I had a nice long session today nearly completing the first drawer of kaizen foam, and then moved back to airplane building. After 1.5 hours I had finished as much as I could on the first drawer. There is a little bit of space left in the upper left corner, but I want to be thoughtful about what I put there. Since this drawer is going to be a “wrenches & drivers” drawer, I don’t want to put something random there. Here’s where it is so far.
![](https://www.n679pg.blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/IMG_0686.jpeg)
After that I spent the rest of the session working on the attach angles for the fuel tank inboard ribs. This requires fabrication from raw aluminum angle. The end result should be a reinforced wing rib which will eventually attach to the fuselage. To do this I started by using the T-710 part as a template to trace the rib shape onto the angle.
![](https://www.n679pg.blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/IMG_0687.jpeg)
![](https://www.n679pg.blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/IMG_0688.jpeg)
![](https://www.n679pg.blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/IMG_0690.jpeg)
Once traced, I cut out the rib side using the bandsaw, and then using the plans marked out the radius of the attach side of the piece. It required a 1″ radius at the mid point of the piece. Fairly simple to mark out and cut. On some of the cuts, I clamped the angle so that I could cut using the outside trace a marked (see picture below).
![](https://www.n679pg.blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/IMG_0691.jpeg)
![](https://www.n679pg.blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/IMG_0694.jpeg)
Next, I needed to mark the rivet holes. The plans don’t give you a specific measurement for these, but I did want to make sure I had appropriate edge distance. I used a ruler to mark out the distances, and then eyeballed appropriate locations for the holes. After clamping everything together (the T-705, the wing rib, and the T-710), I drilled the locations and cleco’d as I went.
![](https://www.n679pg.blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/IMG_0697.jpeg)
![](https://www.n679pg.blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/IMG_0698.jpeg)
![](https://www.n679pg.blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/IMG_0699.jpeg)
![](https://www.n679pg.blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/IMG_0700.jpeg)
With the left side done (and deburred), I moved to the right side. It was essentially the same thing with one big exception. Since I’m going to make the aircraft fully aerobatic, I need to have at least one tank that can operate inverted. To do this you have to install a “flop tube”, which allows the fuel pickup to “flop” to the top of the tank when inverted. This requires a hole through the T-705 angle. Care must be taken to ensure you have edge distance from all holes. I spent a little extra time marking the holes, and then drilled the rivet holes as well as the fuel line hole. Since the material is so thick, I wasn’t able to use the unibit to get all the way through, so tomorrow I’ll need to pick up a 9/16″ drill bit to finish it off. That being said, It’s pretty much ready to go, and tomorrow I’ll finish that task.
![](https://www.n679pg.blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/IMG_0701.jpeg)
Next up is using the fly cutter to cut out the large access holes in the inboard tank ribs. Until then, Happy Building!
1 comment
Nice implementation of the Kaizen foam. Fully aerobatic eh😂😂😂. Sounds like the Paolo I know.
Nice work 🤗🤗