Oratex day today, tackling port elevator, the one with the cut-out for the trim tab to add to the excitement. The time taken being super-careful with all the various steps paid dividend in the form of a satisfying result. Tomorrow is forecast to be the first day for a while when humidity is below 70%…

We temporarily abandoned the fun job of acetoning the remnants of the Polyfiber chemistry off the ailerons, as a window of opportunity opened hwere St. Peter was able to induct us into the wonderful world of Oratex fabric covering. While actually quite fun to do, there was a lot of stress involved in learning the…

Took off the fabric from the ailerons, not too much hard work. The basic wood structure is in remarkably good condition, no delamination, everything in as new condition except for a bit of minor wood repair. This shows the trailing edge on one of the ailerons where some damage was repaired in a kinda haphazard…

Last Thursday we took the ailerons off the wings at Mangrove, with the intention to closely inspect the hinges and associated fittings. This inspection is difficult to do at the back of the hangar, and we had suspected excessive free play in some of those connections. Here’s what we found and intend to rectify: In…

The battery setup is as good as finished, bar a few wire supports. This is the battery in its tray and with the antenna fitted. It can be installed in this configuration, taking care that the lower antenna section is inserted between the control cable runs in the fuselage. Before fitting this assembly I cleaned…

Made a hold down for the battery today. The overcentre lock provides a nice tight hold and the system would easily take the recommended 20G load of 44 kg. As mentioned before, after realising the awkward contortions needed to put the battery into WUH at Warkworth, I’ve played around with different locations in KYU and…

Spent the afternoon re-planning the antenna and battery installation. After the contortions in WUH at Warkworth the other day, I’ll be mounting the battery close to the front edge of the luggage shelf. That should make the job of installing and removing the battery a bit easier, rather than having it at the very back…

Pete had asked me if I wanted to join him at Warkworth for a bit of transition flying in the Vintage Gliding Clubs Bocian VH-WUH. I readily agreed and arrived at HVGC today at 9 am. I was given the job of installing the battery on the luggage shelf, and soon realised this was not…

Epoxied the last cross braces for the luggage deck and checked the antenna location. I noticed a cut in the white plastic antenna insulation which will need to be repaired using heat shrink. Also have to provide cable ties on the frame for the antenna and battery cables running underneath the deck. The battery cables…

The nut plates were fitted into the frames and secured with M2 stainless steel c’sk screws. I was going to use small wood screws but didn’t like the idea in the end. This is a much sounder way to hold the nut plates in their recesses. As I was fitting the nut plates, the postie…