The Finishing Kit contains stuff like the engine mount, the canopy, the tires and brakes, the cowl, and lots of other identifiable parts. There aren't very many pieces of raw aluminum, which at this point is a nice change. As with the other kits, this one involved some decisions, so I will share them briefly here:
* Engine: My engine will be a Lycoming o-320 E2D. It is in need of an overhaul, so I will be figuring out those details soon.
* Propeller: I am going with a Sensenich fixed pitch metal prop. At first I had thought about using a wood prop because of the cost, but after adding up all the "extras" that you need in order to install a wood prop, as well as the ongoing maintenance, I decided on the metal one.
(Update: I have changed my mind on this, I have ordered a three-blade composite prop from Craig Catto)
I also ordered the firewall forward kit at the same time, so it was packed in the same crate for no additional charge. |
12/7/04 - Delivery and Unpacking - 4 hours
Almost four months has passed since I inventoried the fuselage kit, and now I am looking forward to "finishing" it. This is a huge box that cost almost $500 for shipping from Oregon to Texas, and another $90 so Roadway Express would bring it to me on a lift-gate truck, since I don't have a loading dock at my house. Maybe I should have thought about that when we built the house. :-) |
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Upon opening the cover it seems like there isn't that much stuff in here. I opted to have the firewall forward kit shipped in this box as well, and that's probably half of the stuff. The majority of the space is occupied by the canopy and the cowl. I still can't figure out why this box weighs almost 350 pounds! It must be the wood.
Unpacking and inventorying didn't take as long as the fuselage kit took, which was good, but was mainly due to the smaller number of parts. I put the canopy in the house to keep it warm and safe until needed. |
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The small parts all just about fit on two shelves. You can see here the spinner and wheel fairings. The tires and brakes are on the shelf below.
Upon seeing all this stuff, my wife's comment was "Wow, you're really building an airplane." I think she was just trying to give me a hard time. I guess the empennage, wings and fuselage weren't impressive enough, but those rubber tires finally made it seam real. :-) I can't complain though, because she helped me inventory the parts bags, which was extremely helpful. |
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