The kiddos have been off for fall break and wanted to go flying. Went to the airport to fuel the plane and pre-flight it. I found my exhaust bracket broken. I have about 60 hours since I changed the exhaust routing out the back of the cowl. Fortunately I recently purchased a tig welder so I took it home to weld it up. I have been practicing welding Aluminum with the hopes of building a better intercooler. (After I learn how to draw it up in solidworks) I have not practiced stainless that much, so I cut some stainless bar and practicing welding for about an hour. After I felt like I could weld it up I decided to give it a try! Not my best work but better than my worst.

I decided to add a reinforcement piece to help with possible side loads. When I reinstalled it, based on where it was before, I realized I had it under some tension by tightening it to tight against the stop.

This TIG welding is harder than it looks. I have almost gone through a tank of argon, and this is my best aluminum weld so far. Fun stuff learning a new skill though.

Next day, thanks to have the welder handy, we went out flying for a couple hours. Rusty, my son wanted to take guns and go shooting and flying. Giddy UP!