Jan to Feb 2022

January 15 2022 - 0.0hrs - 4207.5 total. Spent about 5 hours over the last three days looking at the plans for the Tally-Ho main gear and comparing them with the Jurca plans and the full scale measurements from the Monforton Book. It appears that the measurements on the Jurca plans actually are for the full scale version? The good news is that if I run the numbers on all three sets - Full size=100%, Tally-Ho=80%, Jurca=75% - they all come out basically the same.

January 16 2022 - 3.0hrs - 4210.5 total. Spent some more time checking measurements on the Jurca plans and considering options. Finished sanding the top of the spar. Setup some milk crates and flipped the spar over so I can start on sanding the bottom.

Trying to determine scale on Jurca MJ-10 landing gear plans

Top of the spar finished, all extruded glue sanded off. No shiny spots.

Spar upside down, ready to start sanding down glue.

Top of the spar finished, all extruded glue sanded off. No shiny spots.

Spar upside down, ready to start sanding down glue.

January 17 2022 - 1.0hrs - 4211.5 total. Figured out a trick with the handheld belt sander to make it easier to use. Was able to get the entire bottom of the spar rough sanded - so about 95% finished in an hour. Will need to finish it up with the detail sander.

January 21 2022 - 1.5hrs - 4213.0 total. Finished sanding bottom of spar. All shiny spots gone. I thought the areas that needed touched up were larger. Now that its cleaned up I could see it was just a couple of very small spots. Used 5 minute epoxy for such a small area. Still need to sand the faces of the webs, then it will be time to store the spar away and get serious about the ribs!

January 22 2022 - 2.5hrs - 4215.5 total. Spent about 9hrs in the shop today, but only 2.5 of it was actually working on the project. Cleaned up the small patch from last night. Sanded both web surfaces then went ahead and sanded the web flush with the bottom of the spar. The plans say I'm supposed to let the web be the final determinant or vertical rib location, but the bottom of the spar is much more accurate due to the way the jig was built. We'll see if I regret this action?! Inspected all surfaces of the spar once more, then vacuumed it down and hung it up out of the way. Did this by myself using rolling tables and several ratchet straps so it took a while. Spent about 2 hours cleaning off the workbench. Its the first time its been cleared off since about August! Removed all the tape and sanded it down thoroughly, removing all the epoxy drips. Got out the ribs and cap strip material and spread things out to get started on the ribs again. Setup both rib #2s on blocking and dry fit a lower cap strip on each.

Spar bottom all cleaned up. Small patch with 5 minute epoxy.

Completed spar hanging up out of the way. Table cleaned off for first time since August

Dry fitting cap strips on rib 2 P&SB

Completed spar hanging up out of the way. Table cleaned off for first time since August

Dry fitting cap strips on rib 2 P&SB

January 23 2022 - 3.0hrs - 4218.5 total. I had been planning to put all the cap strips on the ribs before cutting out the large opening in each one for the spar. This would add some strength as there is very little material above and below the spar cutouts. I've actually finished putting the cap strips on both rib#1s. - BUT - I've just determined that I can't put the cap strips on until AFTER the trailing edge spar is installed. And that is done in in place on the wing with all the ribs final located on the main spar. That means its time to clear some space, make the wing assembly jig, and cut out the spar hole in each rib. So I put away all the ribs I just got out, and started dissembling the spar table extensions.

January 24 2022 - 1.5hrs - 4220.0 total. Finished removing the table extensions, dissembled them and stored away the material. Started laying out wing jigs on the 3/4"MDF salvaged from the spar table.

January 26 2022 - 2.5hrs - 4222.5 total. Cut out all the pieces for the wing jig. Used up almost all of the MDF from the table tops and even some of the extra I had on hand. Now will need to trim them to final shape and assemble them.

January 27 2022 - 3.0hrs - 4225.5 total. Cut the slots to allow interlocking pieces. Trimmed stand pieces to final shape. Drew the profile of the jig for the outer supports onto one of the pieces of MDF.

