a red ScotchBrite pad in preparation for priming as per step 3, on page 36-02 of the builder's manual.

This is the hardware called out to be attached to the stick link pushrod assembly.

Figure 3, on page 36-02 of the builder's manual shows the hardware to be used. The parts are: (2)-AN316-4R jamb nuts, and (2)-M3414M rod end bearings.
I had to attach these so that I could hold them while I was priming the pushrod. They will have to be properly adjusted and tightened later.

The (CS-00004) stick link pushrod was washed with acetone in preparation for priming.

I primed the (CS-00004) stick link pushrod with DupliColor DAP 1690 self etching green primer.

The hardware callout in figure three, page 36-03 says that the (CS-00001) forward elevator pushrod, (CS-00002) mid elevator pushrod, and the (CS-00003) aft elevator pushrod need to be assembled using MSP-42 rivets, depending which bag you pull them from this is what they look like.

I clecoed the rod end fittings onto the ends of each elevator pushrod making sure to match the previously marked end to it's corresponding torque tube.

(CS-00001 and CS-00002) forward and mid elevator pushrods each receive (CS-00016) rod end fittings while the aft elevator pushrod (CS-00003) receives a (VA-101) rod end fitting.

This is the forward elevator pushrod (CS-00001) ready to receive attachment of the (CS-00016) rod end fitting.

*You can see the markings I used so that when I reassembled the piece after priming I could put everything back in the right order.

I used our CherryMax G-27 hand rivet gun to set the MSP-42 rivets.

Two rivets set, 34 more to go! Each end receives six rivets.

Nice!

The rod end fittings have been attached to each of the three elevator pushrods (CS-00001, CS-00002, and CS-00003).

The rod end bearings are next to be installed onto each of the elevator pushrods. There are two jam nuts and two rod end bearings per pushrod to be assembled; the hardware callouts are shown in figure 3, page 36-03 for the forward and mid elevator pushrods and in figure 3, page 36-04 for the aft elevator pushrod.

Basically, the (CS-00001) forward elevator pushrod and the (CS-00002) mid elevator pushrod receive two AN316-4R jam nuts and two M3414M rod end bearings each. The (CS-00003) aft elevator pushrod receives two AN316-6R jam nuts and two MD3616M end bearings.

*Be sure to take note of the warning that states that "in the final installation both pushrod ends must have over half of the threads engaged making it impossible for a bearing to back off the pushrod if both ends are pinned."

Once the jam nuts and the rod end bearings have been installed, the overall lengths must be adjusted.
Figure 4, page 36-03 of the builder's manual shows the bearing-to-center bearing lengths that each of the forward and mid elevator pushrods should theoretically be.

This is the (CS-00001) forward elevator pushrod and I adjusted it so that it had a bearing-to-center bearing length of 31 11/16". I tightened the jam nut, for now, only finger tight because most likely there will be further adjustments needed upon actual installment at which time the jam nut will be torqued and safety sealed into place.

*Keep in mind that as you adjust the pushrods to their final length you must adjust each end evenly until final length is achieved.

This is the (CS-00002) mid elevator pushrod and I adjusted it to a bearing-to-bearing center length of 44 15/16" with the jam nut tightened only finger tight until final installation at which time it will be final torqued and safety sealed.

The (CS-00003) aft elevator pushrod receives two AN316-6R jam nuts and two MD3616M rod end bearings as called for referencing figure 4, page 36-04 of the builder's manual.

*The same note warning that "in the final installation both pushrod ends must have over half of the threads engaged making it impossible for a bearing to back off the pushrod if both ends are pinned applies here too."

According to the dimensions given in figure 4, page 36-04 of the builder's manual, the bearing-to-bearing center length should theoretically be 72 29/32" so I adjusted it accordingly and then finger tightened the jam nut in place.

*The jam nut will be final torqued and sealed after final installation.

All of the elevator pushrods have their jam nuts and rod end bearings installed and have been adjusted for proper length.

The stick link pushrod assembly (CS-00004) connects the two flight control sticks together and is assembled in a somewhat similar fashion as the elevator pushrods.
In step 4, page 36-02 of the builder's manual, the assembly process begins. Figure three gives the hardware callouts which consist of two AN316-4R jam nuts and two M3414M rod end bearings.

The bearing-to-bearing center length was adjusted to 21 1/2" according to the measurements given on the same page. The jam nuts were tightened finger tight but will be final torqued and sealed when installed.

We are installing an autopilot on our RV14A and I ordered the optional Garmin autopilot servo install kit from Van's Aircraft. Step one, on page 56-02 of the builder's manual instructs that two pushrods and one roll standoff be fabricated from a (AT6-058x5/16) aluminum tube.

The two push rods created are 3 1/4" in length and will be labled (CS-00017) for the pitch control rod, (CS-00019) for the roll control rod, and (CS-00020) for the roll servo standoff, (which is 15/32" long).
I cut these out using the bandsaw and then squared the ends using a stationary disc sander. The ends were deburred as well.

Now the fun begins...

Figure one, page 56-02 of the builder's manual, gives additional information in the construction of the two (CS-00017 and CS-00019) autopilot pitch and roll pushrods.
A #3 hole is to be drilled through the center of each end of each tube to a depth of 1 1/4". Obviously this needs to be centered as much as possible so I constructed a simple jig by drilling a 5/8" hole in a scrap piece of 2"x4" lumber with the drill press in order to hold the tube vertically. This made it easy to keep the tube centered while drilling the #3 hole down the center of the tube with our drill press.

*Make sure you don't drill the 5/8" hole all the way through the 2"x4" wood because you need the tube to be able to rest on the bottom flat area of the wood, plus the extra friction helps keep the tube from spinning as the #3 hole is being drilled in the tube.

After the 1 1/4" #3 hole has been drilled in both ends of the tubes they need to be threaded using a 1/4-28 tap to a depth of 1 inch.

I will be using a hand set and this 1/4-28 tap to thread both ends of the (CS-00017 and CS-00019) autopilot pitch and roll servo pushrods.

It takes awhile to thread these autopilot pitch and roll servo pushrods, don't forget to use some cutting oil to help the process.

One end threaded three more to go...

After the tapping process was finished I soaked the parts in acetone to get any residual oil off then scuffed, sanded, and deburred everything and rewashed the parts in acetone in preparation for priming.

I primed the (CS-00017 and CS-00019) autopilot pitch and roll servo pushrods with DupliColor DAP1690 self etching green primer.

I primed the (CS-00020) roll servo standoff with Duplicolor DAP 1690 self etching green primer.

I painted the (CS-00017, CS-00019, and CS-00020) elevator pitch servo, aileron roll servo, and roll servo standoff with Duplicolor DA 1600 gloss black acrylic enamel.

I was going to final assemble the autopilot pitch and roll servo pushrods but Van's sent the wrong rod end bearings with the install kit.
These are four MD3616M bearings but they are supposed to be MD3414M bearings. I called them up and the switch is in progress....

I started the debur process on the right baggage bin floor (F-01447-R). Time to peel off all the protective blue vinyl.

The baggage bin floors are part of section 32 of the builder's manual.

I'm deburring the edges of the right baggage bin floor (F-01447-R) using mostly a flat file at this point....

Figure two, on page 56-02 of the builder's manual, shows the hardware needed to complete the assembly of the (CS-00017) auto pilot pitch servo pushrod assembly.

There are two (AN316-4R) jam nuts and two (M3414M) rod end bearings that need to be installed.

After the (AN316-4R) jam nuts and the (MD3414M) rod end bearings were installed, the center-to-bearing-center length of the (CS-00017) auto pilot pitch servo pushrod was adjusted to 4 7/8" long.
Final adjustments will be made once installed onto the airplane and the jam nuts will be final torqued.

Seatback hinges need to be fabricated and referencing figure two, page 32-03 of the bulder's manual, they need to be fabricated from a six foot length of (AN257-P3) hinge.

Here's a closer look at the (AN257-P3) hinge.

As per step three, on page 32-02 of the builder's manual, the center hinge pin was removed.

Six (F-01447B) seatback hinges need to be fabricated from this hinge material. Each hinge needs to be 10 1/2" long.

*There is a cautionary note at the top of page 32-03 that says to be sure that when cutting lengths of (F-01447B) seatback hinges from the (AN257-P3) hinge material to allow enough material to fabricate the seat hinges in section 39.

As long as you are careful, there are only two 10 1/2" long seatback hinges (F-1237H) that will be cut from this hinge stock, the other hinges that will need to be made use a different (AN257-P2) hinge.

The hinge stock is too long to cut with my bandsaw so I had to go the "old fashioned" way and make the initial cuts with a hacksaw....haha!

It's not too bad...

I'll make the cuts a little closer to the lines on the bandsaw next.

Just a bit closer and then I'll "fine tune" the cuts later with our stationary disc sander.

Six (F-0147B) seatback hinges cut to size, still have to final size them using the stationary disc sander and there are two center "eyelets" that need to removed from these.

