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Finish Kit Update August 2012 Updates August 03, 2012 Weight and Balance Complete...... - 4.0 hrs Ok so John called me last night that he has the package. So I bolt out of work an hour early to get started on the W&B project. I shot copies of the W&B papers and instructions and head to the airport. Its hot as hell but I open up the doors and get the plane ready to move into the covered area next door where we can level the plane in the shade hopefully get some breeze around us as we start this project. About the time I get everything opened up and ready up drives John and dumps out 2 cases. One is a case with 4 scales and the other is the brain box that gives the the individual scales weight and the total. So we got the wing jacks out and got the bird up on the scales. Next step was to level it which took multiple times of jacking and shimming with small pieces of wood that I cut from scraps I had in the hangar. The goal was to get the plane all leveled and then jack up one last time to zero out the scales with the shims in place so they don't become part of the final weight. Turns out this is called tear weight. Not sure if I spelled that correctly, have to ask John. Now we do all the measurements with plumbbobs off the leading edge of the wing and figure out the datum and arms and moments.... I won't bore you with the details. This is all aircraft fabrication stuff that us builder pilots have to do... :) As we got the final stages done a black truck comes flying down the road behind us scaring the crap out of us. I knew it..... Harley Dave trying to be funny. He was so proud of himself. Ok so now was the moment of truth. The plane is leveled.... the scales are zeroed out with shims in place. The plane is lowered back down into position for the final weigh in. John powers up the panel and we have a total weight of 1,142 lbs. I snapped a pic of the panel and the certification of calibration of the scales as they were just done about 2 months ago. And now its time for the DAR inspection. This website was built to document my work in compliance with the FAA requirements needed to certify my aircraft. My experiences and comments are by no means to be considered as instructions on how to build any aircraft.