Tonight was one of those great times when all the hard work comes together and you see genuine progress. First I set up two saw horses with twin 8' steel beams running parallel on top. Then I temporarily added cross beams so I could check for level in all directions. Once that was established, Joy helped me move the two fuselage halves to their new home. Following the photo assembly guilde, I leveled and checked (make that double and triple checked) all the appropriate areas and was always within 1/10th of 1 degree in each case. Finally, I elevated the firewall to get the 77 degree angle specified in the plans. This is then braced against the center spar for stability. The next step will be to mount the upper engine mount fitting which serves two other purposes: an attachment point for the canopy and a forward attachment point for the Ballistic Recovery System (BRS) whole-plane parachute I will be installing. I pulled out the parts and temporarily attached them just to get a sense of their placement. Very cool to see things line up in my very own aircraft factory! Even with some travel that happens this weekend through Monday, I expect to have the sides of the fuselage in place by July 4th.
Firewall braced at 77 degrees with upper engine brackets
