So, Gary Hertzler advises to NOT let water inside the center hole of the prop....why didn't he plug it then? Hmm. Either way I found a small 3/4" plug at lowes, drilled a #60 hole in the middle for "venting" and pushed it into place. Adding a small dab of CA glue, that thing is plugged for good! Now water won't get in. fixed for under a buck. I then trimmed up the lower cowling, fitted it to the bottom of the fuselage and determined I would use 1" strips of Blue faom to build my stiffeners. I really liked how it turned out and after 1 ply UNI and 2 plies carbon, it should be pretty dang stiff. I've also found a way to close off the massive rear end gap in a way that will also direct hot air out into the props airstream if cooling proves to be unsatisfactory. Not to mention it will be Very easy to test with foam before glassing it up. AND it won't change the outside angles at all. That will come later after test flights commence. For now, This stiffener will need some glass work which will happen tomorrow after the compression check is finished.
