Brief Description: Part 4 - Set clearance for top Cowling
Bought some garden variety bolts at True Value Hardeare and made a 3/4" wood plate to temporarily hold the spinner plate while working on the canopy.
Clamped 1/4" plywood around the spinner plate and set the cowling. I am setting the cowling top to be fluxh with the spinner plate. Van's calls for lowering this dimension 1/8" below the top of the plate to allow for engine mount sag. After consulting with a fellow builder (Steve K) I decided to keep the cowling centered with the spinner plate. Steve has an exact configuration as I do (O320, Catto Prop) and has not seen any sag for over three years of servcie. With the Lourd mounts and light weight prop and no CS hardware there is less weight out front to cause engine sag.
Leveled the fuselage side to side and ran measurements on both sides of the colwing for center fit. Marked the bottom of each side of the cowling on the fuselage for reference. Measured back 2" from the fuselage refrence line and marked for the cowling cut.
Decided to hold off cutting and do a final check tomorrow.
