August 31, 2004 HOME

While I was out shopping (Hmmm, for airplane parts, really!), Bill and Don Knight (who I'm working on to be my flight advisor for the first test flight) drilled, and riveted nutplates to the fiberglass tips of both wings.  These will hold the clear lenses in place.  I happen to think my help crew spent more time talking than working, but you can't complain (too much, anyway) about free labor.

I spent some time working on the initial fitting of the aileron gap fairing and final-drilled it while I was at it.

To prepare the flap brace for installation, you have to trim a tapered into it to clear the the rear spare reinforcement plate at the root end of the spar.  It's a simple cut and conveniently marked by a notch at each end.

Here is a not-very-good pic of the template Bill made up and printed out for me.  The little dots are where the position lights (LEDs) are supposed to be and the big black dot is where the strobe is going.  There is no rear template yet, but I told him to hurry up!

This LED lighting project is taking more time than I anticipated, but Bill is doing lots of the work.  I could say he's a real sport or a real trooper, but I don't want to sound like all the mindless guys out there talking about the little woman.  It's great to have help and I appreciate it....

   

Here it is.  The first installation of the LEDs on a plate.  It's not attached to the fiberglass tip, but the LED lenses pop through and are ready to test.

They light up!

Here is a few taken from 20 feet away and a fairly slight angle.  These are pretty visible from all angles and will be much more so when there are another 5 on the forward-facing plane along with the landing light.

Here's another picture that shows the mess Bill made putting this together.  Oops!  That's not what I meant.  I just wanted to point out how bright these are from all angles.  Can you tell that I'm happy the these?  :)

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