Gary (Geek) Phenning
Leavenworth (Not the Prison), WA
Kitfox STi N68SG
Have been working through doing preparations on parts while it snows and VERY cold outside. Cutout the required notches on the seat pan so that the seat set in the fuselage nicely. Back drilled the six attachment points, installed the nut plates on the fuselage brackets and verified that the screws all lined up. Still need to locate and cut the holes for the seat belts but have some location questions that I am working out before I do that. Have begun doing the prep work on the floor boards for the baggage area. Multiple coats of exterior poly on those. Installed the parking brake mounting bracket on the center console. Flush riveted and Hysol'd that. Cut the stringers to the correct length for installation to the fuselage. Drilled and cleco'd the stringer to the mounting brackets, filed in the notch required to fit the stringer past a fuselage structural member and notched the ends. Had to hold short from the full install till the window frames are all installed. Speaking of windows as we were ....... Fitted both left and right window frame pieces as well as the lower parts of the doors. Once done, I painted them with some 2K primer along with the stringers. Once they have dried, will complete the installs on the window frames and the stringer. As usual, doing all the prep work on this doesn't really look like much progress but once that is done and I get to really install those parts - it will look more like an airplane!
Seat 3.jpgSeat 4.jpgSeat 5.jpgPark Brake Mount.jpgFloor Board.jpgStringer 1.jpgWindow 3.jpgDoor Frame 1.jpgWindow 4.jpg
Gary (Geek) Phenning
Leavenworth (Not the Prison), WA
Kitfox STi N68SG
I just cut the seat belt openings. If it helps, the method I used of locating the side cuts was to draw an arc the specified distance from the two reference points which will give you the top and bottom of the opening. I then found a point where the two arcs are the specified distance apart the the angle looked right. That gave me the location of the two ends, drilled an initial hole, then enlarged to 3/8 withe a step drill, and connected the the two holes using a Dremel cut-off wheel.Still need to locate and cut the holes for the seat belts but have some location questions that I am working out before I do that.
Hope this helps.
Ralph
IMG_0096.jpg
Thanks Ralph. I’ll be giving this one a go tomorrow!, Appreciate the suggestion
Gary
Gary (Geek) Phenning
Leavenworth (Not the Prison), WA
Kitfox STi N68SG
Happy New Year all!! Worked on some small stuff today. I am mounting my dipole VHF antenna in the vertical stab so I need to fabricate mounts that won't interfere with the antenna. Built the upper mount and glued it up as well as figured out how I think I want to support the antenna cable connection. The lower mount should be a walk in the park once I get the other two mounts dialed in and attached. Fabricated the door hinges, backing plates and the gas shock mount so they are ready once I reach the point of installing the doors. Before I get there, I need to install the door and window moldings. I started with the right side door molding and got that Hysol'd and clamped along with riveting the joint. Liked the idea of getting these two set solid before I went ahead and did the rest of the window moldings. Just taking this part slow and easy since I want it to be right. Besides I ran out of clamps!!
Gary
Antenna Mount 1.jpgDoor Hinge 1.jpgDoor shock bracket.jpgDoor Trim 1.jpgDoor Trim 2.jpg
Gary (Geek) Phenning
Leavenworth (Not the Prison), WA
Kitfox STi N68SG
Looking good! Make sure on your doors to set the mount as low as possible and still allow the door to close that way when the door is open in the summer it’s not rubbing against the wing.
Dustin Dickerson
Building 7ss STI x 2
Oratex
29" shock monster
EP912STI 155hp
Garmin
N33TF......FLYING!
N53TF......FLYING!
Thanks for the clue here Dustin. Lord knows I need all the clues I can get!!
G
Gary (Geek) Phenning
Leavenworth (Not the Prison), WA
Kitfox STi N68SG
I didn't get back to trying Ralph's solution to my locating the seat belt slots the next day like I thought I would but today was the day. Ralph's solution to draw radial arcs from the starting point of the two location measurements from the drawing and then find the point where the length of the slot intersected the two arcs. Gave that go and it got me a location that looked right - so I went with it. Got the slots cut and smoothed so they are done and ready for seat belts when the seat is finally installed. I also Hysol'd the right window frame so that tomorrow I can permanently install the right side stringer.
Thanks again Ralph!!
Gary
Gary (Geek) Phenning
Leavenworth (Not the Prison), WA
Kitfox STi N68SG
Hysol'd in the left window frame parts today. Happy with the way these are turning out. One thing I learned from Brandon at the factory was if you dimple the rivet holes for the rivets, they sit a lot closer in to the frame (read less work fairing them in later). So I tried it on the left side and it's really an improvement. The rivets are very close to being really flush. I also Hysol'd in the upper VHF antenna mount. Once it gets set up I can proceed with installing the antenna into the vertical stab. I need to build a support for the RF connector to the antenna but want to do that with the antenna supported by the upper mount. While I was waiting for all this Hysol to dry, I fit the baggage floor, drilled the mounting holes in the boards and installed the rivnuts to secure the baggage floor. Big fan of rivnuts after using them on a couple old cars I have rebuilt and my Jeep. Never had one spin on me but I also use the same Loctite bearing lock (580 I think) when I press them. Doesn't take much and it seems to really let them take a bit of torque when I tighten in the screw/bolt.
I also sent Brandon an email to see what he thought about my issue of the inboard brake cylinders hitting the rudder pedal torque tube. (As usual - he got right back to me) He thought that once I connected the rudder up and put the cables under tension, it should be OK. Given that I won't be connecting the rudder till after I get the fuselage covered and the rudder pivots in the vertical stab reset for the right clearance once the covering is back there, I think I should still be OK to revisit this then. Just before I start with the FWF kit.
Gary
Antenna Mount.jpgDimple 1.jpgLeft Window 1.jpgLeft Window.jpgBaggage Rivnut.jpg
Gary (Geek) Phenning
Leavenworth (Not the Prison), WA
Kitfox STi N68SG
I think dimpling those window frame corners is a great idea. I considered it at the time but don't have the tools for it, but I wish I had taken the time to obtain them. You could probably skip the body and fender work on those frames entirely.
Where I'm from (engineering/production environment) Rivnuts are a plague to be avoided at all costs because when (not if) they spin it really stinks. There are certain places where they are about the only solution so: "keyed" Rivnuts only, installed very carefully and treated with kid gloves forever. I do like your loctite idea.
Per the builder tips thread I completed my rudder cable installation a long time ago when it was easy. Since I'm using Oratex and don't need to paint, I can poke them through as I cover the sides of the fuselage. The openings will be much smaller than the ones on my Citabria.
Kitfox 5 (under construction)
Commercial SE/ME, CFII