Section 23 - Longerons - Build Time: 782 hrs

Pushing hard during the holiday break to get as much done as possible. This weekend I bent the longerons - a task that some say they have trouble with and others had no problem. Most of those that had no issues with the process didn't use the instructions (lay it on the ground and hit it with a hammer). Those that do use the hammer technique complain about the longeron looking like it was war torn. I used the dies to bend the parts and the vise and pipe process to open the angle. It took all day to get them finished but they came out fine. I should have the parts drilled out today and begin getting them ready for prime.

Mocking up section 23 parts getting an idea where everything goes.

New batch of parts deburred ready for next steps.

Decided to pull the inspection covers off the Cessna and repaint them. It was badly needed but it's really just a peek at the entire plane - which I hope to paint in 2015.

The left longeron in place - lined up pretty nicely.

There are several (10) holes that need to be matched drilled at the doublers.

One down (bent) and one to go. The dies work well but can quickly over bend.

Here's the pair. They are close enough to pull into shape.

A shot of the left side. Shows the arm rest, the longeron and canopy shelf match drilled. Just clecoing these parts really adds strength to the structure.

Section 22 Complete Build Time: 762 hrs

Section 22 complete - starting to look like an airplane! This section came with some warnings from the forums in that some felt there could have been more details in the plans. The section was only 4 pages long and I spent maybe 10 or so hours of the 28 for this section on one page. In contrast to the last chapter which had 28 pages I believe and took quite a bit of time. In any case, most of the complaints about the drawings were dated and I found it to be 80% there. At this point I think Vans assumes you'll figure it out which isn't hard to do. This will be the last section for 2014 and officially I'm at 2 years on the build which I do believe will complete in 2015. I have a hanger now at KCCR. I've been on the list for about a year at both Buchanan and Byron and both came up at the same time. I choose Buchanan since it's half the distance but it's nearly $120 more per month so the incentive to make use of it and move to Byron is there. For now the mighty C152 has a dry place to hang out. Perhaps a first for the 35 year old bird. I'll continue to keep the project at the house since it's so convenient. The coming steps will be mostly plumbing and the sides and roll bar. After that the tail will go on and it will have to be on it's wheels to make it manageable.

Some of the detail and parts fab. This little bracket was fabricated out of stock 6061 angle. It's cool to make the little parts. 

Another part that needed some fab to complete. Once they go through this they can only be used on one place.

Prior to priming the components are assembled so that I can work through all the counter sink / dimple / drilling that needs to be completed. It works much better this way and by the time you've riveted anything permanently you have a good understanding of where everything fits.

All fab complete - ready to prime. This took a couple days to get to this point.

Out of prime - not too many parts on this section.

Starting the final assembly. The firewall is stainless so it doesn't get primed. Primer wouldn't stick to it and if there's ever a fire in the engine bay you don't want a bunch of nasty primer combusting and outgassing noxious gases into the cockpit.

All cleco'd up - last check before the rivets go in. It's good to triple check as replacing rivets is a drag.

Time for the rivet gun.

Pretty quick work, only a day. This is all on one page except for the diagonal piece which is a optional stiffener.

Ready to make the final joining. Last check of the documentation.

Purdy!

A shot of the engine mounts. These are the lowers. This is also where the nose wheel will attach.

Ready to attach the firewall shelf.

All rivets on the firewall will get fuel tank sealant. The directions didn't say to do this yet as I suspect they leave it for  a one shot item. I looked ahead and couldn't find it but the firewall stiffener said to goop up the rivets since that's a retrofit. I've also read a bit about it on the forum. Some people said they made a big mess and others talked of punching holes in tape. I used hole punch donuts and it turned out they worked pretty well.

The forward and aft sections coming together.

Progress...

That's it - it's about 7 feet now. This may be the last time it will be belly up in construction. I can still pick it up by myself but it's awkward and I'd hate to drop it. I'd say it's less than 50 pounds.

Section 22 - almost done. Just have to flip it and catch a few more rivets.

Section 22 complete!

Time to admire the work of the fall of 2014!

One more shot... 

Really - just one last angle...

Who can resit...

OK - this is it. Time to move on.

Here's the rivets after the goop and donut process, came out nice.

Last pic of the goop.

Section 21 Complete Build Time: 734 hrs

Section 21 took a bit of time to complete. There are many parts to this section and the seat ribs were fairly complex if you wanted to get a complete picture of how the assemblies go together when complete. Because I prime - and because all the dimpling, drilling and nut plate locations are done prior to priming it was necessary to understand the final assemblies prior to actually assembling them. All in all it came out nice. I'm happy with it and it looks like I'm getting closer to finishing. A new milestone - the box of 10000 rivets is no more - I'm down to a cup of rivets from that box. There are still a couple thousand in the second box and hundreds elsewhere. I remember looking at this box and wondering when I would ever get through it. This section seemed to be the most complicated so far. I was definitely the longest. I broke it into two sections because there were so many parts to deburr and prime that it was hard to keep track of everything. I'm already eyeing section 22 which is much shorter.

Bottom skin going on. I wanted to take a picture of this before I flipped it over and as soon as it was right side up I remembered. Oh well - I think there's a section that has it upside down again. If not - let's hope it's the last time it sees the sun!

Here's a view of the bottom of the fuselage. Looks good.

Box of 10,000 LP 4-3 rivets - took two years to burn through these little guys.

Finally the bottom of the box!

Mid fuselage right side up working on the step pans and steps.

I had to stand it on the side so I could reach the #8 screws and nuts for the system blocks - what a PIA to do by yourself.

90 degree steep turns in an RV 12! There are quite a few holes that don't have snap bushings. I looked ahead and couldn't see where those would be put in but I did manage to convince myself that anywhere they may be needed can be accessed.

The finished product of section 21. Took some time. Lot's of inspections since there are areas that will never be seen again. I was tempted to sit in it and make airplane noises but I think that will have to wait until I have the control sticks in it.

Section 21 Build Time: 718 hours

Making progress on section 21. I have about 1 more day of parts to assemble before it's complete. Van's claims that the average build is 800 hours and I'm not far from that. I don't see it taking more than 1100 or so as I'm starting to run out of parts. This is the part where there's a lot of detail to work with and the building goes slowly. I now have a hanger but I won't move the project out of the house until it's too big. It's just too convenient to walk out to the shop and work. I'll keep the Cessna there for now. Several hangers came up at once and I expect to have to move the project around April so I went for it. It takes about a year or so to get through the list.

Last bit of parts for section 21.

Bottom skin ready to go.

The rest of the parts for section 21.

Finally ran into the blue plastic problem after nearly 2 years.  This piece had blue ink for the markings and all the other parts had red ink so clearly it's from a different production run. I'm hoping I don't run into to much of this although there's not a lot of parts left at this point.

Building up the 1203 bulkhead.

Forward spar receptacle coming together. The actual spar receptacle had clear plastic on it. I knew this and thought I had peeled it off. I caught it while priming it so I had to stop, etch, alodine and paint it again.

The 1203 bulkhead assembly.

The 1203 looking all beefy.

Them's flyin parts. The powder coated tube is where the sticks will attach. This is the business end of flying the airplane. Getting excited to see some of this in the plane.

A long weekend of priming and assembly. Got to the point where next step if to flip it over and skin it.