Earlier in the week I got the windscreen trimmed enough to sit properly against the roll bar, and drilled the rest of the holes where the screws will go to secure it. The holes aren't drilled full size yet - that should happen soon. I finally decided to use some carbon cloth to reinforce the fairing along the top. There is a risk that someone could grab it when getting in or out of the aircraft, and fibreglas could fail. I should have made this decision months ago, so I could order the carbon cloth. But I only decided last week. It took some hunting around, but I eventually found some at Phil's Foils, a local custom sailboat centerboard and rudder maker.

I was ready to start working on the windscreen fibreglas fairing, when I realized that the hinge pin for the forward baggage bay door went in from the rear. I wouldn't be able to get the pin in or out if the windscreen was installed. I took a look at modifying things to be able to put the hinge pin in from the front, but I already had a big cutout to get the pin out on the aft side, and I didn't want a second potential water leak on the front. I wish I had thought a bit before I made the cutout for the hinge pin, but I was simply following the plans.

I had partially done the baggage bay door a long time ago, but couldn't finish it until the front skin was in place. I put the door in place, and found that I had to trim the front edge of its skin a bit. I also found that the contour didn't match the skin very well - this is a common problem. I recalled a story told by a test pilot for a small business jet manufacturer. He was originally hired as a production engineer, with the understanding that he would move into flight test as soon as a position opened up. One night he was walking down the production line when he heard a very loud pounding sound. He followed the noise and found a production line worker beating an emergency exit door with a 10 pound maul. He stopped the guy, and asked him what he was doing. It turned out that there was a problem with the fit of the emergency exits into the fuselage. The exits didn't have the correct contour, and they had to deform each one to get it to fit.

I took a flat piece of wood, laid it against the areas that were standing higher than the fuselage, and proceeded to beat them into submission. The fit is still not perfect, but it is a lot better now.

Friday I primed the remaining door parts and fabricated the door latch mechanism. Yesterday I used some straps to pull the door into perfect fit, crawled into the forward fuselage and installed the blind rivets that secure the door's inner skin to its frame. The door becomes very stiff once those rivets are in place, so you need to be sure it is in the right shape when you do the riveting.

I was careful to get the nylon strap over bulkheads, so the pressure wouldn't deform anything.

Today I didn't get too much done, as Terry was finally home after three weeks back in Green Bay. It wouldn't' have gone over well if I spent all day in the garage on her first day back. :) I did study the door hinge pin, and realized that the way the hinge eyes were oriented, I actually only needed a very small cutout to be able to put it in from the front. I made that mod, and now the hinge pin can go in and out without hitting the windscreen.