Finally warm enough to start with some fiberglass

It is fun to be out at the hangar now that it is warming up a little.  I have numerous sub-projects that need warmth to cure the epoxy in the composites.

But first, I ran some aluminum conduit aft to the empennage to carry wires for the ELT, nav/strobe for the tail lights, the nav/vor antennae and the two OAT sensors.  I rigged up a way to do the passage from just aft of the baggage compartment, to the empennage, to make it easier if I had to pull any other wires back there in the future.  Also shown is the place I chose for the ELT itself.  The antennae for the ELT is just forward of the vertical stabilizer, on the turtle deck.

bracket for the conduit

ELT

Wires to GPS signal and remote test switch for ELT

View of conduit coming back from baggage area

Conduit shown on pilot side (right side in this photo)

Next, I did a small project that required some fiberglass layup.  The back of the scoop on the lower cowl needs an extension to conduct air to the front of the filter air box.  You are supposed to jam a foam block in between the scoop and the FAB, then bondo it in place, carve out the middle for the tunnel you are making out of fiberglass, then chip away all the bondo and foam.

Foamed and bondo'ed; starting to tunnel

View from inside the cowl bottom

After fiberglass set, chipping away the foam and bondo

Smoothing the surface with fairing filler

John Stahr (RV painter extraordinaire) and my hangar neighbor Rob B. came over to check out the progress.  They insisted in having me pose in the cockpit.  Too bad you can't hear me making the engine sounds

Fits pretty well!

Making airplane noises...

Finally, I decided that even though it's a little out of order, I would test fit the wheel pants and gear leg fairing, just to see what it is going to look like in hopefully, just a few more months...

I built two small jigs to keep the wheel pant level and oriented with the tire's outward angulation from vertical

Looks faster already