Final preps

When I first started building the fuselage I was persuaded to go with internal limit switches by  some very well meaning pilots. When Jim agreed to help me with my build he made a number of very persuasive arguments in favor of staying with the external switches, and I agreed. This meant going back and adding some parts I had left off that are necessary for the external limit switch system, but not for the internal ones.

Since I am returning to the garage door spring retract system I need to mount the spring. The manual has it on the right side, but I've already got pulleys and holes on the left, so I'm going to leave it be. I did think about mounting the spring in the center of the lower boom tubes with a bracket spanning the lower supports, but after trying a couple times I wasn't confident I could accurately drill 2 holes for the bracket without weakening the tubes, so I've decided to let it be.

How do you attach the spring (a 2 person job) if you're by yourself? Brace the left main and the tailwheel in the retracted position...

tie a rope to the spring, and pull. (Note: If you need to undo this, MAKE SURE you remember to brace the left main gear and the tailwheel, otherwise bad things will happen to your hand. All I'm going to say is Thank god for leather gloves.)

 The tube/transom junction needs to be sealed, the first time I used 3M 5200 Marine Sealant, which was a mess and almost impossible to remove. This time I used West Marine silicone sealant.

More model airplane tricks, a syringe makes it easy to apply deep inside the transom exactly where I wanted it. 

The next day I was wondering if-like the rudder cables-the tubing needed to be secured so it would not eventually work its way free. I exercised the gear a few times and sure enough, they did. Like the rudder cables, a bit of safety wire stopped that.

And a bit of final sanding to the wingtips, just so I could sleep knowing they were done. 

 
I'm on the road for the next 2 weeks, OspRey is all ready for some heavy attention in June.