Since I have the bandsaw out, I might as well cut the two (F-1237H) seatback hinges as per step five, figure four, of page 39-02 of the builder's manual.
These are 10 1/2" long and are fabricated from the same (AN257-P3) hinge material.

Time to start cutting out the center "eyelets" too.

These are the two center "eyelets" of the (F-01447B) seatback hinges that need to be removed as per step four of page 32-03 of the builder's manual.

The center "eyelets" have been removed, now everything has to be final sized and deburred.

Six deburred (f-01447B) seatback hinges!

I drew a line along the lengths of each of each of the six (F-01447B) seatback hinges as per instructions in step five, page 32-03.

*The line is supposed to be drawn on the flush side of each hinge.

A #30 locating hole is supposed to be drilled into each of the six (F-01447B) seatback hinges.
This hole is supposed to be 1/4" from the end and 1/4" from the top edge of the (F-01447B) seatback hinge.

*The small "tick" mark is the 1/4" by 1/4" mark from the edge but I found that if I lined up all of the (F-01447B) seatback hinges and then aligned the mating half of the hinge, (F-1237H) the part that attaches to the back of the seat backrest, it matches the alignment of all of the "eyelets" better if I measured 1/4" from the square of the "eyelet" so that's why there is a larger "tick" mark that I will be using for my drill centerpoint.
Remember, this is what I did, doesn't mean you should do the same!

All of the #30 locating holes have been drilled into each of the six (F-01447B) seatback hinges.

The center "eyelets" of the two (F-1237H) seatback hinges have been marked so that they can be removed on the bandsaw.

As per step five, on page 39-02 of the builder's manual, the center "eyelet" of the (F-1237H) seatback hinge was removed from the hinge using our bandsaw.

It's kinda of rough so it needs to be filed smooth and deburred.

The (F-1237H) seatback hinge has the "eyelet" cutout filed and deburred and now according to step six, on page 39-02 the end needs to have a #30 drill guide hole marked and drilled.

I drilled the #30 guide holes in the two (F-1237H) seatback hinges with our drill press and deburred the holes.

In step three, page 56-02 of the builder's manual, the (CS-00019) autopilot roll servo needs to be assembled.

There are five parts that go into the assembly: the servo pushrod tube, two (AN316-4R) jam nuts, and two (M3414M) rod end bearings.

The center-to-center bearing length of the (CS-00019) autopilot roll servo pushrod needs to be adjusted to a length of five inches.

I set the length to five inches for now but there may need to be some final adjustments made once the assembly is installed and the jam nuts will be final torqued and marked with torque seal.

*The two nuts need to be torqued to a value between 14-20 inch/pounds.

I labled the (CS-00019) autopilot roll servo pushrod with the number "19".

There are several holes that do not get riveted yet in the fuselage joining process.

In step four, figure three, on page 30-06 of the builder's manual, there are five sections that need to be taped over so they aren't accidentally riveted.

*I marked them with the black electrician's tape that you see in this photograph.

There are additional holes that need to be marked on the sides of the fuselage so they don't accidentally get riveted yet. I taped over them as per step two, figure one, on page 30-07 of the builder's manual.

*The "hatched area" illustrated in figure one was marked with the black electrician's tape.

Back to working on the baggage bin floor skins.

As usual the first step is to peel off the protective blue vinyl and start the edge deburr process.

Off comes the vinyl!

Nice and shiny!

It is easier for me to place the piece on it's side when doing the edge debur process.

This is the left (F-01447-L) baggage bin floor skin.

After I get done with the edge deburring I'll final ream and deburr all of the #30 and #40 holes.

I just received the optional (14 G3X Yaw Servo Install Kit) yaw damper servo mount kit from Van's Aircraft. I am not sure if I will actually put a yaw damper servo in at this time but I wanted to at least have the mount in place just in case I want to install one later.

It is easier to install the yaw servo mount now than wait to install it later.

Here are all of the parts in the (14 G3X Yaw Servo Install Kit).

Parts of this mount gets installed under the pitch servo mount so if I wanted to install this later I would have to uninstall the pitch servo mount, fit this into place, and then reassemble everything....what a mess that would be!

The (F-01447B) seatback hinges were clecoed to the (F-01447-L and F-01447-R) baggage bin floors individually.

I used a piece of duck tape to hold the hinge over the center of the pre-punched holes in the floor skins.

*Make sure that the centerline that was previously drawn down the center of the (F-01447B) seatback hinge remains in the center of the pre-punched holes in the floor skins before moving on to the match drilling process.

As per step two, on page 32-04 of the builder's manual, #30 holes were match drilled into the (F-01447B) seatback hinges.

The holes were all deburred after drilling.

One more row to go on this skin...

The #30 holes in the (F-01447B) seatback hinges have been matched drilled in the right (F-01447-R) baggage bin floor skin.

The #30 holes in the (F-01447B) seatback hinges have been match drilled in the left (F-01447-L) baggage bin floor skin.

I scuffed each (F-01447B) seatback hinge with a red ScotchBrite pad, washed it with acetone, and marked it (so it could be placed back into it's original position) in preparation for priming.

I scuffed the individual holes on the bottom side of the (F-01447-R) right baggage bin floor in preparation for priming after the dimpling process is done.

The six (F-01447B) seatback hinges were primed with DupliColor DAP 1690 self etching green primer.

I finished scuffing around the holes on the bottom side of the (F-01447-R) baggage bin floor, they will be primed later.

I scuffed the top surface of the (F-01447-R) baggage bin floor which will be primed later after installation.

I scuffed the top surface and around the holes on the bottom side of the (F-01447-L) baggage bin floor.

As per step four, on page QBF-2 of the Quick Build instructions, the two remaining open holes referenced in figure one, on page 26-14 of the builder's manual, were riveted with two AN426AD3-3.5 rivets.

This is the right side of the fuselage.

As per step four, on page QBF-2 of the Quick Build instructions, the two remaining open holes referenced in figure one, on page 26-14 of the builder's manual, were riveted with two AN426AD3-3.5 rivets.

This is the left side of the fuselage.

As per step six, on page 30-06, figure two, of the builder's manual the shoulder harness lug assembly was riveted to the (F-01446A-L, F01406A-R, and F-01406C) bulkheads using the rivets called out in figure two except the top-most rivets in the "tang" area of the lug.

The tolerances under the "tang" area is pretty tight so I've got to figure out a way to put a rivet in here.

In order to finish up step six, on page 30-06 of the builder's manual, where the shoulder harness lug assembly is attached to the (F-01406A-L and F-01406A-R) bulkheads I asked Van's Aircraft if I could substitute a CherryMax rivet in the top-most hole under the "tang" of the assembly and they said it would be okay since a CherryMax rivet is superior in torsion strength to that of a solid rivet.

I measured the depth of the material that the rivet would be sitting in with our CherryMax grip gauge and found that a CR3213-4-2 rivet would be the proper substitution for the AN470AD4-5 called for in figure two on page 30-06 of the builder's manual.

We used a CR3213-4-2 rivet to finish up securing the shoulder harness lug assemblies to the (F-01406A-L and F-01406A-R) bulkheads.

This is the left fuselage side.

This is the right fuselage side.

Now we have to rivet the aft portion of the shoulder harness lug assembly to the (F-01474-L and F-01474-R) aft fuselage top side skins. We are using AN426AD4-4 rivets here.

Step seven, on page 30-06 of the builder's manual also says to rivet the (F-01406C) bulkhead to the (F-01474-L and F-01474-R) aft fuselage top side skins, the (F-01475) aft fuselage top skin, the (F-01475A) skin doubler, and the (F-14131) upper aft fuselage rib so we'll go ahead and start that at this time as well.

*We've got to make sure we don't rivet the holes that we marked off earlier as indicated in figure three on page 30-06 of the manual.

One set six more to go on this side!

Nice!

As we are riveting the (F-01406C) bulkhead to the aft skins we started at the corners and worked our way upward and downwards in order to prevent "pillowing" of the skins, we also alternated evenly from the left to right sides of the fuselage as well.

We substituted AN426AD3-3.5 rivets for the AN426AD3-3 rivets that were called for...the -3 rivets seemed just a little too short.

We continued to work our way downwards and riveted the (F-01406A-L and F-01406A-R) bulkeads to the (F-01474-L and F-01474-R) aft fuselage side skins.

Here's a look from the inside...

In step four, on page 30-07 of the builder's manual, the (F-01473-L and F-01473-R) aft fuselage side skins need to be riveted to the (F-01418B-L and F-01418B-R) longerons and the (F-01474-L and F-01474-R) aft fuselage top side skins.

The area that I am refering to is in the center of this photograph just behind the bulkhead.

*We found that AN426AD3-4.5 rivets seemed a better length than the AN426AD3-4 rivets called for in figure three, page 30-07.

This is a closer view of the longerons and top and side skins we are riveting together.

