I have been worrying about drilling into the fuselage. Just about everything I've worked with has been expendable. If I goof up, I can order a new one. If I goof up the fuselage... it's going to be SUPER expensive.
This evening, I finally got up the nerve to cut a 1 1/2 inch hole in the side of the fuselage. It went much better than I expected. (I'd read some horror stories about other builders having trouble with the fit of the steps.) Maybe the older kits didn't have the pilot holes to guide the drill. The steps fit in snug but not tight.
I'm going to have to grind down the end of the tubing. The steps stick out about 1/8 of an inch when completely pushed in. After trimming the tube, it looks like the step will fit with a minimum of bending the plate.
