I took this week off, and I'll take most of next week off too. I've built up a lot of comp time from working extra hours, and I'm gradually using it up to get some time in on the project.

I've done three rounds of fill, sand and the cowling. It is looking a lot better. I probably get about 90-95% of the remaining pin holes with each round. I did have a minor set back mid-week - I had the upper cowling supported on two saw houses outside as I wet-sanded it. There was a bit of a wind from the west, and I knew there was a chance a gust could blow it off the saw horses. So I put the saw horses on the lawn on the east side of the drive way, figuring that the lawn would provide a soft landing spot if required. And I oriented the cowling with the open end facing east. Then it happened. I was coming out of the garage with a fresh piece of sandpaper, when there was a freak gust of wind from the east. 180 degrees from the prevailing wind. It blew into the open end of the cowling, picked it up and blew it across the driveway. The only good news is that it flipped 180 degrees and landed on the flat bottom, so it didn't ding any of the edges. It just put some nice gouges in the surface. Drat! That set me back a few days.

The rudder bottom an empennage fairing are almost done, but I still have a few pin holes and imperfections to fill. Hopefully this weekend I'll start putting on the temporary silver paint. Yesterday I put some West Systems filler on the top of the canopy skirt, and today I started sanding it down. So far, so good.