We started at the aft-most section and worked our way forward but as you get closer and closer to the bulkheads it gets harder to see the tails of the rivets and harder and harder to get your arm around the bulkhead in order to hold the bucking bar squarely on the rivet tails.....something's got to be done, my arm is too short!

This is the left fuselage side.

This is a left fuselage view from the outside.

This is a right fuselage view from the outside.

We continue to work our way forward as much as we can reach and rivet the remaining fuselage (F-01418B-L and F-01418B-R) longeron substructures and the left side (F-14117) ELT mount to the (F-01474-L and F01474-R) aft fuselage top side skins.

There were four places where we had to use AN426AD4-4 "oops" rivets....the angles and spaces are kind of tight.

We are going to save the six rivets in the triangle area just aft of the vertical seam until we add additional support under the fuselage to allow us access to reach the tight spots by getting inside the baggage area.

This is the same area on the right fuselage side.

*We have to remember not to rivet anything in the area marked by the black tape yet.

I made two supports to be placed under the fuselage, one goes under the baggage bin and the other goes just aft of the vertical bulkhead seam.

We used this blue workout mat to help cushion the weight and avoid any unnecessary scratches.

This is the second support, it has a mat too but I didn't cut it yet.

This is what the supports look like when installed.

We riveted the three rivets on the left and right fuselage sides that are common to the (F-14145-L and F-14145-R) step attach angles to the (F-01484) center bottom skin using AN426AD3-3.5 rivets.

Next, we are attaching the (F-01426_L, F-01426-R, F-01427-L, and F-01427-R) baggage bin ribs bottom-most holes to the (F-01406B) bulkhead with LP4-3 rivets as per figure one, on page 30-04 of the builder's manual.

This photograph shows a plywood floor that I made so that we can get inside the baggage bin to gain access to hard to reach rivets.

We completed attaching the (F-01473-L and F-01473-R) aft fuselage side skins and the (F-01418B-L and F-01418B-R) longerons, and the (F-14117) ELT antenna mount, and the (F-01474-L and F-01474-R) aft fuselage top side skins to one another.

This is the left fuselage side....there is still more substructures to rivet yet.

We need remove two misplaced LP4-3 rivets that were set at the bottom edges of bulkheads (F-01406A-L, F-01406A-R, and F-01406B).

I have to use a special "pop" rivet removal tool to get these types of rivets out.

The bottom "blind" rivet needs to be removed here too.

*Both of these rivets will be replaced with AN470AD4-4 rivets.

My wife handles the rivet gun!

We attached the (F-01406C) bulkhead to the upper aft fuselage rib (F-14131).

*Don't forget to leave the second hole from the top open for now!

As per step two, on page 30-08 of the builder's manual, we are attaching the (F-01406A-L and F-01406A-R) bulkheads to the (F-01406B) bulkhead with rivets as called out in figure one, on page 30-04 of the builder's manual.

*Make sure not to rivet the third hole down, that will be done later when installing the baggage bin floors.

The right fuselage side.

We removed the plywood temporary floor in order to rivet the floor ribs to the bottom skin.

We riveted the baggage bin ribs (F-01425-L, F-01425-R, F-01426-L, F-01426-R, F-01427-L, and F-01427-R) to the (F-01484) center bottom skin.

Here is what it looks like from underneath.

When we were attaching the (F-01425-L, F-01425-R, F-01426-L, F-01426-R, F-01427-L, and F-01427-R) baggage bin floor rib ends to the (F-01406B) bulkhead we found that some of the areas were pretty hard to get a rivet gun in so we checked with Van's Aircraft to see if we could use LP4-3 rivets when necessary. They said yes, so we substituted 12 AN470AD4-4 rivets with LP4-3 rivets.

Here is what it looks like.

We still had to use an offset wedge to get a proper angle on the LP4-3 rivets set with our CherryMax G-27 hand rivet gun.

As per step four, on page 30-08 of the builder's manual, the (F-01470-L and F-01470-R) fuselage side skins were riveted to the fuselage "side horizontal" substructures using AN426AD3-4.5 rivets.

*We substituted AN426AD3-4.5 rivets for the AN426AD3-4 rivets called for because as before the -4 rivets seemed too short.

The next step is to start on the vertical lap joints...

In step five, on page 30-08 of the builder's manual, the (F-01470-L and F-01470-R) fuselage side skins and the (F-01473-L and F-01473-R) aft fuselage side skins were attached to the (F-01406A-L and F-01406A-R) bulkheads along the vertical lap joint with AN426AD3-4.5 rivets.

Here is what it looks like on the left fuselage side.

Here is what it looks like along the bottom....corners are the last to be riveted.

As per step three, on page 32-04 of the builder's manual, the #30 and #40 holes along the inboard and forward edges of the (F-01447-L and F-01477-R) baggage bin floors were dimpled.

*I placed masking tape over, or near, the holes that don't get dimpled in order not to accidentally dimple them. This includes the nutplate center holes and where the (F-14141) baggage bin floor splice will go, and some of the holes around the inspection cover plates.

Figure one, on page 32-04 shows what holes do not get dimpled.

Make sure to dimple the correct side...flush top surface!

This is the bottom side of the right (F-01447-R) baggage bin floor.

This is the bottom side of the left (F-01447-L) baggage bin floor.

Let the dimpling begin...

I used a combination of hand squeezers and our DRDT2 dimpling machine. In both cases the male dimple die is placed in the bottom of the tools and the female dimple die is in the top.

*The top surface of the baggage bin floor is the side against the table. The bottom surface is facing up.

I am using the hand squeezers to dimple the #40 holes.

This is the right (F-01447-R) baggage bin floor.

Dimple away!

I am using the hand squeezers to dimple the #40 holes.

This is the left (F-01447-L) baggage bin floor.

Now I am using the DRDT2 to dimple the #30 holes.

This is the right (F-01447-R) baggage bin floor.

This is the left (F-01447-L) baggage bin floor.

This is the top surface of the right (F-01447-R) baggage bin floor.

*Note that most of the holes in the center of the skin are not dimpled, that is because the skin is going to be fastened to the floor ribs with LP4-3 blind rivets.

This is the top surface of the left (F-01447-L) baggage bin floor.

There are two holes that need to be dimpled near where the second (F-01447B) seatback hinge will be. A CS4-4 rivet will be set here later.

*Refer to step one, figure one, on page 32-05 of the builder's manual for this.

This is the left (F-01447-L) baggage bin floor.

Same thing goes with the right (F-01447-R) baggage bin floor.

The two holes have been dimpled on the left (F-01447-L) baggage bin floor.

The two holes have been dimpled on the right (F-01447-R) baggage bin floor.

The bottom surfaces of the (F-01447-L and F-01447-R) baggage bin floors were washed with acetone and then using a brush I primed around the dimpled holes with PTI-GPHOS camouflage gray enamel primer.

This is the left (F-01447-L) baggage bin floor.

The baggage bin (F-14141) floor splice is the next piece to work on so after the protective blue vinyl was removed I edge deburred the part.

As per step four, on page 32-04 of the builder's manual, I am riveting the K1000-08D nutplates to the forward edges of the (F-01447-L and F-001447-R) baggage bin floors.

*There are eight nutplates per side in this area.

Step five, on page 32-04 of the builder's manual, also instructs that the two K1000-08D nutplates be installed to the forward edges of the access holes in the (F-01447-L and F-01447-R) baggage bin floor as well.

Nutplates installed on the forward edges of the right (F-01447-R) baggage bin floor.

Nutplates installed on the forward edges of the left (F-01447-L) baggage bin floor.

Step four, on page 32-05 builder's manual, instructs that the nutplate center holes of the forward inboard edges of the (F-01447-L and F-01447-R) baggage bin floors be final #19 drilled.

I am final #19 drilling the nutplate center holes of the (F-01447-L and F-01447-R) baggage bin floors foward inboard edges.

Van's Aircraft pre-punching holes is very good and all these holes were virtually all #19 sized! Just a couple needed minor touch ups.

#19 final sizing complete.

*I will have to repeat this step at the hangar on the floor ribs....they turned out to be just as accurately pre-punched as these were!

We have chosen to install four Van's Aircraft optional (CA BAGGAGE TIE DOWN) tie down rings in the baggage bin.

There are virtually no instructions on how or where to install these so you're pretty much on your own.

I started out by looking at the baggage bin area to see where all of the ribs were because the screws that secure these mounts to the floor are quite large and will require K1000-04 nutplates to accept a 14-28 countersunk screw and you certainly can't put that size screw into a rib flange! Doublers are going to have to be made, but what size?

I know the size of the tie down ring mount which is 1 3/4" in diameter so basically I had to work backwards in order to determine what size the doubler had to be. I used the "Standard Aircraft Handbook For Mechanics And Technicians" to help me figure out what size rivets, distances, and edge clearances needed to be met.

