fabric covering

[Dwayne]

Hi I am new to this site I am building a QB 4 place in Tasmania, Australia. I am trying to put together a list of parts to keep my project moving. has anyone done such a list, what is needed to complete a kit. this would save a lot of time and freight costs. I am up to adding counter balance weight in elevators and I need to work out of weight of finished coverings does anyone have a list of fabric required to cover the complete project including tapes, tape widths, threads and size of threads if thread is even required. I am thinking of using Stewart's Covering system.
Thankyou
Dwayne Barwick

[whee]

Stewart's has supplied fabric to several BH builders so they already know what you need. Send them an email and they will get back to you with an itemized quote. I recently purchased my fabric from them and so far quantities seem correct.

[Bcone1381]

Dwayne;

I can't help you with any list of the the four place but I think you are on the right track and to encourage you to develop an exhaustive hardware list. I am building a Patrol, and I made an attempt to compile an exhaustive hardware list for it. Doing so really helped me get to know a lot of details in the plans and the assembly process. I also have found that building accordance to the Plans, with no changes will make things a lot easier when ordering your stuff.

My method was toI make up a spread sheet for each page in the plans, and developed a hardware list for each page. For example, page one has nut plates, rivets, machine screws, etc. After each pages hardware was developed, I scoured all the pages for each tip of items that were alike. I then compiled secondary sheets with a variety of hardware categories, like Rivets, Bolts, Nuts, Cable Hardware, etc. On these secondary sheets...like the Bolts Sheet, I have each specific "Bolt" that is called out in the plans, like an AN3-3A, and a total number that I calculated that I needed. This gives me a total of all the bolts I think I needed. I did the same for washer, nuts, nut plates, machine screws, etc.

This preparation helped a lot. When I am ready to start a new step, I should have everything, and can just go and get the hardware, and parts. It took months to compile this list, but I am glad I did it....I also must confess that I enjoyed the process, which might reveal a compulsive disorder of some magnitude I suppose.

In the end, I failed, because my exhaustive list is missing stuff. But I keep updating it. As I build, and I find things that I need, I make a shopping list, and try to put a supplemental hardware order in about once a month.

The categories that I used (And it might help you develop an accurate list when going thru each page of your plans) is
-AN hardware (for rigid AL tubing),
-Bolts
-Bushing Stock
-Cable Hardware
-Clevis Pins
-Machine Screws
-Nuts
-Nut Plates
-Rivets
-Tools
-Washers
-Other General Hardware items.

[Dwayne]

Thankyou for the reply's I will email Stewart's and see how I go. When I look at my plan they call for a bolt or nut plate, but no details for example my plans just call AN 4 bolt no length or if it is drill or not. It's not the end of the world.
Thanks again
Dwayne

[Bcone1381]

Bob never specified bolt length in the Patrol Plans either, so I calculated each bolt length using the material thicknesses that are given in the plans and used the guidelines in AC43-13 to determine if the bolt required a Castellated nut or a nylon lock nut. I also have drilled a few of my own bolts. I made a drilling jig out of a spare nylon lock nut that has resulted in a lot of satisfaction when I don't have a drilled bolt on hand. Regarding Nut Plates, I planned for number 6 machine screws almost everywhere that the plans merely specifies "Nutplate". I then ordered a rather small supply of #8 nut plates in case I need some.

But you are right....calculating bolt lengths is laborious, but less so than I think than taking measurements off the kit. (I have time to kill in hotels when I am on the road, so it worked out pretty good.)

A website I used extensively that helped determine the specifications of hardware is http://www.gen-aircraft-hardware.com The menu on the left side of the home page has an extensive list of hardware. Click on "Tech Info" and a .pdf file comes up with all the specifications and mechanical drawings of each hardware. For example, if you need an AN3 bolt with a grip length of .125" click on bolt, then Tech Info.

[JimParker256]

Brooks, would you be willing to share your Patrol hardware list with the rest of us? I tried to keep a log of all the stuff I used as I went along, but quickly realized I was failing to go back and update when I changed something out later on. Now I find myself often "painted into a corner" when I need a bit of hardware that I don't have. Spruce has gotten a bunch of little orders that way. I keep a running "wish list" of things I know I'm going to need "sometime" and order them along with my last-minute hardware needs...

[Bcone1381]

Jim;

I am willing to do what ever I can do to help the community. But of course I am not done, and so the list grows, and I change my mine on how I will accomplish things. Like cables....when I developed my list, I planned on ordering cable from Spruce with Swaged terminal ends, and no turnbuckles on the rudder cables. I ended up swaging my own Nicopress eye splices and so I ordered more "stuff." I also find that I am not following through with updates like I should.

[JimParker256]

You sound like me... I started off so well, always remembering to document everything used. But I missed one thing here, and two things there, until I realized that my list was useless, even to me... This is the one area where I've driven myself crazy. Seems like I get 95% of the way through something, only to have to set it aside for a week or so while I wait for the right hardware to arrive.