The Barn Find Build

[alexM]

How about I keep unwanted advice to myself and just drink your beer? I think it's a conspiracy and you both have sent letters to the FAA asking them to hold short on my N number so I can't register or schedule the DAR. C'mon guys - isn't 5 months enough time to wait?
Glad your back on it Eric..... Will be fun to join up on you two and hang out. Thought it might happen when Alex was going to start his motor (yeah I still want to be there Alex!!!) but I guess he's going to be spending more time on my side of the hill so by that time I'll be mighty thirsty and besides Alex probably will want to drink my beer.

Geek

One more night shift tonight and then back home for a week. I'll be really close to engine start by the end of that week.

[Eric Page]

How about I keep unwanted advice to myself and just drink your beer?

Funny thing... I'm suddenly short on beer!

I think it's a conspiracy and you both have sent letters to the FAA asking them to hold short on my N number so I can't register or schedule the DAR.

I can't imagine why it's taking so long to get an N number. I went on the FAA website and reserved three of them (how's that for optimism!?!?) in a few minutes.

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Today I trimmed the cutouts in the seat pan again, aiming to get a better fit in the fuselage frame and around the aft end of the center console. That worked out fine and it now fits like it should. To celebrate, I grabbed a control stick, hopped in and made some airplane noises.

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Back to work. I located where I wanted the lids for the under-seat storage bins, traced them with a pencil, then cut them out with a diamond cutting wheel, a cylindrical burr and a sanding drum in the Dremel. With the gross opening done, I refined it with 120-grit sandpaper and a wood block until the lids fit nicely.

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The feeling of accomplishment didn't last long, as I soon found a spot at one corner where the fiberglass had cracked. It looks like my earlier repair had an air pocket in it and that caused a delamination.

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I got pretty aggressive with the Dremel, removing all of the cracked material and a large area of gel coat nearby, then cleaned it up with acetone.

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Finally, I cut out some more fiberglass mat patches, mixed up 4g of Poly Epoxy, wetted the fiberglass and the repair area, laid the patches in place and pressed them into position, being sure to work out any air bubbles.

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The cleanup after a day of fiberglass cutting and sanding was quite a project in itself.

[Eric Page]

I'll be really close to engine start by the end of that week.

I'd be interested in riding up there to observe if you turn the key by next Fri. I'm back to work 11/4.

[Geek]

Funny thing... I'm suddenly short on beer!

I can't imagine why it's taking so long to get an N number. I went on the FAA website and reserved three of them (how's that for optimism!?!?) in a few minutes.

Short on beer? Isn't that a sin? As for reserving the N number - yeah I did that. Went on the website, looked up that the number I wanted was available and paid my $10. Few months later I got a letter saying that the number wasn't available and here's your refund. The website says that their list is "updated at the close of business every day" but I think that's a load of hooey. So I went back in (5 months ago) and 'reserved' two numbers and now I sit (not so) patiently by the mailbox. I have all my paperwork filled out except for my number.

Sometimes "aggressive with the Dremel" is what it takes. I am so far removed from being an expert on fiberglass but I did rebuild a C2 Corvette that needed some body help. A friend of mine was an expert on that stuff, would come over to help me and his instructions were always cut it back a little farther than you think you need to so that you are well into the healthy glass and get a good bond. Alex probably has some of the same experience on this. You're doing good here Eric. Cleaning up a mess (especially someone else's) is never fun and the phrase "What the hell were they thinking" just keeps coming to mind. We probably need to be a bit careful however telling Alex we want to be there for his start.....he's gonna charge us admission.

Geek

[Eric Page]

...I went back in (5 months ago) and 'reserved' two numbers and now I sit (not so) patiently by the mailbox.

Very strange. Have you tried to contact them since sending the paperwork?

Web form: https://registry.faa.gov/aircraftemail/

Email address: 9-AMC-AFS750-Aircraft@faa.gov

Phone numbers: (866) 762-9434 -or- (405) 954-3116

Cleaning up a mess (especially someone else's) is never fun and the phrase "What the hell were they thinking" just keeps coming to mind.

Amen, brother.

[bumsteer]

Might well be worth giving them a call. I had a reserved number and had the registration back in a week.

Rick

[avidflyer]

Best bet is to have something else on the computer to do, call them and leave the phone on speaker so you can hear when they start talking to you after being on hold for maybe an hr. I've done that numerous times. JImChuk

[Eric Page]

Trimmed the new fiberglass repair on the seat pan, then sanded the edge and surface smooth and flush.

IMG_2653.jpg

Followed that with 3g of Super Fil to hide coarse sanding scratches and a few tiny voids. Put the heater underneath it to assist curing and will finish it tomorrow.

IMG_2654.jpg

I'm holding off on the rest of the under-seat storage bin installation until I have lid hinges in hand. Stopping at HD tomorrow to see what they have to offer.

[Geek]

Very strange. Have you tried to contact them since sending the paperwork?

Web form: https://registry.faa.gov/aircraftemail/

Email address: 9-AMC-AFS750-Aircraft@faa.gov

Phone numbers: (866) 762-9434 -or- (405) 954-3116

Might well be worth giving them a call. I had a reserved number and had the registration back in a week.

Rick

Best bet is to have something else on the computer to do, call them and leave the phone on speaker so you can hear when they start talking to you after being on hold for maybe an hr. I've done that numerous times. JImChuk

Thanks all. Since this is the very essence of hijacking Eric's build, I'll end it here. Apologize Eric I did not mean for this to take a life of it's own. I did call and got put on music hold. The music was designed to make you want to hang up or scratch your eyes out. I emailed and a few days later I received an email back saying that they were just working on requests from mid April. I made my request in June.

G

[Eric Page]

No worries, Gary, it's good info. We've all learned from your experience to send our applications at least eight months in advance!