Today was focused on the outboard lids. Continuing with the LHS, the rear brace was sorted. At this point we removed the mini-baffle as it was distorting the shape. We will probably end up re-making it after the top surfaces are complete and we can see exactly what hole we are aiming to fill.
Then it was onto the actual skin surface. After 3 false starts with bad edge distance / trimming I got the rear and inboard shape sorted. Then it was the bending brake again to try and get the basic profile sitting right.
Then with the inboard edge drilled / cleco'd the rear nutplate locations were done.
Then trimming of the outboard edge and drilling the upper outer piano hinge.
The hinged lid will provide easy access to the engine with the removal of 10 screws.
The final part for the LHS is the forward brace angle which provide a link between the side baffle wall and the forward angle brace. A little joggle was needed to get everything to sit right. Also the forward brace tended to move when the skin was cleco'd on - so a temporary tie plate was made whilst drilling the two angles together.
Then it was a repeat process on the RHS. Line up, mark and trim.
Single length of hinge pin, drilled, clecoed. Marked and cut into halves. Both sides have the join of the front / back baffle parts aligned with a 'gap' on the lower hinge. This means a single upper hinge will fit and hold everything together.
The final step for today was the rear brace on the RHS. Drilled and cleco'd onto the baffle. Tomorrow is the second skin surface.
Received in the post today the CO gas detection kit from the UK. This is a small build project with a relay output that detects most 'bad' gasses / vapours (including Carbon Monoxide). I'll assemble and test one evening when I have a spare moment.
Meanwhile Dad spent most of today working through our current shopping list. The propeller should be ready to ship from VANs within the next few days and will add a whole pile of 'bits', won't be cheap but at least shipping costs should be minimal.