September 23, 2021 – I completed the finishing touches to get ready for the first flight.
I had asked the test pilot if he wanted to see anything before I closed up. He came out and gave me a short list.
I put in some of the interior so I could place the seats.
The measles are velcro dots that get attached on the seat pans for the carpet. This is how Classic Aero has you install the carpet.
I also closed up all the external panels.
I installed the wing root fairings. Dealing with these in the past, I learned some new words while trying to put these on. I got some gasket adhesive and glued the rubber seals to the panels, and they went right on.
The tail was closed next.
I installed the cowling last. Had an interesting problem with some of the fasteners. About 5 of the Skybolt fasteners wouldn’t go in. I was getting frustrated because I had done these previously with no issues. Come to find out that when I sealed the interiors with resin for the heat blanket, some of the resin had gotten inside the openings for the fasteners. So I took out the fasteners, scraped around the collar to clear the dried resin, and everything went in like it was supposed to. I also tried out the inlet plugs I’d gotten from Bruce’s at Oshkosh.
I put 174PM to bed. We have a big day tomorrow…
Time: 16:00