Nose Door

Step 11 NOSE DOOR

After 400 some odd hours of construction time, my Chapter 13 build has finally reached the last per-plans step. Woo-hoo!

Here's a shot of the nose top. I had left the foam piece too long, if you will, and it was time to trim it. I added a piece of blue tape then traced the appropriate line after making the template the plans suggest and double-checking the canard chord (front to back) length.

Nice slots, huh? Not so nice. I mis-read the plans somehow and ended up telling myself I needed a .1 inch deep slot here instead of a couple-ply thick slot. Argh.

No worries. I microed in a piece of foam scrap and I was back in business.

To make the slot at the top for the canard cover, I jigged up a couple pieces of wood and some stacked sandpaper. Makes a nice, even recess and prevents you from sanding too deep all at the same time.

Here's the 3 plies of BID, scissor-trimmed, ready to cure on the nose top. I added some peel ply, plastic wrap (above and below) then taped the plastic wrap on the top down to ensure the blank cured tight to the nose top and in the right shape.

Here's that layup after curing and removing the plastic wrap covering it. Turned out great!

I used waxed paper to and my electric scissors to make the tapes for the back side of the door. The waxed paper can be marked to the right size/shape beforehand (remember to flip it over, after marking, lest you end up with marker mixed into the epoxy....) then, after one layer is removed (you put another layer over the top for final squeegee and/or for cutting) the waxed paper prevents the layup from distorting as you move it and install it where it needs to go.

Here's the nose door ready for those tapes as shown above. You can see a couple of low (or high, depending on how you look at them) that must have occurred due to pieces of sandpaper or foam grit left on the nose top before I added the layup.

After adding those 1" wide tapes, the door goes back on the nose. Plenty of peel ply and box tape were involved to prevent sticking/ease removal.

Once that layup cured, I used a piece of string to be sure it was located center before I marked the cutout/recess for it.

Here's the nose door after the recess has been sanded. This step was actually fun. Go slow, check the door in the recess constantly, and before you know it it's at the right depth.

I made a newspaper pattern, like I always do for layups like this, to be sure I have a piece of glass big enough, the right orientation and to minimize wasted glass.

Here's the nose top, halfway through adding micro, just before adding the 2 ply BID layup overall. You can see a bit of color change on the side. This is because I used some pour foam on the sides after carving them the first time and realizing I had over-carved or mis-shaped the nose sides.

After adding the requisite 2 ply BID layup on the nose top, it was time to add peel ply, the nose door (with plastic wrap over it, of course) then weights to hold the nose door in its recess.

I used some blue tape to hold the plastic wrap on the bottom of the nose door. The layup, once cured, decided to make that blue tape a permanent part of the airplane. No worries, though, this piece gets cut out to make the nose door opening.

The outline for the cutout has been drawn on the nose top with black marker in this picture.

A shot of the nose, almost complete. It has a couple of bumps and lumps but nothing a proper finishing job can't overcome. No more canoe, folks, it looks like a plane now that it has a nose on it! Cool!

The trusty Fein Sander tool was used to cut out the opening. I have a broken circular blade that works just fine for these sorts of cuts. You don't need the whole circle anyway and those corners help you get into tight spots.

It won't cut corners, however, so I used a coping saw blade and a pair of needle-nosed pliers. The Fein cut all the straight lines, the coping saw all of the curves.

Ta-da! One nose door opening. It looks a little funky still 'cause the foam is full-thickness around it yet and hasn't been trimmed.

Note that I have not (yet, and won't ever) removed the nose top from the plane. I have my fuselage on straps hung from the ceiling - I can roll it over and back at will. I decided to do these next couple of steps without cutting off the top.

Other than needing a light and having to work upside down, this step was fun. The carving and sanding of the urethane foam goes quickly. I again made a wood sanding template to keep the correct angles and prevent myself from sanding too deep/far.

After I tried the nose door fit into the cutout above, I realized it 'oil canned' (flexed inward) as I pressed on it. To prevent the windstream from doing this when I flew, I added a piece of 1/4" PVC foam to the back of the nose door, with a single ply of BID over it. I vacuum bagged this, of course, until cure. Now my nose door doesn't oil can!

Quick shot of the aft end of the opening with its 2 ply BID covering layup. These are the kinds of layups I can get done during the week and adhere to that 'work on it 15 minutes a day' rule.

