Progress - week of March 17

The push to get ready for paint is in full swing.

March 17 - 21 days to go

• Starboard aileron counterweight slot and vent cut
• End of wingtip sanded and made flush with the trailing edge of the aileron.
• Sanded the seam... to get ready for a layer of glass.

Tuesday, March 18 - 20 days to go

• Forced night off.  Crazy work day...

Wednesday, March 19 - 19 days to go

• Zip... flying club meeting.

Thursday, March 20 - 18 days to go

• Wingtip / aileron closeout started on both wingtips.  Foam cut, fit and bonded in.
• Starboard fuselage to strut fairing roughed in and meeting up.

These suckers are a lot of work.  Put in on, mark it, take it off, trim, rinse and repeat.

Friday, March 21 - 17 days to go

• More strut fairing.  Bolts are back in, holes cut.
• Had lots of visitors... did not get much done.

Saturday, March 22 - 16 days to go

• Thanks to Jim and Bruce, all the fuselage bolts are in and tight!  VERY GRATEFUL FOR THE HELP.
• They also got all the fasteners in the hatch covers, and Jim started the starboard wing tip fasteners.
• Weighed the plane.  She has gotten fat.  Need to check the numbers.
• One layer of glass on the port wingtip closeout.  All temp holes have a fiberglass backing.  Added glass inside the port wingtip nose to fix the curvature problem.

Sunday, March 23 - 15 days to go

• Thanks again to Jim for helping!
• All nutplates installed for wingtips
• Next round of filler on wingtips
• Aircraft weighted again, but not in level attitude.  Weighed about 40 lbs less.
• Covers for flap track pockets cut, fit and drilled.
• Hatch covers installed.  Lower hatch cover holes drilled on port side.
• Finished trimming port side strut fairing around tab for wing fold brace.  Reinstalled.

Hatch Covers

HUGE shout out to Zach Chase.  Thank you for the guidance!

I was struggling with these darn covers.  Could NOT get them to line up.  After hours of head scratching, I finally figured I needed to cut the lower cover outboard edge.  That was the ONLY way to get them to fit correctly... but before doing so, I needed to talk to Zach.

As always, Zach is the master and so generous with his time and advice.

He said these covers to NOT fit well, and the only way is to cut them.  He is even more aggressive that I was planning.  Cut the vertical piece on the lower hatch cover at the outboard edge.  Hold it in place with tape or popsicle sticks (with hot glue).  Use a mixture of resin, cabo until its mayonnaise consistency, and add micro balloons until its like peanut butter.  Relatively strong, yet sandable.

So I did.  Port cover aft edge is bonded in place.  While it was drying, started fitting the starboard cover.  The 2nd one is always easier than the first.

Once the trailing edge has cured I can shape it to match the flaps.  It's slightly too long.

41 days until paint shop booking.

Things to get done:

1. Finish hatch covers
2. Finish wing tips
3. Finish rudder base fairing
4. Finish horizontal stab fairings
5. Finish fuselage pockets for flap tracks (when wings folded)
6. Elevator and trim tab hinge keepers
7. Strut fairings
8. Flap track fairings

Lots to do... grateful for the challenge.

More Progress... some frustrating, some not...

Well, the progress keeps coming... slowly.

Loaded all the UL520T parameters into the EFIS today.  Not hard.

Downloaded the checklist file... that will be left for cold days to come.  The checklist will be interesting... looking forward to that.

Brake leak appears to be fixed... but ANOTHER fuel leak.  Traced it to the fuel selector.  Everything cleaned, now waiting to see if it reappears.  I fixed it late morning, and there was nothing by dinner time... 

Lots of visitors today... lots of airplane talk.

Then I decided to tackle the hatch covers.  Watching the videos, those just need to get done.  I have had a mental block on these... I started fitting the port side cover ages ago, became frustrated and left them.  More frustration today... they just do not want to fit nicely.  Call to Zach in order for tomorrow morning.

Looking at the forum, this sounds like a common issue...