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Christopher RV7 Construction: right tank catch up
http://www.schristo.com/2008/12/right-tank-catchup.html
Thursday, December 18, 2008. Right tank catch up. The basic structure of the tanks is similar to the outboard leading edge but the tanks require multiple layers of additional detail. Fabrication from raw stock to finished part is very rewarding. The inboard tank stiffeners called for lots of cutting and filing. nothing that a vise, hack saw, and energy could not handle though. So far there have been no tasks that would require metal to be cut with a band saw. Raw stock to finished part :). Very nearly fi...
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Christopher RV7 Construction: empennage complete... back to the wings!
http://www.schristo.com/2008/12/13-hours-empennage-is-complete-spent.html
Saturday, December 6, 2008. Empennage complete. back to the wings! The empennage is complete! I spent the morning finishing the left elevator, fitting both elevators to the horizontal stabilizer, and rigging the assembly. Now it is hanging on the wall ready to fly! Back on the wings, I planned the wiring and power runs through the wing for the pitot and AOA tubes, the pitot heat, autopilot servo, and wingtip conduits. After reassembling the skeleton I completed riveting both wings. As it turns out I set ...
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Christopher RV7 Construction: moving on to the fuel tanks
http://www.schristo.com/2008/12/moving-on-to-fuel-tanks.html
Sunday, December 14, 2008. Moving on to the fuel tanks. It snowed today. it is good to have the mighty subaru back in action. I began the day working on a few pick up issues with the leading edge including drilling out the tie down holes and then moved on to the fuel tanks. The fuel tanks take an enormous effort to cleco together. the skins are thick and there is a significant amount of grunt required to get everything fitted. lots of work to make them ready for fuel. Lots of clecos to get a close fit.
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Christopher RV7 Construction: tanks...
http://www.schristo.com/2008/12/tanks.html
Saturday, December 20, 2008. The tanks continue. All basic preparation of both tank structures is complete. I fabricated the internal stiffeners and disassembled the left tank to prepare the inboard rib for fittings and riveted the access plate reinforcement plate. Nearly ready to bring out the pro seal. the inboard tank access panel gets sealed with a cork gasket rather than pro seal. Getting the fly cutter set up for the first time. Cutting the angle for rough pieces. A pile of tank stiffeners.
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Christopher RV7 Construction: proseal is less messy each time
http://www.schristo.com/2008/12/proseal-is-less-messy-each-time.html
Wednesday, December 24, 2008. Proseal is less messy each time. Cleaned up the shop. After the last proseal session I left things a bit tossed about and started the day by restoring order to the shop. I spent some time working out the inboard end rib details for the fuel level sensor, vent line, and access plate. I need to enlarge the rib opening slightly to accommodate the edge of the anti-rotation bracket for the fuel pickup. Fitting a small plate to seal up the tooling hole along with a backing plate f...
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Christopher RV7 Construction: proseal... a right of passage
http://www.schristo.com/2008/12/proseal-right-of-passage.html
Monday, December 22, 2008. Proseal. a right of passage. An unexpected day in the shop. over the past couple of days Seattle has received nearly a foot of snow, the town is simply not equipped to address significant snow fall and our office building, along with many downtown, is closed. The mighty Subaru thought nothing of the conditions ;). Quick build kits don’t get the chance to build tanks. they really miss out on a critical right of passage in building. I am glad to be doing a ‘slow’ build. Right tan...
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Christopher RV7 Construction: very nearly finished with the elevator
http://www.schristo.com/2008/12/5-hours-left-elevator-and-trim-tab-is.html
Thursday, December 4, 2008. Very nearly finished with the elevator. The left elevator and trim tab is filled with detail. although I have been able to catch and correct a number of missteps, I am a bit frustrated with the number of stumbles that I have had in completing it, and it is not yet finished. I had hoped to finish today but ran out of shop time. Next I will bend the leading edge and fit both elevators to the horizontal stabilizer and get back to the wings. Trim tab hinge on the elevator.
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Christopher RV7 Construction: back on track
http://www.schristo.com/2008/12/back-on-track.html
Friday, December 26, 2008. A very good shop day. I picked up some more rags, regrouped and cleaned for a fresh start. I sanded down some high rivets at the tank fill flange. very nice, cleaned proseal and began final preparations of the right tank for the first proseal session. So far I have done all of my proseal spreading, dabbing, and filet work with different ‘popsicle’ sticks; for the flange this may not work out, I will experiment with squeezing through a freezer baggie. Bring on the proseal! Aweso...
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Christopher RV7 Construction: fitting the tanks to the spar and leading edge
http://www.schristo.com/2008/12/fitting-tanks-to-spar-and-leading-edge.html
Tuesday, December 16, 2008. Fitting the tanks to the spar and leading edge. Fitting the tanks involves quite a bit of match drilling to ensure a tight fit to the leading edge and spar. much of the complexity of the tank is from its removability from the main wing structure. hopefully this feature will not prove to be a necessity. Fitting the tanks requires an enormous batch of free clecos. I am continuously removing clecos from the wings to use on the tanks. even with 500 I could use another 200. Empenna...
