Europa #435 G-RODO Build Journal - 2015 04

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day	notes	hours
7	After a 3-week gap - a short holiday in Wales, re-occurence of chest infection and trip to USA for funeral - I can get back to the aeroplane again. Pull fuselage out onto drive. With hacksaw blade in padsaw, cut the pushrod hole in the tunnel bulkhead out to the central slot. Check if FL20 pushrod will pass through the gap and file it a bit for clearance. Start to assemble FL19 horn plate to LG08S retract arm and find that the AN4-6A bolts won't go fully home in the holes in LG08S. Try to open them up with a 1/4" bit in the Tight-Fit drill kit but the gears are jumping as soon as the drill bit touches. Dismantle the Tight-Fit drill kit and remove the shims on the block. Find a couple of thin brass washers that are 0.5" OD to match the OD of the Oilite bearings. In turn, mount them in a lathe chuck held in the drilling fixture, with a piece of aluminium tube behind to keep them reasonably square. Carefully drill out to 3/8" ID on bench drill. They won't quite fit on the gear shafts as drilled, but a little work with the taper reamer, holding the washer carefully with pliers, gets a nice fit. Not too hard to get one washer in place but quite a struggle to fit both. Once assembled it turns rather stiffly, but will drive the drill bit through 2 of the holes in LG08S without skipping. Does get very hot quickly so really need to take the washers out and thin them down (or maybe try just one?). The lower forward hole in LG08S is inaccessible to the longest bit I've got for the Tight-Fit drill kit. Instead, start up the compressor and use the right-angle air drill. A standard 1/4" bit is too long so have to use a short threaded one with a plain shank adaptor. Fit FL19 to LG08S using temporary plain nuts. Clean paint from holes in FL21 horn with 4.8mm drill and assemble it loosely to FL21 with 1 bolt and plain nut. Remove masking around FL18 hinge brackets, clear paint from holes and fit FL16S & FL16P with plain nuts. Slide FL15 cross tube into place and fit to FL16s using plain nuts. FL16s are rubbing very slightly on outboard edges of slots. Screw MW5 rod-end bearing to aft end of FL20 pushrod and 175-601-208 fork to forward end, 10 turns each. Insert pin through fork and FL21. Try to assemble rod-end bearing to FL15 but the pushrod is too long. Dismantle fork from FL21 and screw it nearly as far on as it will go. Likewise screw the rod-end bearing on almost fully home. Re-attach fork to FL21 and pushrod length now seems about right. Assemble MW5 rod-end bearing with plain nut. Try operating the retract lever and it looks promising. FL21 looks as if it should be about mid-range on FL19, so clamp it in place with small wood blocks for softening. FL15 cross tube movement looks good when retract lever operated. However, FL20 is rubbing slightly on outboard side of tunnel bulkhead slot, and it is passing rather close to the end of the bolt securing the rod-end bearing to the pitch torque tube. There would be more clearance if that bolt were inserted from the starboard side rather than port. It will be tricky to reverse the bolt but should be do-able with a person at each side of the fuselage; can't get 2 arms into either spar hole. Might need hex socket extension bars. Remove FL20, FL16s, FL15. Wrap a sheet of coarse sandpaper around the pitch pushrod and slide it through the containment bulkhead. Work the pushrod backward and forwards until the slight rubbing against the bulkhead is relieved. Mark the W35 gusset plates with their orientation as I remove them from the ply sheet where they were sprayed. Dip the AN3-12A bolts in Duralac and fit them to the W35 gusset plates with washers and stiffnuts. Clean up excess Duralac with white spirit.	2201.0
8	Roll out fuselage onto front drive. Remove aileron quick-connect bellcranks for better access into spar holes. Try various combinations of socket drives and spanners to see what offers best purchase on the AN5-11A bolt and stiffnut securing the pitch pushrod forward rod-end bearing to the CS10 pitch torque tube. Jack up dolly as far as it will go for better underside access. Dorothy tries to hold a hex socket on the bolt head but she's still recovering from the chest infection and doesn't feel up to it. Andy from next door is passing so ask him to help. He can hold the socket on the bolt head from the port side, but the force required to move the stiffnut is about as much as I can manage at full stretch. The space is too tight for any of the ratchet