Started Flaps

So it's been a while since my last post, but I've been busy.

We flew up to St. Louis again to visit the family over Memorial Day weekend. The flight was great despite the headwind there and back. It was severe clear without a cloud in sight the entire flight to St. Louis.

Jess does a great job entertaining and caring for the baby while we fly. Playing, looking at books, and even changing diapers in flight. Luckily Ayla sleeps most of the flight.

 

 

The parts for the car arrived so I spent the large part of last weekend installing a new water pump (the shiny part in the middle of the picture) and timing belt. This included removing the serpentine belt, pulleys, engine mounts, covers, right front wheel, timing adjustments...... I'm glad it's done.

 

 

I've still been able to find time to work on the plane. The flaps are officially started and probably more than half complete by now. The work has been sporadic and therefore didn't justify making a post about. Then I realized that I've completed quite a bit and lacked on posting. So here is me catching up.

 

The progress in summary:

Clecoed all the parts together and drilled everything out as usual. I countersunk rivet holes for two nutplates. Deburred, dimpled, and riveted all the parts in the lower picture to build the "skeleton" of the flaps. I still need to deburr and dimple the skins. The flaps so far are extremely easy without any frustrations or gotcha moments. I expect to finish them soon. I still need to test the fuel tanks so I guess that's coming up as well......I seem to be procrastinating on that task.

 

Total time since last post = 13.75hrs all on Flaps