Me too!!! [emoji1360]

Lots of steaming stringers to bend them to fit.



This is our first time using Rainbow for the wood, and we won't be doing it again. We should have bought the original stuff from ACA.

The box Rainbow sent the wood in was too short to accommodate everything, so he cuts the long top stringers to make them fit in the box and it's up to you to glue them together to make them work. [emoji1361]

Then, even if you do manage to get the extension pieces attached to these stringers, they're still too short. [emoji1361][emoji1361]

We just ended up using the old original top stringers since they were in good shape and the proper length.

Penny wise and pound foolish.

The stringers he sent were also way thicker than the slots in the formers he gave us. Terrible trying to make everything fit. The factory stuff is way easier to work with. We can make this work, but it will take more time and effort.

Hopefully this saves someone the same trouble in the future and they buy direct from ACA.









After the stringers were shaped/steamed to fit and lots of sanding to allow them to mate with the formers, they were removed and a coat of 2 part epoxy that is Poly Fiber compatible was applied on them.



Still lots of final fitting, bending, cutting, etc to go

Sorry to hear about Rons wood. Did you call him and ask for an explanation? I've bought a number of pieces from him before, including top stringers for my last Scout and they got in very nice and were actually too long. I had to cut the ends off to fit...

Yep, we talked to him on the phone about it.

Aryana wrote:Yep, we talked to him on the phone about it.

Sorry to hear that. I'll keep it in mind for my next build though. Thanks for the info!

And you're reminding me of a good point...that this is only one datapoint of Ron's product so that has to be taken into account.

Once the wood is done, the bottom covering will go on so that we can get the fuselage on its feet and install the main gear legs.

Not much work posted in the last couple weeks because I was busy with the 3 written tests and oral/practical for my A&P...and happy to report that I passed!

Aryana wrote:Not much work posted in the last couple weeks because I was busy with the 3 written tests and oral/practical for my A&P...and happy to report that I passed!

Congrats! That is awesome Arash!

Aryana wrote:Not much work posted in the last couple weeks because I was busy with the 3 written tests and oral/practical for my A&P...and happy to report that I passed!

Great job! Congrats! I just passed my final CARS exam to become a fully licensed AME here a few weeks ago. Great feeling for sure.

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My man Arashphalt!!! Way to go sir!!

Congrats to the both of you!!

Thanks everyone.

Congrats to you too A1Skinner!! [emoji1319]

Stripped the engine mount to inspect for cracks.



Primered



First look at the pieces for the baggage door that we'll be adding on. Making sure everything kinda fits.





Installed the plate for mounting the antenna.



Fuel lines, etc...



The visible steel tubes of the fuselage have been painted flat black.





Stringers and other bits starting to be installed permanently.







That's it for now. Waiting for new cables to be delivered to move ahead and start prepping to cover the bottom of the fuselage and get it back on the gear.

Looks great! I'd suggest putting the headliner in now before it goes on gear legs. Nice to do it when the plane is down low.

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A1Skinner wrote:Looks great! I'd suggest putting the headliner in now before it goes on gear legs. Nice to do it when the plane is down low.

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Funny you mention that. We dry fit it to see how it'll fit, but plan on doing exactly what you suggest.

I know, it looks horrible here, but it will look way better for the final install.

Thanks for all the pictures, I'm really enjoying it. I've been looking at buying a Scout lately and so I've dug deeper into Bellanca/ACA planes and options. A couple questions if you don't mind - A1Skinner you might have some good answers/opinions too.

Why did you go with the Rainbow door instead of ACA? I realize it's bolt on but seems with a recover the ACA could've worked. Do you see the front hinge as a benefit? Do you know if it's bigger? Field approval only right?

People all know how to pull weight out of Cessna interiors by now, but do people do that with the citabria line of things? They all seem to have relatively kush interiors and I'm wondering if thats needed by design or if it's just the style?

It's very informative seeing one go together - lots to learn.

All questions welcome. My answers may suck though so no promises!

We chose the Rainbow door because we didn't want to weld and the front hinges door was preferable to us. The field approval is easy, but Ron says he will have an STC finished up soon which makes it easy peezy.

The interior in these is definitely bloated like you mention. We've done a few Champs with bare bones stripped interiors and it makes a big difference.

We plan on doing some version of that to this plane, but don't want the pink Poly Fiber process on the interior side of the fabric visible so we might get creative.

The factory stuff from ACA was terrible. Sheet metal with heavy padding and vinyl covering that looked very dated, especially when it got old and gross.

Stay tuned, you'll see whatever we decide on when the time comes!

FWIW, you dont have to weld with the ACA baggage door either. We've done a few just bolting them in which is approved. I do like the idea of a forward hinge, as long as it stays open when loading though. It's a pain to always have to swing the door out of the way.
Carbon fiber floor boards save some weight. I've seen a guy doing carbon fiber side panels and they looked great. I may try that on the scout I build this winter. I also think just glueing a nice felt onto the inside of the fabric might work good and save a bunch of weight. I like the bare bones look. Putting the battery on the firewall saves a bunch of weight, as do better seat cushions. The other well known mods like aluminum gear legs and carbon fiber props also save a bunch, both on the plane and your wallet.
I wish the factory would be a bit quicker on getting the T3 taulwheel on the TC. They've been testing one for a while but don't seem in a big hurry to do much with it. Same goes for Oratex on the 8GCBC.
I've been pondering how to lighten the tail up on the Scout. They are very strong, but heavy compared to other similar planes. I'm curious if the airfoil tail gives it a lighter feel and locks up off the ground quicker. More experimenting to do with my next build I guess... [emoji848]

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The felt is a good idea. We were throwing around the idea of some Selkirk foam as a possibility...

Aryana wrote:The felt is a good idea. We were throwing around the idea of some Selkirk foam as a possibility...

Ya I was thinking the same, it would give it some insulation then. But stock they dont have much so I dont know if its needed. The heaters work so good in the ACA line that they cook you out pretty fast.

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