January 28 2022 - 6.5hrs - 4232.0 total. A couple of the guys are coming by in the morning to help me put the spar onto the jig/supports so I had to get them finished up tonight. Stayed at it till about 1:00am but got them finished all except I don't have the bolts I need, so they're held together for tonight with some of the threaded rod from the table clamps. I'll pick up the bolts in the morning before the guys get here.

January 29 2022 - 5.5hrs - 4237.5 total. Went and picked up the bolts. The guys came by this morning and we got the spar down from where it was hanging, did some tweaking on the spar web alignment tabs and put the spar on the supports. Discovered a mistake in the center supports and marked it for a fix. The guys left, I did the fix to the supports and reinstalled them. Spent some time re-arranging and cleaning up the shop and storing some tools. This is definitely a new phase in construction that will work better with a different layout and the tools arranged differently. Got the ribs back out and started cutting the opening where they fit on the spar. Clamped ribs 2 and 3 port side onto the spar and determined there was not a problem with the jig, and the fix I made was unnecessary. Still finding some mistakes in the dimensions called out on the drawings and noting them all so they can be fixed in the next release.

January 30 2022 - 4.0hrs - 4241.5 total. Cut the spar opening on four more port side ribs and slid them onto the spar. That's six now. They're surprisingly close together. I don't know how I'm going to be able to reach some of these areas once all the ribs are on?

January 31 2022 - 1.5hrs - 4243.0 total. Cut out the opening, sanded, and put several more ribs on the port side. Have eleven on there now. Really starting to look like a wing. Pleasantly surprised how well everything is lining up. Its looking very nice. Also - more good news. More discussions with the machinist/welder genius and he is going to try making the Tally-Ho landing gear per the plans! I had thought this would be prohibitively complex. After looking at modifying the Navion gear, and getting set of the Jurca plans to look at, it looks like the Tally-Ho plans are going to be my best option.

February 4 2022 - 1.0hrs - 4244.0 total. Cut out spar openings on ribs 12 and 13 and have them on the spar now. Got some help and moved the spar and supports around a little to make some more room. Oh yeah, and one of the guys helping was PAUL DYE!! Yes, impossible for me to believe, but Paul was actually in my shop, looking at my project! We brought him up for our annual EAA Banquet, which was enough of a shock, but I've been able to hang around with him for a couple of days, and he came over to check out my project. Unbelievable!

February 5 2022 - 5.0hrs - 4249.0 total. Finished cutting the spar holes in ribs 14 to 20 port side and put them on the spar. The last two are 1/8" ply and probably won't get put on till I get to doing the wingtips. Spent about an hour fiddling with raising the jig supports so everything was evenly supported and level. Started on the SB ribs. Have 1 to 4 cut and in place on the spar.

February 6 2022 - 5.5hrs - 4254.5 total. Cut spar holes in SB ribs 5 to 13 and put them on the spar.

February 8 2022 -3.0hrs - 4257.5 total. Have been sick the last couple of days. Have taken two Covid tests and been negative. Still have been unable to work on the project. Gave it a try today. Had to move slow and sit down a lot, but was able to finish cutting out the spar holes in the remaining ribs and get them dry fit onto the spar. Next step will be to clearly locate and mark all the locations on the spar: ribs, gear, wing attach, etc.. Should have done that first, but was anxious to see how it would look with all the ribs on there! Marked centerline. Setup vertical position reference sticks and used laser level to take preliminary level. Will need to get spar exactly oriented and then lock it in place.

February 9 2022 - 2.5hrs - 4260.0 total. Have fully recovered from being sick. Took another covid test. Another negative result. Went and bought a couple of nice (expensive) laser levels, a couple more bullet levels and some cheap yardsticks. Did some preliminary leveling so I could mark the horizontal centerline of the spar. Finally found all the datum reference callouts for the ribs. Have been scouring the plans and couldn't find them. Its because they were marked on the templates, on the part you cut off and throw away when you trace the ribs.

February 10 2022 - 4.0hrs - 4264.0 total. Made a table documenting all of the alignment measurements for the ribs. Removed the ribs from the spar. Spent about 2 hours trying to get the spar exactly level so I can start marking the needed hole locations. The welder/machinist came over today and we spent a couple of hours going over the plans for the landing gear and making additional parts lists. Some of the material is already here, some is on its way now. Unfortunately he is leaving for about three months. My task is to have all the remaining materials here when he gets back. With the supply chain delays, it might be a push to get it here in three months! We reviewed the best method to drill the holes in the spar using a drill guide, etc.

