Quickie Plans

Q1 Plans Chapter 7 Page 7-10

Details: Category: Quickie Plans; Published: Sunday, 12 October 2008 01:00; Written by Dan Yager; Hits: 2978

ASSEMBLING THE FUSELAGE

Before beginning this step, you should have both fuselage sides, the fuselage bottom, and the fuselage aft top piece, contoured and glassed on the inside. Also, the Firewall and all fuselage bulkheads should be completed.

Jigging the basic fuselage will require about 4 hours of work.

Begin by placing the fuselage bottom on the table and elevating it off of the table at the following STA:

STA	HT. OFF TABLE
40	0"
90	4.5"
125	5.5"
172	0"

Take one of the fuselage sides and trial fit it onto the fuselage bottom. Use bloc1s of wood and foam to get the bottom closely fitting the side profile.

Remove the side, mix up some slightly dry micro, and apply it to the side and the bottom where they meet from the front back to STA70.

In the forward fuselage area, line up a similar STA on both the bottom and the side and join the two pieces. A good basic reference is the forward face of the fuel tank. Don’t worry that the STA toward the back will not line up. This is due to the curvature of the fuselage bottorn. Verify good Micro squeeze out.

Next, while one person holds the side in place, have a helper mix up a small batch of 5-minute, and gather up some small nails. Dab 5-minute about every 6 inches on the outside to hold the side and bottom together. After this has been accomplished all of the way to the tail, the side should stand vertically without holding it. An alternate method is to use nails to hold the two pieces together.

Look along the inside seam of the bottom/side and verify a good fit. Verify good squeeze out on the Micro at the forward fuselage area.

Lay a dry Micro radius along the inside joint all the way to the tail. Use a 2” BID tape to join the side and bottom together on the inside all the way to the tail. At this point, the angle between the side and the bottom should be about 90 deg.

Carefully repeat this operation with the other fuselage side. Be sure that the same forward fuselage marks are used to line up the side and bottom so that the two sides are lined up equally.

Next, fit the firewall and trim and sand where necessary to make it set “square” with the fuselage. Attach the firewall to the fuselage with two 2” BID tapes along each inside juction.

Measure back from the firewall along the longeron 50” and place a mark. This is segment AB.
Repeat for the other side CD.
Measure AD and CB; these two lengths must be equal if the firewall is square with the fuselage.
If not equal, adjust fuselage until firewall is square.

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Q1 Plans Chapter 7 Page 7-11

Details: Category: Quickie Plans; Published: Saturday, 11 October 2008 01:00; Written by Dan Yager; Hits: 3008

Take a 30 minute break to allow all the tapes to begin getting tacky.

When you return, carefully begin trial fitting all of the fuselage bulkheads except for the Fuel Tank. Sand and Trim these where necessary. Be careful not to damage the tapes that were recently put in.

Carefully insert the fuselage bulkheads with dry micro wherever the bulkheads meet the fuselage. Use the following order:

FU89
FU11O
Seatback Bulkhead
FU153.7 - Leave out for now.

Use the bulkhead position lines on each fuselage side to position each bulkhead. Ignore the lines on the fuselage bottom. After inserting each bulkhead, run a 2” BID tape along both front and rear face before proceeding to the next bulkhead. Make sure that you get good micro squeeze out and form a micro radius wherever the tapes go.

The fuselage aft top can now be put on. Use 5-minute or nails to hold it in place, a micro radius along the inside edge, and a 2” BID tape along the joints on the inside. Then insert and tape the FU1S3.7 bulkhead in place.

The final step, checking the Fuselage alignment, is important. Since the tapes haven’t kicked yet, the fuselage can still be tweaked to obtain the proper alignment. Since the two fuselage sides were made and fitted identically, check the basic level of the fuselage by laying a level across the fuselage sides at several locations. The squareness of the Firewall had been previously checked but it wouldn’t hurt to repeat that check also.

When you are satisfied that the fuselage is jigged and level, walk away from it for at least one day to let it cure.

CARVING THE OUTSIDE FUSELAGE

This section is one where you get to demonstrate your artistic capability. If it takes you longer than four hours to accomplish the sculpturing, then you are being too cautious and not having enough fun!

The purpose for carving the outside fuselage is to reduce weight, as well as to provide the Quickie with a sleek, rounded look. The sketches and pictures show you how to accomplish this. Basically, the corners of the fuselage are rounded by carving away the green foam. Tools that are useful in this section include a butcher knife, sandpaper, foam scraps, and a surform file. Always wear a mask, as the green foam shavings should not be inhaled.

In the corners, you can remove foam until you reach that 2” BID tape layup that you did on the inside. Do not sand any further at that point unless you want to destroy the fuselage strength!

In the rear fuselage, at the tailspring support, the green foam is removed completely so that the aft fuselage will flow smoothly into the tailsring. Therefore the red foam that is the tailspring support is rounded some also.

Remember to make the contouring as smooth and flowing as you can.

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Q1 Plans Chapter 7 Page 7-10

Q1 Plans Chapter 7 Page 7-11

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