Today was the day to actually start the work on the paint job. Craig has been reviewing and looking over the project before we did anything so he fully knew what needed to change and what areas needed attention. As the “expert” who built the plane, it was my job to de-construct it for him to allow for the prep and paint.
So we worked on all the engine area stuff first, the cowling was removed and all the items disassembled for paint. This included removing the oil door and the camlocs from the cowling. The propeller spinner was removed along with the nose gear fairings which were also deconstructed.
In the process I found the first of two surprises, one of the baffle screws on cylinder #3 was gone – not loose, but completely gone. The screw is held in place with a metal lock washer (internal tooth) but apparently that wasn’t enough to keep it from working itself loose. These are at least 1″ long screws, so its amazing what vibration will do. The cowling was off recently for an oil change and even with an engine look over, I didn’t notice it was missing then. So its hard to tell how long its been gone, before or since the oil change.
The wing tips were removed, nav lights removed and then I removed the duckworths leading edge landing light lens. The light assembly was also removed and the HID lens and igniter was removed. This is because the light assembly will be painted along with the interior of the wing inside the lens area.
The main gear fairings were removed including the fairing intersections. It was at this point the second surprise was found. The large axle screw on the right gear holding the fairing to the axle extension. It does not use a lock washer so it apparently vibrated free on its on. I will likely use locktite on all these when it is reassembled. I had noticed the fairing was loose on preflight inspections but even when I looked I hadn’t noticed the screw was missing. To spot a missing item is a lot harder than you would think.
Next I removed the wing root fairing strips and then disconnected the flap motor push rod. The flap was lowered and all three bolts removed and the flap was disconnected and set aside. Next up were pictures of the hardware assembly (for future reference) of the ailerons. I noted that the left and right ailerons had slightly different washer alignments and that could possible be the cause of the heavy wing. Once painted and reassembled, I will make a point to make sure the hardware is identical on both sides.
At this point Craig will work on sealing and masking up the engine area as well as gear areas in prep for body work and paint. Additional surfaces will be removed during the next work session when I am back.
myrv10factory 