Relatively easy night in the factory today. Derek came over for another round of building, and we were quick to put him to work countersinking the fuselage side structure, including the center section side plates and the forward and aft side channels. It was his first experience countersinking with a microstop, and just like last week he proved to be an instant learner and did an excellent job in short order! Thanks again Derek! :-)
Meanwhile, it was Sarah's turn to supervise while I got to work finishing the dimples in the F-1015A ribs discussed in yesterday's post (there was still a small handful that needed to be done). After that, I deburred and dimpled the parts of the substructure that needed it, including the powdercoated steel brackets on the firewall. I did end up breaking a blade on my EZ-Burr (first one so far), but in hindsight I know what I did to cause it. Swapped out the blade and we were back in business.
Last thing we did tonight was trim off a bit of aluminum from the flanges on each side of the firewall. For future builders, it might be easier/prettier if you just trim the flanges during firewall construction. These are parts F-1001M (L) and F-1001D (R), and the idea is to remove enough material from the top and bottom of the flange to allow access for drilling/deburring/riveting the holes you'll be putting into the WD-1002/1003 brackets. I'd guess that a 60-degree angle should be about right (in other words, cut away *more* material than a 45-degree angle). Refer to 29-14 Step 3 and associated diagrams for more info.
That was pretty much it for tonight, no pics unfortunately but we're getting super close to a priming session... possibly tomorrow, we'll see!