Wendell Folks RV-8 Project - Page 55.

June 2, 2007:  This was the day the baggage door skin got riveted to the ribs, the doubler around the lock, and the hinge and angle at the upper end of the door.  I also showed Wendell how to form the end of the hinge pin for the baggage door to allow it to be removed if maintenance is required.  I did not take a picture of that today, but I am sure we will find time to do that before the other half of the hinge gets riveted to the fuselage skin and the doubler that connects the firewall and first bulkhead together and supports the door.  The inner skin to the door was clecoed to the ribs to be sure the fit was correct.  As it turned out, some of the inner skin had to be filed away to get the desired fit.

At the end of today's session, Wendell started talking about the oil door work to be done soon.  We talked about how and where the fiberglass cowl has to be trimmed to make way for the hinge and door.  I will have some interesting photos for you when that work gets under way.  Wendell wants to do a push-button latch assembly similar to the one on the Cessna 182 instead of the method normally used by Van's on the oil doors.

June 4, 2007: Wendell showed me his baggage door where he had installed the two latch rods to the key lock assembly.  Our attention then turned to the completion of the fiberglass work for the carburetor air inlet scoop.   A new layer of glass and resin was added to the inside of the existing two layers of glass added previously.  A new balloon was inflated to insure a smooth inner surface to this new work.

An additional layer of glass was put on the inside to fix a bubble area from the previous extra layer of glass added here.  The balloon must be inflated to extend on both ends of the air duct.  This assures a good fit of the new layer of glass to the inside of the existing duct work.

June 5, 2007:  Wendell worked on the filtered air box by riveting the fiberglass bowl to the metal plate that interfaces with the carburetor.

The ramps on the upper cowl were glassed into position earlier today.   They had previously been epoxied in place with clecoes.  Today a layer of 9-ounce glass cloth was put in position at the air inlet and the upper end where the ramp meets the upper cowl.

The FAB bowl is riveted except for the two front rivets where the air seal fabric will be installed.  I gave Wendell instructions on how to install the fabric and the carb heat door hinge with the vent.  He will be taking his Cessna 182 to Murfreesboro tomorrow for an assessment.  A prospective buyer is coming to see it when the airplane gets its annual inspection next week.

June 6, 2007:  This was the night the FAB was completed.  Here you see Wendell putting the box on the carb for the final check of the air seal fabric with the lower cowl fiberglass inlet.  One quick trim on the lower part of the air seal fabric was all it needed for a perfect fit.

After the FAB air seal test was completed, I had him cleco in the fabric sections that will fit from the lower cowl to the front lower cooling baffle ramps.   A few minor adjustments were needed before I drew in some lines on the fabric where the best fit to the baffle occurred.  Those aluminum clamp plates and the fabric strips will be finished in the next session.  We knocked off tonight's session just a few minutes before 10 PM.

June 9, 2007:  The Saturday session with Wendell found the completion of the work on the filtered air box with the connection of the carb heat control cable to the door up front.  The SCAT tube to the carb heat muff on the crossover exhaust pipe from the number one cylinder is now installed.  The towel in the front of the FAB is there to keep insects out of the carburetor.  The carb heat door is UP to keep them from getting in that way.

The other thing finished up front on the engine is the connections to the alternator for the DC output power cable, and the field cable from the control panel switch.