Right floor fitted
Today I’m offically an airplane builder. After nearly 2.5 years of working on the plane nearly every day, I finally drilled a hole in my finger. It’s certainly a dubious milestone in the project.
I finally had the energy today for some serious work on the baffles. I tweaked the support for the right front floor and shaped the tab to cover the prop govenor oil line slot. I suppose if one cut the slot just right, the tab wouldn’t be necessary. Here are two views from below and one from above.
One thing I just don’t get about the baffles is how the sides are supposed to seal against the sides of the cowl inlet. Even if I pull the sides in tight, it seems like there’s still going to be a big hole there. I’d especially like to keep the left floor as wide as possible for the engine intake filter.
I cut up some thick paper to simulate the seal material. Along the sides, the material pushes against the cowl. Along the cowl inlet bottom, the seal kind of bridges the gap from the cowl to the baffle floor. I guess the two overlap enough to make a decent seal. The instructions say to center the sides in the “slot” of the cowl. I guess this is what they are talking about.
I shaped the angles that attach the right floor to the right side baffle and drilled them in place. The drawings and instructions are a bit contradictory on how to deal with the aft part of the junction. I just kind of faked it as best I could. It all feels solid. The aft-most side rivet goes through the bolt reinforcement. The drawings kind of indicate using one of the existing holes in the reinforcement, but I couldn’t make that work. I just drilled a new hole.
I also riveted together the bracket and tab contraption and added some nut plates for #8 screws. It also feels quite solid. I figured out which rubber grommet I need from Spruce to seal the gap around the oil line.
I pulled out the front bulkheads and spent a little time trying to figure them out, but I’m done for the day.