Next I fabricated a small shelf that will stick out from the left canopy rail in front of the instrument panel. This will hold a rental PowerFLARM unit that I'm planning on getting for the contest. It should arrive from Uvalde on Sunday I think. I'm looking forward to flying with this and at least a few others at the contest will also be equipped.
I did a little more Super-Fil work on the wingtip skids and then got to work on the big task for the night, painting contest numbers.
Any good paint job is 99% prep and 1% painting and this was no different. I spend most of the time getting other things in the garage covered up. I had already done all the masking and papering around the lettering that I needed to do. Then i read the directions on the paint 20 times and got to work. I still ended up thinning it too much! I was supposed to thin to 20-22 seconds but mine was more like 15. i added more paint and hardener but it had no effect at all. I was really surprised as I actually put less water in than called out on the directions. Finally I decided that I would just go with what I had and be very careful to avoid runs.
Everything went very smoothly and worked just the way it was supposed to. I was relieved. I haven't painted anything since we finished covering 3Y and was pretty nervous about screwing something up. By 11 PM or so though all the paint was on and I just had to wait for it to cure.
This morning I peeled off the tape and stencils and the end result was pretty good. Not razor sharp lines but i'm happy with the job.
Tonight I pack everything up for an early departure on Saturday. Next report will be from Llano!
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