Project Log - December, 2003 
 Home

 Project News
 February 3, 2021

 Project Log
 Empennage
  Horizontal Stabilizer
  Vertical Stabilizer
  Rudder
  Elevators
  Rudder II

 Wing Kit
  Wings
  Fuel Tanks
  Ailerons
  Flaps

 Fuselage Kit
  Bulkheads
  Aft Section
  Foreward Section
  Top Fuselage
  Cabin

 Finish
  Canopy
  Cowling
  Electrical

 Firewall Forward
  Fuel System
  Engine
  Baffles
  Misc

 Miscellaneous
  Fiberglass
  Assembly
  Panel
  Finishing Up!
 FAQ
 Project Notes
 Project Summary
 Guestbook
 Other Stuff



  
December, 2003
December 1, 2003 - 0.5 hours
All I did tonight was fiberglass over the cut in the top cowling.

I fiberglassed the inside of the top cowling.

December 2, 2003 - 1 hours
I sanded off the bondo that was holding the top cowling together and then I mixed up a batch of SuperFil and filled the crack.

After removing the popcycle stick and sanding off the Bondo I have a crack to fill.

December 2, 2003 - 3 hours
I still hadn't ever gotten around to finishing the brake installation on the main gear. So I spent some time tonight getting all the parts made and putting the rest of the main gear parts together.

December 3, 2003 - 4 hours
Sanded the filler that I put in the cut on the top cowling. Drilled the top cowling to the hinge at the firewall and started fitting the bottom cowling.

It's hard to tell from this picuture but there is some Super-fil in the crack that has been sanded nicely. I am really happy with how this turned out.

The top cowling half is clecoed to the hinges at the firewall.

Another shot of the top cowling, also the oil filler door cutout.

December 4, 2003 - 3 hours
Drilled the hinges that attach the bottom half of the cowling to the bottom of the fuselage and started fitting and sanding the bottom cowling half. I put a little bit more filler up front where I had to cut the top cowling.

It took a while but I think I am finally happy with the fit between the two cowling halves.

December 5, 2003 - 3 hours
I trimmed the back of the lower cowling half and drilled the bottom of the cowling to the hinges. I spent a lot of time fitting and sanding.

The bottom of the cowling is held on by hinges as well. Some say these will break easliy and I guess if they do then I'll replace them with screws then.

The fix that I did on the top cowling has caused the cooling air openings to be misaligned. The great thing about fiberglass is things like this can be fixed fairly easily.

December 6, 2003 - 3.5 hours
More sanding on the bottom half of the cowling and I managed to get the hinges on the side drilled.

The bottom half of the cowling is drilled to the side hinges.

December 7, 2003 - 3.2 hours
I think I managed to install and remove the top cowling a hundred times today, but I think they fit pretty well. I drilled one of the hinges along the horizontal seam to the bottom cowling half.

Here you can see the Duck (Yes Duck) tape that I used to hold the two halves together while drilling the hinges.

December 8, 2003 - 1.75 hours
Finished drilling the hinges along the seam between the top and bottom halves.

The last of the hinges on the cowling are drilled.

December 8, 2003 - 2.2 hours
Started on the engine cooling baffles. I managed to get the four pieces that make up the side walls trimmed and fitted.

Here are the side baffles pretty well fit to the engine.

December 9, 2003 - 1.75 hours
Worked on the rear baffles a little bit. The one on the left doesn't fit well at all and I am having a hard time figuring out exactly how it is supposed to go in there.

The rear baffle meets the flange near the motor mount at an angle. If I trim it around the motor mount I will have to take off a lot of material. I think I'll just build a small, tapered spacer for that thing.

December 10, 2003 - 3 hours
Finished trimming the left rear bulkhead and started on the right inlet floor.

December 11, 2003 - 0.5 hours
Smeared some Super-fill on the top cowling to help fix the misalignment.

I am building up the gap on top cowling half with Super-Fill. I'll put a little glass cloth over it after I get it shaped to give it some strength.

December 11, 2003 - 1.2 hours
Drilled holes in the axles for the cotter pins, and installed the brake calipers.

