The Last Skin

The last skin was installed over the weekend! A friend of mine stopped by to crawl into the tailcone and hold a bucking bar while I finished riveting. After we were done I sat and tried to think of any other skins that needed to be riveted. I couldn't think of any. The occasion is a bit of a milestone but went by without celebration after a long day of working on the plane. OK, I had a beer that night, but it was more for myself after the long day than a celebration, but we'll count it anyway. 

I spent most of the day working on the ultra high level double top secret handles. I got the prototypes fully working and will be writing up installation instructions soon for all you future installers. Stay tuned on this.

Dates and Times

Fri 13th -9.5hrs- Prototype handles installed and operating, installed ADAHRS tray, installed doors, riveted last skin

Sun 15th -4.75hrs- Worked on door fitment, finished blind rivets in skin, sanded and prepped for body filler around cabin top

Here is the ADAHRS tray installed with the splitter cable and static tubing in place.

This is a closeup of how I fixed the splitter cable in place. You can't use anything steel around the ADAHRS so Adel clamps are out. So I made a small hat shaped bracket and lined it with friction tape. It's screwed in place with brass screws and nuts.

A grainy picture of inside the cabin...it's dark so this is the best I got. It really doesn't do it justice to show just how cool it is to sit in the plane with everything closed up.

I sanded the doors down just a bit around the edges, but for the most part everything lined up really well. The gaps between the door and cabin top turned out better than I thought they would....very happy with the results.

Last skin is fully riveted in place!

After prepping I smeared the fairing compound, died black for around the window edges, around the entire perimeter of the windows and cabin top. I smoothed it out as best I could, but the sanding is what will really do the job.   ...then soon it will be time to prime!