29 Oct 2023

Installed 16x M4 rivnuts in the luggage floor skin and applied Loctite 277.

Riveted the luggage extension box in place. The extension's lower support stringer has a hole at the rear for a rivet, which is extremely difficult to access, but no matching hole in rib 4. There is also a hole in the front, which aligns with the hole in the luggage bulkhead skin and support channel - if you rivet that support channel completely, the stringer will not fit. If you leave it out you can't come back to it once the luggage floor is installed (can't reach it), and the KAI says the lip of the luggage extension should go on top of the luggage floor (i.e. the floor must go in first... so you can't fully rivet the support channel then). This doesn't make sense to me. Finally, there are no holes in the lower half rib 4 to match the luggage extension box back plate. I eventually decided to match drill holes in rib 4 for the lower stringer and back plate and rivet those in place with 3.2mm x 8mm 998's. I also riveted the front stringer to the luggage bulkhead and support channel. This means the luggage floor skin needs to sit on top of the extension box lip but it's the only way it works, and everything fits nicely (and looks better).

I also completed installing the insulation foam on the centre section rear skin and then carefully marked out the location for the COM 2 antenna on the foam. Then with a sharp Stanley knife blade, I cut around the outline, leaving a few millimetres gap. I then carefully (and patiently) scraped off the foam and used some acetone to remove the adhesive backing whilst trying not to damage the surrounding foam. The primer also started to come off during this process, but I'm happy with that as it will provide a ground plane for the antenna. I then drilled the holes to suit a RAMI AV-17 bent-whip antenna (fitted perfectly, which makes a pleasant change!) and applied a little primer around the edge of the foam area where the bare aluminium may be exposed past the antenna base. Happy with the outcome.

I installed the Artex 345 ELT bracket on rib CF-RIB-007-R, which seems to be the most popular location. This effectively means I now have the ELT installation under the rear seat. If I had thought about it beforehand, I would have drilled the holes in the rib before riveting it to the rear spar due to space constraints. I could only drill the holes by using a 12" long 3/16" drill bit through the lightening holes in rib 008-R and then using a step bit to upsize to 5mm (may need to go a little larger to match the ELT bracket but will see what hardware I can source to secure the bracket). At least the ribs were not yet riveted to the lower skin, which permitted some much-needed movement to access the area.

Applied a little primer touch up to some of the floor ribs and fuselage areas.