| DTBR's Airplane Project Forward Fuselage - Firewall |
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| Last Updated: 7/5/02 |
| Most of the layout work for the firewall worked best laying flat on the table. However, positioning some the the parts and drilling from both sides worked best in an upright position as shown. We found that the "L" braces fabbed for the the wing spar set-up worked very well as clamp-up supports for the firewall. |
| On 30 December 2001, we stored the aft fuselage components, cleaned up the shop and began the initial preparations for working the firewall assembly. |
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| However, no study period is complete without a steaming cup of hot coffee from my favorite mug. Tammy had this customized "801 Mug" made as a Christmas present for me and now it's a standard part of my Saturday morning shop routine. Thanks Tam! |
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| In this photo, the firewall and all the support members have been drilled and clecoed, but not riveted. We found that keeping the firewall assembly in this state for as long as possible was a real benefit during the fit-up with the forward fuselage. Being able to un-cleco an obstructing part was much easier than working around them for drilling, trimming, and other assembly steps. |
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| One of the more complex tasks for the firewall was the forming of the cowl support bracket. Although the kit provided a piece of straight galvanized "L", this part needed to fluted in a specific pattern in order to form to the firewall curvature and cowling contour. Since fluting pliers did not do well with this galvanized material, I made a tool from an oak dowl and oak flooring board that could be squeezed in a vise to produce the desired effect. As shown, it seemed to work well. |