Well friends, the last couple of milestones have brought more stress than satisfaction. Last week I spent a good bit of time fabricating my 2nd fuel tank, and getting all the holes for fittings drilled, de-burred and polished. A local welding shop had agreed to weld them for me back in August. At that time, they were shown the blueprints, we discussed what was required, and I was told "no problem." Their welder was very experienced in aluminum/TIG welding, even with thin material. Fast-forward to Thursday, Jan 21. I took the tanks in to drop them off for welding, and they turned me away with very little explanation. I have a friend who works there, and he believes that the new TIG welder doesn't have enough experience in thin stock to be able to weld the tanks. The former welder is now a supervisor, and is not allowed to weld anymore. Really took the wind out of my sails. I have a few other options to explore, but what a bummer.
Yesterday, I spent most of the day at a friend's machine shop. He has a 10' bending brake and heavy duty finger brake needed to bend some thicker stock. I'd cut my parts blanks out based on the developed length calculations for the bending characteristics of my DIY brake. I successfully turned out some longer angles, but when I bent the horizontal stabilizer front spar, it was off by several millimeters in a critical area. I had made a few test pieces, but depending on the orientation of the part in the brake, you can mess up the geometry of the part. My spar was completely unusable. Had to scrap it, thought I can use the bent flanges for standard "L" angle elsewhere. Took several more hours to cut and bend test pieces until we were confident the elevator spar and horizontal stabilizer spar would turn out, which they did. But, I didn't have a way to cut a new front spar blank, so I'm stalled on the tail assembly until I can get back down to his shop (an hour away). It was truly amazing how different the bending characteristics of my friend's brake compared to my DIY brake. Although we can both turn out identical parts, the way they get measured and the way the bending lines get laid out are completely different. Frustrating learning curve! I'll be spending plenty of time down there...lots of fabrication that will just be easier with his heavy duty finger brake, but that's 2 big disappointments in one week. At least I have all the parts I need to get started on the wings. My new rivet gun comes in this week!
About The Project:
The airplane is a home-built, scratch-built Zenith CH 750 STOL. Building from plans/blueprints is a challenging way to build an airplane, since most of the parts you use to build it are not prefabricated. I chose the Zenith CH 750 STOL for its rugged design, its STOL (Short Take-Off and Landing) characteristics and its aluminum construction. Zenith Aircraft Company has designed this airplane so that it can be built from scratch or from a kit by the average person. They provide excellent technical support for both kit and scratch builders. In addition, I'll be installing a 1965 Chevrolet Corvair 164 cid horizontally opposed, air cooled, 6-cylinder engine, with special conversion parts to make it suitable for airplane duty. This is what the airplane will look like when I'm done, although I'll have a different paint scheme:
Follow my progress below!
The airplane is a home-built, scratch-built Zenith CH 750 STOL. Building from plans/blueprints is a challenging way to build an airplane, since most of the parts you use to build it are not prefabricated. I chose the Zenith CH 750 STOL for its rugged design, its STOL (Short Take-Off and Landing) characteristics and its aluminum construction. Zenith Aircraft Company has designed this airplane so that it can be built from scratch or from a kit by the average person. They provide excellent technical support for both kit and scratch builders. In addition, I'll be installing a 1965 Chevrolet Corvair 164 cid horizontally opposed, air cooled, 6-cylinder engine, with special conversion parts to make it suitable for airplane duty. This is what the airplane will look like when I'm done, although I'll have a different paint scheme:
Follow my progress below!
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