Well, after a looong summer and a good bit of procrastination/hesitation I finally started to finish weld the fuselage. I have to tell you, no amount of practice will ever replace the feeling of running the first bead on your fuselage. It was almost like the feeling I got when I went on my first solo; nervous and exciting at the same time. It's the point of no return! Actually, it went relatively well and I have the tail post welded and the first station forward of the tail post complete. I am welding in a clockwise direction, one cluster at a time. They say to start at the tail and work your way forward, so your best welds are where they really count. But, I have to tell you that lower tailpost cluster was pretty darned difficult. Those four tube join at such an angle it is difficult to get in there. But, after slogging through the first seven clusters (tailspring bolt bushing included), I'm finally on my way to getting this part done. I did have two area that spit back at me...contamination! I have no idea where/what it was, but one area took me six tries to clean out. I finally got it and the welds are strong.
