Matt's RV-8 Project



Matt Dralle's RV-8 Project
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Date:  5-4-2009
Number of Hours:  6.00
Manual Reference:  
Brief Description:  Carpet Patterns - Rear Baggage Area - Part 1

Well, nothing seems to be as easy as it would appear on this RV-8 project. I started working on a CAD drawing for the carpet layout in the rear baggage area. There are lots of angles and things sticking out that need holes cut. I wanted to minimize the number of pieces to the greatest degree possible and settled on a design where there is a single "bottom" piece and two side pieces. As you can see from the pictures, I agonized over the precision of the CAD drawing and the patterns fit the baggage area *perfectly*. The exposed edges will be looped so they looked finished off and to keep the carpet from fraying.

Generally, the carpet will be held in place with Velcro. The upholstery shop will glue one side of the Velcro to the back of the carpet. On the airplane skin side, small Velcro "hook" disks will be pop-riveted to strategic locations to hold things down. In some places, glue-back Velcro will have to be used, but I hope to minimize these locations as much as possible. The whole carpet will be removable for servicing the rear areas of the fuselage.

All-in-all the patterns turned out really well and I'm very please with the fit. Next, I have to make patterns for the main cabin area as well as the area in front of the main spar where the pilot's feet go, and probably for the forward baggage area as well.

The rear baggage area is the easiest of all these areas I fear, because its mostly flat surfaces. The rest of this is going to be a quite an ordeal...
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Full Scale Rear Baggage Area Pattern

Full Scale Rear Baggage Area Pattern

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Pattern Printed and Cutout

Pattern Printed and Cutout

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Rear Baggage Area

Rear Baggage Area

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