Sam, my youngest (at 23 !), did a cracking job of tidying the new workshop area up. The tools are easily to hand now and saves ages searching for various bits !

One thing I needed to do was invert the compass as I intend to mount it below the upper wing. Guess I will need to insert a sturdier ply plate to mount it to.

The grub screw in the back releases the centre compass, you pull the outer shroud off to then enable you to pull it forward and rotate through 180.

Neat little screw adjusters for the compass base setting.

Before fitting the pitot tubes I have drilled the static vent holes in the top tube – 2 rows of 4 (1 mm)

Then fully de-burr and it should be ready to mount at the 92′ angle indicated in the plan.

As the entire ‘plane is covered in dust sheeting its safer to put the ‘good clean’ bits in situ … rather than leave them on the side in the barn.

Put the P1 seat into position last night

Will need to remove the harness now for final top decking rub down and painting

Braved the next step of cutting more of the top cowling .. I need to get the front end down to provide a neat streamlined finish and also need to get the gap around the larger fin cooling heads cut to achieve this.

Getting there …. the fall of the cowl to the backplate looks much closer now ….

Next challenge – cutting the engine cylinder head ducts to get them to fit inside the cowl line !

Tidying out the garage last night at home and found this screwed to the bench for test running ! an old OPS 60 glow engine …. seem to remember it was fitted in a model called Super Star back in the 70’s when I lived in Suffolk. The model was a very sleek world championship model with really neat inboard flaps with a leading edge that came up and acted as airbrakes (the aileron torque rod ran through the centre hinge line of the flaps (amazingly simply and efficient).

We used to fly off the top end of the Westerly runway at Duxford in what I think was the South Cambridgeshire Model Aero Club. Remember looping this at a distance at low level and thinking this could be very tight … what I should have done was half roll out and fly on .. but kept pulling the stick – thinking if I pulled it harder it MUST pull through …. the ‘plane did indeed pull through but suddenly really slowed down …. there was a big bang a  second later .. (time-lapse) .. and it turned into a glide as all the undercarriage was ripped off and the prop shattered … it missed pulling out by about 3 inches !

Then there was the time I spent a fantastic unforgettable crisp December day flying my friend (Brian Harris) beautifully finished CAP10. We used nearly a gallon of fuel in the day … it culminated with lots of buddy lead connected flying training so that Brian could get used to it. The final pass was meant to be a long sweeping run down the runway .. the vapour trail pouring out in the cold clear air … then as it got level with us pull up into a big loop to break off and turn into land …. only problem was I started the routine INVERTED ……

The model passed us doing about 150 as I pulled full UP….

The sound of metal, plastic, balsa, spruce, servos and an (earlier) very nice 40 engine as the runway at Duxford pushed the driveshaft through the backplate …..

Brian was so so philosophical … saying it was simply the best days flying he had ever had …. we left with lots of smiles and a few plastic bags full of parts !

Finished the seat fittings last night.

Managed to get the base of one seat the wrong way up ! oops – so the holes didn’t align … flipped it and got the rivets and washers out and cleaned and re-riveted into place.

Then got the pop studs in place which was miles easier than I thought !

Then front seat

Starting to focus more on this as I want to try for my first engine test run in January !

The fuel bits I have got don’t quite match up as the angle tube at the bottom doesn’t match the thread of the lower tank fitting .. will check with TLAC.

Update 18 December – Paul emailed to say that the elbow connector I had sent back was indeed correct – it’s a tapered fit so deliberately tight to ensure a good tight fuel proof seal. I have the steel braided fuel tube and it is already routed through the firewall, so just need some pipe clamps.

Noticed my single bus bar has a top and a bottom row so should be able to use this bar for positive and negative feeds. The next stage is to cross check the Jabiru manual – page by page – to check I have all the parts before starting to plan wiring up.

Sam wrapped up with his hood up and a face scarf to file the last inspection panels !

The fabric terminations were riveted on last night to finish off the strut work

As its is starting to get so cold and damp now – although I have treated all the wood this year with 10% thinned polyurethane, I decided to warm the place up and then put dust sheets over the wings to protect from dust and damp

Boy it was cold in the barn last night …. new heaters are going to be ordered !

Finished off the top wing tip brackets with numb fingers but now ready to have trailing edge shaped to accept tips .. then all need the self tappers locating then they are ready to be removed, finished and painted .. couldn’t decide between Yellow or Olive drab .. may go drab for a differentiator !

Also started to cut the removable wing inspection panels. These are very nicely die cut by TLAC and simply need separating and then finishing so you don’t have any sharp edges. My cutter ran out of power so these have been taken home to finish as I also want to etch prime them and the temperature of the barn would not be good for the paint to stick !