Expecting that the first flight will be from an old paved runway, the aluminum skid plate will take a beating. It has already showed some scrapes from moving around the garage and driveway. So, on another rainy weekend day, it was time for an upgrade.
I had some leftover 1/8in Delrin from the trailer. A quick trip to the bandsaw, I had a couple strips 3/4in wide to match the metal skid plate. Transferring the 1in hole spacing into them, and drilling out nine rivets with a #30 drill bit, they were easy to Cleco into place. A few Cherry pull rivets and it's all done. It looks reasonable. Quick projects are nice.
To-do's before the first flight are now:
- figure out how all of the Goat parts transport together
- take all of Goat for its first trip around the neighborhood
- finish weld the upper rail to the vertical supports -- need Argon
- finish weld the frame joints -- need Argon
- do a very thorough pre-flight check
- do a weight & balance
- get radios -- need 1x airborne, 1x in car
Deferred until after the first-flight:
- leather patch on wing tips where they rub the ground
- leather patch guides for elevator control lines
- trim color paint
- wing root kiss seal
- main strut fairings
- jury strut fairings
- emergency parachute
- drogue chute
- variometer
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