Sunday, September 23, 2012

Lower Cowl Drilled

I didn't expect to happen today but then it just looked too nicely trimmed after a few hours of sanding that I could not resist.
But I am getting ahead of myself. First there was another slap on, adjust, mark, sand, session.

That turned out to be pretty good, needing only a few spots with further trimming. Finally, the lower half came on and cleared the skin while maintaining the clearance to the backplate of the spinner.
I taped the lower half in place as I had to remove the upper cowl to clamp the lower one in place. Then the drill went in, followed by the obligatory cleco.

That went well and, deviating from the instructions, I then prepared to trim the upper half as well. First I had to put the cover on the avionics deck so I had the correct reference edge.

And on came the upper cowl.

Another long strip of blue tape marked the edge to trim the fiberglass back to. In some spots it's about a 1/4".

It was late in the afternoon and I was not up for this sanding marathon, so this will follow on another day. The next step should be to trim this cowl back, so I can see how the sides fit. Once they have been matched, I can then install the side hinges and catch up with the instructions again.

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