The first brace for the rear seat frame of my Bede BD-4C airplane took so long that I thought the remaining three would take quite awhile. I was wrong. With help from my friend, Dave, I got them all done on Wednesday evening before Thanksgiving. Here are photos of the complete set of braces and Dave test fitting the two braces on the right side of the fuselage.
Since we had our family Thanksgiving get-together on Friday, I had time on Thursday to tack weld the frame together.
I have trouble tacking the ends of the tubes. The metal is so thin that it is easy for me to blow holes right through. Here is one of my “problem welds.”
My welding machine has only two voltage settings, high and low. Low is too low and I don’t get decent penetration so I have been using high voltage but with a very slow (1.5) wire feed speed. Usually it works OK for me but not always.
The remaining part of the seat frame is just a bar that goes across the fuselage. The top of the sling attaches to this bar, the bottom of the sling attaches to the frame that is pictured above. This bar was much easier. It is only three pieces and I was able to tack it up on my table; I didn’t have to weld it inside the fuselage. Here is the finished piece. Exciting, huh?
I am done working with steel for awhile. Next job is to make a new tail cone that fits properly. The one that I made a couple of years ago (before I remade the tail of the fuselage) is not quite right.
Who is doing your final welding. You apparently can’t bring all your pieces to a shop when they are attached to the airplane.
Final welding is being done by S.S. Radiator & Welding in St. Peters.
What is used now a days for seat material in rear seat? Used to be canvas. I made an .025 aluminum one with 2 1/2 X 2 1/2 angle across the bottom at the back edge of the seat. The canvas would rock you to sleep as you flew.
The kit only specifies the framework (out of 4130 steel tubing). You are supposed to fashion a sling seat on your own.