Joshua's RV-9A Project

Finished up the subpanel installation by fitting and drilling the angle clips that hold the outer corners of the instrument panel to the forward canopy decks.  Also drilled the center section cap strips to the vertical members; snapped off another 1/8″ angle drill bit, now I’m down to just the short stubby one.  I think this results from excessive bit wobble in the cheapo angle drill attachment…next time (ha!) I’ll splurge on a real angle drill with a small head.

On to the canopy hinges…fabricated the plastic blocks and aluminum spacers according to plans.  Apparently, the stub ribs weren’t supposed to be riveted to the subpanel yet, since they need to be out of the way for some match-drilling at this step.  No big deal–I just removed the center portion of the subpanel, leaving the sides in place, and a nice open area in which to wield the drill…worked well.  Once the appropriate drilling was done, the center part went back in to be drilled.  I kept the top skin on for as much of this as possible, moved forward three holes when necessary to provide a gap to work/drill/see/clamp in.  I wasn’t able to drill the hinge pin hole through to the stub rib, because my 1/4″ drill bit is too short, and I can’t get the drill in the correct place to make a straight hole…I’ll pick up a longer bit, which should solve the problem.

Unpacked the finish kit box in the afternoon…there is a scary amount of fiberglass in there.  Messed around with the empennage tips to see how they fit, and looked at how to get wiring into the rudder.

The finish kit arrived today via Partain Transport…now all the major kits are on site.  The box is the biggest yet, due to the canopy and cowling.  There is a list of backordered parts that are not present, but it looks like all the major pieces are here, including the wheels and engine mount which weren’t in the box; the driver and a note from Van’s said they arrived at the factory the day my kit was being loaded, so they just wrapped them up (very well) in padded blankets and strapped them in the trailer.

I will admit to feeling a bit intimidated by the finish kit at the moment…it’s a huge box, and reading a new thread last night about canopy troubles didn’t much help!  But the plan is still full steam ahead this summer — I’d like to get the canopy done and spend the winter fiddling with systems.