2/8/2014
Starting the layout of fuselage parts. The plans has the side panels as the highest numbered sheets. Tim and are expecting that we will be at least one sheet of 0.025″ aluminum short. This is due to (likely) some careless cutting on my part, way back when we were fabricating the control surfaces. At that point it appeared as though we had at least one sheet of 0.025″ surplus and when I was cutting out the control surfaces I simply continued cutting them in sequence from a single sheet. The general rule of thumb for consuming sheet goods for best material use is to cut (or lay out) the largest pieces first and to nest the next smaller sized pieces within those larger cut outs. By ignoring this rule and in addition, having to recut one aileron due to a mishap during trimming (grrrrr) I likely set the stage for needing to make another trip to the local aluminum vendor. Lucky for us there is a local vendor for 6061 or I would be paying for shipping.
So Tim and I laid out the large pieces for the fuselage and it is clear we are at least one short. I would say that the fuse parts require the same level of attention to the plans as all the rest. I read through the F26-01 skin multiple times before I realized I missed the detail at the skins are mirror images except for the inspection hole AND the hole for the rudder control slot. I have the two skins stacked to lay them out for drilling and fortunately caught this difference before I drilled any holes.
I think the best procedure is to cut out and complete fabrication and drilling of all the major fuselage skins before heading out to pick up the needed additional sheet as there is little room for error on the large parts before we would need to add to our order. Hopefully that will not be necessary.
