3/3/2008
I started out tonight by installing the hinge pins in the jettison pushrods. Some of this is much easier done on the bench, than on the airplane.
Then I installed the pivot block, bell crank, and the handle. I will use an Adel clamp or something to make the handle more secure. It's pretty tight, but I don't want it hanging' freely under the panel.
Then I added the pushrods...
...and realized I had made a mistake somewhere. You can see it in the picture above...the pins are not all the way in place, and the bell crank is in the closed position. Hmmm...here are the closer shots-
After going back to the drawings, I saw my mistake almost immediately. The dimensions given are for the distance between the center of the clevis pin hole, NOT the entire pushrod. This is something that I completely glazed over when I saw the dimension, and I didn't even think twice about it while making these things.
Oh well, I was going to make the short one again anyway. You can see in one of the pics above that the slots on either end do not line up with one another. The pin still works, but it does bind a little bit. So tomorrow I'm going to run over to the place where I bought the steel for the wing stands, and buy some more 4130 steel tubing.
On to the next task! I cut out the template for the side canopy release, and taped it to the fuselage after measuring several times.
I marked the location of the slots and the holes-
Then I punched the hole locations and drilled those to #40. Next, with a steady hand, I used the Dremel with a cutoff wheel to cut the slots. Turned out great!
I was a bit nervous in making those slots with the Dremel, but I worked very slowly, and they came out perfect after using some jewelers files and emery cloth to smooth the slots out. Sweet!
3.0 hours