UPDATES CONTINUED

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July/August 2005

We continued with the tail plane modification - Mod 70 and finished it. We used about 2 litres of sweat and the swear box now has enough in it for us both to retire. It was not a difficult job really - the problem was access as these pictures show.

Cramped up in the back	Peter going down feet first	Peter relieved to get out
Ian's bottom	Peter: "Does my bum look big in this fuselage?"	Half a litre of sweat

We carried on with sanding. Here is an aileron covered in filler - ready for sanding. When we get a day good enough to sand it, I'll post a picture of the finished article.

Work on the cowling is progressing:

And we've now finished installing the rear baggage bay. Another horrid job in a hot confined space with toxic chemicals a few inches from your face - so Peter did most of this.

Baggage bay installed

We are now working on the fuel system. Here are some pictures of the filler tube assembly:

Filler tube	This hole is not nearly big enough!	Our metal elbow

Maintaining our motivation for the project is not a problem yet but we both recognize that we need to ensure we keep at it. Peter has already lapsed a bit. His adolescent urge has resurfaced. He wants to get back to playing about with sleek models in his shed - nothing sexual - he has just bought a dirty great fighter kit and is scouring E-Bay for a suitably large turbine engine for it. So the Europa will have some competition for Peter's time. Ian meanwhile is working on diligently.

Blue foam bases for the seats. tricky bits of carving.	The finished fuel filler assembly

SEPTEMBER 2005

Sanding, sanding and more sanding. We made a couple of supports for the ailerons and flaps so we could get some effort into the sanding. It is still a really horrible job. Dust and blisters everywhere. We had hoped that September would bring some nice cool winds to ease the task but it has been hot and sweaty. Anyway - we are making progress - especially since Peter started to help (supervise).

We also made the hatches in the top cowling:

Here are some sanding pictures.

Our jig	Ian sweating at work
Peter posing with a sanding block	Peter just does the final trimming but makes it look hard.

OCTOBER 2005

We spent much of the month preparing the wings for their final closing. Once the wing tops have been bonded on it is impossible to get inside them apart from very small inspection panels. So leaving something unfinished in the wings would be a really Bad Thing.

We needed to rig and de-rig the wings several times. This became easier each time, but colder on the hands as the temperature dropped towards the end of the month.

Looks like a plane	Final inspection - no spanners left inside

NOVEMBER 2005

Nearly ready to seal up the wings, but while we are waiting for final sign off from Barry, our inspector, we put our minds to the instrument panel. After hours of fun with bits of card we decided to go with the Dynon electronic panel while the dollar is still fairly weak. We bought the D100.

Panel layout	Peter checking that he still fits

We also had a flight with John Mitchie in his group-owned mono wheel Europa at White Waltham. This inspired us to get moving so that GCHOX is in the air next year.

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