construction on 425 has begun

[thunder669]

Recently got the plans for Patrol serial# 425. Got in some tubing this week and got to work!!!! In two days of hard work we were able to cut, form, and tack weld the entire lower part of the fuselage and today hope to start laying up the top part.

[geraldmorrissey]

Take lots of pictures, keep us informed.
Cheers
Gerry
Patrol #30

[Russellmn]

I'm going to be starting a channel here soon, filming is already started on getting my shop prepared, building my table, etc... I'm going to be using Davinci Resolve for editing, what I've done so far I like it. Might look into it yourself if you want, it's a pretty powerful program for being free..

[thunder669]

That is actually what I am using. It is a great program but I need a more powerful PC to run it, really lags on my current laptop making editing quite difficult

[Russellmn]

Mine does the same, I have a new CPU and graphics card coming. Should fix the issue for me. I'm running a 8 year old Alienware that was about the best I could get then, now it's marginal for anything more than watching YouTube. LOL

[thunder669]

So we have put in 4 long hard days but starting to get the basic box structure. using 4 plumb bobs, and up to 6 small levels to try and make sure she is good and straight.

[thunder669]

A week in and at the point where airplane noises become mandatory

[Nev]

Love it !!

[thunder669]

Put together a quick time lapse of the first week

https://youtu.be/H9z02RIGwrg

[thunder669]

15 days in and all the exterior tubing is fitted and atleast tack welded with some clusters fully welded. Today I got the bushing material for the engine mounts, so I got those welded in place, still need to trim them to length and they will have to be reamed out to final size. Making great progress but with the many many hours ahead of me of running full welds progress about to get a lot slower

[thunder669]

Well, I spent 10 hours in the garage today cutting, grinding, test fitting, grinding some more, and more and more, and definitely getting my steps in walking back and forth to the grinder. But, by the end of the day the gear are heavily tacked together and perfectly aligned. hopefully tomorrow I can finish weld the top of legs and the axles on and start fabricating the strut mount on the back of the axles.

[thunder669]

Well today I finished the strut mounts on the rear of the axle and bottom of fuselage so was able to put some cheap conduit in there to hold it up and be able to move it around the shop. got some wheels nearly gifted to me. He believes they are off of an old pacer, 6.00x6 but with mechanical drum brakes so I'll have to get some rotors and calipers to convert them over. now working on the seat rails

[Pbruce]

Man, am I ever impressed! You scratch-builders all amaze me. I’m just finishing my first wing and am partway into fuselage assembly of a QB Patrol. This is a very big challenge for me, which I’m enjoying it very much. (granted, riveting is getting a bit repetitive, now, which is a good thing). Big respect to anyone who can do this without a kit. It will be really simple for you to customize the location of mounting tabs for all of your fuel and hydraulic tubes and other features. Thanks for sharing!

[thunder669]

Thank you Sir, I am looking forward to do some customizing when I get to that stage. I am looking for ways to cut weight and improve performance. I've played with a little bit of carbon fiber on my RV4 after watching too many Mike Patey videos so look for quite a bit of that to get added along the way.

[sjt]

EAA has a builders log site free to members.

https://eaabuilderslog.org/

They also have a webinar on how to use the above site.

[thunder669]

That is exactly what I am using. very useful tip to pass along, thank you. My wife loves scrapbooking and so she is in charge of the build log since it is essentially a digital scrap book. When I built my MiniMax years ago I used Expercraft but I don't think they are around anymore.

[Olm]

Nice work! How and at which moment did you bent the upper part?

[thunder669]

once I had the upper fuselage jigged above the lower I used plenty of heat and both my wife and father in law assisting. with the front part of the fuselage clamped in place I put a wood brace where the fuselage should be and mostly heat and gravity did the work for the initial downward bend, then clamped that spot and again heated with torches and had my 2 assistants lift up the aft section until it was at the height called out in the plans then braced and clamped that section.

[thunder669]

Sorry I haven't been staying up to date on this but work has been progressing!!! The tail is nearly done and the wife now has a seat. when I have been waiting on materials or just wanted to take a break from welding we did some wood work making the form blocks for all the ribs and made a couple sample ones so once I find a long enough brake I can bend up the spar webs. It's been a ton of fun and hard work. Ive also added a new build video on my Youtube channel

[Olm]

Thanks for the information! Next week planing to do the same.