Day 19 - March 22, 2014

What better way to start off the new spring season than another productive session at the hangar! The Red team helped prep the empennage/tail cone kit pieces by deburring, cutting, and riveting necessary parts.

Team Purple proceeded with more fuselage wiring. Today they helped install the connections for the headset module, routed the pitot, and install the ELT bracket. With all the wires and mini components currently in the fuselage, the intricacy of this section is definitely showing.

The canopy latch and handle were attached to the frame, as well as the attach angles.

The right wing neared completion with the wing tip skins riveted on, and the landing light system was finally fitted and installed in the forward outer section of the wing. With the landing light done, work began on the wing tip lights, which involved crimping connector pins upon the wires and fitting them into their proper housing.

Day 18 - March 15, 2014

The empennage/tail cone kit finally arrived at the hangar, so the parts were inventoried by a few members during the beginning of the session.

Some more students from different teams were given the opportunity to work on the wings. Today's session involved riveting the upper skins to the right wing structure. A couple of students worked on prepping the wing tip skin.

For wiring, more work was done on the landing light system for the right wing, specifically crimping Molex pins upon the wires and installing them into the connector housing. Team Purple continued work on the fuselage wiring. They constructed and attached the control sticks, along with wire installation for the PTT (push-to-talk) system. Some flight control components were also installed, including the fork assembly onto the detent bracket.

 

Some further work was done upon the canopy frame installing the latch handle stop and preparing the attach angles. In the midst of all the production, the left wing flaperons were attached by the end of the session.

Day 17 - March 8, 2014

In order to give the students exposure and experience in different aspects of the plane, some members were switched around in today's session and given the opportunity to work on the wing assembly.

Some wiring for the lighting kit was installed onto the right wing assembly. Then the right bottom wing skins were deburred and prepped before being attached and eventually riveted. The outboard skin contained the area for the landing light, so it required some extra preparation. A couple of members and mentors were working on match-drilling and fitting the light ribs within the wing structure, as well as cutting an opening within the skin for the light itself.

Team Purple was given the intricate task of assembling the fuselage wiring harness. They installed and connected the wiring for the CPU fans and the fuel flow transducer. This section has little room for error so it required much extensive reading and comprehension.

A team blue member worked alongside a mentor installing the oil tank braces to the upper firewall, then began constructing the canopy frame. Another individual member, from team purple, continued with some finishing portions of the left wing including the wing tip close-out and access hatch, and then worked on further installation of the lighting kit.

With the left and right wings near completion, hopefully in the next couple of weeks we'll be taking the next big step and attaching them to the fuselage.

Day 16 - March 1, 2014

The sounds of pneumatic rivet guns were heard throughout the session today as more work continued on the left wing. Green team finished riveting the upper wing skins along with the hinge bracket assemblies.

Purple Team provided some assistance with the wing assembly, creating and attaching the handhold as well as the bottom, aft, and forward wing tip skins. A couple of the members began preparing the wing tip close-out toward the end of the session, which included some precise bending and naturally, some deburring.

The blue team spent the day working on some flight control assemblies, specifically the flaperon pushrods, control stick pushrods, and bellcranks.

The red team continued and finished both the left and right flaperon assemblies. This included riveting the counterbalance, brackets, nose and main ribs, and the flaperon skins. Both are ready and waiting to be attached to the wings.

With the left wing near completion, assembly began on the right wing which means a lot more riveting is in store for next week.