Yet more brackets, foam, carbon, and aluminum composites

I spent some time this weekend working on Goat. I split about 50/50 working on foam versus cutting more brackets.

I have quite a large pile growing and it's getting time for some more fun assembly! Several, if you notice, are multiples up to 4 of any individual part. For the cabanes in particular, I need one bracket each side and then a duplicate pair for the other cabane. Several of these parts also need to be match drilled to align with each other, so some of these are not yet drilled. Fortunately, only a pair of each need to be match drilled, so it's not like I have to drill through four and have them all agree!

Next I moved to the rudder to do some foam and carbon work. I typically dislike this more than the metal work which I like less than wood work. However, I took my time and vacuumed several times and it was much more enjoyable than normal.

First, let me say I am not pleased with my first rib installation job. I have determined I will pull this one off and replace it in the future. I thought it more important this go around to get a rib right before I destroyed my old one. One step forward before one step backward.

I already had the fiberglass collars wrapped around the leading and trailing edges from months ago when I did the original rib. These I sanded a bit to get rid of sharp edges (ouch, pointy!) and to create a better surface for bonding the second layer of glass. One rib was already cut, so I simply tack-glued that on with some quicker setting epoxy. This helped keep it from moving around on me. I used a straight-edge and a razor saw to put a slice down the middle of the rib. Then I took a scrap piece of carbon and ensured the hole was large enough for the rib carbon to fully seat in the foam. After trimming a new piece of carbon to length, I glued it in the slot and double checked to keep the top surface flush. Before I add the wrap, I will install the other two ribs.

I did a little metal work on the horizontal tail too. I finally had a piece of scrap 3/4" x 0.035" tubing long enough for the elevator. I squared it up and drilled holes for the bolt and rivets.

I think doing rivets is fun, so it was exciting to have six to do all at once! Maybe my next plane should include more rivets. Okay, I admit that pop rivets aren't the most structural, so maybe I would say differently if I had to use real rivets.

I also watched an EAA Homebuilders video on the proper technique for installing cotter pins in castle nuts. The elevator hinge line eventually gets this locking feature, so I thought it would be nice to brush up on (who am I kidding, learn) the proper techniques.

While I had the foam out and my scrap 3/4" tubing handy, I started the rudder pedals. They are quite simple, just two tubes and foam in the middle. They will receive a wrap of 6oz fiberglass cloth to seal the foam and give it more rigidity. Whereas they look rather unfinished now, once the fiberglass goes on, they should look and feel much more rigid.

You might be able to see that I roughed up the aluminum in order to bond the foam on. This simple step is really important for getting a good bond. Imagine that the sandpaper is making several miniature scratches in the surface that the glue can creep down into and get a grip. You can bond things to glass this way even! Don't try it though, it's a good way to ruin a window...

Brackets and that's about it

Progress is slow now that weather is better and I have school/work to do. I still have about 8 linear feet of sheet stock to cut, so expect more of this kind of update.

Just cutting parts ... mostly doing ones for the cabane area because I hope to do the cabanes next as a set. I still have a lot to touch up on the fuselage, don't get me wrong. But if I'm going to order material, I might as well be prepped for two duties at once and only have to pay once for shipping.

For the fuselage, I'm thinking of re-doing the lower tube with more effort on getting a bend with no kinks. Also on the list is to redo a few of the truss members that the holes are wallowed out or slightly off center. Most of the structure beneath the pilot looks to be non-structural in the sense that they do not carry flight loads. There are a few obvious exceptions, and that's why those pieces receive more attention. At any rate, will be fun to clean up some of the messier areas and take stuff back apart.

Snowy day again, this time for real!

Apparently I like snow :-)

We got a solid 3" with areas of +4" this morning and it's still coming down. I really like working on snowy days because it is so quiet outside and peaceful to just watch the snow coming down when arms or eyes need a break.

Actually, I haven't done a whole lot of work on Goat in a bit. Occasionally, I'll sit down and knock out a part or two. I have all this sheet stock for making brackets, so there won't be much visual progress except for a growing pile of brackets. As it stands, I have a small mountain already and still over 9 linear feet to cut!

Here is the growing collection. Most of these belong to the cabanes, but the larger ones are for the wing root area and I have a couple more roughed that didn't make it into the photo.

One last hoorah for snow!

Wheel wouldn't ya know?

For Christmas my brother and sister got me an Azusalite 6" wheel ... which I promptly mistook for a hat }{;-)

It took some massive persuasion to get the first hub half to fit into the tire. Finally with some Vaseline to let the hub slide on the rubber and using a dowel to help get it moving, we were able to get it set in place. Insert the tube and the other hub half, bolt the hubs together, add more Vaseline, then pump up the tube to get the other hub half set. It will take some more air to get the pressure up to full recommended, but no hurry. I'll set the final pressure based on how it feels rolling around on the ground in a year...

I also got a very nice belt sander /disc sander combo from my parents. This will really help make the bracket manufacturing go faster. I'll still need to file the last bit by hand, but this will help knock corners off and square up edges much faster. I have yet to turn this one on to see the dust collection in use, but you can see I already put the tool near the A/C intake vent for my apartment. Thinking ahead!

Oh you can also see the filled tire in the picture to the left if you look closely through the nose section structure.

Thanks for a nice Christmas from family and I'm sure that you'll see more posts within the month documenting some spiffy progress.

Parts order

Shhhh, don't tell but I ordered some more aluminum today. It was all sheet stock, namely 9ft of 2" wide 1/8" thick stuff and 3ft of 1-1/2" angle. This many linear feet of brackets should keep me totally mired down in hacksawing for weeks and maybe months! But since I have the raw material in-hand, I'll be more likely to make large pieces of aluminum into smaller pieces of aluminum.

More cabane parts and a bit of drilling

Not a ton of work today, but I did manage to crank out a few more cabane parts yesterday. The rectangular pieces have match-drilled 3/16" holes now. The triangular pieces also are for the cabane, but so far are only center punched. You can't really see from the photo, but there are four of these as well. The two little angled parts to the right are actually for the tail boom section, but I was looking for parts to make that I had material for.

Merry Cabane!

After a slight hiatus, I am back slowly making progress. This time it's four cabane plate pieces. I haven't taken the time to drill holes yet because I want to match drill all of them so I'm going to wait until tomorrow when I'm not so tired.

It's almost time for another metal order. Methinks I can get just a bunch of hardware and bar/angle stock to make brackets for this order and get a massive tube order sometime early in the spring so I am careful with the time input. Slow and steady wins the race. I think I blitzed through the nose a bit too quickly. I need to step back and do some careful maintenance on the parts to remove any nicks or rough edges. Also need to replace a couple u-brackets that likely are under some stress. I also can add spacers inside tubes that would otherwise be getting crushed (that seat tube comes to mind).

Bed time...