The two sides are complete with the inside 1/8 X 3/16 spruce doublers installed at the L.E. and T.E. verticals and along the top of the cabin.  Notice that I also added some 3/16 sheet balsa in the last cabin bay and trimmed out a rear window contour to have a more finished look as well as strengthen the rear cabin.  Today, I will assemble the two sides...............Tandy

I decided that the Shilen Torpedo .29 would be positioned too far forward of the firewall if I used the aft mounted fuel tank.  Therefore, I am installing an internal fuel tank in the fuselage.
Picture 1--This shows the #6 Perfect rectangular metal tank I started with.
Picture 2--This shows the tank after I removed the factory installed brass tubing and installed new larger 1/8" copper tubing.
Picture 3--This shows a close up of the replumbed tank, which measures 2" X 1" X 5/8" and provides 20.5 cc's of fuel.  This is 4.5 cc's more than the Shilen tank capacity of 16 cc's.  The fuel pick up tube enters the top of the tank, turns 90 degrees down and rests on the bottom in the center rear part of the tank.  The overflow tube come down from the top, exits the bottom of the tank and turns (up in this view) 45 degrees.
Picture 4--This shows the tank on the back of the new 1/8" plywood firewall with the pick up tube projecting through the firewall.  The overflow will exit the lower left portion of the fuselage.  You can see the blind nuts already installed for radially mounting the Shilen Torpedo. .29.
Picture 5--This shows the tank installed, but not epoxied in, on the back of the firewall.  I had a machinist drill the three back plate screw holes completely through the crankcase (like the original Torps were) so the engine could be radially mounted.  You can see that the Torp is bolted through an aluminum plate and to the firewall using three long 4-40 Allen Head Cap Screws (AHCS).  It is now a simple matter of adding thickness' 1/8" and 1/4" plywood disks between the engine's back plate and the aluminum plate to reposition the engine forward for balance if necessary.  BTW, Micro Fastener has 4-40 AHCS up to 3" in length, which I have ordered.  If you look close, you can see the left 3/32" grove cut on the back side of the aluminum plate to retain the landing gear.  Notice also there are two small holes in the firewall just below the pick up tube.  These are for the ignition ground and point wires to come through the firewall. 

The tank has been placed on the left side of the firewall to align the pick up tube  with the spray bar nipple and also this provides room on the right side for the coil and transistorized ignition system to fit up against the firewall .  Notice there is a piece of ply on the right side of the metal tank to insulate it from the ignition system.  My plan was to remove the fuel line from the spray bar and fill the tank, overflowing out the bottom overflow tube.  However, with the cowl in place, access to the fuel line may be limited.  It be that I need to go on and install a separate fill tube.  I will study this a bit and decide before I epoxy the tank in place.

After much consideration and several false starts on selecting a new project, I have finally decided to build the 494 sq. in. Airborn for the Shilen Torpedo .29 for my SAM Class B LER Ignition entry.  I am using the plans Jim O'Reilly sent me and the laser cut parts that Bob Holman sent me.  I have wanted to build something with laser cut parts for a long time just to see what I can do with the burnt edges.  The picture below shows the first side that I laid out yesterday

I squared up the fuselage sides using a jig and finished adding in all of the cross pieces, except for the ones prior to the tail post.  I want to first figure out just how to install a removable tail skid (or wheel).  I have provided three pictures below, and left for you to view.

My next effort will be to install the firewall, engine mount, and removable landing gear.  Since I am going to use the Shilen Torpedo .29 ignition engine for power, I have to decide about what tank to use.  I would like to use the tank that comes on the back of the Shilen engine rather than a metal tank mounted internal to the fuselage.  The internal tank is good, however, if provisions are made for multiple engine installations.  I will have to talk with some who have built this version of the Airborn.

For those of you who do not know what this 494 sq. in. Class B Airborn looks like, the last picture below was taken by Ned Nevels and shows Ed Hamler's Airborn in flight.  This is great looking model and this is a great shot!..............Tandy