Drilled Rudder Bearing Blocks

I finished building all the brake pedals so I moved on to drilling the rudder bearing blocks. They are what hold and pivot the tubes that the rudder pedals hang from. I was really sweating drilling the long vertical holes for the bolts that attach them to the longeron. I read many posts and websites about special jigs and tricks but in the end, it turned out to be easy peazy. I just used the large angle left from the fuel tank and squared it up on my drill press table. I did have to use a few thicknesses of tape on the angle to get it shimmed and then I drilled multiple practice holes in some oak. Clamps held everything in place and all the holes are straight and consistent.

Finished First Brake Pedal

Here's the first finished brake pedal. I started doing all four in an assembly line but I couldn't resist finishing one. I temporarily fastened it to the rudder pedal.

Christmas Present

Here's one of my Christmas presents to my sister-in-law. She has an entryway wall with 20 or so small crosses and I thought she might like one that was uniquely from me. It turned out to be harder than I thought to make partially because it's small but also because I made the angle backing from one piece with notches and bent it into a cross shape.

Here's another angle.

Working On Rudder and Brake Pedals

I finished all the braces in the forward fuselage and am now working on the rudder and brake pedals. Nephew Spencer found a brilliant way to polish all the lightening holes in the brake pedals. He chucked a small sanding drum in the drill press and rolled 320 grit sandpaper around it and held it on with a large rubber o-ring. Fast and worked great.

Here's the whole package of rudder and brake pedal parts.

Busy With Forward Fuselage

I haven't posted in a while but I have been making very good progress. There are a lot of braces and gussets and brackets and reinforcing plates in the forward fuselage that I've been finishing. I'm working on the last of them now and have started the rudder pedals.

Steps Drilled and Conical Bend

I've drilled the holes in the skin and interior ribs for both steps. Wasn't near as hard as I was expecting. I was able to use the drill press and fly cutter despite the large size of the skins. The steps are an option that just make it easier to get up onto the wing. The steps are the two dark bars pointing up in the picture below. They're pointing up since the fuselage is upside down for working on the bottom. I also did the conical bend on the skin behind the step. It starts with a tight bend at the step and opens to a gentle bend where it joins with the aft fuselage. That was a little more difficult. I did get a small crease right were the tight bend starts but I don't think it will be seen and it's only cosmetic.