Here is an outside view of the finished wheel.

The brakes are installed and safetied.

December 11, 2003 - 3 hours
I worked on the right front inlet some more and once I had it all drilled I started working on the right one.

December 12, 2003 - 3.5 hours
More trimming and tweaking on the baffles.

December 13, 2003 - 4 hours
Still more trimming and tweaking on the baffles. I have most of the forward right part trimmed and I am starting on the left side. I'll have a lot of riveting to do once I get them all to fit right.

December 15, 2003 - 2 hours
I'm pretty much finished fitting the front parts of the baffles. Now all I need to do is get the back parts tweaked and then I can start trimming them to fit the top cowling.

This is the left front inlet area.

Here you can see the reinforcement plate where the two front sections bolt to the crankcase bracket.

Right front inlet area.

December 16, 2003 - 2 hours
Finished trimming the rear baffle parts so that they would fit just right over the top of the engine. I drilled the hole in the rear baffle sections to the crankcase bracket. I also added a piece of angle to the right rear section instead of the bent flange that comes with the part.

This is the left rear baffle section. You can see the little spacer that I made.

The original part had a bent flange here, but it did not fit well so I cut it off and replaced it with this piece of angle.

This is a picture of how the right rear baffle bolts to the crankcase. It doesn't fit real well I may cut it off and make my own.

December 20, 2003 - 1.4 hours
Started trimming the baffles to fit the top cowling.

I used some scrap that had evenly spaced holes to hold the top cowling above the bottom cowling a fixed amount. I think this is about 1 1/2"

While I had the top cowling spaced above the bottom cowling I reached in everywhere I could and put these little posterboard pointers all around. Now all I have to do is to measure down 1 1/2" from the tips of these pointers and that should give me a line that is pretty close to the bottom surface of the top cowling. It worked okay, but I still had a lot of trimming to do.

December 21, 2003 - 7 hours
I just about have the baffles trimmed to fit the cowling now. They still need a little tweaking in the area around the inlets though and I am right at 3/8" all the way around so I may have to carve on them a little bit more.

December 21, 2003 - 0.7 hours
I discovered that I need to have the inlet ducts epoxied to the cowling before I can finish fitting the baffles so I went ahead and did that so they cure overnight.

December 22, 2003 - 2 hours
Trimmed on the inlet ducts of the top cowling to get them to fit the baffles. I couldn't decide whether to trim the cowling or the baffles so I trimmed the cowling to see how that works out. If not it's easier to add fiberglass than to add aluminum. I also did some more work on those areas of the top cowl that have to be enlarged to fit the bottom. I layed a couple of layers of glass cloth over the filler that I had put on previously.

Here is a shot of the inlet duct epoxied to the top cowling.

I sanded the filler down until it was smaller than it needs to be to fit the bottom cowling

This is a really bad picture of two layers of glass BID layed over the filler on the top cowling.

While I was at it I decided that if these things were supposed to smooth the airflow into the cowling the joints may as well be smooth. I like this Super-Fill stuff.

December 23, 2003 - 1.1 hours
Spent most of the evening scratching my head. I am having trouble figuring out how to seal the baffles to the inlet ducts. I think I'm gonna do some more fiberglass on the ducts but for now I'm going inside to look at other's websites.

December 29, 2003 - 1.1 hours
I layed up a couple of fiberglass parts for the top cowling. I am closing off the inlet ducts.

December 30, 2003 - 1 hours
I made the other two parts of the inlet ducts tonight. I also realized that I left my digital camera in Littlefield so I am taking pictures the old fashioned way. I really wanted to show how I am closing off these inlet ducts so I will probably scan them when I get the film developed.

<<November, 2003  Top  January, 2004>>
Disclaimer:
This web site and the infomation contained within it are for entertainment purposes only. The opinions expressed on construction techniques are my opinions only and should not be confused with proper construction techniques. There is undoubtedly more than one way to build an airplane and some methods that I use may or may not work in any given circumstance. If there is any question please call the kit manufacturer. I love to help but I am not responsible for the misuse of any information contained on this web site.

 February 3, 2021
 Email
 Home