Fuselage
Firewall bulkhead. Recess is for a constant speed prop governor on a Lycosaurus.
Wing spar bulkhead. This is the heart of the fuselage. It carries all of the loads.
Building the fuselage is really when the fun begins because you get to start putting big stuff together! It is also when your friends stop asking where is the plane you said you were building?
The fuselage is where you can start customizing the cabin to your personal taste, so there are allot more decisions to be made at this stage. Due to the addition of extra fuel I had to consider routing of fuel lines, which needs to be planned for right away. The muffler housing is also accommodated right at the start as well. Once you make allowances for these items, construction can proceed normally for awhile.
I considered a ski rack in the tail cone as a few others have done, but I also want the ability to carry surfboards, which are actually about 1/2 the weight of a pair of skis, but bulkier. After great debate I've decided that no rack is best and using a bungee cargo net to hold skis or surfboards against the fuselage sides & away from control rod. This is certainly the lightest option. Either way requires flying without the baggage bulkhead in place which reduces torsional stiffness of the airframe. This can be compensated by adding 2 cross ties in place of the bulkhead.
Before riveting on forward bottom skin muffler housing must be installed. More details can be found on the muffler housing page.
During construction of the tail cone I installed a tail spring mount as I will fly it on skis as a taildragger. More on this in the future.
Upper forward fuselage had to modified to make room for a header tank. Center rib is replaced by 2 pieces of 3/4 x.125 angle. Sub panel and outer ribs are also strengthened with 3/4 x .125 angle. This angle also provides the support for the header tank. The aft end of the center rib is used between the sub-panel & panel but is modified with several extra doublers to support canopy roll bar center post. Rear wall of electrical enclosure provides extra support to sub-panel as well.
July 25, 2002
Seat back bulkhead. This is also the attach point for the rear spar.
Aft bulkheads form the tail cone. Carrying those surfboards is going to be difficult.
Center section of fuselage.
Joining the 2 halves of fuselage.
Tailspring & mount installed in tailcone.
Fuselage must be perfectly straight before aft deck is drilled & riveted or any twist will be permanent.
Rudder pedals with dual brakes are installed.
Muffler housing can be seen between pedals.
Upper forward fuselage is modified to allow installation of a header tank.
An extra doubler is installed to give support to canopy center post attachment.
Holy S**t!
It looks like a plane!