768D Seal Support angles
I made up the two 768D seal support angles which rivet to the front of the subpanel parts. These are super flimsy but a little easier to make than the panel support angle. Once made, I drilled them to the 768B parts.

768D seal angles

768D's Drilled in place.

Next I drilled the 644 channels to the 768A subpanel and for the first time since I've started the project, drilled into my finger! Now I've drawn blood a dozen times doing various other things.. but I kinda prided myself on not drilling my finger. Guess it had to happen some time. For you builders who haven't done it yet.. just grab the drill and do it.. get it over with! :-)

F-644 Drilled to subpanel. (Pay attention to the position of the 644. I almost drilled it on the other side.)

FWIW, I'm leaving off the F-697 channel and associated components. This is the hat channel that holds the canopy release mechanism. As many others have pointed out.. I ain't jumping out of my airplane, so I don't need a canopy release mechanism. Even if I did release the canopy, it wouldn't come off anyway since it's attached in a couple of other places. So the only real purpose for the canopy release would be to make it easier to take the canopy on and off. The positioning of the release mechanism could cause problems with the position of the radio stack... so I'm not putting it in. (I'll just use bolts instead of pins.)

I also drilled the F-746 engine control bracket to the subpanel.

F-746

(Time: 2.5 hrs)
- posted by Matthew @ 7:31 AM