Apr 21, 2022     Shock Strut Assembly Part 2 - (3 hours)       Category: Wheels/Landing Gear/

I started by installing the struts and landing gear so I could get a good approximation as to how best angle the streamlined tubing with the struts in relation to the airflow. Once I got them marked, I took them off and then fit them to the strut. The top part of the tubing was fishmouthed to fit nicely where the tube transitions into the piston tube. It went really easy, just taking a bit off at a time. It wasn't difficult at all. Next was to glue them in place. I was a bit skeptical about gluing them so I called Mark Goldberg to confirm. He did say this was acceptable and actually worked quite well. He did say to use a high-temp epoxy because the exhaust will soften regular epoxy. This happened on his, so it was good advice. Rob Taylor gave me a few of these MonoJect disposable syringes to apply the epoxy in each end. They worked really well and before you know it I had two completed shock struts! I put some tape around where the epoxy might migrate to just to mask it off and roughed up the paint just a bit with sandpaper to break the shine. I left the bottoms open so any moisture wouldn't cause any problems.

  Apr 20, 2022     Shock Strut Assembly Part 1 - (2 hours)       Category: Wheels/Landing Gear/

One task to do is assemble the shock struts and glue on the streamlined PVC fairings. To clean up the inside of the piston barrel I used some honing oil and a cylinder hone. Not too much to alter the dimensions, just enough to polish up the insides and remove any overspray. After that I installed the o-ring seals where they needed to be and put it all together. To compress the Dayton spring I used the method described in the BH builder's manual. Fairings are next.

  Apr 18, 2022     Paint Booth Disassembly - (4 hours)       Category: Paint

This was a HUGE day! I was finally able to take apart the paint booth that had been a fixture in my shop all winter long. It worked out great and am happy with the use I got out of it, but now I have reclaimed quite a bit of shop space. I did leave the corner panels in place as I intend to do some finish painting for trim, boot cowl, doors, etc. I can just slide in the panels, fasten them together, spray and then be done with paint. After it is all said and done I'll advertise to the local EAA chapter. I will keep the fan however.

  Apr 16, 2022     Topcoat on Inner Boot Cowl and Aft Bulkhead - (2 hours)       Category: Paint

Just more painting, final topcoat on parts. After this is dry, I can disassemble the paint booth and have my shop back!

  Apr 15, 2022     Control Surface Cover Plates and Wing Tail Rib - (2.5 hours)       Category: Paint

I had some topcoat left over from the last spray and tucked it into the freezer for small parts that I may have forgotten. I had enough for the cover plates for the ailerons and flaps, along with the ribs adjacent to the inboard flaprib. Masking takes SO much time for such a short spray!

  Apr 14, 2022     Left Wing Tank Cover Fit - (1 hour)       Category: Paint

I just wanted to see how the paint surface on the tank covers matched the bottom surface of the wing. Looks good!

  Apr 13, 2022     Miscellaneous Parts Topcoat - (4 hours)       Category: Paint

Shot the topcoat on the last big pieces…YAY! I can take down part of the paint booth to get more room now. I left out the boot cowl pieces. They have part of the paint scheme of the fuselage on them, so they will need to be painted in position along with the (GASP!) engine cowl! The backs of the tank covers and the bottom fuselage panels will just be sprayed with some rattle can grey. They don't need the expensive 2K stuff.

  Apr 12, 2022     Painting Primer on Miscellaneous Parts - (8 hours)       Category: Paint

It's always quite the puzzle to figure out the most strategic spots to place each panel in the paint booth so I can move around them and not bump into them. It took awhile to sort it out but it did work.

  Apr 11, 2022     Prepping Miscellaneous Parts for Primer - (6 hours)       Category: Paint

More grunt work, but the good news is the south side of the shop is a bit warmer these days (mid 40s) and I was able to keep the PreKote mess outside. I did all four tank covers, two wing struts, the boot cowl pieces and the panels below each door.

  Apr 09, 2022     Painting the Spinner and Wing Insp. Panels - (3 hours)       Category: Paint

I had quite a bit of blue paint left over, so I put it in the freezer until the next day. I was saving painting my spinner in case I did have lots of extra blue paint. A pair of plastic-covered five gallon buckets were the perfect platform to paint these parts. They came out real nice.