February 11 2022 - 3.0hrs - 4267.0 total. Located sources for most of the needed material. Requested quotes. Had a nice long conversation with Steve today about the gear and the wing construction. I was complaining how there were only seven pages of instructions concerning the construction of the wing and how much time I was spending trying to determine the best way to do some of the jigging, and the correct sequence of the cap strips, rear spar, etc. So I pulled up the electronic copy of the plans - not the printed ones I have out in the shop - and there are 37 pages of instruction on the wing assembly! I have the old set printed up out in the shop! I've read through the updated set and they help immeasurably. Went ahead and added some braces to the bottom of the jig so I could weight it down with cinder blocks. Using three laser levels I finally got the spar level in the jig. Re-marked the centerline and gear axle location.

February 12 2022 - 5.5hrs - 4272.5 total. Measured and marked the rib locations on the spar, then went back and rechecked the measurements two more times. Remeasured the gear axle location two more times and did the same after marking the wing attach bolt locations. Have discovered an issue with the plans regarding the wing attach and engine mount bolts. In some places they are indicated as 5/8" and in some they are 1/2". It looks like they should all be 1/2", but need to clear this up before drilling the wing attach bolt holes. Am ready to drill the gear axle holes, but need to get the correct size hole saw.

February 13 2022 - 0.5hrs - 4273.0 total. Had another nice conversation with Steve today about the wing attach bolts, some details on the wing ribs, and some other stuff. Only had a few minutes to work on the project today. With the new 37 pages of instructions, I'm now confident that the exact positioning of the ribs has nothing to do with the profile of the spar webs, so I'm OK getting rid of the extra flange pieces sticking up above the spar. I already removed them from the bottom of the spar. Also wasn't too confident in being able to keep the spar exactly level when the part resting in the jig was actually the narrow 1/4" ply spar web and not the entire spar width. Lifted the spar out of the jig, laid it on its side on some blocking and started sanding the flanges off the top of the spar. Have the center section and port side finished. My fears were confirmed on the jig bearing surface were the concentrated weight on the small flanges has crushed the jig. Will be an easy fix and I'll have a much more solid jig when its done.

February 14 2022 - 1.5hrs - 4274.5 total. Finished sanding the web flanges off the top of the spar. Went and bought a new 12" long 1/4" drill bit to use to pilot the gear axle holes. Also got an 1 -7/8" hole saw (not easy to find). Made small, pilot hole for 1/4" bit, then made very shallow 1/4" hole then positioned drill guide over hole and used back end of bit to align it over the hole. Clamped guide in place, started drilling 1/4" pilot hole through spar. Was pulling bit out very frequently to remove chips. Was almost through the spar and pulling bit up to remove last batch of chips and the drill bit grabbed ahold of the drill guide and is stuck hard. My guess is some metal chips came off the inside of the drill guide, and the tolerances are so tight, that they've wedged inside the guide. I messed around long enough trying to get it out that I've succeeded in bending the new $14 drill bit. No damage to the guide or spar at this point...

February 16 2022 - 2.0hrs - 4276.5 total. Was able to lift up the drill guide far enough to get a sawsall blade in there and cut the drill bit off. Tip of bit came right out of the spar, body of bit still stuck hard in the drill guide. Finished drilling the 1/4" pilot hole then used hole saw to make final hole through spar. Trial fit a piece of the raw tubing stock that will used to make the axle. Need to buy another long 1/4 bit to drill the port side pilot hole using the other drill guide. Cut a couple of pieces of aluminum angle and used them to reinforce the wing jig where the spar sits on it. Hand sanded the edges of the spar where the flanges were sanded off.

February 17 2022 - 2.0hrs - 4278.5 total. Picked up another 12" long 1/4" bit. This time I lubed up the bit and the guide and was very careful about lifting the bit to remove the chips. Went right through with no problems. Used hole saw to make full sized hole. Put spar back into position in the wing jig and started re-leveling it again. Now that I've got the process down, it goes pretty fast.

