First fiberglass work. (Oh Joy) First I cut a piece of wood so that it would exactly fit in the cabin door opening. As a quick and and accurate measuring stick. By comparing the cabin top with the measuring stick it was clear that all the curved parts would have to be removed, and some of the thickness of the straight part. Took the cabin top outside and with Daniel's help started cutting. In the door openings cut right up to the flange instead of at the scribe lines. Then used a small belt sander with 60 grit to sand the bottom and sides of the door opening until flush. This went quickly.  First test fit got it about 1/2 way down.   By the 3rd try we had it sitting on the door sills. It took 2 more test fits to get if fully done. Mainly those were getting the sides and rear done. Make sure to test fit it with the rear cabin skin on , as this pushed it down and required a little more sanding along the sides. (2.5 hrs to get to this point)  Cutting the insides of the door. This is needed to be done before mounting or you can't get the screws into the doorframe because of the overhanging lip.  Match drilled, starting with the top rear center and working forward. It looks really good and is sitting flush to the aluminum skin.  Drilled screw holes around door frames.  Match drilled center support into top and forward structure. This is now 11.5 hr into the cabin top. After fit of windows will be ready for dissassembly and deburring, then final attach (after finishing work and aerosport overhead console). So far the cutting and shaping has been no problem. Will see when I have to start actually laying up fiberglass. |
Fuselage > Section 43 : Cabin Cover >