I started out today by razor trimming the cured layup inside the left wing leading edge light pocket.  I then pulled all the peel ply and cleaned it up.  I’m very happy with the results.

I then started work on trimming down the carbon fiber flange for the left wing leading edge light.  After I got the flange trimmed and fitted, with a little extra sanding on the inside of the leading edges to knock down some extra thick glass, I drilled and test fit it into place with clecos.  With the dry run good, I then added flox to the edges and clecoed and clamped the left wing light pocket CF flange into place.

I also razor trimmed and pulled peel ply on the right wing leading edge light pocket edge layups, before working on that flange as well.  First I got the flange trimmed enough to fit into the light pocket.

And then trimmed it down just a bit more around the exterior edges, while also making the internal notch a bit bigger as well (pic 1).  I also pre-drilled the cleco holes around the perimeter of the leading edge light pocket opening (pic 2).  Since I’m not building an RV, I only have a few smaller diameter clecos on hand and they were currently all employed securing the floxed left flange in place.

I did a final test fit on the flange, which was good.  Tomorrow I will drill the cleco holes into the flange and set it in place to check all is good before floxing it into place.

I will note that on this right side I plan to layup the interior of the pocket first with 2 plies of BID before I install and flox the flange into place… kind of a do-it-all-at-once deal.

Oh, and I’m back to the plan of using a drilling jig to drill the 3 light bracket securing standoff holes.  In fact, I’m actually making up 2 drilling jigs —one for each side— that will allow me to aim the light inboard an extra 2.5° and down about 7°.  Yes, a bit of a compromise, but those are the numbers I’m comfortable with as I’m hoping to install and wire these lights, test them and press forward with nothing but final minor adjustments and lens install after the wings are painted.

The pic above is a screenshot from my CAD file, while the actual one is currently printing out (nearly 3 hours) on the 3D printer.  I’ll have shots of the jigs tomorrow.