Europa #435 G-RODO Build Journal - 2022 12

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day	notes	hours
2	Plastic bottles delivered.
3	A quick check of the plastic bottles intended as oil breather catch cans shows that neither of them are short enough to fit directly under the oil tank. It might be OK to mount a bottle inboard of the oil tank, although heat from the adjacent silencer might be a problem. Perhaps the bottle could be positioned forward of the oil tank, although I can't immediately think how to secure it there.
9	Roll fuselage out onto drive. Find that starboard door won't open readily. Apparently the Perspex has put pressure on the top edge of the door, causing it to catch on the fuselage aperture. Can't find the carbon paper I wanted to use to identify the tight spot so paint along the edge of the fuselage aperture with paint markers. Close and open door and the very edge of the door has picked up some paint slightly forward of the centre between the hinges. Try filing that area with a TC file but not much room to work between the door and the fuselage. Seems to have improved it a bit, but decide to leave further easement until the door is off and there will be room to work on that edge. Door opening can be helped with a steel rule slipped into the slot before trying to open it. Abrade the rebate of the port door with the power file, taking the gel-coat off back to the glass (having only recently been made aware of Neville Eyre's advice on that). This reveals that the Redux bonding the inner and outer door mouldings has slightly uneven coverage in places. Today's work started later than intended because of urgent plumbing work needed in the house; sun just set and dew now starting to descend so roll fuselage back into garage. The starboard door Perspex has acquired a coating of sanding dust. Wipe it off gently with a well-soaked J-cloth then dry with the big Kent silicon squeegee.	3690.2
10	Roll fuselage out onto drive. Remove roof panel for access and remove starboard door. Apply masking tape all around the outside edge of the outer face of the port Perspex. Throw the 3 webbing straps over the fuselage and tape them in place temporarily with masking tape as before. Attach the loose ends to the rachets and wind in to approximately the right length. Remembering how much Redux was left over from the 84g batch after bonding the port Perspex, mix 45g + 18g = 63g batch of Redux (Araldite 420). Add a few doses of flox to stiffen it. Spread it onto the port door rebate with a mixing stick. Notice that the Redux is quite bit more viscous now that it is out in the cold air, making it harder to spread. Run out before getting all the way around. Find that holding a mixing stick across the edges of the rebate to scrape off excess, leaving a triangular fillet of Redux, recovers enough to fill the rebate all the way around. I had done the same on the starboard door but that was to prevent too much oozing out of the joint, rather than to get enough to complete the bond. Carefully fit the Perspex into the prepared rebate and hold it firmly in place with one hand while moving a webbing strap into position on the centre of the Perspex, with blue foam blocks at top and bottom to provide pressure on the bonding area and keep the straps clear of any Redux oozing out. Position the forward and aft straps similarly. Realise too late that I didn't position wire spacers along the bottom edge - ho-hum! Unfortunately manage to wipe the forward (blue) strap on the Redux as it slides into place, so it will have a permanent set in future! Scrape off excess Redux all around the joint line with a mixing stick. Seems to be much more Redux mess on the door than last time; it is quite hard to remove as it is so viscous, so decide to wipe it off with an acetone-soaked tissue, being careful not to let any acetone get onto the Perspex. Notice that there appear to be small areas where the Perspex is not sitting well into the rebate. Adjust webbing straps and foam block positions to apply more pressure where needed. When eventually satisfied with the cleanliness of the outside of the bond, climb inside and look for any Redux oozing out of the joint. Very little has squeezed out and in fact there are some areas where there is a small gap between the door edge and the Perspex. Climb out to get the mixing cup and apply Redux to fill all those gaps. Using mixing sticks as scrapers and dry tissues to wipe, clean off with some effort the smears of Redux on the inner face of the door. Roll fuselage back into garage. Tidy tools away and bring port door into garage. Store it beside the fuselage for now. It should go in the trailer (as it will need to stay off for painting), but first I will file a chamfer along the top edge where it has been catching. I will do the same on the port door as a precautionary measure. Note that the temperature inside the garage is only 6.2C, so turn on the fan heater at thermostat setting 4 and leave it to warm the garage up a bit. Only gets to 12C after several hours, and Redux still tacky to the touch. Re-position fan heater set to half power on baggage bay, tilted up to avoid the seatback. Throw a sheet of polyethylene over the entire cockpit area and tape it in place with a few strips of masking tape. Thermometer on port seat up to 22C quite soon. Leave fan heater running overnight.	3693.4
11	Cockpit still at 22C. Redux now quite firm on glazing bond and in mixing cup. Turn off fan heater. Snows most of today, about 50mm depth by the evening, so it may be a while before conditions are nice enough to roll the fuselage out again to release the webbing straps on the starboard side.
13	With a TC file, file a chamfer on the top edge of the starboard door where it was catching on the fuselage.	3693.7
24	Roll fuselage out onto drive for access to starboard side. Undo webbing straps. Try to open port door but it is catching at the top edge. It is even worse than the starboard one as the door has taken a set downwards between the hinges and is now sitting slightly below the level of the fuselage. Slide a steel rule into the tiny gap at the top edge and prise the door open. Fit the gas strut to hold it while I undo the hinge fixing screws. Store the screw, washer & nut for each location in a separate labelled bag to make re-assembly easy. Remove door. Make a witness line along the top edge of the door with a felt-tip pen. Use the powerfile to cut back the door edge until the marked line just disappears. Chamfer the edge with a TC file. Re-fit door and although there is now no fouling at the top edge it doesn't sit properly into the fuselage aperture. It has taken a twist towards the aft bottom corner, with the door slightly overlapping the fuselage rebate. I suppose the ideal cure would be to cook it at a suitably high temperature with it jigged to the correct shape, but that sounds well outside my capabilities. The only practical way forward seems to be to shave a bit off the aft edge of the door so that it is not touching the rebate when fully closed. Work on that edge with a TC file, but it is slow going. Mark a witness line on the edge with a felt-tip pen. Grind the edge back with the belt sander until the line just disappears. Now when the door is closed there is a small gap along the aft edge (probably enough to allow for painting!) but the shoot-bolt guide in the door is striking the door rebate; the door must be pulled firmly forwards to let it close fully. File chamfers on the shoot-bolt guides in both door and fuselage in an attempt to make the closing easier, but it doesn't help a lot. Remove port door and remove masking tape and polyethylene sheet from it. This is quite tedious and does not leave a very tidy result, because the Redux has oozed over the edge of the masking tape in several places, making it difficult to remove cleanly. Store both doors in trailer. Pull fuselage back into garage and tidy up.	3696.6

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