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Europa #435 G-RODO Build Journal - 2019 05

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8 Get out a piece of stainless steel from my sheet stock. It measures 0.928mm thick. The piece of thicker SS sheet that David Joyce gave me with his leftover firewall pieces measures 0.520mm and the Europa firewall material measures 0.372mm. Looks like a piece about 120mm square is needed to adequately cover the area where the rudder mechanism is close to the LG frame. The 0.928mm sheet will be quite hard to bend as well as heavier, and there seems to be about enough of the 0.520mm sheet to do the job, so start on it. Trim off the rough and bent edges with the Gilbow tinsnips (much better than the el-cheapo "aviation" snips). Clean up the edges with the 2-wheel deburrer. Try to figure out what the best shape should be for each side of the bend, and trim off one edge at an angle. Not entirely satisfied with the result, so make no more cuts and stop to think for a bit. Set the dummy frame in the bench vise, offer up the SS sheet patch at what seems to be a sensible position and wrap it around by hand. Offer it up to the LG frame and although I can't get it into place, it is obvious that it's bent a little too far. Open the bend slightly.

Remove the bolts and the CS21 crank between XCS19P and CS18. Can't easily get into the port footwell to release XCS19P, but there is now just enough room to try the fit of the bent SS sheet patch. Offer it up and mark for trimming. Cut off as marked with hand nibbler and clean up edges. Offer up & mark again, cut and smooth edges. Now starting to look quite promising - it is conforming nicely to the LG tube, and is well clear of the rudder mechanism. 		3049.1
11 After reading through the manuals to get an idea of how it works, make a new project file in ProjectLibre, entering all remaining Europa build items. Although some dependencies cannot yet be fully set, this shows that finishing this year is definitely possible.
14 Roll fuselage out onto drive for access to port footwell. Unscrew port CS22, release XCS19P and slide it outboard to clear the working area at the starboard side of the landing gear frame. Offer up the 0.520mm stainless steel patch to the LG frame tube and check how the starboard panel of SS firewall will fit over it. The patch needs trimming at the top to clear the MS21919-D10 clamp on the LG frame tube. Trim, check, trim again; now looks OK.

Before thinking about where and how much to trim off the SS firewall panels to clear the rudder mechanism, I need to arrange the fixing of the SS patch to the LG frame tube. The 0.928mm SS sheet seems OK for making fixing straps. Try cutting it with hand nibbler and with Gilbow snips, but both are too hard work. A hacksaw with a fine-tooth blade does not seem to make much progress, so try the power nibbler. That works fine and cuts quite fast, except that the vibration keeps loosening the cordless drill chuck. Have to re-tighten it 3 or 4 times while cutting out 2 strips about 25mm x 125mm. Vacuum up the nasty sharp crescents of swarf - takes a while as the carpet is reluctant to release some of them.

Wonder if it would be possible to use countersunk screws for fixing the straps. Order a 3/16" dimpler on eBay.

Make a cardboard template for how the retaining straps need to be bent. With the bench folder, make 2 right-angle bends on one strip, the distance apart set from the card template. Trim off the surplus and press the area between the bends to a curve against the dummy LG frame. Offer up to LG frame tube and adjust curve slightly so the bent tabs lie reasonably in the planes of where the SS patch will be each side of the tube. Trim tabs a bit shorter, leaving enough room for anchor nuts. Check fit above and below rudder shaft line, ensuring there is room for the fixings.

Repeat bending and trimming process for 2nd strap. Check length of screws needed; if straps fit well against patch, 3/8" would be in safety. Will need to order some stainless hex-head set screws, at least for the outboard side where there is no room for a turnscrew.

Mark both straps for anchor nut centres using carpenter's pen and centre-pop. Pilot drill 5/64". Offer up patch and straps to LG frame tube to check position, and mark through straps for holes in patch. Centre-pop and pilot drill those holes. Open up holes in straps and patch to 4.8mm and deburr. Fit anchor nuts with temporary screws and spacers as usual. Drill through anchor nut rivet holes 2.6mm. Deburr and countersink with 13/64" drill. Fit and pull TAPK33BS rivets.

Remove the temporary screws and try the straps for fit on the LG frame tube and SS patch. The holes do not quite line up for easy fitting of screws - the straps will need to be closed up a bit.

Roll fuselage back into garage. 		3052.1
15 Order some 10-32 UNF stainless steel hex-head setscrews in various short lengths from Westfield Fasteners , for fixing firewall SS patch.