On page 136 of the handbook it states that the material thickness of the doubler must be as thick or thicker than the original structure so that means .0250" which is what thickness the floor is. Next what thickness of rivets should I use? The handbook (on page 140, figure 5-43) also states that for materials of .0320" or less that 1/8" rivets should be used. What will be the rivet edge distances? For 1/8" flush rivets (because the tie down ring mount must sit flat against the floor) the rule is 2 1/2 times the diameter so in this case 5/16". How far apart should the rivets be? The rivets should be at least 1" apart and if there are more than one row the rivets should be staggered from the first row and be at least 1/2" apart.

Ultimately this is the doubler shape and size that I made. It is 2 3/4" in diameter and has two rows of 1/8" AN426AD4-4 rivets, not counting the AN426AD3-4 rivets that will be used to attach the two K1000-04 nutplates that will be used to screw the tie down mount to.

This is the approximate location of the front two tie down rings.

This is the approimate location of the aft two tie down rings.

Back to easier things...I final reamed all of the #30 and #40 holes in the (F-14141) baggage bin floor splice and deburred the holes.

As per step one, on page 32-06 of the builder's manual, and referring to figure one, the four #40 holes were machine countersunk to accept a head of a AN426AD3 type rivet.

The two additional #30 holes were machine countersunk to accept the head of a AN426AD4-5 rivet.

I scuffed the (F-14141) baggage bin floor splice in preparation for priming.

The (F-14141) baggage bin floor splice was washed with acetone and primed with DupliColor DAP 1690 self etching green primer.

The (F-01405G) flap motor channel is next and after taking off the protective blue vinyl I edge deburred it.

I final reamed all of the #30, #40, and #19 holes on the (F-1405G) flap motor channel and deburred them and then scuffed all surfaces with a ScotchBrite pad in preparation for priming.

The #40 holes, where the nutplates will be attached, were dimpled as per step 4, figure three, on page 32-06 of the builder's manual.

The (F-01405G) flap motor channel was washed with acetone.

I primed the (F-01405G) flap motor channel with DupliColor DAP 1690 self etching green primer.

The (F-01466-L and F-01466-R) flap motor brackets need to be worked on next.

These are the two small brackets that will be attached to the mid fuselage brace and the (F-1405G) flap motor channel.

The first thing that needs to be done is trim the excess (small tab) from the left (F-01466-L) flap motor bracket.

I cut the tab off with a bandsaw.

There is a small tab on the right (F-01466-R) flap motor bracket that needs to be trimmed off too.

As you can see the edge is rough and so it needs to be filed even with the rest of the (F-01466-L) flap motor bracket edge and then all the edges deburred.

You can also see the machining mark left from the bend angling done at the factory that will have to be removed.

That machining line is on this side of the bracket too.

I edge deburred and final reamed and deburred the #30 and #40 holes on the flap motor bracket.

The surfaces were scuffed and washed with acetone in preparation for priming.

The left (F-01466-L) flap motor bracket was primed with DupliColor DAP 1690 self etching green primer.

I edge deburred and final reamed and deburred the #30 and #40 holes on the right (F-01466-R) flap motor bracket.

The surfaces were scuffed and washed with acetone in preparation for priming.

The right (F-01466-R) flap motor bracket was primed with DupliColor DAP 1690 self etching green primer.

As per step two, on page 32-06 of the builder's manual, K1000-08 nutplates were riveted onto the (F-14141) baggage bin floor splice.

*Figure three, on page 32-06 shows the rivet call outs.

I set these rivets with our hand squeezer.

There are ten K1000-08D nutplates that need to be attached to the (F-01405G) flap motor channel.

I used our hand squeezer to set the rivets.

There are five nutplates along each side.

Nice!

There are four baggage bin side covers that will be installed in the baggage bin. They are: (F-01481-L, F-01481-R, F-01482-L, and F-01482-R).

They are here to protect the fuselage sides from denting in the advent of cargo shifting.

*Before I remove the protective blue vinyl I want to final ream and deburr all of the #30 holes and then use the edge break tool to put edge breaks on the forward and aft edges of (F-01481-L and F-01481-R) forward baggage bin side covers and on aft flanges of the (F-01482-L and F-01482-R) aft baggage side covers. If you use the edge break tool while the vinyl is still on it is less likely to develop any scratches.

You can see the edge break in this photograph.

Now for the edge deburring process!

I scuffed the surfaces of the (F-01481-L, F-01481-R, F-01482-L, and F-01482-R). baggage bin side covers in preparation for priming.

After washing the (F-01481-L, F-01481-R, F-01482-L, and F-01482-R). baggage bin side covers with acetone they were primed with DupliColor DAP 1690 self etching green primer.

I only primed the back sides of the baggage bin side covers, the other sides will be primed after installation.

I am fabricating the four doublers that I will be using for the tie down rings that will be installed to the baggage bin floors.

I made a jig so that after rough cutting the doublers with the bandsaw I could final size them to a perfect circle at the stationary vertical sander.

I started out by drilling #40 guide holes in a template doubler and then match drilled the holes into each of these four doublers (labeling each according to where it will be located on the floor). The center hole is a #40 hole, it can be used as a guide hole for each of the individual doublers to locate the correct position needed in the (F-01447-L and F-01447-R) baggage bin floors.

*The chrome part that you see to the right is the actual tie down mount that will be screwed into the floor, it's the part that you will see.

These doublers will be physically located under the baggage bin floor.

This photograph shows all the doublers after the holes have been match drilled into the baggage bin floors (and also therefore the doublers) and are final sized.

This is a locator hole that I drilled into the baggage bin floor, there are a total of four of these (two per side).

This is the locator hole in the aft portion of the baggage bin floor near the access hole.

As you can see in this photograph, the doubler is clecoed into position but all the holes are still #40 holes, they will be match drilled and final sized in the following steps.

Everything is deburred after drilling.

As you can see here all of the holes have been final sized and are still clecoed to the floor.

The holes are final sized and deburred.

Here is the same process as above but I haven't final sized the holes yet, that comes next.

The holes around the edges have been final sized, nutplate holes still to go...

This is what it looks like before drilling the larger holes for the center screw.

To make sure that the center screw hole is acurately placed, the K1000-04 nutplate is clecoed into position.

I use a smaller than final size drill bit to start the center hole (don't want to mess up the nutplate threads) and then later enlarge the hole to final size to fit a 14-28 screw.

Just before final sizing the center holes...

The center holes have been final sized and deburred.

All of the tie down ring doubler #30 and #40 holes were dimpled.

All of the #30 and #40 holes for the tie down rings were dimpled in the (F-01447-L and F-01447-R) baggage bin floors.

The K1000-04 nutplates were dimpled.

The tie down ring doublers were washed with acetone and primed with DupliColor DAP 1690 self etching green primer.

Here is what it looks like installed.

I used (1) AN426AD3-3.5 rivet, (4) AN426AD3-4 rivets, and (6) AN426AD4-4 rivets.

This is the installed tie down double near the rear access cover opening.

A view from underneath.

Rear doubler view from underneath.

The right (F-01447-R) baggage bin floor skin with the tie down ring doublers and nutplates installed.

As per step six, on page 30-08 of the builder's manual, we joined the (F-01484) center bottom fuselage skin and the (F-01478) aft fuselage bottom skin together along the horizontal lap joint.

*We substituted AN426AD3-4.5 rivets for the places calling for the shorter AN426AD3-4 rivets and AN426AD3-5 rivets for the places calling for the shorter AN426AD3-4.5 rivets.

Now we are getting into some of the fuselage joining tightest spots. We are riveting the (F-01423B-L and F-01423B-R) baggage bin floor ribs to the (F-01406A-L and F-01406A-R) bulkheads, the (F-01470-L and F-01470-R) fuselage side skins, and the (F-01484) center bottom fuselage skin.

Some of the rivet callouts are found in figure one, on page 30-04, and the rest in figure two, page 30-08 of the builder's manual.

The rivet callouts for attaching the rib ends to the bulkheads are found on page 30-04. They are attached with a combination of AN470AD4-4 rivets and LP4-3 rivets...we used mostly LP4-3 rivets.

Fastening the (F-01423B-L and F-01423B-R) baggage bin ribs lower flanges to the (F-01470-L and F-01470-R) fuselage side skins and the (F-01484) center bottom skin callouts are found in figure two, page 30-08. They are attached with a combination of AN426AD3-4 rivets, AN426AD3-4.5 rivets, and MK-319-BS rivets for the really tight spots.

We found that there were three additional spots where we had to use MK-319-BS rivets.

Fuselage halves joined!

Nice!

It feels really good to finally have to two halves joined together.

It definitely takes two people to do this task.

There are eight holes on the forward side of the (F-01405F) fuselage center brace that need to be countersunk. Most were already done on the quickbuild fuselage but there were two that still needed to be machine countersunk to accept the head of a AN426AD3-4 rivet.

