Finished Right Seat

I finished the right seat. I put some cushions in and let Paula try it on for size. She said it fit great and when are we going?

 

Here's the upper attachment on the back of the seat. The holes are there to make it lighter.

 

Working On Seat Back

I'm working on the right seat back and getting to use some of my woodworking skills. Several places on the seat backs require work that would be best done on machining equipment if it were steel but since it's aluminum, my router does just fine. I had to round over the outside corner of the angle that nests in the top of the seat back and also remove a .0040 notch for the hinge to nest into the vertical angle.

Here's my router I have set up in the wing of my table saw. This is the piloted roundover bit I used on the corner of the angle. I cut the notch with a flat top router bit. Worked great.

Finished the Baggage Floors

I finished the baggage bulkheads and floors and the aft seat floors. The suitcase is there for a test fitting and to remind Paula that we can do a lot of traveling in the plane when it's finished. There's plenty of room and the baggage compartment is rated for 100 lbs which should be enough for any trip.

Here are the seat back skins temporarily set into place just for fun. They're next on the build list. If you look closely, you can see the hinges where the bottom of the seat back attaches. There are three locations to move the seat forward and back.

Here is an example of how I'd like the interior to look. It's the mid-grade RV interior package from Classic Aero Designs. I've thought about making my own but it would be hard to duplicate these.

This is an example of their top of the line interior. Looks like a fancy sports car.

Propeller Arrived

Here's my new Sensenich propeller. I ordered it directly from the factory. I love the way an expertly crafted piece of machinery looks like a work of art. If I wasn't going to hang it on the front of an airplane, I'd hang it on the wall!

Here's a close-up of the hub. It doesn't show it in the pictures but it's quite big. It's about 6 feet long and weighs about 40 lbs. That's a big hunk of aluminum. Sensenich designed this series of propellers specifically for high speed homebuilts like the RV. Previously, wood propellers were used but there are limitations on wood propellers. Flying in the rain is damaging and the bolt torque needs to be constantly checked due to the expansion and contraction of wood. The metal propellers made for slower factory aircraft like Cessnas and Pipers couldn't safely be modified without exceeding the manufacturers limits on pitch and twist. Since the RV market is so big, manufacturers have started catering to us and this Sensenich prop is a good example. 

Finishing Aft Baggage Bulkhead

I'm finishing the aft baggage bulkheads. The first picture shows the platenuts where the bulkheads attach .

This picture is the upper bulkhead with the cutouts for the shoulder harnesses



Finished The Steps

I finished both steps. As usual, the right one took a week and the left one took less than two hours. The rivet spacing as shown on the step plans works great and allows one of the rivets along the line that overlays the inside rib to line up perfectly. I just had to drill out the rivet and all the others are well clear of the existing rivets.

I did have to wait for a #19 short angle threaded drill bit to drill the wear block into the baggage floor rib.