Forward Center Section Bulkhead

My backordered forward center section bulkhead arrived last week so I started on it today. This is where the fuselage kit would normally begin.

The first step is cutting some stiffener angles to size that are then match drilled the the bulkhead web.

I had already countersunk the #8 screw holes in the side channels.

The forward seat attach brackets were then deburred and clecoed into place.

The gear mounts were then positioned against the bulkhead.

A hole was already cut out for the weldment but the gear mount contacted it on the inboard side so I created more clearance with a file.

I then countersunk the nutplate attach holes.

The plans have you ensure that you can fit the gear mount bolts into place. The powder coated gear mount holes weren’t big enough so I’ll need to final size these. I have a .311 reamer for AN5 bolts but I noticed that my AN4 bolts are consistently .247 so I went ahead and ordered a .247 reamer instead of drilling these directly to 1/4″. I’m also not entirely clear yet what the plans expect here (they only say to ensure the AN3 bolts fit) so I decided to set this aside for now until I can do more reading.