Yes, I’m guessing pretty much across the U.S. the cold weather rolled in with a vengeance just after Thanksgiving.  Thank God for Black Friday, since I was able to nab a myriad of tools and supplies for my main upcoming tasks: a post cure of all the major airplane components, and then painting.

One Black Friday sale I availed myself to was this torpedo heater from Tractor Supply.  I’ve had it for a couple of days now, and finally got around to filling ‘er with Kerosene and firing it up.  It definitely does its job… I can say that!  Moreover, this is a critical piece of equipment for my upcoming post cure.

I’ve also spent the last couple of days doing a deep dive on exactly what I need for the post cure, and then the paint following that.  Again, I’ve hit a number of Black Friday sales to pick up a couple extra paint guns and a slew of painting supplies while it was all on sale.

Today I got back to building on the bird for a good bit.  My main task was mounting the right rudder and aileron that I wet sanded with 150 grit sandpaper (last night).  I then spent a good bit of time sanding both the aileron and wing across the intersection seams, as well as the rudder with the winglet (on both sides).  I’m very pleased with both the gaps between aileron and wing, and rudder and winglet… as well as the surface level where they meet.

You may note the black paint I’ve sprayed as a guide coat in some problem areas, which again I did last night.  I’ll sand these down most likely tomorrow to have all the surfaces ready for primer.

I also finished prepping the right wing video camera mounting threaded insert hard points (yes, that I worked on last night!) for a few rounds of epoxy wipes to ensure they are nice and sealed for primer and paint.  Again, note the applied guide coat for another problem area that needs worked.

I then spent a good little bit wet sanding both sides of the left rudder with 150 grit sandpaper.  I focused on the left winglet (only) to have it close to very final shape to then use it as a mold for the top of left winglet video camera mount.

I didn’t get a shot of it, but I spent the remainder of my evening taping up the top of the left winglet and cutting glass in prep for the top of left winglet video camera mount that I plan on laying up first thing tomorrow (so I can monitor the kerosene torpedo heater).  And with that, I called it a night.

Still pressing forward!