6 hrs, 81 rivets
Finished wiring all cabin leds. Now I can light up the plane and stare at it in the dark!
Rivet 904H spar cap bulkheads. Those parts have been in my way for 2 years it seems.



Fabricate cover for lower cowl nose gear slot.
Rivet nutplates for cover attachment. I like how this turned out. Nice and sturdy, and I have a backing plate for some of the nose gear intersection fairing attach screws.

After this task is done, I need to fix the left fuel tank.

Started working on the Pilots Operating Handbook. Started with Roberta Hegy's 7A book, and I've hammered it into the format I want to use. Now to fill in all the detais.

I was wondering why I didn't post yesterday. Then I remembered - I spent most of the day at Wayne's helping with his canopy skirt. We got that done just in time. The weather is already brutal.
I did spend a few tenths setting a few of the MilSpec fasteners on the cowling.

6 hrs 8 rivets
Trim and sand trailing edges of all gear leg fairings.
Trim main wheel fairings for final tire clearance.
Countersink main wheel fairings, rivet to outboard brackets.
Make backing material for cockpit eyeball lights. Glue to spar caps.



Sand windscreen fairing.
Secure carb heat leads to carb heat control cable.
Start routine FWF wiring cleanup.
Fit lower and upper cowl.
Start fitting nose gear intersection fairing.






Had to jack the plane up again and look at the left side brakes. I wheeled the plane out to take pictures, and the left side brake tighted up on the way back. It was fine after I worked the brakes from inside. Maybe it doesn't like reverse.

I could move to the airport any time now.

For Friday, 5/27
6 hrs, 92 rivets
Drill and countersink nose wheel fairing brackets for nutplates.
Rivet nutplates to wheel pant brackets.
Countersink nosewheel fairing for #8 screws, drill for #6 screws.





Finish installing hinges for right main gear leg fairing.
Fit and install nose gear leg fairing.
Send VAF data plate to Stokes Sign.
Received the FAA forms packet from Mel Asberry, and sent a check for insurance.

2 hrs
Mark left wheel fairing for final clearance trim.
Drill main gear fairing brackets for nutplates. Countersink.



Drill outside hinge for right main gear fairing.

2 hrs, 34 minutes
Safety wire heater and parking brake cables.
Mount led strip under glare shield. Route wiring.
Deburr, countersink, and rivet outside hinge strip, left leg fairing. Drill and repeat for inside hinge.

3 hrs
Snuck in a little time this morning before work, a rarity. I was waiting for traffic to thin out, but I think between LTHS and UT the year is winding down and the roads are tolerable in the morning again.
After work got to it. Along with whatever construction project needs attention, I intend to work on at least one punch list item.



Drill and sand wheel fairings after fiberglass layups.
Use double sided tape to mount baggage compartment leds.
Take airframe off the jacks.
Trim nosewheel fairing for tire clearance.
Safety wire carb heat cable.
Mark all leg fairing hinges for drilling
Start drilling left leg fairing.
After the empennage, wheel fairings, and wing tips are finished, sealed, and primed, there are no more construction items.

2 hrs
Spent this evening finishing the in place drilling on the wheel pants. All holes are drilled to final size. Then did the reinforcing fiberglass layups on all the places they're needed.

Over the weekend, put in about 16 hrs getting the wheel pants off the shelf and to this point. Also prepped the main gear leg fairings, trimmed to size, etc. Did the fiberglass layups on the leg fairings where the hose clamp fixes them to the leg.

A very productive weekend, and for a change, fiberglass was almost fun.

2.2 hrs
Primed the windscreen and removed most of the masking materials. There are a few misc construction items left, but it is downhill from here.



Making plans to move the fuse to the airport, getting insurance figured out, signing up for transition training, and trying to get on Mel Asbury's schedule for an FAA inspection.

Oh, there is a long punch list, but I can knock out most of those fairly quick.

2 hrs today.
About 30 hours since the last entry. Stuck in fiberglass purgatory, working on the windscreen fairing, consigned to sanding until my fingers fall off - which it seems may happen before the plane flies.

Did get a few other items done, helped Seth fix the stripped exhaust stud, reinstalled the exhaust, primed the cowling halves, started working on the spinner including installing nutplates on the spinner bulkheads, and started on the gear leg fairings and wheel fairings.







But way too much sanding. However the windscreen looks almost good, at least it did until I took off the masking tape. It's really hard to keep the masking tape from sticking.

But today I declare good enough for now on that task, and started masking for priming. It won't win awards, and the painters will laugh at it, but it'll fly as good as any.

2 hrs
Finished priming the lower cowl. Took three tries to and a bunch of wasted primer to get the gun setup right.

Spent a few minutes at odd tasks the last couple of days. Finished most of the work on the control cables and under the panel. Got ready for the painting tasks. Primed the inside of the upper cowl.