Realistic Distractions

I love my hangar. It faces northeast so when the storms come in and the rain comes from the south I'm protected. Afterwards when it's post-frontal and the wind blows from the south I'm in the wind shadow. During the long days of summer I get gentle morning sunlight that reflects off the wood and gives the hangar a golden, mellow glow. Then when it gets hot in the afternoon I'm in the shade and can leave the doors open for ventilation and light without it being too hot.

The bad thing about my hangar is that I'm a few hangars down from the first airport entrance on a main drag, so it's not uncommon to have visitors. It's been interesting (and sometimes frustrating) to experience the range of personalities I've had stop by and visit on their way into the airport.

Some people feel absolutely no compulsion about walking right in, stepping on air hoses and electrical cords and picking up anything they see without a "May I?" Another builder at the airport warmed my heart when I was away from the hanger for a few minutes and he patiently waited outside until I returned, introduced himself and asked if he could come in and look around.The great majority are somewhere in between, and are a pleasure to meet.

It's a Catch-22. If I stopped each time someone stopped by I'd never get anything done, if I kept working I'd miss the opportunity to meet some great people, or get the reputation of being a grumpy misanthropic loner. (wait, that sounds familiar....) 

It really becomes a hazard when I'm interrupted in the middle of something, and I miss where I left off when I resume work.

The next day I took the template to the airport. The wing strut plate is mounted inside the leading edge wing cuff, and to mount the plate/template you're bent over working upside down and inside the cuff.

First I covered the area underneath so I didn't FOD the inside of the trailing edge cuff.

I was in the process of bolting it on when someone came by and we stopped to chat.

After mounting the template you draw an outline of where it touches the wing cuff, remove it, punch the outlines and drill.

Look at the kitty.

 

Now at the template

Now the kitty

Now back at the template.

Did you see what was wrong with the template?

I drilled the first 4 holes, took a look and wiggled the template. It was loose. I went "Aw shit...", spotted the loose bolt, tightened it down, repunched and redrilled.

A drill, a dremel, a pair of tin snips later....

Pretty close, time to clean it up with a couple small files.

The slot is not symmetrical, and the two holes that were drilled before the plate was correctly tightened are frustrating, but not critical so I can write them off as a Lesson Learned. I may be able to use them later when it comes time to run the landing light wire.