Esser's Build

[HighWing]

The rivet should be inserted from the wood side and the aluminum should keep the rivets from pulling through.
Lowell

[Esser]

Well after a couple weeks at work I flew back home and started working on the plane again. I didn't get too much new done because my inch lbs torque wrench finally came in so I went back and torqued everything that I had flagged as not torqued. After tightening everything up I still wasnt happy with the friction on my control column bearing so I took it out and started sanding like a mad man. I'm not exactly happy with what I did too it and I may order a new one and start from scratch. It has no slop but I got a little over zealous and she isnt perfectly round.

When I move my stick forward the last 3 inches of movement has more friction than the rest. I spent several hours today trying every combination of why this may be and I still have no answers. It isnt a lot but I notice it. I am wondering if it is going to drive me nuts forever and I should get to the bottom of it, or if it is one of those things to live and let die.

I was getting ready to move on to the floor boards. In the manual it doesnt show where to drill the forward floorboard to the frame and there are no tabs on the fuselage. Does this just get mounted with the rudder pedal hardware? Or am I missing something?

I will take some pictures tomorrow as I dive into the floor boards and centre console!

As always thanks for your input.


OH! PS Lowell, my friend talked to his company AME(Aircraft Maintenance Engineer not a doctor in Canada) and he said that riveting the birch ply would split the birch in the drilled out hole and/or the rivet would eventually work itself loose through the hole. I was't able to ask him if the dab of Hysol would stop that...

[HighWing]

[QUOTE=Esser;OH! PS Lowell, my friend talked to his company AME(Aircraft Maintenance Engineer not a doctor in Canada) and he said that riveting the birch ply would split the birch in the drilled out hole and/or the rivet would eventually work itself loose through the hole. I was't able to ask him if the dab of Hysol would stop that...[/QUOTE]

A suggestion, check the butt rib installation instructions. At least in the Model IV they are riveted to the brackets that attach them to the skylight through the wooden shear web. When it comes to rag and tube construction, in my experience, you have to take some of the things the licensed techs say with a smile and a thank you, especially if they spend their work day playing with aluminum. Just put the head on the wood side or if you are still a bit concerned, make some thin washers out of aluminum.
Lowell

[Esser]

Thanks Lowell, will do. By the end of this build I'm going to have you on speed dial haha.

[jiott]

I had some excessive friction on my control column torque tube that I couldn't get rid of by loosening the fit of the nylon bearing block. It turned out to be the mounting of the aluminum bearing box on the right hand side. The mounting tabs welded to the fuse tubes weren't all at the same level and when I torqued the mounting bolts down it put the bearing in a bind. The solution was to experiment with several washers of different thicknesses under the box to level it up.

Jim

[Esser]

I had some excessive friction on my control column torque tube that I couldn't get rid of by loosening the fit of the nylon bearing block. It turned out to be the mounting of the aluminum bearing box on the right hand side. The mounting tabs welded to the fuse tubes weren't all at the same level and when I torqued the mounting bolts down it put the bearing in a bind. The solution was to experiment with several washers of different thicknesses under the box to level it up.

Jim

Hey Jim. Thanks for the advice. You know yesterday I had loosened everything off and tried different angles side to side but I never thought of trying up and down. Good thing those nylock nuts are cheap.

[Esser]

OK, So yesterday was work on the floor boards and centre console day. I had some friends move home from england so I didnt get too much done.

First off I took Jim' suggestion and fixed about 90% of the friction I had. I had to put washers under three of the tabs Like so:



Next I started fitting the floor boards. A weld was a little high so I filed 'er down.


Filing down made the floor board fit much nicer. I did this on both sides.




Fuselage on the side ready to back drill the floor boards. If I were going to do this again I would centre punch the tabs and drill them, debur and then attach the floor boards and back drill. I did them all at once.


I assembled the flap and adjustable rudder pedal brackets for the centre console but I never really got farther than that for a couple reasons. A) I needed a long 1/16 drill bit to back drill the centre console to the tabs closest to the seat and B) I need to find some better 1/16th bits to drill the detent pins on the adjustable rudder pedal assembly. I guess it's a learning curve but I break those small bits frequently.


I'll keep you posted on what happens today.