Today was another very hot day, so no bottom cowling sanding yet.

I started off by simply pulling the peel ply, razor trimming and cleaning up the reinforcement layups on the right pilot armrest interior surface.  I’m happy to report this task is complete and pressing forward!

I also got another round of glassing in after cleaning up the corners and edges of the now attached CF-covered wood substrates making up the winglet intersection fairings.

After prepping the underside areas on both the left and right winglets/wings I prepregged the BID before laying it up.

First the left side . . .

And then the right.  Of course I peel plied the layups as well.

On the right winglet intersection fairing I constructed a dam on the top side for pour foam.

I then added in pour foam in 2 batches.

A bit later I pulled the dam borders off the cured pour foam.  Yes, it’s always way more foam than you need just to get everything covered.

I then took my trusty wood saw and started hacking (or sawing!) away.  After a few rounds in just a few minutes I had whittled the foam down a good bit.

I wanted a tubular object that was around 3″ in diameter to start my sanding & shaping with, and then planned on going smaller in diameter from there.  My previous fiberglass tube that I glassed for securing the fire extinguisher in the past measured just over 2.8″ in diameter… perfect.

I then wrapped it in a sheet of 50 grit sandpaper.

And went to town.  Here are a couple of pics after a few rounds of sanding, followed by some cleanup with the shop vac.

I got to a good stopping point after another few rounds of sanding to come back to tomorrow to finalize the shape.  It was getting late and I was hot and tired, so I wanted to reassess the final shape tomorrow before glassing this top side fillet on the right winglet intersection fairing.  Note that these pics below are all to the same level in sanding.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’ll also note that I only did the right side —from foam pour to sanding— just to ensure that I didn’t miss anything or screw anything up!  Tomorrow I’ll do the left side and sand/shape it before glassing either side just to ensure the contours and profiles are the same on each side.

Again, in a way I’m just filling time waiting for slightly cooler weather to work my #1 priority: the bottom cowling, and in turn the exhaust pipes (yes, still… sigh).