Finished off the wing tips, by sanding the 'filled' tips so a uniform 'gap' exists between the tps and ailerons. Also fabricated a new reflector mirror for the LED/strobes as the old one had developed a small crack. Then, tackled the Prop/Spinner/Cowl. 1st task was to fix an area on the lower left cowl, where oil had leaked and to my surprise had penetrated through the fiberglass and accumulated within the cells of the Paralam filler material. I was concerned it would ruin a paint job. Used an air grinder and cutoff wheel to remove 4" x 12" section of the inside layers of glass. Then sanded the remaining Paralam cells flush. Used a brush and Acetone to remove all remaining oil residue and trowled some flox around the edges to mate with the old surface. I had an extra piece of Paralam from the door install, and I was able to cut a piece that fit inside. I glassed this in place, then put 4 plys of 3 oz cloth over the entire 'repair'. Added some peel ply and let it cure. I mounted the spinner hub/flange to the prop using the Aero Composite instructions and hardware supplied. Then w/ Judy's help we installed the prop. It turned out to be a smaller job than I expected. Another pleasant surprise was the installation of th elower cowl with the prop installed. Again w/Judy's help we slid it in from the front, and only required a slight 'wiggle' of the prop and cowl to get the blades to clear the cowl. So w/ the gear leg slot cut as far forward as it is, it's a nonissue. An unpleasant surprise is that I've got some work to do to get the spinner ring and the cowl spinner ring to match equally.
Wing tips finished and ready for paint
Repaired lowere cowl where oil had penetrated the finerglass and become 'lodged' within th eParalam
Prop and spinner installed, note how close the spinner is to the lower portion of the clow prop ring
