•The forward fuselage is composed of assemblies like the welded steel cage, with aluminum skins and numerous parts including landing gear, tail cone, firewall, seat pan and controls.
•Mating the rear fuselage and mounting the tail feathers requires the structure to be squared and leveled. Doing them sequentially saves you time.
•Critical holes in the fuselage are predrilled. Skins are predrilled for fasteners, but do not have holes that line up with the critical ones in the frame.
•It is recommended to fit the skins with clecos, but not rivet side skins in place until most of the essential items are installed in the fuselage.
•NOTE: The side skins are structural elements, and provide diagonal bracing for the fuselage. Do not install an engine on the aircraft with the side skins off, damage to the forward fuselage frame may occur.
Overview of Assembly:
1.Fitting skins and stiffeners to forward fuselage cage.
2.Fit firewall to forward fuselage
3.Fit tailcone to forward fuselage
4.Deburr/dimple fuselage frame
5.Install tail cone
6.Align and drill Horizontal and vertical stabilizers
7.Install main landing gear
Note: this order will get the fuselage on its landing gear form easier moving, and minimize the number of times you will need to level the airframe. You do not necessarily need to follow this order.
