I wasn't happy how I had the tail wheel raised with my Rube Goldberg setup. It was an accident waiting to happen. So I purchased a 1000lb capacity lift cart. Much better.. It is hydraulically operated and is smooth allowing fine adjustments to level the plane.
USPS has lost my fiberglass? Had to order again and I continue to wait for delivery. Hopefully, it will arrive soon and I can get on with the glare shield.
I finally have the glare shield to the point I can tape it up. So, I got the first pass of tape on it. Actually, I think this is going to turn out pretty good. My fiberglass supplies won't arrive until Thursday but that gives me time to really get everything taped and covered with plastic sheeting, so I can jump right in when the stuff arrives. I'm pretty happy with the way the mold is turning out.
Big news and a major milestone... I received the aircraft registration in the mail from the FAA today! She's official, N45TW is born.
Not a lot has been happening for the past few days because of weather. We've received half our yearly rainfall in the past three days. Actually, it's a really good thing as we have been in a major drought and really needed the rain.
In between showers I managed to get some sanding done and more Super Fill applied on the glare shield. While waiting for the Super Fill to cure I tackled a long put off task, mounting the fuel drains. It took some time to decide how to do it, and to acquire the parts. They've been on the shelf for a while. Now was as good a time as any to dive in. First, I had to puncture the fabric directly under where the drains would mount. I used a sharp pick to do this. Then I used my portable soldering iron to burn a bigger hole and get lined up on the hole in the bracket on inside of the fuse. I had to drill out the holes in the brackets to accommodate the bulk head fittings. Once that was done I needed to cut the fabric to allow the bulk head fitting to pass through into the bracket from underneath. Both sides are done and finger tight. I'm trying to figure out how to finish it off with a fabric patch before securing permanently.
Today a coated the glare shield with a coat of Super Fill. There are a couple of areas that I'll need to fill again, but they're small. Then a lot of sanding to feather it all out nice and smooth. Then on to laying fiberglass in the next few days.
After sanding. Still some small spots to fill...
I floated some more joint compound to level out some low spots. Let it cure and sanded it down. Got to a point where I was doing more damage as it was cracking and peeling off at the edges. I decided to put the resin on to help solidify the compound and stop the cracking/peeling. I figure I'll feather the edges with some SuperFill after the resin cures. Being an epoxy, it should stick well to the resin and the aluminum foil near the raised edges which will allow me to feather them smooth. There are also some cracks that need filling so I'll take care of those too.
I've been working on the glare shield for the past week with not much success. First off, I didn't care for the acute angles I had in the first version. My concern was loosing a pen/pencil/small item down the side between the windshield and the glare shield. So, I set about to soften them up a bit. I cut an extra piece into each side adding a bit of a curve. It doesn't totally eliminate the potential problem, but it will be easier to retrieve a misplaced item. Plus it blocks less of the view forward.
Satisfied with the new look, I started to think about a material to seal up and smooth out the joints. I selected expanding foam, the kind you get at Lowe's for sealing around electrical outlets etc. Not only didn't it work, it created a huge mess. Once cured, it was too rubbery and not dense enough. It sanded poorly, actually it tore instead. The only good thing about it was that it peeled right off the surfaces so I it was easily removable.
Once again, back to the beginning, I decided to try drywall compound. Of course, I selected the wrong one to use. I picked up the lightweight paste. Unfortunately, it didn't cure very quickly. It was supposed to cure in 30 minutes, two days later I was able to sand it to a point but it's still soft. Now that I've sanded it pretty thin, I'll give it some time to finish curing. I'm going back to pick up some traditional compound that will dry hard and cover over this stuff.
Off to pickup the new compound...
I finally decided on the placement of bulkhead fuel fittings on the firewall and drilled the holes for them. I think I'm going to co-locate my Red Cube fuel sensors on the inside of the firewall just before the bulkhead fittings. I can now plan and complete the fuel lines but will have to wait a few days as I have a trip planned. Everything is just set in place and hand tightened, final assembly coming next week.
Engine side under the waste gate servo. The closest fitting is the fuel supply and the other is the fuel return.
Started working on the glare shield today. First attempt at making an in place mold. I plan to fiberglass over this making the glare shield. Have a lot of work to do before I can start glassing. Just getting started to make the correct shape. I'm using 1/2" insulation foam board.
I installed the Battery/ECU tray after it came back from powder coating. I reversed the battery so the terminals point outward rather than inward. This will allow me to visually check the connections from outside but will require me to make up new leads as the old ones are too short now. I installed one of the dense foam pads that came with the battery to make it fit snug in the holder. I also installed rubber bushings to both the battery and ECU to isolate them from vibration.