drives to click so have to be content with 1/12 turn each time with a ring spanner. Tie the control column forward to keep the lugs on CS10 in best position for access. It takes a long time and involves quite a few scrapes on the elbow, but eventually the nut comes off. Remove it carefully, keeping the washer in place. Working from underneath the tunnel where I can see a bit more of what I'm doing, start to push the spare AN5-11A bolt in from the starboard side but have to take it out again as the socket drive prevents the original bolt coming right out. With the hex socket removed, carefully push the new bolt in, driving the old one out. Success, with all washers retained in place. Grease the thread of the new bolt and the threads of the stiffnut and carefully start it onto the bolt. Andy swaps to starboard side to hold the bolt head and I do up the nut with a ring spanner. With the greased threads it seems to go rather easier and quicker than the unscrewing and does up tight with no problems. Re-fit aileron quick-connect bellcranks, this time with the rod-end bearing bolts head aft, which gives more clearance from the edge of the spar hole. Notice that the rudder cables are quite close to the underside of the fuel fittings, particularly on the starboard side. Loosen the Jubilee clips and rotate the fittings slightly to give more clearance. File the slot in the tunnel bulkhead with powerfile to clear the FL20 pushrod. Insert FL20, fit fork to FL21 and FL21 to FL19. Fit FL16s and FL15 with plain nuts. Fit MW5 rod-end bearing to FL15 with AN5-11A bolt taken out of pitch pushrod end and plan nut. Trim off cable clips and conduit back to behind the baggage bay bulkhead with Dremel cut-off wheel, taking great care not to damage wires. Put dab of inspectors lacquer on each nut securing the W35 gusset plates, on the nuts securing the FL18 hinge brackets and on the reversed bolt at the forward end of the pitch pushrod. Clamp FL21 to FL19 with wood softening and check pushrod movement and clearance. If left to hang in its natural position, it is a bit close to other items but it can be rotated slightly to stay well clear of everything, and that orientation can be secured with the checknut on the fork end. Lower dolly to normal position. Put away tools and roll fuselage back into garage.	2204.5
9	Move cars. Roll fuselage out onto drive. Wedge FL20 flap pushrod in optimum position to clear obstructions and tighten checknut on fork end. Note that one of the anchor nuts for the fuel tap cover is quite close to the pushrod, so the screw there must not protrude; may have to re-site the anchor nut. Pull trailer forward, remove stuff and wheel out port wing. Nigel arrives to do some more filming and voice-over recordings and he helps restrain the fuselage while I try to push the port wing home. It doesn't seem willing to go in the last bit, so pause for a think and do the voice-over recordings. Try again with fuselage dolly lowered a bit and holding wingtip a bit higher and it goes in quite easily! Wheel out starboard wing and insert it with a bit less fiddling. Retract flaps and check alignment with wing root template - starboard OK, port a tiny bit low. Clamp digital level to starboard flap and record angles retracted and extended repeatedly until consistent readings obtained. Retracted 23.8, extended 51.2, range 27.4 degrees. Repeat on port side: retracted 24.8, extended 51.5, range 26.7 degrees. The manual calls for 26 to a maximum of 27 degrees deflection from fully retracted. While looking for the fuel tap cover plate discover that the mice have made a nest in a Jiffy-bag I was storing some stuff in. They have also taken the contents of an entire box of disposable gloves to pack around the nest! Will have to have a big clear-out soon to look for any further invasions, and re-bait the trap. Realise I haven't re-fitted the hinge screws on the inboard hinges so do that and repeat the measurements. Starboard: retracted 24.1, extended 51.8, range 27.7 degrees. Port: retracted 24.3, extended 51.2, range 26.9 degrees. Relax clamp on FL21/FL19 assembly and adjust to reduce the throw slightly, re-clamp and measure again. Starboard: retracted 24.2, extended 51.5, range 27.3 degrees. Port: retracted 24.9, extended 51.3, range 26.4 degrees. Adjust FL21 to reduce throw further and re-measure. Starboard: retracted 24.5, extended 51.3, range 26.8 degrees. Port: retracted 25.5, extended 51.5, range 26.0 degrees. Flaps not not retracting as far as they should, so disconnect fork from FL21 and screw on as far as possible. Re-connect