I am not all that far from completing this section but decided since I am on a roll with the other posts, I might as well write here as well.

This is one of those dreaded sections because it is mostly Fiberglass work. The cowling halves are provided by VANS but they need to be trimmed to final size and have piano hinges added to hold it all together. The hinges are held to each other by a pin.

I didn’t take a lot of photos here because I was….well…working on the airplane. These photos represent a lot of time in work.

After trimming, holes were drilled to rivet the piano hinge to the sides and rear of the cowling.

Cowling is held in place with clecos until riveting. The gap between parts should be 0.050″. I think I have a bit too much here that I might fill in by “scarfing” the edge. The front lip outboard of the inlet is not lining up either. Epoxy/micro beads plus some bondo will take care of that.

This is the bottom cowl held on with tape in preparation of drilling the holes for the piano hinges.

Top cowling being lined up.

There needs to be a 3/16″ gap between the cowling and the prop spinner backplate. This is the reason for the installation of the prop at this point. Once I am satisfied that the cowl is fixed in place, I can remove the prop which I did.

This is probably the best photo I have of a hinge half. The other half is on the top cowling, and once mated together, a pin is pushed through the holes, and all is secure.

It is a great concept and holds things together very well. However, the top, rear hinge holding the cowling to the firewall is very difficult to put together. You need to reach inside the oil door (the open square in the photo below) and insert a pin in each direction to the sides. This is very difficult (gets easier, they say, as the pin gets “trained” but it also results in bruises and scrapes on the forearms. I cannot image what it will be like going inside there with a hot engine.

So, I have decided to change course, and use “Skybolts” for the upper cowling to firewall attachment. I have removed the hinge from the top cowling, and I am waiting delivery of the Skybolts. This and the oil door will be covered in Part 2.