Fluted the ribs, then clecoed together the center section per instructions. The two sections don't fit together flat on a table top, but after playing with it for a while, I discovered that a piece of styrofoam jammed under the front end raised it to the perfect angle. The foam was part of the packing material from Vans that I hadn't got around to throwing away yet.

There were some other details today. Opening up some holes in rib flanges for snap bushings, stuff like that. Nothing picture worthy, but it all takes time.

I'm building a tail dragger, but I'm 80% sure I'm going to put a shortened version of the factory steps on it, so I went ahead and cut out the holes in the baggage ribs that are called out for that option. The print says these are 1 1/2" diameter, but the instructions say 1 5/8". I didn't have a 1 5/8" hole saw, but the idea of a little more wiggle room in there for fitment is appealing to me, so I went to Ace and bought one just for this job.

When I was digging through a tupperware box of hole saws and other junk that I hadn't looked at in literally years, I found my rotary bond brush. I knew I had one of these somewhere but had no idea where it was. The Yard sells these in a set of 5 for like $70 bucks. Sweet!