Hatz Biplane Association

Good point, and many thanks!
I solicit any and all feedback and pointers from those who have gone before me and learned these lessons...

Just an observation, but you may want to be cautious about how many pieces you add to the fuselage before you finish weld the basic structure. Things will move around as you finish weld the clusters and may effect the final fitment or alignment of things like seats, torque tube mounts, etc.

All gas welded, and tacked only.
I started finish welding some of the joints last night.

Lookin' good!

It looks like your fuselage it tacked together at this point? Are you gas welding or tig?

Very nice!

-Scott

Just for motivation (and admittedly, because I am somewhat proud), here's the seat progress picture: Looking more and more like a fuselage!

Just for the record, I found that a 4' X 4' piece of expanded mesh is available from Grainger, this is what I ended up getting:

Item # 5PCH9
Expanded Sheet, Flat, Carbon Steel, Mill Finish, Alloy Type 1008, Cold Rolled Temper, Length 4 ft., Width 4 ft., Overall Thickness 0.048".

It cost about $33, and shipped for another $16 (direct from the factory), perfectly packed flat in cardboard on a palette.

John is right on. That's how I did mine. Take your time and make sure you get the position of the upper and lower mounting points located as accurately as possible for your installation. As you mentioned, the geometry can make getting these in/out rather frustrating if things aren't lined up right.

Thanks John, that makes sense.

jwhanson wrote:The back edge of that collar (that the bolt goes through) should be about 1/8 of an inch below the upper 5/8 x .035 vertical tube so that it traps the lower tube preventing forward motion.
John Hanson HC-012

The back edge of that collar (that the bolt goes through) should be about 1/8 of an inch below the upper 5/8 x .035 vertical tube so that it traps the lower tube preventing forward motion.
John Hanson HC-012