Scottly, Jerry, and anyone else building a D version:
This is not a huge deal but we made the mistake of installing our fuel tank mounting bushings as per the standard Skybolt plans prior to installing the Delta cabane and wire fittings. In the picture below you can see the forward cabane mount and the forward sway wire mount tacked in place. You can also see where I had to remove the forward fuel tank mounting bushing. There was no way to get a t-bolt and strap in that bushing because of the conflict with the forward sway wire mount. You can't swap the upper and lower straps because of the fuel cap in the tank. It looks like we will have to relocate the bushing about 5/8" farther aft. Any further than that and the strap will conflict with the fuel filler cap making us move the tank further aft slightly. I suppose with a heavy engine and constant speed prop on the front, that would not be a bad thing.
Later today we should have the upper wing jigged in place well enough to check all angles and even get lengths on the sway and stagger wires. As it looks now, the forward sway wires will be under the sheet metal for a bit and exit the upper cowling 8-10" from the mount at a shallow angle. Yesterday I looked at Stearmans and other biplanes at Golden West to see what this looks like. I have decided to make small fairings to cover these slots and clean up the exit.
Jim
<beej:img width edited
This is not a huge deal but we made the mistake of installing our fuel tank mounting bushings as per the standard Skybolt plans prior to installing the Delta cabane and wire fittings. In the picture below you can see the forward cabane mount and the forward sway wire mount tacked in place. You can also see where I had to remove the forward fuel tank mounting bushing. There was no way to get a t-bolt and strap in that bushing because of the conflict with the forward sway wire mount. You can't swap the upper and lower straps because of the fuel cap in the tank. It looks like we will have to relocate the bushing about 5/8" farther aft. Any further than that and the strap will conflict with the fuel filler cap making us move the tank further aft slightly. I suppose with a heavy engine and constant speed prop on the front, that would not be a bad thing.
Later today we should have the upper wing jigged in place well enough to check all angles and even get lengths on the sway and stagger wires. As it looks now, the forward sway wires will be under the sheet metal for a bit and exit the upper cowling 8-10" from the mount at a shallow angle. Yesterday I looked at Stearmans and other biplanes at Golden West to see what this looks like. I have decided to make small fairings to cover these slots and clean up the exit.
Jim
<beej:img width edited