Forming Bulkhead Forms

I spent 40 minutes today making the wooden forms for bulkhead "C", the aluminum bulkhead behind the seat. The bulkhead is 2 inches wider on my airplane so the forms had to be 2 inches wider as well. I am sure about the width of the cockpit so bulkhead "C" and its form blocks are set.

The only other thing that I am certain of are the dimensions of the stainless steel firewall. The plans state that they can not be altered in any way. This gives me two knowns around which I need to adjust the widths of the instrument panel and the bulkheads of the fuselage behind the cockpit.

I will be making a form for the firewall next. Then I will make a mock-up of the instrument panel out of thin plywood to test the changes in dimensions. Aluminum will buckle and wrinkle if it is asked to do anything complex without adequate support or shaping. The Teenie Two's skins are fairly straight on the sides of the fuselage but my changes may introduce some wrinkling.

I will lay out the firewall, instrument panel, and bulkhead "C", all made of wood, and then "skin" this layout with poster board. Hopefully I will be able to identify any areas that may need to be changed before I get to the point of cutting metal.

My deviations from the plans are going to cost me time in the build process but in this case time is something I have more of than money and materials. Modifications only increase my involvement with the airplane so I don't get into a dead spot that may detract from my enthusiasm.

Got a long way to go though :)

Forming Rib Forms

Well I spent two hours today making the rib forms for the Teenie Two's wing ribs. The forms are made out of 3/4 inch plywood. The purpose of the forms is to serve as a guide in bending the metal tabs on each rib over. The metal tabs will then serve as a surface area for the wing skins to be attached to using pull rivets.

Forms also need to be made for the fuselage bulkheads and I have yet to do that. I've modified the width of my airplane so I will be cutting some test forms to see if everything will line up correctly. By everything I mean the skin sheets and the other bulkheads. When I am satisfied that everything is aligning properly, I'll go ahead and make 3/4 inch bulkhead forms.

I can't wait to actually start cutting metal, but with a little care I can "measure twice, cut once." Plywood is substantially cheaper than aluminum sheet.

More Tracing Today

Today I spent another four hours tracing and cutting out the patterns for the lower portions of bulkhead B, C, and all of D. Part of the challenge is modifying the patterns for the bulkheads.

I am fairly wide at the shoulders and I don't really like the way the airplane "fits" when done according to the plans. I am widening the cockpit out to about 23" from roughly 21" as it is on the plans. This will allow the side rails of the cockpit to still touch my arms near my shoulders. The fit won't be uncomfortable but will give me that feeling of being part of the machine!

Widening the cockpit dimensions was something sanctioned by the designer of the airplane, Mr. Calvin Parker. It isn't difficult but I had to adjust the widths of bulkhead B, the instrument panel, and bulkhead D, nearly midway down the fuselage. The modification will give my airplane a flatter appearance on top I suspect.

My next step is to cut some 3/4" plywood to serve as forms for the ribs and bulkheads. There are metal tabs that protrude from each rib and bulkhead that must be bent over. The aluminum sheet skin of the airplane is then riveted to these tabs.

Baby steps...

Started the Build Clock

Spent the evening tracing the blueprints with wax paper! Wow this is a lot more time consuming than I thought! I spent nearly four (leisurely) hours tracing the wing rib pattern and the upper portions of bulkhead B (the instrument panel), and bulkhead C, the structure immediately behind the seat. Whew my neck was sore after that!

After tracing the blueprints I cut out the trace and then transferred the components' shapes to a heavy stock posterboard. Tomorrow I'll tackle the vertical sections of the bulkheads I traced tonight and bulkhead D.

Weekends were made for building airplanes! Whew!

Teenie II homebuilt airplane

I have been driven by the desire to design and build my own airplane ever since I was a child. I went to college with the goal of becoming an aeronautical engineer but as things turned out I took a very different career path. The issue was I envisioned a career in the field as sitting at a desk working out someone else's design, and for years, a very small piece of the design at that. This just didn't appeal to me as I had some very clear ideas of what I would like to see flying. So I decided to change my education towards something else that inspired me.

I admire individuals such as Burt Rutan who build things right from concepts in their own head, with small budgets and small teams. I decided to build an airplane by myself, and then with that experience, go on to design something of my own and build that later. The airplane I chose is called the "Teenie II." It is a small, single-seat, low-wing, conventional-geared airplane built almost entirely of aluminum and powered by a Volkswagen engine.

I ordered my plans a few weeks ago in mid-November. I felt like a kid again waiting for the plans to arrive in the mail. The plans arrived quickly so my wait wasn't very long at all. I laugh when I think about their arrival. I ran back into the house and carefully opened the package. I actually remember the clean vinyl smell of the binder that the manual came in. It really was like opening a birthday present and finding the thing that you really really really wanted inside! In fact it was a birthday present, as the money I received from my father for my birthday went towards the purchase price! Thanks dad! So the adventure is just beginning and I look forward to every step of the way!

Hello World!

The intention of this blog is to document my interaction with the aviation world. I decided some time ago to build an airplane and this site will be a chronicle of that endeavor. We'll see how this goes... anything can happen and anything usually does.