February 18 2022 - 3.5hrs - 4282.0 total. Got out both rib #1 and sanded the glue joints under the cap strips all around. Took quite a while. Blocked up the spar jig to allow me to get both ribs inside the central jig supports. All the other ribs are outside these supports. Once the ribs were in there, put the spar back down into the jig properly and started the process of leveling again. Only took a few minutes to get it right on level this time.

February 19 2022 - 6.0hrs - 4288.0 total. Added supports to the two outer jig supports and put large cinder blocks on them to hold them stable. Also went back and put screws in all the cross bracing on the legs of all four jig sections. Very firm and stable now. Final positioned and re-adjusted all four jig stands. Have been using the flat steel table on the band saw as the base point for making the shots with the three different laser pointers. I had it shimmed up level, but realize I'm going to need to be able to use the band saw. Removed the shims and was able to adjust the feet so that its perfectly level and at exactly the right height so that the laser levels are the same as the top (bottom) of the spar. It means I don't have to make any adjustments to the measurements when I'm locating the various elevations on the ribs. Did one more set of alignment checks, then clamped up a bunch of blocking to hold both rib #1s in place. Glued both ribs in place on the spar - only on the front as I'll need to add blocking to the other surfaces yet. Still that's the first ribs glued onto the spar so the wing is officially being assembled now!

SB gear axle hole through the spar. Raw axle stock trial fit in the hole.

Blocking and clamps holding both #1 ribs in position for gluing

SB gear axle hole through the spar. Raw axle stock trial fit in the hole.

Both #1 ribs glued to front of spar

SB gear axle hole through the spar. Raw axle stock trial fit in the hole.

Both #1 ribs glued to front of spar

February 20 2022 - 6.5hrs - 4294.5 total. Spent the day making up the additional stiffeners and reinforcement strips that go around the spar where these ribs attach. It was pretty labor intensive to manually create all of these pieces. Fortunately its only the larger center ribs that have most of these. There were eight individual pieces for each rib, so sixteen in all. Have tomorrow off so plan to get them glued in first thing.

February 21 2022 - 6.0hrs - 4300.5 total. Glued in the 16 pieces for both #1 ribs. Setup worktable for gluing cap strips onto the ribs. Turns out I DO need to put them on in advance, but they need to be six inches short of the trailing spar location and will need the rest scarfed on after the trailing spar is installed. Glued cap strips on top and bottom edges on one side of both #2 ribs.

February 24 2022 - 2.0hrs - 4302.5 total. Removed clamps, turned ribs over, glued cap strips onto other side of #2 ribs.

February 25 2022 - 1.0hrs - 4303.5 total. Removed clamps. Sanded down all glue surfaces. Got out #3 ribs and put them out of the way. Got out #4 ribs and set them up to glue on cap strips and noted that I had not cut the lightening holes forward of the spar. Had them marked to not put holes there. Just to be sure I checked the plans and they say to cut them into the SB side but not the port? Originally I believe this had to to with the wing tanks, but now I'm not too sure. Need to resolve this before gluing on the cap strips.

February 26 2022 - 4.5hrs - 4308.0 total. Went ahead and cut the lightening holes in both #4 ribs forward of the spar. Cut them out with jig saw, sanded to final shape, then used router to put on bevel edge. The SB ribs from 2 to 5 (or 6) are where the radiator goes. Its recessed up into the wing, so there's some interesting stuff going on with these ribs. Lots of cut outs and reinforcements. Once I figured out how that all works, glued cap strips where I could and also one of the reinforcement pieces.

February 28 2022 - 1.0hrs - 4309.0 total. Removed clamps. Sanded down some glue spots. With the reinforcement piece on SB rib#4 now I was able to remove most of the material required for the radiator recess. Laid out and marked where the reinforcement goes on the other side of SB rib#4. Traced and cut out a reinforcement strip that goes around the gear leg cutout. One of these horseshoe shapes go on both sides of several ribs. Using the first as a template to make the remaining.