Figure two, on page 29-19 of the builder's manual shows which holes need to be countersunk. (They are the holes in the bottom row between the larger holes in this photograph.)

The two holes have been machine countersunk to accept the head of a AN426AD3-4 rivet.

As you may or may not recall, in step one, on page 32-05 of the builder's manual the (F-01447-L and F-01447-R) baggage bin floor skins needed to have two holes dimpled in order to receive two CS4-4 rivets near the area where the seatback hinges are. That was done but now I have to dimple these holes in the (F-01417-L and F-01417-R) seat ribs to accept the CS4-4 rivet as well.

*The red arrows in this photograph show the #30 holes that were dimpled, the right side of the fuselage floor ribs were dimpled as well.

As per step three, on page 32-02 of the builder's manual the two (F-1030) outboard bushings were bolted to the (F-01433-L and F-01433-R) flap block brackets using hardware called out in figure three.

This is the left fuselage (F-01433-L) flap block bracket.

This is the right fuselage (F-01433-R) flap block bracket.

*Take note of the warning not to tighten the bolts to tight, there should only be enough friction on the bolts to be able to turn them slightly in the blocks.

DO NOT use standard torque values here!

Here is what it looks like on the inside.

This is the right fuselage (F-1030) outboard bushing in place.

Here is what it looks like on the inside.

The (F-1030) inboard bushing was bolted to the outboard side of the (F-01417-L) baggage bin floor rib using the hardware callout shown in figure one on page 32-03 of the builder's manual.

*Make sure that the previously drawn arrow is pointing up when installing the bushing.

The (F-1030) inboard bushing was bolted to the outboard side of the (F-01417-R) baggage bin floor rib using the hardware callout shown in figure one on page 32-03 of the builder's manual.

*Make sure that the previously drawn arrow is pointing up when installing the bushing.

As per step five, on page 32-05 of the builder's manual, the (F-01447-L and F-01447-R) baggage bin floors were clecoed to the fuselage substructures, the (F-01406A-L and F-01406A-R) bulkheads, the (F-01406B) bulkhead, and the (F-01428-L and F-01428-R) side frames.

While I was at it, I clecoed K1000-08D nutplates along the floor edge as well.

*Make sure you have plenty of clecos on hand!

As per step six, on page 32-05 of the builder's manual, I started the process of riveting the (F-01447-L and F-01447-R) baggage bin floors to the fuselage substructures.

*The rivet callouts are found in figure one on page 32-05.

I used our G-27 CherryMax hand rivet gun to set the LP4-3 rivets.

I put masking tape over the #30 holes that don't get riveted yet. These holes are where the (F-01481-L, F-01481-R, F-01482-L, F-01482-R, and F-14141) side panels and the baggage bin floor splice will be attached to the fuselage.

Things are moving along, there are alot of rivets!

It's pretty cool to see the floor going in.

This is a tight spot. There are two LP4-3 rivets used to attach the (F-01447-L and F-01447-R) baggage bin floors to the (F-01428-L and F-01428-R) side frames on each side of the fuselage but space is limited.

*An offset wedge really is helpful here so that the rivet gun head can squarely set the LP4-3 rivet while still being at an angle to clear the fuselage side skin.

You can see the wedge just below the rivet gun head in this photograph.

The left side rivets are set.

The right side rivets are set.

Now it is time to cleco the six (F-01447B) seatback hinges to the (F-01447-L and F-01447-R) baggage bin floors.

*Make sure that you have the CS4-4 rivets in the floor set before clecoing the seatback hinges in because the second row of hinges sits pretty close to where these holes are and it would be tough to set them after everything is clecoed in place.

The seatback hinges will be attached using LP4-3 rivets.

The seatback hinges have been riveted to the baggage bin floors.

Before I rivet the (F-01481-L, F-01481-R, F-01482-L, and F-01482-R) baggage bin side covers in place I want to prime the parts of the pre-scuffed floors so that they will be protected from corrosion. I masked the areas off, cleaned them with acetone and primed them with DupliColor DAP 1690 self etching green primer.

The quickbuild kit came primed but this is just extra protection for the areas on the floors that I scuffed before installing them.

I removed the masking paper after I got done priming the floors.

I riveted the K1000-08D nutplates along the length of baggage bin floor to the substructures. The next step is to rivet the (F-01447-L and F-01447-R) baggage bin floors to the (F-01406A-L, F-01406-R, and F-01406B) bulkheads.

*The rivet callouts for this is found in figure two, on page 32-05 of the builder's manual.

The nutplates have been installed and the floor has been installed to the bulkheads.

I used mostly the 3x rivet gun and a short tungsten bucking bar to set the rivets, a few places I was able to use the hand squeezer as well.

The instructions never mentioned it, but the (F-01491-L and F01491-R) side frame ribs need to be riveted to the (F-01406A-L and F-01406A-R) bulkheads, there isn't even a mention as to what rivets that should be used. I elected to attach them now and I used AN470AD3-3.5 rivets.

The red arrows are pointing to the side frames I am refering to and there are two rivets per side that need to be set.

The right access cover nutplates are next....

The left access cover nutplates are next....

K1000-08D nutplates were clecoed into position.

There are ten nutplates per side that will be installed.

K1000-08D nutplates were clecoed into position.

The rivet callouts for this area are found in figure two, on page 32-05 of the builder's manual.

The K1000-08D nutplates were installed in the access cover areas with AN426AD3-3.5 rivets and in the really tight areas AAC32 Cherry rivets were used.

The same rivets were used here as well.

If you look close you can see the two AN470AD3-3.5 rivets that I used to attach the (F-01491-R) side frame to the (F-01406A-R) bulkhead.

As per step three, on page 32-06 of the builder's manual, the (F-14141) baggage bin floor splice was clecoed onto the (F-01447-L and F-01447-R) bin floors. I put masking tape on the eight holes that do not receive LP4-3 rivets so we didn't have any "boo boos".

I riveted the (F-14141) baggage bin floor splice into place using the rivet callouts specified in figures one and two on page 32-06 of the builder's manual.

The (F-01405G) flap motor channel was clecoed into place on the (F-01405F) mid fuselage brace.

*Make sure to take note that the flap motor channel forward side, at the bottom of the channel, is supposed to mate towards the aft side of the (F-01405L) doubler at the bottom.

Figure one, on page 32-07 of the builder's manual depicts the orientation.

The (F-01482-R) aft baggage bin side cover and then the (F-01481-R) forward baggage bin side cover were clecoed into place to the fuselage.

*Make sure that the side cover flanges lay under the (F-01491-R, and F-01422-R) fuselage ribs.

The (F-01482-L) aft baggage bin side cover and then the (F-01481-L) forward baggage bin side cover were clecoed into place to the fuselage.

*Make sure that the side cover flanges lay under the (F-01491-L, and F-01422-L) fuselage ribs.

The (F-01482-R) aft baggage bin side cover and the (F-01481-R) forward baggage bin side cover were riveted into place using the rivet callouts specified in figure one on page 32-08 of the builder's manual.

The (F-01482-L) aft baggage bin side cover and the (F-01481-L) forward baggage bin side cover were riveted into place using the rivet callouts specified in figure one on page 32-08 of the builder's manual.

These baggage bin side covers are a very nice feature, I'm sure they add a great deal of strength too.

As per step seven, on page 32-07 of the builder's manual, the upper flange of the (F-01405G) flap motor channel was rivet to the (F-01405F) mid fuselage brace using the rivet callouts specified in figure one (AN470AD4-4) rivets.

Working on anything in the interior baggage bin and cockpit areas is a bit of a chore, then again I guess that's "par for the course" when working on airplanes!

As per step three, on page 32-07 of the builder's manual, the two (F-01466-L and F-01466-R) flap motor brackets were clecoed and then riveted to the (F-01405G) flap motor channel using the rivets specified in figure two of the manual.

The space is pretty tight here so go easy!

In step 4, on page 32-07, the lower end of the (F-01405G) flap motor channel is riveted to the (F-01405L) bulkhead doubler with AN470AD4-4 rivets.

This is what it looks like on the other side.

I traced around the cockpit NACA air flow vent assembly so that the area where they will eventually be attached to wouldn't be painted over.
They are supposed to be bonded into place according to steps five through seven on page 29-22 of the builder's manual.
This is the right fuselage side.

I traced around the cockpit NACA air flow vent assembly so that the area where they will eventually be attached to wouldn't be painted over.
They are supposed to be bonded into place according to steps five through seven on page 29-22 of the builder's manual.
This is the left fuselage side.

It's time to start masking off areas and preparing the cockpit and baggage bin areas for painting.

Our forward cockit is a quickbuild and the upper deck of the forward cockpit has been installed. I didn't want to paint the stainless steel firewall so I decided to mask it off. I also didn't want to paint in the bays where the fuel lines and electrical lines would go so I am masking them off as well.

The empennage and flight control bays were masked off too.

Priming the interior is near, just about everything is masked off.

