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Based on maybe 90%
completion of my Legacy, here are some thoughts about what order to do
things:
-- Try to get
everything in place that runs through the center console before actually bonding
it in place. I spent two weeks in the builders' workshop in Redmond, where
we fitted the center console and ground the slot for the flap torque
tube. Come to find out later that I had to re-do all of that because we
had not put in the seat belt support bracket, or the fuel pump mount, or a few
other things that change how the center console fits. [You'll also need to
do a flox release on the aft side of the center console so the bearing block for
flap actuator tube will sit flat.] You particularly want to get the
hydraulic lines in place that run up over the spar and toward the front of the
center console. After bonding the console in place, it's almost impossible
to get at any of that. I suggest getting everything fitted and trimmed,
then holding the center console in place with Cleco's for as long as
possible.
-- As with all of the
planes, don't put the windows in until the very last. You'll find you'll
need to get into the baggage area a zillion times before you're
through.
-- Try to do all of
the body work on the bottom before you come off the rotisserie (you do have a
rotisserie, right?). I actually went ahead and finished all the painting,
leaving join lines at body edges, as much as possible. I'll have some
extra work feathering the paint where the early and late paint jobs meet, but it
sure beats doing all that body work, painting, and sanding upside down
underneath the airplane. Even if you're not doing your own painting, at
least do the body work and have it ready to paint.
-- Think about wire routing
before bonding the center console in place. There isn't much provision for
this in the Legacy, so you need to think carefully about how wires will come
from back to front. About the only way is through the thin area in
the center of the spar that is already cut out for the flap motor pushrod.
You can make some holes here and fit grommets, which, again, will be a lot
easier before the center console is bonded in place. You have battery
cables, antenna cables, ELT stuff, autopilot servo cables, plus wiring for the
gear motor, overhead console, etc., etc., and it all has to come through this
small area. Make the holes and grommets big enough, and align them so they
don't hit the flap torque tube.
-- Before bonding the
center tunnel in the baggage compartment in place, make some more holes in the
bulkhead at the rear of the baggage area for wiring. Much easier before
bonding in the tunnel. (I know, because I didn't do them until
later.)
-- Put the fuel lines in
place in the wing as early as possible. After all the gear stuff gets in
there, it gets much harder. Incidentally, I'd think about replacing all
the -8 fittings and 1/2" tube with -6 fittings and 3/8" tube. The 3/8"
tube worked fine on two ES's; the intake fitting on the fuel pump of the IO-550
is a -6 fitting. Plenty big enough, and easier to work with. For
that matter, if Crawford only made a little more variety of bulkhead fittings in
Swagelok, I'd get rid of all the AN flare fittings and substitute
Swagelok. (They don't make bulkhead elbows, either in 90- or
45-degree.)
Happy
building!
Jim Cameron
Legacy, N121J reserved
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