Progress Report

[sbmurphey]

Had a monumental moment today. Pulled the tacked fuselage out of the jig and took it outside for the first time.

[mswain]

Lookin good!

[Bdflies]

Time to rig a seat, climb in and make airplane noise!

Bill

[lsa140]

Looks great, nice work. Thanks for the pictures.

[sbmurphey]

Finished welding the tubing kit with right at 100 hours for the fuselage. Today I worked on the seat install. Bdflies has it right. The seat is one of those priorities.

[lsa140]

Nicely done, looks like the seat slides easily even with full weight on it.

[sbmurphey]

Yes, I was happy with the ease of operation. I have not committed to the seat latch/lock yet. Thinking of how I could modify a latch that could be operated while seated. Any ideas?? Some have used a variation of the door latch.

[lsa140]

I've been brainstorming about that same thing Stephen and haven't settled on anything yet. I'll be curious to see what you come up with. I like what Randy did on the Rans S-20. https://youtu.be/srOdM8bNkRM?t=5m36s It doesn't cross over well to the Bearhawk, but it gets the juices flowing. Keep up the good work.

[sbmurphey]

Here is what I ended up with after thinking about a seat latch overnight. It is simple, secure, out of the way for entry/exit and easy to reach while seated. I was concerned with only latching one side. However, after trying it as is, the rigidity of the seat in the locked position is satisfactory.

[lsa140]

Well done, I like the simplicity.

[sbmurphey]

Pulled the frame out of the rotisserie last weekend. Worked on the firewall engine mounts last week and the vertical stabilizer this weekend.

[sbmurphey]

It has been a few months since the last post. There were a few small gains over a busy summer to include: the rudder fitted and mounted, brake/pedal geometry checked and fittings welded, plywood fire wall template cut out and my first set of matching control cables assembled. Most of my project time was spend clearing trees off the future runway as the ground conditions have been almost perfect this year. Only 110 more trees/stumps to go!

[Bdflies]

Nice looking pics! 110 more to go? Hmmm... Just a thought; Give the tractor a break and rent a dozer. You wouldn't believe how many trees you can desimate, in a day, with a D-4! And it's really fun, for the first hour. Probably not as expensive as you'd imagine and it'll save a bunch of time and spare the old tractor...

Bill

[sbmurphey]

Actually the tractor was pulling a mower in that last photo. Most of my stump work is being done with a backhoe on site. I agree, a bulldozer could make some quick work of the remaining project. I saw a D8 with a root rake the other day on a job and was just a bit envious. If the crew had been a little closer to the house, we might have had a deal.

[lsa140]

Great picts Stephen, good to see the progress.

[sbmurphey]

lsa140 , Great to have you back on the forum and looking forward to seeing some of your progress.

[sbmurphey]

Time for an update. Shop time has been slim over the last few months. However, I had the good fortune to pick up a second hand set of quick build wings over Christmas and some miscellaneous fuselage parts. So, that will help speed the project along. Was a wonderful feeling to have the used (like new/factory) engine mount fit like a glove to my scratch/tubing kit airframe.

Progress in this report to include: gear legs and fittings attached and finish welded. Control stick and related hardware installed. Seats fabricated, fitted and stored. Acquired the carbon fiber wingtips and nose bowl. The runway is on target to have the profile finished this summer also. With this wing kit, I am going to have to start thinking about the hanger as I am outgrowing my small workshop with all these parts. (tis a great problem to have right?)