A Tail of Two Weeks

 You don't have to tell me, I have been slack. No posting for 9 days and seemingly not huge progress, but rest assured I am moving forward. I have discovered that the aircraft construction business needs to proceed alongside the activities of daily living. This includes working, eating, sleeping and attending to the ebb and flow of  life in a family full of activity and fun. With a  new grandchild delivered up in the last couple of weeks, it gets better and better. I even managed to take advantage of a bright sunny day on Saturday and fit in a very pleasant hour reacquainting myself with the pleasures aloft in the J230 at Murray Bridge. Notwithstanding all this subsidiary activity, there is some forward momentum in the ACF, now to be described.

The tailcone is creeping towards final assembly. This wear plate gets riveted on to one of the fuselage frames, I'm not sure why just yet but I'm sure all will become clear in due course.

 
The fuselage frames all get riveted together including this plate and angle where the F1210 frame joins.

Here they are, all joined up.

Next you get to fabricate this little gem. It is the Tail Skid Bracket. This involves some trimming, drilling and tapping a thread. it looks like this

The work to date has concluded with the preparation of parts for assembly and riveting of the rear bulkhead assembly. The Bulkhead, the Bulkhead doubler, the Stabilator Hinge Attach Brackets, the Shear Clips and the three J Stiffeners are all prepared and ready to go.

The next steps involve many many rivets to the rear bulkhead assembly, and just to top off the treat, this task incorporates 8 nutplates. Something to look forward to.