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I started trying to level the fuselage while on the floor.
I used some 2x4 lumber and some screw-adjustable feet. Didn't like
doing this, and, wasn't looking forward to installing the canard or nose
parts while sitting or kneeling on the floor. So, I moved the fuselage
to the top of my jig table, after re-leveling it, of course. |
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I knew from when I measured my canard (tip to center of the
firewall) I was going to need a pad of BID on one side about 1/8" to 3/16".
So, I planned on using flox per one builder's idea on the FAQ page of the
Cozy Builders
site . Knowing the flox was going to want to run down away from
where it was supposed to stay, I made a PVC foam "dam" around the lift tabs,
stuck to the fuselage with double-stick tape. Further, like many
builders, my lift tabs ended up not parallel to F-22. So, a flat BID
pad wasn't really a good option here. A custom-made flox one, the
right thickness and angle, seemed to be the way to go. |
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My canard, like many others, is longer than the plan
depicts. Since many of us don't realize this until we get to this step
(a better solution is to mount F-28 further aft) I had to look for options.
The best one seems to be notching the fuselage sides. Notching the
canard could affect its strength, moving F-28 aft at this point would be a
lot of work for not a lot of benefit. |
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Here's a shot of the "flox dam" I made for the other lift
tab. You can see this is the tab that's flush against F-22 (the other
one is away from F-22, forward, about 1/8". |
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Check the fuselage level it says. I spent about 2
hours getting the fuselage level (both directions), the canard at the right
incidence, and the canard square to the fuselage. I do think this was
easier on the table. If you look closely, you'll see little plywood
pads on the longerons. This allows the level to be placed there
without interfering with the canopy hinges that were installed (for Chapter
18) during the fuselage build, per plans. |
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I filled the right-hand flox pad "bag" (a piece of Saran
wrap double-stick taped to the PVC dam I made) only 2/3 full as it would end
up being much thinner than the other one. |
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I used the Smart Level to get the canard level, and, a
spirit level to check incidence at the same time. I wanted to get the
incidence pretty close - maybe two Smart Levels would have been a good idea
here - but I figured this was good enough. After I fly the plane, I
can adjust the incidence if needed. Making the canard level side-side,
however, shouldn't need to be changed so I wanted to make sure it was dead
on. |
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I didn't make the top firewall half yet, so, I couldn't
install it to measure from it. Instead, I installed a aluminum 48"
ruler, some small pieces of wood with notches and a piece of steel rod.
Check it square and centered and you have a centerline to measure to. |
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Once the flox was cured, I removed the canard. You
can see this side, the right, needed a much thinner pad than the other
side.... |
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... the left, which needed a pretty thick pad. The flox ran
out the bottom of this one a bit, and left me with some air spaces. No
sweat, I can fill these in later. |
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Here's the left side after removing the foam and
double-stick tape. Smushing the plastic over the flox inside that
piece of foam left a little ridge around the edge, which I will leave.
This helps the lift tab locate itself properly. |
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Here's the other side. Much thinner, as you can see. |
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Here's a shot of the foam "lift tab" after cutting to size
and drilling for the modified AN3 bolt. I used a washer behind for the
1/16" spacing. |
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One big fillet of 5-minute epoxy was used to ensure I
didn't have to work that 5 ply BID layup into a sharp corner. This
shot was taken after micro was applied to the foam prior to the layup being
added. You can see sort of a square on the top of the canard.
This is where I removed peel ply for these layups. Yep, I had left it
on until then. |
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One of the tabs after the 5 ply BID layup was applied.
You can see some black coloring on the edges, this is Sharpie marker ink
that comes off of the plastic I use to do these sorts of layups on. |
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Here's a shot of the aft side of the alignment tabs after
applying the 4 ply BID layup. Given the location of my alignment tabs,
I cut a slot in the trailing edge and installed the layup that way.
This prevented me from having to make a complete cut in the trailing edge
and hopefully is stronger this way. |
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Drilling the alignment tabs after layups was easy.
The hole in the foam aligned the drill. I had to use a manual drill,
however, I couldn't get the cordless close enough to the canard to drill a
perpendicular hole. |
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I took these next two shots just for fun. Some weird
bug decided to take an impromptu tour of my fuselage. Given that I'm a
dad, and, have seen my share of bug movies (A Bug's Life, Antz, etc.) I
imagined him saying something like "Man, this plane looks like it's gonna'
be fast. Man o man, wish I could see it fly!" |
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"Look, there's the builder up there! Hey mister, how
fast is she? I'll bet she's fast, look at all this slick fiberglass.
You know what they say - fast glass!" "Can I go for a ride in 'er when
she's done?" |
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After drilling the alignment tabs, it was time to drill
F-22 for a 1/4" bolt. I used hardware store bolts and washers since
this hole will get opened up again and CNL bushings will be installed.
You can also see that the alignment pin has been trimmed to size. |
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Same thing other side; nothing complicated here. |
| That completes this step.
Click here for Step 3. |