As per step five, on page 29-22 of the builder's manual, the NACA air vent assemblies were put together using figure three as a reference.

The (SV-10-L and SV-10-R) vents are bonded to the (SV-6) aluminum "whisper flow" eyebal vents with a thin bead of clear RTV silicone adhesive. The (F-14186-L and F-14186-R) NACA vent brackets are then bolted to the rest of the assembly.

This is the RTV silicone adhesive that I used.

The primed surfaces were lightly sanded in preparation for the entire inner fuselage area to be primed with Stewart Systems smoke gray primer. As you can see some of the rivet heads needed additional primer.

The air vent assemblies were primed with Stewart Systems E7510 white primer and then after drying fully painted with EkoCrylic E5301 smoke gray topcoat paint.

The inner fuselage was primed with Stewart Systems E7520 smoke gray primer.

*This is a waterborne paint system.

The primed areas were lightly sanded in preparation for painting.

It had been a few days since the inner fuselage was primed so I cleaned the interior and put on some fresh masking paper to keep everything as dust free as possible.

New masking paper

New masking paper in the back too.

Topcoat painting begun with Stewart Systems waterborne E5301 smoke gray EkoCrylic paint.

Stewart Systems waterborne E5301 smoke gray EkoCrylic paint.

Stewart Systems waterborne E5301 smoke gray EkoCrylic paint.

Masking tape removed and a freshly painted inner fuselage!

Fresh paint!

Fresh paint!

Clean firewall! There a couple of pieces of masking paper I need to remove...

The inner spaces on the (F-01470-L and F-01470-R) fuselage skins where the (SV-10-L and SV-10-R) NACA vent assemblies will be attached needs to be primed in order to prevent corrosion.
I laid up two paper templates of the "lip" areas of the vent assemblies and then traced the inner line onto the skin so I knew where to apply the primer, and where not to apply the primer, since these assemblies are supposed to be glued into place with silicone adhesive.

This is the left fuselage side.

This is the right fuselage side.

I primed the inner areas with PTI-PHOS gray enamel primer....just brushed it on.

This is the right side.

Primed the inner area on this side too.

This is the left side.

The (SV-10-L and SV-10-R) NACA vents need to have the inner parts topcoated with paint so I masked them off in preparation for painting.

This is the inner areas that I want to paint. I'm thinking that is easier to paint these now then when they are installed.

I painted the (SV-10-L and SV-10-R) NACA vents with Stewart Systems Royal Blue EkoCrylic paint.

There are eight (F-01498A) fuel line brackets that need to be clecoed into position to be attached to the (F-01438-L and F-01438-R) cover ribs.

*Figure two on page 31-02 of the builder's manual shows how the brackets should be oriented, make sure that the larger slot of each bracket is on the bottom!

This is the left side of the fuselage.

This is the right side of the fuselage.

*Step 3, on page 31-02 of the builder's manual, also tells you which side of the bracket the LP4-3 rivet heads should be placed.
In some spots they suggest using these NAS1149FN432P washers to protect the plastic (F-01438-L and F-01438-R) fuel line brackets.

I used our G-27 CherryMax hand rivet gun to set the LP4-3 rivets.

*You will definitely need a wedge tool to properly set some of these rivets because the space is limited.
There are four rivet holes that are blocked by the bolt heads in the spar channel that will require special attention in order to properly set the rivet without removing the bolt.....the normal wedge just doesn't work, I'll show you what I did later but first I have to go make the special wedge to do the job....

An Andair FUEL-FS20X2-T fuel pump is used in the RV14A kit.
This is the box it came in....

This is the FUEL-FS20X2-T fuel pump and as per step two, page 31-03 of the builder's manual, the lever is supposed to be removed in order to proceed to the next steps.

*Don't forget to read the instructions and take note of the requirement to use Loctite 648 when resetting the screws.

DON'T FINAL SET THE SCREWS UNTIL YOU ATTACH THE NUTPLATES THOUGH!

Got the lever off, that's fairly easy, they supply an allen wrench to do the job.

Step three, figure one, on page 31-03 of the builder's manual, has you reposition each of the three elbow fittings.
At this point you might be tempted to reset the screws using the Loctite 648 retaining compound but don't do it until step four is completed!

There are three K1000-3 nutplates that need to be attached to the fuel selector valve body.

I used our hand squeezer to attach the nutplates with AN426AD3-4 rivets and had to temporarily remove an elbow so that the squeezer head would not contact it.....this is why you don't want to final set the screws until the nutplates are attached!

The K1000-3 nutplates have been installed, the individual elbows positioned correctly, and the screws set with Loctite 648 as per the manufacturer's recommendation.

Loctite 648

The Andair fuel selector valve faceplate needs to be machine countersunk to accept these three MS24693-C273 screws.

I used a #12, 100° countersink bit in our deburring tool to hand countersink each screw hole.

Aluminum tubing (AT0-035x3/8) is supplied with the kit to make fuel lines out of and it comes in an eight foot coil like this.

*Unless you have made fuel lines from aluminum before it might be a good idea to buy extra aluminum tubing to practice on to get the technique right....it's pretty cheap and is well worth the trouble!

It is also known as soft aluminum 3003 and is 3/8" outside diameter and .035" thick.

Soft Aluminum tubing3003.

Back to making fuel lines....you have to carefully unwind the coil and straighten it out as best that you can.

As per step two, on page 31-06 of the builder's manual, two 27" sections need to be cut which will eventually become the (F-14109A-L and F-14109A-R) fuselage side-valve fuel lines.

I used an Imperial (TC 1000) tubing cutter to make the cuts in the tubing.

The RV14A standard fuel pump is an Andair (EX-PX375-TC) pump.

This is the box that it came in.

This is the Andair (EX-PX375-TC) fuel pump.

Step one, on page 31-04 calls for the Andair (EX-PX375-TC) black wire to be trimmed to 4".

A (ES-31890) ring terminal is to be attached to the black wire and a (ES-421-0108) female spade connector is to be attached to the red wire.

I double crimped each connector to the respective wires as per step two, figure two, on page 31-04 of the builder's manual.

*In case you're curious, these are 22 gauge wires.

I started to work on the (VA-107) brake fluid hydraulic reservoir. I want to clean it and get it ready for painting....

I'm back at the hangar and wanted to get the last few little pieces of masking tape removed from the firewall from when I painted it, so before I did anything I crawled into the space under the instrument panel and picked them out....better!

After that, I checked the fit of the (VA-107) brake hydraulic reservoir to see if the holes in the attachment tabs lined up with the pre-drilled holes in the forward side of the (F-1401B-R) firewall as per step two on page 33-06 of the builder's manual....everything lined up great!

Remember those holes that were being blocked by a bolt in the spar channel that made it difficult to rivet the (F-01498A) fuel line bracket to the (F-01438-L and F-01438-R) cover ribs?

I made a wedge tool that made it easy to set the LP4-3 rivets.

First go get a 3/32" ferrule and stop set at your favorite hardware store, you're going to want to use the cylindrical ferrule for this wedge tool.

Next grind an angle on one end of the ferrule. (About the same angle that you find on the trailing edge wedge for the rudder (R-916-1 or VA-140) it's only a few degrees.

Now you're ready to go! The rivet stem slides right into the ferrule, the cylinder of the ferrule is thin enough to get past the bolt head, and the rivet gun head sits squarely on the rivet head and sets the rivet easy peasy!

All of the (F-01498A) fuel line brackets are attached to the (F-01438-L and F-01438-R) covers ribs.

This is the left side.

All of the (F-01498A) fuel line brackets are attached to the (F-01438-L and F-01438-R) covers ribs.

This is the right side.

I scuffed the (VA-107) brake fluid reservoir with a red ScotchBrite pad and washed it with acetone and then primed it with Tempo A702 green primer.

This part is going to receive several coats of paint and I will show the final version later on in the blog page.

I want to start practicing on fuel line fabrication so I ordered some extra 3003 soft 3/8" diameter aluminum tubing to practice flaring and bending on.

This is a heavy duty Parker Hannifin 37° flaring tool (212FB) that I will be using.

As you can see there are several different sized tubes that this tool can flare but I want to make sure that the 3/8" dies are selected.

On this side of the flaring tool there is a stop that you use when you insert the tubing. When the tubing touches this stop it indicates that you will have enough material to make an acceptable flare.

They recommend that a small bit of oil or grease be placed on the conical flarer so that you don't get any gauling or stretching of the aluminum during the process.

Not bad for the first time! This is a 37° flare and I found that when tightening the clamps and the flare cone that you don't have to use a lot of force to make good flares don't use gorilla force!

Before I make any bends on the aluminum tubing I like to draw the centerline of the tubing so that when measuring or lining things up at least I can be somewhat accurate in what I am doing.

I made this simple little centering jig out of wood which has a 3/8" hole drilled into it and lines drawn 90° from each other. I slip the jig over the tube and use a sharpie to transfer the marks onto the tubing.

