After I left, the temps returned to their normal 90+ level during the day. Which means a really good post cure baking.

The best part is that we’re done with sanding.

Here’s the view on Sunday morning.

And 5 hours later (Malcolm is working on the second coat):

I have a weekend between a Nexus class in Washington, DC and one in Richmond, VA. So after class on Friday, I flew into Greenville and on Saturday morning we started the final sanding. When I landed on Friday afternoon, the thermometer on the plane read 63! A really bizarre cold snap for the middle of July but perfect for spraying.

We spent all day sanding, washing, rinsing and masking.

Here’s that damned right wing. I thought we were done with it.

After the final sanding, the spot reappeared. It feels like a low (or flat) spot in the middle. But we keep sanding through to what seem to be ridges towards the front and rear. We went back and forth about what to do. We settled on looking at it when it was wet from the washing. When we did, it looked fine. So in the end, I made the call: Charlie Mike.

After spending the week working on the fuselage, all we accomplished was to get the final coat of gray primer/filler/sealer. And of course, there were more pinholes. Malcolm’s philosophy is that every time you find/fix 90% of the problems. There will always be more. But eventually, you reach the point of diminishing returns.

I hate sanding!!! Just spent the last week sanding in prep for the final priming. Between sanding, filling, sanding, filling, sanding, filling… I’m just done. No pictures because there’s just nothing worth taking a picture of. But… I finally got the copilot wing figured out. Well, maybe not “figured out” but it’s right. I don’t know if it was a high or a low spot, but now it’s true.

Hopefully, before I leave, we’ll at least have the final coat of gray. The biggest problem now is heat. We had to quit at 3pm today. I went to pick up a countersink bit and the thermometer in the Explorer read 116 at 4pm today. And yes, that’s Fahrenheit. At these temps, the primer will kick before we can spray it.

Return of the spotted dog

With the pin holes filled and the radius done, it’s time to sand. Most of the sanding should be uneventful. But some areas will be… enlightening. There were a couple spots on the wing where we just couldn’t figure out what was going on. High spot? Low spot? But with the whole area in gray, once we started sanding these areas, it became crystal clear. On the copilot wing, there were some low spots. But they aren’t low enough for micro and they were too low for primer.

Time for some backyard chemistry.

We decided to to mix micro balloon with the Akzo-Nobel gray primer. Since the micro balloon is inert, there shouldn’t be any reaction with the primer. I thought that we should do a small amount on a test area but Malcolm was absolutely certain there wouldn’t be a problem so we charged ahead. I mixed up the concoction and applied it with a roller (no way to spray it since it was real thick).

Here’s the result.

http://www.velocity-xl.com/pictures/2011/IMAG0349.jpg

I had to head home the following morning but Malcolm says that it cured fine, sands easy and filled the low spots.

Before starting on the sanding of the primer, the radius at the strake/fuselage intersection has to be done (again). The bottom is already done, now it’s time for the top.

This is another one of those artistic things that Malcolm absolutely rocks at.

Malcolm whips up a batch of thick micro and puts in the corner. Then he uses his custom made radius tools to create a uniform radius. (I have to remember to bring my camera. These are with a camera phone)

The intersection between the winglet and the wing gets a radius too. Just slightly smaller.

Now it’s time to get ready for the first coat of primer. Like on the bottom, we’ll start with the gray primer. There are a couple of places that we simply can’t figure out if we have a low spot or an area surrounded by some high spots. Once the gray primer is one, then we will (hopefully) be able to figure it all out.

Here’s the “before” shot with the (top) in full “spotted dog” mode.

Since Malcolm has only one respirator, he did just about all the spraying. I mixed when he ran low on primer.

Spraying primer.

Almost done

The “after” shot. (we put the canard on hatch covers on just because)

Malcolm suggested painting a mouth with teeth under the nose since it looks like a shark.

And here’s another reason to prime at this point. The plane is COVERED with pinholes. They’re almost impossible to see until the surface is in a single uniform color. Once it is, they are VERY easy to see.

During all of this I realized that I’ve never had the wings and canard on at the same time.

Time for a picture!

Unfortunately, the lighting and the flash don’t make for a great picture but you get the idea.

“That’s an ugly nose”. I don’t have a picture of it, but the nose of the plane isn’t the best looking thing. Malcolm says it looks like it has an overbite (the top sticks out a little further than the bottom). The fix is kind of weird. A thick mixture of micro and cabo is plopped on to the nose.

Once it hardens, it’s sanded to a point. This is one of those “artistic” things that I’m not very good at but Malcolm excels at.

The artist reviewing his work.

Then the point is knocked down and rounded over to make a “proper” nose.