So I thought I could bang this out in short order. HA! Started the day with more sanding… A bump out/blister was needed for proper clearance from the Vetterman exhaust, this was completed a number of weeks ago and was waiting for final sanding and for the foam mold to be cut out. That wasn’t too big of a job except when I got finished there were areas that were paper thin. Ugh. Also the gear slot got cut a wee bit too long so it was fiberglass time. Three layers on the inside of the bump out/blister, flox coating on the air intake hole (it was rough fiberglass from initial work), and the gear slot was filled in about two inches.
While that was curing under halogen lights, I moved on to the oil door. First, I cut out the opening to reach in the cowl to check the oil level. Then taking many tiny adjustments I trimmed the oil door to fit the opening. So good so far. Then it was time to fabricate the aluminum stiffener. This was a bit complicated because it needs to nest inside the cowling and there is a bend and curve to the oil door. After some adjustments it fit well. So back to epoxy/flox work gluing them together while in the cowling to keep the shapes/curves all good. Whew. I also dabbed the Camlocs with flox to build up the button height to match the cowling.
Back to the lower cowling I cleco’d up all the parts for the cowl flaps, fit the lower cowling to the plane and then realized it wasn’t happening. Ugh. Guess I’ll be going with the stock air grates. Of course I doubled checked everything and see the gear slot is not centered and on the right side it is rubbing on the gear leg fairing. Ugh. So off it comes and I all fiberglass/flox to the side and clamp it down to cure. Ugh. More waiting.
I did get the roll trim wiring issue I found yesterday resolved, turns out I over crimped and cut the wire in one of the connectors. Finding and fixing that only took 90 minutes. Next up with mounting the attachment brackets for the roll servo. I had hoped to do this in the wing bit the outboard bracket will be in the next rib over making drilling/riveting impossible. So unless I get a brilliant idea the ER tank on that side will have to be removed. Ugh.
On the plus side the DAR called today, he has everything ready for my inspection and asked to come out Saturday. Hurt to say but I had to tell him I need a few more days. Fingers crossed I can increase my effort from 12 hours a day at the hanger to 14 and get the remaining items knocked off (while keeping the quality as perfect as I am capable).
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