Today I took Tim, my grandson to the
hangar. Tim is still in the process of
getting enough driving hours to be able to get his license. I had him do all of the driving today. When we arrived at the hangar we moved some
of the work tables and stands around so we could install the wings. We started by installing the air filters onto
the carburetors. We removed the yellow
caps, installed and then safety wired the air cleaners.
We moved some more work tables and then
installed the canopy. We stacked some
washers on the inside of the pivot points on each side to space the canopy arms
far enough away to keep them from catching on the upper fuselage skin. I used some Krazy Glue to hold them in
place. We then installed the bolts. We also connected the canopy supports. It works just great. I need to remove the plastic film and clean
the canopy on the inside and the outside.
After installing the canopy we started to
work on the wings. We pulled the
airplane forward in the hangar to have better clearances and access on all
sides. We rolled the wing rack to the
front of the hangar and removed the left wing from the
rack. We jockeyed it into place and while Tim pushed I guided it into the wing receptacles
on the side of the fuselage. The wing
almost went in all of the way, but no, it was a fraction of an inch from being
seated. The spar pins would not go in. I tried the tool I had made last year, but
again, it would not go in. I had Tim
drive us to Harbor Freight where I purchased a light pipe expander. I put it into the spar bushings and it pulled
the wings into line so we could insert the spar pins. After returning from the airport I emailed
Steve Jackson at the SLC Airport Authority to begin the process of being
certified to do self fueling. I will
need to put some fuel in the tank soon so I can start the engine.