Adjust SS patch retaining straps with pliers and dummy LG frame tube until the straps conform better to the tube and the holes line up reasonably with the ones in the patch. Test assemble each strap onto the dummy tube with 3/8" button-head screws and it al looks good, with minimal distortion of patch.

Dismantle and try the assembly on the LG frame tube. The outboard lower screw cannot be reached by a standard Allen key. Find a suitable 1/8" one and grind a bit off the short leg until it can be inserted in the screw head in the space available. Tighten it up and all looks good.

Offer up the starboard firewall piece over it and fit the screw to the clip on the lower tube with a temporary nut. Mark where the rudder pedal shaft runs across it, the top and bottom edges of the patch, and the location of the lower patch fixing screw. Offer up the lower firewall panel and check where screws can be located. The one shown near the starboard bottom corner could have its anchor nut fixed to the patch instead of the starboard panel, which would tie all 3 together well. The position might need slight adjustment to clear the path retaining screw. Another screw to hold the lower firewall panel to the patch would be needed above the rudder pedal shaft.

Looks as though I could start cutting soon to remove the parts of the original firewall panels that are fouling the rudder mechanism, but I think first I should do a complete assembly of the patch, the starboard & lower firewall panels, and position the screw-holes on the lower panel.

Re-fit starboard firewall panel to both lower & upper tube clamps. Offer up lower firewall panel and check carefully where starboard lower screw should be. To be clear of the strap attaching the patch, it needs to be abut 5mm lower than the originally marked spot. Mark and drill a 5/64" pilot hole and mark through it with the carpenter's pen while holding everything firmly in place. The result looks slightly too close to the frame tube for comfort, so re-mark about 5mm inboard and re-drill. Mark through again onto the starboard panel, centre-pop against a bar for support and pilot drill 2mm. Hold starboard panel firmly in place against patch and drill through 2mm.

Unscrew starboard panel and patch. Check the space available for a K2000-3 single-lug anchor nut on the back of the patch beside the securing strap. The strap is obstructing it slightly, so grind a bit off the edge of the strap to make room. Drill all 3 pilot holes out to 4.8mm and deburr. 		3055.4
16 Screws arrive from Westfield Fasteners .

Fit lower retaining strap to SS patch with some of the new 1/4" hex head screws. Surprised that the heads are 5/16" AF rather than 3/8" AF as on AN3 bolts. Attach a K2000-3 single-lug anchor nut to the patch with a short temporary screw and spacer. Drill the rivet holes 2.6mm and countersink with a 7.0mm drill bit. Fit and pull TAPK33BS rivets.

Fit the SS patch to the LG frame tube, with 1/4" hex head screws on outboard face and button-head screws on forward face. Fit starboard firewall panel. Check that the bottom holes line up by temporarily starting a screw in the anchor nut. Offer up lower firewall panel and try to fit screw but the top of the sheet is fouling the frame tubes. Drift the hole a little bit up with a round file and try again - much nicer fit now. However I have for some reason fitted the starboard panel to the clamp with a AN3 bolt rather than the CSK screw called out, so swap that to allow lower panel to fit more like flush. Re-fit lower screw and it looks OK now. Seems like a good idea to make sure that the hole in the patch is in the right place by drilling it first and marking through it onto the aft face of the lower panel. But having made a 2mm pilot hole, the position of the hole means that the carpenter's pen is fouled by one of the frame tubes and so won't go through the hole to make the mark.

Maybe the Tight Fit drill kit would be the answer, but run out of time today to try that.
17 The Tight Fit drill kit won't work to drill through from the back of the SS patch into the firewall lower panel. So twiddle a drill bit through the hole in my fingers to leave a witness mark on the back of the lower panel. Dismantle, centre-pop the witness mark and drill 2mm. Re-attach and check that the holes line up, then open up right through to 4.8mm. Dismantle it all. Deburr holes and attach K2000-3 single-lug anchor nut to back of patch with temporary screw and spacer. Drill through rivet holes 2.6mm and countersink them with 7mm bit. Fit and pull TAPK33BS rivets.

Re-assemble it all and extend port rudder shaft to see where trimming is needed. Realize that the head of the upper screw holding the lower panel of firewall to the SS patch is uncomfortably close to the rudder pedal shaft - I should have noticed that when the pilot hole was made. Dismantle it all. Attach lower panel to patch and try positioning another single-lug anchor nut nearer the top edge of the patch. Centre pop, drill 5/64" and open to 4.8mm. 		3057.6
18 Dimple die set arrives.
20 Roll out fuselage onto drive for access to port footwell.

