Quote Originally Posted by Eric Page View Post
No, Debra didn't tell me what the other changes were, but I'm very tempted to give them a call again and see if I can find out. As you say, if it's something the welder can fix, it'd be well worth the extra expense. That said, I'll be surprised if it doesn't take new wing struts.

Yeah, I'm pretty happy about the state of the wings. They're going to take quite a bit of sanding to get the leftover adhesive knocked down to a smooth surface for re-covering, but the bones are definitely healthy. I knocked one false rib loose while removing the fabric, but I tagged it with a zip tie so I'll remember to re-glue it when I break out the Hysol.

Speaking of sanding, today I made the mistake of being cheap by buying a triangular rubber hook-and-loop sanding pad for this tool, along with a package of six assorted pieces of sandpaper for it. It took about 60 seconds for the heat generated by the oscillations to melt the tip of the rubber pad (which I discovered when I blistered my index finger on it!), and under an hour to destroy all six pieces of sandpaper. It's a fantastic cutting tool, but not a great sander. I guess I'll have to break down and buy an R.O. sander, because I'm sure as heck not doing it all by hand and I don't think my Grandpa's old belt sander is the right tool either!
That's strange about the sander pad getting hot. The triangle head (detail sander) for my HF unit is basically thick foam rubber and I have never experienced it getting too hot.

It's great you got that wing covering off without damaging wood.

Regarding fuselage differences between 1400 and 1550, you can always drag your fuselage up here and we can compare them side by side. I think since we met Nate we know where to look.