Lindy
7/8/2009
The results of filling the gap with a flox slurry last night are very good! I removed the cowl easily...the packing tape is fantastic mold release for epoxy. I smoothed the rough edges, and now have a perfectly straight aft edge, and a nice, tight gap.
Then I worked on the top cowl a little bit by countersinking the rivet holes...no pic of that. Before riveting the hinge to the top cowl, I needed to check to make sure the hinge pin slides in the eyelets easily enough. It's tight, but they went in. The problem that sometimes occurs here, is that the hinge used on the bottom cowl is -5, and the top is -4, meaning the bottom hinge is thicker material than the top. Since I don't yet have the layer of sealant between the cowl and hinge on the top, it made it worse, but I think once that is applied, the pins will go in easier.
I called it a night at this point because the weather has been so weird lately that I wasn't really dressed for being in the hangar with temps falling thru the 60's this evening. Very strange...in fact, I can't remember it ever being this cool in July.
1.5 hours