I decided to make a start on section 28 prior to riveting any firewall parts. This will allow me to assemble much of the bottom forward fuselage, and then figure out mods that I will need to make to accommodate things like the SDS EFI system that I am planning to install.
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| Forward fuse rib and bulkhead parts |
The first steps in this section require separating angles and assembling the forward seat rail supports.
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| Forward seat rail supports clecoed after countersinking nutplate attach holes as required |
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| Screw holes and nutplate attach holes being countersunk in the bulkhead side channels |
Next I began working on the control column mounts. these require match drilling bolt holes into the mounts and trimming away a fair amount of material.
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| First bolt hole being drilled into the control column mount at the required position using the drill press |
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| Initial bolt holes drilled into both mounts. Here you also see the material removed from the mount on the left, and prior to removal on the right |
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| The band saw made quick work of trimming the majority of the required aluminum from the control column mount. The remainder was removed using the belt sander, and edges were rounded and finished using deburring wheels. |
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| Both control column mounts trimmed to size |
I then began putting together the left and right forward fuselage bulkhead subassemblies so that I could then finish match drilling bolt holes into the control column mounts.
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| Left forward fuselage bulkhead subassembly |
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| Control column mount clamped in position for match drilling bolt holes |
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| Bolt holes were drilled using a #13 bit followed by a #12 reamer. The 1/4" thick aluminum of the control column mounts took a little while to drill through, but I used cutting fluid and took time to ensure the bit was held perpendicular to the mount and the bolt holes turned out perfectly |
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| Left control column mount match-drilled and clecoed |
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| While match-drilling the control column mounts, I also made sure to securely clamp the bulkhead subassembly to the bench so that nothing moved unexpectedly |
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| Bolt holes deburred and control column mounts ready for priming |
Next I took the forward bottom skin and floor ribs and clecoed them together. The plans call for additional brackets for a fuel filter and a Flo-Scan mount, but I will not be needing these for the SDS EFI system and the wing root fuel filters that I plan to install instead. The forward bottom skin already has holes to attach these brackets, and I will just fill those with rivets.
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| Floor ribs clecoed in position to the forward bottom skin |
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Aft end of the upper flange of the F-01049-C floor ribs requires trimming so I marked these. The indicated brake line hole will also need to be enlarged to 5/8" in the skin
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| Systems brackets were separated into 4 pieces, and these along with the floor ribs had all holes and edges deburred. Here the F-01049-C floor ribs have also had their upper flanges trimmed using the band saw and belt sander |
Next I clecoed everything to the firewall assembly to check how everything fit and determine if any match drilling was necessary.
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| Forward fuselage assembly taking shape |
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| Right pilot side |
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| Left pilot side |
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| Forward fuselage bulkhead subassembly and ribs clecoed to bottom skin |
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| System brackets clecoed to the bottom skin |
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| Forward fuselage assembly fully clecoed together for the first time |
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| Everything fit well to this point |
After clecoing everything, I was able to mark the cutouts for the landing gear mounts on the center section side plate bottom flanges
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| Center section side plate bottom flange requires trimming for the landing gear mount. This will be done when everything is taken apart prior to priming |
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| Forward center section bulkhead assembly was also clecoed in place |
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| With the bulkhead clecoed, I was able to match drill #12 bolt holes through the bulkhead into the tunnel aft flanges |
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| Four #12 bolt holes match drilled into the tunnel aft flanges |
After removing the center section side plates, I took the opportunity to hold the landing gear mounts in place and make sure the mount hole in the bottom skin was sized correctly.
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| The landing gear mount hole required minor trimming for a good fit without rubbing. This was accomplished with a 1/4" sanding drum in the Dremel, followed by a needle file and scotchbrite pads |
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| With additional trimming, the landing gear mounts both fit perfectly through the openings in the bottom skin |
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| While I had some free time, I also deburred the spacers that will go inbeween the fwd and aft center section bulkhead assemblies when the two halves of the fuselage are joined |
Time Taken: 17.8 hours
Dates: March 5 2025 - March 27 2025
Fwd Fuse Ribs, Bhds & Bottom Skin Total Time: 17.8 hours
RV-10 Build Total Time: 990.0 hours
Priming Total Time: 126.0 hours (not included in build time totals)