to FL21 and re-tighten checknut to hold pushrod clear of obstructions. Remove rod-end bearing from FL15 and screw it on as far as possible. Measure deflections again. Starboard: retracted 24.2, extended 50.8, range 26.6 degrees. Port: retracted 24.8, extended 50.9, range 26.1 degrees. Adjust FL21 to increase the throw very slightly and re-measure. Starboard: retracted 24.1, extended 51.0, range 26.9 degrees. Port: retracted 24.7, extended 51.0, range 26.3 degrees. Check the positions of the bolts in the outrigger slots at the extended position; the starboard one has moved the required 4-6mm but the port one has hardly moved at all. The outrigger sockets are both locked down with a small amount of free movement. The angle of the sockets when retracted suggests that the outrigger legs might contact the adjacent metalwork when fully retracted, so need to install them to check that. After a bit of fettling with plane and sandpaper, persuade both outrigger legs into their sockets and fit securing screws with plain nuts. Now the flaps do not retract fully - the weight of the outriggers is making them droop. Lifting the outrigger legs lets the flaps retract fully, but will air loads provide that lift? Pushing down on the outriggers causes the flaps to droop further, so it looks as though the retracted position is a bit poorly-defined. Measure anyway. Starboard: retracted 25.2, extended 51.2, range 26.0 degrees. Port: retracted 25.7, extended 51.0, range 25.3 degrees. De-rig and put everything away. Re-park trailer and cars. Post a query about the flap deflection on the Matronics Europa e-mail list.	2210.6
10	While having a garage clear-out prompted by the mouse nest discovery, take B1RM rod for making shoot-bolt pushrods back to trailer and store in box 9; note that the PDF manual calls out rectangular-section material instead of round rod for the door lock pushrods. Remove all the stuff stored against the west wall and cut off a strip of carpet contaminated with mouse droppings and urine. Vacuum clean that side, dust potential mouse runs with white pepper, return stored stuff and roll fuselage back in. Clear-up hours not logged.
11	Roll out fuselage onto drive. Take out the mouse trap and dismantle for cleaning; the mice have somehow managed to remove all the peanut butter from the drum (which still rotates freely) without falling into the water, so maybe I need to think again about control methods. Vacuum the east half of the garage floor (cleaning time not logged). Check fit of plywood covers in baggage bay recesses. Decide to make the support flange 20mm and start to mark out on the recesses with a fine felt-tip pen when I realise that there are already lines scribed at that dimension, so just highlight the scribed lines. Support the moulding on wooden blocks. Drill a starting hole 2.8mm on the port recess and cut around the marked line with the Minitool jigsaw with diamond blade. The soleplate of the jigsaw is just the right width to run against the edge of the recess while the blade follows the line. Repeat for starboard recess. Tidy cut edges with Perma-Grit block and file, then smooth off with sanding sponge. Place anchor nut in corner and measure for best location - centre should be about 14mm out from the corner. With centre-square, mark lines at 45 degrees on undersides of all plywood cover plate corners, then mark cross-lines 14mm in on each of those lines. Drill through the marked positions 4.8mm using bench drill at high speed with backing block to prevent break-out on top surface of plywood. Place covers in recesses and drill through the holes in the plywood into the moulding, inserting screws in each hole as drilled to keep alignment. Clean up underside of holes in moulding with hand-held 1/2" drill bit. Fit anchor nuts with short temporary screws. Drill through rivet holes from underside with 2.5mm bit. Countersink top sides of rivet holes with hand-held 4.8mm drill bit. Fit rivets and remove temporary screws. Put baggage-bay bulkhead and cover plates back in cockpit and roll fuselage back into garage.	2212.4
