Europa #435 G-RODO Build Journal - 2023 09

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day	notes	hours
2	Temporarily fit starboard hatch cover hinge to cowl with clecos. Position starboard hatch cover and hold in place with masking tape all around. Drill through 1st hole in hatch cover half of hinge 3.3mm. Insert cleco to hold in alignment. Drill through 2nd hole and insert cleco. Remove masking tape and check fit and movement (restricted by clecos). Looks OK. Remove clecos and deburr holes in hinge. Countersink TLPK424BS rivet holes on cowl and hatch cover with 8mm drill bit handheld. Likewise countersink TAPK33BS rivet holes for latch fixing.	3765.9
28	3 trips away from home this month have limited the time available for aeroplane work, what with packing before and catching up on e-mails etc after, but have at last managed to get back into the garage. Re-fit starboard cowl hatch and hinge with clecos to check fit. There is slight movement possible, so it would be a good idea to clamp the hatch in position at the latch point using a cleco clamp to ensure good alignment when riveting hinge. Dismantle the assembly. Remove pin from hinge and grease it. Grease 4 clecos. Degrease the hinge halves and the mating surfaces of the hatch and cowl with acetone. To guard against any excess epoxy creating unwanted bonds, attach small pieces of polyethylene sheet over the cowl rebate adjacent to ends of the hinge. Mix a small batch of Evo-Stik 2-hour Control Epoxy and apply it thinly to the bonding areas on cowl and hatch. Likewise apply a thin film on each half of hinge, taking care to keep epoxy away from the hinge knuckle. Place hatch in position and hold it with a cleco clamp at the latch location. Offer up the hinge from inside the cowl and insert clecos to hold it. Remove cleco clamp and wiggle hatch to get best alignment in cowl recess. Replace cleco clamp and confirm good even fit all around edge of hatch. Remove 1 cleco, fit and pull a TLPK424BS rivet. Repeat for remaining 3 positions and leave to cure. Spend a few minutes filing the pip-pin holes at the starboard end of the tailplane torque tube. The upper hole is now a satisfactory oval shape but the bottom hole needs a bit more work.	3767.4
29	Remove cleco clamp and polyethylene sheet from starboard hatch and check operation - looks fine. Centre-pop in 2 places and drill 3.3mm each half of the hinge for the centre hatch. Make holes on fixed leaf of hinge slightly farther apart than on the moving leaf, for identification of orientation. Deburr all holes. Clamp fixed leaf of hinge to edge of cowl hole and drill through 1st hole 3.3mm. Fit cleco to hold alignment. Drill 2nd hole. Remove clamps and cleco and countersink hole for TLPK424BS rivet heads with hand-held 8mm drill bit.	3768.0
30	Clamp the 2nd Hartwell latch to the inner face of the central cowl hatch cover. Drill through its mounting holes 2.5mm, fitting a cleco in each hole to maintain alignment. Remove the clecos and clamps and countersink with a hand-held 8mm drill bit the holes for TAPK33BS rivets. Measure from the holes on the latch for the size of cutout needed and transfer the offsets to the hatch cover to construct the required shape. Drill a 3.2mm pilot hole and cut along the marked lines with the MiniTool jigsaw. Smooth the edges and tidy the corners with a square file. Temporarily fit latch to hatch cover with clecos to check operating clearances. Remove clecos and relieve slightly the edge where the latch was striking when opened. Attach the hinge to the central cowl hole with clecos. Position hatch cover and hold in place with masking tape around edge. Drill through holes in moving leaf of hinge, inserting cleco in 1st hole before drilling 2nd one. Remove clecos and tape. Countersink holes for TLPK424BS rivets with a hand-held 8mm drill bit.	3769.2

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