madmaveric
Well Known Member
I'm in the process of fitting the cowling but have come across an issue, I've searched on here but I can only see issues with spinner clearance and nothing around the back of the cowling.
I cut both cowls to the scribe lines and fitted the bottom cowling with the two holes wither side as per plans and then added the lower hinge. All seemed to be going good and I was happy with the fit.
I then came to fit the top cowling and realised I needed to add the panel cover for this part. I soon realised that the top cowl is too high. On close inspection it seem the right side cowling is higher than the left.
Measuring the step it seems that the right side is higher by around by around 1/8 inch. You can see on the photos that there are no scribe lines visible so I haven't under trimmed the right side by 1/8 inch (and I find it unlikely I over trimmed the side that fits by 1/8 inch which would happen to be just the right amount).
Could this be an error on the trim lines or manufacture.
I have a couple of options now.
1) Bottom cowling, Trim the top, meaning filling and redoing the piano hinge and two mounting holes drilled
2) Bottom cowling, Trim the bottom of the step, only two holes to fill and redo. This may mean I then get the same error of bulging on the bottom but this may be lost in the center slot.
3) Top cowling, Trim the right hand side overlap down by 1/8 inch at the back progressively getting less to the front.
Option 1) would probably take a few days of work and option 3) is the easiest option.
The bottom cowling appears to fit the skin ok so it feels like the top right side is just 1/8 too tall.
I feel like I must be missing something as incorrect scribe lines seems unlikely.
Any tips on how to measure/align the cowling would be useful. I can't use the engine clearance as I can only hang the engine on the top mounts (fighting the nose gear/bottom engine mount where I'm working would be a pain) so the engine isn't a good reference point.
Maybe I'm being overly concerned and just need to trim the upper cowling but I thought I'd run it by you guys first.
Right side: Join line is ~1/8 inch higher than the bottom of the top cover
Left side: Join line is ~level with the bottom of the top cover
Right side cowling sits above the hinge.
I cut both cowls to the scribe lines and fitted the bottom cowling with the two holes wither side as per plans and then added the lower hinge. All seemed to be going good and I was happy with the fit.
I then came to fit the top cowling and realised I needed to add the panel cover for this part. I soon realised that the top cowl is too high. On close inspection it seem the right side cowling is higher than the left.
Measuring the step it seems that the right side is higher by around by around 1/8 inch. You can see on the photos that there are no scribe lines visible so I haven't under trimmed the right side by 1/8 inch (and I find it unlikely I over trimmed the side that fits by 1/8 inch which would happen to be just the right amount).
Could this be an error on the trim lines or manufacture.
I have a couple of options now.
1) Bottom cowling, Trim the top, meaning filling and redoing the piano hinge and two mounting holes drilled
2) Bottom cowling, Trim the bottom of the step, only two holes to fill and redo. This may mean I then get the same error of bulging on the bottom but this may be lost in the center slot.
3) Top cowling, Trim the right hand side overlap down by 1/8 inch at the back progressively getting less to the front.
Option 1) would probably take a few days of work and option 3) is the easiest option.
The bottom cowling appears to fit the skin ok so it feels like the top right side is just 1/8 too tall.
I feel like I must be missing something as incorrect scribe lines seems unlikely.
Any tips on how to measure/align the cowling would be useful. I can't use the engine clearance as I can only hang the engine on the top mounts (fighting the nose gear/bottom engine mount where I'm working would be a pain) so the engine isn't a good reference point.
Maybe I'm being overly concerned and just need to trim the upper cowling but I thought I'd run it by you guys first.
Right side: Join line is ~1/8 inch higher than the bottom of the top cover
Left side: Join line is ~level with the bottom of the top cover
Right side cowling sits above the hinge.