More F3 and some F2

I attached the 0.8mm birch ply to one side of F3 using staples over string.  It worked but it was a pain to remove the staples.  I put 2 coats of Minwax Helmsman Satin Finish Spar varnish on the interior surfaces and drilled breathing holes in each chamber of F3.
Then I moved on to cutting the pieces for F2.  I epoxied the pieces together and used the remaining epoxy to attach the two lower plywood triangles on F3.  This time I put the staples over zip ties instead of string; I will report on how well the zip ties work in my next post.  I also switched to condiment cups for mixing epoxy instead of using drinking cups.




Number of hours:  3.1
Total hours:  52.4

F3 Cut and Glue

I planed the remaining 4 pieces of spruce tonight and then started trimming pieces to build the F3 bulkhead.
I ran the spruce out to the edges instead of leaving them 12 mm short where they interface with the longerons and the fuselage rib (8 places).  My plan is to notch these areas out with a bandsaw after I laminate the plywood to the faces of the bulkhead.  I believe that this will be more conducive to good glue joints, but I will need to take extreme care not to nick the angled frame members for the upper longeron interface.



Number of hours:  2.3
Total hours: 49.3

Planed and Organized

I planed all of my spruce order to size last night except for two pieces that needed to be split in half first.  I split them in half this morning and will plane them to size tonight.

After organizing my wood by thickness, I did some test cuts to be used as fuselage stringers.  This showed the need for a small bandsaw so I guess this project will gain another power tool.

Enjoy this picture of a unique control arrangement on an Onyx.

 

Number of hours:  1.5
Total hours: 47.0

An Awesome Lunch Break

Today was the day that I picked up my spruce order!  "And there was much rejoicing" (in a Pythonesq tone).  I spent my evening cataloging the shipment and cleaning my workspace.  On a side note, I purchased a sheet of 45* plywood for the forward wing spar and it has the grain running at 45* / 135* / 45* so I'm not sure why the grain arrows show. 90* / 45* on the plans.

Better than that I got to see two incredible aircraft.  A Howard 500 and a Grumman Albatross.  The shear size and magnitude of these machines is humbling.  I am at a loss for words to add to this description.
I went to the local EAA chapter 237 meeting last night and met a great group of people and observed a chapter that is trying to reinvent itself into the future.  This is club has an air of entrepreneurship and I am planning on joining sometime in the near future.  My lazy butt needs to find a stamp.
Here is a picture of a biplace that was for sale years ago.

Landing Gear Progress

I hand planed the landing gear to the approximate width today, then I laid out the ends and cut them to length.  After that I laid out and cut the 140 mm to 90 mm tapers on the trailing edge with a jigsaw.  I finished off the day by hand planing the tapers and cleaning things up with a sanding block.
I hope to pick up my spruce Tuesday.





Number of hours:  2.5
Total hours: 45.5

Landing Gear Laminations

I completed the final landing gear lamination this afternoon, I will start shaping it tomorrow once it is cured.  Here are pictures from the 2nd, 3rd, and final layups.





Number of hours:  4.5
Total hours:  43.0

First Go With T-88

I had my first adventure with T-88 last night and it looks to be successful.  I have used epoxies and various other adhesives in the past but T-88 has a unique odor and it's own set of properties as it is mixed and handled through the gel stage.

So here are the first two laminations of ash for the landing gear still on the form (please forgive the mess):

 

 

On another note, my spruce has shipped from Aircraft Spruce and is on its way although I don't have an ETA as of yet.

 

Number of hours:  2.3
Total hours: 38.5



Added Two Pages

I have added two more pages to my blog.  One details the modifications that I have made to the plans and the other details any questions that are not answered in the plans.  The links are in the navigation box to the right.

Good news

I found out today that my wood will ship from Aircraft Spruce on Tuesday!   For those of you doing the math at home that means 8-1/2 weeks from order to shipment.   I also received a call from my Doctor's office today and they gave me firm appointments for my neuro psych testing so I hopefully will be able to solo after running that gauntlet.
For those curious among you I was taking Adderall for the past 2 years and the FAA says that is a big no no so I had to quit taking it and then get this testing done after 90 days off the medication.   September 4th marked my 90th day sober.  I suspect that it will take the folks in Oklahoma City 2 months to process my request so maybe I'll solo sometime after the first of the year.  Anything worth doing takes time.
My new caliper came in the mail this week so I started to remake the forward wing attachments over the past few days.  It's awesome to be able to rely on the accuracy of your tools.  I am proud of how nice this set of fittings is turning out so far!

Number of hours:  1.7
Total hours:  36.2

Other Onyx Builders

Here is a list of Onyx builders / flyers that I am hoping others will add to:
M. Gangloff - from flight archives
Roger Rey (Tahiti) - yellow and red amphibian now in a museum in France
Guy - from avions Piel wood version, was it completed?
The white with blue stars CP-152 on YouTube
The red and grey CP-152 on avions Piel
The white and grey CP-152 on avions Piel
The white with red stripe original wood version
The grey with blue and red stripes on avions Piel and lycos.fr
The prototype bi-place
RF-212A bi-place
Mr. Serrault bi-place
Mr. Dumas bi-place
Mr. Anquez bi-place