First job today was to match drill aluminium angle supports to the steel plates to support the bottom of the fuel tank. First the fuel tank was installed and 2/3rds filled with water to weight it into position. Then the angles were clamped to the mounting plates and drilled for 3/16ths bolts. The angles will have rubber strips glued to them to cushion the tank edges and are only designed to really support the tank if the main straps gave way.Next job was to braze the supports for the left and right top fuselage stringers. The middle ones
having been installed previously - http://tailwindbuild.blogspot.com/2008/11/3rd-november-2008-tank-straps.htmlNote the offset of the bottom of the rudder to the left of the aircraft compared to the centre stringer to counteract engine torque. In hindsight, for esthetic reasons, I should probably have also offset the central stringer but I don't suppose this is a view which will often be seen in the finished aircraft. Then the panel that closes the gap between the rear of the windscreen and the fabric of the fuselage top was match drilled to it's support tabs. Finally the windscreen was drilled for the tank filler cap using a holesaw through the jig made earlier http://tailwindbuild.blogspot.com/2008/11/5th-november-2008-installed-fuel-tank.html This was done in a slow turning hand drill and then the hole sanded smooth to ensure that there are no stress risers that can propogate cracks.
This means that the top surface of the aircraft from the firewall back is now structurally complete and ready for painting and covering. Next on to the sides.
