A nose job!

I was able to get a bit of a start on the nose this weekend. This is a small collection of inserts and other tubes likely to go inside bigger tubes. The angle pieces were mostly for the tail, but will certainly come back in the wing. The channel and flat stock mostly is for the nose section. You can see the tip of the rudder to the right.

I will say I'm pretty much out of electrical tape from taping up all the inserts. In .035" tube, it takes three full wraps and typically happens in three places for a short sleeve.



I thought to take a picture of a part in progress. This is a bracket for G4N2 made from 1"x1"x1"x1/8" channel stock. With the new hacksaw blade, this is a fairly quick process, but these parts are still taking about 20 minutes each to cut out and file the ends round. I center punched this particular one already because the last cut is a straight easy one. I started alternating directions with the pieces after number two to cut down on the number of total cuts. Every little bit helps.

I should mention I found an error in Sandlin's drawings. The part shown on G4N2 is actually used 15 places, not 6. I don't quite have enough channel material for making all these, so reluctantly I'll have to make another order before I can sit in the seat of my Goat. Maybe Thanksgiving time frame...


After a bit more time watching Simpsons and filing, my collection of brackets and parts is growing. Three of the 15 channel brackets, the nose plate, and a bunch more still to come.

I have been match drilling all the mating parts as best as possible. For example, the nose mount plates I took to the drill press and clamped them together to drill exactly the same pattern. Perhaps I'm opening the first hole a little when drilling down through it, but the bolts still fit through pretty doggone tight in some cases. The u-brackets are not match drilled except that I run the 3/16" bit all the way through where a bolt eventually goes to ensure the holes are properly aligned.

I did a little tube works for the nose as well. This shows the main structural member in the nose assembly. In particular, this tube (the right one with a bolt protruding) will carry the tension loads of the guy wires from the wing. As you can see if you zoom in closely, this member has two sleeve inserts, not to mention the outer tube is .058" wall thickness already.

I took special care when drilling the bolt holes in this one to ensure they were carefully aligned and were not wallowed out. I stepped up bits in 1/16" increments from the first 1/16" pilot hole. It doggone took forever, but I am quite happy with the alignment and the precision of the cut. I will be keeping the long AN bolt installed to ensure the sleeves do not fall out. They're a pretty tight fit already, but insurance is nice to have.


I tried to finish off the elevator since I'm waiting for more tube to continue work on the nose section. You see the "swiss cheese" part in process of being installed on the elevator leading edge. These two brackets will help transmit a torquing moment to the elevator, hence all the fastners.

Speaking of fasteners, I am liking my clickos. I could see getting really sick of them if I had a ton of rivets to do, but Sandlin did a good job using bolts in shear and using rivets for mostly non-structural joints (as he put it).


The control arm brackets have now been riveted into place and I stuck a piece of scrap tube to show you where the elevator control arm will eventually mount. The hinge assembly now works too and it's a lot of fun to grab this temporary tube and move the elevator! I guess I'm just excited to be making progress. This is technically my first working mechanism and probably one of the most important ones in the whole airplane. I need to consult a manual to ensure I use the castle nut and cotter pin correctly.





Well that's it for now. My next shipment comes in Monday according to UPS. My roommate and I are fixing his car tomorrow and flying RC gliders over the next couple days anyhow.