Step 10: Closing the Top and Carving & Glassing the Outside

ch13_75

2014-01-13: I never liked the standard nose shape. I think the nose is too blunt. I decided to make the nose 4″ longer. Many builders have made their own nose shape, the longest I’ve heard of is over 8″ longer than the stock nose.

ch13_76
2014-01-13: I did not alter the shape of the nose compartment very much, the bottom is all stock, the top and the sides are changed a bit (wider) to achieve a nice line from the IP.
I traced the lines both sideways and from the top on paper, and made templates of plywood.

ch13_77
2014-01-13: I made the top and bottom of the nose according to the plans using urethane.

ch13_78
2014-01-13: F0 is a bit wider and higher to match the new nose-shape.

ch13_79
2014-01-13: I will make a hollow nose-cone, since I will mount the landing lights here. Glued some urethane-blocks together.

ch13_80
2014-01-13: The nose-block is the glued with 5-min epoxy to F0 and set to cure.

ch13_81
2014-02-15: I leveled the fuselage and measured WL10 using the laser.

ch13_82
2014-02-15: WL10 this is also marked on the templates. The lower line is the center-line measured from the point of the nose. I fastened the plywood templates with drywall screws on both sides.

ch13_83
2014-02-15: Then I sanded the top urethane down to the side templates. Many builders hate the urethane foam, I love it. It’s so easy to shape and sand. But it’s easy to damage the foam, so one have to be careful handling the parts until they are glassed. One other nice thing is that the dust is heavy so it just falls down to the floor instead of flying into the air. I use the shop vacuum cleaner often to keep the foam and floor as clean as possible.

ch13_84
2014-02-15: After sanding the top and bottom, I sanded the sides using the same method.

ch13_85
2014-02-23: Turned the fuselage upside down and sanded the bottom corners. Prepared the bottom for glassing. I will glass the nose cone after the rest of the nose is glassed. I made a recession behind the nose cone to make room for overlapping glass. I also made a recession around the opening for the nose wheel strut. I will later make the cover for the nose strut, the cover will then reside in this recession and be flush with the bottom.

ch13_87
2014-03-08: I decided to make the nose strut cover while the fuselage is upside down. I cut out a urethane block that would fit inside the nose wheel opening.

ch13_88
2014-03-08: Glued the block with 5-min epoxy inside the opening.

ch13_89
2014-03-08: Sanded flush with the fuselage bottom. Actually sanded flush with the recessions I made prior to glassing the bottom. In this way the strut cover will be flush with the glass bottom.

ch13_90
2014-03-08: Covered the bottom with tape prior to glassing 3 BID. Peel plied and Set to cure. Will continue with this in a later step, together with making the nose wheel doors.

Started: 2014-01-13
Ended: 2014-03-08