Monday 1
I thought I'd get back into the "sanding 'n filling" for a while. I coated second side of the starboard aileron with SuperFil and let it sit. I have this pretty well down pat now. It's much easier with two people, having one person mix while the other spreads. What really helps to keep the pin holes out is to have another person blowing on some heat while you spread.
Tuesday 2
Sanded back second side of the starboard aileron. I am using 80 grit for this operation using adhesive backed 3m paper in a 400mm flexible sanding block.
Wednesday 3
Thursday 4
Sanded back top side of the starboard flap which also takes much longer than an aileron!
Friday 5
I went out to the garage and removed port flap from wing from the wing. This flap is going to need just a little bit of extending by 2~3mm to get the gap a little better.
Saturday 6
I took the day of went flying. I have logged over 500 hours of flight time since I have started this project, upon reflection I guess that really means that I could have finished the Europa a year ago.............. oh well.
Sunday 7
Weekends are really the only time I can apply smooth prime because of the drying time in between coats. I apply 4 coats in the first go around and then after cutting back with 150 grit I spray on two more coats.
Monday 8
No building
Tuesday 9
Sanded back port aileron with 150 grit paper. Went pretty well and it will only need a light touch up before cutting back with 320 grit.
Wednesday 10
No building
Thursday 11
I filled the top side of the flap tonight. I am getting rather expert at this operation, even if I say so myself.
Friday 12
No building
Saturday 13
I sanded back the flap and filled string lines along with the low spots.
Sunday 14
I didn't do any building, but I did go flying, these summer days are too good to miss.
Monday 15
No building
Tuesday 16
No building
Wednesday 17
My friend Graham Singleton came in from England today. He came with me and I gave a presentation at West Bend EAA Chapter on building the Europa
Thursday 18
My friend Gert came over and help me fill the last side of the flap with SuperFil
Friday 19
I filled the string lines of the flap and my friend Graham made up the vent lines for the filler.
Saturday 20
Sanded back last side of the flap but had to add in more filler. Put 4 coats of Super Prime onto 3 surfaces
Graham built the fuel return, and did a lay up for the fuel filler neck onto the fuselage wall. This was recommended by Andy so that the bid staps that you put on to hold the filler nexk in place don't "print through" to the fuselage.
The last job of the day was to bond in the filler next and put a couple of layers of bid to hold it in place.
Sunday 21
Graham and I pretty well finished off the fuel filler neck installation today. Notice that I did away with the rubber hose into the fuel tank and I have vented the tank differently/ \the "T" piece on the side acts as a siphon break if the tank over fills. I have the vent pipe coming out of the lower side of the aircraft below the starboard flap. As you can see I have deviated from the factory design. I am trying to solve two problems, firstly with the vent on the top when the tank is over filled then fuel will run over the aircraft. There has already been on aircraft fire in Europe which may have been caused by static build up of air flowing out of the vent in close proximity to the filler. The second issue I am trying to address is that the standard tank venting arrangement causes the tank to fill very slowly. Hopefully my system with 3/8 pipe will vent much better.
Monday 22
I am at the stage where the windscreen can go in and I thought while I had an extra pair of hands it would be a good opportunity to get it done. I really only took about 4 hours including trimming it to size. Its not the sort of task you want to do by yourself. I didn't use straps to hold it in place but a combination of "G" clamps and sheet metal screws with large washers. While this does leave some holes to be floxed up latter it does do a really nice job of holding it in place.
While I was at work Graham fitted in the fuel return line. I decided to do something a bit different. I ran it forward through the cable duct straight to the firewall. To give it good protection I sheathed the 1/4 aluminum tubing with heavy walled PVC tubing along its entire length. The tubing comes though the bulk head via a 90 degree AN fitting.
Tuesday 23
I took the day off work and was one of the judges for the EAA air race. My job was to clock the aircraft into Aurora. What a buz seeing some of these experimental aircraft run over the finish line at 300 miles an hour!
Wednesday 24
Friday 26
Saturday 27
Oshkosh air show
Sunday 28