I started out today by marking up the right strake T-hats for trimming.
And then trimmed them up… all except the back edge along the CS spar.
I then did some MGS glass work. First off, I completed the 1-ply BID layup that connects the very aft baggage area floor to the interior fuselage sidewall. I then peel plied the layup.
When I flip the fuselage upside down to layup the bottom strake skins, I want as much securing the strakes to the fuselage and CS spar as possible, so I laid up the top aft 7″ of the right strake leading edge inside the pilot strake opening.
Although I sanded it to match the profile, there is a bit of an edge there so I slathered in some micro to provide a smooth transition. With such small layup, and with it wrapping around the small lip of the fuselage sidewall, I chose not to peel ply this layup.
I then kind of went off on a tangent. Realizing that it was going to take nearly a full day’s worth of work to prep for the right strake bottom skin core attachment, I decided to get the cabin fire extinguisher installed.
I started by test fitting the fire extinguisher with the left front armrest in place. Knowing that the extinguisher sat a little higher than I wanted it to, I slowly started notching the very aft edge of the armrest.
Here’s a closer shot. It’s a little rough now, but I’ll clean it up with a judicious application of micro and a bit of BID.
The main thing I was shooting for was the height of the extinguisher so that it wouldn’t get it in the way of the canopy latch securing rod. After a few iterations of removing more glass and foam out of the initial notch I made on the aft armrest, I got the fire extinguisher dialed in to within about 1/16″ of my desired spot.
Before finalizing my fire extinguisher mounting position, I tested its fit with the front seat cores. It was tight but looked good. Shouldn’t be any chaffing or rubbing.
Here are a couple of shots of the fitting….
As you can see in this pic, the fire extinguisher nozzle protrudes out further than the rest of the extinguisher body, so I angled it so the top was just a bit more outboard than the bottom. I want to ensure there is no contact between the fire extinguisher nozzle and the side of the front seat top core.
I then taped up the fire extinguisher bracket and prepped 2 click bonds to mount to the pilot seat back.
Which I did here. I’m calling this round 1 since I will also flox in a couple of RivNut hard points –for the fire extinguisher– on the pilot seat back as well.
With all that, I left my layups cure for the evening and called it a night.