…we started today? The wheel fairings are my first fiber glass work. I think theoretically I should have already finished the tail-cone but I saved that for later. I think of doing that while I am waiting for the avionics, which I haven’t ordered yet.
As for the fairings I first didn’t want to start, because I read that I needed to grind the parts down to the scribe line. So yesterday I gather materials. The shears as recommended by the KAI didn’t work very well. The fiber glass was way too rigid and broke more than being sheared. I was afraid the final form might be damaged. Therefore, I bought an additional disc for my Dremel to cut down the wheel hole. That went somewhat better. At least a lot more controlled. But still not very exact and far away from a straight and clean cut. What really worked well was Vans’ instruction to use a sanding block. I used a 120 grain which worked marvelous. For the amount of pressure I put on, it grind just enough to advance with a reasonable speed without risking of removing too much, while simultaneously creating a very straight and clean cut out.
As you can see, the day was a wonderful autumn day, allowing me to do most of the sanding outdoors in the sun. The only downside was that I realized only afterwards that Vans’ changed the order of building the fairings. The mounts with the nut plates now have to be manufactured before fitting the fairings to them. This way, I think, they can be hold in place by clecos while we rechecked manually many times until everything fit. If we only knew…we did drill the #30 holes in advance thought. Because, while the shining through with the light is good, being able to look though a real hole to check for proper alignment is certainly safer. For the next steps I will certainly go with the updated digital plan.