[Mick O'Malley]

An early start in the cave yesterday saw me shivering as I sorted out my collection of sheet metal parts. I decided to finish off the cockpit side sandwich plates using the card templates mentioned above. I gaffa taped them to the blanks which I'd inscribed with side and direction to avoid one of my most common mistakes: getting the orientation wrong. I offered up the one below to find I'd stuck it on about 60° out. Unsurprising!



Correcting this schoolboy error I then drilled, disced, flapwheeled and sprayed it, then repeated for the other side. The gusty wind made sure that sundry garden debris stuck to my paint .



A quick check with some long M6 bolts dropped though each plate and the floor beneath confirmed the accuracy of my measurements. By now the cave had turned into an oven so I decided to chop the tailpipe as this job would be partly in the open. I securely strapped the silencer to a scrap piece of 12mm ply which I then clamped to the bench. Five minutes with the hacksaw, job done .



Being a coffin dodger, I was now feeling the heat so I packed up for the day.

Regards, Mick