Section 32 Build Order

Well I am not sure what to do next. I am on the finish kit and I have decided not to attach the wings so that I can continue my build in my garage until the last moment. I did attach the tailcone.

Goals: I would like (methinks) to get the fuselage on the wheels as soon as possible to ease movement. So I have finished the electrical (except trim polarity) including pulling the wires through the roll bar! Now I am on Section 32, controls, and it seems to indicate I should re-attach the tail feathers first.

Is that correct that I am supposed to reattach the tail feathers now?

That would also allow me to determine the polarity of the trim motor wires.

Recommendations on the build order from this point on?

Should I attach the wheels now?

I suspect there will be more than one "right way" so I would also like to know the thinking process about the build order from this point on.

I am not interested in starting any conflicts and I do need advice.

Thanks,
Jeff

I bought all the airframe kits at once and did many steps out of order based on access and the ability to move stuff without a helper. I put my fuselage on the gear as soon as I had the cockpit floor built. I left the tail cone and fuselage skins off until I had All the wiring, autopilot servos and plumbing in place.

Hi RF... OK. I will go ahead and put on the gear next.

Thanks,
Jeff

Hey Jeff,

We're in about the same place. I spent a couple weeks with the rigging (except for the wings) and the tail feathers along with the fairings. I managed to only have to remove the stabalator once to drill for the nut plates for the tail cone fairing. Highly recommend using the super glue method described in the manual as it worked like a charm. Also, grab some duct tape and cover the tail cone where the stabilator overlaps it. Moving it into position can cause scratches. If I recall correctly I worked through 11, 12 and 32 all at once since I had never had the tail feathers on before. It took a while as it was more than I though it would be. They are off again for painting now.

FWIW - I did complete the wing section prior to the controls. Once they were fitted and the section complete I put them back in the wing rack for storage. Now that I've gone through rigging I'll need to put them back on again to drill the flaperon tubes so I'd recommend the wings chapter in combination with the control chapter.

I'm also in the gear now but I'm going to miss my "cart" as it rolls super nice and goes in any direction but it's time the bird grew legs. If you bought the wheel fairings look ahead as there's a mount that needs to go on with the axles.

Hi Jim... Thanks for the heads up. So if I am understanding you correctly, I should consider doing the rigging with the wings and tail feathers on.

I like your idea of a cart. My fuselage is currently suspended by a false wooden wing spar which rest on two metal saw horses. I also plan to use the false wing to secure the fuselage during transport to the airport.

As I read on I see that the brake lines are secured by a standoff tight to the firewall. I do not see any drawings which show the relationship between the brake lines and the two wire bundles. Currently my brake lines run AFT of the two wire bundles. Methinks this is a mistake and that I need to re-route the six brake lines FORWARD of the two wire bundles so that they brake lines run between the firewall and wire bundles. Is this correct or do you have a photo of where the brake lines and wire bundles cross?

Thanks,
Jeff

Hey, nice blog!

If you are painting the plane yourself I would suggest spraying the bottom before you put in on the gear. I painted my 9A myself and it wasn't fun laying on my back trying to spray above my head. I intend to paint the bottom of my brothers 12 while we can still flip it over. Once I spray the bottom we will put the gear legs on.

There is a lot that you can do without the Tailcone or Wings attached.

I didn't mount the wings until I got to the point in the Flight Controls section that required the wings to be mounted in order to match drill the stabilator control tubes. After I did that, I put the wings back in their rack and left them there until I was ready to put them on leave them on.

I also left the tailcone off until I absolutely had to attached it. BTW, having the tailcone off while drilling the stab control tubes made that job much, much easier.

I cleo'd the tailcone on once in order to match drill (ream) all the hole and to fit the rear window. I then removed it and left it off until almost the very end.

The trim wires were a concern. I ended up cutting the trim wire at the forward edge of the tailcone (plus a couple of feet ). I was then able to run the trim wire from behind the panel to exit at the rear of the center fuselage. I connected the trim wire together in the tailcone with d-sub connectors.

I didn't worry about trim motor direction until after I attached the tailcone and had all the avionics installed. I figured I had a 50/50 chance of getting the White wires paired correctly in the d-subs. As it turned out, I lost the 50/50 bet, but it was easy enough to de-pin 2 wires in one d-sub and swap positions.