Starting small...grinding the spar reinforcement extrusions.
ScotchBrite wheel, vixen file...etc. Aluminum dust starting to brighten the floor
Isabel, my five-year-old Little American, comes down to see what all the noise is about.
Next step...start shaping the spar.
A man could quickly forget about dinner...and family...and work...and life in the first few days after his kit arrives.
OK, Mr. Inspector...are you convinced I really built this thing myself yet?
These prepunched kits are amazing...you can take the parts out of the box, Cleco them together, and they start to look like an airplane part. If I could find rivets that are just a bit smaller than 3/32", I wouldn't have to drill anything, either! (just kidding)
At the advice of a couple of builders, I made these crude fixtures to keep from dropping the assemblies.
It's a good alternative to waiting for a helper.
Ah...manly tools! The skeleton is almost all drilled.
Now to preparing the skin. I'm melting strips of blue film off of the HS skin.
I like the "keep the blue stuff on as long as possible" approach to protect against scratches. Isabel is peeling along the melted stripes I made, so that we can rivet the skin to the skeleton.
She really loves peeling that stuff off, too!
Now, more manly tools! Lots of holes to be dimpled.
The ones that we can do with the squeezer are a blessing...I can do that even among polite company in the family room. I even dimpled while watching the SuperBowl. Yeah, I know...it's un-American.
I got this little Black & Decker cordless screwdriver for my birthday (gotta love the Amazon Wish List). It's the only power tool I let Isabel use.
After about a dozen holes, though, she asked "Can I do something else, Daddy? This isn't very interesting."
I'm priming the joints but not the skins. This is Sherwin-Williams GBP 988 Self-Etching Primer.
Good thing my hand isn't any bigger, or I'd have to build a DC-3!
This would be positively frightening if I hadn't taken that SportAir Sheet Metal Workshop. Best weekend and $300 I ever spent.
Now I have to find a place to put this thing!