I started out today plotting out the right wing root forward heat shield template to test out the updates I had made to the template diagram.

I had also updated the post processing G-code files for both the left and right wing root forward heat shields, so after I confirmed the right side template was good, I got to work prepping a sheet of 0.032″ thick 6061 aluminum to use to plasma cut out the heat shields (pic 1).

And then cut out the left heat shield first (pic 2).

I then loaded up the right heat shield in my Fire Control plasma cutting software (pic 1) and cut it out as well (pic 2).

And here we have the the left and right wing root forward heat shields cut out of 6061 aluminum.

As a side note, for those interested, my feeds and speeds numbers are about perfect as here are the undersides of those plasma cuts: very minimal dross on the edges.

I had a hunch that this last round of micro additions on the right upper nose, right sidewall and aft right longeron were going to do the trick.  And I confirmed that after a good hour and a half worth of sanding.

I wanted to knock out the sanding at this point in the day (prior to finishing the heat shields), because I was either going to need to add more micro, or finally get to the final round of epoxy wipes on the upper nose, right fuselage sidewall and right longeron.

I did 3 total coats of epoxy wipes, which can be seen in both the pic above and below.

In between the epoxy wipe coats, I was able to get the front and aft tabs of the newly cut heat shields bent as required on the metal brake.

Now, I’ve had a sneaking suspicion that I might have some issues getting the final aluminum versions of these forward heat shields to mount in place vs the thick paper templates, which were way more flexible…. and I was right.  Between tabs protruding from top and bottom, there is clearly a number of CAMLOC receptacles blocking a clean ingress of these shields to get them set in place.

And although cutting the upper corners of the tabs on the left shield allowed me to get much deeper it still just would not set in all the way.  Thus, problem #1.

My thought is to simply get these forward heat shields into place with the wings off, which might lead to another problem—more of a maintenance (and safety) issue if you will: checking the inner wing bolt.  Problem #2.

Currently I have 2 courses of action to remedy the inboard wing bolt checking issue:
A) simply remove the aft heat shield and use a mirror and ratchet extension to check the bolt,
or B) make a small portal with removable cover plate on the heat shields adjacent to the wing bolt.

I’m leaning towards option A to reduce weight, time and effort.

I’ll ponder more on that, but for now I’m calling it a night.