13	Search online and order a dual-USB outlet from Bimble Solar. Open trailer and have a look at the way the flaps and outriggers operate. Can't see anything obviously different between port & starboard. Wheel compressor round to carport and adjust safety-valve setting so it operates before the pressure gets into the red, instead of just after. Drill out rivets on trailer number-plate and fit new one, after trimming it to fit as it was slightly larger than the old one. Also rivet on a couple of side reflectors that have fallen off because the adhesive failed. (Trailer work time not logged.) Roll fuselage out onto drive. Offer up baggage bay bulkhead to its position and mark where it needs to be relieved. Grind off the remains of the cable clips with the power file. File edges of bulkhead where marked, try fit again, mark new high areas, file, repeat until bulkhead goes back to near rear wall of baggage well. Mark and cut the centre of the bulkhead flange to clear the tunnel, and that allows the bulkhead to assume almost the correct position. Fettle a bit more then check height available for support ribs by setting a ruler against the edge of the access hole. Slightly surprised to find it's about 210mm at both forward and aft edges of the hole (inboard side); I had assumed the ribs would need to be tapered. Measure and mark out lines on the bottom of the bulkhead for the support rib positions. As the bulkhead seems to be a pretty good fit now, drill 4 holes in forward flange of bulkhead each side of tunnel and fit clecos to hold it in place - that should make measuring for the support ribs easier. Put away tools and roll fuselage back into garage.	2214.5
16	Roll out fuselage onto drive and park nose down-slope. Pull trailer forward, remove stuff and wheel out port wing. Goes in easily and perfectly 2nd try (after I remember to extend the flap!) with the tip held well up. Insert pip-pin and part-insert temporary spar pins. Move engine, wheel out starboard wing and insert it. Fit pip-pin and tap spar pins home. Remove wing dollies. Drill out rivets and remove anchor nut from top hole for fuel tap access panel. Exercise flaps and note that on port side the bolt in the slot in OR5 is barely moving away from the forward end of the slot, while on the starboard side the bolt is almost half-way along the slot. Remove rod-end bearing from FL15 cross-tube lugs and disconnect fork from FL21 plate. Remove FL20 pushrod and check if the end fittings will screw on any further to shorten it. Fork goes on another half turn but threaded end is bottoming in the rod-end bearing. There is room for it to go on another full turn of the thread, so grind one thread pitch off the end of the threaded end on grindstone. Re-assemble ends and re-fit pushrod. Raise fuselage dolly to keep both outriggers clear of the ground. Tighten up the checknut on the fork end to orient pushrod clear of obstructions. Cycle flaps a few times and then take measurements of deflection, repeating until up/down readings are repeatable. Port: up, 20.0 degrees, down 45.1 degrees, travel 25.1 degrees. Starboard: up, 19.0 degrees, down 44.4 degrees, travel 25.4 degrees. Check flap position with template; both flaps very slightly low, starboard less than port. Unclamp FL21 and (with some effort as the paint has stuck it to FL19) adjust it for a little more throw. Now outriggers staying up better - just touching the end of the flap hinge FL3 when flaps retracted. Starboard flap perfectly in line with template; port not quite, but the upper surface of the port flap seems a little more curved than the starboard one anyway. Measure travel again. Port: up, 19.1 degrees, down 45.8 degrees, travel 26.7 degrees. Starboard: up, 18.1 degrees, down 45.2 degrees, travel 27.1 degrees. As advised by Bud Yerly, slide a wooden wedge down between the baggage well and the cross-tube at the starboard side, until the "up" reading changes to 18.6 degrees. Clamp the wedge in place and re-measure. Port: up, 19.1 degrees, down 45.8 degrees, travel 26.7 degrees. Starboard: up, 18.7 degrees, down 45.3 degrees, travel 26.6 degrees. This seems to be an excellent result. The starboard outrigger is no longer touching the FL3 but is close to it. Mark the point of contact on the wedge by putting paint marker on the front face of the cross-tube and retracting the flaps. Mark the position of the wedge and unclamp it. At the marked point the wedge is 3mm thick. Tape a small offcut of 3mm plywood in place where the wedge was and re-measure the starboard travel. Starboard: up, 18.7 degrees, down 45.2 degrees, travel 26.5 degrees. That seems pretty satisfactory and now both flaps are the same very small distance below the template when retracted. Trim the piece of 3mm plywood to a suitable size. Abrade and degrease the plywood and the bonding area. Mix a small amount of Araldite 2012 and use it to attach the plywood to the aft face of the baggage well against the starboard side of the fuselage. Check how the oval conduit will run from the baggage bay forward along the fuselage