I spent the past week finishing up the last tasks of the covering.
I had left the final ironing and gluing for the last step in finishing the covering. The entailed finding all the wrinkles and bubbles and getting them ironed out, ironing all the edges down, and then spreading a coat of thin glue over all the glued areas.
I used a flashlight to help locate all of the wrinkles and bubbles.
Randy Long at Superflite told me to make sure the all of the areas of covering in contact with underlying structure are coated with thinned glue. This entailed spreading some thinned glue on the flaps and ailerons, and a couple of areas on the rudder, elevators, and bottom of the fuselage. Randy said that if this is not done the primer will pool on the underlying structure and create a visible flaw in the paint.
This last step is the official completion of the covering, and I now consider myself to have reached the painting stage. unfortunately, between family holidays and a trip to Oshkosh, it will probably be the end of August before I actually get to pull the trigger on a paint gun...
