I neglected to mention that yesterday I finished up the fuel system by installing the fuel selector to the cover plate and making sure all of the fittings were torqued securely. At least I finished one thing this weekend. I also ordered some UHMW plastic tape and rod to install in the canopy roller tracks to help reduce some of the friction…that will be a project for another time. Today was focused on fitting the aft canopy skirts for the third time. I had purchased another 2’ x 4’ sheet of .032 from Aircraft Spruce some time ago, so I transferred the pattern of one of my misdrilled skirts from a previous time and used my pneumatic shears to cut them out. After ensuring that they would fit, I optimistically set out to start drilling them to the aft canopy frame. It always starts out so well, but as I transition down the sides I find that the tendency of the skirt is to pull away from the fuselage such that at the end it has almost ½” gap at the lower corner. Today was no different, and after futzing with the first one for about an hour, I elected to scrap it (since I had enough aluminum for one more) and use the second one to try a different technique. No luck on that, and not worth reliving the frustration to post it here.
To this point I simply cannot figure out how to get the aluminum to do what I need it to do, which is to curve in three dimensions and achieve a perfect fit on a moving structure. I am about one more try away from scrapping the whole idea and going to fiberglass like so many other builders have done. Since I won’t be building next weekend, I have a couple of weeks to ponder my next move…stay tuned for more fun.
