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Twenty
Horizontal Tail Installation
 16
September 2011: Bearings! I confess that the first bearing gave me
such a hard time that I improvised a mandrel and chucked each of the rest
of them in my drill press. Some judicious use of 220 grit sandpaper made
the job easier. It still took some force and bad language but, a
reasonable amount of force and bad language.
 A
small portable bench vise served as my arbor press.
 17
September 2011: The bushings also have to be sanded to fit. Today I
spent about two hours sanding the bushings and another two chasing strange
noises coming from my drill press. I never found anything wrong with it so
I'll keep using it until it breaks. I'll then know what was wrong with my
drill press.
19 September 2011: Trial fit of the horizontal stabilizer. After
days of reaming and making parts fit I finally have something to show for
it.
23 September 2011: Trim Slider Blocks. This went easier than I
expected.
24 September 2011: I trial fitted the elevator and began to install the
trim actuator.
 25 September 2011: Linda and I spent the morning flying the Cessna.
It was time for our biennial flight review. Our flight instructor friend,
Isaac, beat us up pretty good. I spent the afternoon working out a panel
design. I know I'm a
little early but, since we've decided to reserve some money from the sale
of our old house, I need to make decisions. Also, making the drawing was
great fun. The radio stack will accommodate a panel dock for our Garmin
396 along with a transceiver and transponder. The left display will be a
Dynon D100 EFIS with a D120 EMS on the right. Since the two can share and
swap screens each pilot can have both flight and engine information on his
or her personal display. The two circular cutouts are for back-up airspeed
and altimeter.
26 September 2011: I was able to steal a few minutes to bolt the trim
actuator to the fuselage. (The red goop is grease.)
 30
September 2011: Scissor Link. I fabricated the three parts that make
up the scissor link. Since they are made of steel I began priming them
with Poly-Fiber white metal primer. I painted one side and, when cured,
I'll paint the other side.
  1
- 2 October 2011: Fitting the Floorboards. This weekend the weather
finally cooled allowing me to open the door and enjoy the fresh air. I
spend my available time fitting the floorboards and preparing them for
varnish.
  8
October 2011: An Old Friend! Normally it's my habit to use only the
recommended products. An example is using Poly-Fiber varnish on any wood
that will interact with other Poly-Fiber products. Since this is not the
case with the floorboards I decided to coat them with West System epoxy. I
rolled it on with foam rollers. It effectively seals the wood from
moisture and provides a very durable surface. I was reminded of my
boatbuilding days.
 With
a little bad language and super glue. I assembled the scissor link
with it's multiple washers. Adjustment of the trim actuator will occur at
final assembly.
Center Console
 Parts
Callout! Assembling the center console is next. I've learned to gather
all pieces before beginning.
13 October 2011: Assembling the Detent Brackets. When I first
fabricated the detent brackets I left the detents rough and unfinished. I
felt that the final work should be done when I'm actually assembling the
brackets and fitting them to the center console. Today was the time for
that. In the photo the brackets are not yet mounted but, with persistent
work with a file, they're beginning to fit quite nicely.
 14
October 2011: The floorboards are coated and clecoed in place. I've
installed the rudder pedal adjust levers. They are wrapped with duct tape
to avoid scratching during the fitting of the center console. (It's a
closing the barn door after the horses have escaped exercise. I
already scratched them.) I have some thinking to do before I proceed. This
will happen about 3:30 am, after one of our cats has waken me. I'll lay in
bed, unable to sleep, thinking of how to best install the center console.
 18
October 2011: With a straight edge placed where the console will be and a
carpenter's bevel. I arrived at the exact angle to cut the flange on
the console.
 A
little asymmetry was necessary. About 1/8th inch. When deciding
between function and dress-right-dress I always go for function. (Now that
I'm no longer in the Army.)
The rudder pedal brackets are held with two clecos and the flap bracket
is clamped. Waiting for me to drill and cleco. After that I removed
the console to facilitate the rest of the drilling.
  Done!
A little more tweaking and I'll be ready to rivet the brackets in place.
 21
October 2011: Tweaking took most of the day. The detent brackets are
now attached with epoxy and flush rivets.
22 - 23 October 2011: After a weekend of mostly head-scratching.
I've decided that I'll do the preliminary fitting of the firewall and boot
cowl. It occurred to me that some operations involving the firewall will
be much easier without the rudder pedals in place. This includes a
trial fitting of the nose gear. Of course, all of this will be removed to
be permanently installed after the fuselage is covered and painted.
  28
October 2011: The firewall is held in place with hardware store screws.
Of course when it's permanently mounted it will be with the AN bolts
holding the engine mount. After that I trimmed the forward flange of the
boot cowl to 3/4" and clamped it into position.
