This post covers the past few days . . .

Out of the blue I got a call from a local EAA chapter member, Rich, asking me if I wanted to go flying this AM (Friday).  We had discussed it earlier as I wanted to get some stick time in a low wing airplane, especially one that Burt had suggested as a good transition trainer to slide into the Long-EZ.

As a CFI, Rich put me through the ringer with a good bunch of stalls and tight 360° turns to help knock the rust off.  Moreover, his entire panel is glass so that helped as well flying behind a PFD and MFD.  Great training and I hope to get a few more flights in with Rich here soon!

Now, I’ll state for the record that I have had my ears pinned back and hair on fire to get this bird done.  I have been talking to the DAR in prep for the Airworthiness inspection and also to get my stuff in order.  I’ve also sent off my registration paperwork to a title agent to help massage it through the FAA system as quick as possible.

On the bird I have done way more than I have pics of on this blog to denote my build tasks, as I’ve been working 12-14 hours days on this thing.

Here’s a sideline task that I knocked out as it involved a layup, which as I’ve stated before, are getting very much less and less common on this build.  It’s the 3-ply carbon fiber layup on the right winglet/rudder that I’ll install with a spring loaded pin for my rudder gust lock.  When I install the left rudder I’ll knock that one out as well.

My main task over the past few days has been getting my canopy fit with the fuselage dialed in.  Last post I showed where I laid up the CF glare shield to ensure my spacing was a known quantity on the canopy closure, and since then I’ve worked the left longeron edge just below the canopy frame lip a good bit more.

To connect the added foam and micro (hard-shelled) edge to the longeron, I went ahead and laid up 2 plies of BID all the way down the top of the longeron overlapping outboard over this new added edge.  Here’s the front side of that layup after I pulled peel ply, trimmed, sanded and cleaned it up (yeah, I know… it looks the same as before).

And here’s the aft side.  My canopy B-seal isn’t compressing as much as I’d prefer, so a couple of plies of BID definitely doesn’t hurt space-wise.  And I wanted this edge strong enough to not worry about chipping it when getting in & out of the bird, or sitting on the longeron.

Again, I’ve been doing a myriad of sanding, micro fills/refills, epoxying wiping and generally getting all the components ready for primer and paint.

Pressing forward!