BUILDERS LOG - January TO february 2022

Trying to determine scale on Jurca MJ-10 landing gear plans

Top of the spar finished, all extruded glue sanded off. No shiny spots.

Top of the spar finished, all extruded glue sanded off. No shiny spots.

Top of the spar finished, all extruded glue sanded off. No shiny spots.

Top of the spar finished, all extruded glue sanded off. No shiny spots.

Top of the spar finished, all extruded glue sanded off. No shiny spots.

Spar upside down, ready to start sanding down glue.

Top of the spar finished, all extruded glue sanded off. No shiny spots.

Spar upside down, ready to start sanding down glue.

Spar bottom all cleaned up. Small patch with 5 minute epoxy.

Completed spar hanging up out of the way. Table cleaned off for first time since August

Completed spar hanging up out of the way. Table cleaned off for first time since August

Completed spar hanging up out of the way. Table cleaned off for first time since August

Completed spar hanging up out of the way. Table cleaned off for first time since August

Completed spar hanging up out of the way. Table cleaned off for first time since August

Dry fitting cap strips on rib 2 P&SB

Completed spar hanging up out of the way. Table cleaned off for first time since August

Dry fitting cap strips on rib 2 P&SB

Disassembling the spar table extensions

Finished drawing outer wing jig profile on MDF

Finished drawing outer wing jig profile on MDF

Finished drawing outer wing jig profile on MDF

Finished drawing outer wing jig profile on MDF

Finished drawing outer wing jig profile on MDF

All four wing jig/supports finished

Finished drawing outer wing jig profile on MDF

All four wing jig/supports finished

Spar in place on the wing support/jig

Trial fitting first ribs on the spar! 2 and 3 port side.

Trial fitting first ribs on the spar! 2 and 3 port side.

Trial fitting first ribs on the spar! 2 and 3 port side.

Trial fitting first ribs on the spar! 2 and 3 port side.

Trial fitting first ribs on the spar! 2 and 3 port side.

Six ribs on the port side

Trial fitting first ribs on the spar! 2 and 3 port side.

Six ribs on the port side

11 ribs on the port side

11 ribs on the port side

11 ribs on the port side

11 ribs on the port side

11 ribs on the port side

11 ribs on the port side

11 ribs on the port side

11 ribs on the port side

11 ribs on the port side

That's me with the stunned grin on my face next to PAUL DYE in my shop!

Ribs 1 to 20 on the port side

Ribs 1 to 20 port and 1 to 4 starboard

All the ribs being dry fit, except the last four. The two tiny ones on each wingtip

13 ribs on the SB side, 20 on the port

That's all the ribs! (except the little tip ones)

Sanding the web flanges off the top of the spar

Weight bearing surface in jig needs some attention

Weight bearing surface in jig needs some attention

Weight bearing surface in jig needs some attention

Weight bearing surface in jig needs some attention

Weight bearing surface in jig needs some attention

Drill bit stuck in drill guide

Weight bearing surface in jig needs some attention

Drill bit stuck in drill guide

SB gear axle hole through the spar. Raw axle stock trial fit in the hole.

SB gear axle hole through the spar. Raw axle stock trial fit in the hole.

SB gear axle hole through the spar. Raw axle stock trial fit in the hole.

Blocking and clamps holding both #1 ribs in position for gluing

SB gear axle hole through the spar. Raw axle stock trial fit in the hole.

SB gear axle hole through the spar. Raw axle stock trial fit in the hole.

Both #1 ribs glued to front of spar

SB gear axle hole through the spar. Raw axle stock trial fit in the hole.

Both #1 ribs glued to front of spar

The sixteen reinforcement pieces to be glued on

All reinforcement pieces glued in place on both #1 ribs

All reinforcement pieces glued in place on both #1 ribs

All reinforcement pieces glued in place on both #1 ribs

All reinforcement pieces glued in place on both #1 ribs

All reinforcement pieces glued in place on both #1 ribs

Gluing cap strips to first side of both #2 ribs

All reinforcement pieces glued in place on both #1 ribs

Gluing cap strips to first side of both #2 ribs

Gluing cap strips to the other side of #2 ribs