Spring, and a young man's dreams to to airplanes. (and with one house sold, he gets a day or two to relax....)
The last thing to do is the stab/fin gap seals, which means reattaching the stabs. Had I known I could have done all this last year when I had everything set up in the hangar, but we were also racing the weather to get the airplane over to Einar's. (BTW, the wings in the background are covered with some cheap sheets I pickup up at the Salvation Army, so even though they're getting direct sunlight on them they're protected from UV damage.)
Test fit the seal with the weather stripping on, and mark.
The "steampunk" reinforcing mods for the stab got marked so I didn't drill into their rivets. Ironically, I recently learned from PA that the reinforcing sleeves were not needed, but they never told us. Had they told me in time they might have caught me before I mounted them, saving some weight. The lack of communication from PA has been one of the most frustrating parts of this build.
As with the other seals, it's all about the alignment. It will probably never be noticed if a seal doesn't perfectly align with a stab, but I'll know, and if there's time to do it, there's time to do it right.
As in the final stages of mounting the aileron gap seals, I did the corners, then filled in the rest afterward.
Here you get a better look at the offset I had to do so I would not drill into the reinforcements. I'll have to get some longer rivets in this area, too.
Mirror, mirror, on the bench. Why do it twice when you can copy the first?
And Yes, it's been a pain to remove the Sharpie marks from the painted areas after drilling. Be warned!
Remember to cauterize the holes in the covering after you're done drilling them.