side. Will need to check ahead in the manual if any of the door latching gear would interfere with my intended route, but otherwise it looks OK. The smaller size (8mm x 15mm inside) is fine on the part side where only the trim cable is running (at present). At the starboard side it would be better to use the larger (9mm x 26mm inside) conduit to allow room for all the wiring going back to the overhead panel (2 headsets plus power outlet). It would be tidiest to take the overhead panel wiring back behind the baggage bay bulkhead and then bring it forward along the roof centreline. That would mean about 2 x 500mm extra cable length compared to running it by the shortest route up the back edge of the door frame, but that does not seem to be a serious penalty. I haven't been able to think of a neat way to enclose the wires along the curve of the door frame anyway. Araldite cured now so do another check of flap movement. Port: up, 19.0 degrees, down 45.7 degrees, travel 26.7 degrees. Starboard: up, 18.5 degrees, down 45.2 degrees, travel 26.7 degrees. Well, I don't think we can improve on that! Remove spar pins & pip-pins, de-rig wings and put away, re-load trailer. Roll fuselage back into garage. Later re-park trailer and cars.	2219.8
17	Dual-USB outlet delivered from Bimble Solar.
18	Try to contact Pete Jeffers about the OR5 slot issue; not in so leave a message for him to call back. Roll fuselage out onto drive. With single-edge razor blade in holder, scrape off Redux nibs around fin TE. While I'm at it, continue scraping around fuselage joint. Check previous journal entry for how far the ends should be screwed onto the rudder pushrod - 14 turns each end. Remove rod-end bearing from rudder bellcrank and screw it 14 turns onto pushrod. Tighten checknut. Screw pushrod 14 turns onto rod-end bearing already fitted to rudder, leaving checknut loose for later adjustment. Fit rudder to fin with short temporary screws and fit pushrod forward rod-end bearing to bellcrank with a plain nut. Check for how it feels from the cockpit - seems to travel OK from stop to stop when I get myself near enough to the rudder pedals to operate them! Check deflection with 2 set-squares and the bellcrank is hitting the stops when the rudder is just beyond 30 degrees deflection on each side. Compared to the difficulty I've been having in getting the flap deflections right, it's very satisfying that my calculations and jig made long ago for the positioning of CS29 in the rudder leading edge have been so accurate in producing the desired rudder travel. Insert the tubes to hold the rudder pedals at neutral and cut a length of wood to prop between the port pedals and the front edge of the seat to keep the rudder cables in tension. In this state, the rudder is slightly to port of centre as assessed by eye from the rear. It's hard to check its trueness with the fin any other way as the TE of the fin is slightly wider than the LE of the rudder, preventing me putting a straightedge along both. Remove the wooden prop and working through the adjacent access hole, remove locking clips from starboard turnbuckle, fit device to hold turnbuckle eyes in line (should have done that first!) and tighten the turnbuckle 2 turns. Try to re-fit locking clips but very hard to do without being able to see past my arm. Give up and climb down the rear of the fuselage. Can reach the turnbuckles by squeezing my head past the containment bulkhead. Re-fit locking clips and remove securing device. Re-insert wooden prop on pedals. Rudder position better but still needs a little more to starboard. Remove prop, climb in again and loosen port turnbuckle 1 and a half turns. Now rudder slightly to starboard of centre. Tighten port turnbuckle 1 turn. While having difficulty re-fitting the second locking clip, Pete Jeffers rings and Dorothy tells him I'll call back shortly after crawling out. Rehearse my posting on the Matronics e-mail list with Pete and he suggests that if my flaps are aligned when retracted and extending through the same angle, I shouldn't worry too much about the minimal clearance between the bolt and the forward end of the slot in OR5. He has not heard of any issues with uncommanded outrigger retraction because of insufficient clearance in the OR5 slot, which another correspondent suggested was the reason for the large clearance. Pete also says that one should not expect a click to indicate that the outrigger has extended - if the mechanism is working correctly there should not be a click. Back in the aircraft, fit a fresh locking clip as the