8/25/2007
What a beautiful central Illinois day today! I started this morning wrapping up the details on the manual flap install. First, I riveted the doubler to the tunnel cover, then riveted the notch arm to the tunnel cover.
Then I installed the tunnel cover in the fuselage...
...and with the flap handle in the neutral position, I had to make two small adjustments in the rod end bearings, and I ended up with perfectly in line flaps!
The manual flaps are done! On to fuel line and fuel tank vent line routing...
I started with the right fuel line. This is made from 3/8" AL tubing, and is an easy run to start with, since it's the standard fuel pick up tank. The first couple of bends were made (with a STEEP learning curve with the bender), and I slid it in to place.
I removed one of the cover ribs to slide it in, but turns out I didn't really need to. And, yes, I now the fuel line is in the wrong snap bushing...they are correct now...
It's hard to see in that pic above, but remember to slide the other rubber grommet on to the line before installing the line. Here it is hooked up to the tank.
The left side tank has the inverted pick up in it, so the routing is a bit different. Most builders have chosen to use an elbow fitting to connect the line inside with the line out to ease installation...I am following suit...I need to get the fitting this week.
Here's a shot of the inside lines. They will eventually connect to the fuel selector in the middle.
Next, I started on the right fuel tank vent line. This is done with 1/4" AL tubing, and is much easier to work with than the 3/8" tubing. I only used a bender in a couple of spots, the rest was bent by hand. I'm pretty pleased with how this turned out...other than the fact that I cut myself short in the end. More on that in a minute. First, I had to install the AN fittings thru the side of the fuselage.
Here's the route of the line, as depicted on the plans.
The line vents out the bottom of the forward skin with one of these fittings on each side. They are cut at a 45 degree angle, and will be covered with some sort of screen on the outside.
The screening will be set in place with tank sealant or something similar. I haven't decided if I'll grind off the threads or not...
Now, I mentioned that I cut the line short...about 4 inches to be exact. My solution was to use a 90 degree elbow fitting to connect a curved piece to the floor, rather than remaking the entire piece. This worked great, and I'm actually thinking of doing it on purpose on the other side. I like how it looks!
Plus, it actually made it extremely rigid, and I may not need a clamp in that spot.
More tubing fun tomorrow!
8.0 hours