F-6111 stiffeners and top skin work: 5.5 hours

I spent the majority of the time (4 hours?) fitting the F-6111 skin stiffeners just aft of the cockpit. These are supplied partially bent, un trimmed and un drilled. As you will see in the photos when installed the have a bend and a twist to make the lie down against the skin.

After a lot of research on the VAF and various builder web sites I got the right side fitted. After having done the right side the left side went quickly. The fitting process involved marking a centerline on the piece, starting at the bottom of the piece drilling a hole, checking fit, removing piece, making adjustments, reattaching piece, repeat, etc, etc.

The prep work on the top skin went quickly. I got the skin, gusset and stringers all drilled. I also removed a the remaining 4 temporary pop rivets and did some miscellaneous trimming and fitting.

The skin is now ready to be edge finished, deburred, dimpled and primed.

 

F-6111 - a tricky part with a bend and a twist.

 

Top skin clecoed for match drilling:

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Drilled holes for parachute canister, started top skin: 2 hours

After consulting with BRS about spacing for the parachute canister I went ahead and drilled the holes in the longerons to hold everything in place.

FYI the recommended spacing for rocket clearance is 5" from the edge of the canister to the egress frame.

After this was done I removed the canister and supports and started working on prepping the top skin.

 

 

Top skin clecoed in place:

 

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More parachute install work: 6.8 hours

Good progress today on the BRS install.

I got the lower external plate all finished.

All of the various plates and reinforcements are held in by screws and bolts. All of these bolts have to be torqued to a specific torque. I have been using 25 inch lbs for the # 8 screws. This includes 15"lbs for the screws and 10"lbs drag from the lock nut.

I then installed the upper attach point gusset. In order to do this I took some time to cut out some plywood pieces to help support my weight so I could crawl into the aft fuselage.

The angle of the bend on the upper gusset was a little too much so I adjusted that and then everything went well. This piece has 16 screws and nuts that hold it in place.

I also fixed a clearance issue unrelated to the parachute but that will come into play when I rivet the upper skin on.

After that I started working on fitting the parachute canister and support rails.

 

Egress opening and frame turned out good:

 

Finished lower reinforcement plate:

Looking forward from tail at lower reinforcement angles (and riser attach points):

 

Temporary flooring:

 

Upper gusset drilling:

 

Installed and torque sealed. (Large hole is for aft parachute attach.)

 

Top view:

 

Trial fitting canister:

 

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Frame permanently attached and more: 5 hours

I got the egress frame for the parachute bonded on with the recommended E6000 (aka Goop) adhesive. I then used the hand squeezer rivet the panel in place. The final riveting will be done when I rivet the top skin in place.

Once the frame was clamped and riveted in place to cure I started working on the lower reinforcement plate. This is an external plate which beefs up the structure for the rear parachute riser attach point. There are 2 large brackets inside the fuselage which will be bolted to the plate and fuselage. The brackets that hold the Kevlar suspension are held in place by large 5/16" bolts. Unfortunately the heads of the bolt are on the outside of the aircraft. A little fairing to cover this area would be nice.

I also unpacked the nice large air vents and usb power ports for the panel I ordered from Stein Air.

 

Eyeball air vents and one of the panel mount usb power ports:

 

Egress frame curing:

 

Match drilling the angles to the external plate:

 

Fitting the external plate:

 

Many #8 screws and bolts tie the external plate to the structure.

 

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Frame ready to rivet and bond to skin: 2 hours

I got the all additional rivet holes for the frame drilled, deburred and dimpled. I also countersinked the frame for the flush rivets. After that I scuffed all the areas that will be bonded to the skin.

Now I just need to cleanup the frame and skin with acetone and I will be ready to glue and rivet.

 

Using the rivet fan to lay out the vertical rivet line:

 

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More work on egress panel cut out: 4 hours

I spent 2 hours fine tuning the cutout for the egress panel.

I spent another 2 hours fitting the frame and starting to match drill the frame for riveting.

 

Drilling frame to longeron:

 

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Made big cut for parachute egress panel: 3 hours

I'm now fully committed to the BRS parachute!

After measuring and checking about 10 times (I also had feedback from BRS confirming location) I started making the rough cutout for the knockout panel.

 

Confirming position and tracing:

 

Taped off and ready to cut:

 

Initial cutting and trimming done:

 

Fine tuning and checking the fit of frame:

 

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Started on BRS install and unpacked new goodies: 3 hours

I spent a fair amount of time prepping for the BRS parachute install. I came up with a few questions that I want to get answered before I cut the large opening in the side of the fuselage for the parachutes egress panel!

I did get the frame for the egress panel rough fitted.

In general I have a good feeling for the rest of the sequence of the install after carefully studying the instructions and parts. Once I hear back from the BRS engineer I will be ready to start cutting.

I did get to have some fun unpacking and inspecting my external antennae and seat belt system.

The antennae came from Delta Pop Aviation and are popular in the RV community. They look great, have a great reputation and the prices are very reasonable. All my external antennae will be mounted on the belly under the cockpit area.

I also unpacked my seat belts which are better described as five point crew restraint systems. They are from Crow Enterprizes whose primary business is making seat belts / restraints for race cars. One advantage of the Crow harness is that it is much lighter than the competing system.

 

Fuselage top skin temporarily in place to check egress panel location:

 

Fitting egress panel frame:

 

External antennae: (left to right - comm, transponder, adsb data)

 

Seat belts look great!

 

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