Starting the plumbing for the landing gear. Before any lines are run, the emergency dump valve has to be mounted. The dump valve allows the landing gear to be lowered in the event of a loss of electrical power. In the Cessna, this is accomplished with a manual pump. If the hydraulic pump can’t be run, the gear is pumped down manually. On the Velocity, the gear is retracted with hydraulic pressure. When the pressure is released, gravity will pull the gear down. Simple!

Originally, the dump valve was on the pilot side of the center keel. But a while back, it was moved to the co-pilot side. Malcolm has a set of templates to identify the shape and size of the opening for the dump valve.

First the location of the valve is determined. Then the first template is placed and the hole is marked.

Then the first hole is cut and the other templates are placed and marked.

The outer skin and foam are cut away.

Then the foam gets a radius.

Finally, the area is covered with two layers of BID.