Happy New Year! Glad 2009 is over, although I can't complain too much about it.
Added about 800 hrs and 8000 rivets in 2009. It's funny how I'm consistently averaging 10 rivets/hr, even with months long pauses with nearly no rivets.
I don't believe in New Years resolutions. They assume you're not already doing what you need to do. I admit I usually take stock in the late fall (as race season winds down!) and think about what I want to accomplish for the next year.
That being said, progress on the project is proceeding well. I think I might beat my original goal of 3 1/2 years, and finish in about 3 years. That would mean it should be ready about the end of 2010. Still have to finish all of the fuselage tasks, FWF and cowling, canopy, and avionics. Money is likely to be the real constraint, but I'm likely to adjust project scope to account for that resource, rather than adjusting time. Not trying to finish this year just to make it this year, but trying to finish as soon as possible so I get to enjoy flying!
For today, finished riveting the right outboard bottom wing skin.
Then shifted gears and took care of a few other misc. items that have been languishing:
- Riveted the armrests. Didn't seem to be any reason to wait any longer. Now the fuselage is mostly cleco free!
- Rivet nutplates to Andair fuel valve and install on fuel valve plate. Looks great!
- Finish dimpling aft fuselage ribs.
Next up is fitting the Dynon pitot control box and the pitot mast. Help is lined up for Saturday and Sunday, so I hope to get most of the hard wing riveting done, and take it solo from there. Thinking about scheduling time to fit the wings. I'll need a few helpers for that!