Deburr new hole at top of SS patch. Attach K2000-3 single-lug anchor nut to back of patch with temporary screw and spacer (1 nut, 2 washers as SS is so thin). Drill through rivet holes 2.6mm and countersink with 7mm drill bit. Fit and pull TAPK33BS rivets. Fit a 1/4" x 10-32 UNF SS hex head setscrew into the back of the anchor nut in the now-redundant hole adjacent to plug the hole.

Assemble the SS patch, the starboard and the lower panels of the firewall to the LG frame. Assemble, with some effort, CS21 crank between XCS19P and CS18 with bolts and temporary nuts. Shaft of XCS19P is rubbing on lower panel of firewall and crank is striking starboard panel. In fact the interference there is such that I can't pull the port CS22 outboard to its proper position.

Mark lines onto the lower panel for the top and bottom of the shaft. Operate the crank a few times to leave a witness mark on the starboard panel. Dismantle rudder mechanism. Mark starboard panel of firewall where clearance is needed. Wonder if maybe the lower panel may not need to be cut at all - obviously the starboard panel will so start with that.

On the starboard firewall panel, cut along the lines marking the top & bottom of the rudder pedal shaft, as far as the bend. Drill (2.9mm) at close spacing around the curve between those lines then "join the dots" with the hand nibbler. Grind off the rough edges with a stone tool on the Dremel . Re-fit starboard and lower firewall panels and re-assemble CS18, CS21 & XCS19P, which goes together much easier than last time. Some trimming of lower firewall panel will be needed as it is still rubbing slightly on the rudder pedal shaft at the starboard end. Also needs trimming to clear bottom of CS21 crank and fixing nut. Mark areas for trimming.

Roll fuselage back into garage. 		3059.9
21 I want to make a rounded end on the slot in the lower firewall panel behind the rudder pedal shaft, but don't appear to have a suitable (20mm) holesaw. Instead use the step drill. Re-clamp the workpiece very firmly to the sacrificial wooden support and make a semi-circular cutout for the bottom of the crank and fixings. Cut the slot with the hand nibbler. Enlarge the crank cutout with tinsnips. File off all jagged edges and sharp corners. Enlarge bottom of cutout in starboard firewall panel for bottom of crank with tinsnips and clean up edges.

Re-assemble the firewall panels to LG frame and re-assemble rudder pedal shaft to crank. Tighten down port CS22 to ensure correct thwartwise position of CS21 crank. There is still some slight rubbing of the lower firewall panel against the shaft; the slot should be extended further inboard. The crank is striking the starboard firewall panel when the top is fully aft and the patch when the bottom is fully aft. Need to assemble complete rudder system to check crank travel.

Roll fuselage out onto drive for full access to port footwell. Prop the tail up on the hop-up with a cushion interposed for softening. Start to check the rudder cable movement and then realise there is stuff down the back of the fuselage that is lying on the rudder cables. Lower the tail again and move the easily-accessible stuff such as silencer & instrument module from the baggage bay. Crawl in and get out the roof centre cover and other bits and pieces from the aft fuselage. There are cable looms still lying about the fuselage floor so decide to run them through the conduits between the D-bulkhead and the headrests. Temporarily tape the transponder loom to the coax cable to make it stiffer and easier to push through the conduit. Alas, when feeding the combined loom into the conduit, some of the paper cable identifiers on the transponder loom shear off on the mouth of the conduit (wires 501, 506 & 509). Will have to unplug the connector at the aft end and buzz them through.

Prop up the tail again. Disassemble the aft rudder pedal shaft and bearing blocks to allow room and insert (with some difficulty) the outstanding rudder pedals through the firewall slots. Fit the bearing blocks and cranks. Fit the rudder cables to the cranks. There is quite a bit of interference between the starboard crank/cable and the starboard firewall panel, but it's getting late and rain is threatening so put it all away for tonight. 		3063.4
22 In the garage, set the rudder and tailwheel hard over to starboard against the stop. The port crank is now just touching the top edge of the lower firewall panel, but the lateral clearance looks fine. A small backward bend as called out will give the required clearance. The starboard cable is touching the outboard edge of the slot in the starboard firewall panel. Mark that with the red paint pen. The bottom of the crank and the fixing are clear of any obstruction.

