May has been a whirlwind month. Having wrapped up my previous job in late April, I’ve been enjoying a bit of downtime focusing on flying, building, and family. From getting through my Part 135 Checkride Qualifications (yup, pro pilot charter flying side gig) to building up my turboprop time in the Pilatus, to enjoying some great family milestones, I’m surprised I managed to get some building in as well.
The good news is even with all the other activites, I’ve gotten a lot of focus time on the airplane as well. Having the wings on is a ton of fun, but it also takes up a ton of space in the hangar. With only a few items required to get them back off, I focused on pushing through the wing root fairing and flap intersection work. Big shout out to James who spent many hours helping out and providing his expertise. I also completed the Flap Motor retrofit (Cover Photo Shows Leilani and Jack with their completed Flap Motor Cover).
With all the flap motor movement, I was burning through a ton of 9V batteries. Since I am getting closer and closer to the avionics work, which will require a bench power supply, I went ahead and got one that could also drive the motor as needed. Cool.
After all the wing root and flap intersection fairing work, the plans call for removal of the wings to allow installation of the nut plates, and dimpling of the fairings. This is a big deal as the wings will not get put back on until near finish assembly. Back in the rack they go!
I feel pretty good about the progress made this month. Things will slow down a bit as I start my new job, but hopefully will continue to find time to move things foward. The engine is coming in August, and I’d LOVE to have the finish kit work completed by then. Let’s see how the summer goes, but looking forward to wrapping up the fuselage kit in the coming weeks, and moving on to the finish kit! Until then… Happy building!
1 comment
What an excellent month. Great progress, quite impressive, I see you co-opted a new volunteer, Leilani 😂.
Next week to the new job in “Virginia or Washington?”
Proud of you