Jetlag therapy for me is now coming to the hangar and starting with simple tasks, then seeing how the day goes. In this case I started with fixing my unplanned modification to the cockpit sides.
-----------Note: the first part of this port details me adding some reinforcing that was advised by a well-meaning but wrong person. DO NOT add these side rails, I ended up carefully chiseling them off later--------------
First thing was to mix some West Systems epoxy and thicken it up with 404 filler. Several years ago I build a Chesapeake Light Craft kayak and their excellent manual gave plenty of building tips I've used working on the hull. In CLC terms, I added enough filler until the epoxy had the consistency of peanut butter, then put it in a ziplock bag and snipped the end off.
This is an easy and cheap way to make a squeeze bag like a chef would use to decorate a cake, and you just squeeze the thick epoxy into place.
Resist the urge to fiddle too much with it.
Or it becomes a sticky mess. Remember, you can always sand it down later.
I also added the support arms for the avionics, one on each side.
And picked up a piece of 6061 aluminum to mount the throttle quadrant to. I'll cut it down to size, and have a piece of nylon machined to fit between the plate and the center fuselage tube. (Thanks Hal, for the great idea.) The lower red knob will not be for a mixture control but for the "starting carbs" in the 914. More on those next year when I get the engine, but for now the 914 does not have a mixture control.
After getting home from the next series of trips that had me stuck in Newark during Hurricane Irene, then going to Japan (where there was a minor earthquake at 0200) I spent the day doing one of my favorite things, working with wood to build the cradle for the hull. For other builders the angle is 160 degrees, the base is a panel from the shipping crate with 3 furniture dollys screwed into place underneath, and scrap wood. The most expensive part was the hunk of foam to set the hull down onto.
Its also high enough that I can work on the inside comfortably from a chair without bending over and killing my back. Getting old sucks.
One of those days where I started mid-morning and went until midnight, then came back the next day for a long afternoon. I was hoping to put the fuselage into the hull this month but I think it will slip to October. No rushing this part.
-----------Note: the first part of this port details me adding some reinforcing that was advised by a well-meaning but wrong person. DO NOT add these side rails, I ended up carefully chiseling them off later--------------
First thing was to mix some West Systems epoxy and thicken it up with 404 filler. Several years ago I build a Chesapeake Light Craft kayak and their excellent manual gave plenty of building tips I've used working on the hull. In CLC terms, I added enough filler until the epoxy had the consistency of peanut butter, then put it in a ziplock bag and snipped the end off.
This is an easy and cheap way to make a squeeze bag like a chef would use to decorate a cake, and you just squeeze the thick epoxy into place.
Resist the urge to fiddle too much with it.
Or it becomes a sticky mess. Remember, you can always sand it down later.
I also added the support arms for the avionics, one on each side.
And picked up a piece of 6061 aluminum to mount the throttle quadrant to. I'll cut it down to size, and have a piece of nylon machined to fit between the plate and the center fuselage tube. (Thanks Hal, for the great idea.) The lower red knob will not be for a mixture control but for the "starting carbs" in the 914. More on those next year when I get the engine, but for now the 914 does not have a mixture control.
After getting home from the next series of trips that had me stuck in Newark during Hurricane Irene, then going to Japan (where there was a minor earthquake at 0200) I spent the day doing one of my favorite things, working with wood to build the cradle for the hull. For other builders the angle is 160 degrees, the base is a panel from the shipping crate with 3 furniture dollys screwed into place underneath, and scrap wood. The most expensive part was the hunk of foam to set the hull down onto.
Its also high enough that I can work on the inside comfortably from a chair without bending over and killing my back. Getting old sucks.
One of those days where I started mid-morning and went until midnight, then came back the next day for a long afternoon. I was hoping to put the fuselage into the hull this month but I think it will slip to October. No rushing this part.
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