Temperatures are holding in the hundreds and the wildlife is seeking relief.  The usually cautious doe is taking refuge in a shallow area of the backyard pond.   I have taken refuge at the coast, a thirty minute flight where temperatures are in the low 70s, but that hasn't helped get the airplane built!

I need openings behind the panel so the Blue Mountain MFDs can clear the bulkhead.  Well, I mean, they don't clear the bulkhead, so I have to make holes in the bulkhead for clearance.  I made reinforcing plates and drilled and clecoed them in place and drilled pilot holes centered on the final placement of 3" holes.

Using a Greenlee punch, I punched out the bulkhead and the reinforcing plate at the same time.

Below is just another view of the punch being tightened and cutting through the bulkhead and reinforcing plate.

The final 3" hole.  The Greenlee punches do a nice job, making perfect holes in a place where it would otherwise be very difficult.  You can see that it not only punched the reinforcement and the bulkhead, but also punched through the overlap of the bulkhead all with a nice clean cut.

Moving on, I started work on a safety shroud (or maybe it's a safety block or...) for the FADEC switches.  These are pretty important because they serve the same function as magneto switches.  When they are off, the engine does not run.

I cut and bent two pieces of aluminum with switch holes drilled in them.

Next I shortened the pieces and cut an arc that somewhat matches the arc of the toggle lever.

The finished pieces are mirror identical.

I cut a third piece that matches one of the originals cut and drilled a backing plate to which all 3 pieces can be attached.

The almost final product is drilled and glued together.  Yes, screws will hold it all firmly, but gluing makes it much easier to handle while I rubberize it for appearance and feel.  I'll get to that later.

A small accomplishment today, but more than I have done in a while.  I guess I'll go see how the fire is doing.  I don't really want to think about it.

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