Fuselage center section #21 - Seat rib area prep

 And even more edge cleanup and deburring of the parts.  Mostly the ribs tonight.  Got them all done and now will try to get them primed tomorrow after work.  There are a ton of parts in this batch....most are small and then the 8 ribs will take some time to etch, scrub, dry and prime.

Fuselage center section #20 - Seat rib area prep

 No pictures just tons and tons of cleaning up part edges and deburring holes.

Fuselage center section #19 - Seat rib area prep

 Still working on the prep of the parts in the seat rib area.

Countersinking the nutplate attach rivet holes

Cutting the stock into two parts.

Deburring and removing the extra material left over.

Installed the nutplates.

Preparing the ribs for nutpates.

Nutplates installed.

Some reinforcement brackets.

Crotch strap attach brackets and their nutplates.

Fuselage center section #18 - Seat rib area prep

 Today I continued to work on seat rib area prep.  Lots of operations, nutplates and details around what holes to drill, dimple, etc.  This is complicated due to the fact that these ribs are all made the same and some of the holes will go unused.  Pay close attention here or otherwise you may end up drilling out or dimpling a hole incorrectly. Also, for some reason Van's pre-dimples many of the nutplate mount holes.  I don't know why but less work for me!

First I installed these nutplates on the center two ribs.

They then have you cut this weird hole out on rib #3 using this bracket as a template.  Not sure yet what that bracket does but I think it is a servo mount doubler.

Extended the lines and used the cutoff wheel to buzz this area out.

Lots of hand filing to get ease up on the lines.

Used the doubler to fine tune the cutout.

All done.

Match drill the #30 holes.

Match drill the #12 holes.

Installed these nutplates in the 2,3,6, & 7 ribs.

Fuselage center section #17 - Seat rib area prep

 Continued to work on prep of the seat rib area.  As soon as I get all the parts fitted, it will be a big priming session and then I get to rivet it all together.

They have you cut out these extra chunks of metal on all the ribs.

Removed...this gets some serious deburring later.

Then you have to check for interferance with the little notch in the ribs as it relates to the seatbelt brackets.

No issues with mine.

Then the parts of the seat back adjustment system get fitted.

And the rivet holes countersunk.

Mock everything up.

The seatbelt attach brackets and the rib doubler get cleco'ed together.

And then match reamed to full size.  I marked everything so I can get it back together properly.

Fuselage center section #16 - Seat rib area prep

 After a week at Osh and another week of recovery at work and other stuff, I started back to work on the seat rib area of the fuselage last night.  Tons of little parts to cut apart and clean up on the wheel!

Cutting the seat belt anchor brackets apart.  These were steel on my RV7 so I am kinda wondering how much force these can take during an impact before ripping the bolt out.   HMMMMM.

Deburring them on the wheel.

More brackets to cut apart.

And clean up.

These are part of the seat back adjustment system.

Clean up on isle 7.

More of the seat back angle adjust latch mechanism.  These parts have been heat treated at the factory, much tougher than the other parts.

Deburr deburr deburr....

Airventure (Oshkosh to us old timers) 2023 in the bag!

 The wife and I returned to Airventure this year.  It has been 3 years total since we have been.  First year was COVID and the convention was canceled.  The next two years were from burnout.

It was so great to see all my old friends and make some new ones!

This year we took the over the road RV and for my first time, we camped in Scholler.   We were in the far West 24hr generator area near the freeway but it was a great experience.  When we got there on Friday, the area we were in was sparsely populated but by the time we left on Thursday morning, it was full up!

A satellite image taken on Thursday.  This was a record breaking year for aircraft, campers, and people.  Click the image for a larger view.  The red circle in the middle toward the top is where we were camped.

Our Shower House.

The main "Big Red Barn" for groceries and camp supplies.

The campground by helicopter.

This thing is amazing!  It kept us cool the entire week!

They have 4 lanes for filling fresh water and dumping.  I think there were 8 fresh water stations and 4 dump stations.  Pro Tip:  Swing by here before selecting your spot to fill your fresh tank and empty anything you have accumulated on your trip too Osh.  There was no line Friday and Saturday before the show.  The line was backed up a bit when we left on Thursday morning but it kept moving and we got out pretty quickly all things considered.  There is a honor system pay box at each station.  They were asking for $5 for multiple tanks.  Our rig has 4 tanks so we gladly paid the $5.  Not sure what the ask is for fresh water.

They will also fill your fresh tank and pump your waste tanks for a price.  You must schedule early in the morning for same day service otherwise it will be the next day.