Fuel Tank End Ribs

Today Dad and I figured we would get cracking on the fuel tank pick up tubes. In the last post I noted that we would have to make a new hole for the flop tube, which would be located at the front of the inboard rib, and not on the access plate. We had already cut out the hole for the standard pick up tube in the plate and instead of making a cover for the hole, Dad fabricated a beautiful brand new one out of some .060" stock that we had. It looks great!

The hole up for the flop tube was a multi step process. Our unibit only goes up to 1/2" and the fitting was significantly bigger (I can't remember the diameter) so we used ours, and then finished the hole with our friends larger unibit. We had to do this for the rib, the angle bracket, and the backing plate. There is a proper position for the fitting noted in the plans, but we didn't see this until after we had cut the hole. Lucky us we were within 1/16 of an inch!

After we got the hole done, I had to head to work but Dad stayed at the hangar and continued to make some progress. He was able to cut an anti-rotation bracket for the right tank pick up and he also made the trap door that fits over the corner hole on the interior rib. After that he made the bracket that goes over the left side inspection plate so the flop tube doesn't get hung up. We still have the othe one to make that fits inside the bay.

All in all, today was a pretty productive day!