It's been almost 1 month since my last log entry. In that time PGC & I attended an SAAA "Maintenance Procedures Course" and passed the required examinations to allow us to perform our own weight & balance certification and continuing maintenance of our aircraft.
Having begun preparation of the window installation last month, I discovered my kit contained enough VHB tape for only one window & the supplied washers did not fit the rivets. I ordered some replacement tape online, it took 2 weeks to arrive & was damaged during postage. I have some 1/8" stainless steel washers that do fit in stock. With those problems sorted (I repaired the damaged tape edge), yesterday I started the process of installing the windows by placing the tape on the inside of the skin & cutting clearance holes for the rivets. Fortunately I decided to remove the protective film from the polycarbonate so as to properly clean it and discovered it had been damaged in several places, probably in the process of CNC machining. It appears some foreign material has been trapped in the machine & dented the surface in what looks like 75mm long wheel tracks. I checked the other window & sure enough, it is damaged in EXACTLY the same manner. It will take too long for replacements to come from the now "closed for holidays" factory so I will purchase some replacement sheet locally & cut new windows myself. Sadly the supplier is now also "closed for holidays" so I will need to wait until January 4th before I can start that process.
