More empennage tip work and some BRS parachute updates:

I don't get too many packages with this label!

Inside were all the parts that make up the rocket which pulls the parachute out to deploy as low as approximately 400 feet! (bare minimum demonstrated by a Cirrus)

After doing all the fitting work / supports in the airplane I shipped the parachute container back to BRS and they returned it to me as shown below. Everything is ready to install. The ring is the rocket mount. Looking forward to doing the final install of the system.

I'm not so excited about the quality of Van's fiberglass parts for the RV-7. It's unfortunate because all the structural parts of the airplane are so high quality. The amount of work to make these cosmetic parts look like something you would see on a production plane is disheartening. Hopefully their newer designs like the RV-14 are better. That being said I'm making progress on the vertical stabilizer and rudder tips. However ALL of them require rework.

Here are the tips after getting some primer / filler to see how much more needs to be done.

The foam / fiberglass rib for the vertical stab went faster then the horizontal stab.

The vertical stab fiberglass tip has a "unique" shape that will require some amount of filling and sanding on every axis to look decent. Again it looks like the lowest bidder won the contract.

The rudder bottom fairing had a significant curve to it that required a lot of fun filling and sanding.

I trimmed the lower fairing to give plenty of clearance with the tail wheel nut. Some builders have had issues when landing on grass strips. 

I loaded weight on the horizontal stab to simulate a heavy landing and the clearance was good. 

Of course a lot of trimming etc. This is just getting started:

Installed the adapter for the LED tail light and strobe:

More empennage, including horizontal stabilizer tips:

 

One more coat of epoxy primer on the tips. Even after this I found a few pin holes!

Getting ready to trace the foam rib to close out the horizontal stabilizer tip:

Rib after cutting and sanding a little:

Ready to fiberglass:

I decided to add some aluminum strips to the HS tips due to the edge distance on the screw holes:

Empennage fairing combined with the metal access panel looks great:

Empennage work:

 

Elevators are balanced and "permanently" installed. I balanced both elevators separately then connected them and the push pull tube and torqued all bolts.

The elevator trim servo can be unplugged here to remove the elevators when the plane is painted.

I copied the elevator trim servo wiring idea from a Vans Airforce forum post. The wire remains clear through the full travel of the elevator:

Right elevator only needed a little extra weight to balance. After painting I can easily add more.

Much more weight required for the left elevator to compensate for the trim servo.

Making the trim servo plug. There is also another plug attached to the trim servo so it can be removed for maintenance without removing the elevator.

Elevator tips after some epoxy primer:

Horizontal stabilizer drilled for tips:

I cleaned up and painted the elevator horns:

I used soft rivets and attached the plate nuts directly to the fiberglass elevator tips:

A lot of filling and sanding:

Avionics reinstalled and updated:

 

The actual installation part for the G3X Touch and the GTN-650 was easy. The software updates took a little research. As luck would have it Garmin had just released an update for the G3X Touch today!

Instrument panel re-installed:

I finished reconnecting all the switches, installed vents, organized / cleaned up wiring bundles and started testing (so far no magic smoke has been released!).

Panel re-install in progress: (My brother Paul was here to help with the install panel install and having two sets of hands made a huge difference!)

Paul and I spent about half the day making these two frames for the defog fan cutouts. I have decided to go with an ultraleather fabric on the glareshield so I needed a way to trim around the cut outs.

Windscreen fairing complete! also more work on elevator tips:

Victory shot with the newly attached windscreen fairing:

Very happy with the fit.

The fiberglass turned out great but the paint shop will take it to the final finish.

My brother Paul was instrumental in getting the windscreen fairing attached. We used Sikaflex 295 UV. This is the same product I have used to attach the windscreen, canopy and canopy fairing. The prior experiences definitely made a difference on the canopy fairing. It was still very messy and a lot of work. (The little black pouches around the fairing in the photo are one pound weights from a training vest.)

Here we have applied the Sika primer. You can also see all the precision taping. We used two layers of electrical tape and peeled one off after the primer had dried.

Fairing after first coat of epoxy primer. This revealed a number of pinholes that I went over with Metal Glaze followed by more sanding and another coat of primer.

After a layer of West epoxy using the fast hardener.

Elevator tips after initial coat of West micro:

Sanding the Rage ultra and metal glaze:

It was easier to apply this layer of filler with the fairing in place.

Final fiberglass to close out the elevator tip:

General Update: Baffles, primed canopy fairing, windscreen fairing, elevator tips and more exciting stuff!

 

Trimmed right elevator counterweight to balance. The elevators are balanced separately but the left has the trim servo in it so it's much heavier.

Left elevator tip ready for fiberglass to close off the end:

Fiberglass in place:

Drilling left elevator tip:

Windscreen fairing after a lot of sanding of first layer of filler

Thick layer of west microlight fairing filler:

Fairing has been sanded but not filled. Black area is one layer of embedded carbon fiber.

Reinforcing with a bit more fiberglass cloth:

Sanding progress:

Rough trim complete:

Layup done. Four layers of glass plus one layer of carbon fiber over the roll bar area. The short pieces are peel ply for the initial finish.

Ready to start the long process:

Windscreen almost ready for fiberglass. The white strip over the roll bar the the printed area around the front is double sided tape meant to create space for the sika flex adhesive.

Second coat of epoxy primer on canopy fairing turned out great:

First coat of primer revealed a fair number of pinholes which I filled with metal glaze:

First coat complete:

I thought it was ready but there were still a lot of lurking pinholes:

The cowling is so complicated. Still in process. Filling and sanding.

Baffles are complete:

Britt's belt hole punch worked great to prep the baffle material for rivets: