Welded up the four engine mount plates that will be welded into the corners of the firewall uprights and cross members and which will carry the bolts that mount the engine mount itself. These are 1.5" lengths of 1/2" * 0.058 tubing welded at right angles into 1-1/2" washers
Decided to construct the tailwheel mount today. Started by making a rough blank out of the 0.090" sheet used for the mount and then bend this into a curve. Then cut a wooden spacer to fit between the arms of the mount and screwed the top arm on through a piece of the extra material. Used the bandsaw (picture 1) to cut the two arms in parallel to the correct final shape. Then made the top and bottom gusset plates using a 7/8" holesaw to create the hole for the mount bearing. Assembled the various parts together ready for tack welding (picture 2). Then final welded the mount together. Used brazing rod to fillet the mount bearing into the mount. The tailwheel itself is a Matco 6" pneumatic.
Just a few minutes today. Final welded the brake mounts and fabricated and welded the elevator pushrod end. This was done by removing two trianglar fillets from the end of the 3/4" tubing to allow it to be compressed to fit the 5/16" bush without increasing size beyond 3/4". The bush was then welded into place and a 1/16" plate reinforcement fabricated and welded to wrap round end of the assembly.
Fabricated the two brake mounts for the Cleveland brakes. Using the standard Vans 500 * 5 Cleveland wheels the mount tubes needed to be 1-1/4" long rather than the length called for in the plans. This ensures that the wheel bearings and oil seal rings are not running on the axle threads. The rings were cut from 1/16" 4130 sheet using a 68mm bi-metal holesaw to create the outer diameter of 2-1/2". Then a 1-3/8" holesaw was used on the same centre to cut out for the axle tube. The brake mount holes were drilled using the brakes themselves as a pattern. The mounts still need final welding and match drilling to the axles.
Replaced the bolt in the control column pivot with a 4130 pin held by two cotter pins. This is a much better fit than the bolt and has removed any side to side play in the control column. Also, bent slightly the bottom of the control column to centre the elevator pushrod in the aileron torque tube. This has removed the binding of the elevator so the controls are now working freely and with no slop.
Fabricated the aileron pushrods connecting the aileron torque tube to the bellcranks and test installed everything. The ailerons are working very smoothly but there is some friction on the elevator connection that needs diagnosing and rectifying. The big job today was to replace the contol column mount tube which I'd made from 5/8" square tube rather than the 3/4" called for. This mean't there was too much play in the control column so couldn't be left.
Full day today - 8-1/2 hours. Finished the construction of the aileron torque tube and the elevator pushrod mechanisms shown separately in the first picture and then with the pushrod in place in the second. As can be seen in the third photo, the control column pivots back and forward on a bolt passing through the aileron torque tube assembly and drives the elevator pushrod. The trim lever is connected to the front of the control column via the spring loaded assembly built earlier. The trim lever is tightened onto the aileron torque tube assembly with a leather washer between two large washers to provide a friction mechanism. There is no bush in the front of the torque tube to allow for the change in angle of the pushrod as the control column moves. There is a bush in the rear of the torque tube to provide a solid drive to the elevator. At the end of the elevator pushrod 
also located with welded segments fore and aft. These two pivots are then welded to the underside of the fuselage as shown in the fourth picture. These pivots are a tight fit on the torque tube and with the inevitable distortion caused by welding to the fuselage they ended up binding on the torque tube. This was relieved by cutting though the bottom of the two pivot tubes opening a slight gap and then welding the slot to provide additional clearance. This has resulted in the control mechanism working freely but without any significant play. Others have constructed a bolted on arrangement to allow the control mechanism to be removed but like all "add-ons" this inevitably adds a little weight.
Installed the aileron bellcrank pivots and made a start on the main control mechanism. The bottom piece is the first part of the elevator pushrod mechanism. The top part will carry the torque from the control column to the ailerons and provides the mount for the elevator trim control - all will become clear!!
