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Finishing Kit! Woohoo!

I think Jared_Solomon gets that award! He finished a slow-build in record time, amazing.

We're averaging 30 hours/week and still have the finishing kit, avionics, and engine. Hopefully it will be ready by March!

Still have some things left behind like some fiberglass to finish up and I'm reworking the brake system a bit.
 
The end is in sight then

Then end is in sight then =). The pre-wired panel should make it a quicker job. Is your plane on a rotisserie? I had mine on a rotisserie and I got all the electrical work done before putting the canopy, engine mount and landing gear on. It saved me a ton of time, since access was so good. Might be something to consider before moving onto the Finishing Kit steps.
 
Thanks!

Did you complete your avionics install prior to the Finishing Kit?

Apprehensive about working with the plexi, any recommendations? Did you use plexi bits or a unibit for drilling?
 
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Thanks!

Did you complete your avionics install prior to the Finishing Kit?

Apprehensive about working with the plexi, any recommendations? Did you use plexi bits or a unibit for drilling?


Yes, I did all the avionics work before starting on the finish kit. I made a fuselage rotisserie by using an engine stand and some angle steel. A bunch of pictures at the link below. It made installing the wire harness much easier. It also made running the wires around the sub-panel real easy because I didn't have to lean over the side rails

http://rv14.jaredsolomon.net/post/other/2017-03-10-Fuselage-Rotisserie/

As far as the plexi goes, the canopy comes from Van's almost perfect. There's no "big cut" to do, like on the older kits. Just some minor sanding of the edges to get everything to fit up nice and drilling holes. For drilling the holes, I haven't had good luck using standard 118/135 degree drill bits, it always seems to leave chips and stress fractures around the holes. I recommend using plexi drill bits. I put a link below for some. They have a 60 degree tip angle, and no rake, which works much better with acrylic.

http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/mepages/plexidrill.php
 
Wise you are

Thanks for the info and the link! I actually already had them in my cart :D

yes-wise-you-are.jpg
 
There is nothing magic about the plexi bits for sale, you can modify standard bits into plexi bits very easily. There is an EAA video on doing it. I did mine in a few minutes and they worked great and I passed them on to another builder to use.
 
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