scarfing

most progress this week was constrained to the lower vertical stabilizer area.  The longerons and front and rear spars are cut for their scarf joints.  Hopefully tonight I'll have time to start cutting the scarfs on the new wood that arrived last week from aircraft spruce.  General order of replacement will be:

Front Spar
Rear Spar
Plywood sides that form the box beam
Miscellaneous stringers etc that have to be removed to accomodate plywood replacement
Longerons
Lower plywood/Keel

Then I'll have to settle on a tailwheel spring and work up a backup structure/nutplate assembly that will epoxy to the bottom end of the vertical stab box beam.  And it will all get drain holes!

I also removed the main wheel this week.  I might have mentioned before but the main wheel on 53T did not have a wheel brake.  That will change.  I'm currently researching options for installing a brake.  I'll need to get a new axle made as the old one had a nice bend in it.

I still need to remember to get measurements on the mouse damage in the left wing so we can do the calculations to determine the best course of action there.  Hopefully tonight.