grosbeak

Time to prime! Instead of sandpaper I am now using an auto body scuffing pad.







One now scuffed, one still buffed.







Both scuffed.







Primer shaken and ready.

grosbeak

Bottoms done - three coats







Tops done - three coats.







Take note - this stuff is super smelly. Even my cartridge respirator didn't filter all the smell out - and although the furnace was off and two fans were running to direct air out of the shop window, the house still smells almost four hours later.


Next step - another round of scuffing, then a start on the paint - gloss white to match the plane.

grosbeak

My wife and I talked about the smell from priming - she suggested a paint booth so I put together a quick one.







One coat.







Final coat.







The paint booth helped a lot, but the smell is still present. I have some ideas I'll be exploring.


The painting appears to be done! Tomorrow when the cure is well underway I'll give them a closer look to see if any touch ups are needed.

grosbeak

Turns out I needed one more coat.







It also turns out that I built a much better paint booth.







I had to re-drill the axle holes because epoxy, primer and paint got inside.







Here they are back on the plane. I'm very pleased with the results.

grosbeak

Now for the test - CG time. Just forward of the centre of the range...







Perfect balance.







My goal is to get the plane ready for a re-maiden this Saturday, March 1st... the day of our annual club winter fun fly. Just a few more things to take care of.

Twin_Flyer

My Feedback: (4)

Did you ever get top try out those skies!?!?!

Bill S.

vasek

My Feedback: (4)

+1
P.S. Man, you've got skills!

grosbeak

Yes I did, and I couldn't be happier with the performance. A few photos...

Taking off in deep powder




Low pass




Moment of touchdown




Taxi back




Not related to the skis, but I did fab a cowl and I think it improves the looks a lot.





Very kind of you to say so.

Twin_Flyer

My Feedback: (4)

That cowl is a huge improvement, well done and kudos to whomever had the camera! Excellent shots!

over all, how is the plane doing with the DLE? Would you make any changes if you were to build another??

tempted to build the skis just because, but we USUALLY dont get enough snow here to use them, plus if we did, I probably wouldn't be able to get to the field to try them!

Thanks,
Bill S.

grosbeak

The cowl was an interesting project, heat formed from a 4L bottle over a wooden plug. Check out the RCU thread for the details. The plane has been doing very well with the DLE but you certainly have to pack the fuselage - it was virtually empty before. As it happens I have my first kit at home ready to go - it's an AMR 26 trainer and it will get a gasser as well - I'm thinking DLE 30 at the moment.

Twin_Flyer

My Feedback: (4)

I hope you do a thread on that, I would like to build one too!

Bill S>

grosbeak

Count on it! I'm just soliciting ideas and advice at the moment but when the build starts there will be a proper thread in my usual style.