July 31, 2004 HOME

I really jumped around today, working on some little things that I won't show here.  Below, I'm riveting the up elevator stop while I have Bill available to buck for me.  The stop is angled for the twist in the rear HS spar as opposed to using a washer as an offset per plans.

Next I riveted the forward HS connector to the front HS spar.  It takes lots of rivets.  In fact, it looks like overkill, but I dutifully drove them in per plans.

One thing I didn't like much (jumping to another subject) are the cheesy little screws and nuts that come with the Whelen Comet tail light and strobe.  It's a great unit, but I just couldn't bring myself to use the cheap hardware they supplied for attachment.  I went with platenuts and #6 screws as below.  One thing I will change it that I'll use regular barrel head screws when I find some.

So, I moved on the drilling the installation hole for the rear tail light.  Here's pic that shows the Comet strobe with the nice bright tail light in the center.  Very cool!

 

 

 

 

   

While I'm working on my tail light, bill is being helpful by building me a small bench to hold my new vice.  (Yes, I have many vices, but this is for the biggest!  So hold the jokes!)

Well, my installation is not going smoothly.  First off, (yellow arrow) there's all kinds of crud in in the sloppy fiberglass work that gets in the way.  I'll have to grind and strip all of this out before I can fit anything in the hole.  Second, (red arrow) drilling the hole, split the piece in two.  That's because it was forced apart by all wadded up fiberglass inside.  This is one piece that doesn't exactly display real craftsmanship, but I'm not going to build my one from scratch.

Here is just another example of the crud inside.  I have already removed most of it.  Now I will have to grind out the rest and glass the piece back together.  This is not going as fast as I expected!

 

 

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