Thorp Air Command - T18.net

I did not mod the center tube . Plenty of room for the glass and WX strip . I like screws , but the less holes I have to drill in plexiglass the better I like it . No pics of the brackets...lost in a prior computer crash . Dan Eggleston might still have the pics he sent me of his brackets . Like Cubes said Bill made a slip roller to put that nice bead on the skin . I also went this route to eliminate the "trim strip" in this area...makes for a cleaner install in my opinion . Water tight seal !

RB

Stug,

Like Cubes said, no notches on the curve... just a smooth, flowing line. I used a homemade roller assembly to form the flange too... it worked very well for me. A slotted stick, like Rich used, was used for similar jobs on other parts of my airplane. BIG Boom!

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John Evens
Arvada, Colorado
T-18 N71JE (sold)
Kitfox 7 SS N27JE

Thanks for those comments I have tried to iron out some of the bugs in the top skin drawing, new version attached. I am now almost ready to do a test run cutting this piece. I also had to swap the sides for the fuel cap and fuel level sender, for some reason the tank I have has them reversed from the plans, I think that must have been an Australian thing I have seen it on a few aircraft over here.

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Stug

Stug,

Doesn't appear to have enough "meat" around the windshield to do the bend up wrap that many of us use. See prior newsletters for an article I wrote on bending up the flange for the windshield attach. Also, the curve should be smoothall the way around. Your drawing seems to show sharp corners where the piece leaves the dash.

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Bob Highley
N711SH
SN 835
KLAL

Stug,

I agree with Bob... smoother curve & more "meat".

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John Evens
Arvada, Colorado
T-18 N71JE (sold)
Kitfox 7 SS N27JE

I would say at least an 1 1/4" from the rivet line . You can always remove skin if you think it is too much BOOM !

RB

OK have added more meat and curves. Did anyone want fries with that?

I think I might run with this version and do a test in plastic on the machine, I can then tweak the curve and add more meat if needed once I have trial fitted it.
Thanks for the comments.

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Stug

Why is it that the fuel filler is on the copilots side....maybe it gives the copi an "opportunity " to fill er up

SS

Scott,

That's 'cause thats the side the self serve pump is on.

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Bob Highley
N711SH
SN 835
KLAL

Got it, now I understand, I suppose the Australians put on the other side because of the coriolis effect......right. Guess you will have to explain it to me over breakfast or lunch in a few days Bob.

SS

The water in the toilet goes in the opposite direction , Winter is Summer , Fosters is for tourists and the Dingo ate my Baby !

RB

Why, I've no idea why they swapped the fuel filler over to the left. Could it be a Australian speed mod, maybe they read the plans back to front, we do drive on the left hand side of the road over here remember!

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Stug

So what do the locals drink?

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http://www.dixiefriedfabrication.com/

So we cut the the top skin in plastic to test how well my flat layout drawing would match the aircraft, turns out I had made one error so it wasn't perfect but with a bit of tweaking I think the drawing will be spot on next time.
Even with the drawing error the I was able to cleco the top skin without any adjustments to the rivet holes running along the WL42 longerons, both sides matched the side skins perfectly and the skin nicely fitted over the top flat section.

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Stug

Stu, PJ in BNE. Great progress. Give me a call 0408230810 to have a chat