Today I added more of the strip material that will hold on the flush mounted wing tip. It goes much faster in the straight stretches because I don’t have to cut relief holes for as many flutes. I put the aileron back on so that I could make sure that the gap was even and…
Category: Bearhawk 1063 Building Log
Building log of Bearhawk 1063
Wrapping up the Belly Piece
Today I finished the aluminum belly piece, at least for now. I wanted to further test my wingtip strip technique, so I put in a few rivets.
Tabitha Visits the Hangar
Today Tabitha came out and started working on her toolbox practice kit. The weather was nice, so we opened up the hangar door and let some sunshine in. I made more progress on drilling out the rivets that held on the nutplates for the wingtip screws, and started making the first strip for the wingtip…
Drilling Rivets
Today I finally got a nice middle joining angle for the two belly pieces, on the 4th attempt. It looks fine now. I spent the rest of the time drilling out rivets on the wingtip. I really thought that attempt number 3 was going to be a good one, but I drilled the holes too…
Aluminum Fabrication
I only had half an hour to work today, but I made up another aluminum attach/stiffener for the belly panels to join with. When I drilled the holes, it turns out that the angle piece wasn’t wide enough, and thus the edge distance from the rivets was way too small. See pictures in the next…
Aluminum Belly Panel, Left Side
Today I worked on installing the left side belly panel. It is the same as yesterday’s entry, but just on the other side of the airplane.
Right Front Belly AL Panel
Today I was working on the new aluminum piece that goes on the belly just aft of the exhaust tunnel. I decided to remake these pieces because of some mismatched holes, and so that I could make the panel in two pieces. By making the left and right halves separate, I feel like I can…
Trim and Debur Right AL Panel
Today I spent some time trimming the panel for the right side. The file seems to be quite effective, especially when I follow it with some 150 Aluminum Oxide emery cloth.
Welding Practice
I wanted to get in a little more welding practice and I needed to make a gift for our dirty santa gift exchange, so I made this guy out of some scrap materials: It was the most evil-looking creature that I could create.
The Other Side
Welding the other side of the fuselage went much faster, and it turned out better. I used a little rattle-can primer to keep the metal from rusting. I’ll replace that with some epoxy primer when the weather warms up, so that I can be sure that the covering process won’t lift the paint.
Steel Instead
I decided that I didn’t like the idea of using aluminum angle as the aft support for the panel that goes under the door. This was mostly because I couldn’t think of a way to attach the aluminum angle very cleanly, so I figured I’d try to make one out of steel. I would be…
Optional Aluminum Panel
I had a surprise morning off from work due to some cancellations, so I spent a couple of hours working on a trailing edge support for the optional aluminum panel that goes under the door. I like the idea of using this panel for two main reasons. One is to make for a place to…
Door Latches and Boot Cowl
I wanted to work on something other than the boot cowl for a little while, so I put together one of the door latches. I’m planning to use Bob’s design for the latch and will add some locks. I found some very compact cylinders at Home Depot for under $5 each. I got 3 that…
Exhaust Tunnel and Barts RV
I only had a few minutes to work today, but I got the exhaust tunnel attached and the little pieces clecoed. Last night we went to visit Bart’s RV-8 Project. He had the whole EAA chapter over and cooked some burgers. Bart’s project is coming along nicely and he’s going to put the engine on…
Boot Cowl Head Scratching
I was fairly proud of the way the firewall turned out, so I started working on the boot cowl. Richard built the instrument panel top with a removable triangle panel so that the joint is on the inside of the windshield. Bob’s prototype is just the opposite, with the hole for the cabane struts cut…
Quality Control and Pushrods
Today I spent most of the day working in the hangar and it was great fun. I spent about an hour sorting out the dumped pile of hardware, and this was a good experience. I got to be pretty fast with identifying the #6 and #8 nutplates. I also started going through the wing counting…
Firewall Trimming Continued
Here is a bit more time with working on the firewall, with no substantial content beyond the last post. I just got back into town from a nice weekend of fishing, and while I was gone the firewall didn’t trim itself.
Nicopress Check and Firewall
Since I’m finally caught up on inventory and counting for a while, I spent some time checking nicopresses. I checked each one with a go/no-go guage and marked the good ones with a green sharpie. They are all good, but that will help me remember to check in case I find one that isn’t green…
Fuel Systems and Brakes
Today I finished welding the elevator trim pushrods: I also took an inventory of the fuel system and brakes to figure up which fittings I’ll need and how much line to use. I went back to read the Beartracks and realized that Bob recommended 5052 Aluminum lines instead of the softer and much cheaper 3003….
Counting Bolts Again
Today I spent half an hour or so going through my list of bolts to buy again, this time with regard for the possibility of drilling our own solid bolts. It’s not very much time, but it’s all we could fit into the schedule today. I did manage to dump out a little tackle box…
Answering Questions
I called Bob today and asked him about the AN210-3A vs -3B pulleys. He said either would work just fine. I also asked him about the braided fuel line, which is something I’ve been waffling about for a while. The issue is that the current fuel lines are braided stainless lines instead of solid 3003…
Hardware Patrol
Today I continued my hardware patrol. I have been through the entire fuselage and the control stick and have replaced and/or noted what I’ll need to get to continue. I can definitely justify the expense of a drilling guide since I have lots of bolts that are good candidates for drilling for cotter keys. I…
Nuts and Bolts
Sorting out which bolt goes to which nut and where the hardware is suposed to be.
Working on the Airplane
Today I started to prepare the right side brake pedals for installation. I also spent some time shoveling the gravel on the hangar floor to try and help encourage good drainage of rain. I was glad to spend less time on workshop infrastructure and actually get to work on the bearhawk some. I noticed that…
Organizing and Inventory
Making a list and checking it twice!
Putting the Fuselage on the Landing Gear
Putting the fuselage on the landing gear so that it will be easier to move from the trailer!