original has got bent and that's why it wouldn't slide in easily. Re-fit pedal prop and check rudder position - looks pretty good when sighted from rear, and alignment with fin surfaces seems reasonable now too. Pass starboard tailwheel cable through a heatshrink sleeve, a wire rope grip and a nicopress sleeve. Fit a thimble to the corresponding turnbuckle eye, take cable through it and back into nicopress sleeve. Mark spring to check amount of compression. Pull free end tight with pliers and tighten wire rope grip to secure. Repeat on port side. When satisfied that both springs are compressed equally and sufficiently, push each nicopress sleeve back against thimble and compress with hydraulic squeezer. Check as usual that sleeves are fully compressed with gauge - both fine. Cut off excess free ends with Dremel cut-off wheel, protecting other cable with an old stripping knife, and apply heatshrink to cover cut ends. Check travel - tailwheel goes almost 60 degrees each way but rudder needs to go further to reach its stops. Lift tail onto wooden block to make tailwheel movement easier. File a bit off the ends of the tailwheel stop - although that improves the contact area between the stop and the tailwheel arm considerably, it only seems to have a marginal effect on the actual travel. Slacken tailwheel cable turnbuckles by 2 turns each to slightly reduce the spring compression, but again not much reduction in the overtravel needed on the rudder. When the tailwheel hits the stop (either side), the rudder is not quite at 30 degrees deflection, but it can be pushed against the tailwheel cable springs to reach the rudder bellcrank stops. Try again from the cockpit and as far as I can see and feel it's relatively easy to overcome the tailwheel cable springs and get full rudder deflection against the bellcrank stops. Return to stock the stiffnut from the rod-end bearing at the forward end of the rudder pushrod, as it's likely that will need to be dismantled and re-connected a few times. Put tools away and roll fuselage back into garage.	2225.9
24	Roll out fuselage onto drive. Remove fork from FL21 and rod-end bearing from FL15 lugs. Undo bolts holding FL19 to LG08S and remove it. On the bench drill table, find the anchor nut removed on Thursday last week from the top corner of the fuel tap access hole, so drill out the remaining rivet and return the anchor nut to stock. Adjust bench drill table to clear the clamp on the FL19/FL21 assembly and drill through FL19 4.8mm using the second hole in FL21 as a guide. Fit the second bolt and a stiffnut. Undo the plain nut on the first bolt and replace it with a stiffnut. Re-fit FL19 to LG08S with stiffnuts. Replace plain nuts with stiffnuts on bolts through FL15 lugs holding FL16 hinges and on FL16 pivot screws. Apply a dab of inspectors lacquer to each of those 11 stiffnuts. Hang FL20 pushrod up in carport. Degrease with acetone the areas where paint has been chipped off and paint with Hammerite brushing primer. Likewise degrease and prime the areas of chipped paint on W36 tie-bar and FL15 cross-tube. Using a mirror the check for hidden areas of damage, notice that both rudder cables have been rubbing on the underside of FL15. Not sure if that has been in normal use or if it was only that the cables twanged upwards when I was banging the pedals hard to get the rudder over to the stops. Irrespective of when it happened, I will have to attach some SRBF rubbing strips there. The FL15 cross-tube will only be able to contact the cables when the flaps are down, but of course that's when the rudder is most likely to get well exercised. Open trailer and get out tailplanes, Rig them and check how much rudder movement is possible. Mark approximate angle for trimming starboard trim tab, and roughly measure how far it will need to be taken back from the corner. Remove starboard tailplane and hacksaw off the corner, keeping to the waste side of the marked line. Replace tailplane to see if it clears the rudder. Need to remove some more, but at a steeper angle; the original cut is at slightly too shallow an angle. File off the corner of the trim tab with a Perma-Grit block and re-rig tailplane. After a couple of repetitions the trim tab is just clear when the rudder is at full deflection. File off a bit more to give the required 6mm clearance and round off the transition between the cut and filed areas. Moving to the port tailplane, repeat the measuring process taking more care to get the angle right and saw off a smaller corner of that trim tab. Offer up to check and cut again, which gets the tab just touching the fully-deflected rudder. Mark a line 6mm back from the edge and cut again. Looks perfect when rigged. Smooth with Perma-Grit file and round off the corner to make it similar to the starboard tab. Put tailplanes in garage as both will need flox fill where foam core of trim tabs have been exposed. Close up trailer. Roll fuselage back into garage. Spray FL20 pushrod primed areas with gloss white, and after 15 minutes to dry off, spray another coat.	2229.8
