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Writer's pictureMatt DeCraene

Rear baffle drilling

This picture is after I started removing things. I had March drilled the rear baffle to the z brackets. This is part of what it's commonly referred to as the Checkoway method, and makes more sense than what it's still in the manual since it match drills the parts instead of guessing. Basically, the z brackets are attached to the spar then the tank is fit to the wing. The skin and runs are then pulled off leaving the bale clamped in place.


I took a blurry picture of the z brackets temporarily installed with bolts and nuts. I have not installed the nut plates yet, since several of the parts need to be primed still, and I would like a large enough batch to make it worthwhile to mix paint.


I got some help attaching the stiffeners to the skin.


I then reattached the skin to the rear baffle and strapped it down tight to get good alignment before match drilling the#8 fastener holes.



I then pulled it back off and match drilled all of the ribs. The rear baffle holes get countersunk so the bale slides into pace either during sealing. Otherwise it would get hung up on the dimples. This picture shows it after shifting the clecos a hole.


I then marked and drilled the angles undersized. I am putting a flop tube in this tank, so the center hole gets drilled out for a fuel fitting.


I then clamped them together with the end rib and drilled everything to size



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