Another 2-day update here…

I started out Day 1 by cleaning up the touchup micro spots on the left elevator, and then epoxy wiped it every hour or so for 3 total coats.  Here are both elevators now microed, sanded and epoxy wiped.

Day 1: I slathered up the left leading edge of the canard with micro, over the “repair” (extra layers of glass over my aggressively sanded LE) [pic 1] and then today I took the canard outside and knocked down the micro a good bit in prep for final sanding (pic 2).

I also sanded down the epoxy wiped right elevator outside for a good 45 minutes… no pic today.  I’ll grab one tomorrow of both elevators after I sand the left elevator epoxy wipes.

I had bit of a break thru in sanding the thin glass on the left front corner of the canard, so I grabbed a thin strip of UNI cut with the fibers at a 45º angle.  I laid that up and peel plied it to knock yet another one of the myriad of to-do tasks off my list.

Over the past 3-4 days —as I’ve been working on the canard— I’ve been pondering a better solution to my outboard canard ends elevator hinge pin holes, since mine are looking pretty rough (see above).  I don’t have the right size Nyla-flo on hand to use, and I spent a little bit thinking about what I could employ to create a nice sleeve in these pin holes.

And then I found it at my local Ma & Pa hardware store: a foot long length of aluminum 7/32″ OD with 0.014″ walls (pic 1).  Very light and perfect for this assignment.  You can see how well the elevator hinge pin fits into this aluminum sleeve (pic 2).

I cut two 2.25″ lengths off the 1-foot stock with my tube cutter (pic 1) and then chamfered out the insides of each end to get them to slide smoothly again over the hinge pin (pic 2).

On the left end of the canard I micro’d in the new sleeve, which fit like a champ.  I then slid the hinge pin into place to ensure the sleeve alignment was correct.  Tomorrow I’ll Dremel the excess sleeve and file it smooth to match the contour of the canard surface.

However, on the right side I must have set the inside of the hinge pin hole with flox or micro, because when I went to drill it out with my 7/32″ bit, it wasn’t having it.  I didn’t want to do any damage, so I’m calling this good for now and will simply do a final clean up of it with micro when I do the final finish on the bottom of the canard.

As is my build life over the last week (will it ever end?!) I spent a good hour sanding around the perimeter of the canopy, with my main focus on the back corners and the top elevation alignment of the D-deck between it and the top aft canopy frame.  Here’s the left side.

And here’s the right side.  Hopefully this is my LAST iteration of micro and sanding around the canopy! (fingers crossed)

Yep, still pressing forward!