May 9, 2004

Yesterday, I didn’t get to go to the hangar because I thought I’d keep ‘her indoors’ sweet by taking her flower shopping, and then planting them all with her in the front garden. They look pretty good. I modified the shape of the lawn and made a nice flower bed. She was well happy!

Today I decided to take a break from wiring, and figured it might be a good time to move on and finish the forward aft skin. I was actually at the hangar longer today, but spent some time cleaning up, and taking out the rubbish. It was a nice day today, right up until the thunder storms hit at about 7pm. I had to shut the hangar door down a bit then!

First though, I made the bagage floor tunnel cover. I don’t why I didn’t do this earlier, then it could’ve been painted in the first paint batch. It’s not like it took a long time to make! I didn’t take a piccy though.

Here’s the skin cleco’d on ready for matchdrilling.

Here is the first skin stiffener. These were pretty tricky to make! They’re supplied too long, and since the curvature changes along it’s length, it’s difficult to judge how much from each end to cut off. I cheated, and had a look at Camerons plane, and the one Mike is helping with, and used them as a guide. In the end, I just kept trimming and trimming until I had it fitted. Once I’d done one, I copied it in mirror image for the other side.

Here, the stiffeners are both completed, the skin is match drilled, de-burred and dimpled. All I need to do now is paint the visible surfaces on the inside, and rivet it on.

Tomorrow, I think I’ll make the covers that go along the front of the spar.