Tailcone Attach - Static Ports

The tailcone attach section is going a lot more quickly than I thought it would! Finished final- and match-drilling the various parts between the fuselage and tail section, and before long the two halves were separated again for deburring, dimpling and countersinking. There were a small handful of parts that needed priming, including some parts around the baggage door, both mid fuse longerons (I had previously left them only clecoed into place until this section could be completed) and the F-1006 bulkhead parts which I didn't prime or rivet together during the empennage construction to simplify things a bit.

While the primer was drying, I wanted to finish one relatively small task that would be much easier to complete now before the tail gets attached-- installing the static ports. I've decided to go with the SafeAir static ports and plumbing lines, which I've had on hand for some time now but haven't done anything with. Looking through the instructions, installing the ports appeared to be a lot easier than I was thinking it was going to be. You have to enlarge the small pilot hole in the tailcone side skins to 1/4" in diameter and then mount the static ports from behind. The port, with its angle attachment and adapter for air hose, looks like this:

SafeAir static port with 90-degree air hose fitting

(photo stolen from online, I forgot to snap a picture of mine prior to installation)

To actually mount the port, you have a few options. Many builders choose to rivet the ports into place, which would be fine except I'm not a huge fan of dimpling the middle of a large piece of skin once it's already been installed. It can be done, but it's time-consuming, nerve-wracking, and never seems to produce the same quality dimples you can do on the bench. The second option is to adhere the part from the back with proseal or some other adhesive. I chose this route and actually just used standard epoxy resin to install these.

I first traced a circle on the inside of the skin to mark where the port will actually mount, and then removed the primer on the skin from this area using a dremel with wire wheel brush. Cleaned the area up a bit with some acetone (carefully!) and then scuffed up the face of the port with some sandpaper, making certain to not scuff up the actual "nipple" on the port itself. Cleaned both surfaces again, this time with alcohol, let it dry quickly and applied the epoxy to the static ports, again making sure to keep it away from the nipple. Then I stuck them into place and held firm with some masking tape. Hopping out of the cone to the outside, I then cleaned up any excess adhesive with alcohol. After the epoxy cured, I installed a tee fitting into an existing hole in the bulkhead and ran the air lines to it. The result came out pretty good!

The static air port after installation

Inside view of static system ports and air lines... ready to run to my ADAHRS!

Once this was done, I riveted the Mid-Fuse longerons into place which was maybe a couple dozen rivets per side and didn't take too terribly long. Then the "momentous moment" was upon us: mate the fuselage and tailcone for good!

The last time we see the tailcone by itself

Riveted the F-1006 bulkhead to the tailcone (this is the opposite from the previous time they were joined, where you cleco this bulkhead to the fuselage)

Final moments before joining

Joined!

Now, just a few dozen (ok, maybe a hundred or so) rivets and this thing is permanently attached... nice!!! That's it for now, I'll save the fun and rewarding task of riveting for another day...