2006-01-17 (2 hours):
I cut the NG30 foam pieces and laid out the holes. I also drilled the holes in the aluminum mounting plates for Jack's nose lift. His instructions, unfortunately, aren't very easy to understand, and they're written for a retrofit, so I've been going slowly, making sure I know what's going on before I do each step.
2006-01-18 (1 hour):
I wanted to get this out of the way yesterday, but ran out of time before I head home. Work and home life have been increasing the time pressure lately, so my build time is less than it was. C'est la vie. I did the BID layup on the NG30 pieces. I had a few dry spots where I over-squeeged at the edges. I'll fix this with an extra layer of BID when I do the BID taping. Just a few small bits along the bottom edges, nothing serious. Be careful using a hair dryer on a layup. You have to pay attention to the type of foam you're working with. I've just finished one wing, so I'm used to working with styrofoam, which holds (and allows the flow of) less air than the stuff for the NG30s.
2006-01-23 - 2006-02-01 (6 hours):
This was a rather difficult piece for me to finish. Work has been very distracting, and I kept making mistakes. I also have a devil of a time getting the skins laid up without bubbles on the outsides of the NG30 pieces, especially around the compound curves.
For the first time, I tried the "LoVac" technique as described by the CozyGirrrls, with mixed results. The technique itself is fine, but since my shop is not at my house, and I had no way to check on the (hot and getting hotter) pump, I didn't want to leave it running all night. I did my best to seal off the bag, but when I came in the vacuum had still gone. No surprise, of course, but it didn't help the layup. Around all of the compound curve areas by the hardpoints I have air bubbles that I'll have to inject.
On the other hand, this is clearly a good technique when you can do it. It produces very fast layups, since you can basically slop on the epoxy - there's almost no working of the material involved. In fact, if not for the compound curves, even removing the vacuum after an hour would still have produced a good layup on a flat part, much as if I had hand-worked it. It just didn't help keep things in the curves.
I put an extra 2 layers of BID in the layup after reading about NG30 failures others have had. I didn't realize until it was too late that another suggestion is to raise the horizontal section 2", and round the corners. But, this middle ground should be a reasonable compromise. There are plenty of Cozies flying with no modifications at all. I won't be as survivable through a pothole as some, but more than others. I'm fine with that.
2006-02-02 (2 hours):
I finished (I hope!) the NG30 pieces today by carving out the area around the MKNG6 mounting point, and glassing it with two plies of BID. Not much to say - it was a pretty easy step, if a bit messy during the carving.