AX-O's Fastback RV-4

[dealfair]

Axel, you are doing beautiful work. You Sir, are going to have one super fine -4 when you're through. I want to see it up close!!

Cheers,

[RV8iator]

Originally Posted by AX-O

The pilot pockets were designed to hold charts and standard size paper. The co pilot ones were designed to hold one gossip magazine. There will be an additional pocket on the back of the pilot seat to hold an ipad.

Why don't you want the gossip mags up front with you? Maybe she'll read them to you though..

You're doing a great job there. Hurry up!!!

[AX-O]

I have not been able to work on the plane for over a month. I hurt my back. Below is some of the work I did before I hurt myself. I will cut the hole for the aft control stick once the controls a connected. I also had to extend the baggage compartment a few inches due to the fastback.

[AX-O]

Since my back is still not well enough to work inside the plane, I had to figure something else to work on from the outside. I did not want to work on the wheel pants, gear legs, fairings yet but it is one of the only things left to do that don't require a lot of heavy lifting. I know how much I dislike fiberglass work but get reminded ever so often. The wheel pants, gear legs and fairings are a pain. I should have waited but the process has started and it must be completed. Some pics below.

[dealfair]

So sorry to hear about your back Axel! I've had some experience along those lines and "it ain't fun". I applaud your decision to forge ahead on the other tasks. They have to be done sometime anyway; so you are making progress. Good move.

Your metal work, well all your work is beautiful. I wish you a speedy recovery & a happy 4th.

Cheers,

[AX-O]

Originally Posted by dealfair

Your metal work, well all your work is beautiful. I wish you a speedy recovery & a happy 4th.

Cheers,

Thank you for the kind words. Happy 4th!

[AX-O]

More work on the gear leg fairings. I was able to set the correct angle on the gear leg fairings this weekend. I used a different method than Vans because I was having problems with fairing twist. So I decided to drill a #40 hole on each side of the fairing and a matching hole on my work bench. I then left the #40 drill bit in place. Holding the fairing in place. After I had both end set, I used clamps and tape. I also drilled three #40 holes on the trailing edge of the fairing. The fairing came out straight during the installation. I was surprised. Pics below.

[AX-O]

I also worked on the gear intersection fairings. Been trying to figure out how to make the left and right side the same. Well more like "similar". They won't ever be the same. I tried out this idea of making a cardboard template until I was happy, then making the template out of thin metal. I did 2 of the same metal templates for the upper gear leg fairings. One for the front and one for the back. I slid the template into the aft gear leg seam then used glue to secure the aft metal template to the plane. I used tape on the forward template because I was able to bend a tab and tape the template in place. Pics below.





I then made the mold for the left side. Will try to make the right one in a few days. It ended up being larger than I wanted but it looks as good as any other I have seen.

[Ironflight]

That fairing looks fine Axel - press on with the other one!

[gnuse]

Most people can't see both fairings at the same time.