Since the last posting I have removed the 4130 steel cage/frame from the glider, which took approximately 1 hour. Furthermore, I removed much of the hardware and fairleads from the cage in preparation for stripping the paint off the frame. It took several hours with my sand blaster and an underpowered air compressor to strip most of the paint off the frame. The remainder of the paint will be removed by hand.
I attached the seat rails to a temporary piece of MDF that served as a jig to ensure that they were welded in the same plane. After tacking the rails to the frame I performed the rest of the welding with the MDF jig removed. After the welding was completed I cut out a 3/8" birch plywood seat and then drilled the holes for the AN3 mounting screws.
The rear portion of the seat that serves as back support still needs to be fabricated. This will either be a piece of fabric or a piece of wood. I won't know until I mount the frame back inside the glider and measure the location of my back while sitting in a position where my head is beneath the canopy.
I have two additional fairleads to weld onto the frame near the previous ruddervator fairleads to guide the control cables around the new control stick. Furthermore, 2 slots will need to be made in the wooden seat to provide clearance for the ruddervator cables.
