That’s better

Things went today as they were supposed to, so compared to yesterday, I actually got quite a lot done. Today’s main task was to get the Weedhopper’s doors at least assembled and preferably, fitted, so I got cracking with that goal in mind.

I couldn’t start that early because the mornings are now becoming quite chilly and the area where I work is outside my back door, which doesn’t get the sun until after midday. But that gave me enough time to clear out and reset my wood-burner before getting everything organised so the day would run as smoothly as possible.

Within less than two hours I had the first door assembled and the only tricky bit was adjusting the drillings for the larger diameter new front tubes and the lengths of the cross-pieces to accommodate them.

The second door took half the time and here are the pair ready for the next stage, namely mounting them.

I found that with minor adjustments I could use MYRO’s old hinge plates that I made myself except this time I decided that I’d dispense with fancy nuts and bolts, which you never need to undo anyway, and use pop rivets instead. This meant that there would be very little adjustment in the hang of the doors so I had to take great care in positioning them just right. Here’s the first one that I did.

And the doors open fully just as they are supposed to but this time, because I’d used pop rivets, there were no ugly bolt heads sticking up that I had to drill holes in the doors for so they could open fully without hitting the bolt heads.

And here are two final shots showing the cabin from each side.

So today was much more successful than yesterday. Although the doors are both on, I’ve still got to finish securing the rear of the pod and the back of the screen to the cabin tube. It will go back easily on the left hand side but the other looks a bit more challenging, mainly because of the dent in the pod on that side that is forcing it out of shape. But I’m sure I’ll find a way round the problem somehow.

So to all intents and purposes, the repair and renovation of 28AAD, my French Weedhopper, is complete. Tomorrow I’ll finish all the little items that are still outstanding and then it’ll be time to think about assembling the wings. And then my mind will be able to turn to taxi and flight testing.

I just hope that the weather continues to hold – we’re expecting temperatures in the 20’s next week – because as well as finishing off the Weedhopper, I’d like to get the Savannah’s screen done too. I just hope that that’s not too much to hope for 😉