Although I didnt accomplish my goal of finishing up the ER tank this weekend, I took a pretty big bite out of it. I just need to rivet/ProSeal the baffle in place and do some fuel line plumbing. It was a very "productive" and exciting weekend in the shop.
I think we, as builders, should start a new collection of sayings...like the comedian Jeff Foxworthy did several years back, when he came out with the slogan..."you might be a redneck if...". Our version might be, "you might be building an airplane if..." you measure your weekends with words like "productive!" haha!
If it was a productive weekend, then I am a happy camper. This was one of those weekends. Its also always exciting to see large pieces of the airplane finished. When that happens I usually have a beer and just sit back and admire my work when I'm done. ;) Enjoy the journey as I always say. The leading edge/ER tank is almost there...very fulfilling to see it in this stage, more so than the standard tank for obvious reasons. Here are some pics from the progress I made...
Parts ready for priming...the tank parts dont get primer (you dont want a chunk of paint breaking off and plugging fuel lines), these are both sets of leading edge parts that will get painted. On a side note, I am pretty much out of my two part Akzo Nobel primer...so it lasted through the wings. Time to buy some more.
This was a pretty big milestone in this sub-assembly...all ribs riveted/ProSealed into place...I think I cracked open a cold beer after this. Really went pretty smooth...I have my ProSeal techniques down to a science now. I will say, once you finally can do some nose ribs without having to ProSeal them (the painted ones) it sure is a treat! :)
Here is a shot of the standard tank and ER tank installed on the wing for test fitting and match drilling the Z-brackets for the ER tank. Now, tell me that doesnt look cool! Of course, the two fuel caps are the coolest. I had one of the caps upside down though.
The underside showing my access holes...another cool shot...its starting to come together. The plumbing and fuel pump will reside in here. I started fabricating a mounting bracket for the fuel pump...more on this later.
This is a shot of the seam between the two tanks. Came out pretty darn good, almost perfect but not quite. However, its just a slight mismatch with the leading edges, not a big deal, overall I was happy with it. Its such a small deviation you cant even see it in this picture. Checkoway's Z-bracket match-drilling method worked well.
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