I met with an EAA Technical Counselor a few days ago to have him look over the ship. He found about a dozen things that needed to be addressed. This was the most major item. In Photo 1 you can see a gap between the red closing panel and the white belly rib. The gap is about 1/4". It was caused by not having the bottom screwed down while I beat the top over the seat rails. It wound up pulling up and leaving a gap.
I really did not want to remake the piece so I cut the bottom off of the panel and made a 90 deg angle. The angle is held to the closing panel with nut plates and the floor (with screws) holds it down. As a side benefit this will allow me to remove the closing panel without having to remove the floor. The fix will be invisible.
Another issue he pointed out is that the aluminum sheets should not touch the tubing. This is particularly noticabe on the "firewall". I will need to take the screws loose and file some clearance. This would have been alot easier before I put it on, or powder coated it.
CHECK FOR ALUMINUM SHEETS RUBBING ON THE TUBING BEFORE POWDER COATING.
