Brief Description: Match drilled canopy braces to side skirts.
We clecoed the plexiglass canopy onto the canopy frame before we match drilled the canopy braces to the side skirts. We wanted all the pieces to be in place so that we could get the close tolerance of the skirts to the fuselage. Of course, poor Charlotte would have to sweat while enclosed inside the cockpit to push the brace with a wooden block while I drilled. As luck would have it, a small rain shower (0.07") floated by and cooled it down to 78 degrees just before she crawled into the cockpit. The first bit of moisture in weeks.
While Charlotte pushed on the lower brace flange from inside, I pushed the skirt against the fuselage on the outside with one hand as I match drilled with the other. It all came out quite nicely if I must say so myself.
Before riveting and screwing everything together, we'll try our hand at making the rear skirt out of fiberglass instead of aluminum. Everyone says that you need more sheet metal working equipment and skill to do it right with aluminum. Well, we don't know much about fiberglassing but the builders on the internet seem to be happy to show and teach us. So it's off to do some reading and observing other's good work on the internet. They say that in the long scheme of things, we'll will save time as we learn how to work with fiberglass which is a skill needed for all the wing, horizontal stab, and rudder tips as well as the windshield work.
Charlotte pushing on the canopy brace while I match drilled the lower set of side skirt holes.
