Dec 17th, 2011

Mostly worked on the landing light this week. I heard from Don at Duckwork's to try measuring edge distance from the outside and the light went on. I had a naggy feeling that it was ok but couldn't see past it. Glad to hear it's good to go.

Of course now I have to cut a big honking hole in the leading edge. No pressure....

After measuring and re-measuring about 10 times to make sure it was as perfect as I could get it, I finally cut the hole.



I did *not* want to have to order another LE skin.

The best tool for cutting turned out to be a metal cutoff wheel in my Dremel. It couldn't totally follow the curve, but was way better than everything else I tried.

This is after cutting and about an hour of cleaning up the cut. I left plenty of room so I could sneak up on the best fit. There's no going back once it's cut.



I spent 2 or 3 hours filing (maybe more) before I was finally happy with the fit and edges. This is about 1/2 way through. The best tools were a straight and 1/2 round file and a scotchbrite wheel for my drill.



Finished up the hole and started on the mounting plate. A couple of nutplates go in each of the outboard ribs (the light is mounted on a mounting plate bolted between the ribs).

Starting to work on the mounting plate.



Then started fitting the plexi for drilling and fabricating the reinforcing plates that go inside.