09 June 2011
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It has been another good couple of weeks work. After getting most of the major components primed, we started assembling the aft fuselage.It was quite an easy process as everything was drilled off ready to go. The upper radius skins were then drilled off, Alodine 1200 applied and then primed.
These radius skins provide great strength and the fuselage is very strong now. All the steel tubes were treated with LPS 3 corrosion inhibitor compound.
The large cockpit panels were also riveted in place except for a few fasteners on some overlapping skins.
The fuselage is really starting to take shape now and the finish on the sheet metal joints is excellent.
One of the aft fuselage side panels is still not riveted yet to allow a couple more jobs to go and an inspection by our Technical Counsellor from the SAAA.
The majority of the sheet metal tasks should be completed soon.
The fuselage was transported back to the main assembly workshop in Melton as it is more central to the build team members.
Next we positioned and drilled off the forward fuselage side panels just aft of the engine firewall.
With all these skins in position we decided to have a go a fitting off the landing gear support brackets.
The brackets were positioned and then drilled out to final size. Gordon commenced fitting the stub axle to trailing link on the undercarriage leg.
Some the other jobs we have completed are the positioning and drilling of the brake master cylinder attach brackets, fitting and drilling off the baggage compartment floor panel, positioning and drilling off the rear bulkhead panels.
Next we will work on the rear bulkhead access door and the rear window support structure.
One wing which was left unprimed due to some marker pen still on the skin was rectified.
This involved paint stripping the small areas that were primed and removing all traces of marker pens. If we left them, they would bleed thru the coat paint.
It has taken 10 man hours to correct this error but it will be worth it in the end. I hope to have the wing back to bare metal this week then Alodine and prime the wing.
Another major milestone was also recently achieved with the main landing legs finalised.
This enabled a trial fit of the complete landing gear and put the Hornet on its wheels for the first time.
It was a great feeling to see the aircraft on its wheels and this went together rather well. The attached pictures show the results.
The engine is arriving in Melbourne next week so we should get our hands on it soon after.
All for now,
Regards Jack
- Man hours to date:
- 540hrs
17 June 2011
Today we collected our engine from the shipping agent. It was a relief to finally have it in our possession after almost 12 months since we paid our deposit. We took the engine back to the workshop and opened the shipping crate. It was a relief to find the engine in good condition and undamaged after the long sea journey. It will be some time before we are ready to fit it to our Hornet airframe but I am already looking forward to that day. With the engine now in our possession, I would like to thank Ron Carr for doing such a good job. In a time when the USD was going thru a volatile period he maintained his price from our initial contact to final delivery. When you place an order for something like this, you all of a sudden get told of the horror stories of how people paid lots of money but still have no engine. This has not been our experience. We got what we paid for, in fact we got more than we paid for, 13hp more! The attention to detail is obvious and the use of quality parts is evident throughout. So thanks Ron for our engine, I am looking forward to hear it roar into life.Regards Jack
