Finish Kit Update May 2012 Updates
May 26, 2012
Starting Windscreen Trim...... - 7.0 hrs


Yesterday was a long day but in the end I still did not get the first step of starting the windscreen. That was laying the first bead of epoxy that starts the form of the windscreen fairing. The goal was to get that done last night so it would be setup and hard to start the first layers of glass today. By the end of the day I was just cooked with the full heat of summer here with our wonderful humidity and no way to get it done.

So today I started with mixing up a batch of 3 pumps of epoxy and hardenered mixed with black dye. The dye will be used for the first layers to create a black line at the bottom of the windscreen. I have seen others that did not do it and it does not look as good. I think some folks actually may just paint it on the inside but its riveted on now so that ain't happening. After the mix was smooth I added some cotton fibers for strength and cabosil to stop it from running. If you have ever done fiberglass you know it runs everywhere. Cabosil is like magic.

The last step was to get this all mixed up to a thick consistancy like caulk. Next I put all of this in a quart zip lock bag and squeezed it all down to one corner and cut the tip off which made it like a cake decorator bag. This allowed me to squeeze a nice bead along the bottom edge of the windscreen. I forced it in the crack if the glass was not flush against the aluminum deck. Using the cotton fiber instead of glass beads made it much harder when its dry and setup.

Last I cut up peel ply pieces and cover up the bead and flattened it all out smooth. The goal is to make it smooth to minimize sanding and soak up any wet epoxy mixture. Then all I could do it wait for this to setup up.

So it was back to the house to work on wheel pants again. More glass and epoxy. I hate this stuff.

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.