Fuselage assembly checklist

[sahrens]

I am getting ready to disassembly the fuselage prior to final riveting. There are several items to complete (deburring, dimpling, countersinking, priming, etc.)

Does anyone have a punch-list or checklist of the items to be completed? I do not want to miss anyting so I started my own when I thought I would search here first. No luck on the search, so I thought I would ask.

Thanks in advance for your help. BTW I am building a 7A

[bruceh]

I love the instructions at this point. They really leave you hanging.
I'm at the same point in my 9A build.

Lots to drill. All of the bulkheads on the forward section. The seat side ribs. All of the reinforcement angles. Countersink the tank attach screws where they connect to the reinforcement angles.
Countersink the longerons and the various angles. Drill out the holes for
pitot, AOA, fuel, vent lines, etc. There are a couple of places to countersink for platenuts. I did a test fit of the landing gear weldments and made sure that they fit flat to the spars. I had to shave off a little bit of the weldment where it overlays some of the rivets. I spent most of the last three days doing all of these tasks and yesterday taping off things for priming and paint today.

[sahrens]

There are a lot of tasks to get done, with little or no hints from the instruction. I decided to make a checklist of all the items that need to be dimpled or countersunk or whatever. So I have been walking around the fuselage writing things down. Probably a little over kill, but I rather be it over kill then get half way into it and discover I forgot something.

[GAHco]

I have the bottom fuselage ready to skin, after I de-burr and prime.
I will be reading plans and prints in preparation for its riveting.

I too want to not have to do things later when access is limited.

If I come up with a meaningful list I will try to share.

I am building a 6, so my plans are a little less documented than later models.

[rzbill]

There are 2 top skins on the fuselage.
I riveted the rear one in place about a year ago just to stiffen the structure a bit. This worked fine and was helpful for flipping the fuse upside down for the majority of electrical system installation. I left the fwd one cleco'ed and I am glad I did. There is enough "systems" work, such as static/electrical runs/AP servo that I would recommend leaving the fwd skin loose. Even with that, I still had to crawl into the tail recently to finish up the electrical runs. PITA. I wish I had positioned my ADEL clamp mounts while it was easy to access.

If you decide to rivet, make sure the seat belt anchors are complete, and the little angle brackets on some of the bulkheads are done. Pay attention to the order of rivetting the rear mount for the top center longeron. Rivet too soon and you loose access to bucking a skin rivet. If you are building tip-up, take a look at rear window install before riveting the fwd skin.

**EDIT** On re-reading the thread, I see Scott may be talking about the bottom of the canoe instead of closing the top. The only thing I remember from that event was regretting not dimpling the hole for the rudder cable exit ADEL clamp mounting screw. If memory serves, it was prepunched, so there was nothing preventing prep of that hole. It's kind of a pain to dimple later (with gun and dolly) but it's OK as long as you don't slip.

[sahrens]

Well, I have about three pages itemized of all the little tasks I need to complete. Not all are just about finishing this portion of the instructions, some are mods that seem easier to complete now rather than later.

For example, I doing the false floors Bob Collins talks about here:

http://www.vansairforce.com/communit...t=false+floors

and I plan on putting my comm antennas under the baggage compartment, so access panels will be easier to make now.

Thanks for all the suggestions.