Rudder Painted

I've painted the rudder and only have the horizontal stabilizer left to complete the empennage. The paint isn't perfect but if you look closely in the picture, you can see my reflection so I'm happy with how it's going. I'm completing the service bulletin on the horizontal stabilizer that beefs up the front spar so it will be a day or two until I finish it before I can paint it. Next, on to the fuselage.

Painting Underway

I finally cracked the code for painting. It helped a bunch watching youtube videos and reading internet articles on setting up an HVLP paint gun. My two big problems were not enough air and not enough practice. Now that I've fixed both of those, things are looking much better and I'm more confident that I can get this thing painted reasonably well. I'm trying to keep things light so I've not used any body filler or high build primer and I'm just using one coat of Sherwin Williams wash primer and two coats of paint. Here are some of the parts I've painted so far.

These are the flaps. The wings will be all white.

This is the only place I could find to hang parts while others were being painted in the booth. Here are both elevators with the trim tab.

Nice shine on the vertical stabilizer. Just the rudder and horizontal stabilizer left and I'll be through with the empennage. The rudder will have three colors (blue on the top, white on the bottom with black trim) and I've already laid out the design. The fuselage will be painted next.

Aircraft Registration

I've started the registration and certification phase of building. There's still quite a bit to build but the recommendation is to start the paperwork 90 to 120 days out and I'm probably there. The package pictured below is from the EAA. It contains a step-by-step guide plus all the FAA forms, cockpit placards and the stainless steel data plate. I also watched an hour's webinar at EAA.org about how to register and certify your homebuilt.

Paint Booth Rotisserie

Here's an idea I got from Kitplanes magazine. It holds smaller parts so I can rotate them to the best angle for painting. The rotating frame worked great for painting the flap shown in the picture but I'm still not happy with my painting ability so I'll strip this and practice some more before repainting it. I'm having a problem with very fine orange peel which gives the paint a matte look. I don't want to use the base coat and clear coat method as it adds considerable weight and I don't want to have to sand and polish so I'll have to get very good at single stage painting before I'm happy! I've watched many youtube videos on adjusting an HVLP spray gun and I think I understand my problems so I'll just practice until I get it right.

Here's a closeup of the attachment on each side of the frame. The pipe and flange are 1/2 inch and are plenty sturdy. The clamp on this end is there to adjust how easily the frame rotates. The white painted blocks are left over from my frame straightening jig for the canopy.

The parts are held by stainless steel safety wire attached to screws on the frame.

Stripper Taking Everything Off

I decided to strip the paint off the right elevator. I wasn't completely happy with the finish plus I was worried about the weight on a control surface. I'm using Aircraft Stripper for Fiberglass. It's not as strong as the regular stripper so it won't damage the fiberglass.

Cowl Almost Finished

I'm almost finished with the cowl. At least the structural parts. I put everything together last night and it looks like all that's left is prettying up stuff. I've ordered new hinge pins with the welded stainless tabs instead of the ugly bent wires I've got now. I'm also getting the insulating blanket material to put on the inside hot spots near the exhaust. I'm still looking for a good spring for the oil door as the ones I ordered from McMaster Carr were much too small. I've heard that a mousetrap spring works well.

There are a bunch of details left to finish the airplane but the only plans pages I've not used are for the spinner and the wheel and landing gear fairings so I'm getting close to finishing. I also have to do the baffles but the new ones with the revised directions from Vans are supposed to be relatively easy. I told Paula that if I could get Norm, Phil, Ted and Ron to help and I didn't have to do any paperwork or make it pretty or wait for any parts or hardware, I could safely fly it in a week.

Inlet Duct

Here is one of the inlet ducts attached to the inside top of the cowl. This will help direct cooling air. The smoother the airflow, the more efficient it will cool and reduce drag.

Painting The Elevator

Here's my first use of the paint booth. The blue on this right elevator is the main color other than white that I'll use. I'll also have black trim. I'm really happy with the booth as it kept all of the bugs and tree droppings out of the paint. I may have to get more lighting when I paint the fuselage and wings, however. There was enough light for this small piece but more would be better for the big pieces.

Paint Lighting

I bought some work lights on stands to use in the paint booth. They take a lot of amperage so I've had to split them between two electrical circuits. They do put out a bunch of light, though.

Oil Door Latch

I've got the push-button latch temporally fitted. The strip of metal with the duct tape will be the inside striker plate for the latch so it doesn't wear the fiberglass. It's part of a stainless steel clip that was on an old garage door opener. I keep a junk bucket for bits and pieces I think will be useful someday. I told Paula about using a part from the junk bucket and she correctly identified it as being from a garage door opener and wanted to know what she won for guessing correctly!

Here's the underside with the stainless steel striker plate attached. That should be plenty durable.

Here's a better picture of the push button.