William,
I have completed the installation of the torque tube some time ago and
ran into the same thing you did. Unfortunately, I followed the manual
to the letter and ended up having to rework the fuselage due to a twist
in the lower fuselage. Once the top half of the fuselage is fitted it
works to remove the twist. Yes remove the twist. I wish I had know this
prior to all the work I had done. In fact I contacted Lakeland and they
told me to proceed as described in the manual. Now the torque tube had
to be repositioned along with the containment bulkhead for the mass
balance weights. I had bonded the containment bulkhead vertically with
the top off. Once the top was fitted and the twist in the fuselage
removed, the bulkhead was no longer vertical and the weights rubbed
against the bulkhead. I then had reposition the containment bulkhead
with the top off at an angle that would compensate for the twist. Not a
fun task at all. A lot of trial and error.
My recommendation is to first install the wood spacers of appropriate
width per the manual, in preparation for installing the rear bulkhead.
Next cleco the top of the fuselage
to the bottom. You will be surprised to see that with the top fitted the
twist has been removed. At least this was the case for my project.
Now with the top on you can proceed with locating the torque tube.
Start by drilling a small (1/4"dia.) hole through the cross hairs and
insert a
"straight" dowel. Then take measurements from the end of the dowel to
the base
of the firewall. A good spot is on the sides of the fuselage at the
joggle
where the cowling will go. Mark these spot as you will constantly be
taking
measurements from these two locations. If any adjustments are required
(don't forget to check level) you will only need to move the small pilot
hole. With the location of
the pilot holes established you can then remove the top and position the
rear
bulkhead relative to the pilot holes. When bonding the bulkhead in place
you
will want to reinstall the top molding while the epoxy sets (having first
made
sure there is adequate clearance between the bulkhead and top molding).
If you haven't cut out the inspection holes in the top (forward of the
bulkhead) and bottom (aft of the bulkhead), now is the time. You can
use these to check on the progress of the lay up. Once the rear bulkhead
in bonded in place you can now proceed with drilling out the pilot holes
using a 2" hole saw. Follow the instructions for bonding the torque tube
in
place with the exception of letting the epoxy cure with the top on. If
all
went well the torque tube will not require further adjustment once in
place and
will be smooth as silk.
Regarding the vertical containment bulkhead I had to do this via trial
and error.
Hope this is of help to you. If you have any questions just let me know.
Regards,
Erich Trombley
Builder A028
writes:
> To all,
>
> I have a twist clockwise or to port in my rear fuselage (under
> construction). Also the starboard side of the lower fuselage half
> tail
> surface is curved in more than the port side making the centerline
> between the two crossed for centering the torque-tube and also the
> line
> between the two front flange (for gluing to the upper fuselage half)
> corners are not horizontal or level. This is before and after I fix
> the
> distance between the points as the manual stipulates. As I am
> installing the tail bulkhead I am concerned that if I epoxy it in
> place
> without correcting this twqist, I will make the twist more
> permanent.
> My plan is to epoxy with the tapes only the starboard lower quadrant
> of
> the bulkhead in place, then manually twist the fuselage to correct
> position and then epoxy the rest of the bulkhead in place, thus not
> making the deformity/twist permanent.
>
> Has anyone had this problem? Has anyone successfully corrected this
> twist?
>
> Thanks,
> Bill McClellan A164
>
>
>
>
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