Chapter 7 Fuselage Exterior
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Chapter 7 Fuselage Exterior

Learning from other builders' experiences, I extended the plans' urethane dimension a few additional inches toward the landing brake. The urethane foam are not very pliable, requiring a great deal of weight to conform to fuselage bottom.

After spending a lot of time fiddling with the birch plywood pieces, they're floxed onto their respective locations.

I did this step a little out of sequence with the plans and will omit the joggings for the landing gear cover a la Wayne Hicks. Not so much because it is easier, it just seems to be a more elegant solution.

The NACA scoop was first formed per plans. Then it was on to cutting the 45° angles. Check out Oreste Muccilli's method to establish the cut lines. The Bosche saber saw came with a blade long enough for the cuts. Unfortunately I got too cocky with the saber saw and cut a segment too deep. I will need to patch that with epoxy. The Tim Lumpp "contouring tool" was a tremdous help for shaping from F22 to midpoint of landing brake cut out. The tool will be passed on to the next builder.

After completing the fore contouring, I then worked on the aft section.  It was quite easy to remove the foam from the upper longerons and LWX stringers with a chisel and hammer.  The contouring tool is of no help at this point.  My primary tool for gross shaping is the cheese grater (AKA Shurform plane).  It made short work of the foam.  The long and short permagrit sand blocks took care of the fine work.  A small block of urethane foam will nicely smooth out the urethane areas. This contouring process is very time consuming and created a nice pile of foam dust, but I really enjoyed the chance for creativity.

The PVC pieces are then floxed between the firewall and aft landing gear bulkhead. The NACA scoop bottom will receive a 2-ply BID layup upon my return from Rough River.

Upon returning from Rough River, the NACA scoop was glassed without much ado. The construction continued with the placement of the fuselage bottom antennae. After reviewing other builders' web pages and archives, I decided to copy Norm Muzzy and Bernie Siu's placement of the marker beacon, glide slope, and NAV2 antennae. I elected to use the RG-400 coax in lieu of the plan's RG-58. The RG-400 having the multi-stranded center conductor is less prone to breakage then the RG-58 solid center conductor and the RG-58 is no longer permitted on new certified aircraft. I obtained the coax from B&C Specialty.

The landing brake depression was made using a dremel router attachment. The bottom fuselage was then glassed per plan.

The fuselage was then placed on a simple rotisserie and work continued on the upper fuselage sides contouring and canard cut-out. The chapter is completed with the final reinforcement layup over the area between the firewall and rear landing gear bulkhead.

Onward to Chapter 8!!


Remi's Cozy Mk IV Project: Ch.7 Fuselage Exterior

created by Remi Khu
last modified: January 16, 2006