Construction of Tubular Steel Fuselages is written to assist the average mechanic or aircraft builder to produce a tubular steel airframe that is as good as one from the factory. The assembly methods in this manual are intended to produce a highly accurate fuselage in such a way that expansion and contraction occur symmetrically with no distortion. The techniques given including those on jigging and alignment methods will also help in rapid prototyping where a high degree of accuracy is necessary without elaborate welding jigs.

This book details the entire fuselage design and construction process in a practical way for the builder (not the engineer) including consideration for loads, evaluation and placement of fittings and joints, jigging, welding and other metal working techniques, tool use, and the actual step by step construction of top and bottom halves of a steel fuselage as well as the many sub assemblies common to every tubular aircraft fuselage type from J3 replicas to high performance aerobatic aircraft.

Softcover, 158 Pages

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TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Welded Fuselage Construction and Design

• terminology
• axes
• fuselage geometry
• drawing conventions
• weld design
• materials
• designing parts

Methods & Processes

• steel
• abrasives
• welding
• nonstructural attach points
• corrosion and removal
• cleaning and painting
• metrology for jigging

Tools

Jig Tables

• flat and level
• materials
• order of construction

Layout

• centerlines
• drawing tops and bottoms

Constructing the Top and Bottom

• blocks
• shims
• longerons
• constructing the top
• constructing the bottom

Fitting the Top and Bottom

• hangers
• setting the bottom
• firewall reference plates
• setting the top
• upright crossmembers
• longerons on the firewall

Welding the Fuselage

• welding the joints
• longeron straightening caused by welding
• starting welding
• fabricating engine mount pads
• finishing welding
• rudder post

Horizontal Vertical Stabilizer and Control Surfaces

Seats, Rollover Structures, Harness Installations

Appendix

• attach points and connections
• reference materials and suppliers
• geometry
• recommendations for 4130 steel

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