Aug 10 2003 - Formed the ribs for the rear seat bottom. I'm using the drawing from Cleaveland for the pattern. For bending the ribs (and the stick well cover described earlier) I bought one of the $20 brakes from Harbor Freight. This thing actually works very well, giving straight bends with a nice radius.

Here the second long flange is about to be bent.

Any scrap works fine for the straight edge. A setback of about 1/8" gives a nice bend radius.

After the bend. Just a little tweaking of the flanges will get them at 90 degrees. The long sides especially need a little extra bending in the middles. Probably not needed with a "real" brake, but hey, it was only $20!

Here is a closeup with the setback of the support block shown. The bends were easy to locate perfectly. Just put your line right on the seam and that will be the outside surface of the bent tab. Contrast this with the hand seamers where I am never quite sure where the bend will end up.

All four ribs ready to go. I have to order some stock for the top so this will be on hold for a week or so.

Aug 22 2003 - While I wait for some wiring supplies, I am finishing up some details. I added a bulkhead feedthru for the rear seat vent line so that the fuselage can be sealed up for cold weather flying. The aileron pushrods, spars, and flap pushrods will also get fabric bellows or other sealing a little later.

Here is the outside view where the wing tubing will mate up.

The rear seat pan and flooring have been finished up and painted. The cutout in the center of the seat pan allows for the pan to hinge forward to access the rear baggage compartment without hitting the stick receptacle. A hinge runs the full width along the front (you can just see the pin at the bottom edge).

Here is a view inside. I omitted the center ribs at Brian Denk's suggestion so that this can be a storage space. It seems many folks go this way with good results. Full width .032 angles support the pan center and the end ribs are .032 as well. The recess in the front is all .025.

Here is a shot of the rear stick well cover plate I made earlier. Along the front edge is the hobby shop tubing that keeps the edge from hitting the stick support. I doubt I will bother closing off the small openings on the sides as well as at the front sides of the support angle since anything that can get in there should not present a hazard as far as jamming the control column.

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