Station 11

Station 11 is where the tail skid hinges.

To begin, the square tubing was notched for the head of the AN5 bolt. It must be recessed in order to clear the horizontal stabilizer. I cut this out with a combination of band saw and grinder.



Then, a .065 steel plate was bent into a "u" shape and welded in the groove.



The doubler was welded on.



And the holes were drilled for the bolts.



Here is the piece at Station 11.



I started working on the lower piece as well. It's similar in construction, but unique nonetheless.



Till next time, enjoy!

Brian

Station 7,8,9, 10, 11

The rear stations were completed today. Lots of sawdust from bandsawing, sanding and routing. Here's station 8 in the routing table. I used a long triangular block to get the router angle I needed.



Here are the 5 stations in place.



I began work on Station 11 Upper Brace. This piece is the upper attach point for the tail skid.



Using the bandsaw, I cut the lower section out of steel.



The main brace is 3/4 X 3/4 square tubing. I cut that with a 16 degree taper on both ends. These two pieces will be finish filed straight and smooth and then welded together. You'll have to wait until later to see them together. I have to run in to work this evening.

Till then

Enjoy

Brian

Station 4 & 5

Made the cutouts for Station 4 and 5 today. First, the pattern was rough cut on the band saw and sanded to shape.



Here's how the 1 1/4 in. spar carry through will eventually go.



This gives you a better idea what it looks like.



Another view.



I also started making Station 6 horizontal brace but I ran out of time and had to go to work.



Enjoy

Brian

Station 4

I made Station 4 Verticals today. They are slightly different than Station 5, (different angles and lengths) but if you follow the Curtiss drawings, they are easy to make. I started with 3 in. blocks and cut the taper to 2 in. The insides need to be routed yet. Next shop day.



I also made Station 4 Upper Horizontal. Same as the others - 24 in. wide and tapered. The ears on the black colored fittings need to be bent yet. They hold the horizontal wooden piece in place.



Time to break out the torch.

The fitting on the lower part of Station 3 is two pieces - an inner and an outer. With the project, I got 4 inner pieces. Since they are very similar, I decided to convert two of the inner pieces into outer pieces.

First, I heated the metal with a torch and bent the flange the other way. Then I cut off the unneeded ears on the side. The front landing gear attaches here.



Here's another view of the fittings. If you notice, the inner fitting has three holes in the flange. The outer fitting only needs two holes, so I ground the extra one off.



Here they are with the Station 3 cross brace.



Here's where we stand. Pretty neat. It's starting to look like a fuselage!



Enjoy

Brian

Fuselage Station 2 and 3

Whew, what a month. I realize it's been a long time since I posted anything on this blog. Sorry. I was away for school, flew several trips, did an extensive annual inspection on a friends Bucker Jungmann and the kids started baseball practice...there went the month.

But, it felt good to get back to work on the beloved Jenny.

I built the "U" shaped brackets that go on Station 2 lower fittings.



Then they were brazed in place.



Here's how it goes. I made the wooden brace, too. Interestingly, there is no taper on this piece of Spruce. I don't know why. All the others taper one way or another. But, the drawings call for it to be made this way and that's the way it was made.



Here's a closer shot. I have a temporary piece of ash stuck in there for spacing. The lower longeron will go there eventually.



I began making Station 3 lower brace. Remember what I just said about taper? The drawings showed a taper on the top and back of the brace. The front and bottom were square. Why?

Paul Dougherty explained it - the firewall attaches here! Now it makes sense. You can't attach the firewall if the brace tapers.



Here it is in place.



Another shot. The inside fitting is original and correct. I did not get any outside fittings with the project but I did get an extra set of inside ones. So, the extra inside fittings will be modified to work on the outside. They are very close in shape. Basically, the flanges will have to be reversed and two ears cut off. More about that later. For now, it's all temporarily clamped in place.



More early next week. Enjoy

Brian