Kit #7 arrived

[Utah-Jay]

It was a very productive day. I riveted in the bottom door formers which was a challenge with the fuel line in the way at times. Luckily I had several different shaped bucking bars to get the job done
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Then there is the upper attach for the windscreen. The angle of the tabs made for some very difficult bucking, so after doing three and not being happy with the results, I drilled them out and used flush pop rivets
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Then it was on to floorboards as I wanted to get them all set before I put in the fuel sector and seal the threads on the fuel connectors

Had to bend the under seat floorboards to accommodate the elevator bell crank
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And then there is the cover area for the flap area. The white cardboard is the last bit that will be fabricated tomorrow. I will likely use clickbonds to install this, and my current plan is to install the cover below the floorboards. I am using a pretty thick piece of aluminum to also act as a stiffener.
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[Utah-Jay]

Agreed, way better than tinnerman clips and a ton less work than nutplates.

[Nev]

Those Clickbonds are the business ! Definitely could have used some on my build.

[Utah-Jay]

Today was spent upsizing holes for both the floorboards and the tabs for the floorboards. I also installed the clickbond attach mechanisms for the floorboards. GREAT system, but I had to use acetone several times to remove the adhesive from my hands.

The clickbonds pulled through from the bottom using the pink silicone things you can see sticking up

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Floorboards are all ready to be installed tomorrow with the exception of the under seat floorboards as they need to be bent to allow the elevator bell crank to pass through.

I also riveted in the front and rear door formers, the bottom former will be riveted in tomorrow then the fuel lines will be permasealed and be done down to and including the fuel selector.

Riveting/bucking is interesting, especially when I needed to hold the rivet gun in my left hand. Only had to drill out one, not bad for a beginner I reckon/

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Still waiting on the adel clamp pliers to arrive, maybe tomorrow, so I can permanently install the ELT plate you can see in the above photo.

I finished the elevator cable mock up, so all the tail surfaces now move appropriately
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[Utah-Jay]

Worked on finishing up the fuel lines, go them fitted and flared all the way down to the fuel selector, I will likely do the balloon test in the next few days to check for leaks to this point.

I got all the floorboards fit today, but need to use the metal brake tomorrow to bend the floorboards under the seats to allow for the cable from the top of the elevator bell crank to have clear passage to the pulley under the cargo area.
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[Utah-Jay]

Every morning have my coffee and plan for the day’s build projects…. This morning I nearly pit my coffee out while planning the finish of my fuel lines. Why??? Because of this photo… I was really proud of my work too
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Yep, you guessed it, I riveted in the stand for the fuel selector, which was pretty bad, but made worse by the fact that IF I had gone with this installation it would have been a MASSIVE square whole needed in the floorboard.

So I spent two hours un-messing (not my first word choice btw) it up.

The whole in the floorboard was not tough, but took some time to slowly creep up on the correct size
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Only then did I get to work on finishing the fuel lines to the fuel selector.

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I had been concerned about the rudder cables in the cargo area being exposed, so I got some clear tubing to fit in the fairleads and protect the cables (still mocked up at this point with chartreuse parachute cord) in the cargo area. Really happy with this and I will permanently attach it in the next couple of days. Now I will be able to put baggage in without worrying about the rudder cables being pushed around.

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Tomorrow will be more work on floorboards and cable line mockups.

[Utah-Jay]

I am thinking I am getting close to making airplane noises

Yesterday I worked on the fuel selector and the plate it goes on as well as getting all the holes drilled for the gascolator under the plate. 5925BBD8-238A-4F6F-BFAD-33EA3B30AEFE.jpeg

Yesterday I also finalized the position and mounted the rudder pedals
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Today I cut off the left side support for the Flap actuator as the rod end from the elevator bell crank was making contact in the elevator up position.

I also mounted the rudder, which took some sanding to get the attach point up to the correct level. You can see the grey primer I sprayed to protect the rudder after the sanding
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So… what the heck are those chartreuse lines? I mocked up my control surface cables with some parachute cord to check everything out.
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The trim tabs are back on after priming them from the grinding, epoxy and sanding
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I got a lot of AN drilled shank bolts and the rest of my AN hose fittings in the mail today, so I can finish up the fuel system all the way to the fuel selector tomorrow

[Utah-Jay]

Thanks Nev, I have had it for two weeks now, and worked on it 13 of the 14 days. Tomorrow is another day off, playing golf with my wife Next week will be finalizing the fuel lines to the fuel selector and starting on the tail wire rigging

[Nev]

Great progress!

[Utah-Jay]

After yesterday’s frustration of not feeling like I got much done, today was a GREAT day at the Heber Bearhawk Factory

I had been fretting about the fuel lines and the unique bend required around the backside of the door former/frame. I had seen a few videos with lots of bent tubing wasted trying to get the bend. Well I nailed it today, here was my waste pile after doing both sides from the top to under the middle of the door former.
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Yep, only one mess up and then it was smooth sailing.

Here is what transpired, keeping in mind I only went to the middle of the door as I am waiting on the bulkhead T-junction to get here. I did not work on the front down either as I want the to have the proper angles to work with once the bulkhead T is in place
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All 4 grommets are drilled and set in place like these two 08AFF689-26FE-4481-A65E-B4EDE6DF701D.jpegEBDBC978-8894-4CCE-ACCF-249951613629.jpeg HAPPY DAYS

Edited to add, the grip ties are only to hold it in place temporarily

[robcaldwell]

Good thing you picked up on the offset and torque tube spacers. I missed that on my build and had to go back after fully constructed. For some reason I centered mine and had to back back and completely re-do that area to include installing spacers. I used PVC pipe.

[Utah-Jay]

7 1/2 hours today, and got a lot accomplished.

All the stringers are now set, only the bottom two need to be drilled and cleco’ed as I was not sure of the exact position of the very front. I have decided to flush match the bottom of the stringer to the bottom of the bracket.


Here is a good look at the stringers. The upward bend at the back end of the bottom two took a bit of time to get right. The went on and off at least 5 times each.
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Finally got around to putting the toe brakes on the rudders and clamped them in. I will clamp in the firewall tomorrow and then permanently attach the rudders with the required setback from the firewall.

Also did a bit of tweaking to the seat locking handle to get them just right

[Utah-Jay]

Yesterday was a lot of finishing up on projects like filling in the holes on the trim tabs with epoxy, taking the sky light frames off the fuselage and upsizing the holes for permanent attachment. The sky light frames are now cleco’ed back in the cockpit. I also did my first few rivets to secure the two sides to the three sky light frames. I also made progress on the stringers, got several cleco’ed in and got rid of those pesky clamps

I have been putting off the fuel system as it is a bit intimidating to me.

[Utah-Jay]

Chewie, glad you like the build progress. Lots of progress the past two days. Yesterday was a lot of small stuff so did not take any photos.

Yep, 3/16’s and corrected

[Chewie]

3/16"
I am enjoying pictures of your build, not only because of your enthusiasm but also I like seeing how the factory did their various weldments.