[/quote]
I am going to order a few of each size bolt and install them on every Straight tail Cessna Tri-Gear that comes through my shop with that bulkhead in place... I am convinced that will solve the problem...

Brian[/quote]

Brian,

How hard would it be to get at that spot to check and/or add these bolts on a flying airplane?

Mike

Probably not too hard since it looks like an inspection hole over that cavity.

mtv wrote:

I am going to order a few of each size bolt and install them on every Straight tail Cessna Tri-Gear that comes through my shop with that bulkhead in place... I am convinced that will solve the problem...

Brian[/quote]

Brian,

How hard would it be to get at that spot to check and/or add these bolts on a flying airplane?

Mike[/quote]

Mike you took the words right out of my mouth

mtv wrote:

I am going to order a few of each size bolt and install them on every Straight tail Cessna Tri-Gear that comes through my shop with that bulkhead in place... I am convinced that will solve the problem...

Brian[/quote]

Brian,

How hard would it be to get at that spot to check and/or add these bolts on a flying airplane?

Mike[/quote]

Not hard at all...



Here is a picture of the two access holes in the floorboards, both on either side of the bulkhead... Open up these up and they are just slightly outboard near where the door post comes up..

Brian.

I wonder if access is available on tail draggers, particularly the Bush or Bolen STCs?

bush master wrote:I wonder if access is available on tail draggers, particularly the Bush or Bolen STCs?

You can see in there on the tail wheels as well, but its not as much of an issue on them as there is quite a bit of structure riveted and bolted in there.

Thanks for sharing this Brian, ill be adding bolts to the early models I work on as well.

Almost forgot to post Day 7....



Finished up all the rivets and hardware connecting the bulkhead to the forward door post... I was going to use structural cherry max pull rivets where the two AN3 bolts are at the top.. could not get the puller up into the hole so installed the bolts instead.



First time I broke out this new “short” rivet gun.. glad I got it, works perfectly in this area.. these rivets are 3/16 and rivet the angle support brackets that were set into place before the bulkhead was put in...



There are two extra “ribs” that are in the 182 that the 175 did not have... Im used the belly skin to locate the pieces to drill the rivet holes for installation onto the bulkhead..



Here is the piece... we used a 1/8 inch drill to start.. there will be 5-32 rivets installed here.



All the rivets through the floorboards are into the bulkhead.. one thing we found out, had to remove those new bolts I installed in the angle of the bulkhead in order to get a bucking bar onto the rivets at the end of the seat rails.. re installed them after.. but, went ahead and did it through the floor access holes just to see how difficult it would be.. not hard to do at all...



Also the installed some of the flush rivets that were removed on this forward fuselage skin going up the door posts.. we removed them in order to be able to spread those panels out to make getting the bulkhead into place easier...

Brian

Day 8... real close to having this repair done...



The short connection “ribs” for lack of a better term are held in with 5/32 rivets to the front and rear bulkheads... I needed an offset rivet set for the compact gun in order to buck these rivets in place... so I modified an extra standard one that we had... first I cut it down a bit with an angle cut off wheel..



Next step was to chuck it into the old Logan and turn the end square plus modify the shank to get rid of the fillet...



The modified rivet set compared to the standard short one that came with the gun...



My rivet gun collection being used on this project.. 3X on top, 2X in middle and the compact gun on bottom...



With the modified piece we got the rest of the ribs riveted in place...



I also whipped out a new belly skin out of .032 2024 T3..



Went ahead and match drilled the new piece to the old since I know the holes line up... just pilot drilled them to 3/32 for now..

At this point we have everything riveted back in with the exception of the belly skin. Next step is re run the control cables and all the electrical wires, brake lines and fuel line while we have the access...



Obligated pup picture at home.. I’m grilling some burgers and he’s fetching his ball...

Brian

Day 8... short day as I had a dr appointment this morning... dang ears of mine, wax against the ear drum... Amazing how something so small can hurt like a SOB...



All of the necessary control cables, electrical, gas and brake lines ran back through and installed...



Slid the new belly skin in place... doing it slightly different than original.. I am not sliding the front edge user the fuselage skin, just setting it on the outside like the 175’s skin and just about every other Cessna out there...



Skin drilled and clecoed in place.. the new bulkhead will get 5/32 rivets. The front bulkhead will be 10/32 structural screws and nuts since the old holes have been oversized. And everything else will be 1/8 rivets..

