I spent another couple hours inspecting the fuselage tonight, still going through the plans and marking off what's done and what isn't. Not much there worth photographing. I did get curious about the amount of twist in the QB fuselage, so I got out the digital level and took measurements at three stations, starting with the center spar carrythrough:
At the seat back bulkhead:
At the tail:
Yup, pretty straight I'd say. While I was back there, I put in the remaining rivets that secure the aft bulkhead:
Going through the plans, I came across the F-757 gussets, which have to be modified by cutting a notch with a 2" radius out of one end. I trimmed the edge off the lid to a butter container and it came out to just the 4" diameter I needed. Mmm, partially hydrogenated corn oil. I just marked these parts and didn't cut them – I'm thinking of breaking down and finally buying a bandsaw, and this might be the piece that pushes me over the edge.
I clecoed on the aft top skin to see how things were going to line up:
I have some misalighment at the top of the F-706 bulkhead here – I think the top fuselage J-stiffeners are pushing it out and deforming it enough to keep the prepunched holes from lining up. These guys seem to have been left way too long so I can trim them myself, but the plans are unclear. I'll ask Van's about it tomorrow.
