My canard had been built as one unit, with a non-removable cover. Knowing that I will likely need to mount avionics and such there, I cut it off and made it removable. Pretty straightforward modification. Just made a nice straight cut on both sides. Sealed off all the exposed foam ends. And a couple layers […]
Cowling bumps
Now that I’ve finished the fuselage and its ready for paint, I grabbed the engine cowlings from the attic to have a look at them. The previous builder of my project has them pretty much completed, just need some micro work. I see also that he put an aluminum insert in one of the exhaust […]
Plane flip
Pretty scary stuff. I didn’t think I would need to flip the plane, but I got tired trying to sand/prime upside down. I mounted secured 3/4″ plywood arcs to the strake tips. Initially, I got my boys to help me prop it straight up. Easiest way to sand the strakes. Then, we flipped it right […]
Fuselage priming
After several weeks of filling and sanding, the fuselage was ready for priming. Spraying upside down to get the belly and under the wings was not much fun. I lifted the nose up to help, but I may have to break out my rotisserie when it comes time for painting. I gave it two good […]
Main gear legs
I’m not sure how to finish the main gear legs. While its common to use plastic brake lines and just micro over them to attach them to the gear legs, the previous builder fitted my plane with braided steel lines. Better performance/durability, but I need to figure out how to deal with them. Currently, the […]
Sanding timelapse
I got a lot of time this July 4th weekend to spend sanding the plane. Its getting close to being ready for filler primer. Every time I walk around the plane I see little issues to deal with. I masked it off yesterday and will probably spend today taking care of any little blemishes I […]
Wing questions
I’ve been working on sanding/filling the fuselage this week, but I thought I’d head up to the attic and check out the wings. I hadn’t really looked at them recently and I wanted to see how much sanding/filling work was left on them. I as I remembered, there almost there – just a little filling […]
Sanding has begun
I haven’t moved the plane outside yet, but I have started filling/sanding. So, vacuum as much as I try, my shop is getting awfully dusty. I think I’ll move it outside this weekend to take care of some of the major shaping work. I’ve done body work before, so this is not something I’m unfamiliar […]