Learning to weld has actually been on my "to do" list for decades. The pieces have never fallen into place for that, but that might have changed yesterday afternoon. I looked on my local craigslist for welding services offered and found an ad that said all the right things (TIG, 4130 and that he's an A&P). So I called him up and we had a nice conversation. Not only is he a qualified welder he flies a King Air and he teaches the A&P curriculum at a local community college.

We discussed the three potential applications for welding on my Kitfox and he asked me questions about wall thickness and the type of filler material. I got a brief education on preheating and stress relief - both of which should be of minimal concern with the thicknesses involved here. I've got some measuring to do for wall thicknesses, and I need to figure out how thick the triangle gussets need to be and also the reinforcement for the tail wheel. He mentioned ER70S-2 instead of 4130 filler (confirmed now that I've read up a bit), but it also looks like ER80S-D2 could be used.

He told me he has no problem teaching me and letting me practice on some scrap material and then supervising while I do the actual welding. I'm to obtain the 4130 and filler since he doesn't have any on hand (says almost all the welding demand he has now is for stainless and aluminum). Then we'll coordinate me trailering my fuselage to his shop. I'm thinking that when the welding cools off I'll bring it to my garage to do the primer and paint fixes and complete the installation of flight controls so the fuselage is ready to cover.

For the rudder pedal reinforcement I will be doing both sides since I will be flying from the right seat quite often (possibly most of the time).