25	Roll out fuselage onto drive. Decide that it's best to remove the FL15 cross-tube in order to fit the rubbing strips, so take out baggage bay bulkhead and remove the bolts and stiffnuts again from the FL15 lugs. Find an offcut of SRBF (Tufnol) about 55mm x 35mm x 8mm which should yield 2 rubbing strips. Face the edges true on the milling machine. Scribe a centre line along the long axis and hacksaw along that to split it in two. Set up the halves side-by side on wavy parallels and mill down the cut edges to remove saw marks. Set one piece flat on bottom of milling vise and pass a 12.7mm ball-ended milling cutter (largest I have) along it a few times to reduce the depth in the centre to about 5mm. Remove from mill and file the curve a bit broader with a large half-round coarse file. Wrap coarse sandpaper around straight section of FL15 and rub the SRBF piece along it to bring the profile closer to the radius of FL15. Likewise mill a groove in the second piece with the ball-ended cutter.	2231.5
27	Find some thick card envelopes for the 2mm packing needed when fitting the wing root fairings. Move car and roll out fuselage onto drive, nose-down. [10:25] Pull trailer forward, open up and move stuff out to get at wings. [10:35] Wheel out port wing and rig it, remembering to hold the tip well up which makes it easy to insert fully. [10:45] Move engine, wheel out starboard wing and rig it. [10:55] Bring box 11 out of trailer with wing root fairings W53P & W53S (last items in that box). Using a light from underneath, draw pip-pin holes on fairings. Cut the holes with 20mm grit-edged holesaw and file edges to clean up. Measure thickness of card and it needs 4 plies of it to make 2mm. Cut strips and attach to fuselage sides in 4 layers with duct tape at 3 positions along the chord of the wing, passing behind the root rib and covering the fairing contact area top and bottom. Scuff-sand bonding areas on wings and fairings with coarse Perma-Grit sheet. Mix 75g + 30g Araldite 420 (Redux) and add 3 healthy doses of flox to make it pretty stiff. Spread onto bonding areas (at outboard edge of fairing) on port wing and W53P. Slide fairing into place with only a small amount of accidental contact of the Redux with areas where it shouldn't have. (Might have been easier with an assistant.) Press into place and it seems to stick quite well except for a small region of the upper surface near mid-chord. Lay a piece of hollow rectangular section steel on it and that is enough to keep it down in contact. Scrape off excess Redux that has squeezed out. Spread remaining Redux on upper surface of starboard wing. Mix 60g + 24g Redux and add 2 good doses of flox. Spread it onto remaining bonding areas. Fit fairing, this time avoiding previous error but getting some Redux on a different part of the wing instead! W53S needs pressing down in a similar place to W53P; use a length of aluminium angle with a couple of bricks on it to provide the weight. [14:35] Scrape off most excess Redux with mixing stick. Wipe off rest of excess Redux with acetone-soaked tissue. [15:05] Leave it to cure for a while, but as we have to go out shortly, return [15:55] and start to de-rig. Remove spar pins and pip-pins. Carefully pull out starboard wing, trying not to wiggle it and thus disturb the fairing. Start to wheel it away and realise that the fairing means I can't set it down on the root LE as I always have before when I need to re-position the dolly. Manage to steer it all the way into the trailer without needing to set it down at all. Move engine. The port wing usually needs more re-positioning of the dolly, so get help from Dorothy to put a small block of wood under the LE to support the fairing clear of the ground when I need park the root end in order to shift the dolly. Pack everything else back into the trailer and shut it up. Roll the fuselage back into the garage and head off to our theatre booking. On return much later (and untimed) couple up the car to the trailer and re-park it, then put cars away.	2237.0

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