To do the interior layup, once again, I made a paper pattern. I think these make these sorts of layups way easier, since I don't have to mess around with trimming the layup to shape inside that space, upside down, etc. If you mess up the pattern, just make a new one or tape some paper to it and cut again. Once the pattern's right, I know the glass will be right, too.

My beautiful wife Kelly decided to visit the workshop as I did those interior layups, on the inside/underside of the nose top. Not wanting to miss the rare opportunity of pictures of me working on the plane (since I usually take all of the pictures) she started snapping away.

The safety experts should be happy, note the carbon filter mask, safety glasses, and nitrile gloves. I am beginning to realize that if this plane takes 2500 hours to build, give or take, I'll probably have 2000 hours in a mask. How 'bout that.

Me inside the nose working on those nose top inside layups.

Note the NG-30s, the blue tape over the nose wheel well windows, the recess carved for the rudder pedals, etc.

Another shot of me working inside the nose. I might have some gray hair, but, at least I still have hair.....

Another shot of me inside the nose. The garbage can is handy to take the waxed paper leftovers. I do these layups like this 1) make paper pattern of layup needed 2) cover with waxed paper 3) add layers of glass and wet out/squeegee 4) once complete, and transparent, of course, 5) add waxed paper on top 6) cut to match pattern 7) remove top layer of paper, discard 8) paint where layup goes with epoxy 9) transfer layup to the right spot, adjust, press/brush/squeegee into place 10) remove other layer of waxed paper and discard.

Here's the inside of the nose after completing all the layups, taping, and adding peel ply. I think it turned out great, and I'm hoping the nose is just a tiny bit stronger than if I'd cut it off and floxed it back on/taped it.

I thought it would be cool to add some lightening/visibility holes in the torsional stiffener that goes between F-22 and the nose top. Here's the foam blank cut to size and holes drilled ready for some glass.

Of course, I vacuum bagged this puppy. I ended up making two of these, however, 'cause I haven't completely mastered 3D parts and vacuum bagging. You see, the holes don't bag well if you ask the bag to collapse inside the hole. I ended up having the glass meet in the middle, if you will, thickness-wise, and that worked better.

My first torsional stiffener, sanding the glass from inside the holes where it didn't bag well. The bottom line is you can do 2D curves easy, 3D curves are not so easy.

I installed my canard when building the torsional stiffener. Even thoug every plane is just a little different, my nose ended up very close to how the plans look, so I had to make that stiffener piece in two pieces, one flat even with the top of F-22 and the other piece connecting that to the bottom of the nose top.

Here's my second torsional stiffener. I ended up making these holes differently, in 3/8" foam the piece was made of the hole has a 45 degree bevel 3/16" deep on the top on the bottom both. This bags well, the glass meets in the middle and no voids occur. Further, I made the piece extra wide, so I could make that 'connector' that goes up to meet the nose bottom. I made that by first, after glassing the whole part, cutting a slot in the foam and glass on one side, then bending the part and instant gluing it back together, while taped/bent at the right angle.

After it had dried in that bent position, I installed it in the plane. I made sure the tapes I added covered the cut I had made. I also tried very hard to make it perpendicular to and flush with the top of F-22.

Weights were added to be sure the part, after floxing all the appropriate places, cured in the right spot, while firmly pressed into place to prevent any gaps.

I think the holes add a nice touch. Since this is a torsional stiffener, and not a bulkhead or spar or something like that, the holes should have little to no impact on the strength. Further, the hole in the middle allows a nice view of the nose lift assembly top, which you wouldn't be able to see at all otherwise.

Next, it was time to add a single ply of BID over the exposed foam, top of F-22, etc. after making flox corners. No problems here, another simple I can do on a weeknight.

Here's a close-up of the single ply BID layup. I made it a point to round over the corners of the torsional stiffener piece, then when I trimmed the single ply layup I used its excess over the ends.

I had to add some peel ply, given that the layup kept coming back up off the sides. Why gravity didn't help here I still don't understand.

Here's what the bottom of this piece looked like before adding the tapes/bottom layup. These parts have been thoroughly sanded with 36 grit in this shot, that's why everything looks so dull and/or whitish.

Waxed paper helped some parts of this layup/tapes stay in those recesses I made in the stiffener piece. Let it cure and chapter 13 is pretty much done!

I did a couple of things to chapter 13 that should be considered improvements or modifications. Click here to see them.

That completes chapter 13, the nose and nose gear.

The next step is the Centersection Spar.