May 04, 2023     Section 43: Cabin Cover Part 4       Category: Cabin Cover

Finished match drilling the F-10107 backing strips. Then had to trim some of the overlap at the bottom aft corners. After that I set the cabin top back on the fuselage to get back to work on the doors.

  Nov 28, 2022     Section 43: Cabin Cover       Category: Cabin Cover

I think I finally got the Cabin Top trimmed to fit. Thanks to the Kayak Hoist, I was able to take it on and off easily to fine tune the fit. I know that I'll have some filling to do once it's ready for the final install, but it's pretty good right now. The plans have me clamping the rear edge of the door frame into place and prior to match drilling. My next job is to temporarily install the top skin aft of the cabin top before match drilling. Having the Cabin Top on really makes it look like an airplane!

  Nov 18, 2022     Section 43: Cabin Cover       Category: Cabin Cover

Getting closer... I got the width of the door well but need to trim some off the bottom so the top will sit far enough down so the joggle in the aft area is close. The diagonal on the forward post area probably needs work as well.

  Nov 10, 2022     Section 43: Cabin Cover       Category: Cabin Cover

Joe used a Kayak Hoist to lift and lower the Cabin Top while fitting on his RV-10, so I ordered one on Amazon for less than $30. I have a 12ft ladder that almost gets to the center beam of the hangar. The hoist is mounted on a 2x4 and I used C-Clamps to secure the hoist to the beam. Tomoko came out to give me a hand and spot me while I was up on the ladder. I'm not a fan of heights so the ladder is a necessary evil. But I must say that the hoist system works quite well. This is the first fitting and I can already see that I need to grind just a little more to get it to sit in the door well.

  Nov 06, 2022     Section 43: Cabin Cover       Category: Cabin Cover

More trimming of the Cabin Top today. Still more to go but the majority of the cutting and sanding is close to finished. The sides of the door wells are as thin as everyone says. I haven't trimmed the bottom of the door frame yet. I'm very close to the first fitting. I even tried fitting some of the McMaster-Carr Door Seal material to see how it would lay around the door edges.

  Nov 02, 2022     Section 43: Cabin Cover       Category: Cabin Cover

Continued work on the Cabin Top. Still doing the rough cuts. So far, I'm using the Angle Grinder with a Cutoff Wheel, a Die Grinder with Cutoff Wheel and a Oscillating Saw. The pneumatic die grinder uses a lot of air and the compressor runs constantly and it has a tendency to bog down. So, it's not my favorite. The long straight cuts the Angle Grinder works well. Also a belt sander helps. When I need more control the Oscillating Saw works better. I used a Dremel for the smaller radius cuts. I also got a 80 grit flap disc for the grinder which helps with some of the areas the belt sander can't reach. Measuring the door frame width, it looks like it's still about 1/4 inch too wide. So, another 1/8 inch on each edge needs to come off. For the inside radius of the windows and door the drum sanding wheel works well.

  Oct 27, 2022     Section 43: Cabin Cover       Category: Cabin Cover

Started trimming the edges of the Cabin Top. These are just the first rough cuts that I'll have to sand down to the correct fit. I used a grinder with a cutoff wheel which worked quite well for these initial cuts. There is a very faint line scribed in the fiberglass that I marked with Sharpie. I cut outside of the marked line and will finish the edges later.