Installing the Bulkheads

Installing the Bulkheads

Bulkheads sound so much better than walls...

With the wiring ducts in place, the next thing I did was bond the bulkheads in.

I started with the canard bulkhead.  The instructions say to cut out the front landing gear door opening first, as it is more difficult to do this after the bulkhead is in place.  Which I did; however...

Note:  I HIGHLY recommend completely installing the front gear doors, before installing the canard bulkhead.  Basically, every step of making the gear doors and installing them is easier without the canard bulkhead in place.  Skip ahead to front landing gear installation before continuing with bulkhead installation.

Next, I sanded the flange and around the edge, and the corresponding area on the inside of the fuselage.

The canard bulkhead after being sanded. Notice the notch cut out of the bottom, for the keel.

The fuselage with the gear door cut-out and sanded and prepped for the canard bulkhead being installed.

Next, I mixed up a batch of structural adhesive and bonded the canard bulkhead in place; however...

I used a different technique than directed, in the manual and old videos.  The instructions say to use clecos to hold the bulkheads in place while you use bondo or hot glue to hold them, while you apply the structural adhesive around the edges.  this means that only the edges of the bulkheads are actually bonded to the fuselage.  Instead, I applied adhesive around the whole outside of the flange, and placed it in like that.  That provides adhesion along the entire flange surface, but really caused a lot of mess, as I tried to locate it in the proper place.  I think this will provide a superior bond, than the standard installation method.  To make sure the adhesive didn't prevent the bulkhead from sitting back in the same place I  pushed the bulkhead into the fuselage until the excess adhesive squeezed out, and the cleco holes lined back up.  I then used clecos to hold the bulkhead in the proper position.  I coated the clecos in vaseline, to prevent them from being bonded into the plane permanently, and removed them as soon as the adhesive had set up, but before it was fully cured.

I used the natural radius of the tongue depressors to create a smooth radius, to allow a smooth transition.  This really made the later fiberglass reinforcements go in smooth.

Here, the clecos have already been removed, but you can still make out the four cleco holes.  Later these were filled and sanded level.

I tried to keep the adhesive neat, but it kind of gets all over the place.

Next, I sanded the adhesive to get the excess off and prep it for applying the fiberglass reinforcements.

I then switched to the aft section.

With the aft bulkheads out, I sanded them and the inside of the fuselage; same as done on the canard bulkhead.

Ready to bond...

 I used the same messy technique to bond in these bulkheads, as well.  Good thing all that excess adhesive is easily sanded off!

First I bonded in the gear bulkhead, using the measurements provided by Chad, at the factory.  I also used clecos to get the gear bulkhead back in place.

The gear bulkhead bonded in place.  notice the left wiring duct has a ribbon of adhesive along the edges.  The manual says to put the adhesive down first, and then pop rivet it in place, but that sounded very messy, so I did the adhesive afterward, using excess adhesive from bonding the bulkheads.

Lastly, I bonded in the firewall, same as I did with the other bulkheads.  I found the vaseline on the clecos does a great job preventing them from getting bonded to the plane, or being gunked up afterward.

The firewall and gear bulkhead bonded in place, and ready for fiberglass reinforcement.

The final step was to do the fiberglass lay-ups, to reinforce the connection between the bulkheads and fuselage.

Glassing in the firewall, with pre-cut 3" glass strips.

The fiberglass lay-ups almost completely disappear, when done right.

One final sanding, to smooth out the fiberglass reinforcements.  It ain't pretty, yet, but all the bulkheads are bonded and fiberglassed in place.

Next, to work on the cowl flange and removal...