Just a short day today but I got the brake master cylinder mounts welded into position and the brake cylinders test fit. I need to buy a AN3-46 bolt to fasten the bottom of the cylinders. The mounts go between the diagonal brace and the lower firewall cross member and have to be positioned to clear the left torque rod join which means the right cylinder is some way off the right mount. I didn't like the idea of the right cylinder being mounted on a bolt only supported on one end so built an L shape add-on to the longer mount to provide extra support.
4 hours for one weld! The final fuselage side diagonals are in place but the top weld was the hardest yet. The first side was no problem but it was impossible to get into the joint to do a simple fillet on the second tube so the only way was to fill the cluster out to the point that access was possible. Again this was thin tube welded to a thick existing weld so it was a question of adding a bit of weld and then rotating the fuselage to get access to the next run - anyway finally it was complete some 4 hours later and I can guarantee it won't come apart! The final job for today was to run a fillet of braze between the tailspring mount tube and the longerons to ensure that there is no way for dampness to get into the fuselage tubing. Next job to get the flux off.
Installed and final-welded the fin spar, fin leading edge, top-piece and braces. The bottom of the fin is offset 1/2" to the left to counteract engine torque but the top piece is in line with the fuselage. This takes a little time to set up and brace before tack welding but the end product seems accurate. Next it's the rear left and right fuselage side diagonal cross members and the fin bottom profile tubing which lies on top of the main fuiselage structure. The fin ribs are made from thin and soft U-channel so these will wait to avoid damage while the rest of the fuselage structure continues.
Drilled and installed the tailwheel spring. The all-metal lock nut is welded to the top of the tube so that the bolt can be tightened without access to the nut (don't try welding a nyloc nut!). Underneath, a section of 1" * 0.065 tubing is welded as a doubler for the bolt head. The HS spar carry through tube was also welded in place. This was not easy as the central section is 0.090" thick and the fuselage tubes are 0.028"
Finally the main fuselage structure is welded so it's on to more interesting tasks but first a few comments on technique. I found that using a 1/16" ceriated tungsten with a number 4 gas nozzle gave best access into the tight spaces in the complex clusters. In many places new thin wall (0.028") tube is welded to either much thicker tube or existing welds. In this case it is was necessary to run a bead of weld metal along the edge of the thin tube to stop it burning away when using the higher currents needed to establish the weld pool in the thicker material. Currents used ranged from 15 amps for running a bead on the edge of 0.028" tube up to 40 amps for closing the filet in an acute angle between two sections of 0.049" tubing. Other currents were 18-21 amps for 0.028" tubing, 22-25 amps for welding 0.035" tubing and 30-35 amps for 0.049". First new task was to create the horizontal stabiliser (HS) spar carry through. 
This is formed using a 3ft length of 1-1/8" 0.058" tubing with a centre section reinforced using 18" of 1" * 0.035" tubing inserted inside. This was secured in place using a single rosette weld. This whole assembly then has to be squashed to be a tight fit in the 1-1/4" 0.035" tubing used for the HS spar. This was done in the vice section by section using a ring of the HS spar material as a gauge. Not an easy task, the 4" vice needed a 4ft lever arm to provide sufficient force to squash the tube as required. The spar carry through was then test fit for alignment both horizontally and for and aft. To do this the fuselage was re-attached to the building board with the lower longerons that form the datum parallel to the board and the centre line aligned. A digital spirit level reading to 0.1 degree was used to get everything exact. Next the fin spar was fabricated. This also uses the 1-1/4" 0.035" tubing but the top section is then welded onto some 3/4" tubing to provide the taper in section of the fin. This is done by cutting V sections out of the larger tubing over a 1-1/2" length and then bending them together around the thinned tube. The rear of the longerons were then shaped to accept the fin spar ensuring this was correctly aligned. Final job today was to fabricate and weld in place the tail spring support tubing. This now needs drilling and a nut welding to the top of it to allow the securing bolt to be removed with no access once the fuselage is covered.