Set rudder and tailwheel hard to port. No problem at port side crank and cable. The Nicopress sleeve on the starboard cable is catching on the outboard edge of the slot in the starboard firewall panel. Re-centre rudder and insert a small piece of sheet metal between cable and firewall sheet to guide the sleeve past the edge of the slot. Set rudder fully to port again. Looks much better but still some easement needed around top of crank. Mark the area for relief. Remove the small piece of metal sheet and that looks much better, now hardly seems any need to trim around the top of the crank. However, the outboard side of the slot will need to be widened to allow the Nicopress sleeve to pass. The upper fixing bolt on the crank is just touching the firewall sheet; mark that for relief. 		3064.0
23 Roll fuselage out onto drive for full access to port footwell. Remove screws holding rudder cables and springs to cranks. Slacken off the bolts holding the CS22 & CS23 bearing blocks on both sides. Undo the bolts fixing the CS21 cranks to the shafts. Remove lower and starboard firewall panels. The areas to be relieved on the starboard panel need curved cuts, so set up the power nibbler on an ad-hoc platform and trim where marked. Clean up the sharp edges with files.

I think I'm completely satisfied with the stainless steel patch now, so decide to fix it permanently. Remove it and coat the LG tube. the inner face of the bend and the clamps with Duralac. Re-fit it with 10-32 x 3/8" stainless steel screws. (5/16" hex head on outboard face, button head 1/8" Allen key on inboard face).

Re-fit starboard firewall panel (still with temporary nuts). Start to re-fit lower firewall panel but can't get screw started in bottom anchor nut. Remove starboard firewall panel to investigate and find that the rivet next to the nut has pulled through the stainless steel sheet (must have countersunk too deep). The outer rivet is still holding. Persuade the nut into alignment with the hole and fit a screw to tighten it against the sheet. I will need to drill out the offending rivet and fit a bigger one. I've got 3.2mm x 7mm TLPK424BS in stock and there seem to be plenty of those spare. Alternatively might be good to use a stainless steel rivet for extra strength but I only have dome-head ones in stock (32.mm x 6mm & 3.2mm x 8mm).

Roll fuselage in and tidy up. 		3066.8
25 Didn't get a chance to look online for CSK SS rivets until today and now there will not be any chance of a delivery until after the Bank Holiday, so decide to stick with the TLPK424BS for re-securing the anchor nut on the SS patch. Drill out the offending rivet 2.6mm then open up to 3.3mm to admit larger rivet. Remove screw temporarily to clear swarf then re-fit. Twirl a 5.7m drill bit by hand in the countersink to clean it up a bit. Fit and pull TLPK424BS rivet. Remove screw.

Re-fit starboard firewall panel. Using the bench folder, bend the upper edge of the lower firewall panel on the marked line. Re-fit lower firewall panel. Offer up port & starboard upper panels to check fit and hold them together with cleco clamp.

Roll fuselage out onto drive for access. Loosely fit CS21 cranks to rudder pedal shafts with plain nuts. Position and screw down CS22 & CS23 bearing blocks in port & starboard footwells. Tighten up CS21 fixing nuts. Fit screws washers and spacers to connect rudder cables and return springs to both cranks.

Swing rudder and tailwheel hard to starboard against the stops and check SS firewall clearances. All clear at starboard side. Port CS21 is just touching the lower firewall panel but it can be bent a little to clear. Cable slot could perhaps be eased a bit on the outboard edge; cable is not touching but more space would be slightly better.

Swing rudder and tailwheel hard to port. Outboard edge of port cable slot is still close to the cable but otherwise OK. Starboard firewall panel is just touching the top of CS21 but can be bent clear. Otherwise no problems. I had forgotten about extending the slot in the lower panel behind the rudder shaft but that is not even necessary - there is good clearance between shaft and panel.

I had forgotten that the firewall panels can only be finally fitted after the engine is re-hung, since the mounting bolts will be hidden by the SS firewall. It would have been no fun trying to do all this firewall fettling with the engine in place, though! Looks as though I could fit just the starboard panel before re-hanging the engine.

Bend by hand the starboard bottom tab of the lower firewall panel to fit against the bottom of the footwell. Can't do the same at port side as I have forgotten to trim the previously-marked clearance for the bolt head and safety wire on the landing gear while the panel was out.

