Oct 07, 2020     Shield       Category: Cowl

Added cowl shield.

  Sep 26, 2020     Fine tuning       Category: Cowl

Trimmed lower cowl inlets for the radiator and oil cooler. They were hitting the radiator, which was distorting the lower cowl. Once trimmed for 1/2" clearance, the lower cowl was no longer centered on the radiator. The radiator was realigned by shifting washers on the attachment bolts. Completed final prep on the air and heat intakes. They were then fitted and clecoed into place. Once placement was confirmed, they were removed, sanded, cleaned and a coat of resin/flox applied. They were then clecoed back into place and the cowl reattached to the fuselage.

A small area on the canopy fairing was resanded and painted. The fairing is now officially done, at least until the plane is painted.

  Sep 23, 2020     Almost last step       Category: Cowl

Applied a coat of silver paint to the fairing. This will make the canopy more presentable until the plane is painted. Unfortunately, when painted, imperfections in the fiberglass become much more obvious. Will sand, fill, sand and paint one more time.

  Sep 22, 2020     Continued fitting, drilling, filing, sanding and riveting       Category: Cowl

Completed riveting hinges to cowl. Attached upper and lower cowl to fuselage, checking fit. Will need to sand to achieve 1/32-1/16" gap between top and bottom cowl pieces. Back drilled lower cowl closeout, installed nut plates, and attached to the lower cowl. Next moved on to "Step 1: Remove material from the upper cowl louvers to open the cooling slots as shown in the detail view of Figure 1." I've been dreading this since day one. Not enough room to get a Dremel cutting wheel (at least not me) and control the cut. Decided I'd do it the old fashioned way... Drew a center line on each opening. Drilled with #30 drill, and connected the holes. Once done I was able to get my PermaGrit flat sanding bar into the slot and sand away. Corners and ends also done by hand with a variety of files/sanding tools. Lastly, did my best to match left and right sides, as well as keeping up a consistent look across all slots. Final step for today, added the oil door.

I'm sure there's an easier way.

  Sep 14, 2020     Cutting, sanding and drilling       Category: Cowl

Decided to take a brief cowl break and power up the avionics. Will need to go through the set up procedure, but the system has found all the components. Nice! Back to the cowl. Supporting the lower cowl while getting into position has been a challenge. Added a support clamp around the nose gear and the process became much easier. Fitting the lower cowl requires a series of steps cutting the rear and top edges in a specific order. Once completed, the cowl is securely taped to the fuselage, the upper cowl removed, and the lower cowl/fuselage hinges drilled and clecoed. Once completed, the lower/upper cowl hinge is positioned and drilled to the lower cowl. At this point I've run out of clecos, so will find something else to do until I can find more. Overall all, coming together nicely. Note the upper cowl is resting on the lower cowl for storage. It will be removed to complete drilling of the lower/upper cowl hinge.

  Sep 13, 2020     Lower cowl       Category: Cowl

Spent some time maneuvering the lower cowl into place. This required some trimming of the upper cowl forward edge to fit the recess in the lower cowl. I was able to get one side or the other side of the lower cowl into the correct position, but not both. I finally decided to pull the front of the lower cowl into position and lift the back of the lower cowl into place. I heard a pop, and everything lined up. Well, almost everything. The openings in the lower cowl on each side of the spinner are off center about 1/8". Hmmm... went home for the day.

  Sep 11, 2020     Cowl installation       Category: Cowl

Covered the engine with plastic sheeting to minimize debris from drilling cowl attach holes. Voltage regulator wires were very close to the hinges. In this area a piece of .025 aluminum was placed between the wires and hinge to protect the wires. A rivet fan was used to space the upper cowl rivets. Drilled all holes with a #40 drill. Clecoed each as it was drilled. Back pressure during drilling was provided using a series of hand held wood blocks. To my surprise, I did not drill any holes in my fingers. The lower cowl was then prepped by cutting to the scribe lines, or within 1/8" per the KAI.

  Sep 10, 2020     Upper cowl initial fitting       Category: Cowl

Cowl hinges and pins were cut to length and bent per the KAI. A reference tape line was added around the forward fuselage/cowl intersection. The upper cowl was trimmed to the scribe lines. The fuselage was leveled, and a bar (also leveled) placed below the upper cowl reference points. Plumb lines were used to identify reference points on the leveled bar directly below the reference points on the upper cowl. The cowl was then moved laterally until the distance between the reference points on the cowl and bar were the same on the left and right side. Using the reference tape line on the fuselage, the rear edge of the upper cowl was then sanded to achieve a good fit with the fuselage.