Mid-Fuselage Parts Assembly, Part 1

After what has seemed like an eternity, the entire part count of the mid-fuselage section has been prep'ed: cutting, deburring, dimpling, drilling and finally PreKoting, priming and the top coat.  Now the payback for all of the preparations - getting to assemble the sub-structure.

The first step is to attach the baggage floor to the aft side of the center section which is immediately followed by the baggage floor ribs.  Below is the process of cleco'ing the ribs to the baggage floors.  In this image the structure is inverted and your view is from the inside.

 The next view is of the entire center section and baggage ribs and floor.

Detail of the attachment of the ribs to the center section web.

Overall view of the center section with the baggage section attached.

Another angle...

The aft bulkhead of the baggage section contains "pockets" or receptacle supports at each end where the rear wing spar assemblies are supported by the fuselage.  Below is a detail shot of the receptacle support cover plate.  The actual support fitting is not shown as it is beneath the riveted plate.

Riveting the rear spar receptacle support and cover plate on the aft baggage bulkhead...on my step stool, about 7 feet in the air.  My work bench is pretty tall!

Next comes the seat ribs and the accompanying seat belt attachments.  There are 8 ribs in total which are assembled into right seat and left seat assemblies.

Shown below is one half of the left seat assembly which also contains a pulley bracket sub-assembly, shown in detail in the previous blog post on mid-fuselage parts preparation.

Another view of the left seat assembly.

Below, both of the seat sub-assemblies are shown.  Notice the darker colored doubler on the middle rib of the left seat assembly (shown on the right side of the picture).  That doubler is for the auto pilot servo if I decide to install it.  Unfortunately, I missed priming this part with the Deft primer, so I cheated and prepped the part with Scotchbrite in a warm solution of dish soap followed by final cleaning with acetone and 3 light coats of Duplicolor self-etching primer.

A final portrait of the seat rib assemblies less the 4th rib in each prior to installing with the respective seat bottom skins.