Side consoles

The side consoles first appear in Chapter 16, since the plans have us install the controls onto a portion of what ends up being the side consoles. What I didn't like about this method/design is that you can't remove the consoles later - making it extremely difficult to install/service things like brake lines, rudder conduits, electrical cables, etc. I wanted the ability to remove the consoles relatively easy - so I redesigned them.

My design includes a 1" shelf along the waterline of the top of the arm rest / consoles.. this shelf will have a velcro strip running down the entire length. At the bottom, there will be two tabs (made out of 1/4" plywood) glassed in place with a t-nut on the back. This will allow me to bolt the bottom of the console on. Let's see how it plays out...

I started out by removing the control tubes - this would allow easy access, and make sure I didn't contaminate them with what was to come. I drew a level line at the waterline where I wanted the top of the console to be...

I cut 1" strips of 0.35" thick H45 foam... and used hot glue gun to tack them in place - aligning it with the waterline I made earlier... notice how it spans from the instrument panel to the pilot seat...

I also did this for the passenger seat, and left sides as well...

I cut 8 strips of BID at 45... 2.5" wide... 2 plies per shelf... two shelves for the pilot... and two for the passenger = 8 strips (will need another 8 strips for the bottom surfaces later)

I sanded the walls so that I could have 1" overlap onto the wall... painted the top surface of the shelf with slurry, and painted plain epoxy on the fuselage wall...

And installed 2 plies BID at 45 onto the shelf... overlapping 1" onto the wall...

I repeated this for all shelves...

After the top surfaces cured, I repeated everything for the bottom of the shelf. This was a bit tricky since I had to do most of this work "blind"... and using a mirror every once in a while to check my work.. it wasn't as bad as it sounds... I used a paint brush to tuck the glass in place and wet it out...

After the bottom surfaces cured, I trimmed them flush... I used the multi tool first, and then sanded them flush...

Boom! Shelves are ready for some side consoles!

Ok, now to make some side consoles... before cutting the EXPENSIVE H45 foam... I decided to play it safe and experiment with cardboard first. I'm sure glad I did, as this taught me what to look out for...

The main lesson learned with the cardboard was to NOT cut a perfectly straight arm rest. Remember that the fuselage is not straight - it curves around the bulkheads... so I cut the armrest extra wide... and then used a marker with a spacer taped to it... I then ran the marker with the spacer touching the fuselage wall. This allowed me to match the fuselage wall curve onto the foam...

After cutting the foam to match the fuselage walls and floor, I "dry fitted" them on...

A little fine tuning here and there...

I used hot glue to tack the console wall to the arm rest (this is just to hold them in place while I glass them later)...

Perfect fit!!

I then marked where the tabs will go ( where the bolts will go) so that I could recess out an area for the bolt head / washer...

The "+" marks the center of where the bolt will go... the first inner circle is the diameter of the washer.. the second inner circle is how much "glass to glass" flat surface I want to have... and the third circle is to allow a 45 deg fillet for a nice transition...

I started by trimming the "mouse door" with a utility knife...

I then put a sanding drum on my drill press... and used it to fine mill foam up to the line...

I then used my router table to apply a nice bevel on the "mouse door"...

Damn! That is looking nice!

I traced and cut the fiberglass for the outside surfaces... because my side consoles are removable, I decided to beef them up. Rather than the per plans schedule layup, I went with 2 plies BID at 45... and one ply UNI... for both the outside and inside surfaces...

For the "mouse doors", I put peel ply on the backside...

And duct tape... this will hold the peel ply in place while I glass the outside surface... after cure, I will remove the tape and peel ply, and glass the inside surface for a nice glass-to-glass" bond...

I prepped my table so that I could glass all four panels in one shot...

Look at that peel ply... ready for glass!

Glassed the outside surfaces... 2 plies BID at 45, and 1 ply UNI...

Letting cure...

The next day, I used the multi tool to remove the bulk excess...

Removing the duct tape and peel ply... this worked out perfectly! 

I then used my router table to trim the glass flush with the foam edges...

Perfectly flush!

Before glassing the inside surfaces... I gave some forethought to the throttle quadrant install... I wanted to make sure there was going to be a nice glass-to-glass surface around the throttle quadrant...

After marking where the throttle quadrant will go, I milled out the foam around that area... with some wiggle room...

I "ramped" the edges for a nice transition...

With everything prepped, I then glassed the inside surfaces... again, 2 plies BID and 1 ply UNI...

Zooming in on the glass-to-glass where the throttle quadrant will go...

After cure, I trimmed everything up and dry fitted the side consoles.... perfect fit!

It was now time to install the tabs at the bottom... I sanded the areas so that I could bond and glass the tabs in place later...

I used a pencil to trace the edges of the "mouse doors"... and removed the console...

I made 8 "mouse doors" out of 1/4" plywood (2 per side for the pilot and 2 per side for the passenger)... I used 5-min epoxy to tack them in place (I wanted them to hold while glassing them later on, so hot glue would not have worked)...

I then glassed 2 plies BID at 45 on both sides of the tabs... overlapping onto the fuselage floor 1"+... notice I taped over the seatbelt hardpoints so I wouldn't stain them with epoxy...

Once cured, I trimmed everything up... first with the multi tool, then the dremel...

Test fitting the side consoles... the mouse doors and the tabs aligned perfectly!

Before match drilling the mouse doors with the tabs, I had to install the velcro strips so that they would be at the perfect waterline (since the velcro will shim the consoles up a hair)...

These velcro strips worked great! They have a peel-n-stick adhesive that is crazy strong! Purchased them from McMaster (Part #: 9273K34)...

I then placed the side consoles in place.. and matched drilled the mouse door with the tabs...

I then opened up the hole in the tab to allow installation of a 10-32 t-nut.. 

I used an AN5 bolt with washers to "pull" the t-nut into the tab...

This is the "before" pic.. notice how the teeth of the t-nut is just starting to bite into the tab...

This is the "after" pic... notice the t-nut is now fully inserted into the tab... the back fully flush with the tab...

I then installed the side consoles in place...

Velcro on top, and two bolts on the bottom!

And there you have it! Side consoles installed! Next up, throttle quadrant and side stick!