Brian

Brian,

How are you going to get inside to buck those? Looks like it could be quite a challenge. Are you going to be able to avoid having to use any blind rivets?

Kurt

G44 wrote:Brian,

How are you going to get inside to buck those? Looks like it could be quite a challenge. Are you going to be able to avoid having to use any blind rivets?

Kurt

There is plenty of access through the floor board inspection holes for the rear bulkhead we replaced.. The hardest ones will be the center section of the front bulkhead.. access to that area is through the center inspection plate located just behind the nose gear... the outer sections of the forward bulkhead is through inspection panels just in front of the rudder pedals.. pretty sure there won’t be a blind rivet in the sheet when done..

Brian


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Nice pictures and info. Cool to see step by step info on a repair like this.

I have done a fair amount of sheet metal work and I am impressed with your approach to this and the quality of work you are doing, thanks for sharing.

Barrakudaman wrote:Nice pictures and info. Cool to see step by step info on a repair like this.

I agree- thanks for posting, Brian.

Day 10... Finished with the repair...

Ok guys, as much as I tried there was just no way to get away without using some structural pull rivets, so I gave in and put a few in.



We first installed the 5/32 rivets into the new rear bulkhead...



And then installed all of the 10-32 structural screws in the forward bulkhead... these things were a colossal pain in the rear and took a couple hours to do.. especially the center section, worked a long 1/4 inch extension with the nut tapped into a wobble socket past the rudder trim wheel...



Most of the pull rivets were done at the ends, just could not get a bucking bar in there right next to the floor boards.. did a couple others where there was either a bracket or some other obstruction in the way also.



And here it is done... next step is to roll it across the runway to my painter neighbor.. yep, this bird is going to get a full strip and paint job...

Brian

Congrats on a job well done, and thanks again for posting all the pics along with the narrative.
Is your neighbor there at Beagle a full-on, full time paint shop?

Rick is full time, not sure about full on painter... He is a one man shop so it takes a while for him to complete a job, but he does excellent work..





Brian


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Day 11..
Now that the airframe is properly repaired and moved Rick the painters hanger, we are back to the wing mods...



Brought in the right wing first...



The WingX extensions require this stainless steel strap be installed on airplanes that DO NOT have the internal reinforcement angle installed and have a gross weight of 3000 pounds and over. For airplanes under 3000 GW it is highly recommend to do.. This airplane is 2650 so not required, but figured since we have it down this far might as well put it in... the strap is centered at station 100 rib, which is just outboard the wing strut attach point. First thing is remove rivets to slide the strap under the leading edge skins..



To make it as clean as possible, I decided to put it under all of the skins, so a short section of rivets in front and behind the spar on the rib to get enough room...



Have to make sure the strap is centered on the front spar so that the wing strut attachment clears...



The kit comes with structural pull rivets to install the strap with. However, there was one spot where the supplied rivet was too short. For that one spot I put in a 10/32 structural screw... The rest are just standard rivets to button up the spar mods for the WingX..



Last thing done today was flip the wing over and start on the Sportsman mod.. First item there is glue on the nose blocks. These will dry overnight and we will start fitting sheet metal in the morning...

Brian

Day 12..

Onward with Sportsman installation....



I enjoy working with owners.. Gives them the chance to be hands on and learn more about their airplane. First section of leading edge skin to go on is at the wingtip. Drill to #40 at 2 inch spacing at 5/16 edge distance..



We flipped the wing over to make it easier to trim the leading edge for inspection holes... This is the second "center" section of leading edge getting drilled and set into place with 3/32 cleco's.



The last section also has the most modification done for inspection panels and the fresh air vent. The foam blocks must be covered in a film of the silicone rubber cement that comes in the kit to keep it from damage by water. There is also the short section of foam installed to make the vent "box"...



Using the template provided with the kit, locate where the new vent hole will be and cut out in the new section of skin.



The last section getting drilled and cleco in place... Next step is to remove everything, clean out the shavings, run a bead of the silicone adhesive around everything, set the skin on and cleco every other hole. Drill to 1/8, counter bore and rivet for the flush pop rivets that are provided in the kit.



Here is a pretty good visual of how much change there is to the wing profile when installing the Sportsman Cuff..

Happy holidays and Merry Christmas to everyone.. Taking the rest of the week off and will be back on this Monday..

Brian

Wings off seems like a great time to install the kit. Good thinking on the owners part!