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Thread: Building a Nieuport 11...

  1. #31

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    Take a deep breath and set it on the fuselage.

    Do they hit the marks on the longeron? Yes!

    Is it level....take a deep breath:



    YES! Woohoo! But wait..

    It it centered....



    Dead on the friggin' money.

    I'm pretty jazzed and rivet in the bottom gussets no problem. Hey, I'm a pro at them now!



    Rush up the the airplane and put it on for a final test fit. By now the work area is a mess of air hoses, extension cords, blocks of wood, filings, and rivet nails. I bump the fuselage and laugh.

    Until I see the darned thing is off level.



    Many, many bad words. It doesn't make sense.

    Then I see one of my fuselage leveling blocks got pushed out when I bumped it. Before I start finding a dog to kick, lemme check something....

    I start to laugh - the fuselage is off level.



    And it's off level precisely the same amount as the rear cabane.

    (cut and paste top over bottom)



    So all's right with the world again, and as the sun is setting it's time to go inside.

    So this is how far I am in the building process - too much, or should I keep adding to this as I go on through the process?
    The opinions and statements of this poster are largely based on facts and portray a possible version of the actual events.

  2. #32
    Matt Gonitzke's Avatar
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    Well I don't know about anybody else, but I like pictures...keep 'em coming!

  3. #33
    Hiperbiper's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Matt Gonitzke View Post
    Well I don't know about anybody else, but I like pictures...keep 'em coming!
    +1000

    Chris

  4. #34
    Chad Jensen's Avatar
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    Really glad you decided to post these here Frank! I think a lot of folks will get some great enjoyment out of watching your N11 go together, and as I mentioned in the past...it certainly has my attention!!
    Chad Jensen
    EAA #755575

  5. #35
    Anymouse's Avatar
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    Good series of posts. I think the Nieuport just moved up a couple spots on my wannabuild list.
    Someday I'll come up with something profound to put here.

  6. #36

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    Thanks for the kind words!

    Had a little time today - let's work on those cabanes!

    First, the seven degree sweep didn't work so well with my carefully fishmouthed spars.

    I'm sure that I wound up riveting flush to the gusset instead of off setting it, allowing for the angle, though I don't know how!



    Well, let's fix it!

    I learned my lesson about cutting or trimming anything that is together but can be taken apart. Drill out the rivets and draw a cut line:



    Fire up the belt sander, trim for a solid fit...



    Test for level and center to ensure I haven't trimmed my way out of trim - okay!



    The nice thing about pre-drilling all the bottom gussets is that they're interchangeable. I still made little marks to keep them in the same spots, though.

    Let's lock down those front cabanes!

    Deep breath - this is one of those "unfixable" places. It's got to be drilled right the first time or the top longeron is ruined - which would mean replacing the whole friggin' thing. Plus the top engine mounts get locked in here as well.

    They've got to be square in two directions, standing straight up in the corners. Well, I've got some squares, electrical tape, and clamps.



    Sexy, ain't it?

    The opinions and statements of this poster are largely based on facts and portray a possible version of the actual events.

  7. #37

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    Make a little mark for where to drill. Check that the bit is level and straight.

    Okay, you can do this. It's just a hole through 10 layers of aluminum that can't be screwed up even a little bit.

    Bah. To heck with it. Pull the trigger, let's go!

    Pull the cabane off, put the bolt through and check for center and level:



    (Little "I didn't screw up" dance)

    And sigh. The recess in the gusset isn't large enough. A cable has to connect from it to the rear cabane.



    Gonna have to trim that gusset back!

    The good news:
    1) I know how to do this, and it's a straight forward fix.
    2) Tool purchase! Hurray! I needed one of those bullet shaped grinder thingies for my drill anyway.



    Issue tabled.

    Set up the right front cabane for drilling...



    And the battery on my drill goes dead. Hmmmm, gotta invest in some backups.
    The opinions and statements of this poster are largely based on facts and portray a possible version of the actual events.

  8. #38
    Anymouse's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by frank giger View Post
    and the battery on my drill goes dead. Hmmmm, gotta invest in some backups.
    Doh!!
    Someday I'll come up with something profound to put here.

  9. #39
    Chad Jensen's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Frank Giger View Post
    And the battery on my drill goes dead. Hmmmm, gotta invest in some backups.
    This has NEVER happened to me...nope, never.
    Chad Jensen
    EAA #755575

  10. #40

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    New corallary to the old Army saw of "Drop a Dime, Save a Marriage"* saying:

    Drop a Dime, Save An Airplane.

    Front cabanes locked in place, and the other wire bolts drilled - easy enough.

    Drilled out the third rivets up on the rear cabane and put in the wire bolts that go there instead. I got a little rivet happy - no harm, though, as I had standardized their positions front and back and making a little hole bigger is infinately easier than the other way around.

    I was about to drill and set the rear cabane to the longeron and a mental red flashing light started up along with sirens. It's got to match the upper wing precisely, so how far back to place it along the longeron? There's quite a bit of play on the reinforcing bits there.

    Either I've got to be dead on the money with measurements or the wing will have to stretch or shrink to fit the cabane. Yeah, riiiggght...

    Quick call to Robert, who was completely confused at the question.

    "You got the front ones on and they're square, right?"
    "Yep."
    "Well, just align the rear one with the wing," he humphed, "it might not be a perfect 90 degrees, but try to get it close."
    "Oh."
    (Dual lightbulbs)
    "We usually build the cabanes after we're done with the wings."
    "Guess I better start building wings then!"



    I'm absolutely giddy this morning for some odd reason. Gonna lay out the table and get started on them.

    * Smart soldiers ALWAYS called home when returning from the field or a deployment before leaving the unit. Gives the spouse time to clear out any (now) unwelcome guests.

    "Hi, honey, I'm home! Hey, who the hell are you!"
    The opinions and statements of this poster are largely based on facts and portray a possible version of the actual events.

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