Sequoia Aircraft Corporation F.8L Falco, Construction Manual

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F.8L Falco Construction Manual 2–1 Revision 4, March 1, 2002
Chapter 2
Reading the Plans
The Falco Plans
You may not be aware of it, but almost everything you purchase has been made from plans—your
car, your house, the pen you write with, etc. Over the years, manufacturers have found that a
drawing is the single best way of defining an item to be made.
The Falco plans are production drawings. This means that the drawings which define each part
are separate from the drawings which show the installation of the part. In production, a
machinist (or some other trade) is given a single drawing to follow. The drawing will contain all
of the information needed to make that one part. In almost all cases, the man making a part in
production will have little idea of what the part is for, or what it does. The only hint might be the
name of the part.
Typical of aircraft production drawings, the Falco plans were originally drawn on a huge variety of
sheet sizes. It was completely impractical for us to deal with such a mess, so we made new
drawings using only two sizes. The large drawings are 24”x36” sheets. These are supplied to you
in a series of blueprints. The smaller drawings are included in the construction manual notebook.
Drawings have both a number and a name. To keep things in order, we have added sheet
numbers as well. The drawings are arranged and numbered in categories. The first category is the
main installation drawings. These are numbered with a three digit number beginning with the
number one (Drawing No. 102, 105, 134, etc.). The sheet number for these “one hundred series”
drawings begin with the letter A (sheet A1, A2, A3, etc.). The larger sheets are numbered with
single-A (sheet A1, A2, A3, etc.), while the smaller drawings are numbered with double-A (sheet
AA1, AA2, AA3, etc.). This convention is used for all of the drawings. Whenever you see a
sheet number with a single letter, the drawing is a large drawing. All of the smaller sheets in the
construction manual notebook are numbered with double letters. The following table lists the
relationship of all of the drawing numbers, sheet numbers and subjects.
Drawing Sheet Subject
100-199 A1 & up, AA1 & up Installation
200-299 B1 & up, BB1 & up Wing
300-399 C1 & up, CC1 & up Fuselage
400-499 D1 & up, DD1 & up Tail group
500-599 E1 & up, EE1 & up Main landing gear
600-699 F1 & up, FF1 & up Nose gear
700 & up G1 & up, GG1 & up Other
You may note from looking at the plans that with some of the series only larger drawings are used.
We presently do not have any small drawings for the wing, fuselage or tail group, but the
convention is there and available for use.
To keep track of this huge list of drawings, you have a plans index. This index lists the sheet
numbers in order in the first section. The second section lists the drawing numbers in order and
gives you the sheet numbers. You will find this index invaluable.
Many people are initially intimidated by the number of drawings and the amount of detail shown
on the Falco drawings. As you begin the construction of the Falco, you will appreciate how