Kit #7 arrived

[Utah-Jay]

Seats are all installed on the on the seat frames. I must say they have a great fit. Thanks to Daniel at Sport Aircraft Seats for the tips on installation. 879069F6-5C99-4A56-8D86-18B0F26D7183.jpg344E526A-5D1E-4880-A0B1-DF7D1A2C9B1F.jpg

[Utah-Jay]

Took some time to fabricate the tray for the ADAHARS to get the required +/- 1.0 degree from level to the datum. It turned out to be 0.1 degrees
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Not posting much here, but this was particularly satisfying.

[Utah-Jay]

Started covering, luckily the wrinkle will be covered by the top layer as this is the bottom. Good news is NO paint booth EB797CF0-352D-4C6E-B2D6-197048FD3B60.jpg

On to the prep for the top
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[Utah-Jay]

Got back to work this week after being out of town for the past 3 weeks working.
I did some wing root panel work, lots of measuring and cutting to get the template just right. Then transferring to .025 and working on the cutouts.

510A39D6-2435-4DB9-AC76-EDAF2883C647.jpgA10E0F32-76FB-42D5-A745-E6484D1EACC8.jpg83ACDC20-0FF3-4384-A7CA-7762020613A8.jpgDDF3FC05-AEE6-46CE-B79D-4A96485EE492.jpgF848AC81-99F7-49B3-8F35-F4F05648E4C0.jpg5C5DBFB7-764B-44A2-9D54-899A27E6ACBD.jpg

[Utah-Jay]

Installed the seat bottoms after Daniel at Sport Aircraft Seats redid my bottom cushions as the originals were too tall/thick. These are PERFECT
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[Utah-Jay]

Finished the wing root panels… Well I still need to do the sight gauges and headset jacks, but they are fitted and fit with ZERO pillowing EB7E869B-2909-4590-BF06-82B315EFB0EE.jpg3EF31EBD-7753-48E8-9EF4-B35286699B72.jpg80C67F51-C662-48E0-ABD7-5E29B8E62102.jpgB6EFA40D-710E-4E05-90BF-72EFB91CC150.jpg7A5E9EB6-196A-4AC9-BEA9-D35369504B29.jpg I also drilled the holes for the clamps to secure my brakes lines on the gear legs DD1D67A8-2F84-4EA0-BCCC-5AB0E8FEDEAC.jpg

[spinningwrench]

What are you glueing your tabs on with?

[Utah-Jay]

spinningwrench I am using Clickbond adhesive, it is super strong

[Utah-Jay]

A couple of buddies, one in the blue is rebuilding a Husky, the one in the black is building a Kitfox, they felt the need to check out my Sport Aircraft Seats. Great local community here in Heber
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[Utah-Jay]

Hmm, when you are not happen with how the fabric when on, removing fabric and cleaning off the glue is NOT fun. Fabric removal took a few hours, glue removal will take me a few days. 6E4479F9-12C2-4FE0-A072-8BB8446741CB.jpg
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[Utah-Jay]

After my original diabolical with covering, I got a two day lesson on covering with Oratex. I finished up at home today after 27.5 hours the past two days. I learned when you think you are going slow, like REALLY SLOW….. you are still going too fast. The edges required attaching about 1 inch at a time. I was pretty frightened about rib stitching, but it was not that bad. Everything came out really well.
E402ED6D-8AE5-4F78-9183-3DCA4A747D74.jpg06E91576-1033-4C43-944F-250FEEDF028E.jpg34B56A58-E35C-481B-9CA1-D07AADF947BD.jpg03286439-F5F5-45E7-9791-BB7A8E4B22C9.jpgC2091DD9-1E9D-45C3-8D2D-39A68130DF97.jpg9D0605DE-920E-4D14-9080-0AF1789A315A.jpg8D35FC5C-6A4D-4CB1-83D6-7A1020DA800B.jpgEBCAC1BE-3417-45CB-A537-3B89E83271CB.jpg9DF36BA4-F1A6-46DF-B2FE-1EF7802E859C.jpg670E4529-6A0A-4237-83AB-2A6CFDE08522.jpg

[Utah-Jay]

The man cave is all set up to finish up covering the tailfeathers 3F9DCE78-255C-46C2-A68F-7EBE51BA0097.jpg

[Utah-Jay]

Covering is… Well I am making progress, here is the bottom of a Horizontal stab from this afternoon, top gets done tomorrow.
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[Utah-Jay]

Got some hats to match
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[Light&Sweet]

I suppose practice makes perfect. Really, it doesn’t appear that you had to practice a lot to get your nice results. Perhaps the empennage is the most difficult part to cover, too.

Have you discussed anywhere your decision to build a Companion to replace a Rans S21 (if I have that supposition correct)? The Rans appears to be close to the Companion in performance and payload—lesser, but close.

[Utah-Jay]

Light&Sweet

I spent 24 hours and 38 minuted over two days learning to cover with Oratex from a “professional” fabric coverer. It was the best money I have spent so far on the build. There is absolutely zero chance I could have gotten the results I am getting without the help from Monika. She does the covering for RMK (Rocky Mountain Kitplanes), who are a Rans dealer. I will say that I can get impatient, I like to get stuff done, and I would have never dreamed of going so slow while covering. Based on what she told me, the only really challenge covering the fuselage is the curve of the empennage up the vertical stabilizer.

Bottom line it takes me about 10-12 hours of actual work to cover one piece of a tail feather. I have two to go, the right horizontal stabilizer is next, I hope to get it finished prior to leaving Monday for a 6 week work trip. That only leaves the rudder, gear legs and fuselage.

I will address the Companion vs. Rans in a different thread as it may create a thread string.

[jaredyates]

Addressing the Rans question would be great for a Beartracks article!

[Utah-Jay]

Before shrink and post shrink CB34C7AB-90D3-4A97-B4AA-A5A4B00AA64D.jpgF019C4FC-2BEF-4508-9107-F4849D38C41D.jpg

D1F00E74-1469-4A64-B817-9DF11905BB65.jpgFinished:
2 trim tabs
2 elevators
2 horizontal stabs

The oratex is looking better than I had expected

Off to work tomorrow for 6 weeks then it’s “Back to (airplane) work!”