Search Results for: fuselage skin

This post has a long title because I continue to crank through the punch list of tasks that I need to complete before I can fly my Bede BD-4C airplane. There are so many little tasks that I am using a Trello board to track them. You can see it here: N2468Z Zemon BD-4C. In […]

I finished two small tasks on my Bede BD-4C airplane this week. First, I fabricated and installed backing plates (a/k/a skin doublers) for the VOR antenna and the transponder antenna. Second, I fabricated and installed the seals for the gaps between the main landing gear legs and the bottom of the fuselage. Scale is a […]

If you have been following along, you know that I have spent the last couple of weeks tossing ideas around, and getting lots of suggestions, for how to mount autopilot servos in my Bede BD-4C airplane. This is the fourth in my series of blog posts on the subject and, I am happy to say, […]

The door on the right side of my Bede BD-4C airplane is ready to go to the welder. I had to fabricate two aluminum blocks for the hinges. These will bolt to the fuselage. Then I had to fabricate matching steel parts and weld them to the door frame. Here is a photo of the […]

I am starting on the left aileron for my airplane. On the Bede BD-4C, the ailerons are operated by 10 foot long torque tubes which run from the fuselage, through the flaps, all the way to the wing tips. Here is a picture of the torque tube for the left wing with the aileron ribs […]

I started on the flaps for my Bede BD-4C airplane this week. The adventure began on Monday when Jim and Patrick and Rich very kindly came over and helped carry the wings out of the basement and into the garage. Each wing is 10 feet long and weighs about 85 pounds. The weight isn’t so […]

I lied in the title. I am not fitting the rudder to my Bede BD-4C airplane. I am fitting the vertical stabilizer. The vertical stabilizer is the thing which sticks up, like a shark’s fin, and does not move. The rudder is the piece attached to the back of the vertical stabilizer and which wiggles left and […]

I spent the whole week working on various aspects of the rudder pedals and controls for my Bede BD-4C. I cut the steel rudder pedal posts to fit the rudder pedals, drilled the tabs on the backs of the pedals to accommodate the hinge pins, Alodined and painted a few parts, drilled the fuselage for […]

How I spent my winter vacation: Since I had the week between Christmas and New Years off work, it gave me a long stretch of time to attack the large job of installing the floor in my Bede BD-4C. I thought it would be simple but, in the end, I was very glad that I had […]

Several of you have told me how much you are enjoying these postings, and you have been encouraging me to keep building and keep writing. Thank you very much. Believe me, I appreciate all of the positive energy you are sending my way! Almost all of you have been completely lost about what the heck an […]