November 8, 2006 - Big Van's Order

I did a little work on the canopy frame/skin, but the main event was that I received a bunch of stuff I had ordered from Vans.

Actually, I didn't order these from Vans, I ordered them from Spruce. At the time I didn't realize that Van's sold them. They are the teak stick-grips. The pilot's grip had two-holes on top: one for push-to-talk and one for the elevator trim. The passenger's grip only had one hole for push-to-talk. You can get stick-grips with as many buttons as an F-18 Super Hornet, but I didn't want that. My thinking is keep it simple so that someone other than myself could fly the plane without having to worry about pushing the wrong button.

I ordered the stainless steel pitot tube.

A roll of UHMW tape which is needed for the lower forward edge of the canopy skin.

I had run out of both the 3/32 flush pop-rivets and the 3/32 "nut-plate" rivets. I love the "nut-plate" rivets. You just slightly countersink the two holes, and the nut-plates rivets come out nice and flush, even if the underlying material is thin.

I ordered the 3-oz portion of Proseal. A nice size for small jobs.

A multiple "repeat-offender" told me this governor was a must-have for the electrical trim.

The "Crotch-Strap" kit. I had debated whether or not to put this in. I didn't find out about it until after I had built my fuse center-section. If I had known about the crotch-strap kit, I'd have bought it and installed it then. Would have been a lot easier. It probably won't be easy installing it now, but I decided to bite the bullet and do it.

I also ordered this "glove-box" kit for the instrument panel.

Finally, I ordered a replacement set of canopy frame channels. I had ruined a set building the rear canopy frame, a $60 mistake.

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