Got in an hour flying today.  Mainly I just wanted to fly, but I also got a couple of test items done.  First, I verified that aileron rigging changes made during the condition inspection did not change the heavy left wing.  More on that in a moment.   I also put in some more time testing the autopilot.  The pitch axis is simply not working, a ground test showed that the pitch servo is not properly controlling the elevator.  I do need to rule out problems with the shear pin, but I may need a new servo.  Given that the problems happened intermittently, then more frequently, then not working at all, I don't think it's a shear pin problem.  A shear pin failure is binary, it works or it doesn't, no gradual failure modes.

Saturday I flew for a short time, then started in on modifying the right wing tip.  I did a little bit of gel coat sanding, but I wasn't dressed properly to make a mess with sanding dust.  So after flying today, being appropriately dressed as an airplane bum, I removed the wingtip and got after the sanding in earnest.  I had masked off the trailing edge and today removed all the gel coat at the very trailing edge.  This will make a good foundation for fiberglass layups.  Gel coat is not a good foundation, which is why it had to be removed.


I also started the process of removing the old 916 rib.  I drilled through all the rivets, now I have to pop them out and remove the rib.



After that it's time to split the trailing edge, and see how effectively I can get it to line up.