Centre-pop through the starboard upper panel holes onto the port upper panel for the anchor nut holes. Drill out to 4.8mm, aligning holes while drilling through both panels. Fit anchor nuts in the usual way. Fit the panels together with short temporary screws. Start to undo the lower firewall panel and find that I need to use the previously-shortened Allen key to get at the upper screw with the rudder system installed. Remove lower panel and offer up assembled upper pair of panels to check where the hole for the clamp on the horizontal LG frame tube needs to be. To mark the spot, apply paint stick to the clamp and press it against the back side of the port panel. Centre-pop the resulting mark and drill through both panels. Pretty awkward to get the clamp compressed enough to fit the nut, but by spinning the screw with the power screwdriver I can get it started.

Check positions of holes through the upper panel for the anchor nuts on the upper flange of the starboard panel and mark. Centre-pop and drill 2.5mm through the starboard upper panel only. Centre-pop through those holes onto the starboard panel flange. Remove upper panels and drill starboard panel flange at marked points. 		3071.2
27 I should be able to fit the anchor nuts on the starboard firewall panel flange without having to remove it, thus avoiding the need to roll out the fuselage and dismantle the rudder pedals. Check the alignment of the 2.4mm holes in the starboard & upper panels with drill bits and drift the lower one slightly to improve the line-up. Enlarge the holes in both panels to 4.8mm, deburr and re-check alignment. Fit anchor nuts to front of starboard panel flange with temporary screws and spacers. Drill through the rivet holes 2.6mm. Remove anchor nuts, deburr holes. Fit anchor nuts to back of flange, aligning rivet holes with drill bit. Countersink rivet holes slightly with 7mm bit. Fit and pull rivets.

Assemble upper panels with temporary screws to check fit - all OK. Slide (with some effort) the lower panel into place through the gap between the LG frame and the rudder shaft and fit with temporary screws. Centre-pop through port hole in upper flange of lower panel then drill through 3.3mm. Fit cleco there and drill through starboard hole. Fit cleco there to check hole alignment. Remove lower and upper panels. The starboard anchor nut on the starboard upper panel will foul the flange of the starboard panel, so trim a corner off the flange to clear. Cleco lower and upper panels together and fit cleco clamps to keep aligned. Remove each cleco in turn and drill out to 4.8mm, inserting screw in 1st hole to keep alignment. Deburr holes and fit anchor nuts to the upper panels in the usual way.

Nearly ready to bend the top edge of the upper panels towards the composite firewall, but first I want to check where the Bowden cables for throttle and choke will come through the gap between the frame and the composite firewall. Checking through the journal and picture archive brings up P1160207.JPG taken on 2016-07-20, showing the Bowden cables in pairs at the outboard ends of the slot. Sad to note that fitting the stainless steel firewall started way back in Feb 2016, with the card template done in Oct 2015. 		3073.6
31 Remove temporary screws from anchor nuts on upper firewall panels. Transfer top flange bend line onto back of upper panels. Bend to about 90 degrees in the vise-mounted bench folder. Offer up to landing gear frame and start to mark potential cutaway areas for Bowden cables, then realise that the cables can fit between the LG top tubes and the ends of the folded flanges. Offer up aft cooling air baffle to check that there is no interference between it and the stainless steel firewall - it is well clear.

Get out the fuel hose with the fitting on one end and the firewall location marked. Prepare a mockup of the firewall penetration to check where the hose needs to be cut. Make (with considerable effort) a 14mm hole with a step drill in a scrap of stainless steel firewall sheet and deburr the messy result with a stone wheel in the Dremel tool.

The #101-06 red hose socket is 22.72mm overall and from its tail to the edge of the internal thread (where the hose butts against) is 17.30mm. Therefore the length of the thread is 5.42mm The maximum gap allowance between the end of the socket and the nut on the nipple is 0.031" or 0.7874mm. Thus distance from nipple nut to end of hose is ~ 6.21mm. Assemble AN837-6D elbow to scrap firewall piece with stainless steel M14 penny washers and AN924-6D nut. Fit hose nipple to straight end of elbow. Distance from back of nipple nut to back of M14 washer is 35.40mm; washer is 2.86mm thick so distance from nut to firewall is 38.26mm. Thus the distance from the firewall to the hose end is 44.47mm. Double-check for gross errors with steel rule and it looks pretty close.

Wrap masking tape around hose behind the firewall mark and mark 44.5mm back from the firewall line on it in several places. Join up the marks all round circumference.

Project the edges of the relevant LG frame tubes onto composite firewall, then onto port upper stainless steel firewall panel. Place a M14 washer on panel clear of both lines and mark its position. 		3075.4
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