2 November 2011: A little here, a little there. It's a busy two
weeks with teaching and performances but, I'm able to steal a little time
now and again to work on the kit. I've spotted and drilled the mounting
holes where the boot cowl is attached to the forward door frame. (I
drilled these from the inside out. The cut line was spotted by inserting a
small piece of wood under the edge until it touched the frame and then
marking the wood. I then transferred this dimension to the outside. I
repeated this up and down the edge until it described a line. The final
attachment will be with screws and nut plates. The beauty of this
arrangement is that the boot cowl can be removed to service anything
between the panel and firewall.
  4
November 2011: I cut the edges. First I cut a little to the outside of
the line with the band saw. I then finished with a palm sander and 100
grit sandpaper.
 11
November 2011: Over the last couple of days I've been able to snatch
little pockets of time. I was able to rivet the "wedges" in place.
  I
then began to install the side panels to the center console. The
Builder's Manual tells me to extend the panels to the firewall but I
decided to trim the panels at the tubing that supports the forward part of
the console. I didn't like the idea of thin unsupported aluminum tangling
with my feet. There's a potential problem with my toes getting caught.
I'll have to address that.
 15
November 2011: After a busy weekend! I'm able to steal a few minutes
to complete installing the side panels. For now they're clecoed in place.
When I mount them permanently it will be with sheet metal screws.
 18
November 2011: I enlarged the holes to accept #10 screws. As I drilled
I replaced the clecos with hardware store screws. The next step is to
install nut plates but, I discovered that I didn't have the correct
countersink. I put in a quick order and went on to the next step.
Rudder Pedal Installation
 20
November 2011: The first step in installing the rudder pedals is to modify
the rudder horns to accept the adjusting mechanism. In the second
photo there is one part awaiting modification.
 Modification
is complete. I fabricated retention straps to prevent the possibility
of the cables jumping out of the sheaves. If you look closely you can see
that I "worked" the closest strap. I made it a little too big so I shaped
it to assure that it will do its job.
 22
November 2011: I couldn't stand it. I went to the hardware store and
bought more stainless strapping. I felt compelled to remake the two
oversize retention straps. Now there's no way the cables will jump the
sheaves.
  25
November 2011: I completed both pilot and copilot ruder pedal assemblies.
In the second photo I've just laid them in position. Installation is the
next step.
 26
November 2011: Rudder Pedal Assembly. I decided not to install the
brake pedals until after I've drilled the mounting holes. With the brake
pedals mounted the whole structure would be top-heavy.
 Clamped
into position! The assembly manual tells me to do this with the floor
board in place but, I've decided to drill the holes without the floor
board. It was much easier to align the brackets and clamp them in place.
As it happened I had to grind a little off the ends of the torque tubes to
achieve good alignment. After the holes are drilled I'll remove the
assembly, put the floor board in place and back drill the holes.
 The
500th Photo! All the brackets are temporarily installed with hardware
store screws. I'll use the AN screws and nuts when the assembly is
permanently mounted.
 I
finally broke down and bought an angle drill. I've been needing one
for a long time.
  27
November 2011: Addressing a problem. When the Kitfox is fully
assembled the firewall overlap on the bottom restricts access to the nuts
on the rudder pedal mounting screws. I've noticed that several Kitfox
builders drill holes to access these nuts. Otherwise the engine, its
mount, and the firewall has to be removed just to be able to remove the
rudder pedals. I decided to follow their wisdom. The problem is that there
is a space between the hole in the steel mounting and the firewall. To
obtain accurate alignment I first drilled a hole in a block of wood with
my drill press. I then used it to direct the drill bit straight down to
the firewall. the block of wood clamped to the bottom prevents the bit
from "chattering" as it makes its way through the thin stainless steel.
 Done!
Later (when the unibit arrives in the mail) I'll enlarge the
holes to allow a nut driver to pass. A careful observer will notice that I
also drilled the forward mounting holes for the nose gear.
Back drilling the floor board. I've clamped a block of wood to
prevent splintering as the bit passes through. I didn't really need the
angle drill but the bit was still chucked in place from the previous work
on the firewall.
 A
full day's work. The brake pedals for the copilot are mounted. The
bearings take a bit of sweat and bad language to install. Because of that
I ran out of time before installing the pilot's brake pedals.
 2
December 2011: The brake pedals and cylinders are in place. The pink
tape indicates that the cotter pins are spread just enough to keep them
from falling out. This makes them easy to remove if I have to but they're
certainly not airworthy.
 My
unibit arrived in the mail!
  The
access holes are enlarged! The two holes that are not enlarged are for
the forward mounting bolts of the nose gear pivot blocks.
   4
December 2011: The last two days have been spent installing nut plates.
It was a learning process. After some struggling I learned to spot the
rivet holes from the outside by aligning the nut plate with a screw from
the back and a small vise-grip pliers. The firewall-boot cowl preliminary
fitting is officially complete.
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