Category: Fuselage

When I first wrote about my rear seat belt modifications, I initially planned to mount the inertia reel below the floor, and then cut a slot in the floor to route the belt up to the shoulder anchor point. However, the more I thought about it, the more I...

I’ve been continuing with my rear seat belt modifications. The shoulder anchors attach to hat sections, which are attached to the rear fuselage beltframe and skin. I fabricated the hat sections from 0.080″ aluminum. The sheet stock is too thick to cut with shears, so I used a nibbler...

During the week I assembled the front seats. These go together pretty easily. There were some improvements made to the design, so the parts I had were a little bit different than what is shown in the KAI – for example, the channels on the left, right and bottom...

Some number of months ago, I created a miscellaneous parts board, made from a recycled shipping container cover. It is home to a number of loose parts that are still in sub-kit bags, but either I haven’t needed the parts yet, or I haven’t figured out what they’re for....

I’ve continued with upholstering the luggage area, it’s getting close to done. I worked on the ceiling pieces as well as the door. I’m not too sure what is the “correct” way to upholster the door, so I’m sharing a few pics of how I decided to do it....

I think it will be difficult to install the carpeting in the luggage area after the fuselage side skins are installed, so I’m taking advantage of the easy access I have now before I continue with building the center fuselage. I’m continuing to use the high-density foam insulation from...

With all the weight in the rear fuselage, I’ve been using a couple of wood blocks to support the tail on top of the work bench. However, it’s not very robust, seems like a waste of good bench space, so I decided to build a tail stand. I used...

Build Manual Reference: TSi Fuselage Manual Page D22 – D23 I installed the luggage door per the build manual. Bending the door to match the fuselage contour was a very iterative task, but not difficult. At first I tried using my thigh as suggested in the manual, but I...

For the past week I’ve been preparing to install the upper skins of the rear fuselage, which will close out most access to this section. Although there is an inspection panel mid-belly, I decided it would be easier to install the GMU 11 magnetometer before closing out, so earlier...