Tailcone- 4 hrs 41 mins (Tailcone 37:43, Empennage 213:15, Total 234:11)
Rivet count: 0 (Total 3,686)
We started off by removing the top skins that we had just attached and match-drilled yesterday. After, we installed two anchor brackets on the longerons with a #12 drill bit, and then we attached the cover plates at the very aft end of the tailcone. We also drilled the nutplate attach holes there.
I worked ever so slightly ahead of the plans by match drilling two of the pieces in the aft end of the tailcone. The plans call for priming and assembling, and then match drilling with #30 and final drilling with #12. I didn't see how it would be possible to get the drill in there once things are riveted, so I drilled them now while it was still possible to use clecos and move the assembly away from the tailcone. We'll see if that comes back to bite me.
We then continued to systematically disassemble the rest of the tailcone. It was crazy to see the workbench completely empty and what used to be the tailcone was now a pile of parts instead of an awesome 3-D creation. We marked off the right side skin prior to removing it and had to cut a piece off of it. Creativity won by clamping the piece down and moving the grinder along the edge that needed to be smoothed instead of moving a whole part. Probably not my smartest moment from a "this is a safe idea" standpoint, but it worked out.
It was then finally time to start deburring. Edges first. Thankfully most of the edges had already been done, so only about 5 or 7 parts needed. Unfortunately, three of those parts were the side skins and bottom skin. Lots of edging after all. The dremel was key for all the hard to reach areas and corners and by opening the garage (sorry for the flooding of light) I was able to have enough space to get the big parts done.
We finished off by taking 40 minutes just to deburr all the holes on the left side skin. Tomorrow, we'll get the other side skin, the bottom skin, and the rest of the parts (maybe) before the dimpling process begins! -M
Rivet count: 0 (Total 3,686)
We started off by removing the top skins that we had just attached and match-drilled yesterday. After, we installed two anchor brackets on the longerons with a #12 drill bit, and then we attached the cover plates at the very aft end of the tailcone. We also drilled the nutplate attach holes there.
I worked ever so slightly ahead of the plans by match drilling two of the pieces in the aft end of the tailcone. The plans call for priming and assembling, and then match drilling with #30 and final drilling with #12. I didn't see how it would be possible to get the drill in there once things are riveted, so I drilled them now while it was still possible to use clecos and move the assembly away from the tailcone. We'll see if that comes back to bite me.
We then continued to systematically disassemble the rest of the tailcone. It was crazy to see the workbench completely empty and what used to be the tailcone was now a pile of parts instead of an awesome 3-D creation. We marked off the right side skin prior to removing it and had to cut a piece off of it. Creativity won by clamping the piece down and moving the grinder along the edge that needed to be smoothed instead of moving a whole part. Probably not my smartest moment from a "this is a safe idea" standpoint, but it worked out.
It was then finally time to start deburring. Edges first. Thankfully most of the edges had already been done, so only about 5 or 7 parts needed. Unfortunately, three of those parts were the side skins and bottom skin. Lots of edging after all. The dremel was key for all the hard to reach areas and corners and by opening the garage (sorry for the flooding of light) I was able to have enough space to get the big parts done.
We finished off by taking 40 minutes just to deburr all the holes on the left side skin. Tomorrow, we'll get the other side skin, the bottom skin, and the rest of the parts (maybe) before the dimpling process begins! -M
No comments:
Post a Comment