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Europa #435 G-RODO Build Journal - 2024 10
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1 Eye test today shows that I need cataract surgery on my left eye. I had noticed increasing amounts of flare in that eye when facing bright light, so not unexpected. Will now need to defer flight medical until after surgery.
12 I decided a while back that I couldn't justify keeping the Katsu AM-30 pneumatic crimper that saved my hands a lot of stress during the electrical wiring. Today, after a couple of re-listings on eBay, it finally sold for the starting bid.
24 Now that I have an appointment next month for the cataract surgery on my left eye, send an e-mail to Gloster Aviation Medicals explaining why I haven't booked a medical examination before the current certificate expired. 3784.7
28 Reply received from Gloster Aviation Medicals with info about CAA rules on regaining medical certificate after cataract surgery.

Finally manage to overcome psychological and other barriers to get into the garage for some work on the aeroplane.

Clear foam blocks and other stuff from the baggage bay. Fit a coarse pad on the palm sander. Climb into baggage bay and try to offer up palm sander to the area around the crack by the flap slot. It is just too big to fit between the fuselage side and the port outboard baggage shelf support bulkhead, so resort to scuff-sanding by hand with small scraps of coarse emery. Pretty awkward to reach, but find I can cover all of the required area by (a) working from the baggage shelf access hole for the forward area and (b) leaning through the D-aperture and stretching forward for the aft area. Try to photograph the result but cannot get a decent angle on it.

Check the journal for the size of the BID patch I used on the outside surface; it was 150mm x 200mm. For reference, print out photo of sanded area on outer surface. Although there is scant visual evidence of damage to the fuselage inner skin, I prefer to err on the side of safety and make the inside BID patch the same size as the outside one.

The dis-mounted overhead panel, parked in the D-aperture, has been getting in my way a bit. Realise the wiring loom is long enough that I can park it right out of the way on top of the fuselage. Although it looks a bit precarious, it doesn't seem to be inclined to slide off, but I will need to avoid shaking the fuselage and dislodging it. Wipe off the abraded area with an acetone-soaked tissue. Carefully re-check the abraded area for full coverage; re-sand some patches then degrease again.

Mix a peg-2 (36g) batch of Ampreg 21 and then realise I haven't yet prepared the glass cloth nor the peel-ply. Set the epoxy aside where it won't get knocked over. Mark out and cut 2 off rectangles of BID 150mm x 200mm. Cut a piece of peel-ply 300mm long from the 250mm-wide roll.

Superimpose the BID pieces on a piece of polyethylene sheet and wet out with the epoxy. Once fully wetted, trim the bottom and side edges of the polyethylene sheet close to the edge of the BID, leaving a handling margin along the top. Climb into the baggage bay and carefully offer up the BID sandwich to the repair area. Re-position slightly to give equal margins around the crack. Once the BID has adhered reasonably well to the fuselage, peel off the polyethylene sheet and discard it. Stipple the layup down well with a brush. Offer up the peel-ply and stipple it down.

Label the small amount of excess epoxy as a sample and leave it on the baggage shelf to cure. 16C, 42% RH so cure will be quite slow; it would be very tricky to arrange the fan heater so as to warm that area, so accept the slow cure as there is no rush for it.		 3784.7
30 Check epoxy sample; well cured, the thin runs on the side of the mixing cup are stiff and break off sharply.
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