PACKING UP THE EMPENNAGE
I have come to the realization that space is becoming a real issue. Continuing with the empennage assembly will only result in needing to disassemble it when I move to a hangar. I realize that this will happen no matter what and that I will also likely assemble and reassemble a few more times (for thinks like paint), I’d like to minimize the rework. The time has come to change course. Before I can do that, I need to reorganize the shop and get the empennage in a state that it will be happy being stored in.
I attached the forward tailcone skin with some clecos for storage. Flat storage is a bit of a premium in my garage so putting it in place made the most sense. I was also able to reorient my work tables to make room for some more detailed wing work.
FUEL SENDER
True to form, I had another “SQUIRREL!” moment. While reading all of the wing instructions preparing to get started, for some reason I got focused in on preparing the fuel senders. I know that this is not exactly in sequence, but it caught my eye and I just couldn’t get it out of my mind. So I worked on one. I got the arm bent as described (I’m using the float senders from Van’s) and it appeared to fit in place just as described in the instructions. It was at this point that I decided to change course yet again and just calm down.
I will say that I was happy to work that out of my system. It felt great to be able to just do something not related to metal fabrication. I know that there will be plenty of that up ahead, but just really wanted a taste of the action right now. There is a lot more to accomplish, so it is time to map that out. It was refreshing to rearrange the shop too. This made it all feel new again. I’m really looking forward to starting the wings in earnest now.
- Total time today – 2 hours
- Total time wings – 11 hours
- Total time aircraft – 219 hours