Next, I lay the tube on an aluminum angle and using a ruler I make centerline marks along the length of the tube to the other end and connect the lines.....I know it's kinda labor intensive but....

This is what it looks like after the lines have been drawn.

I cut three lengths that will be used in fuel lines later on. The 6" tube will become the (F-14109B) valve-filter fuel line.
The 11 1/8" tube will become the (F-14109C) pump-firewall fuel line.
The 27" tube will become one of the two (F-14109A-L or F-14109A-R) fuselage side valve fuel lines.

I flared one end of each of the four fuel line tubes.

Here is what they look like after flaring.

*Be sure to inspect each flare to make sure there isn't any cracks, splits, gauling, or excessive stretch marks.

This is a General (NO. 153) compound tube bender that I will be using in the bending operations.

I found in my practice runs that the 3/8" tube openings were too tight and left unacceptable gouges in the aluminum tubing material so I took a round file and opened up the leading edges of the passage ways somewhat and polished the metal so that this would not happen in the future use of the tool.
The index marks, on the side scale, that are used to start and keep track of the bends weren't able to meet each other easily before I opened up the passage ways as well.

This is the other edge that I filed and polished.

Now the bending tool makes nice smooth bends.

The holes in our quickbuild (F-01470-L and F-01470-R) fuselage side skins are not large enough to install the AN833-6D elbows so they need to be final reamed and deburred.

This is the left side of the fuselage and shows the holes after they were final reamed and deburred.

This is the right side of the fuselage and shows the holes after they were final reamed and deburred.

*The hole is 9/16" in diameter.

As per step three, page 31-05 of the builder's manual, the AN833-6D elbows were installed and clocked vertically and the AN924-6D nuts secured finger tight at this time.

This is what it looks like on the inside.

The AN833-6D elbow and AN924-6D nut was installed on the right side as well.

As per step six, figure two, on page 31-03 of the builder's manual, the Andair (FUEL-FS20X2-T) fuel selector valve was attached to the (F-14102) fuel selector valve bracket with three MS24693-C273 screws.

*The lever will be attached after I install the fuel filter and fuel pump.

This is the Andair (FUEL-FX375-MK) fuel filter.
It comes standard with the RV14A kit.

*Take note of the arrow that shows the direction of fuel flow.

As per step three, on page 31-04 of the builder's manual, thread sealant is to be applied to the threads of the fuel filter. I chose Loctite 567 for this and applied it to the fuel filter 1/4" NPT threads.

The Andair (FUEL-FX375-MK) fuel filter was attached to the Andair (ES-PX375-TC) fuel pump.

The Andair (ES-PX375-TC) fuel pump/ (FUEL-FX375-MK) fuel filter assembly was attached to the (F-14108A and F-14108B) fuel pump brackets making sure that the black wire (ES-31890) ring terminal fuel ground wire was between the fuel pump bracket and the AN515-8R8 screw head as per figure three, on page 31-04 of the builder's manual.

I reattached the Andair (FUEL-FS20X2-T) fuel selector lever to the fuel valve body.

Time to fabricate fuel lines.

I first made an aluminum rod template of the fuel line according to the specifications given on pages 31-06 and 31-07. This helps when trying to figure out which way to orient the fuel line in the tubing bender when making the bends...don't want any mistakes, plus it's just it little bit easier to visualize what the part will look like. This is the left fuel line wire template.

The fuel line will be made from a 27" piece of (AT0-035X3/8) aluminum tubing and use two (AN819-6D) sleeves and two (AN818-6D) coupling nuts (the blue hardware shown in this photograph).

The one end of the tube has already been flared.

*Don't forget to inspect the flares.

The next step is to make the first bend mark which is 1 1/2" from the end of the flare.

Install a (AN819-6D) sleeve and a (AN818-6D) coupling nut by sliding them into position from the unflared end to the flared end.

*Make sure to get the sleeve and nut put on in the proper direction!

The first bend is a 28.3° bend and you can either refer to figure two on page 31-06 and figure one on 31-07 to get the angle right, or you can do as I did, and used a digital protractor and draw reference angles on a flat piece of plywood to refer to.

*The curved pages of the manual makes it hard to get a good reference angles, that's why I draw them out on flat plywood.

One bend down, two more to go!

The second bend is a 90° bend to the left. If you hold the fuel line over the right side view in figure two, on page 31-06 of the builder's manual, you can make the second bend mark line.

Here is where the wire template really came in handy, I drew the line on the wire, which was was held over the right side view, and then used this to double check the line that I drew onto the actual aluminum tube that I was bending....both came out the same so now the bend is good to go.

It was also handy to use the wire template to figure out how I should orient the tubing into the bender to make the bend in the right direction, it's not as easy as it seems!

Two bends down, one more to go.

*I think the last 90° bend is the hardest to make because it is a compound bend and yes, it is a downward 90° bend, but it also has to be bent slightly rearward as well....I didn't realize this because I made my first left fuel line at the home shop but should have made it at the hangar, in the presence of the fuselage, so I could adjust the wire template that I had to reflect this slight rearward angle in order to bend accordingly.

The mark for the third bend line is 19 1/4" as measured from the centerline of the flared end of the aluminum tube.

The third bend is 90° downward but is also slightly aft so make sure you reference your fuselage in order to know how far aft that angle is....it isn't much but it's there!

This is the second (f-14109A-L) fuselage left side fuel line that I made at the hangar and it fit well after I learned from my first attempt....glad I had extra aluminum tubing!

After the third bend was made the end of the tubing needs to be trimmed slightly. The tubing can be held over the front view illustration in figure two on page 31-06 of the builder's manual to get the final dimension.

After the final cut is made and the end has been deburred a flare has to be done. Make sure that the remaining AN819-6D sleeve and AN818-6D coupling nut are installed and in the proper direction before making the flare!

I inspected the flare and then cleaned out the line with compressed air and then temporarily installed the line with the coupling nuts only "drawn" finger tight.

The (F-14109A-R) fuselage right side valve fuel line is pretty much a mirror to the left one. I started out by making a wire template to help me out in the orientation and fabrication of the right fuel line.

Just like before, the first bend is 28.3° but this time to the right.

*Make sure to slide at least the AN819-6D sleeve from the open end of the tube before you make the first bend and make sure that it is installed in the proper direction because once you make the bend you won't be able to install the sleeve.

Two more bends to go!

The (F-14109A-R) fuselage right side fuel line is fabricated, cleaned with compressed air, and temporarily installed with the coupling nuts only "drawn" finger tight.

The (F-14109B) valve-filter fuel line is the next fuel line to fabricate. It is fabricated from a 6" piece of (AT0-035X3/8) soft aluminum tubing.

As per step three, figure one, on page 31-09 of the builder's manual, the end is flared and inspected first. A AN819-6D sleeve is installed by sliding it from the unflared end of the tube to the flared end. (Make sure the sleeve is oriented in the proper direction.)

A bend mark is made onto the tubing 2.924" (2- 59/64") from the end of the flared part of the tubing. (Use the illustration in figure one, page 31-09 to make the mark.) Bend the tubing 76° checking the angle against the illustration on page 31-09.

After I made the bend, I trimmed the (F-14109B) valve-filter fuel line to final length and deburred it. Two AN818-6D coupling nuts and a AN819-6D sleeve were slid into position and the end was flared.

The flare was inspected and then the line was cleaned with compressed air.

The (F-14109B) valve-filter fuel line was temporarily installed between the (FUEL-FS20X2-T) fuel selector valve and the (FUEL-FX375-MK) fuel filter as per figure two, on page 31-09 of the builder's manual, and the coupling nuts were only tightened "finger tight".

I am working on the autopilot yaw servo mounts today. There are three pieces that need to be edge deburred and prepared for priming. They are: (F-14189A) yaw servo plate, (F-14189B) yaw servo support, and (F-14189C) yaw servo spacer.

The (F-14189A) yaw servo plate has been edge deburred, all the holes final reamed and deburred, and the surface scuffed in preparation for priming.

The (F-14189B) yaw servo support is next to be edge deburred.

The (F-14189B) yaw servo support has been edge deburred, all of the holes have been final reamed and deburred, and the surface scuffed in preparation for priming.

I clecoed the (F-14189A) yaw servo plate and the (F-14189B) yaw servo support together because there are four #40 holes on the top of the yaw servo plate that need to be machine countersunk in order to receive the head of a AN426AD3-4.5 rivet as per indicated in figure two, step two, on page 58-02 of the builder's manual.

Clecoing the parts together helps to guide the pilot in the countersink bit that I am using in the debur tool.

Two done, two more to go.

The (F-14189C) yaw servo spacer is the next to be deburred.

The (F-14189C) yaw servo spacer has been edge deburred, the holes final reamed and deburred, and the surface scuffed in preparation for priming.

All of the parts were washed with acetone and primed with Tempo A702 green primer.

