January 30, 2004

Today I had work to do and errands to run, and then in the afternoon my buddy Ron offered to fly us down to San Diego in his Skylane for lunch. That bastard. Doesn't he know I need to focus on the project? Just kidding. I'm a sucker for distractions, especially when there's flying involved.

I got back before it got cold, though, and I finished filling and sanding the new airbox plug.

I waxed it (mold release wax) and laid up a couple of plies of #120 E-glass cloth. I had been using 8oz Rutan BID cloth, as per a fiberglass how-to I found on the web. Well, that stuff is way too freakin' heavy for most applications. The Glasair builder across the hangar row from me, who is building what I anticipate being an absolute best of show winner (this guy is meticulous and does amazing work) turned me onto the lighter E-glass (#120 is 3.16oz/sq. yd.), and man does it make a big difference. I love working with this stuff. It saturates much more readily than the Rutan BID cloth, and it's light enough that you can do much finer ply work with it. This is my new favorite stuff.

I left the halogens on this puppy when I left the hangar...

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Dan Checkoway ()