Finally got the finish kit more or less unpacked and inventoried today. There are some big parts that I won't need for some time. The cowling won't be needed until I have an engine, and the canopy plexi will have to wait for some much warmer weather.
The cowling I can stash just about anywhere - not exactly fragile. The plexi on the other hand has an evil reputation for cracking, especially if you try to do anything with it cold. It needs to be stored somewhere safe until it warms up enough to work on.
I originally thought about storing it on some kind of suspended frame under the fuselage, but rejected that idea as being impractical - it would get in the way of trying to work on the fuse and be prone to kicking and/or other things generally detrimental to its good health. It would also have been an extremely tight fit.
I finally decided to suspend the bottom of the shipping crate from the ceiling on the garage door end. I figured I could attach some cleats to the wood outboard of the doors, span that with a 2x4, and use then use that 2x4 as a support for one side of the shelf. I could then attach some hangers to the ceiling and support the other side.
The shipping crate was 96" x 48", so that worked out well. The bottom is about 3/8" ply with some 1x2 reinforcement. Should make a good shelf as long as nothing terribly heavy is stored on it. The canopy is very light, so that shouldn't be an issue.
Spent most of Saturday afternoon trying to decide what to do then actually doing it.
Overall, the idea came out pretty well, and the huge shelf will be a good place to stash other unwieldy stuff like wheel pants, leg fairings and anything that is fairly light and won't be needed for a while.
Since a picture is worth a thousand words, here are a few.
Scrap 2x4 cleats are screwed to the wood frame outboard of the door so I have somewhere to attach the board that will span the door. I figured 24" from the ceiling (which is 8 foot) would give me plenty of room.
Then I screwed a scrap 8 foot 2x4 to the cleats. The idea is that the back half of the crate bottom will rest on this.
Forgot to take pictures of the cleats and hangers before installing the shelf, but it's pretty obvious what I did. I used an electronic stud finder to find the joists, then screwed scrap 2x4's to them - long enough to span between 2 joists for strength. I then screwed the hangers to the cleats so all the support parts were ready.
Greg helped me lift the crate (with canopy on it) up onto the back support, then held it while I back screwed (from the inside in other words) the outside of the crate bottom to the hangers The back side also got a couple of screws into the 8' 2x4 so there is no way to pull it away from the wall. Very solid. All I have to do now is trim the hangers and pad them a bit so no one (me in other words...) whacks it with their head.
It's about 6' off the floor. All the parts and table will fit under it easily, and I can stand under it if I stoop slightly. Since everyone else in the family is under 6', they are in no danger.
You can see the rollover bar and canopy frame sitting on the fuse in this picture - they aren't installed, just sitting there. The stuff on the panel is pictures of instruments - been trying to figure out what I'm going to get and where I'm going to put it.
Finished trimming up the hangers and padded the sides and corner. The canopy should be safe until I can start working on it, and the best thing is it's totally out of the way.
Once the shelf was done I could start on the inventory. Inventorying the parts is always a good idea. 2 of my 3 previous kits were perfect, but my wing kit had some missing parts that Van's shipped out right away once I notified them. If you don't check it and find out after 30 days you're missing something, it's on you, so better check and be sure.
I was a bit surprised to see these. These are braided brake lines. Van's used to use poly brake lines ( I know the prototype does because I've seen them). Most people complained and used Bonaco instead. These look just like the Bonaco units. Much nicer than the poly and easier to work with.
Matco brakes and wheels. These are some really nice machined and anodized units.
Detail of the brake caliper.
And the wheels. The wheels are split rim (standard on aircraft) and use tires with tubes in them The brake rotors bolt to the inside. These take 6" tires.
Nose wheel with bearings. Smaller tire.
Yoke for the nose wheel. The end with the bushing fits on the nose gear and casters around it.
Most of the rest of the parts - canopy rail and sheet metal, the canopy handle, empennage and wing seals, etc.
Don't think I've ever shown a hardware kit - this is it. Usually comes on one huge bag, with all the bolts, rivets, platenuts and other hardware. Each bag has a number corresponding to the callout on the inventory sheet. Count everything but the rivets, then put it in the storage bins. I'll try to remember to show a picture of that - got the idea from Jeff Moreau, and it's been a godsend. It would be a nightmare to keep track of without being stored properly.
Next up - start working on the canopy frame!