(F-14189A, F-14189B, and F-14189C) have been primed.

The (VA-107) brake hydraulic reservoir has been painted VHT high temperature engine enamel.

We have elected to install an autopilot yaw servo mount in the airplane because it is easier to do it now than it would be later as it is located under the elevator bellcrank and autopilot pitch servos back in the rear empennage (At the F-01407-L and F-01407-R side frames).

Section 58 deals with the installation process of the yaw servo mount system.

As per step three, on page 58-02 of the builder's manual, and refering to figure two, the (F-14189A) yaw servo plate was clecoed to the (F-14189B) yaw servo support.

The (F-14189A) yaw servo plate was riveted to the (F-14189B) yaw servo support with AN426AD3-4.5 rivets, making sure that the flush manufactured head was located on the top side of the (F-14189A) yaw servo plate.

Here's another angle of the riveted yaw servo mount assembly.

I am working on this project in two locations and on my next trip to the airport I intend to install a fuel fitting to the forward firewall. It is to be clocked at 40° from vertical so in order to get the angle right I made a template so that the AN833-6D elbow can be easily set on the front left side of the (F-01401B-L) forward firewall.

Now I am at the airport...

This is what the AN833-6D elbow fitting looks like.

Fuel tank sealant is supposed to be applied to the flange of this AN833-6D elbow fitting and then it is to be installed onto the left side of the (F-01401B-L) forward fuselage firewall and clocked at an angle of 40° from vertical.

*The plans are kind of confusing on page 31-05 and later on page 31-11. On page 31-05 they say to set the fitting at 25° (for nosegear aircraft) but on page 31-11 they say to set the angle at 40°...so which is it?

I called Van's Aircraft and they said to use the 40° angle from vertical.

Remember the template that I made? Here are the marks on the firewall that I used so that I could get the 40° angle right.

I am using a 5 minute tank sealant to set the elbow fitting and also the brake fluid reservoir in place so there isn't any time to waste getting these two items set.

As per Van's Aircraft builder support instructions, as to the correct angle, and per figure three, on page 31-11 of the builder's manual, and using hardware as per figure one, on page 31-05 of the builder's manual, I installed the AN833-6D elbow fitting.

As per step three, on page 33-06 of the builder's manual, tank sealant was applied to the outer diameter of the (VA-107) brake fluid reservoir nipple and the reservoir was attached to the right foward side of the (F-01401B-R firewall using the hardware specified in figure two.

Nice!

As per the instructions on page 31-10 of the builder's manual, the (F-14109C) pump-firewall fuel line was fabricated.

The (F-14109C) pump-firewall fuel line was temporarily installed between the Andair (ES-PX375-TC) fuel pump and the AN833-6D elbow fitting on the firewall.

There is a small area on the (SV-10-R) air vent assembly that needs paint touch up. When I was the removing masking tape after painting, I accidently pulled a 1/4" x 1/4" chip of paint from the top coat.

I touched up the paint chip on the right (SV-10-R) air vent assembly with Stewart Systems E-5465 EkoCrylic royal blue paint.

Not too bad, I might block sand this with 1200 grit sandpaper later before I install it.

These are the parts that make up the roll over structure described in section 37 of the builder's manual.

*All of the metal in this structure is pretty thick so while it looks simple to get these pieces edge deburred and ready to go, it took me awhile to get it all done.

Using the bandsaw, I separated the (F-01432B-L and F-01432B-R) roll bar brace brackets.

One piece becomes two.

I separated the (C-01432) bushing doublers into four parts.

One piece becomes four.

I separated the (C-01433) bushing doublers into four parts.

One piece becomes four.

I separated the (F-14125) skin stiffeners into two parts.

One piece becomes two.

These (F-14125) skin stiffeners will need some extra material removed later so this won't be their first trip to the bandsaw!

All the parts are separated now.

Time to start deburring all of the individual parts.

I started with the first of two (F-01432B) roll bar brace brackets. First I'll debur the edges.

Now that the roll bar brace brackets are separated they get a new number. This one is now called (F-01432B-R) and you have to pay attention because there is a left and right one so be sure to study figure two, on page 37-02 of the builder's manual!

After I edge deburred the (F-01432B-R) right roll bar bracket I scuffed the surfaces with a red ScotchBrite pad.

Both of the (F-01432B-R and F-01432B-L) roll bar brackets have been edge deburred and all holes have been final reamed and deburred.

Scuffed all surfaces with a red ScotchBrite pad.

There are two (F-1231E) roll bar splice plates that need to be deburred next, these plates are used to connect the two roll bar frame assemblies together at the top.

I edge deburred the first of the two (F-1231E) roll bar splice plates.

I reamed and deburred all of the #30 holes and scuffed the surface with a red ScotchBrite pad.

Did I mention there were two of these?

This is the second of the two (F-1231E) roll bar splice plates.

*These plates are pretty thick, they average about .0595" thick each!

I edge deburred the second of the two (F-1231E) roll bar splice plates.

Reamed and deburred all the #30 holes and scuffed all surfaces with a red ScotchBrite pad.

This is the (F-01432A) roll bar brace, it is the piece that supports the main roll bar frame back towards the aft bulkhead assembly.

I edge deburred the (F-01432A) roll bar brace.

This is what the bottom side looks like.

This is what the top side looks like.

I final reamed and deburred all of the holes in the (F-01432A) roll bar brace and then scuffed all surfaces with a red ScotchBrite pad.

As per step two, on page 37-02 of the builder's manual, there are six #30 holes on the forward tab of the (F-01432A) roll bar brace that need to be dimpled. These holes are indicated in figure two.

These are the six #30 holes that I am referring to. I dimpled them using our DRDT2 dimple machine.

Here is a better view of where the tab is located, it is shown on the right end of this photograph of the roll bar brace.

*Make sure that you dimple the holes so that the flush side is on the upper surface of the (F-01432A) roll bar brace.

As per step two, on page 37-02 of the builder's manual, I dimpled the #30 holes on the upper tabs of the (F-01432B-L and F-01432B-R) roll bar brace brackets as indicated in figure two.

I used the hand squeezer to dimple these.

This is a simple "mock up" of where these (F-01432B-L and F-01432B-R) roll bar brace brackets will be located at the end of the (F-01432A) roll bar brace.

*Don't forget, the dimples are supposed to be flush side up at the top of these roll bar brace brackets!

The (F-01432B-L and F-01432B-R) roll bar brace brackets were scuffed with a red ScotchBrite pad.

There are four (C-01433) bushing covers. Time to start the debur process again.

As you can see, the edges of these (C-01433) bushing covers are a little bit rough.

It took a little while but the edge debur is complete on all four (C-01433) bushing covers as well as reaming and deburring all holes.

I scuffed all surfaces with a red ScotchBrite pad.

As per step one, figure one, on page 37-08 of the builder's manual, the excess material on the "tails" of the (F-14125) skin stiffeners needs to be removed.

The first thing to do is lay out the lines where the extra material needs to be removed from.

*If you take a close look at these skin stiffeners you will notice that one of them has a single hole drilled in the surface, this one will end up being the left (F-14125-L) skin stiffener...just a way to keep everything "straight" once the two pieces are separated.

I removed the excess material using the bandsaw.

Now it's time to start edge deburring. I started on the (F-14125-R) skin stiffener, (it's the one without the single hole on one side that I was talking about earlier), and then I final reamed and deburred all #40 holes.

Here's another look at the (F-14125-L and F-14125-R) skin stiffeners. They have a slight curve to them.

*On page 37-08 of the builder's manual in step three and also in figure one there is a note that this curvature may need to be fluted as required in order to get a good alignment against the (F-01474-L and F-01474-R) side skins.

I scuffed all surfaces on the (F-14125-R) skin stiffener with a red ScotchBrite pad.

I edge deburred the (F-14125-L) skin stiffener, final reamed and deburred all #40 holes, and then scuffed all surfaces with a red ScotchBrite pad.

As per step two, figure one, on page 37-08 of the builder's manual, the #40 holes were dimpled on both (F-14125-L and F-14125-R) skin stiffeners.

*Be sure to pay attention to the note in figure one, on page 37-08 because it shows that the dimpled flush side of each of the skin stiffeners is to be on the side with all of the #40 holes in such a fashion that the flanges will be able to have the fuselage skin dimples nest inside of these dimples.

I edge deburred the (F-01431A-FR) roll bar frame.

This is thick material, .0580", so it's going to take awhile for each section of roll bar frame.

I started to scuff the inner surface of the (F-01431A-FR) roll bar frame with 320 grit sandpaper after reaming and deburring all of the #30 and #40 holes.

*These surfaces seemed to have some sort of film on them and originally I thought it was that clear vinyl film that they talk about but it wasn't, I think it was just some slight oxidation or perhaps some lubricant from the bending and forming process that is why I start out with the 320 grit sandpaper, I follow up after sanding with a light scuffing with a red ScotchBrite pad.