Update

[EricP]

I am "almost" done with the windshield installation. I have been working on the fairing for the lower edge. This has turned out to be quite a complex piece since it continually bends and curves. I have gotten to use up all of my ability (and a little bit of Brent's!) in shaping this little part of aluminum. It has been cut to shape, stretched, shrunk, bent, hammered and prodded. I think a few other things in there as well!

Brent has "tweaked up" the door and window skins to match better and add some needed style. He has finished the headers and most of the heater installation. Once we get this part done we will be stripping down the fuselage for final welding and sandblasting and powdercoating.

Eric

[jaredyates]

Sounds like progress!

[Chewie]

There's an EAA write-up this month from Budd Davisson on making an aluminum windshield fairing. The tooling looks like a fun project in itself. I need to read in more detail but it looks like the guy just took a smooth, waxed iron pipe and mashed it down.

[EricP]

We have made all the windshield fairing pieces and I am cleaning up the edges and tightening up the fit to the windshield. Brent made the side fairing that wraps around the back edge of the window and the upright of the door frame. We now have the throttle and mixture cables installed. We used a piece of wood to hammer down on the inside of the curve of the fairing to get the correct fit. Probably like they used the pipe. Actually I used some vise grips to get the initial bend!

[Battson]

This thread needs photos!

[EricP]

Will be coming then!

[EricP]

This are pics I have on my phone. I need to update as they are several months old now.

[Mark Moyle]

Nicely formed nose bowl. Planished and/or wheeled?


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Battson]

Whoa - that nose bowl is unreal!

The intake is much like what Fellman has done on his one here in NZ, although his is a bit lower and blends with the bottom cowl.

[EricP]

Actually both planished with pneumatic hammer and wheeled. Brent hammers it out and then forms it with both. He also does some hand forming with a "slap hammer and dollie". Hey, that's what he calls it!

[EricP]

I will try to get some more up-to-date photos of the nose bowl and cowling. We are now working on detail to get it "just right". The main cooling air intakes still have to be done but everything else is in place and functional and just getting detail work. We feel like our cowl is pretty tight and wouldn't want to try to shrink it any more. The intake is designed to to straight into the manifold so we *hope* we get a little bit of ram air effect. It has a K&N air filter. I had Brent add an alternate air intake behind the filter in case it got plugged up somehow. It is just a hole cut into the intake plenum with a hinged cover. We have a cable to yank to open the alternate air if the engine can't pull enough power in case of loss of power due to plugged filter.

[EricP]

Updated pics of "Tinhawk" with new gear leg fairings. Need new pics of nose bowl as Brent has done a great job on that. We are about 95% done on the cowling.

[EricP]

My daughter took some great pics with her high end DSLR, I picked out 6 (from 244!) to post.

[EricP]

[marcusofcotton]

Guessing Tinhawk is going to be polished instead of painted? Sure looking nice!