Friday, September 8, 2017

Aft Fuselage Side Panel Parts, part 2 (3.5)

3.5 hours

The next task was to do all the cutouts and a slight bend at the forward end of each side panel skin.  I laid out all the hole centerpoints for the cutouts per the plans, and then started cutting.  Several of the holes required are bigger than any drill bits that I have, but I do have a nice hole saw set that I hardly ever use.  I was a little concerned it would create a really ragged hole, so I tried a test piece first.  It worked just fine!



Once the holes were cut, I just connected them with tangent lines, then cut away as much as I could with the nibbler, and finished with a file and Scotchbrite pad.  That's pretty much how I did all the cutouts.





Finally, I set up this high tech bending brake and put the little bend on the end of the skin.  Once I had everything clamped in place I just pressed down on the flange with a smaller piece of 2x4.  It was kind of tedious but I think it turned out just fine!




Then I did it all again on the other skin!

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