The completed F-1004B Bulkhead
F-1004B right side closeup - 30 rivet holes and 8 bolts on this piece, with a vertical line left open for now to accept ribs later on.
F-1004B left side, mirror of right
Two down, two to go! Next up was the F-1005 Bulkhead. This part was pretty straightforward to assemble, the only tricky thing being to take note of all the rivets to be left open for now to accept other parts later on.
F-1005 assembled, with a number of rivets left open per plans
View of left side of F-1005
Lastly, time to assemble the F-1034 Bulkhead. With only 24 rivets, it was done pretty quickly:
F-1034 Bulkhead complete!
Once the four bulkheads were assembled, it was time for "family" photo of the four of them stacked up:
All four bulkheads done!
This was exciting... we completed the first chapter of the fuselage without really breaking much of a sweat! TONS more to do, of course, but this was a great start...
With that, it was time to shift focus temporarily back to the wings, and re-test both tanks for leaks. Both tanks tested perfectly!
L tank holding steady 1 psi
While each tank was on the pressure test bench, I masked off the attachment flange and gave it a quick shot of primer to attach the VA-146 bearing and nutplate shims (from back in Section 18-5 Step 5). This completes the fuel tank section now too... woo! So, why not grab a few screws and bolts and attach them to the wings?
Fuel tanks attached - the wings look huge with everything bolted on!
Wings complete, minus wiring (80% done), bottom skins (40% done), and actuation (50% done)
Exciting! With that, we were able to get just a little jump start on the next chapter of the fuselage, Section 26 - Mid Fuse Ribs & Bottom Skins. This looks like a pretty big chapter, so I doubt it will be done in 3 days like the last one. Either way, here's the first few parts laid out:
The F-1016F-L/R inboard seat rib subassemblies coming together
These subassemblies go along the "tunnel" between the front and backseats, and have parts in them for front seatbelts and rear floor ventilation. Just a little final drilling and deburring, and it was time to call it a night. Awesome weekend of building, hope we can keep this up!!