The 4th layer

Today I laid down the 4th layer of fiberglass cloth using 1 1/4" tape.This time I laid it down dry and then brushed on additional epoxy. I really would rather work with clear epoxy than black because it's so difficult to see if you have the cloth saturated.

You can click on the images to get the full size. The "bump" is still there. There are two clips underneath and darn close to the surface. Pete Howell said that "ski jump" is on the backside of sliders. He recommends mixing up some filler and fairing the bump, which I'll do tomorrow. I'll probably add another 1" strip in the "trench to build that up, and then add the filler onto the canopy between the bump.

Here's a better shot:


Mike Hilger stopped by and it was great to see him. He's a technical counselor and gave me some good advice on sanding the fairing (I intend to spend ALL winter sanding and filling). Then David Maib stopped by.

"I hate fiberglass," I said to him. "I really don't know what I'm doing."

"I know exactly what you mean," he said.

It's surprising how good it feels to hear that.

David's working on an RV-10 across the field with his wife, Mary, who is down in New Smyrna Beach getting their new house ready. When the RV is done, they'll fly off to Florida and leave the Minnesota winters behind. I'll miss them.

I'm also experimenting with a tool to sand with:


That's a 4" PVC pipe, cut in half... with a smaller PVC pipe (it's the Van's shipping container for something) glued in as a "handle." I'm not sure it's going to work.

Also stopping by today was a pilot from Arizona who was taking his daughter's RV-4 (in the hangar across the way) out for a spin. I like to leave my hangar door open so people stop by. I notice a lot of people just open them a tad on my row. That screams "go away," which perhaps is the message they want me to get.