So close now! I had to restrain myself from staying up too late... all that remains now is add a pilot, glue canopy and CG it.

I sealed all the surfaces last night, got all the throws set etc. The only issue I have is that my belly-pan fit really was not good. It was in fact quite lousy and I had to really force it on there (the rear was fine but the front of the pan is too small - not conoured right.) I got it on with 6x 2/56 screws with blind nuts. I think it will hold but really I'm gonna need to make something better... the belly pan has to come off every couple of days all summer long to take the wings on and off (my vehicle is not big enough to leave them on.) I think the plastic belly pan is only going to last about 5 to 10 removals before the holes round out. It looks ugly too...

I suppose building a balsa one will not be a huge project... make templates for 4 formers to get the right contour, some stingers and some thin sheet should do it. Really one complaint for a plane as nice as this at the price I paid is not bad at all

It looks REALLY cool on skiis and amazingly my aluminum Jay Dee 60 size skiis are lighter than the bigger Dubro 3.5" wheels I planned to run!

Extreme pilot goes in tonight... temperatures just plummeted again so break in will be in my garage... with the door cracked and the extractor fan helping... and me no where near there until the smoke clears. Its AMAZING how much smoke a rich-running little four stroke makes in a 10 min run. When I broke in my 180 in the garage some neighbors came running over... they thought the house was on fire there was so much smoke everywhere LOL.

I plan to maiden next week if I can convince my instructor/test pilot friend to do a winter maiden flight. He's not a huge fan of "rushing things" (an old-time pattern guy with 25 years flying and a HELL of a pilot so I always "let" him fly my new stuff first.)