Aft Fuselage Lower Skin (1.5)

1.5 hours

This big skin comes mostly ready to go, I just had to drill a bunch of pilot holes and cut a big hole according to the plans.

I laid everything out carefully, then got to work!

I didn't trust my hole saw to cut perfectly to the edge of the hole, so instead I plotted the center of each corner radius, cut a 1.5" hole in a piece of scrap with the hole saw, then used that to trace the 3/4" radius I needed around each corner.  Then I drilled my 1.5" holes with the hole saw just inside if the actual center.  That way I could creep up in the line with a file later.

Anyway, I drilled the four corners, then connected them with a Dremel cutoff wheel.  Then I used my nibbler to cut real close to the line, and finally I finished all the way around with a file followed by a scotchbrite pad.

Aft Fuselage Lower Skin Parts (0.5)

0.5 hours

Next page...  I got all the little parts built; next is to cut some holes in the bottom skin!

Ruddervator Pushrods (0.5)

0.5 hours

Way off topic from what I was just working on, but I remembered I had the parts to do this so I figured I'd do it before I forgot why I ordered them in the first place.

Similar to the aileron pushrods, these rod end bearings needed to be bushed down to 3/16" ID.  Sonex sells a part, XNS-W37-07, that is the perfect size.  I pressed all four bushings in, set the pushrods lengths, and they are now done!

Tail Post Assembly, part 2 (4.5)

4.5 hours

I got this thing just about done!  I had to take my time drilling each hole to make sure everything stayed lined up nicely, and then I spent a loooong time deburring and filing down the rough edges on each part.

A few of the bolts called out on the plans ended up being one size too long.  I had enough random bolts laying around that I got most of them done, but I'll need to order a couple more to finish this thing up!

Tail Post Assembly (2.5)

2.5 hours

This thing is a project!  I got the main components drilled to each other, but it's tricky because normal clecos aren't long enough to go through the whole stack.  I did my best using extra clamps and alternating each cleco on the front and back to hold everything together.

 

The Y parts have many many holes that are pilot drilled by, I guess, a laser so they're really tiny.  I updrilled all of those holes up to 3/32" so I could get clecos through them.

I also built these two parts, which were straightforward:

Tail Post Parts (1.5)

1.5 hours

To build the tail post, first I had to put a 5° bend on a bunch of parts.  I pretty much followed Sonex's video exactly, and it was fairly easy.

Video 

Except for the doubler plate that is 1/4" thick!  I could barely make a dent in it with my little 1-ton press.  Eventually I got it just about right after putting my entire weight on the press handle and bouncing on it for like a half hour!

The idea is to have all three of these parts sit flat.  Still some adjustments needed but it's getting there:

Almost!

Aft Fuselage Cross Ties (1)

1 hour

These parts are all done, except F24-07, which isn't shown on the plans and I can't find it in my parts heap.  I'll have to look into that!

Edit:  I'm pretty sure F24-07 doesn't exist; it should be the lower cross tie assembly that I built the other day.  I'm confirming with Sonex though!