Brief Description: Finished tail fitting, other tasks.
Conferred with Bill about the stabilator interference. We decided that the only really correct way to solve the problem was to cut the skin back on the right side. Bill loaned me a rotary cutter and his air chuck. I marked the area to be trimmed with tape and had at it. A few minutes of VERY careful work and the deed was done. Filed and sanded the edge smooth. Paint did not chip at all and the only repair necessary is to color the edge.
Reassembled the tail cone and there is no more interference! A few screw heads are quite close - if they present a problem in the future I will replace them with countersunk screws.
Removed the duct tape from the pre-heater heat strip and checked the epoxy. Still not completely cured. Added more epoxy to seal edges, per instructions. Hung the cube heater to promote curing.
Installed the clips in the stabilator turnbuckles (4) and installed all the cover plates on the bottom of the fuselage.
Tightened up the last of the screws holding the aft window in.
Once again installed the canopy to check the fit around the attach bolts. Better but still interference when the canopy is fully raised. I'll sand off some more fiberglass and add thin washers on Monday.
Picked up all the tools and tidied up the area in case airplanes need to be moved over the weekend.
