Page 17-02 Build Time: 390 hrs

Page 17-02 Build Time: 390 hrs

The spars went pretty quickly once the priming was finished. I didn't prime the spare clips since many of them were already attached to the main spar and it seemed pointless to do some of them and not all of them. I do believe the main spare is primed by Vans with something since it looks different that normal aluminum. I read that they use an acid etch primer that basically isn't green on the pre-build kits and I assume the spars have that also. In any case, no point in priming the spars since they are a stack of aluminum and you'd never fully cover it. Can't say enough about how accurate everything is on these parts. It's amazing to see this go together.

Both mains in the rafters.

Working toward skinning the wings. No, I didn't skip section 16. That was pretty quick stuff and the stall switch needed very little tweaking to make it work perfectly. The section isn't finished as I took the switch off while storing the wing assemblies for fear of breaking it or bending it. It will go back on before the skins. The spar assemblies are my biggest pieces so far and difficult to move around. Once the wings are complete I'll build a dolly for them and they will be stored in the living room (my version of home decoration). There really is no place that will hold them at the house other than behind the couch. I'm number 2 on the list for a hanger @ C83 and once I have one they will go there. For now since they don't block my lights they are hung from the rafters.

De-buring the skins.

The skins are coming along. After 12 months of having the blue plastic on it's still no big deal taking it off. Everything is out of the sun and for the most part cool so I don't anticipate any problems with the rest of the kit. I should have all of the fuselage de-blued by summer. I'm working through the left wing first since the right has the landing light and I want to do the one less complicated before I actually cut holes in my shiny aluminum. I should be shooting primer next week.