April 2011 – Bulkheads

The Long-EZ N916WP project officially begins on 24 April 2011!

The first chapter in the plans for actual aircraft component construction is Chapter 4, which covers the building of all the bulkheads that will make up the structural cross-sections of the fuselage.  Below is the first bulkhead to be constructed: the front (Pilot’s) seat back.

Chapter 4 — Step 1 of 4: Front Seat Bulkhead 

Front seat foam cut & shaped

Angling front seat back edge

Micro'ing front seat back bulkhead

Micro applied & spread

Front seat back glassed & peel plied

Glassed side #1 of front & rear seat bulkheads

 

Chapter 4 — Step 2 of 4: Rear Seat Bulkhead

25 April 2011 – The cured first sides of the front seat and rear seat bulkheads.  →

 

26 April 2011 – The work continues on the front & rear seat bulkheads.  ↓

#1 – A shot of the front seat bulkhead, glass completed on both sides.

#2 – Start of the foam prep on the backside of the rear seat bulkhead.

Front Seatback Bulkhead

Rear side of Back Seat Bulkhead

Below is the front side of the rear seat bulkhead.  It doesn’t look like a very nice glass lay-up on the front because it wasn’t!  I started out trying to save as much glass as I could, so I was piecing together remnants to save glass.  Boy, did I ever grow out of that in quick order!

Front side of Back Seat Bulkhead

•••

27 April 2011 – I shaped the rear side of the back seat bulkhead, and then vacuum bagged the fiberglass layup on the back side of the rear seat bulkhead, which was the second and final layup on the rear seat bulkhead.  The vacuum bagging worked really well.  The only down side is that with the hole in the middle of the seatback, it caused the plastic to wrinkle and that transfers some to the layup and leaves some epoxy ridges that have to be sanded down later.  Again, I was very happy with the outcome.

Prepping foam shape on rear side of back seat

Rough stage of foam contouring on rear seat

Vacuum bagging rear seat final glass layup

Spots excess epoxy being sucked out of layup

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28 April 2011 – Here’s a shot of the rear seat bulkhead after the vacuum bagging materials were pulled off.  I understand there is wax paper in the vicinity, and that I will burn in hell for using it, but honestly that’s what we were taught in our EAA composites course.  After being soundly thrashed by a few seasoned Canardians, I stopped the heinous practice of using wax paper!

A shot of the two finished seat bulkheads: front & rear.

•••

Chapter 4 — Step 3 of 4 

30 April 2011 – I only have this one pic of glassing the instrument panel bulkhead.  As you can see, I vacuum-bagged the instrument panel.  Vacuum bagging really does suck out all the extra epoxy and produces a much lighter part.

IMG_4372

 

Recent Posts

Project Update

Hi Folks,

I’ll be heading out to RR23 in a few hours in the back seat of Marco’s beautiful Long-EZ, JT (I will say most likely for the last time!).  Since I’ll be gone for the good part of a week I just wanted to provide an updated update before I head out to fun & frivolity with my fellow Canardians!

I’m happy to report that the major recontouring, reshaping and significant re-glassing (in CF) of the bottom cowling is complete!  I still have the very aft center lip (at the top of the bottom cowl fin) to glass as well as the interfacing left & right sides between top & bottom cowlings.  Once these tasks are completed then the optimized install of the exhaust pipes will begin.

As I’ve stated before, I currently have a plan with my local race car exhaust-making dude, James, to finalize the exhaust pipes’ install configuration.  And I very much intend to optimize the exhaust pipe runs as they should be, in line with Mike Melvill’s exhaust pipe mods that brought the pipes inboard a bit closer to the spinner and focused on the very inboard section of the prop.  He notes all this in CP 83 and the operational improvements of these mods are impressive.  Since I have no choice but to rewicker the exhaust pipes anyway, I might as well make them as near-perfect as possible.

I’m still intent to focus solely on the plane for the next however long it takes to finish this bird… ASAP!  

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